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Sony’s Blu-ray technology “hasn’t made much difference” to the upcoming PS3 version of stupendously great 360 and PC FPS BioShock, the game’s associate producer has told VideoGamer.com.
BioShock, originally released for 360 and PC late in 2007, is scheduled for release on PS3 in Europe on October 24, and will come with a new survivor difficulty mode and exclusive downloadable content in the form of Challenge Rooms.
PS3 owners had hoped for some form of graphical upgrade, however, senior producer at publisher 2K Games Melissa Miller confirmed to us at the Leipzig Games Conference last week that the team was aiming towards graphical parity with the 360 version, and that the Blu-ray format hadn’t made much difference.
She said: “Graphical quality our goal was always to make sure everything looked just as good as on Xbox 360. So there was never anybody who could say, hey, why didn’t I get this on 360 originally, because I don’t feel like it’s up to the visual quality. We’re just trying to make sure that everybody is happy.”
When asked if the Blu-ray format had provided any advantages to the development team, Miller replied: “In terms of specific things, it hasn’t made much difference. The original game fit on a 360 disk so it wasn’t like we were in need of room. We’ve tried to do what we can to make sure that the PS3 looks just as great as the 360, but in terms of necessarily utilising something specific about Blu-ray, to my knowledge, Blu-ray hasn’t necessarily made a huge difference.” [Videogamer]

According to a PSU source, Crytek is planning to release Crysis bundled with the new expansion Warhead on the Xbox 360 in Q4 2008 - Q1 2009, followed by a PlayStation 3 version in Q1-Q2 of 2009.
Their source explains that Crytek is focusing on each system’s threading core, and that the team is taking their time with the PS3 version, learning to utilize the Cell processor as effectively as possible in order to push higher quality textures, improved A.I., and more.

It’s been long rumored that Crysis will be making an appearance on home consoles, with the latest rumors suggesting that the game will feature 50 per cent worth of new content (Warhead expansion), dubbing it “Crysis 1.5.” [PSU]

Today is a Sunday, that much is sure. The Leipzig madness has come to a halt, and there’s absolutely nothing going on. We’ve dug into the depths of last week to find a piece of news we missed, and surprisingly, this seemed to be the only one. 
Killzone 2 will have bots. Pretty exciting stuff, eh? They’ll be available in both offline and online matches, with an adjustable difficulty level to boot. What won’t in be present in multiplayer (initially) are vehicles. They’re already in the single-player campaign, and are set to be patched into multiplayer after the game’s launch. Another aspect that will be added in post-launch is campaign cooperative play. It’s unknown whether this will be a paid add-on or a free addition (or if it’ll be online co-op), but Guerrilla did offer some free DLC for Killzone: Liberation on the PSP. Whatever the outcome, we’re glad it’s coming in some form or another.
Killzone 2 will be available in February 2009. [PSU]

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) President David Reeves has confirmed that the company has no plans to lower the price of the PlayStation 3 in 2008.
“There is no price cut,” Reeves told VG247.com, adding, “We’re not going to drop the price this year.”
Asked as to whether or not he believes that software is the key to PS3’s success throughout Europe, he replied, “Yes, absolutely.”
“And I think it’s the games for Nintendo; I think whatever price they’re at, I think it’s the games that have really, really driven it.”
“We started off at the beginning of the year with GT5 Prologue, then we went to GTA IV, then Metal Gear Solid. There’ll be LittleBigPlanet, and then we move onto PES and FIFA and all those.” [VG247]

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The next title in the Call of Duty series, officially called Call of Duty: World at War, will be released in November. This is according to an Activision representative, who although didn’t provide a specific date, did at least narrow the window down from “Autumn 2008″.
The Treyarch-developed title (as opposed to the Infinity Ward-developed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare) goes back to the World War 2 scene. One of its most touted new features is two player co-operative play, which is becoming an increasingly common inclusion in first person shooters. The game is being developed on the Modern Warfare engine, so expect the same, if not better, visuals and excellent gameplay.
Activision’s policy of switching between the two developers for each version of Call of Duty has had mixed results in the past. Let’s hope Treyarch follows up last year’s best selling title with another hit. [OnlyTheGames]

Remember when we thought the Xbox 360 was sold out at one Japanese store? That’s not all. It’s sold out across the whole damn country. Like, sold out sold out. It’s so sold out that Microsoft Japan actually put out an official statement about the situation in The Land of the Rising Sun, apologizing for the lack of consoles. Since demand has eclipsed supply, Microsoft’s supply has gone totally dry. The company is ramping up production, and the console will not be shipped to stores until next month.
We’ve translated the full statement after the jump.
To all customers
We truly thank you for all your patronage in the past.
Currently, the Xbox 360 is sold out, and retailers are unable to restock their supply. This is a result of our own sales targets being exceeded by the actual customer sales. We deeply apologize for this inconvenience to our customers, retailers and business partners.
Here at Microsoft, we are moving forward quickly with console production, and plan to ship the standard Xbox 360 model out this September. Furthermore, we will sequentially be shipping out the Elite and the Arcade models. We ask that you please patiently wait until the console is shipped. [Kotaku]

Microsoft has confirmed our earlier report that it plans to release a new Xbox 360 controller with an improved d-pad on 24th October.

Eurogamer found the pad and photographed it on Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer stand, and Microsoft confirms the pad is “optimised” for the football series.

“The new limited-edition green wireless controller offers enhancements to d-Pad functionality, which will add to the experience of playing games where the d-Pad is the primary control mechanism,” Microsoft told Eurogamer.

“We’re always looking to improve products and we made these changes based on feedback from gamers.”

However, the new pad is “a limited edition promotional item that is only available in Europe, Asia and Latin America while supplies last”, which is likely to upset fans who feel the d-pad needs full-time replacement rather than a one-off patch for PES. [Eurogamer]

Atari has revealed Heroes Over Europe, a sequel to World War II flight-sim Heroes of the Pacific.
Transmission Games, formerly IR Gurus and responsible for the first game, returns to the development cockpit. The target is to launch on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 sometime next year.
Heroes Over Europe, unsurprisingly, once more takes to the skies of World War II. This time the German aerial attacks on London - presumably the Battle of Britain - are the focus, as are the ramifications: the Allies bombing the snot out of Berlin.
Spitfires, Messerschmitts, London and Berlin will all be faithfully recreated, with the onus on realism rather than arcade action.
Everything should look nicer thanks to a new engine, plus there are more game modes and 16-player online dog-fights to get involved with. Transmission also plans DLC to be available at launch.
Heroes of the Pacific showed up on PC, Xbox, and PS2 back in 2005, and took home solid if unspectacular scores. [Eurogamer]

Sony has confirmed that it has no plans to make any announcements regarding a price cut for its PlayStation 3 console at the upcoming Leipzig Games Convention next week.
Speaking with Reuters, Sony Computer Entertainment spokesperson, Nick Chaplin, revealed that the European games fair would not play host to any such announcement.
“It’s not going to happen. If you’re coming for that you’ll be disappointed,” Chaplin said.
While it remains to be seen exactly what Sony plans to unveil as part of the 12 announcements mentioned by SCEE boss David Reeves, we can at least rule out any possibility of price drop.
Hopefully though with production costs now lowering, we may see a further price reduction before the end of the year. [PSU]

The guys over at the SOCOM: Confrontation blog have released more details in regards to the online beta that is scheduled to release next month. One of the highlights of this list of details is the information regarding the highly appreciated Crossroads map from SOCOM past. According to the blog, players will be able to play both a 16-player and 32-player online skirmish within two different formats of the map.

All game modes will be made available including Suppression, Extraction and Elimination. Users can also conveniently lock out certain types and classes of weaponry. As most may already be aware, you will have full customization for your online character in regard to headgear, camouflage, body armor and more.
All accrued statistics within the beta will be wiped clean upon the game’s release though, so don’t expect to be getting an early jump on the ranking system. [Playstation.com via PSU]