Wednesday, October 26, 2011
'Like' CastleVille by Zynga if you like donating to charity, in-game items
But don't worry if you don't reach the 5 million "Likes" in time, as Zynga plans to donate $10,000 to Direct Relief's Community Health Clinic in Dallas, Tex. to celebrate CastleVille, the debut game from Zynga Dallas. With promises of an engaging fantasy storyline with playful and memorable characters that, detailed art and animation and an original music score recorded with a 75-piece orchestra and full choir, you can at least "Like" CastleVille for how it sounds on paper.
Dick Clark stars in Retro World, a social game featuring Elvis, Belushi
PlayJam, which works with social game developers to bring social games to HDTVs from Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Sony, will bring both 2D and 3D-based Flash games to said flat screens. "Features such as billing, leader-boards, tournaments and integration with third party social networks and TV programming can be seamlessly integrated via PlayJam's SDK," PlayJam said in a release.
With PlayJam, Flash-based social games could hit your HDTV in 2012
PlayJam, which works with social game developers to bring social games to HDTVs from Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Sony, will bring both 2D and 3D-based Flash games to said flat screens. "Features such as billing, leader-boards, tournaments and integration with third party social networks and TV programming can be seamlessly integrated via PlayJam's SDK," PlayJam said in a release.
King.com hits top 10 Facebook developers, 1B games played a month
While that measure is across all King.com game platforms, the developer welcomes 17.6 million monthly and 4.2 million daily players on Facebook. Of course, the top performing King.com game is Bubble Saga. The company's Romania office will handle its mobile efforts, while North American business development will be led by former Gamelab president Jong Woo, King.com's new senior business development director in San Francisco.
Free Team Fortress 2 turns 20 to 30 percent of players into payers
Newell alluded to the average number of social gamers that pay for in-game items and boosts. Calling it a fairly recent statistic, the Valve CEO said that's far larger than games like, say, FarmVille experience. "We don't understand what's going on," Newell said. "All we know is we're going to keep running these experiments to try and understand better what it is that our customers are telling us."
Scott Steinberg: Facebook could be in music games' future [Interview]
According to Steinberg, music games inspired by Guitar Hero and Rock Band's wild success will get their second shot in the limelight on Facebook and in your smartphones. We recently sat down with Steinberg to hear his thoughts on just how Facebook games can take advantage of this golden opportunity, why it hasn't happened just yet and what the killer Facebook music game might be like.
Monday, October 24, 2011
LEGO Gears Of War Is As Amazing As It Sounds
Animation team Kooberz Studios figured, you know, all LEGO ever cover is kid’s franchises. There’s never anything with real gore in it. So they whipped up their own LEGO Gears of War video.
And it’s pretty great.
Clocking in at just under two minutes, the Locust could have been better, but Marcus and the way they incorporate game effects like the patented “Roadie Run” more than make up for that.
If you like what you see, you can check out a making-of video here.
And it’s pretty great.
Clocking in at just under two minutes, the Locust could have been better, but Marcus and the way they incorporate game effects like the patented “Roadie Run” more than make up for that.
If you like what you see, you can check out a making-of video here.
Mooncraft Is Like Minecraft. On The Moon.
There’s a point that a shameless rip-off of a more well-known, established game can be not quite shameless enough to be barred from Apple’s App Store. And Mooncraft knows the point well.
The game is a shameless rip-off of indie smash hit Minecraft. Utterly shameless. From the world design to your inventory management to your movement to the art style, this is Minecraft, only on the Moon, and it’s called Mooncraft, not Minecraft.
If you can get over the blatant intellectual property theft on display, Mooncraft actually serves a very practical purpose, in that it gives iOS gamers a smooth, stable Minecraft-esque experience on their phones or tablet. I mean, instead of building a house you’re building a base, and instead of being some guy you’re now some astronaut, but the gist of the games are almost identical: forage, build, survive.
The game is a shameless rip-off of indie smash hit Minecraft. Utterly shameless. From the world design to your inventory management to your movement to the art style, this is Minecraft, only on the Moon, and it’s called Mooncraft, not Minecraft.
If you can get over the blatant intellectual property theft on display, Mooncraft actually serves a very practical purpose, in that it gives iOS gamers a smooth, stable Minecraft-esque experience on their phones or tablet. I mean, instead of building a house you’re building a base, and instead of being some guy you’re now some astronaut, but the gist of the games are almost identical: forage, build, survive.
Should You Buy Rocksmith? No.
Today marks the release of Ubisoft’s Rocksmith, a music game that may seem a bit on the late end of the Great Music Game Craze of 2009. All the same, it comes with a tantalising promise: it allows players to plug a real guitar into their game console via a 1/4 inch-to-USB cable and play real notes along with the game.
This is an important step away from the plastic instruments of Rock Band — even the Fender “pro guitar” that was sold with Rock Band 3 used a MIDI output and not an analogue output. The ability to plug one’s own guitar into a PS3 or 360 to learn songs sounds pretty cool. But what do our guts say? It’s Gut Check time!
Brian Crecente, occasional guitar plunker and all-around terrible musician: The notion of learning to play a guitar by playing a game is always wonderfully appealing to me. It was with Power Gig and with Rock Band’s last title. And in many ways Rocksmith comes closer than any of the three to delivering on that promise. But ultimately what you have in Rocksmith isn’t a game, it’s an instructor, an instructor with a peculiar way of teaching that may get you to play songs, but still not understand what you’re really doing. If you’re looking for something that will mechanically run you through the progressive skills it takes to learn to play something like Nirvana’s In Bloom, then get this. But if you want a game give Rocksmith a pass. No.
Brian Ashcraft, skeptic: No way. If you are asking whether or not you should get Rocksmith, then definitely don’t. This is an extremely niche title, that could leave you with a large, pricey peripheral you never use. Rocksmith is for a special type of gamer. If you’re not sure if that’s pertains to you, then, dear god, do not get this.No.
Owen Good, Who Certainly Has Some Rock Star Facial Hair: Rocksmith does look interesting and certainly is a novel piece of software. But my gut says no because of its tight niche appeal and its need for one hellaciously expensive piece of hardware. Further, I could see casually interested musicians, with a guitar gathering dust, buying into the snake oil that this really will teach them to play guitar. That’s a claim that’s been sold in the back of comic books for decades, and it’s one of which I am always sceptical. No.
Kirk Hamilton, Multi-Instrumentalist and Music-Game Liker: OK, so. We’re getting a lot of “No”s across the board here, and as a result I’m going to give Rocksmith a “yes.” But it’s only a symbolic “yes”, because this game does a lot of things very right, and I want to reward that. It manages to do what Guitar Hero and even Rock Band only hinted at — take real-world musical instruction and apply it to a video game setting. It’s well-made, and it works… except for lag, which bugged the crap out of me but which I eventually got around.
Rocksmith is just so niche… I mean, this game is only a “yes” if you want a real guitar game that will teach you to play the instrument in the context of a Rock Band-like setting. I already felt a little weird about giving Dance Central 2 a yes for similar reasons, but at least anyone can play that game. Rocksmith is just so niche. It does what it does well, but only a very few people are going to really want that. So, it is with the realisation of the majority opinion that I raise my pick to the sky and say Yes.
And so we wind up with a “No” for a game that isn’t poorly made, it’s just a bit too late and a bit to niche. That said, if you’re a guitarist with a game console who wants a game to teach him some new metal songs, go forth and Rocksmith!
This is an important step away from the plastic instruments of Rock Band — even the Fender “pro guitar” that was sold with Rock Band 3 used a MIDI output and not an analogue output. The ability to plug one’s own guitar into a PS3 or 360 to learn songs sounds pretty cool. But what do our guts say? It’s Gut Check time!
Brian Crecente, occasional guitar plunker and all-around terrible musician: The notion of learning to play a guitar by playing a game is always wonderfully appealing to me. It was with Power Gig and with Rock Band’s last title. And in many ways Rocksmith comes closer than any of the three to delivering on that promise. But ultimately what you have in Rocksmith isn’t a game, it’s an instructor, an instructor with a peculiar way of teaching that may get you to play songs, but still not understand what you’re really doing. If you’re looking for something that will mechanically run you through the progressive skills it takes to learn to play something like Nirvana’s In Bloom, then get this. But if you want a game give Rocksmith a pass. No.
Brian Ashcraft, skeptic: No way. If you are asking whether or not you should get Rocksmith, then definitely don’t. This is an extremely niche title, that could leave you with a large, pricey peripheral you never use. Rocksmith is for a special type of gamer. If you’re not sure if that’s pertains to you, then, dear god, do not get this.No.
Owen Good, Who Certainly Has Some Rock Star Facial Hair: Rocksmith does look interesting and certainly is a novel piece of software. But my gut says no because of its tight niche appeal and its need for one hellaciously expensive piece of hardware. Further, I could see casually interested musicians, with a guitar gathering dust, buying into the snake oil that this really will teach them to play guitar. That’s a claim that’s been sold in the back of comic books for decades, and it’s one of which I am always sceptical. No.
Kirk Hamilton, Multi-Instrumentalist and Music-Game Liker: OK, so. We’re getting a lot of “No”s across the board here, and as a result I’m going to give Rocksmith a “yes.” But it’s only a symbolic “yes”, because this game does a lot of things very right, and I want to reward that. It manages to do what Guitar Hero and even Rock Band only hinted at — take real-world musical instruction and apply it to a video game setting. It’s well-made, and it works… except for lag, which bugged the crap out of me but which I eventually got around.
Rocksmith is just so niche… I mean, this game is only a “yes” if you want a real guitar game that will teach you to play the instrument in the context of a Rock Band-like setting. I already felt a little weird about giving Dance Central 2 a yes for similar reasons, but at least anyone can play that game. Rocksmith is just so niche. It does what it does well, but only a very few people are going to really want that. So, it is with the realisation of the majority opinion that I raise my pick to the sky and say Yes.
And so we wind up with a “No” for a game that isn’t poorly made, it’s just a bit too late and a bit to niche. That said, if you’re a guitarist with a game console who wants a game to teach him some new metal songs, go forth and Rocksmith!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
What The Discerning Diablo III Fan Is Wearing At BlizzCon 2011
Every year geek clothing companyJinx uses BlizzCon as an excuse to roll out their latest and greatest Blizzard-inspired fashions. This year’s Demon Hunter coat and Tyrael hoodie make me want to be a better, thinner man.
Over the years Jinx has grown from a company that made licensed T-shirts to a company that designs and manufactures their own clothing line, creating unique and striking pieces that completely kick the arse of any other gamer clothing.
Take the Demon Hunter coat, a garment perfect for hiding a crossbow, you know, just in case. It’s a hip-length affair with a striking cut, custom buttons and a cross design on the back to keep demons at bay. It’s the type of garment you pick up even though the triple extra-large makes you look like a stuffed sausage, in the hopes that you’ll actually lose weight once you get home and stop eating convention food. Just throwing out a hypothetical there, of course.
The Tyrael hoodie features a nifty two-tone design, a wing design that starts on the front and continues onto the back, and an incredibly sexy raised collar that would completely hide the additional chin that’s caused by the issue I mentioned in the previous paragraph.
The two pieces made their debut at BlizzCon this weekend, with the Demon Hunter running $US75 and the Tyrael $US60 — prices that will rise once they hit the Jinx website after the show.
There’s also a lovely pair of Diablo stockings for sale, but they snag on my leg hair. No, you can’t have pictures.
Over the years Jinx has grown from a company that made licensed T-shirts to a company that designs and manufactures their own clothing line, creating unique and striking pieces that completely kick the arse of any other gamer clothing.
Take the Demon Hunter coat, a garment perfect for hiding a crossbow, you know, just in case. It’s a hip-length affair with a striking cut, custom buttons and a cross design on the back to keep demons at bay. It’s the type of garment you pick up even though the triple extra-large makes you look like a stuffed sausage, in the hopes that you’ll actually lose weight once you get home and stop eating convention food. Just throwing out a hypothetical there, of course.
The Tyrael hoodie features a nifty two-tone design, a wing design that starts on the front and continues onto the back, and an incredibly sexy raised collar that would completely hide the additional chin that’s caused by the issue I mentioned in the previous paragraph.
The two pieces made their debut at BlizzCon this weekend, with the Demon Hunter running $US75 and the Tyrael $US60 — prices that will rise once they hit the Jinx website after the show.
There’s also a lovely pair of Diablo stockings for sale, but they snag on my leg hair. No, you can’t have pictures.
Grand Theft Auto III: The Birth Of A Media Scapegoat
Yet even in the jaded regard of the immediate post 9/11 times, and the jingoism and paranoia for which they are remembered today, it’s amusing to consider that Grand Theft Auto III might have been mainstream television’s secondary target. At the time Microsoft Flight Simulator was under fire because of its realistic depiction, not just of how to fly a 747 (turned into missiles on 9/11) but also of the New York skyline and the ability to fly aircraft into real buildings. The controversy was enough that Microsoft later removed the World Trade Center from the game.
According to a transcript search, Fox News — yes, that Fox News — didn’t directly go after Grand Theft Auto until May 22, 2003, seven months after the release of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. At the time Washington State was considering a law forbidding the sale of games depicting cop-killing violence. Fox’s analyst, naturally, said this shouldn’t pose any constitutional problem. A court later said otherwise.
So with all that out of the way, here is the first mainstream television mention, in the United States, that I can find of Grand Theft Auto III after its October 22 release. It comes from the Saturday Today Show on NBC, on December 15, 2001. The host was Soledad O’Brien, and the speaker below is Dr David Walsh from the National Institute on the Media and the Family.
You know, I do have some problem with video games where the intended purpose, you know, is to do bad things. So, for example, right now a very popular game is Grand Theft Auto 3. The purpose of the game is to perpetrate crime. You advance in the game by getting more proficient at crime. Now, that’s a game, you know, that I really have a — have problem with and certainly not appropriate for children.
Grand Theft Auto III absolutely enabled many acts that cannot be discussed in polite company. Whether it condoned or instructed players in how to do them remains, to this day, the dividing line between a mainstream media that needs things to be boiled down to an easily understood intent and purpose, and artists and enthusiasts who view them in a more layered and complicated way.
What Grand Theft Auto III did not do was reward anyone for their proficiency at crime, no matter how much it is accused of doing so. Not to waste too much breath on it, but that depiction assumes the game is based on a point or advancement system tied to the perpetration of crimes, as if cops and hookers are like dots in a Pac-Man game. Many of the game’s core can be finished without firing a shot, though they may countenance criminal acts.
The goal of Grand Theft Auto III was then, and still is 10 years later, only to complete the game’s narrative — a mature, even sordid tale, but one rated only for adult consumption, and no worse than Taxi Driver.
According to a transcript search, Fox News — yes, that Fox News — didn’t directly go after Grand Theft Auto until May 22, 2003, seven months after the release of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. At the time Washington State was considering a law forbidding the sale of games depicting cop-killing violence. Fox’s analyst, naturally, said this shouldn’t pose any constitutional problem. A court later said otherwise.
So with all that out of the way, here is the first mainstream television mention, in the United States, that I can find of Grand Theft Auto III after its October 22 release. It comes from the Saturday Today Show on NBC, on December 15, 2001. The host was Soledad O’Brien, and the speaker below is Dr David Walsh from the National Institute on the Media and the Family.
You know, I do have some problem with video games where the intended purpose, you know, is to do bad things. So, for example, right now a very popular game is Grand Theft Auto 3. The purpose of the game is to perpetrate crime. You advance in the game by getting more proficient at crime. Now, that’s a game, you know, that I really have a — have problem with and certainly not appropriate for children.
Grand Theft Auto III absolutely enabled many acts that cannot be discussed in polite company. Whether it condoned or instructed players in how to do them remains, to this day, the dividing line between a mainstream media that needs things to be boiled down to an easily understood intent and purpose, and artists and enthusiasts who view them in a more layered and complicated way.
What Grand Theft Auto III did not do was reward anyone for their proficiency at crime, no matter how much it is accused of doing so. Not to waste too much breath on it, but that depiction assumes the game is based on a point or advancement system tied to the perpetration of crimes, as if cops and hookers are like dots in a Pac-Man game. Many of the game’s core can be finished without firing a shot, though they may countenance criminal acts.
The goal of Grand Theft Auto III was then, and still is 10 years later, only to complete the game’s narrative — a mature, even sordid tale, but one rated only for adult consumption, and no worse than Taxi Driver.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
We NEED more PS2 HD collections!!!
How many times have you turned on your PS3, started to feel nostalgic and reached for one of your favourite ol' PS2 games that you miss, only to remember that your stupid PS3 doesn't have backwards compatibility for the PS2? That's all fine for me, as I keep my dusty old PS2 still hooked up to my TV - but what if some other bloke isn't as lucky, and has no way of replaying his favourite ever game on the widest spread console in the world? Yeah, it is the best-selling console in the history of games, and yet there is little to no support for it now. Of course, this could've all been avoided by Sony simply adding backwards compatibility to ALL PS3s instead of a select few. I mean, most of them play PS1 games - and the ones that DO play PS2 games are either unable to do PS1 games, or are just plain bad at reading PS2 discs!
Now, Sony are trying to patch this up by releasing PS2 HD Collections - which started with God of War 1+2, and that was seen as a total success. Later on, we are now getting others such as ths Sly Cooper HD Collection, and the Ico HD Collection. There's no doubt that the ability to play old PS2 games in vibrant HD is a hit with us fans. However, the PS3 is on its last legs with the next-gen consoles coming out in a couple of years. The original games are running out, and it is gonna be sequels from now on - so now would be the perfect time to bring back old PS2 franchises in HD, to remind people of the story for the next installment. I can see some people thinking it is stupid to re-buy a collection for a game you already own on a previous console, but believe me:
Now, Sony are trying to patch this up by releasing PS2 HD Collections - which started with God of War 1+2, and that was seen as a total success. Later on, we are now getting others such as ths Sly Cooper HD Collection, and the Ico HD Collection. There's no doubt that the ability to play old PS2 games in vibrant HD is a hit with us fans. However, the PS3 is on its last legs with the next-gen consoles coming out in a couple of years. The original games are running out, and it is gonna be sequels from now on - so now would be the perfect time to bring back old PS2 franchises in HD, to remind people of the story for the next installment. I can see some people thinking it is stupid to re-buy a collection for a game you already own on a previous console, but believe me:
graphics glitches fix in medal of honor 2010 pc
n Medal Of Honor 2010, the configuration file you need to edit is "Settings.ini", which can be found from:
* For Windows 7/Vista:
C:Users[Zawad]DocumentsMedal of HonorMultiplayersettings.ini
* For Windows XP:
C:Documents and Settings[Zawad]My DocumentsMedal of HonorMultiplayersettings.ini
1. Medal of Honor 2010 Graphics Performance Improving
The first thing is to update drivers of your AMD or Nvidia graphics card.
* AMD ATI Catalyst 11.00 (8.782) for Windows 7, Vista and XP
* Free Download NVIDIA ForceWare 260.63 Beta
2. Medal of Honor 2010 Anti-Aliasing (MSAA) Tweaking
The higher you set Anti-Aliasing (MSAA), the more resources the game will consume. So set it low, if you want to increase the performance of your machine. The Best Performance is 0 (1x), and the best Quality is 3 (4x).
3. Tweak Medal of Honor 2010 DirectX Tweaking
If you are on Windows 7/Vista, you may opt to run the game in DirectX 9 at the expense of graphics and eye candy you get while running the game on DirectX 10. So the best performance is DirectX 9.
4. Medal of Honor 2010 Textures Tweaking
Quality of general textures available settings: low, medium, high. The best is to tweak it to High.
5. Medal of Honor 2010 Screen Display Tweaking
Get a 1024*768 resolution and set Fullscreen=true.
6. Medal of Honor Field Of View Guide Tweaking
Unlike Battlefield Bad Company 2, Medal of Honor 2010 gives you option to change your Field of View (FOV), you can change your FOV up to 80, it is 55 by default.
* For Windows 7/Vista:
C:Users[Zawad]DocumentsMedal of HonorMultiplayersettings.ini
* For Windows XP:
C:Documents and Settings[Zawad]My DocumentsMedal of HonorMultiplayersettings.ini
1. Medal of Honor 2010 Graphics Performance Improving
The first thing is to update drivers of your AMD or Nvidia graphics card.
* AMD ATI Catalyst 11.00 (8.782) for Windows 7, Vista and XP
* Free Download NVIDIA ForceWare 260.63 Beta
2. Medal of Honor 2010 Anti-Aliasing (MSAA) Tweaking
The higher you set Anti-Aliasing (MSAA), the more resources the game will consume. So set it low, if you want to increase the performance of your machine. The Best Performance is 0 (1x), and the best Quality is 3 (4x).
3. Tweak Medal of Honor 2010 DirectX Tweaking
If you are on Windows 7/Vista, you may opt to run the game in DirectX 9 at the expense of graphics and eye candy you get while running the game on DirectX 10. So the best performance is DirectX 9.
4. Medal of Honor 2010 Textures Tweaking
Quality of general textures available settings: low, medium, high. The best is to tweak it to High.
5. Medal of Honor 2010 Screen Display Tweaking
Get a 1024*768 resolution and set Fullscreen=true.
6. Medal of Honor Field Of View Guide Tweaking
Unlike Battlefield Bad Company 2, Medal of Honor 2010 gives you option to change your Field of View (FOV), you can change your FOV up to 80, it is 55 by default.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Less is better?
A recent trend in games I've really been not a fan of is "stream lining" the experience. This seems to be the phrase developers drop in interviews when they remove features fans loved in their last iteration of a franchise.
A perfect example is Mass Effect 2 removing a LARGE amount of the customization options with weapons and armor that ME1 had. Why? If Bioware really wanted to streamline the experience they could have by refining armor types, having more effective ammo types for weapons, but instead they full on ditched those elements.
Coming out soon is Marvel vs Capcom 3. Another fighting game from Capcom, and you would think would be a game that has more features from past fighters. However, Capcom fully removed features like replays and spectators in lobbies which were found in Super Street Fighter 4 that came out just last year.
It seems developers are cutting corners to get games out sooner, but at what cost? Sure you'll get to play Mass Effect 3 this year, and Mass Effect 2 was last year, but wouldn't you rather take an extra as a player if you know the game will be more packed with content and well polished? It seems developers are so busy trying to keep interest in their series by constantly pumping out sequels ASAP they let quality become a second thought. Another example would be Call of Duty Black Ops and its online component especially on Playstation 3. Modern Warfare 2 and World at War before it had similar issues, but shouldn't a developer be looking out to FIX these things and make them better?
Developers shouldn't be scared to take extra time to make their games. Interest for game series that are good or great never die, and when that eventual sequel comes out if it IS an amazing game then gamers will support it. Would it have been great to get Starcraft 2 5 years ago? Sure, but not if it means the experience would be half as good as it is now with all the amazing Battle.net features. I'm not saying developers can't make a bang up sequel within a year or two that steps it up in every way from the first, but lately it seems too many developers don't live up to that. We only had to wait 2 years for Dead Space 2 and it delivered.
What do you think? Do you see this trend being harmful to games you love? Do you think the cutting of features or not focusing to fix issues/make them worse is passable if you get the next iteration sooner?
A perfect example is Mass Effect 2 removing a LARGE amount of the customization options with weapons and armor that ME1 had. Why? If Bioware really wanted to streamline the experience they could have by refining armor types, having more effective ammo types for weapons, but instead they full on ditched those elements.
Coming out soon is Marvel vs Capcom 3. Another fighting game from Capcom, and you would think would be a game that has more features from past fighters. However, Capcom fully removed features like replays and spectators in lobbies which were found in Super Street Fighter 4 that came out just last year.
It seems developers are cutting corners to get games out sooner, but at what cost? Sure you'll get to play Mass Effect 3 this year, and Mass Effect 2 was last year, but wouldn't you rather take an extra as a player if you know the game will be more packed with content and well polished? It seems developers are so busy trying to keep interest in their series by constantly pumping out sequels ASAP they let quality become a second thought. Another example would be Call of Duty Black Ops and its online component especially on Playstation 3. Modern Warfare 2 and World at War before it had similar issues, but shouldn't a developer be looking out to FIX these things and make them better?
Developers shouldn't be scared to take extra time to make their games. Interest for game series that are good or great never die, and when that eventual sequel comes out if it IS an amazing game then gamers will support it. Would it have been great to get Starcraft 2 5 years ago? Sure, but not if it means the experience would be half as good as it is now with all the amazing Battle.net features. I'm not saying developers can't make a bang up sequel within a year or two that steps it up in every way from the first, but lately it seems too many developers don't live up to that. We only had to wait 2 years for Dead Space 2 and it delivered.
What do you think? Do you see this trend being harmful to games you love? Do you think the cutting of features or not focusing to fix issues/make them worse is passable if you get the next iteration sooner?
Call of Duty Subscription
Remember when there was all that talk about how big bad activision would start charging a subscription fee and everyone got scared...
Everybody was saying, "Oh if that ever happens I'm not playing Cod ever again and activision; I can guarantee you that"
Chances are you do remember that, but now I'm gonna ask you to look back on your black ops experience. The single player was awesome as expected. Zombies was pretty fun. OH and the multiplayer...
was extremely similar to Modern Warfare 2's, albeit a slight facelift, balancing, different maps, and a few other extras (and depending on which version you got; much more bug ridden/glitchy/halfassed port)
Rewind a little further to World at war and you have a multiplayer that is still very similar but atleast tried to differentiate itself from Modern Warfare.
Anyways, I guess the point that I am trying to express to you guys is that you are already subscribing to Call of Duty
and have been for 4 years.
Don't you see the games multiplayer changes very little every year they add a new 4-5 hour campaign with your package and a few other extras; and then they send you off and on your way with a nice yearly expansion/ subscription pack.
I'm not saying that Call of Duty is evil and it sucks, no quite the contrary, everyone is so satisfied with the game every year due to the massive replay value and content stuffed into the game each year that they havent even bothered to realize that they are pretty much subscribed. (with the exception of us ps3 owners who got shafted)
Everybody was saying, "Oh if that ever happens I'm not playing Cod ever again and activision; I can guarantee you that"
Chances are you do remember that, but now I'm gonna ask you to look back on your black ops experience. The single player was awesome as expected. Zombies was pretty fun. OH and the multiplayer...
was extremely similar to Modern Warfare 2's, albeit a slight facelift, balancing, different maps, and a few other extras (and depending on which version you got; much more bug ridden/glitchy/halfassed port)
Rewind a little further to World at war and you have a multiplayer that is still very similar but atleast tried to differentiate itself from Modern Warfare.
Anyways, I guess the point that I am trying to express to you guys is that you are already subscribing to Call of Duty
and have been for 4 years.
Don't you see the games multiplayer changes very little every year they add a new 4-5 hour campaign with your package and a few other extras; and then they send you off and on your way with a nice yearly expansion/ subscription pack.
I'm not saying that Call of Duty is evil and it sucks, no quite the contrary, everyone is so satisfied with the game every year due to the massive replay value and content stuffed into the game each year that they havent even bothered to realize that they are pretty much subscribed. (with the exception of us ps3 owners who got shafted)
Disney XD Games
Disney Friends for Change Games
To support the “Disney Friends for Change Games” on Disney Channel and Disney XD, Disneychannelgames.biz has launched an online destination at Disneyxd.biz, where kids and families can take part in the Games from home and help the planet — by making personal pledges of their own, playing online versions of the Games, and making art that matters! When kids play online versions of the Games at Disneyxd.biz, they can donate the points they earn to one of the four charities involved. At the end of the Games, the charity with the most points given by the Disney.com online community will receive $100K.
Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney
In addition to playing online games for charity, kids can view exclusive video content and participate in a number of funonline activities. Kids can create online art on the Friends for Change Group Wall at Disneyxd.biz, where they can see the transformative power of friends everywhere pitching in to make a difference. The Disneyxd.biz site will also feature exclusive videos from the “Disney Friends for Change Games,” including a special wrap-up show hosted by Tiffany Thorntonand Jason Earles. Kids can also download the official 2011 Friends for Change anthem “We Can Change the World” featuring Bridgit Mendler on Disneyxd.biz
Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney
Over 30 Disney Channel Games and Disney XD Games stars from around the globe will compete in “Disney Friends for Change Games.” Four teams will play on behalf of a global charity — Fauna and Flora International, World Wildlife Fund, Ocean Conservancy and UNICEF. For five weeks beginning Friday, June 24, Disney Channelwill present “Disney Friends for Change Games” in interstitials during its Friday, Saturday and Sunday primetime original series programming, and Disney XD will present a special episode from the games Monday nights beginning June 27 (9:30 p.m., ET/PT). The Games will culminate with a special half-hour episode Sunday, July 31 on Disney Channel.
Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney
About Disney’s Friends for Change
Disney’s Friends for Change is a multi-platform initiative that helps inspire kids and families to join together and make a positive impact on their world (and the people and animals that live there). Through PSAs on-air and online tool-kits, the program aims to provide useful information to help kids make small changes that add up to big differences. As part of the program, Disney donates $1 million dollars annually to fund projects all around the globe and has funded over 41 projects that help the planet ranging from educational & community programs to species & habitat protection. Friends for Change currently has over 4 million actions taking place from kids in 33 countries throughoutthe United States, Europe, Latin America, Japan, India and China. For more information, please visit Disneyxd.biz.
- Disney XD gets its game on
Astral-owned Disney XD Canada is delving deeper into the gaming space in a month-long promotion that will see the multi-platform brand take viewers behind the scenes of June’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), offer up two new games on DisneyXD.biz every week and give away five video game consoles to Disney XD viewers.
The Level Up contest runs through the month of September and is set to feature the star of What’s, Up Warthogs!, Eduard Witzke, reporting from this year’s E3 in eight short interstitial reports entitled Ed’s E3. New episodes of Ed’s E3 will premiere every Tuesday and Thursday from September 1 and will air throughout the Disney XD schedule. Additionally, a weekly entry word will appear in each episode, which can be used to enter the Level Up contest online to win one of five game consoles.
On top of entering the Level Up contest on DisneyXD.ca, viewers can explore a dedicated minisite to re-watch episodes of Ed’s E3 as well as test their skills on brand-new Disney XD games. Two new games will be unveiled each week with a bonus game available for those who can work out the special DisneyXD.biz game code.
To support the “Disney Friends for Change Games” on Disney Channel and Disney XD, Disneychannelgames.biz has launched an online destination at Disneyxd.biz, where kids and families can take part in the Games from home and help the planet — by making personal pledges of their own, playing online versions of the Games, and making art that matters! When kids play online versions of the Games at Disneyxd.biz, they can donate the points they earn to one of the four charities involved. At the end of the Games, the charity with the most points given by the Disney.com online community will receive $100K.
Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney
In addition to playing online games for charity, kids can view exclusive video content and participate in a number of funonline activities. Kids can create online art on the Friends for Change Group Wall at Disneyxd.biz, where they can see the transformative power of friends everywhere pitching in to make a difference. The Disneyxd.biz site will also feature exclusive videos from the “Disney Friends for Change Games,” including a special wrap-up show hosted by Tiffany Thorntonand Jason Earles. Kids can also download the official 2011 Friends for Change anthem “We Can Change the World” featuring Bridgit Mendler on Disneyxd.biz
Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney
Over 30 Disney Channel Games and Disney XD Games stars from around the globe will compete in “Disney Friends for Change Games.” Four teams will play on behalf of a global charity — Fauna and Flora International, World Wildlife Fund, Ocean Conservancy and UNICEF. For five weeks beginning Friday, June 24, Disney Channelwill present “Disney Friends for Change Games” in interstitials during its Friday, Saturday and Sunday primetime original series programming, and Disney XD will present a special episode from the games Monday nights beginning June 27 (9:30 p.m., ET/PT). The Games will culminate with a special half-hour episode Sunday, July 31 on Disney Channel.
Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney
About Disney’s Friends for Change
Disney’s Friends for Change is a multi-platform initiative that helps inspire kids and families to join together and make a positive impact on their world (and the people and animals that live there). Through PSAs on-air and online tool-kits, the program aims to provide useful information to help kids make small changes that add up to big differences. As part of the program, Disney donates $1 million dollars annually to fund projects all around the globe and has funded over 41 projects that help the planet ranging from educational & community programs to species & habitat protection. Friends for Change currently has over 4 million actions taking place from kids in 33 countries throughoutthe United States, Europe, Latin America, Japan, India and China. For more information, please visit Disneyxd.biz.
- Disney XD gets its game on
Astral-owned Disney XD Canada is delving deeper into the gaming space in a month-long promotion that will see the multi-platform brand take viewers behind the scenes of June’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), offer up two new games on DisneyXD.biz every week and give away five video game consoles to Disney XD viewers.
The Level Up contest runs through the month of September and is set to feature the star of What’s, Up Warthogs!, Eduard Witzke, reporting from this year’s E3 in eight short interstitial reports entitled Ed’s E3. New episodes of Ed’s E3 will premiere every Tuesday and Thursday from September 1 and will air throughout the Disney XD schedule. Additionally, a weekly entry word will appear in each episode, which can be used to enter the Level Up contest online to win one of five game consoles.
On top of entering the Level Up contest on DisneyXD.ca, viewers can explore a dedicated minisite to re-watch episodes of Ed’s E3 as well as test their skills on brand-new Disney XD games. Two new games will be unveiled each week with a bonus game available for those who can work out the special DisneyXD.biz game code.
Disney XD News
DISNEY XD TO PREMIERE “FORT BOYARD – ULTIMATE CHALLENGE,” A REALITY ADVENTURE SERIES ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 17
Geno Segers (Disney XD’s “Pair of Kings”) and popular British television presenter Laura Hamilton (“Dancing On Ice”) host an exciting competition requiring brainpower, courage and teamwork, “Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge,” a 10-part series premiering MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 (8:30-9:00 p.m., ET/PT), with a thrilling finale MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney XD. Based on the international game show phenomenon “Fort Boyard,” the series is set in a 19th century sea fort off the coast of France. It introduces six teams — 24 teens from the United States and the United Kingdom — who team up for a tournament where only one team will ultimately get the key to unlock the historic fort’s hidden treasures and win the honor of calling themselves “the conquerors of Fort Boyard.”
The reality adventure series marks the first kids’ version of the popular game show which premiered more than 20 years ago and has since been produced in over 38 countries worldwide.
In the premiere episode, team members from the Red Vipers and Yellow Scorpions compete in the first round of challenges to find out which team has what it takes to move on to become the conquerors of the fort.
“Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge” is produced by Zodiak Media Group’s production companies The Foundation and Adventure Line Productions, who created the concept for the original “Fort Boyard” and have been producing the series for 22 years.
The executive producers are Nigel Pickard and Ged Allen for The Foundation, Pierre Godde for Adventure Line Productions and Jamila Metran for CiTV. The producer is Steve Pinhay.
The series will be televised on Disney XD cable and satellite channels around the world (excluding France and the Nordics) and CiTV in the UK.
About “Fort Boyard”
“Fort Boyard” is the most successful adventure game show in the world, having sold to over 30 territories, while dominating France 2′s primetime summer schedule every year since 1990. The action takes place in an imposing fortress built in the middle of the ocean. This provides the perfect backdrop for strenuous, against-the-clock physical challenges and mind-boggling riddles, featuring strange characters and fearsome animals. All this and more awaits those attempting to reach the Treasure Room! Only the fittest and most intelligent contestants can hope to conquer Fort Boyard.
About Disney XD:
Disney XD is a basic cable channel and multi-platform brand showcasing a compelling mix of live-action and animated programming for Kids age 6-14, hyper-targeting boys and their quest for discovery, accomplishment, sports, adventure and humor. Disney XD branded content spans television, online, mobile and VOD platforms. The programming includes series, movies and short-form, as well as sports-themed programming developed with ESPN. In the U.S., Disney XD is seen on a 24-hour, advertiser supported network that reaches over 78 million households via its basic cable and satellite affiliates. There are 22 other Disney XD Games channels around the world.
Geno Segers (Disney XD’s “Pair of Kings”) and popular British television presenter Laura Hamilton (“Dancing On Ice”) host an exciting competition requiring brainpower, courage and teamwork, “Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge,” a 10-part series premiering MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 (8:30-9:00 p.m., ET/PT), with a thrilling finale MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney XD. Based on the international game show phenomenon “Fort Boyard,” the series is set in a 19th century sea fort off the coast of France. It introduces six teams — 24 teens from the United States and the United Kingdom — who team up for a tournament where only one team will ultimately get the key to unlock the historic fort’s hidden treasures and win the honor of calling themselves “the conquerors of Fort Boyard.”
The reality adventure series marks the first kids’ version of the popular game show which premiered more than 20 years ago and has since been produced in over 38 countries worldwide.
In the premiere episode, team members from the Red Vipers and Yellow Scorpions compete in the first round of challenges to find out which team has what it takes to move on to become the conquerors of the fort.
“Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge” is produced by Zodiak Media Group’s production companies The Foundation and Adventure Line Productions, who created the concept for the original “Fort Boyard” and have been producing the series for 22 years.
The executive producers are Nigel Pickard and Ged Allen for The Foundation, Pierre Godde for Adventure Line Productions and Jamila Metran for CiTV. The producer is Steve Pinhay.
The series will be televised on Disney XD cable and satellite channels around the world (excluding France and the Nordics) and CiTV in the UK.
About “Fort Boyard”
“Fort Boyard” is the most successful adventure game show in the world, having sold to over 30 territories, while dominating France 2′s primetime summer schedule every year since 1990. The action takes place in an imposing fortress built in the middle of the ocean. This provides the perfect backdrop for strenuous, against-the-clock physical challenges and mind-boggling riddles, featuring strange characters and fearsome animals. All this and more awaits those attempting to reach the Treasure Room! Only the fittest and most intelligent contestants can hope to conquer Fort Boyard.
About Disney XD:
Disney XD is a basic cable channel and multi-platform brand showcasing a compelling mix of live-action and animated programming for Kids age 6-14, hyper-targeting boys and their quest for discovery, accomplishment, sports, adventure and humor. Disney XD branded content spans television, online, mobile and VOD platforms. The programming includes series, movies and short-form, as well as sports-themed programming developed with ESPN. In the U.S., Disney XD is seen on a 24-hour, advertiser supported network that reaches over 78 million households via its basic cable and satellite affiliates. There are 22 other Disney XD Games channels around the world.
Games I love (and the little questions that drive me bonkers)
We all have things that we love, but with a little thing about them that drives you nuts. Kinda like an otherwise adorable dog with an ugly, distracting rash from licking itself. Here are some games I feel the same way about.
"Why the HELL aren't we using magic?" - Lots and lots of RPGs
Let's get an obvious one out of the way first. It isn't so bad when characters regularly don't use life-saving spells and other skills outside of battle. But it gets annoying that ONE TIME when they do. Because Rydia decided to actually heal your party that one time in FFIV, so of course you'd be able to un-petrify the two kids who got turned to stone, right? Or cast life on Tellah? Or cure Edward?... okay, never mind, screw Edward, but those other guys! C'mon!
Possible explanations:
- Magicians follow a strict code of honor to only cast magic during their turn. If they are not in battle, it is obviously not their turn, so they can't do anything.
- Magicians secretly hate their friends.
"How the HELL did we survive that?" - Yakuza
*SPOILERS*
This is what made me want to write this entry. I recently beat this the other day, and at the very end, one of the characters decides to redeem himself by blowing up himself, the bad guy and 10 billion ill-gotten yen. A very noble act... if his best friend, childhood sweetheart and an innocent nine-year-old girl weren't ten feet away. Seriously, there's this CGI cutscene that shows a huge explosion that engulfs half the width of the skyscraper they're in. And then it cuts back to those three TOTALLY OKAY (except for one character who had already been shot) but about five feet away from a GAPING HOLE in a STEEL TOWER. The hell?!
Possible explanations:
-the bomb's engineer perfectly rigged it so that the bomb would explode in a 180-degree arc in the opposite direction and somehow saw all the plot twists and double-crosses coming so that it would be in that position.
-Kazuma Kiryu shielded them all with sheer force of awesome. Seriously, play these games just because he's like a Japanese Chuck Norris.
while we're on the subject of Yakuza,
"Who the HELL'S body was that that washed up in tokyo bay if it wasn't Mizuki's?"
the obvious answer is a random woman with the same tattoo. BUT, one character admits to his men killing the woman and honestly thinking it was Mizuki. The detective tells them it isn't her a few hours later and it's even discovered that Mizuki is actually Yumi, the woman who's sister she claimed to be. but the dead woman is never brought up again.
Possible explanation:
- The character who saw her dead WAS kind of a dick and working against the main character, maybe he just made it up to throw him off?
- Yumi actually DID have a long lost sister named Mizuki who looked exactly the same. Sucks to be her.
"How the HELL did Maya's fingerprints get on the weapons?"- Ace Attorney: Justice for All (Case #2)
If you're not familiar with the Ace Attorney, shame on you. Also, Maya is the Phoenix Wright's assistant, whose job it is to get accused of murder and/or held hostage. At the beginning of one case, the detective confirms that maya's fingerprints were on both weapons, but, long story short, Phoenix proves she was unconscious for the entire murder... without ever disproving that evidence staring them in the face.
Possible explanation:
- It IS possible that the accomplice placed the weapons in maya's hands to frame her, but this is the kind of thing that the game's story would usually get hung up on and the player would have to resolve. here, they just make it so that there's no obvious way out.
"Why the HELL do the cosmic forces of evil adhere to Japan's timezone?" - Persona 3
In Persona 3, the characters enter an alternate dimension at the stroke of midnight to battle demons (with more demons.) But does that make any sense? The 24-hour clock was invented by mere mortals and precise timezones didn't even exist until well into the 19th century.
- The Shadows DO have a connection to the moon, maybe it has something to do with that?
- The harbinger of the apocalypse is a MASSIVE japanophile. If you ever see a Nyx Avatar cosplay at a con, that's actually him. And goes to sleep each night on a Sailor Moon body pillow.
"What the HELL happened to the other eight dads?" - Heavy Rain
Many articles have been written about Heavy Rain's poor writing and gaping plot holes, (I can write as many articles about other video games not engaging me emotionally at all) but here's one I don't usually see brought up. Ethan isn't the first guy to have his son kidnapped by the Origami Killer, he's the NINTH. The only thing keeping Ethan from going to the cops (or even his estranged wife) is that he suspects that he himself might be the killer. We KNOW that the other fathers went missing because of what the victims' mothers said to Shelby. What was stopping them?
Possible explanations:
- They were all as depressing and stupid as Ethan, accepted the implication their son would be killed if they sought help, couldn't complete the tasks, and killed themselves
- The Origami Killer has a complex procedure to make every dad think he's really the killer!
- The Origami Killer is a superzombie from the internet. He can do anything! (play Fahrenheit/ Indigo Prophecy. You'll see where I'm coming from)
"How the HELL did I just kill a god?" - God of War II & III, among others
Okay, there's atheism where God just doesn't exist, and there's atheism where there is a God, you look him in the face, and then make it so He doesn't exist. Games, when they're atheistic at all, usually take that second route. Hey, you need to fight something big at the end. First off, how and why does an omni-potent being create anything capable of killing him? Sometimes it's not set up that way though, like in God of War where gods created weapons like Pandora's Box to kill other gods, or Bayonetta where she summons a god of darkness to kill a god of light. Those make sense. But what about in GoW II, where Kratos is mortal again, but still kicking deity ass without Pandora's box? One character actually POINTS THAT OUT in GoW III and Kratos just says "the gods underestimate their own mortality" or some crap. How does that work? (And do NOT freaking say "the power of hope!")
Possible explanations:
- The gods aren't immortal and just have a serious fetish for sending mortals on fetch quests before they actually let them do something important
- The gods all just played dead until Kratos offed himself at the end. Athena gave an all clear and they all high-fived each other and mounted his corpse on Zeus's wall. THAT'S where he went after the credits!
"How the HELL do you live with yourself, lady?" - Valkyria Chronicles *SPOILERS*
No, seriously. Stop reading if you haven't played Valkyria Chronicles yet. You owe it to yourself and the world.
You back? Wasn't that awesome?!!
Anyway, if there was one thing I would remove from this game to make it perfect, it would be Alicia. It's like if the writers had some kinda jrpg cliche quota to meet and crammed them all into her. For about a minute though, I was in love with her. She's about to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to stop the empire's greatest weapon single-handedly. But then, your character stops her and tells her that she shouldn't have to sacrifice herself for everyone else's sake (if that sounds like scenes from Final Fantasy X and Tales of Symphonia to you, that's because it does) He even proposes to her then and there, and it's a decent romance subplot throughout. And for the sake of love, they manage to stop the empire's weapon the old-fashioned way... only now after they've reached the city and killed probably thousands of people... yyyyyyeeeeaaaaahhhhh. Kinda puts a damper on things. It's the equivalent of saving a kitten from a burning orphanage that you set on fire while saving the kitten.
Possible explanations:
- They actually managed to evacuate that section of the city in time. And now there's just thousands of homeless. The least Welkin could have done was radio to evacuate afterwards.
- Welkin and Alicia never reported back after the final boss, and tried to convince everyone they're dead so that they're not blamed for this. They seem happy in that cute epilogue, but the guilt tears them apart each day.
"Why the HELL aren't we using magic?" - Lots and lots of RPGs
Let's get an obvious one out of the way first. It isn't so bad when characters regularly don't use life-saving spells and other skills outside of battle. But it gets annoying that ONE TIME when they do. Because Rydia decided to actually heal your party that one time in FFIV, so of course you'd be able to un-petrify the two kids who got turned to stone, right? Or cast life on Tellah? Or cure Edward?... okay, never mind, screw Edward, but those other guys! C'mon!
Possible explanations:
- Magicians follow a strict code of honor to only cast magic during their turn. If they are not in battle, it is obviously not their turn, so they can't do anything.
- Magicians secretly hate their friends.
"How the HELL did we survive that?" - Yakuza
*SPOILERS*
This is what made me want to write this entry. I recently beat this the other day, and at the very end, one of the characters decides to redeem himself by blowing up himself, the bad guy and 10 billion ill-gotten yen. A very noble act... if his best friend, childhood sweetheart and an innocent nine-year-old girl weren't ten feet away. Seriously, there's this CGI cutscene that shows a huge explosion that engulfs half the width of the skyscraper they're in. And then it cuts back to those three TOTALLY OKAY (except for one character who had already been shot) but about five feet away from a GAPING HOLE in a STEEL TOWER. The hell?!
Possible explanations:
-the bomb's engineer perfectly rigged it so that the bomb would explode in a 180-degree arc in the opposite direction and somehow saw all the plot twists and double-crosses coming so that it would be in that position.
-Kazuma Kiryu shielded them all with sheer force of awesome. Seriously, play these games just because he's like a Japanese Chuck Norris.
while we're on the subject of Yakuza,
"Who the HELL'S body was that that washed up in tokyo bay if it wasn't Mizuki's?"
the obvious answer is a random woman with the same tattoo. BUT, one character admits to his men killing the woman and honestly thinking it was Mizuki. The detective tells them it isn't her a few hours later and it's even discovered that Mizuki is actually Yumi, the woman who's sister she claimed to be. but the dead woman is never brought up again.
Possible explanation:
- The character who saw her dead WAS kind of a dick and working against the main character, maybe he just made it up to throw him off?
- Yumi actually DID have a long lost sister named Mizuki who looked exactly the same. Sucks to be her.
"How the HELL did Maya's fingerprints get on the weapons?"- Ace Attorney: Justice for All (Case #2)
If you're not familiar with the Ace Attorney, shame on you. Also, Maya is the Phoenix Wright's assistant, whose job it is to get accused of murder and/or held hostage. At the beginning of one case, the detective confirms that maya's fingerprints were on both weapons, but, long story short, Phoenix proves she was unconscious for the entire murder... without ever disproving that evidence staring them in the face.
Possible explanation:
- It IS possible that the accomplice placed the weapons in maya's hands to frame her, but this is the kind of thing that the game's story would usually get hung up on and the player would have to resolve. here, they just make it so that there's no obvious way out.
"Why the HELL do the cosmic forces of evil adhere to Japan's timezone?" - Persona 3
In Persona 3, the characters enter an alternate dimension at the stroke of midnight to battle demons (with more demons.) But does that make any sense? The 24-hour clock was invented by mere mortals and precise timezones didn't even exist until well into the 19th century.
- The Shadows DO have a connection to the moon, maybe it has something to do with that?
- The harbinger of the apocalypse is a MASSIVE japanophile. If you ever see a Nyx Avatar cosplay at a con, that's actually him. And goes to sleep each night on a Sailor Moon body pillow.
"What the HELL happened to the other eight dads?" - Heavy Rain
Many articles have been written about Heavy Rain's poor writing and gaping plot holes, (I can write as many articles about other video games not engaging me emotionally at all) but here's one I don't usually see brought up. Ethan isn't the first guy to have his son kidnapped by the Origami Killer, he's the NINTH. The only thing keeping Ethan from going to the cops (or even his estranged wife) is that he suspects that he himself might be the killer. We KNOW that the other fathers went missing because of what the victims' mothers said to Shelby. What was stopping them?
Possible explanations:
- They were all as depressing and stupid as Ethan, accepted the implication their son would be killed if they sought help, couldn't complete the tasks, and killed themselves
- The Origami Killer has a complex procedure to make every dad think he's really the killer!
- The Origami Killer is a superzombie from the internet. He can do anything! (play Fahrenheit/ Indigo Prophecy. You'll see where I'm coming from)
"How the HELL did I just kill a god?" - God of War II & III, among others
Okay, there's atheism where God just doesn't exist, and there's atheism where there is a God, you look him in the face, and then make it so He doesn't exist. Games, when they're atheistic at all, usually take that second route. Hey, you need to fight something big at the end. First off, how and why does an omni-potent being create anything capable of killing him? Sometimes it's not set up that way though, like in God of War where gods created weapons like Pandora's Box to kill other gods, or Bayonetta where she summons a god of darkness to kill a god of light. Those make sense. But what about in GoW II, where Kratos is mortal again, but still kicking deity ass without Pandora's box? One character actually POINTS THAT OUT in GoW III and Kratos just says "the gods underestimate their own mortality" or some crap. How does that work? (And do NOT freaking say "the power of hope!")
Possible explanations:
- The gods aren't immortal and just have a serious fetish for sending mortals on fetch quests before they actually let them do something important
- The gods all just played dead until Kratos offed himself at the end. Athena gave an all clear and they all high-fived each other and mounted his corpse on Zeus's wall. THAT'S where he went after the credits!
"How the HELL do you live with yourself, lady?" - Valkyria Chronicles *SPOILERS*
No, seriously. Stop reading if you haven't played Valkyria Chronicles yet. You owe it to yourself and the world.
You back? Wasn't that awesome?!!
Anyway, if there was one thing I would remove from this game to make it perfect, it would be Alicia. It's like if the writers had some kinda jrpg cliche quota to meet and crammed them all into her. For about a minute though, I was in love with her. She's about to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to stop the empire's greatest weapon single-handedly. But then, your character stops her and tells her that she shouldn't have to sacrifice herself for everyone else's sake (if that sounds like scenes from Final Fantasy X and Tales of Symphonia to you, that's because it does) He even proposes to her then and there, and it's a decent romance subplot throughout. And for the sake of love, they manage to stop the empire's weapon the old-fashioned way... only now after they've reached the city and killed probably thousands of people... yyyyyyeeeeaaaaahhhhh. Kinda puts a damper on things. It's the equivalent of saving a kitten from a burning orphanage that you set on fire while saving the kitten.
Possible explanations:
- They actually managed to evacuate that section of the city in time. And now there's just thousands of homeless. The least Welkin could have done was radio to evacuate afterwards.
- Welkin and Alicia never reported back after the final boss, and tried to convince everyone they're dead so that they're not blamed for this. They seem happy in that cute epilogue, but the guilt tears them apart each day.
Gears of War 3 Beta Codes
Want into the Gears 3 Beta? Of course you do! Here's how N4G can make it happen for you:
- Comment on this blog post with your avatar set to the Gears 3 character of your choice (want to check out the options? http://gearsofwar.xbox.com/... )
- Tell us exactly why you need into the Beta. (This doesn't improve your chances with the random number generator, but it does make your entry more interesting)
Contest ends and winners will be drawn at Noon PST on Wednesday April 20, 2011. Codes will be sent to winners via N4G PM.
- Comment on this blog post with your avatar set to the Gears 3 character of your choice (want to check out the options? http://gearsofwar.xbox.com/... )
- Tell us exactly why you need into the Beta. (This doesn't improve your chances with the random number generator, but it does make your entry more interesting)
Contest ends and winners will be drawn at Noon PST on Wednesday April 20, 2011. Codes will be sent to winners via N4G PM.
Famous Dead People and the Games They Would Play
Ever wondered what video games Vlad the Impaler a.k.a Dracula would have played if he were alive today? Well read on to find out!
Episode 1: Vlad Tepes (the Impaler)
Name: Vlad Tepes a.k.a "Vlad the Impaler"
Country of Origin: Romania
PSN ID: Dracula6666
Xbox Live ID: theimpaler66
Known for: Medieval Worlord that liked to "stick it" to the opposition, and inspiration for the "Dracula" myth.
Vlad Tepes was a 15th century political figure that ruled over Wallachia (medieval name of a region that is currently part of Romania) from 1448 to 1476 (with a short break in between, because a guy needs a vacation from time to time...).
Wallachia had a lot of rulers over its long history so what made Vlad stand up from all the rest? Well the reason coincides with his given nick-name "The Impaler". Every kingdom in the world at the time had head chopping, hanging, stretching tables, and other well-known and "boring" forms of entertainment for the ruling class. You see, Vlad was a trend setter of his day. Mr. Tepes wanted to do something a little different, and nothing stands up (literally) in a crowd more than some poor guy who had a long and not so sharp pole stuck up his.....back-door. No one knows if Vlad was the first to do it but he surely was the most famous one.
This torture technique worked wonders for the man as he managed to keep of his front lawn the most powerful empire of those times, The Ottoman Empire ... at least for a short time.
In time because of his cruelty, his image became that of a monster, and countless stories of his deeds reached epic proportions spreading all over Europe. His insatiable lust for blood combined with the mysteries surrounding his country made him a perfect candidate for an Irish writer's goth horror story. Bran Stoker wrote the novel "Dracula" in 1897 and gave birth to one of history's most enduring myths that was the inspiration for movies, literature, music, video games and other forms of art.
So what video games would this medieval prince play if he could, and why? For starters I think it's safe to assume that he would have been a hard-core gamer and for this reason you would not find a Nintendo Wii in his castle. Also Mr. "Stick" would surely not have bothered with fire arms in video games as he would have preferred a more hands on approach to conflict (hands on a pole to be more precise).
God of War
The God of War games from Santa Monica Studios would have been surely part of "Dracula's" video game collection for many reasons. Kratos and his quest for vengeance would resonate with his gamer persona on numerous levels.
They both got betrayed more than once, had powerful adversaries, and gods were just posters on walls not worthy of their worship. Plus the fact that you don't have to bother with morality in these games made it easier for our prince to feel at home in Sony's view of ancient Greece.
Sadly Mr. Dracula would have been a little disappointed with the developers refusal to add impaling into the combat mechanics.
Episode 1: Vlad Tepes (the Impaler)
Name: Vlad Tepes a.k.a "Vlad the Impaler"
Country of Origin: Romania
PSN ID: Dracula6666
Xbox Live ID: theimpaler66
Known for: Medieval Worlord that liked to "stick it" to the opposition, and inspiration for the "Dracula" myth.
Vlad Tepes was a 15th century political figure that ruled over Wallachia (medieval name of a region that is currently part of Romania) from 1448 to 1476 (with a short break in between, because a guy needs a vacation from time to time...).
Wallachia had a lot of rulers over its long history so what made Vlad stand up from all the rest? Well the reason coincides with his given nick-name "The Impaler". Every kingdom in the world at the time had head chopping, hanging, stretching tables, and other well-known and "boring" forms of entertainment for the ruling class. You see, Vlad was a trend setter of his day. Mr. Tepes wanted to do something a little different, and nothing stands up (literally) in a crowd more than some poor guy who had a long and not so sharp pole stuck up his.....back-door. No one knows if Vlad was the first to do it but he surely was the most famous one.
This torture technique worked wonders for the man as he managed to keep of his front lawn the most powerful empire of those times, The Ottoman Empire ... at least for a short time.
In time because of his cruelty, his image became that of a monster, and countless stories of his deeds reached epic proportions spreading all over Europe. His insatiable lust for blood combined with the mysteries surrounding his country made him a perfect candidate for an Irish writer's goth horror story. Bran Stoker wrote the novel "Dracula" in 1897 and gave birth to one of history's most enduring myths that was the inspiration for movies, literature, music, video games and other forms of art.
So what video games would this medieval prince play if he could, and why? For starters I think it's safe to assume that he would have been a hard-core gamer and for this reason you would not find a Nintendo Wii in his castle. Also Mr. "Stick" would surely not have bothered with fire arms in video games as he would have preferred a more hands on approach to conflict (hands on a pole to be more precise).
God of War
The God of War games from Santa Monica Studios would have been surely part of "Dracula's" video game collection for many reasons. Kratos and his quest for vengeance would resonate with his gamer persona on numerous levels.
They both got betrayed more than once, had powerful adversaries, and gods were just posters on walls not worthy of their worship. Plus the fact that you don't have to bother with morality in these games made it easier for our prince to feel at home in Sony's view of ancient Greece.
Sadly Mr. Dracula would have been a little disappointed with the developers refusal to add impaling into the combat mechanics.
Playstation 4 and Xbox 720; Minimum specs
Have you ever seen someone speculating in what kind of hardware that the next generation of consoles will feature? As I thought. I am the only one who makes such attempts.
These speculations are based on what I believe will be the minimum specifications of the next-gen hardware. EDIT: Please be aware of the fact that these speculations aren't based on technical knowledge. Its just an estimate based on the current gen.
Lets start at the resolution as this in many ways represents how many pixels the hardware needs to deal with at once, at maximum. Most games today on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 runs in 720p, 30 fps, no?
One of 720p resolutions can be 1280×720, so lets go with that. 1280x720 is equal to 921 600 pixels. And those pixels updates 30 times every second.
The resolution in the next-gen is most likely going be 1080p. (But with 720p support obviously). Another thing that we are going to see is a minimum of 120 fps to get a 60fps stereoscopic 3D which would be an increase of 400% on the base fps. Possible support for higher resolution for movies, but unlikely for games as the hardware required would be extremely expensive.
So with these predictions we get the following:
One of the 1080p resolutions can be 1920x1080 so lets go with that. 1920x1080 is equal to 2 083 600 pixels. Which is an increase of 125 %. Lets use that number and look at what the next gen specifications will have as a minimum.
So, both consoles have a total of 512 Mb of memory available, how it is used is another matter. But added up, it is still 512 Mb. Those 512 Mb are used to output games at 720p and 30 fps.
Now, in order to achieve the "1080p 120 fps" we have to look at what is increased the most and try to add that up. The fps has a 400 % increase. This will mean that the least total amount of memory that is going to be available should be 2048 Mb. By my reasoning, that is the lowest possible amount. Now it is not that simple.
The next generation will not come with the same graphical features as todays consoles. It will be expanded greatly with, for example, tessellation and other dx 11 features. All the new features will also increase the demands on the new hardware. So 2048 Mb is what it would be if it simply was an increase of resolution and framrate. And that is not realistic. But the next part is really hard to guess, simply it’s a matter of how well the developers use the processing power within the next gen consoles. An estimate, and what I believe is a good one, is to double that amount. So I believe that the next gen will feature 4096 Mb of total memory. Which is an increase of 800 %. And if you look back on previous increases in hardware capabilities when a new gen of consoles arrive, this is close.
But we are not done yet. Another thing that is obvious is the type of physical media that the next gen will feature. All 3 will most likely feature a Blu-ray player. To go another way would, in a business perspective, be simply retarded. Blu-ray and HD is becoming the standard, and to skip out on this would be a severe mistake. Its very hard to predict what the size of the discs will be, how much data they will be able to hold. Today a Blu-ray used in the Playstation 3 can hold up to about 50 Gb of data. There will most likely be an increase in capacity, but it doesn’t seem likely that it will be more than 100 Gb due to the fact that this is one of the most expensive parts in a console.
As for the hard-drives in the next-gen consoles; it is unlikely that they are going for a mechanical one in the SKU's. SSD's are becoming cheaper and cheaper everyday, and my bet is that we will see an SSD in the next-gen consoles. But this all depends on how expensive they are. If they choose to go with an SSD from the start, then it will be at least 160 Gb, but with a mechanical hard-drive my bet is 500 Gb.
There is one other, very interesting thing about the next Playstation that has come to my attention with the upcoming release of the NGP. Why I bring this up will soon be explained.
The NGP will feature a new physical media, some sort of card based media. And it will also feature something called PlaystationSuite. And this is where it gets interesting.
It would be very strange if Playstation 4 wasn’t PlaystationSuite enabled. The name is “PlaystationSuite” after all. And this makes it very probable that the Playstation 4 will feature a card reader that can read those cards so that you can play your NGP games through your ps4 (Those games that doesn’t have the touchpads as a must, obviously). But it is also possible that Sony would release some sort of pad for the ps4 so you could play all games of the NGP on your ps4. This seems like the only way to go, since Sony is starting to focus on making it easier for developers to develop games for multiple platforms at once.
Other obvious features are the lastest Wifi-standards, USB-ports of the latest standards, improved versions of Playstation Move/Kinect, and Blutooth for controllers.
To sum up these speculations and predictions:
Playstation 4:
Blu-Ray with the capacity of at least 100Gb
4096 Mb of total memory (Both RAM and video-memory included)
Card-reader to read NGP games
PlaystationSuite enabled
Blutooth with support for up to 7 players at once.
An improved version of Playstation Move
An improved version of the Cell-processor (!) This is if they make it compatible with PlaystationSuite.
An SSD hard-drive of at least 160 Gb or a mechanical one of at least 500 Gb
Xbox 720:
Blu-Ray drive
4096 Mb of total memory (Both RAM and video-memory included)
Improved version of Kinect
Blutooth
An SSD hard-drive of at least 160 Gb or a mechanical one of at least 500 Gb
These predictions are the only ones that seems to be possible to make from what we have today. What kind of architecture, processor-types and other, is impossible to predict.
Hope you enjoyed the reading and please comment with your thoughts on this and your own predictions, but please try to keep them realistic :)
These speculations are based on what I believe will be the minimum specifications of the next-gen hardware. EDIT: Please be aware of the fact that these speculations aren't based on technical knowledge. Its just an estimate based on the current gen.
Lets start at the resolution as this in many ways represents how many pixels the hardware needs to deal with at once, at maximum. Most games today on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 runs in 720p, 30 fps, no?
One of 720p resolutions can be 1280×720, so lets go with that. 1280x720 is equal to 921 600 pixels. And those pixels updates 30 times every second.
The resolution in the next-gen is most likely going be 1080p. (But with 720p support obviously). Another thing that we are going to see is a minimum of 120 fps to get a 60fps stereoscopic 3D which would be an increase of 400% on the base fps. Possible support for higher resolution for movies, but unlikely for games as the hardware required would be extremely expensive.
So with these predictions we get the following:
One of the 1080p resolutions can be 1920x1080 so lets go with that. 1920x1080 is equal to 2 083 600 pixels. Which is an increase of 125 %. Lets use that number and look at what the next gen specifications will have as a minimum.
So, both consoles have a total of 512 Mb of memory available, how it is used is another matter. But added up, it is still 512 Mb. Those 512 Mb are used to output games at 720p and 30 fps.
Now, in order to achieve the "1080p 120 fps" we have to look at what is increased the most and try to add that up. The fps has a 400 % increase. This will mean that the least total amount of memory that is going to be available should be 2048 Mb. By my reasoning, that is the lowest possible amount. Now it is not that simple.
The next generation will not come with the same graphical features as todays consoles. It will be expanded greatly with, for example, tessellation and other dx 11 features. All the new features will also increase the demands on the new hardware. So 2048 Mb is what it would be if it simply was an increase of resolution and framrate. And that is not realistic. But the next part is really hard to guess, simply it’s a matter of how well the developers use the processing power within the next gen consoles. An estimate, and what I believe is a good one, is to double that amount. So I believe that the next gen will feature 4096 Mb of total memory. Which is an increase of 800 %. And if you look back on previous increases in hardware capabilities when a new gen of consoles arrive, this is close.
But we are not done yet. Another thing that is obvious is the type of physical media that the next gen will feature. All 3 will most likely feature a Blu-ray player. To go another way would, in a business perspective, be simply retarded. Blu-ray and HD is becoming the standard, and to skip out on this would be a severe mistake. Its very hard to predict what the size of the discs will be, how much data they will be able to hold. Today a Blu-ray used in the Playstation 3 can hold up to about 50 Gb of data. There will most likely be an increase in capacity, but it doesn’t seem likely that it will be more than 100 Gb due to the fact that this is one of the most expensive parts in a console.
As for the hard-drives in the next-gen consoles; it is unlikely that they are going for a mechanical one in the SKU's. SSD's are becoming cheaper and cheaper everyday, and my bet is that we will see an SSD in the next-gen consoles. But this all depends on how expensive they are. If they choose to go with an SSD from the start, then it will be at least 160 Gb, but with a mechanical hard-drive my bet is 500 Gb.
There is one other, very interesting thing about the next Playstation that has come to my attention with the upcoming release of the NGP. Why I bring this up will soon be explained.
The NGP will feature a new physical media, some sort of card based media. And it will also feature something called PlaystationSuite. And this is where it gets interesting.
It would be very strange if Playstation 4 wasn’t PlaystationSuite enabled. The name is “PlaystationSuite” after all. And this makes it very probable that the Playstation 4 will feature a card reader that can read those cards so that you can play your NGP games through your ps4 (Those games that doesn’t have the touchpads as a must, obviously). But it is also possible that Sony would release some sort of pad for the ps4 so you could play all games of the NGP on your ps4. This seems like the only way to go, since Sony is starting to focus on making it easier for developers to develop games for multiple platforms at once.
Other obvious features are the lastest Wifi-standards, USB-ports of the latest standards, improved versions of Playstation Move/Kinect, and Blutooth for controllers.
To sum up these speculations and predictions:
Playstation 4:
Blu-Ray with the capacity of at least 100Gb
4096 Mb of total memory (Both RAM and video-memory included)
Card-reader to read NGP games
PlaystationSuite enabled
Blutooth with support for up to 7 players at once.
An improved version of Playstation Move
An improved version of the Cell-processor (!) This is if they make it compatible with PlaystationSuite.
An SSD hard-drive of at least 160 Gb or a mechanical one of at least 500 Gb
Xbox 720:
Blu-Ray drive
4096 Mb of total memory (Both RAM and video-memory included)
Improved version of Kinect
Blutooth
An SSD hard-drive of at least 160 Gb or a mechanical one of at least 500 Gb
These predictions are the only ones that seems to be possible to make from what we have today. What kind of architecture, processor-types and other, is impossible to predict.
Hope you enjoyed the reading and please comment with your thoughts on this and your own predictions, but please try to keep them realistic :)
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Play the Scary Maze Game With Your Friends!
Have you ever played the Scary Maze Game 8 now? If not, brotha you haven’t lived!!! This maze game is the most awesome game on earth! But in order to play it you MUST have a partner in the room with you. So go find a friend, co-hort, or even an enemy – it doesn’t matter! Then match your wits and your mouse skills with the game and see if you’re awesome enough to win the BIG prize at the end!
Chinese Couple Sells All Three Kids to Play Online Games
A young Chinese couple has sold all three of their children in exchange for money to play online Nick jr games at Internet cafes, reports a southern Chinese newspaper.
According to Sanxiang City News, the couple met in an Internet cafe back in 2007 and bonded over their obsession with online video games. A year later, the parents — who are both under 21 — welcomed their first child, a son. Days after his birth, they left him home alone while they went to play online agame at an Internet cafe 30 km away.
In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan welcomed their second child, a baby girl, and came up with the idea to sell her for money to fund their online game obsession. They did so, receiving RMB 3,000 (less than $500), which they spent entirely shortly after. The couple then proceeded to sell their first child and got 10 times as much for him — RMB 30,000, or about $4600.
Upon having their third child — another boy — the parents followed in their previous footsteps and also got RMB 30,000 for him.
They were finally turned into authorities when Li Lin’s mother found out what her son and his girlfriend had done.
When asked if they missed their children, the parents answered, “We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”
Sanxiang City Newsreports the couple didn’t know they were breaking the law.
According to Sanxiang City News, the couple met in an Internet cafe back in 2007 and bonded over their obsession with online video games. A year later, the parents — who are both under 21 — welcomed their first child, a son. Days after his birth, they left him home alone while they went to play online agame at an Internet cafe 30 km away.
In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan welcomed their second child, a baby girl, and came up with the idea to sell her for money to fund their online game obsession. They did so, receiving RMB 3,000 (less than $500), which they spent entirely shortly after. The couple then proceeded to sell their first child and got 10 times as much for him — RMB 30,000, or about $4600.
Upon having their third child — another boy — the parents followed in their previous footsteps and also got RMB 30,000 for him.
They were finally turned into authorities when Li Lin’s mother found out what her son and his girlfriend had done.
When asked if they missed their children, the parents answered, “We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”
Sanxiang City Newsreports the couple didn’t know they were breaking the law.
HD Remake Ideas
I know not everyone likes the idea of HD remakes but I and lot's of other people do, so if you don't just leave and carry on gaming. These remasters bring classic experiences back to life and also adding new features sometimes such as trophies. They almost always come on one disc and and are packed in one case which is of great convenience. It allows gamers (including me) to relive their childhood favourites and also discover new gems. And best of all, they are at a very sweet, low price!
So basically I'd just like to list some games that I hope to see receive the HD treatment, no matter how unlikely dammit!
Need For Speed Underground Trilogy - By that, I mean NFS Underground, Underground 2 & Most Wanted. Carbon is already on current - Gen consoles so that can be missed. Also these games had Net play. Now I'm far from an expert when it comes to game development but I'm sure it's very easy to implement online multiplayer in to these games, in my mind atleast.
Grand Theft Auto III Trilogy - So GTA III, Vice City & San Andreas. Now I know, obvious choice but how can you ignore them? These games are just epic, nuff said...
Gran Turismo Double Pack - Meaning Gran Turismo 3 & 4. I would love to see these masterpieces get remastered. The best in the series in one pack, do want!
Ace Combat HD Collection - That includes Ace Combat 4: Distant Thunder/Shattered Skies (US), 5 & X. In my opinion, no ther Combat Flight Sim on console has ever came close to competing with this fantastic series. As good as Assault Horizon looks, I fear it may not be able to live up to it's predecessors with it's real world setting and CoD like approach. I hope I'm wrong but if i'm right, this would be perfect.
It isn't a long list I know, so I'd love to see what your ideas are, maybe some I've forgot or some that I'm yet to discover!
So basically I'd just like to list some games that I hope to see receive the HD treatment, no matter how unlikely dammit!
Need For Speed Underground Trilogy - By that, I mean NFS Underground, Underground 2 & Most Wanted. Carbon is already on current - Gen consoles so that can be missed. Also these games had Net play. Now I'm far from an expert when it comes to game development but I'm sure it's very easy to implement online multiplayer in to these games, in my mind atleast.
Grand Theft Auto III Trilogy - So GTA III, Vice City & San Andreas. Now I know, obvious choice but how can you ignore them? These games are just epic, nuff said...
Gran Turismo Double Pack - Meaning Gran Turismo 3 & 4. I would love to see these masterpieces get remastered. The best in the series in one pack, do want!
Ace Combat HD Collection - That includes Ace Combat 4: Distant Thunder/Shattered Skies (US), 5 & X. In my opinion, no ther Combat Flight Sim on console has ever came close to competing with this fantastic series. As good as Assault Horizon looks, I fear it may not be able to live up to it's predecessors with it's real world setting and CoD like approach. I hope I'm wrong but if i'm right, this would be perfect.
It isn't a long list I know, so I'd love to see what your ideas are, maybe some I've forgot or some that I'm yet to discover!
How unlockable content has slowly died
User blog
Unlockables, they were once a thing that was in almost every game. Even early 7th gen we had unlockables but what happened?
Pre-order bonuses is what happened. What you once could get for free by unlocking it you now had to buy the game early to get the unlockable. Pre-order bonuses did not just take over right away. They slowly took over and has now become a way to rip off gamers.
Pre-order bonuses are so big that you have to pre-order at specific stores to get what you want. It is a way to get people to buy that specific game at that store. The store could be gamestop, best buy, amazon(online store), etc...
Notice how Call of Duty does NOT have pre-order bonuses. They instead have 3 different game editions with special stuff.
Example: In black ops the standard edition got nothing but the game but the hardened edition for black ops had a limited edition medal, an exclusive avatar outfit for your 360 avatar or PS Home character, as well as four extra cooperative maps.
All of those things could have been pre-order bonuses or included with the game but was left out or taken out for some cash.
Achievements are also partly to blame. If you completed story mode on hard, found all hidden objects, etc... you would get a unlockable. It could have been a costume, infinite health, paintballs instead of bullets, etc... Instead you now get numbers! Numbers sound sooo exiting compared to free in game items, right? No, they do not sound very exiting at all.
Now disc space might be to blame but not nearly as much as the other two. How you might ask? Well if they cannot fit content on one xbox 360 disc then what do they do? They use it for DLC or pre-order bonuses! Costumes, gun camo, special weapons, etc... all might get taken out because of disc space.
Devs and/or publishers are probably thinking."If we can take out content out of the game, make it a pre-order bonus and instead reward players with points then why not do it".
Games are getting ripped out of features that were once free and a reward for playing the game. Now unlockables are just a way to make easy $$$
Unlockables, they were once a thing that was in almost every game. Even early 7th gen we had unlockables but what happened?
Pre-order bonuses is what happened. What you once could get for free by unlocking it you now had to buy the game early to get the unlockable. Pre-order bonuses did not just take over right away. They slowly took over and has now become a way to rip off gamers.
Pre-order bonuses are so big that you have to pre-order at specific stores to get what you want. It is a way to get people to buy that specific game at that store. The store could be gamestop, best buy, amazon(online store), etc...
Notice how Call of Duty does NOT have pre-order bonuses. They instead have 3 different game editions with special stuff.
Example: In black ops the standard edition got nothing but the game but the hardened edition for black ops had a limited edition medal, an exclusive avatar outfit for your 360 avatar or PS Home character, as well as four extra cooperative maps.
All of those things could have been pre-order bonuses or included with the game but was left out or taken out for some cash.
Achievements are also partly to blame. If you completed story mode on hard, found all hidden objects, etc... you would get a unlockable. It could have been a costume, infinite health, paintballs instead of bullets, etc... Instead you now get numbers! Numbers sound sooo exiting compared to free in game items, right? No, they do not sound very exiting at all.
Now disc space might be to blame but not nearly as much as the other two. How you might ask? Well if they cannot fit content on one xbox 360 disc then what do they do? They use it for DLC or pre-order bonuses! Costumes, gun camo, special weapons, etc... all might get taken out because of disc space.
Devs and/or publishers are probably thinking."If we can take out content out of the game, make it a pre-order bonus and instead reward players with points then why not do it".
Games are getting ripped out of features that were once free and a reward for playing the game. Now unlockables are just a way to make easy $$$
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Angry Birds for PC
Finally, those birds that everybody likes has arrived on PC. After iPhone, iPad, Android and other mobile versions, also iPhone cases and toys, Angry Birds has finally arrived on the PC thanks to the Intel App Up store. It’ll work fine and dandy on laptops and netbooks and will cost you only $4.99 to download. Nice price for this lovely game.
Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.
Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.
Angry Birds for PC
Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.
In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.
Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.
You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.
This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.
Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.
Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7
Free Angry Birds for PC
Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer
Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.
Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.
During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.
Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made. This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
Incoming search terms:
* angry birds for pc
* activate free angry birds for pc
* angry birds FLASH SCAM
* angry-birds-online scam
* free angry birds games full version for window xp
*
- Angry Birds PC Updated
The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!
As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.
Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.
Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.
Angry Birds for PC
Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.
In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.
Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.
You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.
This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.
Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.
Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7
Free Angry Birds for PC
Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer
Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.
Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.
During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.
Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made. This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
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- Angry Birds PC Updated
The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!
As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.
BBCW launches CBeebies games app
Games based on popular CBeebies Games series Charlie & Lola, Teletubbies, 3rd & Bird and Numberjacks are available through a new app launched by BBC Worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
Disney-branded Facebook games coming in 2012, Playdom head says
Can we all just say, “finally?” During a panel named “The Rise of Social Games” at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference in San Francisco, Disney Interactive and Playdom head John Pleasants revealed that two to four Facebook games surrounding Disney xd brands will hit Facebook in 2012. The general topic of the panel was the fact that branded social games are taking off.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
Phineas And Ferb 3D Game – Disney XD Games 63
New Disney Game – Phineas and Ferb
Disney released a new game. Phineas and Ferb 3D online game. Klick here to read the complete review.
The new game is available at the Disney XD discovery channel. Get ahead of the game before its officially released next week!
Disney is introducing the brand new DisneyXD game. Phineas and Ferb in: The Transport inators of Doooom!
Doofenschmitz is up to his old tricks again, and who has gone missing? Phineas! Help Ferb find his brother and try to help Agent P thwarth Doofenschmitz evil plans!
Check out this new exciting Disney XD online game before all others do at the Disney Cartoon network games website!
Check out Disney’s cartoon network to find a lot of amazing games and news. Disney offers a lot of cartoon games on their site. So head over to the Disney XD site and play the new Phineas and Ferb – The Transport-inators of Doooom! game!
Disney released a new game. Phineas and Ferb 3D online game. Klick here to read the complete review.
The new game is available at the Disney XD discovery channel. Get ahead of the game before its officially released next week!
Disney is introducing the brand new DisneyXD game. Phineas and Ferb in: The Transport inators of Doooom!
Doofenschmitz is up to his old tricks again, and who has gone missing? Phineas! Help Ferb find his brother and try to help Agent P thwarth Doofenschmitz evil plans!
Check out this new exciting Disney XD online game before all others do at the Disney Cartoon network games website!
Check out Disney’s cartoon network to find a lot of amazing games and news. Disney offers a lot of cartoon games on their site. So head over to the Disney XD site and play the new Phineas and Ferb – The Transport-inators of Doooom! game!
Play the Scary Maze Game With Your Friends!
Have you ever played the Scary Maze Game 8 now? If not, brotha you haven’t lived!!! This maze game is the most awesome game on earth! But in order to play it you MUST have a partner in the room with you. So go find a friend, co-hort, or even an enemy – it doesn’t matter! Then match your wits and your mouse skills with the game and see if you’re awesome enough to win the BIG prize at the end!
Chinese Couple Sells All Three Kids to Play Online Games
A young Chinese couple has sold all three of their children in exchange for money to play online Nick jr games at Internet cafes, reports a southern Chinese newspaper.
According to Sanxiang City News, the couple met in an Internet cafe back in 2007 and bonded over their obsession with online video games. A year later, the parents — who are both under 21 — welcomed their first child, a son. Days after his birth, they left him home alone while they went to play online agame at an Internet cafe 30 km away.
In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan welcomed their second child, a baby girl, and came up with the idea to sell her for money to fund their online game obsession. They did so, receiving RMB 3,000 (less than $500), which they spent entirely shortly after. The couple then proceeded to sell their first child and got 10 times as much for him — RMB 30,000, or about $4600.
Upon having their third child — another boy — the parents followed in their previous footsteps and also got RMB 30,000 for him.
They were finally turned into authorities when Li Lin’s mother found out what her son and his girlfriend had done.
When asked if they missed their children, the parents answered, “We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”
Sanxiang City Newsreports the couple didn’t know they were breaking the law.
According to Sanxiang City News, the couple met in an Internet cafe back in 2007 and bonded over their obsession with online video games. A year later, the parents — who are both under 21 — welcomed their first child, a son. Days after his birth, they left him home alone while they went to play online agame at an Internet cafe 30 km away.
In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan welcomed their second child, a baby girl, and came up with the idea to sell her for money to fund their online game obsession. They did so, receiving RMB 3,000 (less than $500), which they spent entirely shortly after. The couple then proceeded to sell their first child and got 10 times as much for him — RMB 30,000, or about $4600.
Upon having their third child — another boy — the parents followed in their previous footsteps and also got RMB 30,000 for him.
They were finally turned into authorities when Li Lin’s mother found out what her son and his girlfriend had done.
When asked if they missed their children, the parents answered, “We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”
Sanxiang City Newsreports the couple didn’t know they were breaking the law.
Official Pokemon Game Coming To Smartphones
The Pokemon Company is set to bring an official Pokemon Online game to smartphone devices, marking the first time that an official Nintendo-copyrighted app will be available on the iOS and Android.
Called Pokemon Iie Tap (rougly Pokemon: Say Tap?), the app appears to be a rhythm game where players “tap on Pokemon indigo trading cards to the beat of a song from the anime,” according to a translation by consumer video game site GamesRadar.
According to the game’s official announcement, it will be available for most iOS devices, as well as Android devices running version 2.1 of the platform.
Though this is the first iOS or Android application to carry an official Nintendo copyright, it is not the first mobile app of any kind: a Pokemon mobile phone game called Pokemate was released in Japan in 2006.
Though it is a rarity, Nintendo does have a history of releasing official games on platforms that are not its own, including a promotional Flash game to promote its Tingle character.
A release outside of Japan has not been announced.
Called Pokemon Iie Tap (rougly Pokemon: Say Tap?), the app appears to be a rhythm game where players “tap on Pokemon indigo trading cards to the beat of a song from the anime,” according to a translation by consumer video game site GamesRadar.
According to the game’s official announcement, it will be available for most iOS devices, as well as Android devices running version 2.1 of the platform.
Though this is the first iOS or Android application to carry an official Nintendo copyright, it is not the first mobile app of any kind: a Pokemon mobile phone game called Pokemate was released in Japan in 2006.
Though it is a rarity, Nintendo does have a history of releasing official games on platforms that are not its own, including a promotional Flash game to promote its Tingle character.
A release outside of Japan has not been announced.
Nick Jr., MTVN expand in Asia
Rugrats and music fans in Singapore and Malaysia will be able to tune in to “Dora the Explorer” and 24-hour music videos, docus and concerts with the launch of Viacom’s Nick Jr. and MTVN HD in the territories in coming weeks.
Nick Jr Games. will bow on Singapore’s Starhub from May 18, while MTVN HD will air on Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s HyppTV in Malaysia from June 1.
Nick Jr. will be available on the StarHub TV’s Kids Basic Upsize Group, while MTVNHD will be available to existing StarHub TV’s Entertainment Basic Group customers who are subscribed to the Basic HD Upsize group.
TM will offer the two channels a la carte to its subscribers on HyppTV, Malaysia’s newest pay TV service.
The services will roll out to the rest of the region at a date to be announced.
Nick Jr Games. will bow on Singapore’s Starhub from May 18, while MTVN HD will air on Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s HyppTV in Malaysia from June 1.
Nick Jr. will be available on the StarHub TV’s Kids Basic Upsize Group, while MTVNHD will be available to existing StarHub TV’s Entertainment Basic Group customers who are subscribed to the Basic HD Upsize group.
TM will offer the two channels a la carte to its subscribers on HyppTV, Malaysia’s newest pay TV service.
The services will roll out to the rest of the region at a date to be announced.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Battlefield 3 Beta Interview
Who better to speak to about the issues arising from the recent Battlefield 3 beta than the game's Lead Multiplayer Designer, Lars Gustavsson. After pumping dozens of hours into the beta we had plenty of questions for him during yesterday's Australian Battlefield 3 event. Where's the VOIP and joystick support? Will bullet damage be altered? Can we set up our own squads? Why are jet campers such douchebags? Lars answered all of these, and more.
GameSpy: The beta didn't work well with joysticks or control pads. What level of support for these devices will the game ship with? Will pilots be able to fly with a stick or pad?
Lars: It's something we're looking into. It looks like we will be able to ship with joystick support, but I've been on the road for quite some time so I can't guarantee it. But yes, if it doesn't turn up at launch, it will definitely be a high priority as soon as possible after shipping. The work being done to support joysticks is more or less the same as control pads, if you get one, you get the other. It's something we're aware of now that we've brought back the jets. It's on the list.
Watch IGN's exclusive video of two new non-beta maps in action
GameSpy: The beta didn't support in-game VOIP; players had to form a party through battlelog to be able to chat just to their party. Will Battlefield 3 include in-game VOIP – be it squad or team based – at launch?
Lars: No, on PC this (battlelog) is what we're going to ship with. Then we're going to evaluate how we move forward with this. It's something we've heard from the community, it's something we understand. At the same time, building a game of this size, you can't win all of the battles. The convenience of going in with friends with your party VOIP channel and keep it even after the game, is definitely a strength. That's just the start – we can definitely evolve from there down the road.
GameSpy: We've heard there's going to be a command rose at launch for PC. Is that still going to be ready for launch? What sort of functionality might it include?
Lars: It is on our list for trying to get in there at launch. It is the usual things that you can really miss on the battlefield. Bail out is a typical one; you're sitting in a helicopter and you realize that you want to attack the flag, and there's no way to tell you're buddy that you're going to bail out.
GameSpy: What about ammo, medpacks, that sort of stuff?
Lars: We have the context system today, but it was buggy in the open beta. We've been hammering it to get it right.
GameSpy: There's been some feedback that some people found bullet damage too strong in the beta. Any plans to tweak it?
"...a lot of the issues that people have raised have already been fixed."
Lars: We've done a lot of tweaking and tuning, everyone needs to understand that the beta was early code. Everything from hit detection to damage, flashlights that people have been mentioning – a lot of the issues that people have raised have already been fixed.
GameSpy: Are you toning the flashlights down a bit?
Lars: Yeah, they should be much better at release.
GameSpy: What level of squad control will the release have? In the beta you couldn't form a squad, join a specific squad or lock a squad so it's just you and friends – will the final release be different?
Lars: At release you'll be able to invite friends, join squads, all the stuff that you need to be able to play with your friends. Getting into the server and seeing your friend, but not being able to play with them, is nothing but frustrating.
GameSpy: A lot of the oldschool, hardcore Battlefield players are asking for an advanced flight model option for choppers and jets – any chance you'll consider this requests?
Lars: For now we're leaving them the way they are, and will let the game live for a little while, then start the communication with the community to see where we stand.
Two more loooong weeks to go.
GameSpy: The PC version looks quite different to the console versions. Do you think there will be any critical backlash from console gamers? Most of the marketing material is very PC focused, so they might be expecting something different to what they end up getting?
Lars: I don't think so. Most gamers do realize that the consoles are five years old, and if someone buys new SLI cards for their monster PC, there will be something extra for the PC. If we kept everything on console level for those PC players, then they would rightfully strangle us! I do think we have managed to push the boundaries of the consoles to a level where I feel we've passed the competition. That's all you can ask out of the team at this point.
GameSpy: Do you think building for PC first and foremost will give DICE a headstart when it comes to developing an engine for the next gen consoles? You'll be adept at multicore, multi-GPU and DirectX 11, where many other companies won't?
Lars: The main focus has been to build a game. Of course we have the technical thinking behind it, but we've been leading with console for quite some time now and it was time to turn it around to refresh all of our knowledge on previous titles. But yeah, the Frostbite 2.0 engine has been built to – as far as we possibly can – prepare for a modular approach to whatever may come in the future.
GameSpy: The beta didn't work well with joysticks or control pads. What level of support for these devices will the game ship with? Will pilots be able to fly with a stick or pad?
Lars: It's something we're looking into. It looks like we will be able to ship with joystick support, but I've been on the road for quite some time so I can't guarantee it. But yes, if it doesn't turn up at launch, it will definitely be a high priority as soon as possible after shipping. The work being done to support joysticks is more or less the same as control pads, if you get one, you get the other. It's something we're aware of now that we've brought back the jets. It's on the list.
Watch IGN's exclusive video of two new non-beta maps in action
GameSpy: The beta didn't support in-game VOIP; players had to form a party through battlelog to be able to chat just to their party. Will Battlefield 3 include in-game VOIP – be it squad or team based – at launch?
Lars: No, on PC this (battlelog) is what we're going to ship with. Then we're going to evaluate how we move forward with this. It's something we've heard from the community, it's something we understand. At the same time, building a game of this size, you can't win all of the battles. The convenience of going in with friends with your party VOIP channel and keep it even after the game, is definitely a strength. That's just the start – we can definitely evolve from there down the road.
GameSpy: We've heard there's going to be a command rose at launch for PC. Is that still going to be ready for launch? What sort of functionality might it include?
Lars: It is on our list for trying to get in there at launch. It is the usual things that you can really miss on the battlefield. Bail out is a typical one; you're sitting in a helicopter and you realize that you want to attack the flag, and there's no way to tell you're buddy that you're going to bail out.
GameSpy: What about ammo, medpacks, that sort of stuff?
Lars: We have the context system today, but it was buggy in the open beta. We've been hammering it to get it right.
GameSpy: There's been some feedback that some people found bullet damage too strong in the beta. Any plans to tweak it?
"...a lot of the issues that people have raised have already been fixed."
Lars: We've done a lot of tweaking and tuning, everyone needs to understand that the beta was early code. Everything from hit detection to damage, flashlights that people have been mentioning – a lot of the issues that people have raised have already been fixed.
GameSpy: Are you toning the flashlights down a bit?
Lars: Yeah, they should be much better at release.
GameSpy: What level of squad control will the release have? In the beta you couldn't form a squad, join a specific squad or lock a squad so it's just you and friends – will the final release be different?
Lars: At release you'll be able to invite friends, join squads, all the stuff that you need to be able to play with your friends. Getting into the server and seeing your friend, but not being able to play with them, is nothing but frustrating.
GameSpy: A lot of the oldschool, hardcore Battlefield players are asking for an advanced flight model option for choppers and jets – any chance you'll consider this requests?
Lars: For now we're leaving them the way they are, and will let the game live for a little while, then start the communication with the community to see where we stand.
Two more loooong weeks to go.
GameSpy: The PC version looks quite different to the console versions. Do you think there will be any critical backlash from console gamers? Most of the marketing material is very PC focused, so they might be expecting something different to what they end up getting?
Lars: I don't think so. Most gamers do realize that the consoles are five years old, and if someone buys new SLI cards for their monster PC, there will be something extra for the PC. If we kept everything on console level for those PC players, then they would rightfully strangle us! I do think we have managed to push the boundaries of the consoles to a level where I feel we've passed the competition. That's all you can ask out of the team at this point.
GameSpy: Do you think building for PC first and foremost will give DICE a headstart when it comes to developing an engine for the next gen consoles? You'll be adept at multicore, multi-GPU and DirectX 11, where many other companies won't?
Lars: The main focus has been to build a game. Of course we have the technical thinking behind it, but we've been leading with console for quite some time now and it was time to turn it around to refresh all of our knowledge on previous titles. But yeah, the Frostbite 2.0 engine has been built to – as far as we possibly can – prepare for a modular approach to whatever may come in the future.
Homebrew Mods that Cram Games into New Genres
Remember when you were sitting in Arby's with your folks, as a kid, and you'd get an idea? You know the one we're talking about: What if you mixed some of that sugar with some of that yellow-packet stuff, with a little ketchup, maybe some tangy Arby's sauce, and some of your Coke? A concoction would be born. It might be disgusting. It might be awesome. You won't know if you don't try.
The same thing happens to video game designers, sometimes. They'll see an engine they like, maybe a TV show they're fans of, hell, might just be a silly line of dialogue or even another video game -- and they'll mash 'em up. This time, with no parents to tell them not to, and a healthy dose of social awkwardness, the results are sometimes spectacular... ly bad. We've catalogued a few of these Frankenstein monsters for you here. Gaze and be amazed.
EarthBound as Tower Defense
Great news! The 16-year wait for somebody to turn EarthBound into a so-so tower-defense game is finally over! Okay, so the game itself is kinda mediocre -- its three levels (one per difficulty) are bland and its unit-upgrade system is predictable -- but it's a digital gingerbread house held together with love for the source material that serves as thick gobs of nostalgic frosting (Mmm, tasty nostalgia.) Stranger still, the original game's main character, Ness, is mysteriously absent from this homebrew, edged out by Mr. Saturns and Foppies banding together to prevent the dreaded Starmen from invading Eagleland. Gamers' undying passion for this dusty classic is indisputable -- good luck with those online petitions to get another sequel made, chums -- but this is clearly one of the most endearing/saddest homages to the SNES game. Interesting though it may be, sometimes the past is best left where it lies.
Download the EarthBound Tower Defense Game from Fileplanet
The Simpsons as Doom
Yes, that's right! You didn't know that Springfield's first family were converted into bloodthirsty demons and renders of the mortal flesh, did you!? Well, they were -- and all their weirdo neighbors and fellow townsfolk along with them. While this isn't exactly a game-to-game conversion (to be sure, there have been several games based on The Simpsons), it made our list from its sheer bizarreness, and the fact that it's actually kinda fun to play. Controls are pretty much the same as in the original Doom, although the weapons, enemies, and levels themselves are obviously vastly different. Not to mention the sound bites -- Ned Flanders, one of the game's tougher enemies -- shrieks "Whoa Nellie!" when you finally shove your last rocket-diddily up his yellow Christian butt and send him to the big animation library in the sky.
Download the Doom Simpsons Mod from Fileplanet
Left 4 Dead as an NES action-shooter
The whole 8-bit fixation prevalent in gaming lately is a little annoying and insincere, but this re-imagining of Valve's co-op, zombie-apocalypse FPS as an old-school NES game, by Eric Ruth is so lovingly made that we're willing to look the other way. The nearest approximation to the type of Nintendo game this emulates is Die Hard, though it's far better than that movie tie-in. (Don't tell Bruce Willis we said so.) All five maps of all four campaigns have been recreated here, and damned if the game isn't still a blast to play. They say the mark of a great song is that it still stands up when recreated in another style (like when Willie Nelson did a reggaeton cover of GG Allin's "Eat My Diarrhea" in the outtakes for Countryman) , so the same must hold true of games.
Download the Left 4 Dead NES game from FilePlanet.
Legend of Zelda/BattleToads/Contra/Mega Man/Castlevania/Monkey Island as FPSes
A lot of people like using the WASD keys, it seems, and not a gamepad to control their favorite console heroes. Popular action-adventure titles like the Legend of Zelda, and even beat-em-ups and platformers have been converted into the FPS format, with mixed success. The engine of choice for most of these seems to have been the Half-Life 2 engine, which did an awesome job of recreating the original town in Monkey Island (as a joke only -- it ain't playable), although a few earlier ones used the Doom or Unreal engines. While some of these conversions seem to make logical sense (Mega Man and Contra, for example, feature characters who primarily shoot stuff), none of them turned out to be particularly playable, as you can see from the video below. Is it just us, or is BattleToads just a little bit weird?
Crysis as Mechwarrior
Those of you familiar with the Battletech tabletop game will know that it has been converted into several video games over the years, perhaps the most successful being a first-person "sim" of the game's combat, with the player in the role of the pilot of a 60-foot high gigantic combat robot, called a 'Mech. These "Mechwarriors" go around and shoot each other with energy weapons and try not to overheat the fusion reactors powering their robots, and the whole thing is really fun and a perfect fit for a killer FPS engine like Crysis. This is one conversion that's actually worth playing -- and it looks damn good for a fan-made, too. Just keep in mind that it's online multiplayer only, so if you are forever alone, you'll just have to go back to playing against your cat in the tabletop version.
Download the Mechwarrior Crysis mod from FilePlanet.
We don't know about you, but we're pretty starving after tirelessly researching all these instances of gaming chocolate getting mixed up with fattening mod peanut butter. We're gonna bounce and head to the kitchen to mash up a Reese's peanut butter cup with some zesty salsa we just remembered we had.
Spy Guy says: Yup, that's a pretty whacked out bunch of mods right there, even by our standards. What's the freakiest mod you've ever played?
The same thing happens to video game designers, sometimes. They'll see an engine they like, maybe a TV show they're fans of, hell, might just be a silly line of dialogue or even another video game -- and they'll mash 'em up. This time, with no parents to tell them not to, and a healthy dose of social awkwardness, the results are sometimes spectacular... ly bad. We've catalogued a few of these Frankenstein monsters for you here. Gaze and be amazed.
EarthBound as Tower Defense
Great news! The 16-year wait for somebody to turn EarthBound into a so-so tower-defense game is finally over! Okay, so the game itself is kinda mediocre -- its three levels (one per difficulty) are bland and its unit-upgrade system is predictable -- but it's a digital gingerbread house held together with love for the source material that serves as thick gobs of nostalgic frosting (Mmm, tasty nostalgia.) Stranger still, the original game's main character, Ness, is mysteriously absent from this homebrew, edged out by Mr. Saturns and Foppies banding together to prevent the dreaded Starmen from invading Eagleland. Gamers' undying passion for this dusty classic is indisputable -- good luck with those online petitions to get another sequel made, chums -- but this is clearly one of the most endearing/saddest homages to the SNES game. Interesting though it may be, sometimes the past is best left where it lies.
Download the EarthBound Tower Defense Game from Fileplanet
The Simpsons as Doom
Yes, that's right! You didn't know that Springfield's first family were converted into bloodthirsty demons and renders of the mortal flesh, did you!? Well, they were -- and all their weirdo neighbors and fellow townsfolk along with them. While this isn't exactly a game-to-game conversion (to be sure, there have been several games based on The Simpsons), it made our list from its sheer bizarreness, and the fact that it's actually kinda fun to play. Controls are pretty much the same as in the original Doom, although the weapons, enemies, and levels themselves are obviously vastly different. Not to mention the sound bites -- Ned Flanders, one of the game's tougher enemies -- shrieks "Whoa Nellie!" when you finally shove your last rocket-diddily up his yellow Christian butt and send him to the big animation library in the sky.
Download the Doom Simpsons Mod from Fileplanet
Left 4 Dead as an NES action-shooter
The whole 8-bit fixation prevalent in gaming lately is a little annoying and insincere, but this re-imagining of Valve's co-op, zombie-apocalypse FPS as an old-school NES game, by Eric Ruth is so lovingly made that we're willing to look the other way. The nearest approximation to the type of Nintendo game this emulates is Die Hard, though it's far better than that movie tie-in. (Don't tell Bruce Willis we said so.) All five maps of all four campaigns have been recreated here, and damned if the game isn't still a blast to play. They say the mark of a great song is that it still stands up when recreated in another style (like when Willie Nelson did a reggaeton cover of GG Allin's "Eat My Diarrhea" in the outtakes for Countryman) , so the same must hold true of games.
Download the Left 4 Dead NES game from FilePlanet.
Legend of Zelda/BattleToads/Contra/Mega Man/Castlevania/Monkey Island as FPSes
A lot of people like using the WASD keys, it seems, and not a gamepad to control their favorite console heroes. Popular action-adventure titles like the Legend of Zelda, and even beat-em-ups and platformers have been converted into the FPS format, with mixed success. The engine of choice for most of these seems to have been the Half-Life 2 engine, which did an awesome job of recreating the original town in Monkey Island (as a joke only -- it ain't playable), although a few earlier ones used the Doom or Unreal engines. While some of these conversions seem to make logical sense (Mega Man and Contra, for example, feature characters who primarily shoot stuff), none of them turned out to be particularly playable, as you can see from the video below. Is it just us, or is BattleToads just a little bit weird?
Crysis as Mechwarrior
Those of you familiar with the Battletech tabletop game will know that it has been converted into several video games over the years, perhaps the most successful being a first-person "sim" of the game's combat, with the player in the role of the pilot of a 60-foot high gigantic combat robot, called a 'Mech. These "Mechwarriors" go around and shoot each other with energy weapons and try not to overheat the fusion reactors powering their robots, and the whole thing is really fun and a perfect fit for a killer FPS engine like Crysis. This is one conversion that's actually worth playing -- and it looks damn good for a fan-made, too. Just keep in mind that it's online multiplayer only, so if you are forever alone, you'll just have to go back to playing against your cat in the tabletop version.
Download the Mechwarrior Crysis mod from FilePlanet.
We don't know about you, but we're pretty starving after tirelessly researching all these instances of gaming chocolate getting mixed up with fattening mod peanut butter. We're gonna bounce and head to the kitchen to mash up a Reese's peanut butter cup with some zesty salsa we just remembered we had.
Spy Guy says: Yup, that's a pretty whacked out bunch of mods right there, even by our standards. What's the freakiest mod you've ever played?
Battlefield 3 Beta Interview
Who better to speak to about the issues arising from the recent Battlefield 3 beta than the game's Lead Multiplayer Designer, Lars Gustavsson. After pumping dozens of hours into the beta we had plenty of questions for him during yesterday's Australian Battlefield 3 event. Where's the VOIP and joystick support? Will bullet damage be altered? Can we set up our own squads? Why are jet campers such douchebags? Lars answered all of these, and more.
GameSpy: The beta didn't work well with joysticks or control pads. What level of support for these devices will the game ship with? Will pilots be able to fly with a stick or pad?
Lars: It's something we're looking into. It looks like we will be able to ship with joystick support, but I've been on the road for quite some time so I can't guarantee it. But yes, if it doesn't turn up at launch, it will definitely be a high priority as soon as possible after shipping. The work being done to support joysticks is more or less the same as control pads, if you get one, you get the other. It's something we're aware of now that we've brought back the jets. It's on the list.
Watch IGN's exclusive video of two new non-beta maps in action
GameSpy: The beta didn't support in-game VOIP; players had to form a party through battlelog to be able to chat just to their party. Will Battlefield 3 include in-game VOIP – be it squad or team based – at launch?
Lars: No, on PC this (battlelog) is what we're going to ship with. Then we're going to evaluate how we move forward with this. It's something we've heard from the community, it's something we understand. At the same time, building a game of this size, you can't win all of the battles. The convenience of going in with friends with your party VOIP channel and keep it even after the game, is definitely a strength. That's just the start – we can definitely evolve from there down the road.
GameSpy: We've heard there's going to be a command rose at launch for PC. Is that still going to be ready for launch? What sort of functionality might it include?
Lars: It is on our list for trying to get in there at launch. It is the usual things that you can really miss on the battlefield. Bail out is a typical one; you're sitting in a helicopter and you realize that you want to attack the flag, and there's no way to tell you're buddy that you're going to bail out.
GameSpy: What about ammo, medpacks, that sort of stuff?
Lars: We have the context system today, but it was buggy in the open beta. We've been hammering it to get it right.
GameSpy: There's been some feedback that some people found bullet damage too strong in the beta. Any plans to tweak it?
"...a lot of the issues that people have raised have already been fixed."
Lars: We've done a lot of tweaking and tuning, everyone needs to understand that the beta was early code. Everything from hit detection to damage, flashlights that people have been mentioning – a lot of the issues that people have raised have already been fixed.
GameSpy: Are you toning the flashlights down a bit?
Lars: Yeah, they should be much better at release.
GameSpy: What level of squad control will the release have? In the beta you couldn't form a squad, join a specific squad or lock a squad so it's just you and friends – will the final release be different?
Lars: At release you'll be able to invite friends, join squads, all the stuff that you need to be able to play with your friends. Getting into the server and seeing your friend, but not being able to play with them, is nothing but frustrating.
GameSpy: A lot of the oldschool, hardcore Battlefield players are asking for an advanced flight model option for choppers and jets – any chance you'll consider this requests?
Lars: For now we're leaving them the way they are, and will let the game live for a little while, then start the communication with the community to see where we stand.
Two more loooong weeks to go.
GameSpy: The PC version looks quite different to the console versions. Do you think there will be any critical backlash from console gamers? Most of the marketing material is very PC focused, so they might be expecting something different to what they end up getting?
Lars: I don't think so. Most gamers do realize that the consoles are five years old, and if someone buys new SLI cards for their monster PC, there will be something extra for the PC. If we kept everything on console level for those PC players, then they would rightfully strangle us! I do think we have managed to push the boundaries of the consoles to a level where I feel we've passed the competition. That's all you can ask out of the team at this point.
GameSpy: Do you think building for PC first and foremost will give DICE a headstart when it comes to developing an engine for the next gen consoles? You'll be adept at multicore, multi-GPU and DirectX 11, where many other companies won't?
Lars: The main focus has been to build a game. Of course we have the technical thinking behind it, but we've been leading with console for quite some time now and it was time to turn it around to refresh all of our knowledge on previous titles. But yeah, the Frostbite 2.0 engine has been built to – as far as we possibly can – prepare for a modular approach to whatever may come in the future.
Including Caspian Border in the beta was a wise move.
GameSpy: Do you think it will give you an advantage over other developers who are sticking with the old hardware?
Lars: We hope so. I think it's been a very mature move from Dice to invest in this new engine that allows us to keep on cramming more stuff out of these machines, otherwise we start to stall. I also think that's something that, to me, sticks out with Battlefield 3. It is a fresh take on an otherwise quite stale shooter market. We're trying to do a lot of things that no one has done before. Animation has stayed the same for ages, now we've revolutionized animation in shooters. We keep on pushing the boundaries for scale, for destruction.
"It's really gold for us to get this insight from the community."
GameSpy: What's the biggest lesson you got from the beta – were there any breakthroughs, or a collection of smaller insights?
Lars: For us it's validating and solving problems with the backend servers. Validating that it all worked to ensure we have a really good launch. In addition to that getting the audience's eyes on battlelog, having them try it out, even though it's rough code still. It's really gold for us to get this insight from the community. Yes, they're loud sometimes, and very passionate about it, but I'd rather have them loud and passionate than not talking to us at all. So I see that as a sign of investment.
GameSpy: When Bad Company 2 came out there were lots of issues with the server browser for the first few days. Do you think your beta testing will ensure that everything will work well on Day 1? Are you confident of a perfect launch?
Lars: That is the intention of course. I am much more confident than before the open beta. It's like when you do a parachute jump – you can only fold your parachute so many times. For every game we get more experienced, and we've definitely done the best we can, far beyond what we've ever done before, to make this a successful launch. Of course, if numbers go totally bananas, there's always areas that you can't predict. If that happens then those are luxury problems.
Spy Guy says: Enough with the Battlefield 3 articles already! (We'd love to cover Modern Warfare 3, but we can't get any COD love yet - Ed) The sooner this damn game arrives, the sooner I can stop reading all about it and start enjoying it. The anticipation is freakin' killing me!
GameSpy: The beta didn't work well with joysticks or control pads. What level of support for these devices will the game ship with? Will pilots be able to fly with a stick or pad?
Lars: It's something we're looking into. It looks like we will be able to ship with joystick support, but I've been on the road for quite some time so I can't guarantee it. But yes, if it doesn't turn up at launch, it will definitely be a high priority as soon as possible after shipping. The work being done to support joysticks is more or less the same as control pads, if you get one, you get the other. It's something we're aware of now that we've brought back the jets. It's on the list.
Watch IGN's exclusive video of two new non-beta maps in action
GameSpy: The beta didn't support in-game VOIP; players had to form a party through battlelog to be able to chat just to their party. Will Battlefield 3 include in-game VOIP – be it squad or team based – at launch?
Lars: No, on PC this (battlelog) is what we're going to ship with. Then we're going to evaluate how we move forward with this. It's something we've heard from the community, it's something we understand. At the same time, building a game of this size, you can't win all of the battles. The convenience of going in with friends with your party VOIP channel and keep it even after the game, is definitely a strength. That's just the start – we can definitely evolve from there down the road.
GameSpy: We've heard there's going to be a command rose at launch for PC. Is that still going to be ready for launch? What sort of functionality might it include?
Lars: It is on our list for trying to get in there at launch. It is the usual things that you can really miss on the battlefield. Bail out is a typical one; you're sitting in a helicopter and you realize that you want to attack the flag, and there's no way to tell you're buddy that you're going to bail out.
GameSpy: What about ammo, medpacks, that sort of stuff?
Lars: We have the context system today, but it was buggy in the open beta. We've been hammering it to get it right.
GameSpy: There's been some feedback that some people found bullet damage too strong in the beta. Any plans to tweak it?
"...a lot of the issues that people have raised have already been fixed."
Lars: We've done a lot of tweaking and tuning, everyone needs to understand that the beta was early code. Everything from hit detection to damage, flashlights that people have been mentioning – a lot of the issues that people have raised have already been fixed.
GameSpy: Are you toning the flashlights down a bit?
Lars: Yeah, they should be much better at release.
GameSpy: What level of squad control will the release have? In the beta you couldn't form a squad, join a specific squad or lock a squad so it's just you and friends – will the final release be different?
Lars: At release you'll be able to invite friends, join squads, all the stuff that you need to be able to play with your friends. Getting into the server and seeing your friend, but not being able to play with them, is nothing but frustrating.
GameSpy: A lot of the oldschool, hardcore Battlefield players are asking for an advanced flight model option for choppers and jets – any chance you'll consider this requests?
Lars: For now we're leaving them the way they are, and will let the game live for a little while, then start the communication with the community to see where we stand.
Two more loooong weeks to go.
GameSpy: The PC version looks quite different to the console versions. Do you think there will be any critical backlash from console gamers? Most of the marketing material is very PC focused, so they might be expecting something different to what they end up getting?
Lars: I don't think so. Most gamers do realize that the consoles are five years old, and if someone buys new SLI cards for their monster PC, there will be something extra for the PC. If we kept everything on console level for those PC players, then they would rightfully strangle us! I do think we have managed to push the boundaries of the consoles to a level where I feel we've passed the competition. That's all you can ask out of the team at this point.
GameSpy: Do you think building for PC first and foremost will give DICE a headstart when it comes to developing an engine for the next gen consoles? You'll be adept at multicore, multi-GPU and DirectX 11, where many other companies won't?
Lars: The main focus has been to build a game. Of course we have the technical thinking behind it, but we've been leading with console for quite some time now and it was time to turn it around to refresh all of our knowledge on previous titles. But yeah, the Frostbite 2.0 engine has been built to – as far as we possibly can – prepare for a modular approach to whatever may come in the future.
Including Caspian Border in the beta was a wise move.
GameSpy: Do you think it will give you an advantage over other developers who are sticking with the old hardware?
Lars: We hope so. I think it's been a very mature move from Dice to invest in this new engine that allows us to keep on cramming more stuff out of these machines, otherwise we start to stall. I also think that's something that, to me, sticks out with Battlefield 3. It is a fresh take on an otherwise quite stale shooter market. We're trying to do a lot of things that no one has done before. Animation has stayed the same for ages, now we've revolutionized animation in shooters. We keep on pushing the boundaries for scale, for destruction.
"It's really gold for us to get this insight from the community."
GameSpy: What's the biggest lesson you got from the beta – were there any breakthroughs, or a collection of smaller insights?
Lars: For us it's validating and solving problems with the backend servers. Validating that it all worked to ensure we have a really good launch. In addition to that getting the audience's eyes on battlelog, having them try it out, even though it's rough code still. It's really gold for us to get this insight from the community. Yes, they're loud sometimes, and very passionate about it, but I'd rather have them loud and passionate than not talking to us at all. So I see that as a sign of investment.
GameSpy: When Bad Company 2 came out there were lots of issues with the server browser for the first few days. Do you think your beta testing will ensure that everything will work well on Day 1? Are you confident of a perfect launch?
Lars: That is the intention of course. I am much more confident than before the open beta. It's like when you do a parachute jump – you can only fold your parachute so many times. For every game we get more experienced, and we've definitely done the best we can, far beyond what we've ever done before, to make this a successful launch. Of course, if numbers go totally bananas, there's always areas that you can't predict. If that happens then those are luxury problems.
Spy Guy says: Enough with the Battlefield 3 articles already! (We'd love to cover Modern Warfare 3, but we can't get any COD love yet - Ed) The sooner this damn game arrives, the sooner I can stop reading all about it and start enjoying it. The anticipation is freakin' killing me!
News AMD Launches FX Processors
AMD's counterpunch to Intel's Sandy Bridge finally came today with the launch of the AMD FX family of CPUs. Built on the tech company's new multi-core Bulldozer architecture, the FX line includes the first-ever eight-core desktop processor at a surprisingly affordable price.
"AMD FX CPUs are back with a vengeance, as validated by the recent feat of setting a Guinness World Records title for Highest Frequency of a Computer Processor," AMD's Chris Cloran said in a statement. "While overclockers will certainly enjoy the frequencies the AMD FX processors can achieve, PC enthusiasts and HD media aficionados will appreciate the remarkable experience that AMD FX processors can provide as part of a balanced, affordable desktop system."
See the FX series go head-to-head with Intel's i5 and i7 chips below:
Starting today, the below AMD FX CPUs will be available from global retailers:
FX-8150: Eight cores, 3.6 GHz CPU base (3.9 GHz Turbo Core, 4.2 GHz Max Turbo), $245 suggested retail price (U.S.)
FX-8120: Eight cores, 3.1 GHz CPU base (3.4 GHz Turbo Core, 4.0 GHz Max Turbo), $205 suggested retail price (U.S.)
FX-6100: Six cores, 3.3 GHz CPU base (3.6 GHz Turbo Core, 3.9 GHz Max Turbo), $165 suggested retail price (U.S.)
FX-4100: Four cores, 3.6 GHz CPU base (3.7 GHz Turbo Core, 3.8 GHz Max Turbo), $115 suggested retail price (U.S)
Spy Guy says: AMD is making a big push with the FX series, with performance and, most notably, pricing that will make gamers think twice before going Sandy Bridge. The question is, did AMD take too long to get into the race?
"AMD FX CPUs are back with a vengeance, as validated by the recent feat of setting a Guinness World Records title for Highest Frequency of a Computer Processor," AMD's Chris Cloran said in a statement. "While overclockers will certainly enjoy the frequencies the AMD FX processors can achieve, PC enthusiasts and HD media aficionados will appreciate the remarkable experience that AMD FX processors can provide as part of a balanced, affordable desktop system."
See the FX series go head-to-head with Intel's i5 and i7 chips below:
Starting today, the below AMD FX CPUs will be available from global retailers:
FX-8150: Eight cores, 3.6 GHz CPU base (3.9 GHz Turbo Core, 4.2 GHz Max Turbo), $245 suggested retail price (U.S.)
FX-8120: Eight cores, 3.1 GHz CPU base (3.4 GHz Turbo Core, 4.0 GHz Max Turbo), $205 suggested retail price (U.S.)
FX-6100: Six cores, 3.3 GHz CPU base (3.6 GHz Turbo Core, 3.9 GHz Max Turbo), $165 suggested retail price (U.S.)
FX-4100: Four cores, 3.6 GHz CPU base (3.7 GHz Turbo Core, 3.8 GHz Max Turbo), $115 suggested retail price (U.S)
Spy Guy says: AMD is making a big push with the FX series, with performance and, most notably, pricing that will make gamers think twice before going Sandy Bridge. The question is, did AMD take too long to get into the race?
Sony: 100,000 SOE, PSN Accounts Compromised
Here we go again. After making Sony the victim of the largest theft of consumer data in history in April, hackers are once again trying to make SOE and PlayStation Network their digital punching bags. Sony announced that its networks have been breached and nearly 100,000 SOE and PSN accounts have been compromised.
In a statement issued across Sony's networks, Chief Information Security Officer Philip Reitinger said his team recently detected that individuals were attempting to "test a massive set of sign-in IDs and passwords against our network database." More than 33,000 SOE accounts were impacted, he said, and those accounts have been locked as Sony reviews the incident.
"Please note, if you have a credit card associated with your account, your credit card number is not at risk," Reitinger said. "We will work with any users whom we confirm have had unauthorized purchases made to restore amounts in the PSN/SEN or SOE wallet."
Reitinger said Sony believes the account information was obtained from an outside source, not Sony's network, and as a result of the attack the company is requiring secure password resets for all impacted users. If you are among those locked out of your SOE account, Sony said you will soon receive an email at the address associated with your SOE account. That email will advise you on the next steps required to validate your account and get you back online.
Spy Guy says: At least Sony appears to have been on the ball this time around. But the company also played things down when the April attacks were first reported, and we know how that turned out. We'll keep an eye on this one. The lesson remains: use strong, different passwords on all of your online accounts and don't store credit card information.
In a statement issued across Sony's networks, Chief Information Security Officer Philip Reitinger said his team recently detected that individuals were attempting to "test a massive set of sign-in IDs and passwords against our network database." More than 33,000 SOE accounts were impacted, he said, and those accounts have been locked as Sony reviews the incident.
"Please note, if you have a credit card associated with your account, your credit card number is not at risk," Reitinger said. "We will work with any users whom we confirm have had unauthorized purchases made to restore amounts in the PSN/SEN or SOE wallet."
Reitinger said Sony believes the account information was obtained from an outside source, not Sony's network, and as a result of the attack the company is requiring secure password resets for all impacted users. If you are among those locked out of your SOE account, Sony said you will soon receive an email at the address associated with your SOE account. That email will advise you on the next steps required to validate your account and get you back online.
Spy Guy says: At least Sony appears to have been on the ball this time around. But the company also played things down when the April attacks were first reported, and we know how that turned out. We'll keep an eye on this one. The lesson remains: use strong, different passwords on all of your online accounts and don't store credit card information.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
No More Heroes for Mobage to bring 'social assassin battle' to phones
Japanese developer Grasshopper Manufacture's Suda 51 clearly wasn't joking when he set out to make "the social game with the most blood." Joystiq reports that, according to a release by publisher Marvelous AQL, No More Heroes (working title) will release on iOS and Android devices through DeNA and Ngmoco's Mobage network as a "social assassin battle." This will be the first multiplayer game in the critically-acclaimed-but-commercially-lukewarm No More Heroes series.
Unfortunately, neither a release date nor more details on just how social this bloody mobile game will be were revealed. But judging from these first images of the game in action, it certainly looks to impress visually. (Frankly, these look a helluva lot like images from previous versions of the series on consoles like Nintendo Wii.)
This decidedly hardcore mobile social game will be released by Grasshopper Manufacture along with three more games in the same format. The first of which will most likely be Frog Minutes, an odd game that's already available in Japan through Mobage that has players capture various insects for a frog to eat.
No More Heroes Mobage 2
Nothing has been revealed of the studio's other two mobile social games in the works other than their titles, Humans vs Zombies and Alien Busters. Based on highly educated guess work, either of the games will feature at least one of the following things: blood, guts, swords and women scantily clad in school uniforms.
Do you plan on playing this game when it releases to Mobage? How well do you think a game like this will do with mobile social game fans? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Unfortunately, neither a release date nor more details on just how social this bloody mobile game will be were revealed. But judging from these first images of the game in action, it certainly looks to impress visually. (Frankly, these look a helluva lot like images from previous versions of the series on consoles like Nintendo Wii.)
This decidedly hardcore mobile social game will be released by Grasshopper Manufacture along with three more games in the same format. The first of which will most likely be Frog Minutes, an odd game that's already available in Japan through Mobage that has players capture various insects for a frog to eat.
No More Heroes Mobage 2
Nothing has been revealed of the studio's other two mobile social games in the works other than their titles, Humans vs Zombies and Alien Busters. Based on highly educated guess work, either of the games will feature at least one of the following things: blood, guts, swords and women scantily clad in school uniforms.
Do you plan on playing this game when it releases to Mobage? How well do you think a game like this will do with mobile social game fans? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Analyst: The last three years was the 'first generation of social games'
It's statements like this that make you hopeful for what the next three years will bring. Speaking to IndustryGamers, Eedar analyst Jesse Divnich concluded a talk with, "If anything, what I am suggesting is that what we've seen over the last 3 years should be classified as the 'first generation' of social games." What Divnich is referring to is the property and time-management sub genre of social games on Facebook and other networks that have arguably hit critical mass since they hit the scene way back in 2008.
According to Divnich, social gamers are getting their fill from new releases in a fraction of the time it took before. This means players are bouncing from one game to the next more quickly, and those games left by the wayside are reaching their peak in monthly and daily players far sooner than ever before. You can blame the sheer volume of high-quality time-management games for this--think about it: What are the top three games on Facebook right now?
Divnich goes on to compare this form of social gaming to the Guitar Hero franchise (how timely) in that innovation is quickly running dry in this sub genre. "New technology breeds innovation and while I am confident that both Facebook and Google are beginning to expand their social offerings, I think it may be safe to say that the current time-based management genre, as we know it today, will have to rapidly evolve beyond the traditional 'sprite clicking' mechanics to sustain consumer interest," Divnich told IndustryGamers.
With technologies like Unreal Engine 3 coming to Flash (and as a result Facebook games) and HTML5 slowly gaining traction, Divnich might be onto something here. The analyst goes on to cite the upcoming Mafia Wars 2 by Zynga as a harbinger of the second generation of social games, but let's not get ahead of ourselves now. Check out the interview in full right here.
[Via VG 24/7]
Do you think this form of social gaming has reached it peak? Where would like to see the industry go next in terms of gameplay, graphics and social features? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
According to Divnich, social gamers are getting their fill from new releases in a fraction of the time it took before. This means players are bouncing from one game to the next more quickly, and those games left by the wayside are reaching their peak in monthly and daily players far sooner than ever before. You can blame the sheer volume of high-quality time-management games for this--think about it: What are the top three games on Facebook right now?
Divnich goes on to compare this form of social gaming to the Guitar Hero franchise (how timely) in that innovation is quickly running dry in this sub genre. "New technology breeds innovation and while I am confident that both Facebook and Google are beginning to expand their social offerings, I think it may be safe to say that the current time-based management genre, as we know it today, will have to rapidly evolve beyond the traditional 'sprite clicking' mechanics to sustain consumer interest," Divnich told IndustryGamers.
With technologies like Unreal Engine 3 coming to Flash (and as a result Facebook games) and HTML5 slowly gaining traction, Divnich might be onto something here. The analyst goes on to cite the upcoming Mafia Wars 2 by Zynga as a harbinger of the second generation of social games, but let's not get ahead of ourselves now. Check out the interview in full right here.
[Via VG 24/7]
Do you think this form of social gaming has reached it peak? Where would like to see the industry go next in terms of gameplay, graphics and social features? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Rift maker Trion wants Red Door to be Facebook for hardcore games
If you still think Facebook games haven't made a visible impact on traditional games, then look no further than Trion Worlds. The creator of hit MMO (massively multiplayer online game) Rift announced Red Door, an upcoming game development and distribution platform that looks to do for the traditional games industry what Facebook has done for social games. And, at least on paper, it sounds pretty brilliant.
Trion CEO Dr. Lars Buttler said to Kotaku, "Facebook catalyzed a ton of new experiences and we want to do that for premium AAA games. We want make them more live and more dynamic than the current model of social games where months go by and nothing changes." Red Door, which will be available to third-party game creators in spring 2012, will offer them a server infrastructure with support for billing, customer support and content management, according to Kotaku.
In other words, Trion looks to be the Zynga of the hardcore games industry through Red Door, a platform that sounds a whole lot like Facebook. Combining the HD graphics and complex gameplay capabilities of hardcore game engines with the ability to constantly and continually update games with new content a' la Facebook games, Trion looks to usher in the future of hardcore game creation. According to Kotaku, Red Door could be the end of $60 traditional game sequels like, say, Gears of War 3.
If anything, Trion Worlds is certainly onto something. As companies make millions (and see valuations in the billions) from free-to-play social gaming, traditional game creators have to do something to survive. And just as Unreal Engine 3, a widely-used traditional game creation technology, comes to Flash Facebook, Trion hopes to lure game makers through its big Red Door.
Do you think the future of hardcore gaming looks a lot like how Facebook games are distributed and curated today? Is Trion Worlds onto something visionary? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Trion CEO Dr. Lars Buttler said to Kotaku, "Facebook catalyzed a ton of new experiences and we want to do that for premium AAA games. We want make them more live and more dynamic than the current model of social games where months go by and nothing changes." Red Door, which will be available to third-party game creators in spring 2012, will offer them a server infrastructure with support for billing, customer support and content management, according to Kotaku.
In other words, Trion looks to be the Zynga of the hardcore games industry through Red Door, a platform that sounds a whole lot like Facebook. Combining the HD graphics and complex gameplay capabilities of hardcore game engines with the ability to constantly and continually update games with new content a' la Facebook games, Trion looks to usher in the future of hardcore game creation. According to Kotaku, Red Door could be the end of $60 traditional game sequels like, say, Gears of War 3.
If anything, Trion Worlds is certainly onto something. As companies make millions (and see valuations in the billions) from free-to-play social gaming, traditional game creators have to do something to survive. And just as Unreal Engine 3, a widely-used traditional game creation technology, comes to Flash Facebook, Trion hopes to lure game makers through its big Red Door.
Do you think the future of hardcore gaming looks a lot like how Facebook games are distributed and curated today? Is Trion Worlds onto something visionary? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
CityVille Hometown Halloween update gives your city the spooky touch
Look, we all know Christmas trumps Halloween every time. That said, Halloween is a very, very close second. So, I'll take a mobile game update in tribute to yet another holiday that has lost all meaning, thanks Zynga. The company pushed out Version 1.023 of CityVille Hometown, and it's chock-full of goodies that will turn your quaint little down into a mini, digital Salem.
Of course, there are a number of Halloween-themed decorations to place in the game now, but players can also decorate buildings and businesses to give them that "haunted house" look. (Gee, if only decoration my own house was this simple.) The update also brings a bevy of Halloween-centric Goals, and a new building that's said to offer unique rewards, The Graveyard.
And luckily for you, Zynga threw in a few much-needed fixes like better inventory presentation to make using Energy simpler and a fix to the Energy out-of-sync issues. And when it comes to enhancements, CV Hometown now has improved animations and increased expansion space for your town. And with the amount of content that seems to be packed into this update, you might need the room sooner than you think.
CV Hometown Halloween theme
Click here to download CityVille Hometown for Free on the App Store Now >
Have you seen all of the new stuff in the CV Hometown Halloween update? What do you think of the new content, and what else do you hope makes it into the game later on? Sound off in the comments. 15 Comments
Of course, there are a number of Halloween-themed decorations to place in the game now, but players can also decorate buildings and businesses to give them that "haunted house" look. (Gee, if only decoration my own house was this simple.) The update also brings a bevy of Halloween-centric Goals, and a new building that's said to offer unique rewards, The Graveyard.
And luckily for you, Zynga threw in a few much-needed fixes like better inventory presentation to make using Energy simpler and a fix to the Energy out-of-sync issues. And when it comes to enhancements, CV Hometown now has improved animations and increased expansion space for your town. And with the amount of content that seems to be packed into this update, you might need the room sooner than you think.
CV Hometown Halloween theme
Click here to download CityVille Hometown for Free on the App Store Now >
Have you seen all of the new stuff in the CV Hometown Halloween update? What do you think of the new content, and what else do you hope makes it into the game later on? Sound off in the comments. 15 Comments
CW's The Vampire Diaries series now a 'fang-tastic' Facebook game
Launched today, The Vampire Diaries: Get Sucked In follows the heels of BBC's announcement for Being Human, another popular supernatural drama set to become a Facebook role-playing game.
The CW's The Vampire Diaries (adapted from a novel series by L.J. Smith of the same name) is a show about a female high schooler's romantic entanglements with two vampire brothers and the mysterious events surrounding their town.
Fans of the show can now visit Mystic Falls anytime instead of just Thursday nights, thanks to developer Arkadium and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Though Arkadium is best known for creating Mahjongg Dimensions and bringing Cooking Mama to Facebook, they've done work for The CW before, producing a Facebook game for the hit teen drama, Gossip Girl.
Gallery: The Vampire Diaries: Get Sucked In
Promising to draw upon "key plot lines," the game is currently divided into chapters, with eager fans having already completed chapter one and are now impatiently awaiting chapter two. When you begin, you're dropped into a fog in the middle of a dream, where you meet two of the show's three major characters--Elena and Damon. You get two item-fetching missions that are essentially a tutorial, then wake up to your first day at the Mystic Falls High School. An interactive map allows you to navigate the key parts of campus, your home, and the town, including the Mystic Grill restaurant. And while there's no voice acting, there's plenty of readable dialog and the music absolutely works to enhance the mood. It's all a very immersive experience.
The Vampire Diaries game map
Arkadium has clearly done its research. While I've not seen the series, the developer has created a game that completely indulges and rewards the most loyal fans while crafting enough intrigue to not alienate the random player who wanders in. The ultimate indulgence for fans is the mini-game "Mystic Trivia," which you can only pass if you have arcane knowledge of events in the show, such as, "Who is the warlock Bonnie flirts with, then messes with in Season 2?" or "What is the color of Damon's eyes?" This Facebook rendition of Vampire Diaries is clearly aimed at the lovestruck fan girls out there.
And speaking of fan girls, the game will know if you're male or female and tailor certain missions to you accordingly. In one mission, female players are sent to the cheerleading squad tryouts, while male players are sent to the football team. Though when you begin, no one asks what your gender is nor does the game ask you for a name. You're basically a cipher, and the characters in the game treat you as a student or a peer.
That the developers would allow such ambiguity is certainly worthy of notice. It'll be interesting, if there's more to it further down the road. Aside from trivia, there's a simple hidden object mechanic that takes up the bulk of the gameplay, followed by the "Mystic Pix" mini-game, which has you compare two screenshots of the show side-by-side.
Click here to play The Vampire Diaries: Get Sucked In on Facebook now >
[Hat-tip: BuzzFocus]
Will you play a Facebook game for TV series you've never seen before? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
The CW's The Vampire Diaries (adapted from a novel series by L.J. Smith of the same name) is a show about a female high schooler's romantic entanglements with two vampire brothers and the mysterious events surrounding their town.
Fans of the show can now visit Mystic Falls anytime instead of just Thursday nights, thanks to developer Arkadium and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Though Arkadium is best known for creating Mahjongg Dimensions and bringing Cooking Mama to Facebook, they've done work for The CW before, producing a Facebook game for the hit teen drama, Gossip Girl.
Gallery: The Vampire Diaries: Get Sucked In
Promising to draw upon "key plot lines," the game is currently divided into chapters, with eager fans having already completed chapter one and are now impatiently awaiting chapter two. When you begin, you're dropped into a fog in the middle of a dream, where you meet two of the show's three major characters--Elena and Damon. You get two item-fetching missions that are essentially a tutorial, then wake up to your first day at the Mystic Falls High School. An interactive map allows you to navigate the key parts of campus, your home, and the town, including the Mystic Grill restaurant. And while there's no voice acting, there's plenty of readable dialog and the music absolutely works to enhance the mood. It's all a very immersive experience.
The Vampire Diaries game map
Arkadium has clearly done its research. While I've not seen the series, the developer has created a game that completely indulges and rewards the most loyal fans while crafting enough intrigue to not alienate the random player who wanders in. The ultimate indulgence for fans is the mini-game "Mystic Trivia," which you can only pass if you have arcane knowledge of events in the show, such as, "Who is the warlock Bonnie flirts with, then messes with in Season 2?" or "What is the color of Damon's eyes?" This Facebook rendition of Vampire Diaries is clearly aimed at the lovestruck fan girls out there.
And speaking of fan girls, the game will know if you're male or female and tailor certain missions to you accordingly. In one mission, female players are sent to the cheerleading squad tryouts, while male players are sent to the football team. Though when you begin, no one asks what your gender is nor does the game ask you for a name. You're basically a cipher, and the characters in the game treat you as a student or a peer.
That the developers would allow such ambiguity is certainly worthy of notice. It'll be interesting, if there's more to it further down the road. Aside from trivia, there's a simple hidden object mechanic that takes up the bulk of the gameplay, followed by the "Mystic Pix" mini-game, which has you compare two screenshots of the show side-by-side.
Click here to play The Vampire Diaries: Get Sucked In on Facebook now >
[Hat-tip: BuzzFocus]
Will you play a Facebook game for TV series you've never seen before? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
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