Word on the Street 9/20

In an effort to keep the Driver ID chugging along, here is a weekend edition of Word On the Street with some recent news.

PS3 Loses Exclusive Game… Or Does it?

Australia’s Team Bondi’s president, Tom Crago has recently spoke about its collaboration with Rockstar, L.A. Noire at GC Asia ’08. Crago said that the game “still has a year or so to go,” and speculated that it "could be the biggest budget video game in development anywhere in the world." The really interesting news is that he said it was in development for both PS3 and Xbox 360.

While some were thinking L.A. Noire to be the exclusive PS3 Rockstar game, EGM’s rumor-monger Quartermann quashes that possibility, stating that “whatever it is…it’s currently being made by Rockstar North, the fine Scotland-based lads behind Grand Theft Auto IV.”

Sounds like Sony may be getting their money’s worth for this exclusive!

Mega Man 9 Finally Gets U.S. Release Date

For those of you chomping on the bit to play Mega Man’s retro-cized DLC adventure, it’s time to get ready! Wii will get the game first on Monday (the 22nd), PSN lands it next, on Thursday (the 25th) while XBLA won’t get it until Oct. 1st. Whenever it hits your system, fans of the Blue Bomber shouldn’t miss it…provided they’re prepared for a challenge.

Bungie Announcement Imminent

There was a rumor floating around during the week that Rare and Bungie would be announcing new games next week at a Microsoft event. The rumor seemed sketchy, though now Bungie’s website seems to be teasing an announcement, bringing back the mysterious Superintendent—last seen just before E3—with the message “KEEP IT CLEAN.” As everyone probably painfully remembers, Bungie was set to announce its next project at E3, only to have it yanked from Microsoft’s Press Conference to talk about “more important” things. Like Mii rip offs I guess? Or maybe real important stuff like FFXIII coming to 360…? Whatever it was, it finally seems we’ll soon be learning what Bungie’s up to. Anything Halo related seems a little doubtful to me, as they broke from MS to get away from the franchise. You never know though…

As for Rare, there’s not been any similar indication if they’ll be announcing stuff too. But if they do, it’s very unlikely it will be another classic franchise. Direct from Senior animator, Elissa Miller’s mouth comes word that there are no plans to revisit old material: ”We’ve always got to have a reason to revive a franchise, we don’t just do games for the sake of them,”

So there go the on-again, off-again rumors of a new Killer Instinct, and hopes for a new Blast Corps, Jet Force Gemini, Sabre Wulf, or any other Rare property you were hoping to see revisited in the near future.

Geoff Johns Going Digital

In a bit of new that excited me, it was revealed earlier this week that comics scribe extraordinaire, Geoff Johns, will be providing the story to DC Universe Online. Johns, who has written JSA, Flash, Green Lantern, Teen Titans, Booster Gold, Action Comics and Infinite Crisis for DC Comics had this to say:

"Taking comic books into the online space presents an exciting and unique opportunity for me as a writer." He added, "I'm looking forward to creating a thrilling story that explains why the DC Universe has suddenly been populated with millions of new heroes and villains in a way that will engage players."

Jim Lee is handling the game’s character designs, and Lee is very excited to work with Johns, as the two have only brainstormed before and never actually collaborated. DC Universe is due on PC and PS3 sometime in 2009 (and is probably going to be the reason I purchase a PS3. I’m a hardcore comic geek!)

A Little Big Planet of PAIN!

I had to post this next bit for J. It looks like Little Big Planet’s mascot, Sackboy, will be ready to be jettisoned, battered and bruised as a new additional character in the simple-but-awesome PAIN. Good news indeed, but there’s no word of when this will happen.

That’s all I have for now. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post about some other stuff this weekend, like what I’ve been playing since my 360 went kaput and games I’d like to see remade.

’Till then,

Max