Blog

DmC: Devil May Cry, Capcom’s warmly-received but slightly controversial reboot of the Devil May Cry series, has taken the top spot in the UK charts in its first week, knocking FIFA 13 down into second place after its two-week stint at the top.

It’s Capcom’s first UK number one since Resident Evil 5 in 2009, even though Ninja Theory’s DmC could only manage just over a third of what Devil May Cry 4 sold in its first week way back in 2008. DmC even had a three-day head start thanks to its worldwide Tuesday launch – games in the UK are traditionally launched on Friday.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II rounds out the top three, with Far Cry 3 dropping two places to fourth and Need for Speed: Most Wanted sticking in fifth.

DmC is the only new release to chart in the Top 40 this week, although 2K’s NBA 2k13 returns in 19th, Paper Mario: Sticker Star pops in at 35th and Battlefield 3 enters at 39.

The Top 10 UK All-Format Ukie Games Charts for the week ending January 19, 2013:

1. DmC: Devil May Cry
2. FIFA 13
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
4. Far Cry 3
5. Need for Speed: Most Wanted
6. Just Dance 4
7. Football Manager 2013
8. Hitman: Absolution
9. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
10. Assassin’s Creed III

The US Army and Navy are reportedly looking into ways to make virtual training more exciting for new recruits.

According to an article in National Defense Magazine, both the Army and Navy are seeking contracts for the creation of updated virtual PC simulation games that will look and play more like Call of Duty than the games already available.

“The industry needs to find a way to get past the older code that’s sitting out there,” Havok vice president of sales and marketing Brian Waddle told the publication. “[Soldiers] look at these simulators, and they don’t take them seriously because they don’t look as good as what they’re playing in their living rooms.”

According to the report, the Army is looking for a first-person, massively multiplayer online shooter to replace Bohemia Interactive’s Virtual Battlespace 2. It is offering a contract of approximately $44.5 million over five years to the winning application, which must include the ability to integrate more players across larger landmasses and accurately re-create territories like Afghanistan.

For its part, the Navy is also looking for games that will be able to train sailors in specific tasks, including a training program that will run on Crytek’s CryEngine 3. The Navy will offer three separate contracts of $100 million each.

The upcoming Ubisoft title Spartacus Legends has become the second game to receive an R18+ rating in Australia following the introduction of the adult classification earlier this month.

Based on Starz Entertainment’s original Spartacus television show, Spartacus Legends is a free-to-play title for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Its R18+ classification marks the first time a digital-only title has been given an adult rating in Australia, raising questions about the methodologies in place for policing distribution of age-appropriate digital content on home consoles.

Replying to a request for comment, a spokesperson for Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCEA) said both digital and disc-based games can be restricted by parental controls on the PlayStation 3.

“There are a number of parental controls in place,” the spokesperson told GameSpot. “In terms of purchasing or playing online content on the PlayStation Network (PSN), at the time of account creation you have to be over 18 to set up a PSN account. If a person is under 18, the requirement is that the parent sets up a Master Account for the PSN, and can then create a sub-account for the child. When setting up the sub account, the sub account holder will not be able to play any games online rated above their age.”

Microsoft did not return a request for comment at the time of publication. However, the Xbox 360 does also feature parental controls.

According to Ubisoft, Spartacus Legends will let players experience the life of a gladiator, from practicing on training grounds to participating in battles in the arena. Players will be tasked with dismembering their foes, and will have thousands of weapon combinations and skill system to use along the way.

Players will be able to fight as Spartacus, Crixus, or a user-created gladiator, and take part in fights with friends locally or via online multiplayer.

The Classification Board of Australia rated the game R18+ for “high impact bloody violence”. According to the classification listing, the game contains high-impact violence, and moderate-impact themes, nudity, and language.

Spartacus Legends does not yet have a release date for Australia, but is due out in Q1 this year in the US.

[UPDATE] Following the publication of this story, Microsoft confirmed that Too Human had been pulled from Xbox Marketplace due to a recall notice from Silicon Knights.

“Microsoft received a Recall Notice from Silicon Knights for Too Human, and we have removed the game from Xbox LIVE Marketplace accordingly,” the statement reads. “We have no comment regarding, nor involvement with the case between Silicon Knights and Epic.”

The original story follows below

Silicon Knights’ 2008 Xbox 360-exclusive Too Human along with its associated digital content have vanished from the Xbox Marketplace (via Eurogamer).

Too Human’s product page is still visible, but the game is no longer available to download from the Games on Demand service. In addition, the game’s demo, themes, videos, and other pieces of content are missing.

A Microsoft representative had not returned comment at press time.

A 2012 court ruling ordered Silicon Knights to cease producing or distributing all its games using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, which includes Too Human. It is not clear if the game’s disappearance from Xbox Live is in any way connected to this.

Downloadable content for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is finally coming to the PlayStation 3 next month. Bethesda announced today that all three expansions for the role-playing game will arrive in February, beginning with Dragonborn. Hearthfire will release next, followed by Dawnguard.

In addition, Bethesda will also release the 1.8 update for Skyrim on PS3 next month just ahead of Dragonborn’s launch. No specific release dates for any of the expansions were divulged.

All Skyrim expansions will be 50 percent off during their launch week on PlayStation Network.

Bethesda also announced today that the PC version of Skyrim will add the Dragonborn expansion February 5 through Steam. It will be available in multiple languages, including English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German.

In October, Bethesda explained that the missing Skyrim DLC for PS3 was “our problem, and it’s on us to fix it.” Prior to that, the company said potentially unsolvable issues could keep Dawnguard from ever releasing for PS3.

For more on Skyrim, check out GameSpot’s review.

Hideo Kojima would have preferred Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance to feature Gray Fox rather than Raiden, but the famous Metal Gear Solid creator allowed the silver-haired star of Metal Gear Solid 2 to take the leading role because he wanted the younger members of his team to take control of the game.

“It was my staff in Kojima Productions that insisted on Raiden,” said Kojima in an interview with IGN, “and I respected their idea. I wanted to really focus on production than development, and they wanted to come up with a really cool hack-and-slash title with some Katana action and Raiden in it, and I thought ‘okay, that’s fine, I respect that’.”

“But in my personal opinion, I wanted to go for Frank Jaegar or Gray Fox. But if we had gone with that, I would have had to write the script and then be really committed to creating the game.”

Gray Fox was one of Snake’s primary antagonists in the original 1998 Metal Gear Solid, and was the first inhabitant of the series’ long-running and constantly evolving cyborg ninja suit.

Bayonetta developer Platinum Games was drafted in to finish off Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance in 2011, refocusing the game around its action elements. As for Kojima Productions’ role in development, Kojima said he wanted “to pass game development to the younger generation in my team, and have been trying to do so for quite some time.”

“Before I never could give complete responsibilities for other games, but for Revengeance, they are fully in control. Besides, if I had created the game and directed it, it wouldn’t have been this game. I am very happy to see the growth in my team and how they have developed such an incredible game.”

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will be released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on February 19 in the US and February 22 in Europe. Its latest trailer was released this week, and a demo will be available on January 22.

The downloadable PC version of Metro: Last Light has been pulled from GameStop Impulse. GameStop vice president of public and investor relations Matt Hodges told GameSpot that the company removed the game to protect consumers amid the ongoing uncertainty involving the future of publisher THQ.

“Essentially, due to THQ’s current financial situation and uncertainty of delivery, in order to protect our consumers we removed the ability to pre-purchase that specific game,” Hodges said.

Gamers who have already pre-purchased the game can receive a refund by calling GameStop customer service. Physical copies of Metro: Last Light for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC remain available to preorder through GameStop’s main website. It is not clear if GameStop intends to pull these versions of the game sometime in the future.

A GameSpot reader tipped the news, saying they pre-purchased a copy of the game and it remains in their “My Games” list. However, the specific Metro: Last Light product page is no longer functional.

Other upcoming THQ games, including South Park: The Stick of Truth and Company of Heroes 2, are not listed on GameStop Impulse.

THQ’s bankruptcy auction, should one be necessary, will take place January 22 at 3 p.m. EDT in Wilmington, Delaware. Up for grabs are THQ studios and properties. These include Relic Entertainment (Company of Heroes), Volition Inc. (Saints Row), former Assassin’s Creed director Patrice Desilets’ THQ Montreal (unknown), and Vigil Games (Darksiders).