Game Downloads

There’s been some confusion over the past day regarding the release date of Silent Hill: Homecoming, the next installment of Konami’s survival-horror series. Contrary to what you may have read elsewhere, the game has in fact not been delayed until November — that release date applies only to Europe. Homecoming producer Tomm Hulett contacted 1UP confirming that the reports are false and the game’s release date of September 30 in North America hasn’t changed. This is what you get when listening to release dates talked about at an event held in Europe.

There’s no denying that piracy is a significant problem for PC game developers. While some overplay or downplay its significance, it is no doubt an issue. But consider the effect of piracy on PC hardware manufacturers. Without a top-of-the-line graphics card and processor, it doesn’t matter how many copies of Crysis you can pirate, you’re not going to do much without the hardware to run it.

Opening night for Mario Super Sluggers for the Wii is August 25.Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and the rest of the gang are battling Bowser on the diamond and in the dugout to save the island Baseball Kingdom. Players will use the Wiimote as a bat. You can play as your own Mii and create your own line up with over forty characters to choose from.

Electronic Arts and Black Box have given games a mission to infiltrate the criminal underworld in Need for Speed Undercover. The new ‘Heroic Driving Engine’ and AI mechanic will have players evading cops and rivals at speeds of 180 MPH on the crowded streets and highways of the Tri-City Bay Area.

Ubisoft revealed its new Petz Rescue series for the Wii and DS at Games Convention 2008. These new titles move beyond simulating taking care of pets by letting players save, nurture and heal endangered animals. Ubisoft hopes to encourage environmental awareness and teach players about animal conservation. Here are the first few titles in the series courtesy of the Ubisoft press release on Business Wire:

Well, this is certainly the strangest piece of DLC I’ve seen in awhile. Sony has announced that Kratos, the scourge of the immortals in God of War, is coming to the PSN today as a downloadable character for Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds. Apparently, the team at Sony worked very closely with the God of War developers to get his animations and voice-work right, so he’ll act and sound like the god-kicking badass we all know. He also comes equipped with a special set of “chain drivers” and apparently a shrunken torso. Let’s just hope they don’t try and incorporate his golfing skills into God of War III, whenever that comes out.