Remember Driver? Sure you do. It was a PlayStation game (and later a PC release), and a pretty good one at that. I had totally forgotten about this classic until Gameloft dusted it off for re-release on the iPhone.
So yes, it's a port, but its actually an improvement on the original game. We're talking better graphics and interfaces put on top of the same fun gameplay and physics of the original. An improvement port on a mobile phone? Nice.
Avatar. James Cameron. Huge budget. Big deal. Of course it's going to get a game or two. But who would have expected a lovingly crafted platformer for the iPhone? I surely didn't, but that's exactly what I saw when Gameloft had me out to check out their upcoming game, Avatar.
It has been in development for over a year, in cooperation with Mr. Cameron and the folks at Fox. The assets and artwork were passed along, as well as ideas and guidance. But don't expect the typical licensed game version of the movie here. This is an original story with original environments and characters, and takes place 20 years before the events of the movie.
Every once in awhile someone takes movie games seriously. We dig that. But to put this much work into an iPhone game? That's serious business.
Racing titles are big on gaming consoles. It has always been that way, pretty much. And now that the iPhone and iPod Touch have pushed their way into the game space, racers have made their way to this portable platform as well. Kind of.
What do you really get in an iPhone racing game, though? For the longest time we saw small and (sometimes) fun games that were perfect for some casual action while waiting in line somewhere. They were arcade racers at best, with cheap, fast, and fun being the development goal. Nothing serious, usually. But, if the iPhone is going to continue to push to be a solid option for gaming, shouldn't there be a deeper racing experience?
Gameloft has set out to create that with GT Racing. Forget carts and power-ups and holding the gas pedal from start to finish, though. GT Racing is actually a full racing sim experience, with licensed cars and tracks, and real racing physics. You know, kind of like a console game, only smaller.
It’s not hard to become numb while competing in an online shooter. As these components continue to become beefier and more complex, the impact an individual has in the outcome of a match shrinks. But not every upcoming online setup is following this trend: Digital Illusions CE is blending massive team strategy with individual, hard-nosed impact in Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
I’ll give you an example. In a single match of BC2 last evening, I sabotaged two Russian beacons while keeping my feats-in-progress going with a hot barrel and a magazine packed with lead death-dealers. I butchered ten combatants, helped to defend a position from incoming armor, and jolted around six fallen comrades with a vicious blast of electrical current -- all in a span of nine or so minutes.
I didn’t need to kill 20 people in a row or compete for countless hours for the privilege of experiencing success. I just needed to load the BC2'sclosed beta and hop into a match.
"People moan about too many snipers, but if you use a sniper properly they're integral to the team.
I like the sniper, love how you have to aim above the head - bullet gravity FTW.
But with the ..."...
I have to indulge in a little narcissism right: not only did I get farther along in the second dungeon of Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks than any other journalist who previewed the game, I had all of Nintendo congratulate me on the achievement. I then proceeded to destroy them in the freshly announced multiplayer mode (except one round where I lost horribly, but we don't talk about that.)
All in all, I came away as the best Zelda player in the universe, proving once and for all a college education is really going to change your life.
While I'm sure some of you are utterly fascinated with this information, I bet even more of you are interested in Spirit Tracks itself. After all, it is a freaking Zelda game, and it is coming out in less than three weeks. Any other year, and we'd all be crapping ourselves to get a hold of this game. After spending sometime with this little choo-choo that could, I think there's going to be a whole lot to look forward with this game. Hit the jump to see our latest preview on Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.
"Thanks for confirming my suspicions of this being another good Zelda game. I recently replayed much OoT and while it's still good, it's not the last form of fun from the franchise.
Wind Waker w..."...
Look, when I think of Monster Hunter, the last thing I think about is the high school education system. Apparently I must be in the minority, as Capcom seems to think that Monster Hunter and education go hand in hand, which is why, in a move to preview Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii, they transformed a local club into a high school biology lab. Weird.
Considering Japan actually has classes on Monster Hunter, this isn't so surprising. So in between an actual lecture from Producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, tasty snakes and odd drinks, we had a chance to play the English language version of Monster Hunter Tri. Sure, it wasn't exactly like doing homework, but it was an educational experience. There's some very cool things Capcom hopes to bring to North American and European players, and it looks like they are going to follow through on them. Especially interesting? How about a successful online infrastructure, that's pretty damn cool. Hit the jump to find out more.
For as long as games have been a popular form of entertainment, they have always had to have a special trick. Sure, we don’t want to call it a “gimmick”, but there are always going to be some special something in a game to make it stand out from the pack.
Almost four years ago, Eidos released a game called Just Cause for the Xbox 360, Xbox, and PS2. Back then, the big selling point was the parachute mechanics coupled with the stunt system and the goal of over-throwing a corrupt island government set in the tropics The game went on from there. While far from perfect, it was a fun experience with neat ideas.
But it has been four years. Eidos is now in the process of transforming into Square Enix Europe, nobody would dream of down-porting a game to the original Xbox and PS2, and the 360 and PS3 are regularly put through their paces. Would Just Cause 2 even offer new stuff to wow gamers? It’s a whole new world, but it seems like developer Avalanche Studios is hoping to improved Just Cause 2 in an entirely cohesive way. Beside checking out Avalanche's live streaming of the game, hit the jump for my hands on.
MAG, the PlayStation 3-exclusive first-person shooter that boasts 256-player multiplayer, is set to release on January 26, 2010. So to get people geared up and ready, Sony invited us to a one-on-one training session, complete with some hands-on play time with the beta.
If you haven't been keeping up with every little detail (and you aren't already in the beta), then feel free to read on past the jump to get the lowdown on how the game functions, and some of the impressions that I got from my limited time with it.
When we were figuring out who was going to cover what game at Hudson's Gamers' Day, one of the titles that we knew very little about (okay, nothing) was listed only as Rooms. Rooms, what's Rooms?
Never being too sure about what you're going to have to preview can be slightly daunting. For all we knew it could have been a Japanese flower potting simulator. But luckily it wasn't, and Rooms: The Main Building, a rather charming puzzle game, ended up being one of the favorites of the day.
"@thelegendaryman
That's because this was a flash game. I remember playing this a couple years ago.
http://jayisgames.com/archives/2007/02/rooms.php"...
It's funny looking back on the old battle between skateboarding videogames. Ever since the original Tony Hawk, plenty of skateboarding games have come and gone, and other than the eternal old bird itself, not many of them have lived to see a sequel. All except the EA's Skate franchise that is, which is getting ready for the third iteration of the series. Not really third times the charm, it's more like a triple threat, as Skate has proven to be a more than solid skating franchise.
So it's really ironic considering the situation. Tony Hawk is now a peripheral based game, and Skate 3 is the only controller-based skateboarding game around. Now that they don't compete on the same level, it begs the question: can Skate 3 adequately build on the franchise without the competition? While it doesn't look like things are going to be groundbreakingly different, Skate 3 has a whole bunch of new content to bring to the table. Hit the jump to get an early taste of what Black Box is rolling on out.
"Sounds good. Glad to hear they've done away with unnecessary pre defined story. Sure there will still be some premise to the game, making you're team of skaters the raddest team of corn row rocki..."...
Most gamers can remember the so-called console wars of the 16-bit generation. At the time, each of the console competitors used every advantage they could to show how their system was the right system to own. Along with graphics and other features, companies leveraged the coolness factor of their system's mascots. Nintendo had cemented Mario early on, while Sega finally got around to creating Sonic, and the TurboGrafix-16 wisely dropped Keith Courage in favor of a more marketable and all around better mascot, Bonk.
Sadly, the TG-16 did not gain enough market share to warrant a follow-up system in the states, and minus the few outings Bonk had for Nintendo handhelds, he is still fondly thought of as a mascot of days gone by. Now here would be the sentence in which I would say "until now." You know what, that sentence will do just fine. Hudson Entertainment is bringing back Bonk and his platforming ways. To Bonk fans everywhere that's good news, but unfortunately that's the only good news.
"damn its been released on everything but the PC, im keeping my fingers crossed theyll bring it to the pc 6 to 12 months after initial release.
(i would prefer it to be in 2d though)"...
If you’re into movies at all, then you’ve no doubt heard about James Cameron’s Avatar. It’s being hyped up as the movie event of the century and like any potential blockbuster, a videogame is being developed on it. Unlike most typical videogames based on movies, Avatar: The Game is a prequel and sets up the events that take place in the film.
Ben PerLee brought us a preview of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Gamefor the Wii which is a little different than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version of the game. I got to check out some of the single-player for Avatar this past week and you can get all the details on this Smurfs in space game after the break.
It’s not a year in gaming without a new Bomberman game from Hudson! Bomberman Live: Battlefest is the latest in the Bomberman franchise and it's coming to Xbox Live Arcade early next year. Battlefest will be bringing with it several new multiplayer modes to keep players engaged for a while. Not only that, but you'll also be able to use your Avatars to play Battlefest.
There's plenty more to talk about on the new Bomberman and you get all the details by heading past the jump.
"Heh, just found this after looking at Polar Panic, it does look kinda similar. Although I really dont like what they've done with this "revamp". Bring back the SNES version! By far the bestest of..."...
Hudson is typically known for their easy, accessible and casual style games. Lately though, they’ve been working on branching out to different genres, one of which is the first person horror game, Calling, for the Wii.
Calling is a horror game in the style of Japanese horror movies. You’ll be playing as multiple characters as they try to figure out why they're being tormented and how to escape the horrific scenarios they’ve been forced into.
Follow me after the jump to find out more on the Calling.
The signature multiplayer mode from the original Battlefield: Bad Company, Gold Rush, is back in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Now simply called Rush, two teams battle it out on a slowly expanding map, where one side plays defense to protect valuable crates while the opposing team needs to destroy the crates.
Rush on through the jump to hear about the new toys you'll get to mess with, the new perk-like system and to see just how gorgeous Bad Company 2 is shaping up to be.
It’s 1959, a full year before the events of the original BioShock took place. A civil war has broken out over ADAM -- Atlas and Andrew Ryan are fighting over the control of the precious resource. But that doesn’t matter to Sinclair Solutions, the company at the forefront of Plasmid development. So long as they have willing civilians that want to splice up, their business will continue to boom.
That’s the premise to BioShock 2’s multiplayer. It gives a nice little background on the events of what happened before you got to Rapture in the first game, but you’re not going to be playing the multiplayer for the narrative. You’re going to play so you can bash your friends’ heads in with a football trophy.
Hit the break to get the lowdown on some of the new multiplayer gametypes, new Plasmids, and more in BioShock 2’s multiplayer mode.
In 1960, a man named Jack came down to Rapture and did things that would change the city forever. He killed the founder of Rapture, Andrew Ryan, took away the precious ADAM supply by taking the Little Sisters out of the system and then left the city to die. No leadership, no ADAM -- just an ocean of misery.
Ten years later, a new power has taken control of Rapture, Little Sisters have been brought back into the city and new enemies await that Jack wouldn’t be able to survive against in this new order of Rapture. Luckily, you’re not playing as a regular person. You’re a Big Daddy, the first one ever made. Not only are you a Big Daddy, but you’re one that has free will, and your actions will change Rapture once again.
I got to test drive the new Big Daddy in BioShock 2 at a worldwide press event 2K hosted in San Francisco not too long ago, and left with a sense of excitement. Hit the break to see what you can expect in the highly anticipated sequel.
Dementium: The Ward was the first game by the folks at Renegade Kid. It was an impressive first outing for the company -- they were able to make a great first-person shooter and survival horror game on the Nintendo DS, of all platforms.
Renegade Kid’s third offering for the DS brings us back to the world of Dementium, and I got a taste of the next chapter in this creepy series last night. A lot of the complaints from the first game have been addressed and my initial time with the game led me to believe that survival horror fans will be in for a treat when it comes to Dementium II.
"Played the first one, again, not the greatest but certainly a lot of potential. Serves as a testament to the guys considering is a DS game, but still scary. Play the first one, in the dark, with ..."...
It is good professional practice that when you first meet a developer to exchange business cards, then follow up with a friendly handshake. However, during one recent gaming opportunity, checking out an MMO coming late next year, we went to exchange business cards. Oddly, instead of a card I received a couple of plastic LEGO Mini-figs with contact information printed across the chest.
It's a good thing I was checking out LEGO Universe, otherwise that would be just plain weird. Besides the impractical nature of the Mini-figs (I mean, seriously, how am I to get that in my wallet), it was act that exemplifies the very nature of a LEGO game: fun.
Now LEGO Universe is a complex entity. Like all family oriented MMOs, there are some special challenges that developer NetDevil is going to have to deal with. Thankfully, it looks like they are on track for making a fun and very interesting MMO for all ages, one that you will understand after the jump.
"@SP420 - no you're right, it doesn't flow correctly.
It's not punctuation that's the problem; it needs rewriting.
And Xzyliac, what are Legos? What indeed, is a single Lego?"...
You know, I've been looking at Army of Two: The 40th Day for about six months now. After an initial preview, followed by another hands-off opportunity at E3, as well as a solid play through of the first level of the PSP version, I've been able to get a pretty good idea of what Army of Two: The 40th Day is going to offer. Just, you know, I haven't had a chance to play the damn thing.
Thankfully, I was able to rectify the situation earlier this week when EA had a special event in the always charming Tenderloin district of San Francisco devoted specifically to multiplayer in Army of Two: The 40th Day. While you might remember Army of Two's original 2v2 Warzone mode, you would be hard pressed to recognize what EA Montreal has done to multiplayer in Army of Two: The 40th Day. It's a whole different ball of wax this time around.
James Cameron’s Avatar is a movie a lot of people are excited for. I mean, for a movie that about a paralyzed man becoming the love child between Larry Bird and the opera singer from The Fifth Element, there’s been plenty to talk about. Why else would Mr. Cameron himself spend so much time talking about the film at this year’s E3? Probably because it’s awesome, and there are pretty pictures, and blue people, and stereoscopic 3D, and dinosaur things, and shooting, and James Cameron, and Titanic, and because he says it’s awesome.
Yeah.
But videogames! That’s why you’re here, right? I bet you’re really interested in hearing my impressions of the brand new Avatar game, right? This is very much true, but unlike the much touted Xbox 360 and PS3 version of the game, I played something a little different: James Cameron's Avatar: The Game for the Wii. Made by guys behind Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia, and some Tom Clancy titles, there is certainly a pedigree going on here. You’ll definitely want to hit the jump and see if what I saw would feed into your expectations.
Yesterday, Microsoft was kind enough to update my Xbox 360 with a preview of this November's upcoming Xbox LIVE updated.
That includes all of the fancy new features they've been talking about since E3, like Facebook, Twitter, and last.fm. Because I love you guys, I pushed myself through a nasty cold to check it out, and have created a few walkthrough videos that may give you a better idea of what to expect when the update hits your consoles.
Hit the jump for the videos, and if you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them in the comments.
Gaijin Games and BIT.TRIP. It's a dev team and a game series that has worked entirely within the the constraints of Nintendo's WiiWare downloadable channel. For those who have given their previous experiences a chance, what they have found is something that takes practically ancient gameplay elements, fuses them with modern design elements and a wildly eclectic approach to music. Both BIT.TRIP Beat and BIT.TRIP Core have proven to be interesting, and fun games.
So where does this leave us? Well, I had the opportunity to go down to the Santa Cruz, California-based development studio where three guys have chosen to work on a 6-part, mini-epic, indie game series. What you will see over the next few days is the result of hours of conversation, hands-on gameplay with their latest game, BIT.TRIP Void, and some interesting views on the industry. What this represents is just one peak into the hidden, casual, day-to-day life of a game developers and the world that they embody.
The other day, Capcom had an event to help spread the word about Dark Void. While you may have heard about the contest that was announced, the event didn't really lend itself to getting a good idea of what a person can expect from Dark Void. Not to say that there wasn't ample amount of play time, it was just a lot of what was playable had no context. Multiple levels were open for anyone to enjoy, but aside from a glimpse into the combat and the jet pack mechanics, there wasn't much to give you a firm grasp of what the title is aiming for.
And that's why companies are smart enough to give you preview code. After getting a good couple of hours play time in on the game, it's become incredibly apparent that the whole jet pack aspect of Dark Void barely scratches the surface of what the title delivers. If you were thinking that this title is going to be some sort of Rocketeer clone, or a jet pack Grand Theft Auto, then allow me to enlighten you as to why you're incorrect after the jump.
Don't worry, though. There's still plenty of jet pack.
"I thought the concept of this game seemed cool, then I watched a gameplay trailer. Holy shit, that's all I have to say. If you're not excited now then you probably shouldn't follow this game mu..."...
When Harmonix and Traveller’s Tales announced LEGO Rock Band back in April, the Internet went a bit crazy, charging that Harmonix had finally joined Activision among the ranks of the money-grubbing sequel-makers of the world. Granted, the mash-up seemed to come out of left field -- a LEGO-infused Rock Band game? Really? The connection between the two, not to mention the reasons for the game’s existence, seemed tenuous and dubious at best, respectively.
But then, people got a whiff of the game’s varied soundtrack, spanning profanity-free classics like Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” and the Ghostbusters theme, and they started to come around. Until now, though, we’ve been unclear as to exactly what LEGO brings to Rock Band, aside from miniature, blocky versions of rockers like Iggy Pop and David Bowie. I’m here to tell you all about it -- I saw a demo of LEGO Rock Band at MTV HQ in Manhattan last month, and I came away with the realization that a family-friendly game doesn’t necessarily have to pander to kids.
"I don't want music games to fade away. Its a neat concept to build a game around. Every once in a while a nice gem pops up in the industry based around music. The publishers just need to slow ..."...
Revealed awhile back, Bloober Team is finally ready to talk more about Last Flight, an upcoming downloadable title, designed exclusively for the Wii and WiiWare.
What happens when Anna, a mysterious and sexy Romanian woman tries to transport a body for burial on a flight, but it turns out that body is a vampire? Larry Adelman, a culinary critic on the same flight, steps up to save the day with knives.
The “wait, what the f*ck?” plot of Last Flight should appeal to fans of camp horror, while the gameplay -- inspired by beat 'em and hack'em ups like Sega's Golden Axe -- should turn some heads as well. But according to Bloober Team, writing it off as a simple brawler doesn't do the game justice – it's more of an “action-adventure.”
As you found out late last night, Valve unveiled the new Scavenge mode for Left 4 Dead 2. It's a interesting new game mode aimed at players looking for a quick fix of zombie killing. In fact, a round in Scavenge can go by so quick, that I didn't understand why I was already switching sides during my first match.
Before checking out Scavenge mode, we also got to try out versus mode on Dark Carnival. New infected models were seen, there's a cool Easter Egg at the carnival, the Spitter wears a pink thong and you can learn more about Left 4 Dead 2 after the break.
Recently THQ invited me out to sit down and play the final build of MX vs. ATV Reflex (Samit played an earlier build this year,) and while I was at it take a shot at helming both an MX bike and an ATV. I had a classmate back in high school who would do MX biking out on his farm because it was a nice, open area to build a whole course.
But then I got the location. Lot 16 of the Meadowlands Stadium.
A parking lot? Alright, I'll bite, I suppose. When I got there, I saw the track -- a ring of dirt piled up for a few hills with a couple of turns put into it. My first thought? Hamza nearly died getting that interview for Ride to Hell, while I'm actually going to die for this preview.
"Man... I would like to suggest the Developers to TRACK DOWN how many seconds a game demo keeps on someone console's HD... This REFLEX game, is a SHAME. Sorry to say. It's not acceptable to have a..."...
When you think of a contemporary urban warfare videogame, almost every one is going to think of, well, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. That's an amazing game, setting the standard for contemporary shooters. The Wii version, exists, yes, and any game entering the Wii market is going to compete with that.
So what do you do? Well, Destineer hopes to enter the niche ofmodern warfare stylings with Marines: Modern Urban Combat. It's a game from a company who has worked with the American military to create training simulations, so this is really a child of professional training tools. How does it stand up in my hands-off preview? Hit the jump for my impressions.
SSX 3 and Amped. These, at least for me, are the foundational games of an amazing series of snowboarding videogames. Sure, you can argue that Shawn White's entry was something worth mentioning, or maybe you are a dude who thinks Coolboarders was a good game (it's not), but the main issue is that the snowboarding genre of videogames has been stunted in the last few years. Not much innovation. either.
Stoked was a game that tried to change that. You remember Stoked, right? It was that snowboarding game that relied on a flick system much like Skate. Of course you don't. While reviews were rather high for the game (a rather respectable Metacritic score of 71, with major reviewers giving it much higher marks), Stoked floundered at market. Sad faces all around.
So enter Stoked: Big Air Edition. Less than a year after the February release of the original, this 1.5 edition, so to say, is coming out for holiday attack. The development studio, Bongfish, has listened to the major complaints for the game, and have promised to address these issues. I was hella stoked for Stoked last year, but hit the jump to see if the groove is still with this one.
It's an odd thing. While I listen almost exclusively pretentioushipstermusic, I've been pretty lucky in checking out DJ music games this year. I've had hands-on (and off) time with Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, so I was dead interested in checking out what big boy Activision has in store for DJ fans this year. I have to say, DJ Hero is wildly different than what I expected.
That's not bad! What I mean is, DJ Hero is a very different sort of music game. Nope, you won't find a strictly hip-hop soundtrack or a controller that entirely emulates a turntable. Instead, you get a product that is about transforming music into something wholly different, a mash-up game that takes music from different decades and genres, and splices them together in completely new ways. It is surreal and unexpected, and the best part is there is always a mix that someone will like.
Hit the jump to find out what I did and didn't like about DJ Hero.
"I played this in HMV last week and it is awsums. I am amazed how they've avoided pretty much all gameplay connections with the better known hero franchise - it's a totally new game with a totally..."...
There's a lot to like in the new Tokyo Game Show floor demos of Square Enix's upcoming epic, Final Fantasy XIII. We thought we might tell you what we liked about the demo rather than give you a boring play-by-play recap.
What's being shown here is quite a bit more deep than the short demo that was released in Japan earlier this year alongside the Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Blu-ray release. From the looks of the demo stations, these demos are running discs on PS3 slims, meaning that they're probably in the later part of development. Good news, I'd say.
There's actually two demos playable here between the various booths showing it. One features Snow and the other features Lightning. Both are fantastic. I played through both twice to really get a feel for the demo.
"You are literally a dunce. Everything you like about this is what is wrong with the series.
Here is my impression of you; "I LIKE PRETTY SHINY! I DON'T WANT TO PLAY MY GAMES OR HAVE A DYNAMIC EX..."...
Tales of Graces, one of the two new Tales games, certainly looked crisp and pretty when I walked up to the demo station at TGS this morning, and even though my experience with the Tales series is very limited, I did know that this entry in the series is a much-anticipated one for fans of it. Boasting to the longest title in the series to date with up to 70 hours of story and gameplay, it certainly seemed like something worth checking out.
While Square Enix licenses and puts out many pretty RPGs these days, I personally haven't made a really strong connection with any of them. Titles like Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant unfortunately failed to meet my expectations, and even though I have no plans to give up hope, let's just say my excitement for anything they do other than Final Fantasy has dwindled just a bit.
The Nier games seemed like they could possibly be a lot of fun though, and so once I got to TGS today I headed for the Microsoft booth to see if I could get my hands on Nier Gestalt. Sure enough, I got my wish, and if you'd like to read more about what the game was like, hit the break and I'll tell you.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again here because I agree with Colette; a man trying to save his daughter (and possibly saving the world in the process) is far more compelling than saving th..."...
When games are shrunk down from console titles to portables ones, it sometimes seems like a lesser experience. That's not the case with the move from PS3 to PSP in Valkyria Chronicles 2.
I played the show floor demo and watched a quick presentation here at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show today and came away impressed. Valkyria Chronicles' formula of blending action and strategy and a bold art style was already a winner, so they didn't really mess with much in this sequel. The visuals are mostly the same, keeping with that watercolor-ish sketch book look. Granted, there are less polygons and the game is at a much lower resolution, but you don't miss it. VC2 looks great and translates very well to the PSP's screen.
This really is just a smaller sized Valkyria Chronicles with a new story. No complaints here. The transition is so easy for players of the first title that it was easy for me to forget that I wasn't still playing the PS3 predecessor on a smaller screen. The BLiTZ battle system is still here, and the controls on the PSP work fine for it.
What is new is that up to four players will be able to play cooperatively. While the floor demo was only a single player campaign, we were shown video of some team up attacks. In this sense, it could be better than the original when it's all said and done.
Japan will see the release of Valkyria Chronicles 2 on the PSP early next year. Let's hope our version will follow soon after.
Wheelchairs with machine guns mounted to them? Check. That's in Dead Rising 2. That's a real thing.
Dead Rising 2 has the least handicapped handicap vehicle ever and plenty more craziness. We had a chance to check out a small single-player teaser of this zombie-packed sequel at a party Capcom threw for the international press attending Tokyo Game Show. We killed hundreds of zombies to bring you this preview. It kicked ass.
Yellow-jacketed Chuck Greene is locked in a casino. So are hordes of zombies. Why is he in a casino? We don't know yet, but we do know that there are plenty of new and interesting ways to kill zombies in a casino. The single-player demo didn't give much in the way of story, but it did show us that the game play feels exactly like its predecessor, Dead Rising. This is a great thing.
People like to tell me that I don't have a very strong attention span. Like it's my fault that chickens are consistently funny and that the socio-political situation of 17th century English Renaissance were so damn important like the time I fell asleep in stats class and accidentally farted myself awake (true story). Jeeze. Big deal if I tend to have an attention span of a squirrel. I like to say I get a lot done, but others tell me I need to chill the hell out.
Psh, their problem.
I say all this, as I think I've found possibly the best RPG for a person like me: Half Minute Hero. Dale got some hands-on time with the game during E3, and there's actually a demo floating around PlayStation Network if you are so inclined. However, I've got to say, that's only an initial impression, as I've seen how the game plays out in it's different modes, and it's one cracked out surreal experience. And I loved it. It's an RPG for the ADD. Hit the jump for more.
So what do you get when you take LittleBigPlanet and put it on the PSP? LittlerBiggerPlanet? I'm stretching for a joke here, but that's kind of what I got from my few minutes playing LittleBigPlanet PSP is that, yes, it is exactly like LittleBigPlanet for the PS3.
And that's really all there is to say about it. While there are some cuts to the game (and a rather major one at that, if you hit the jump), I can easily say that there really isn't too much more to say about the game other than it's portable and very much like the original. Previewing this is like previewing Scribblenauts. While the product is amazing, it's pretty easy to summarize.
So where does this leave us? Well, if you read the rest after the jump, you'll get some impressions, but trust me, this is very much the LittleBigPlanet you know and love.
"I'll be getting a PSP soon, but this game is totally out of my list: I find Sackboy creepy. I'm better off playing Silent Hill whose characters have at least a good reason of being creepy."...
Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake was not a game I was expecting to see at a Sony PSP event. After all, Fat Princess has been seen as the main go-to game for the PlayStation 3. But checking it out on the PSP, and noticing that almost everything has been ported downward with almost no problems, well... I was charmed. How did they pull it off?
Well, according to the rep, not far into the development of the PS3 original, the team at Titan Studios knew that they wanted to bring the experience to PSP players. With that, they began to send assets and game code to SuperVillian Studios, a studio more than ready to make a portable version of the original hit.
It looks like that was a smart decision, as Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake, is a very full featured game. With a substantial amount of new single player, multiplayer modes and maps, and even a new hat, I found a way to be re-charmed by Fat Princess.
"@TheStripe:
Think of it less as a sequel and more of a multi-platform release, with each platform getting specific bonuses
also, I'm pretty sure that the original game in combo with Uncharted 2 ..."...
If you've seen my other previews of games on display at last weeks PSPgo launch event, you know that Sony has quite a lineup this holiday season, both on PlayStation Network and UMD. One of the new special features coming to the PSP and PSPgo are the Minis. Yes, there are some problems with these smaller games, but the issue is that at their most basic, they are in fact games. I had a chance to check out one such PSP Minis game, Tetris.
And you know what? It's Tetris. Everything you would want (other than multiplayer) is here in this game. However, while the game is set to launch with the release of the PSPgo, no pricing has been confirmed for the game.
So what is new? Well, there is 12 new varieties of the traditional Tetris game that can be unlocked. Gravity has the blocks fall down to fill in gaps, Treadmill shifts the playing field one over after every drop, and one mode even has a beat meter like in Lumines that deletes lines as it crosses. Other new features include ghost-records of developer's best scores in certain modes, and a Trophy-like system called “feats” keeps track of unlockables. Also, while this is no Lumines-style Tetris (c'mon Pajitnov!), there's a rather cool aesthetic going down. It's dashing.
Ultimately, I'm fairly impressed with this version of Tetris. If it's cheap, Sony and publisher Electronic Arts should have no problem making the sell on this, and it sets a fairly high standard Minis to follow. Now if Sony would get going on that multiplayer issue... and pricing issue... and entire back catalog for the PSPgo...
Assassin's Creed was one of my favorite games to come out in 2007. There, I'll admit it.
Yes, some of the stuff was boring, and yes, I wasn't able to finish the game due to my stolen Xbox 360 and the save file, but damn if that game didn't offer exhilarating moments in an incredibly fascinating world. That's why I'm so disappointed with the change from Altair's Middle Eastern, Crusader's era to Ezio's Renaissance Italy in Assassin's Creed II. Sure, Italy is cool, but there was something really fascinating and unexplored with Altair. Italy just seems blasé to me.
So that's why I was really stoked about the PlayStation Portable game, Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines. This game takes place in between Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed II, and helps explain how we end up in the land of codpieces. Will we be playing as Altair? Yes. Will this be the Assassin's Creed we love? Maybe.
It's that song. I don't know if you know, but the main theme song from the original LocoRoco was so damn infectious I had to download it immediately. Then I found out it was sung by some little kid, and then I felt creepy. Children's music is usually like that.
So I have to say I have a funny relationship with LocoRoco. See, it's so saccharine and cute that I feel “off” after a just a few hours of play. Things might be different with the latest LocoRoco to come out, the PlayStation Network-exclusive, PlayStation Portable-only LocoRoco : Midnight Carnival. There's some new features in this not quite sequel that made me, yes, pretty damn stoked to play some more. And no creepy children songs were there to get in my head.
Follow the jump for my hands-on with LocoRoco: Midnight Carvival.
I've spent a lot of time looking at Army of Two: The 40th Day. I say looking, because although I was one of the first people to preview the game earlier this year, and I had the opportunity to check it out again this summer at E3, I still haven't actually played the damn game. Go figure.
So it's actually ironic that even though I've seen more of the "bigger" console title than most people out in the world, the first Army of Two game I played is the PlayStation Portable version. Actually, I wouldn't really call it playing an Army of Two game in the traditional sense, as the PSP version is an arcade twin stick shooter with a fixed perspective.
That's right. A twin stick shooter. Wild, I know. Hit the jump to understand what I mean.
"I'm surprised that this is the first Killzone: Liberation clone out there. That game was great! So like much of the other comments. I'm on the look-out for this game."...
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, is a game that acts as a pseudo-sequel to the original Operation Flashpoint back from 2001. While the studios are different, and the team behind it has a slightly different focus, the overall goal remains the same, to make the most realistic FPS on the market. I had a chance to check out the multiplayer component of the game earlier this week, and get some real hands-on time.
Is this game for everyone? Probably not, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Much like there are franchises like Gran Turismo contrasted by Mario Kart, something like Halo is going to need a solid, realistic contrast. That's pretty much the direction Codemasters has taken with this game. Of course, it's a little hard to explain in an introductory paragraph, so you might want to follow the jump to understand what I mean.
Telltale has treated you so good, turning you into a successful episodic franchise. Many would say you do the original justice, which is a wonderful thing to see. Oh, and Telltale has decided to release your original episode for free this weekend? How charming! I suppose I should pick that one up.
You see, new Monkey Island, when I met up with the Telltale team this week to take a look at your third episode, Lair of the Leviathan, well it was like being a virgin. There's all of these in-jokes and standards of the franchise that I just didn't understand. But I had a job to do, and I wanted to get to know you well.
Sadly, it's like coming into the middle of a film when dealing with you. I'd love to talk to you proper, but for any nosy people out there, I suppose I'm going to be giving away a bit of your plot. We should be careful, and tell them to follow the jump if they are willing to take the risk.
One of the best things about going to conventions like PAX, and covering competitions like Microsoft's Dream.Build.Play, is that I get the opportunity to play games that I would've avoided like the plague otherwise. The occupational hazards of games writing are pretty mild -- whereas some people are mangled by sharks or caught in textile mills over the course of their jobs, the worst thing I could say was "I had to play Cadenza Interactive's Sol Survivor, and I don't even like turret defense games!"
That doesn't really cut it.
Thankfully, even if you're not into turrets, defense, or turret defense, Sol Survivor provides enough of a spin on the genre to make it worth your while.
[Update: Sol Survivor was quietly released on Xbox Live Arcade two days ago, for 800 points]
Activision and Infinity Ward were kind enough to host an event in Hollywood last night to give us a first look at the multiplayer in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Infinity Ward's Vince Zampella kicked off the event with a quick briefing. He opened with an admission that the company has been tight-lipped on the game's multiplayer aspect. And then he yelled to the room: "Well, we’re f*cking talking about it tonight!”
Awkward pause. Laughter. Drinking.
They then shoveled tons of media people into one decked-out room where a few dozen Xbox 360s were set up with some maps of MW2 running. Each station was set up with a shiny LCD screen and some high-end Modern Warfare 2-themed headphones. Fancy. Infinity Ward people were on hand to walk us through the changes, but it took no time at all before games media people commenced killing. Promotions were popping up, giggling followed new weapon use, and attendees suddenly were all about the new throwing knife. Oh, the throwing knife.
"I still gotta get Call of Duty 4 on the 360, and World at War. I am gonna get Modern Warfare 2 probably along with Bayonetta some time around my birthday which is in January."...
If you would so kindly remember, a few years back Rockstar released a brawler based off the 1979 film, The Warriors. Widely well received, the game offered a fresh appreciation for the violent film. Since the 2007 release of the PSP version of that game, we've heard nothing on The Warriors as a videogame franchise.
Well, it looks like the Warriors are back, but this time, Rockstar is far from the project. Instead, Paramount Studios has taken the initiative, and The Warriors Street Brawl is now an Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network title. It's the 30th anniversary of the original film, and developers CTXM and Paramount Digital Entertainment hope to do the franchise justice.
Last week, we attended an Activision event to check out some new games, and it was there that we met up with the folks from Bizarre Creations, just in from the UK. They were in attendance looking to show off Blur's local multiplayer action. Bizarre's Ami Langton had a private suite set up in a Seattle hotel to give us a look at the four-player split screen multiplayer mode of their upcoming racer, so I grabbed our own Nick Chester and Colette Bennett to join in the fun. There was only one problem, though: We were short a player.
Enter Todd. Who is Todd? We're not exactly sure. All I know is that worked in the hotel where Activision was hosting this event. He could have been the elevator attendant, or just someone that works in the hotel. Who knows. He was in the elevator at the time we were headed up to Bizarre's suite. He asked us "what floor?" and we asked him to join us in some multiplayer Blur action.
"Of all the racing games coming out, im looking forward to Blur the most. Im sick of racing games that make you hit the brakes 200 meters before every turn. I miss the games where you just hammer ..."...
If Critter Crunch, an upcoming arcade puzzle game for the PlayStation Network, was on the Penny Arcade Expo show floor last weekend, I would have nominated it for Game of The Show. Granted, a puzzler might not have stood up to the incredible games on the floor this year, but I think it would have held its own. Capabara Games had previously released Critter Crunch for the iPhone, and it's a great game on that platform, but the PlayStation Network version is on a totally different level. This game looks beautiful and plays beautifully, and we were extremely impressed during our hands-on experience. This is the puzzle gaming experience to beat.
Critter Crunch is one of those games that only takes a minute to understand. You control the adorable, long-tonged Biggs, a guy who does not mind working for his meal. He'll use his tongue to snap up smaller critters and feed them to larger ones. Those are, in turn, fed to even larger ones. This is done until the critters burst, spewing forth tasty goodies for Biggs to gobble up. Like-colored critters in close proximity of the ones that burst cause chain reactions. Have you ever eaten so much that you barfed? That's a good thing in Critter Crunch; form a big enough critter bursting combo and you'll end up with more than enough goodies to share. Gobble them up and then regurgitate them into your son's mouth in the form of a rainbow barf stream.
If you played Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, you probably know that there were good things and, well, bad things with the game. However, that has not stopped the game from selling well enough (six million copies) for there to be a special edition for the game to be released, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition. This version includes the just released Tatooine DLC, as well as an exclusive non-canon Empire Strikes Back-themed level. For fans of Star Wars, this is all grand and good.
One thing people don't necessarily realize is that a PC and Mac version of this game is coming out, with all the DLC and special features of the console version. Aspyr, the team behind this port, is busy preparing this new version of the game.
I had an opportunity to check out how things are coming along, and find out what exactly is different with this port. Hit the jump for my impressions.
Dragon Age: Origins has been an uncharacteristically low-profile game from BioWare. The studio has certainly put its marketing weight behind the game, but it's failed to capture the imagination of gamers in the same way Mass Effect did. After having spent two days with the full product in Edmonton, I must say that the lack of attention the game is getting is something of a travesty.
BioWare's new IP might look like a Lord of the Rings clone to the untrained eye, but the game itself is original, inventive and bloody good fun. The mix of high fantasy and dark fantasy evokes more of a Black Company vibe than LotR, despite the plentiful presence of elves and dwarves.
If you're a fan of BioWare and RPGs in general, you ought to be keeping an eye on this one. Read on for the full preview, as I tell you exactly why.
THQ officially announced WWE: SmackDown! vs. Raw 2010 and Destructoid was there to capture every moment of the amazing press event. Watch as Ted DiBiase almost tosses me out the window, my tender momemt with Cody Rhodes, and Matt Hardy makes me his little borther. Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've crossed paths with WWE Superstars. Co-Starring in Brooke Knows Best has thought me the ancient art of taking a chair to the face from the Hulkster himself.
After your're done watching our "On Assignment" feature, make sure to hit the jump for my full hands-on preview of SvsR 2010. There's plenty of pictures and tons of video (and writing too!), which highlight all the neat new features and upgrades to Create-A-Wrestler, Create-A-Finisher, and the all new Story mode.
Dictators juggle. The good ones provide destructive industry on the richest land while appeasing environmentalists with monuments built to suit their fancy. They declare edicts and talk to their people on the ground. They rig elections, build roads, snuff resistance, balance budgets, smooth diplomatic tensions and create schools.
Bad ones forget to build farms that produce food instead of tobacco, or choose to neglect core cultural factions. Terrible, wretched, no-good dictators may even piss off the United States so much that She invades their tiny paradise.
These are some of the things I’ve learned while playing the PC version of Tropico 3, a city management and builder simulation due out this October. And while I feel like I have a solid foundation, you'll find out after the break, that I still don't know enough.
"Sounds a lot like the first tropico, which is undoubtedly a good game but I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Tropico 2 scaled it back a bit & was more fun (at least for me), probably miss th..."...
Last month, Harmonix unveiled Rock Band Network, an upcoming service that will allow musicians to get their songs into Rock Band and actually make cold, hard cash by doing so. It’s a groundbreaking project that has the potential to change the face of the music industry. In fact, indie label Sub Pop is already convinced -- A&R executive Tony Kiewel recently said that the company is looking into releasing some of its back catalog (including artists like Nirvana and The Shins), as well as future music, on Rock Band Network; he imagines such a digital release as just “another format alongside vinyl and CD.”
But how is this all going to work? How do you get from recording a song in real life to actually putting it up for sale through Rock Band Network? And how accessible is the process? I headed to MTV’s offices in Times Square on Tuesday to find out the answers to those questions and more -- hit the jump for a detailed write-up on the future of music.
Atlus is busy preparing some RPG lovin' for the PS3 with Demon's Souls. This open-ended online dungeon-y role-playing thing is beauty is being dangled before our eyes, teasing us for the October 6th release date. We've wanted to know a bit more about the gameplay's finer points for some time now, and now Atlus revealed a bit more about the World and Character Tendency systems to us in an online press showing.
Think of Tendency as a kind you character's karma or morality. You know how other games have a kind of reputation system? It's like that -- you'll see the game's world change depending on your choices and affiliations during gameplay.
So what's it going to be? Are you going to be a bad-ass? Or a nice guy?
"http://www.cdwow.com/games/Playstation-3-Game/DEMONS-SOULS/product/view/9839135
http://www.gameseek.co.uk/productdetail/PS3bpm9fhpfeq1/
Can anyone confirm if these are official PAL-UK releases?..."...
WET is one of those games that had to jump through special hoops to simply exist. Since the game was one of those victims of the Activision Blizzard merger, the very fact that the game still exists is a fortunate sign. Considering that female lead, Rubi Malone, is the one who does the killing, it's nice to see that the product of Artificial Mind and Movement, as well as Bethesda, is finally going to be released.
Considering that the September 15 launch is fast approaching, it was decided that the press take a look at the finished build of the game. While I saw some of the same levels that Dyson saw back in E3, I also had the opportunity to play around later on, with a more powerful Rubi. After an hour and a half of flipping, shooting and all that lies between, I got a pretty decent taste of this grindhouse game. Hit the jump, and see if this game is worth your time next month.
The last time I saw Fairytale Fights, I was surrounded by business types in a small room at E3, where I was the only member of the press. Weird to say the least, I was at least able to catch an early hands-off look at the game. Well, it's been a few months, and Playlogic has gotten farther along on the game -- so much so that they were ready to show the game off.
Even better, now that Playlogic has announced the release date for the game, as well as the final two characters for the game, Jack and the Beanstalk and The Naked Emperor, there's a strong sense that things are building up for Fairytale Fights. For those lucky ducks going to PAX, you'll get to check out the game yourselves. Everyone else? Hit the jump for my hands-on impressions.
"Multiplayer seems pretty solid, and with the promise of more DLC, which will include more PvP arenas, more weapons, and possibly more characters, it looks like there's going to be a lot for peopl..."...
Back at the end of July, I got to go back to Blizzard headquarters to take a look at StarCraft II once again. This time, instead of crushing other publications under the might of my hydralisk swarms, I got some hands-on time with the single-player mode of the game. I also got the chance to speak with Andy Chambers, the lead writer for the game, as well as Chris Sigaty, the lead producer, who gave us some interesting insights into how the single-player mode of the game was created and the challenges they faced while working on the game.
"I totally called the "hub" idea. 4th paragraph, for those who don't want to read.
I'm interested to see how it works in a game where 90% of your units are expendable. But mostly I wish I had..."...
Odd Society is an indie title that flew under our radar. Developed by Odd 1 Incorporated, it’s a simplistic point-and-click title created by a team of 20 or so passionate people. It launched at Gen Con ’09 and was playable on the show floor. I stopped for about forty-five minutes, talked with a few team members, and played a chunk of the game.
Think of a city-builder and shed all of its complexity. Odd Society is a basic builder with little nuance. You control a character named “Odd boy,” who has been charged with creating a thriving home for his once enslaved tribe. Several broken building foundations dot the colorful and small landscape, and you’ll need to collect materials in order to make these structures whole. Little construction signs makes it easy to spot the things that need built.
The building portion of the game is quest-driven. Members of the tribe are scattered throughout the map along with numerous resource-filled reservoirs. Upon speaking to a member, you’re promised an item -- which can be used, in turn, to build another building -- in exchange for cobbling together his or her building.
"@Farktoid : seconded. This game is a complete waste of time. What is interesting though, is that for the first time while playing a videogame, I felt tired, not just bored, but actually physicall..."...
5:00 PM on 11.23.2009, 
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Think L4D2 is an expansion? You're a f*cking idiot 
The Memory Card .76: Brotherly love
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