Sony ‘Working with’ Bethesda for PS3 Skyrim DLC

Sony is “working closely” with Bethesda to bring Skyrim’s downloadable content to PlayStation 3. In a recent interview, Sony vice president Adam Boyes said Sony’s development support team collaborates with all third party publishers to fix technical issues, and that includes Bethesda.

"We work with all of our partners to try and solve their problems," Boyes told Kotaku. "We have a big, broad dev support team that works closely with Bethesda, and with all of our partners, to work with them to solve that any sort of issues they have along the way. Of course, I always want everything to work always for everyone. I can't promise any kind of resolution or timeline but can say that everyone involved is trying their best to get this stuff working."

Previously, Bethesda said it was “not yet satisfied with Dawnguard’s performance on the PS3.” The publisher later suggested that the downloadable content might never hit PS3 at all, adding “this is not a problem we’re positive we can solve.”

Skyrim’s Dawnguard and Hearthfire content have technically never been announced for PlayStation 3, despite Dawnguard being available on Xbox 360 and PC and Hearthfire recently hitting Xbox Live.

Keep checking back to IGN for updates on the situation as it continues to develop.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim -- Hearthfire Announced

Bethesda has revealed the next major downloadable content for Skyrim, called Hearthfire. Unlike the vampire-hunting focus of the last add-on, Dawnguard, Hearthfire doesn't seem to do much to enhance combat. Instead, with Hearthfire you'll be able to purchase a piece of land in Skyrim and build your own house.

Within the custom living space you'll be able build kitchens, greenhouses, libraries, alchemy labs and trophy rooms to show off your accomplishments. Outside it sounds like you'll be able to set up gardens, fish hatcheries and beehives to make resource collection a little more convenient. You can also hire a steward to help out with household tasks.

Hearthfire will also allow you to adopt children and take care of them while they live at your home. Bethesda has set the price of Hearthfire at 400 Microsoft Points and plans to release it on September 4 on Xbox Live.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Skyrim: Hearthfire confirmed as next DLC pack in debut video

With Dawnguard in Bethesda's rearview mirror, attention has shifted to the next downloadable content pack for Skyrim, and today we finally have hard information on what that will be. It's called Hearthfire and features a focus on personal dwellings and families. Of course, players already have access to housing in Skyrim, but this DLC ratchets that up about 16 notches.

http://www.gamesradar.com/skyrim-hearthfire-confirmed-next-dlc-pack-debut-video/

According to the video, Hearthfire will be arriving on September 4th on Xbox Live, but no word on a release date for the other platforms.

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

Skyrim Easter Egg: Metal Guitarist Honored

Apparently, a few of the folks at Bethesda Softworks are big fans of Swedish metal bands. For the uninitiated, there's a quest in Skyrim called "Darkness Returns" in which the player is sent out to retrieve Nystrom's journal -- a reference to Katatonia's guitarist Anders Nystrom. Within the text, it reads, "He also mumbled some nonsensical phrases like 'night is the new day' and how he was the 'ghost of the sun.'" Night is the New Day is actually the title of the band's most recent album, while "Ghost of the Sun" is a featured track on another one of their albums, Viva Emptiness. A new album, Dead End Kings, is set to hit US stores on August 28th.

Since this connection was first discovered, many fans have wondered just how this in-game nod came to be. Recently, IGN spoke with Nystrom to discuss how he initially found out about the reference.

"Yeah, it's so bizarre. I have no idea, actually," Nystrom said. "One day I just logged on to the computer, checked the emails and everything -- and I think it was one of our fans on Facebook that had posted something on our wall, directing us to the Wikipedia describing the whole mission [for 'Darkness Returns']. I just started reading it, not really knowing what I was reading, until I actually discovered it was from Skyrim. I didn't put two and two together because it was so bizarre with the whole character/riddle thing and how they intertwined the titles. Then when it dawned on me that it was actually an objective inside the game, it was just like, 'Wow, how cool is this?'"

As a post script, Nystrom said that he eventually got in touch with the Bethesda developer who had written the journal. "The writer who put me in there, he contacted me," Nystrom continued. "He turned out to be a big fan of Katatonia. He said our music had helped him through a lot of working hours late at night, and this was just his way of paying respect and giving something back, which was totally cool."

It just goes to show you that if you ever want to get the attention of your favorite band, just throw 'em into your video game. Luckily, Nystrom was -- and still is -- a huge gamer himself. "I try to keep track of the video game industry -- I've had [IGN] bookmarked for ages," he said. "My favorite game ever -- it has to be a tie between Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and the first couple of Silent Hills. I was also really, really into the Syphon Filter series. I loved that one, with Gabe Logan... So many great games."

But the real question still remains: is Nystrom a fan of Skyrim? "I haven't had the time yet actually, but [Bethesda] sent me the game... As soon as we go back on tour, there's a lot of time for that kind of stuff. I think I'll just buy another copy and bring it with me and dive into that. I can't wait to play the section with me in it!"

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com