Flight Simulator X will get six add-ons

Fudzilla writes, "The news that Microsoft dissolved the ACES Studio responsible for Microsoft's Flight Simulator product really caught everyone by surprise; but even though we know at least from Microsoft the title is as dead as dead can be, Mamba Games has announced that they have secured the global rights to six Microsoft Flight Simulator X add-on packs that will be released over a two-year period.

Mamba Games is a start-up company that is being headed by former THQ executive, Robert Nielson, and the company made the announcement about securing the rights to the six add-on packs for Flight Simulator X. The first add-on that will be released is the Grumman F6F Hellcat, which was developed by ReadFlight and is scheduled for release on March 27th."

Epic Explains Gears of War Error

January 31, 2009 - Recently players of Gears of War on PC found the title was no longer able to launch. Epic Games responded to our inquiry regarding what the problem was and what's being done to fix it. The following is from studio vice president Mark Rein.

"The online cheat detection features in Gears of War for Windows are based on digital signatures. Well, we made an embarrassing mistake: we signed the executable with a certificate that expired in a way that broke the game.

We're working with Microsoft to re-sign the binaries properly, and hope to have this fixed very soon. We know how much this situation sucks, and we apologize for the inconvenience.

In the mean time a work-around for this is to set your computer's date back to a date before today."

GTA4: Lost and Damned 'Johnny Klebitz' trailer HD

GTA4: Lost and Damned 'Johnny Klebitz' trailer HD

Nintendo logs 26 million-plus sellers

• By Tom Magrino, GameSpot
• Posted Jan 30, 2009 10:59 am PT

Wii Sports "sells" in excess of 40 million; 11 of the publisher's internally developed games exceed the 10-million milestone mark.

It's the best of times and the worst of times at Nintendo. Yesterday, the Kyoto, Japan-based gaming company announced record profits of ¥212.5 billion ($2.36 billion) on equally soaring revenues of ¥1.536 trillion ($17.12 billion) for the nine months ended December 31. Unfortunately, with the yen trading particularly strong against the dollar and euro, Nintendo was forced to revise its earnings down 9 percent, with profits off 33 percent from what the publisher previously expected.

However, the company remains well-positioned to capitalize on the future, thanks in large part to a strong back catalog of best-selling games, as well as a number potential hits on the horizon. In a supplementary filing today, Nintendo revealed just how strong its back catalog is, calling out 26 internally developed games for the Wii and DS that have broached the million-unit mark.

Not unexpectedly, Wii Sports and Wii Play led Nintendo's best-seller list. Wii Sports, which is bundled with Nintendo's best-selling console in North America, has now "sold" 40.5 million units worldwide through December 31. Wii Play, which capitalized on its Wii Remote pack-in status to top the US best-seller charts in 2008 with 5.28 million units sold, has now shifted 20.9 million copies globally. Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii have also both surpassed the 10-million unit mark, with the former shifting 14 million units and the latter running close behind with 13.7 million copies.

The DS has an even larger number of 10-million-unit-plus sellers, numbering seven in total. Nintendogs leads the pack with 21.7 million lifetime units. The best-selling casual game is followed by New Super Mario Bros. (17.6 million), Brain Age (16.8 million), Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (16.5 million), Mario Kart DS (13.8 million), Brain Age 2 (13.2 million), and Animal Crossing: Wild World (10.5 million).

Report: Faith and a .45 on hold

Chili Con Carnage creator Deadline Games said to be unable to find publisher for Bonnie-and-Clyde-inspired shooter, stalling development.

Just over a year ago, Total Overdose and Chili Con Carnage developer Deadline Games unholstered Faith and a .45, the Danish studio's first effort for the current generation of consoles. Unfortunately, it appears as if the action game has hit a jam.

PS3 Attitude reports this week that development on Faith and a .45 has been placed on hold. According to a source within the company, Deadline has been unable to secure a publisher for the game, a situation that has led a number of independent developers in the past 12 months--including Iron Lore, Factor 5, and Free Radical--to fold or make substantial staff cuts. Deadline Games had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment as of press time.

A new intellectual property, Faith and a .45 is a cooperative multiplayer-centric shooter that draws its inspiration from the real-life travails of famed bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde. The game follows Luke and Ruby, a couple of outlaws in love who are crisscrossing the country with guns at the ready. Looking to stop Luke and Ruby's spree will be a nefarious oilman and the oppressive forces at his command.

According to Deadline Games' Web site, the developer still has a number of other titles in development, including a range of family-friendly games based on the Hanna-Barbera license. Deadline is also at work on the Warner Bros. Interactive-published Watchmen film tie-in for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.