hitman posts

So no Portal 2 DLC yet but knowing Valve we will be getting regular content updates for this game for a long time.

• Steam has new automatic updates for Post Apocalyptic Mayhem, Left 4 Dead 2 (with the repeat of the Survival Versus mutation gameplay mode, Dino D-Day and Portal 2.
• A newly added trademark may be the name for the next Hitman game.
• Who is the bald guy that is pictured in one of Valve's intro movies? Reddit has the answer.
• In the "This is a real product" category, the Garbage Truck Simulator 2011 game is coming this May.

You now have less that 24 hours before the third annual Steam holiday sale ends. That means you will have less than a day to take advantage of the price cuts that are available on nearly all PC games on the service. It also means that you have until 1 pm Eastern time until these extra-special price cuts (all repeats of previous one-day sales) expire:

Neverwinter Nights 2 Platinum - $9.99
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl/Call of Pripyat bundle - $4.99
Left 4 Dead 2 - $6.80
Grand Theft Auto IV + Episodes from Liberty City - $9.99
Empire/Napoleon Total War Game of the Year Edition - $24.99
The Hitman Collection - $7.49 for three-game bundle (Hitman: Codename 47, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Hitman Blood Money)
Mafia 2 - $12.49
Dead Space - $6.80
Plants Vs Zombies Game of the Year Edition - $3.99
Amnesia The Dark Descent - $6.80
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit - $29.99
Killing Floor Complete Pack - $4.99

This year has been a rocky one for developer Io Interactive. The studio best known for its Hitman series as well as the Kane and Lynch titles is dealing with its second series of layoffs in 2010. Kotaku has confirmed the layoffs with a rep for Io Interactive's owner Square Enix, stating, "I can confirm that we have made some internal changes at Io Interactive which has regrettably resulted in the loss of some jobs." Square Enix previously laid off team members at the studio last March.

Square Enix would not state how many people were let go at Io Interactive although a Twitter message from 3D Realms' George Broussard claims that 35 people were affected. Broussard also claims that an unnamed game project was canceled at the studio. However these developments are not expected to affect plans for Io Interactive to release a new game in the Hitman series.

While it didn't get the best reviews, the film adaptation of Io Interactive's Hitman action series earned enough money in the theaters and later on DVD to convince its movie studio Twentieth Century Fox to start work on a sequel. Now the second Hitman movie has found its director and is slated to being fiming sometime this fall.

The Deadline web site reports that Daniel Benmayor, a Spain-based director of commercials and two Spanish language movies, will make his Hollywood directing debut helming the Hitman movie sequel. However it's still unknown if the first movie's lead, actor Timothy Olyphant, will return as Agent 47. Olyphant is currently starring in the terrific FX cable TV crime series Justified and may not care to shave his head again and return to the Hitman franchise.

It's never good to hear about layoffs in the game industry and today a report on a Danish web site states that 35 members of Hitman and Kane and Lynch creators Io Interactive were let go by the company last Thursday. The report claims that prior to Thursday Io Interactive had 200 employees which would make the number of layoffs equal to 17.5 percent of the total number of team members.

The layoffs come as Io Interactive is in the middle of working on their next major project for their owner-publisher Square Enix with Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days due for release in late August.

[Via Gamasutra]

Steam's weekend sales deal involves a bald guy with a talent for sniper shooting. The PC game download service has put three of Eidos' Hitman games on the price chopping block from now until Monday. Hitman: Codename 47, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and Hitman: Blood Money are just $4.99 each. You can also get all three games in a bundle for $9.99.

In related news, Steam has lowered the price of the strategy game Defense Grid: The Awakening to a new permenant price of just $9.99. Also an upcoming futuristic action game, Metal Drift, is taking pre-orders for just $9.99. People who put their money down early get immediate access to the game's beta test.

For a little while it looked like Eidos might actually pull their successful Hitman franchise from its creators at Io Interactive. Last week, rumors that Batman: Arkham Asylum developer Rocksteady Studios might be making the next Hitman game hit the net based on what a motion capture actor mentioned in his online resume.

Asking Eidos exec Ian Livingstone about the rumors, Prey's World Magazine reports that he has denied them flat out. He's quoted as saying, "Hitman always has been and always will be IO Interactive's baby, which it still continues to be so. Rocksteady are not involved with the development of Hitman 5."

Eidos has already given hints that a new Hitman game is in the works, and why not? The third person action series about a bald assassin has sold millions of copies over the year and over the course of four titles. However, all four Hitman games were developed by Io Interactive.

Now there's evidence that a new Hitman game won't be handled by the studio that created the franchise. The web site of actor Mark Sloan stated he has done motion capture work for a "Hitman5" game that lists Rocksteady Limited as the developer. Rocksteady Studios is the team behind Eidos' upcoming Batman: Arkham Asylum title. If this turns out to be true it appears that Io Interactive has moved on from Hitman.

Even though the reviews were, well, crappy, the 2007 movie adaptation of Io Interactive's Hitman game series was a money maker for its studio Twentieth Century Fox. It earned nearly $100 million worldwide in theaters and was also a sales success in its DVD release.

Now movie web site IESB.net is reporting that the studio has hired scriptwriter Kyle Ward to write a treatment for a second Hitman movie. There's no word yet if actor Timothy Olyphant will return as Agent 47 in the sequel. In the meantime publisher Eidos is reportedly working on getting a new Hitman game in stores for 2010

Last week Big Download gave our picked for what FPS games we wanted to see at E3 2009 next month. This week we are giving our picks for the more broad action game genre. There's a lot of third person action titles, some open world action games and for the first time in a long time a fighting game that may actually be worth playing on the PC.

Take a look at our list and see if you agree with it. For our next Countdown to E3 2009 feature we will give our picks for the RPG and MMO titles we want to see at the show.
Click on the image above to continue reading Countdown to E3 2009: The Action Games We Want To See