New Games |
- The Binding of Isaac is a rougelike shooter, sounds rad
- Gross! Kinect tech in mobile phones and robots?
- The Darkness descends on San Diego Comic-Con
- World of Warplanes and World of Tanks will have shared XP
- Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines gets a new fan patch
- Konami hosting an obesity summit, DDR tournament
- Freedom: The choice of morality
- Final Fantasy Type-0 almost done, says director
- Friday Night Fights: Deathly Hallows edition
- Could Metal Gear Solid HD get new voice work?
- Atlus to bring King of Fighters XIII to EVO 2011, Otakon
- PlayStation mini Carnivores: Ice Age looks silly
- Sega is setting up a pop-up arcade at San Diego Comic-Con
- Possible El Shaddai spinoffs could come to Vita, Wii U
- Namco Bandai details San Diego Comic-Con plans
- Interview with Nerdcore rapper Random
- This weekend on Dtoid Live Shows: Wayforward on SMH
- Rock Band DLC: Soundgarden tries to live, does
- El Shaddai Preview: Heretical Art
| The Binding of Isaac is a rougelike shooter, sounds rad Posted: 15 Jul 2011 04:00 PM PDT In a blog post, Edmund McMillen gave us the skinny on a game he's working on, The Binding of Isaac. He says it draws inspiration from The Legend of Zelda's dungeon structure, controls like Robotron: 2084 and Smash TV, and is coming to Steam this August for a price that "won't put much of a strain on your wallets." Do I even need to go on? Isaac has a "randomly generated semi-RPG world filled with power-ups, items, and special abilities." The majority of the in-game items stack, "so as you progress your character will change into a monstrous powerhouse not only in stats and abilities but also in appearance." This is going to be good. The Binding of Isaac, coming to Steam! [Edmund's Dev Blog via Giant Bomb] |
| Gross! Kinect tech in mobile phones and robots? Posted: 15 Jul 2011 03:30 PM PDT Gross? That's exactly what I said when I saw the Reuters headline "How Kinect could turn smartphones into robots" earlier today. Reuters is doing troll stories now? No. This writer is serious. According to EETimes, Microsoft’s purchase of gesture-recognition company Canesta could someday lead to a smaller Kinect-type product that fits into our phones. Canesta’s engine is said to outperform the PrimeSensor which Microsoft is currently licensing from PrimeSense for Kinect. Reuters says that Microsoft will be able to downsize the Kinect tech to about a square centimeter, which could give everything from your phone to robots Kinect-like abilities. The article goes on to mention some sci-fi crap about one day being able to dock your phone into your robot when you get home. Again, gross. But Kinect-like sensors in a phone could be fun. You could have it hang up on people you don't want to talk to by simply flipping off your phone. |
| The Darkness descends on San Diego Comic-Con Posted: 15 Jul 2011 02:30 PM PDT If you have a list of panels and booths you want to hit during the San Diego Comic-Con, here's another one to consider. 2K Games is hosting a panel titled "Spreading the Darkness: From Comic Book to Video Games and Entertainment." It will feature discussions about The Darkness II by talent from Top Cow and Digital Extremes and is scheduled for Thursday, July 21 from 12:00 - 1:00 Pacific in room 9. The panel will look at the expansion of The Darkness from a comic to videogame as an entertainment medium. Marc Silvestri, CEO of Top Cow and co-creator of the comic, will be joined by Top Cow president Matt Hawkins and Darkness II project director Sheldon Carter from Digital Extremes. There's going to be other guest speakers, but they are being kept a secret. 2K is also bringing a demo of the game, playable at the Top Cow booth (#2629). Anyone who plays will get to try out the quad-wielding, which translates to more slaughter. |
| World of Warplanes and World of Tanks will have shared XP Posted: 15 Jul 2011 02:00 PM PDT Tanks can be fun, but I'd rather stick to the skies when given a choice between the two. Wargaming.net has shared new details on its latest massively multiplayer online game, World of Warplanes. In a decidedly smart move, you'll be allowed to hook up your same email account with World of Tanks and World of Warplanes. The two games interact, meaning gold and experience earned in one title can be spent in the other, if you so desire. "We've got thousands of players on World of Tanks servers, who have gained a scarily large amount of free experience which they don't know how to spend," says Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi. "With this sharing option we say to them -- 'hey, here's our new game, and it's as brutal and addictive as World of Tanks.'" |
| Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines gets a new fan patch Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:30 PM PDT Some games never die because of the love fans have for them, and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is one of those games. A new fan patch -- apparently from a series of "proper" ones -- was released this week, bring it to revision 7.6a. It restores things like unused music and "bisexual Phil" to the game, as well as fixing a bunch of bugs you can find listed below. Moreover, and just like the case with Deus Ex, anytime someone mentions Bloodlines, somebody somewhere is going to reinstall it. So now you can do that and have the latest patch.
And just because you were wondering the exact same thing: why yes, there is a sparkle mod for Bloodlines. Oh Jasper Hale... Undying: Vampire Bloodlines Patched Anew [Rock, Paper, Shotgun] |
| Konami hosting an obesity summit, DDR tournament Posted: 15 Jul 2011 01:00 PM PDT My dream! DDR Fat Camp! Well, not quite. Konami is set to hold their first ever Childhood Obesity Summit alongside in West Virginia later this month. During this event they'll also hold a Dance Dance Revolution tournament for school-age children from across WV. This guy would totally win. According to Gamasutra, the summit, to be held in Charleston July 27 and 28, will also host representatives from the President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and other state-level speakers, as well as Dr. Michael Dansinger from NBC's "The Biggest Loser." Konami is joined by the West Virginia University Extension Service and West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency in hosting the summit. This second annual tournament will have kids competing for scholarships and other prizes. Not necessarily big kids, mind you. Hmm. This all reminds me of a favorite GIF file. Konami President Shinji Hirano said in a statement that this is the third tournament they've brought to a school district in the US. "We plan to continue our push to help encourage today's youth to lead more active and healthier lifestyles in a way that works best for them," he said. |
| Freedom: The choice of morality Posted: 15 Jul 2011 12:30 PM PDT [The final promoted Freedom blog is from Noir, who analysis moral "choice" in games. Use the weekend to finish up your Digital Distribution blogs -- on Monday, a new topic will be posted, and Digital Distribution blogs will be promoted throughout the week.-- JRo] "Moral choice" has been a popular feature in video games these days. To let the player make choices to shape their experience gives freedom and will make sure that no one experience is the same as another. To allow characters to live or die, to be good or evil, we see these types of choices in plenty of games these days. The only problem is that it is a video game designed by other people, so we'll never have complete freedom when it comes to changing the course of the game. One prime example of this is Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor. In Devil Survivor, Tokyo is invaded by demons and thus put under lock down by the government. Throughout the next seven days you're given choices to make that lead up to the end of the lock down. There are about five different endings and before the end you can decide what characters will live or die. I've played through the game about twice and can't help but feel slightly bound still. Up until the actual endings there really aren't that many choices to make aside from conversations. You can have a few characters die, but you really don't gain anything from it aside from some twisted satisfaction. Everything up until the last day (or two) is mostly set in stone, it is a solid stepping stone before your decision to become a tyrannical Demon King, God's Messiah, or just break through the lock down with brute force. So while there is a small hint of freedom, every game is bound by the restrictions of the developers. Even then most people will problem just see completing it like a regular game and aim for every ending. The only thing about getting every ending is that you have to replay the earlier portions of the game over and over again, which lacks the same amount of freedom. After awhile it gets pretty monotonous to me, it's like eating a good cereal that gets boring over time only to get a prize at the bottom of the box. (you could just throw all the cereal away, but didn't do that when we were kids. This is the opposite of when a game does give you freedom, too much freedom. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas gives you a wide variety of things to do in the state of San Andreas. You can have fun by stealing cars and mugging people or go through the many storyline missions. Sure you could be sorta good and do police work or be a firefighter, but I'm pretty sure the game was never made with the intention of you doing those things. The main character, CJ, is a gangster so you're probably gonna go on a sociopathic rampage, killing anyone who gets in your way. The thing about San Andreas is that there are plenty of things to do, but none of them work very well. The shooting mechanic is awful, the story missions can be really cheap sometimes, after a million times stealing a car from an innocent pedestrian after beating up an old lady gets old. I know lots of people loved this game, but after 10 hours of it I was bored and angry at it. While San Andreas is a large place it lacks quality and there aren't really many moral choices to be made. San Andreas obviously doesn't really care much about morality compared to Devil Survivor, but plenty of other western games do. The classic decision to be good or evil is a pretty popular choice these days. The Shin Megami Tensei series embraced it before few other games ever did, in the form of law, neutral, and chaos alignments. Many more games have adopted this concept now, though things are more so seen as a strict good an evil rather than grouping most moral choices in the gray area. Good may as well not even exist though, the majority of people these days would rather be evil. I think that it's because society has made us stick to the good faith of the law, so when given a chance to be evil and not face any real consequences we jump for it. People like what they are not and what they cannot be, do you know how many guys preferred female Shepherd in Mass Effect 2? A lot of them, though I'm sure not too many did due to sexual insecurities or machismo of some sort. About a month ago I was playing inFamous, a game that has adopted the morality system I have spoken of. The thing is that it is quite awful. There is no gray area, no neutral. You're rather a hero for the people or villain who only cares for yourself. During the beginning I tried making choices according to what I would do in such a situation, but that didn't work. The Jedi-Sith morality system of inFamous works in the way that you only receive you "full power" by either being completely good (Hero) or completely evil (Infamous). Indecisive feelings will only make you weak. This is what makes the system terrible, there really aren't any choices besides these two when it comes to morality. You can make several different decisions in the storyline, but by the end only a few matter. I think moral choices are awesome, it's great to be able to decide what path you want to go down. I just dislike splitting these choices into good and evil without a grey area or creating the illusion of choice when there is very little to choose from. Right now the entire morality mechanic is a mess that I think is difficult to do in a way that grants the player the freedom they desire. As technology advances so will video games and the limitations of the freedom players are given will disappear. So maybe we'll be able to make the exact choices we want at some point in the future so we can kill off that secondary character that really pisses us off or just use this freedom to run away from the whole "save the world" plot. |
| Final Fantasy Type-0 almost done, says director Posted: 15 Jul 2011 12:00 PM PDT In a post on the Final Fantasy Type-0 dev blog today, director Hajime Tabata said that all that remains in the game's development is tuning and debugging. Nice! As of now it's done enough to be played. Or demoed, at least. Andriasang says that the game will be shown off at a Tokyo demo event tomorrow. Players at the event will have access to seven characters: Queen, Rem, Ace, Nine, Machina, King and Scythe. In place of actual multiplayer, where you'd have other players coming into your game to support you in battle, the demo will use the game's fake multiplayer system. The blog says that this game has been in development for a long time. Three years! It was a cell phone game, and now it's a PSP release. Over time they've managed to polish up the game and fill it with content, says Tabata. They just need to subtitle this bitch and get it over here. I know it's cool to hate on Final Fantasy these days, but I'm one of those weirdo guys that likes 'em anyway. Especially portable ones. |
| Friday Night Fights: Deathly Hallows edition Posted: 15 Jul 2011 11:30 AM PDT Happy Friday! Have you seen the last installment of the Harry Potter saga? I've been a huge fan of the series since the third book came out, and I'm really stoked to see this movie. If it weren't for a ridiculously long day at work today, i would have probably been watching it now. Trust me, even if you haven't read the books, you must watch the Deathly Hallows part 2. So much action! Anyway, before you head out to a late, late showing, you should definitely take part in Friday Night Fights! Every week, the Destructoid community gets together to play games on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. For a list of the community hosts and the games being played, check out below! New to FNF? Read this: Each week, a bunch of Destructoid readers and usually an editor or two get together to play some videogames online. Basically, this is what Friday Night Fights are all about. The planning for FNF takes place in the forums, where community members volunteer to host by posting their information (gamertag, time to meet up, game, etc.) in the forum post corresponding to the system they're interested in playing on. Then, every Friday, reminder posts for those who don't read the forums regularly go up in the community blogs section all thanks to a dedicated group of cool individuals. And for everyone who wants their info all in one place, they have got my weekly recap posts to look forward to between 3:30 - 5:30 PM EST. Now that you're here, just scan the list below and find a game you want to play. All that's left to do after that is to join the match by contacting the host below using any means necessary. For Wii, you might have to be a little creative, but for 360/PS3 a simple "invite me" message will be fine. The names on the left are our Destructoid handles, while the ones on the right are our online handles (PSN IDs, for example). Don't see a game you want to play? Feel free to post a comment offering to take up hosting duties yourself. Tonight's Hosts:
Tonight's Hosts: (more info found here)
Tonight's Hosts:
Tonight's Hosts:
Tonight's Hosts:
More information on this community server can be found on Knivy's cblog here! If you want to find people to play with, check out the Steam chat below: |
| Could Metal Gear Solid HD get new voice work? Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:45 AM PDT ! We know that the upcoming Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is going to look pretty with its visual upgrades, but it may also get an upgrade in the sound department. Check out this recent tweet from Hideo Kojima:
Of course, that could mean anything. This mention of voice work is probably Japanese anyway. There's no confirmation that anything is being changed beyond the third game, mind you. And it's not that any of the games need new audio, either. |
| Atlus to bring King of Fighters XIII to EVO 2011, Otakon Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:30 AM PDT If you're going to be at either EVO 2011 (Las Vegas) or Otakon (Baltimore) in the coming weeks, you'll have a chance to check out The King of Fighters XIII, as Atlus is bringing the game to both events. The company says that they'll also support KOF XIII tournaments taking place at both EVO and Otakon, providing special prizes for participants. They've also revealed that they'll hold a panel at EVO 2011 (Saturday, July 30th, at 10:00 a.m.) with one of the producers from the KOF XIII development team. Will you be at either of these events? The King of Fighters XIII is scheduled to release in October for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 systems. |
| PlayStation mini Carnivores: Ice Age looks silly Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:00 AM PDT This is too ridiculous not to post. Any game that allows you to shoot down mammoths with modern-day guns is a game I must cover. Beatshapers and Tatem Games are back with Carnivores: Ice Age, a sequel to the similarly named Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter. It's ... yeah. Entertaining, at the very least. Sort of reminds me of shooters during the N64 era, both in terms of graphics and offbeat subject matter. Look for this on the North American and European PlayStation Stores in August. |
| Sega is setting up a pop-up arcade at San Diego Comic-Con Posted: 15 Jul 2011 09:45 AM PDT Sega is setting up its own arcade space near the convention center at next week's Comic-Con in San Diego. They will have a number of upcoming titles open for play there including Sonic Generations, Rise of Nightmares, Captain America: Super Soldier and even an unannounced game. You can also get down with House of the Dead: OVERKILL, Guardian Heroes, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games and Shinobi there. If you're going to be around those parts, be sure to stop by 345 6th Avenue (between K Street and J Street) in San Diego. Sega's pop-up arcade hours are as follows: Wednesday, July 20th from 7-pm-11pm; Thursday, July 21st through Saturday, July 23rd from 1pm – 9pm; Sunday, July 24th from 11am-7pm.
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| Possible El Shaddai spinoffs could come to Vita, Wii U Posted: 15 Jul 2011 09:30 AM PDT Now that El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is two weeks away from release in North America, Ignition Entertainment is looking towards the horizon. I spoke to Shane Bettenhausen, the director of business development at Ignition Entertainment, when I went to preview El Shaddai and was told that game has become more of a brand to them now. Hence the release of designer jeans, a themed karaoke bar, and even a manga by Square Enix. There will also be toys and action figures by Bandai, plushes, art books, too. Obvious cashgrabs, maybe, but amidst all of this, Shane mentioned something interesting to me: the game itself does not answer all the questions players will have. While manga and anime could provide closure to players, Ignition is already thinking about future games. "I think first we'll probably do more of spin-offs... whether that's DLC, I think it might be cool to port this to Wii U or Vita maybe." Shane posed a couple of possibilities, one of which is taken from an early concept for the game. El Shaddai used to have a female protagonist in its early stages, but they scrapped that idea. That female protagonist may just be the new heroine in an El Shaddai spinoff. An edgy, artistic game with a fascinating story and an awesome female protagonist? Count me in. |
| Namco Bandai details San Diego Comic-Con plans Posted: 15 Jul 2011 09:15 AM PDT San Diego Comic-Con is steadily approaching. Namco Bandai will be there with its usual fighting game and anime-based wares. Here's what is in store for this year's convention. Saturday, July 23 in room 25 A, B, and C
July 21 - 24, 9:30am to show close, Mezzanine level 17 A and B
July 21 - 24, 9:30am to show close, booth #5136
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| Interview with Nerdcore rapper Random Posted: 15 Jul 2011 09:00 AM PDT [Editor's note: Hey, Destructoid! I would like to introduce Dave Riley. He will be contributing periodic interviews and features, mostly pertaining to videogame music. Dave hosts the podcast Fast Karate for the Gentlemen and writes for Otaku USA Magazine. Let's give Dave an awkwardly long group hug! -- Chad] Raheem Jarbo, aka Random, might be independent music's best-kept secret. Though the Philly-bred artist's self-billing of "Teacher, Rapper, Hero" might suggest a certain hip-hop braggadocio, there's not even a shred of arrogance apparent in his positive attitude and welcoming demeanor. Where some rappers spit endless rhymes about substance abuse and violence, Random relentlessly pursues a message of hope ... and videogames. Fresh off the release of his Final Fantasy VII theme album, Black Materia, Random's accruing nerd cred at an exponential rate. But who is this man? Is he Random, semi-indie, semi-nerdcore rapper? Is he Mega Ran, hip-hop robot on a ceaseless crusade for justice? Is he Raheem, middle school teacher with a music career? If you've never heard of him, you're in for a treat! You've already given a good summary of how you got started on Black Materia, so this probably feels like old hat to you, but for those who haven't heard: How'd you get your start? Where did Random come from? What about Mega Ran? Wow. Definitely not a new story, but one I love to tell. I was born and raised in Philadelphia, home to a lot of great musical history. I was a huge fan of old school soul and R&B. I couldn't sing, so one day, my friends and I decided to try our hands at writing rhymes. I called myself "The R," then later changed to Random, after a character who appeared in X-Factor comics. The rest is history, I guess. That was in 1994 or so. Mega Ran was born in 2007, when after releasing my first commercial release, The Call, I had become bored with music and imposed a hiatus. In this time, I went back to videogames, and was inspired to create an album based on my favorite 8-bit titles, the Mega Man series. It was a calculated risk, but it worked out, because a rep from Capcom contacted me and told me they loved the album and were interested in licensing the product. Mega Ran was born. You often cite your past as a teacher. Were you a teacher first, a rapper first, both at the same time? Will you ever go back to teaching? I was a rapper first, but I was and will always be a teacher. There's no more of a rewarding career. And though I don't do it in the classroom anymore, thanks to the gift of music, I can still teach through the speakers. For that reason, there's always a message in the music. Who are your major influences outside of videogames? How do you describe your sound? Outside of gaming, I don't have to look any further than my own upbringing for inspiration. I was raised on a block in Philly where I'd seen just about every negative situation you can think of. People say that makes it hard to think positively, but it's easy for me, considering what I've been through. I call my sound "New Retro." It's something old and something new. For the people who say that today's rap music is too formulaic, there I am. For those who thought music of yesteryear didn't sound fresh, there I am. Black Materia and Mega Ran are certainly your more popular releases. What are some less well-known tracks you'd suggest to fans fresh off of Black Materia? I'm a huge lover of the Heroes album, as well as Patches and Glue. These albums are nostalgic, and fun, and show a different side of me. People think the gamer-related albums are a different person, but the same values are there, so I really think it's possible to enjoy a Random album as much as a Mega Ran project. Are there other tracks or games you'd love to sample/pay homage to? Are there any that you love but would never attempt? Will there ever be a Mega Ran 10, or do you feel you've already tread that ground? Well, I'd love to do something with a lot of titles, games that had significant effects on my childhood. Great experiences like Metroid, Metal Gear Solid, Chrono Trigger, Zelda, Sonic, even newer games like Bioshock and Uncharted. But I really don't know. If it's creative and good, I'd do it, but I'd have to really feel it. There will be Mega Ran 10, I'm working on putting that out this year, hopefully, if the soundtrack can influence great songs, like ones in the past. I can't do it just to do it. I have to compete with "Grow Up" or "Splash Woman." Any fond gaming anecdotes you'd like to share? When I was young, I had a cassette recorder called a "Kid-Corder," and I used to hold it up to the TV set to record the theme music to my favorite games. Then I'd take the cassettes, put my music in my Walkman and go to school listening to Mega Man and Mario themes before I got into hip-hop. It's so ironic that now 20 years later, I'm working with those themes today. That's a great story! Anyone of our generation probably did something similar. Are you still playing games? Any recent favorites? Whenever I can. The first Bioshock, Mass Effect 2, Uncharted, Assassin's Creed. And of course I still play the retro games as much as I can. You've got a lot of upcoming shows. Where's the best place fans can see you? Nerdapalooza is the immediate next, but if you're out west, Comic-Con would be ideal! I'll be out there in San Diego playing a show pretty much every night from July 21-24. After that, we're taking our first ever UK tour! Check out http://www.megaran.com/shows for more. What's next in the pipe? Touring. But after that, more music. Just released a special edition of Heroes, that's on Amazon now, and then an album with my good friend Mr. Miranda, and then Mega Ran 10. Also working on some projects with my buddy dannyB, of Super Meat Boy fame. That should be enough for this year, right? :-) Next year, K-Murdock and I will return for a Sega-based album, like Forever Famicom of 2010. Any words of hope for aspiring artists out there? Yeah, but it'll sound lame: don't be afraid to be different. I was so afraid of doing what I did because it hadn't been done. Now the door is open thanks to that courage. Have no fear. And as I've learned, keep multiple avenues open. Learn a new skill. I'm trying to learn the guitar right now. Never be afraid to expand the sound. Keep moving upward! Anything else you'd like to promote while you're here? Of course! I do a reality/documentary show every week called "Life After Lesson Plans," check that out on YouTube. I also just got these super cool Black Materia USB drives, get one of those with the whole album + instrumentals and bonus tracks! And, finally, a self-serving question: When are you gonna come to NYC? I saw you were playing at the Rotunda in Philly (one of my old haunts as a teen) and it nearly broke my heart. I'm in talks to play at NY Comic Con, let's hope that comes through! I love playing NYC, and honestly, I haven't in quite some time! If not this year then very very soon. Some great news came across my desk today, and if it works out, I'll be there, and in fact, Destructoid will be the first to know. I’ll keep my fingers crossed! Thanks for your time! Thanks for the opportunity! |
| This weekend on Dtoid Live Shows: Wayforward on SMH Posted: 15 Jul 2011 08:45 AM PDT Destructoid's Justin.tv channel is committed to bringing lots of great gaming-related entertainment even during the weekends. From playing games on the stream, to discussing them in a talk show format, we bring a wide range of entertainment with that unique Dtoid flavor. This weekend, during the second hour of Saturday Morning Hangover, representatives from Wayforward will be on the show to talk about the new Bloodrayne game, Bloodrayne: Betrayal. If you are at all excited for this game, make sure to watch, and check below for a full list of this weekend's entertainment! Saturday Morning Hangover with Conrad Zimmerman and Jordan Devore airs from 10:00am to 12:00pm Pacific. This week, along with playing the newest Xbox Live Indie Games, Wayforward will be on the show to talk about Bloodrayne: Betrayal! 321gocast is Destructoid's only live show/podcast hybrid airing on Sunday, from 2:00-4:00pm Pacific starring Johnnyviral, Jesse Cortez, Analoge, and Ryu89. Every week, they bring the live audience as well as podcast listeners into their conversations about videogames, Doctor Who, Jersey Shore and other great stuff. This week, the adorable Rubyfair will be stopping by!
Destructoid's live community talk show, Also, Talks, starring Bill Zoeker and Johnnyluchador is committed to bringing interesting conversations about videogames, Destructoid, and other stuff. This week, Johnnyluchador has gone missing, so Gigabyte Bandito will be filling in as co-host. Their guest is Alphadeus, who has been doing some AMAZING work on a Dtoid album! Catch these shows and more on Justin.tv/destructoid! |
| Rock Band DLC: Soundgarden tries to live, does Posted: 15 Jul 2011 08:30 AM PDT Can anyone confirm that Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell is not immortal? Because I'm pretty positive that this guy doesn't age. Guitarist Kim Thayil has always looked like he was 79-years-old, but the frontman himself looks pretty much as he did back in the 80s.
You can get the entire pack for $9.99/800 MS Points/1,000 Wii Points, or buy them individually for $1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points. For an additional 99 cents, you can upgrade "Burden in My Hands" and "The Day I Tried To Live." [Image] |
| El Shaddai Preview: Heretical Art Posted: 15 Jul 2011 08:15 AM PDT Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. [Genesis 5:24] El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) This Enoch, whose flesh was turned to flame, his veins to fire, his eye-lashes to flashes of lightning, his eye-balls to flaming torches, and whom God placed on a throne next to the throne of glory, received after this heavenly transformation the name Metatron. As the title might suggest, El Shaddai, a game that's a modern reinterpretation of biblical apocrypha, follows Enoch on his journey to become worthy of transforming into the Metatron. Our previous coverage touched on the game's premise, but here's a small recap: God sent angels down to Earth to watch over it. These appropriately named "Watchers" let their lust get the better of them, and they fell in love with humans and with our world. The Watchers fathered the Nephilim with the humans in an unholy union, but the Watchers didn't stop at making these cutesy monstrosities. Hubris led them to create the Tower of Babel, where the game takes place, with each "level" being a utopia that one of the angels has created. The premise is edgy and controversial, yes. Shane Bettenhausen, Ignition Entertainment's director of business development, states that the development team needed "to be careful, because there are people in the world who do consider the book of Enoch to be canon, like Ethiopia for example." He expressed uncertainty when it came to how these people would take the game. Thus far, little to no controversy has been made after the Japanese launch. The first time I entered the Tower of Babel, I couldn't help but empathize with the Watchers who defied God. I looked in awe and wonder at my surroundings -- am I really out to punish the souls who created such splendor? These angels, they're not antagonists in the typical way videogames pose flimsy, simple depictions of "evil." The angels aren't evil, but they're definitely misguided. Even Lucifel himself is a curious antagonist. We all know or assume the evil of the devilish Lucifer, the fallen angel, but things are especially tricky when you consider that Lucifel can see the future. According to the book of Enoch (spoilers?), Enoch is destined to take Lucifel's place at God's side. Knowing all of this -- we assume he knows all of this, anyway -- Lucifel guides Enoch through the game. Why is that? Can we truly trust him? I pondered all of this as I made my way through a utopia created by Sariel, an angel obsessed with love. The first part of the stage was colorful and adorned primarily by giant geometrical shapes that Enoch had to traverse through. The level made it clear that Sariel had been quite busy in his time on Earth, as there were tiny Nephilim swarms accosting Enoch wherever he went. After a couple of successful jabs at possessing me, I decided to ignore the Nephilim and started focusing on the platforming. Boy, was the platforming difficult -- I must have died a few dozen times. El Shaddai features intense platforming, a breath of fresh air amongst titles like Enslaved or Uncharted. "Most of us grew up playing Mario, and we know how to jump, and I think that a lot of modern games do the jumping for you," remarked Shane. Mind, this is all on normal difficulty. Once you beat the game, you unlock higher difficulty levels and can even choose to turn on the HUD. The HUD toggle is meant for more hardcore players, who want to keep track of combos and scoring. After making my way through this part of the level, I came across a large black abyss where a boss battle against Sariel was to take place. Typically, boss battles in El Shaddai will either be against angels testing your strength or against their pets and playthings. The dark void made me pause and wonder if I would fall straight down into it. Yes, in the middle of a battle, I was heavily concerned with my environment. That's the type of game El Shaddai is -- contemplative, like a sip of fine wine. This place was heretical but oh so magical, so beautiful. Each step produced a splash of pastel colors, and I found myself moving just to recreate these small moments of wonder. It was like the first time Drake's shirt gets wet in Uncharted, and I would roll through the puddles just so that I could be in awe of the effects. The environment in El Shaddai is straight out of a pipe dream, and rightly so. According to Shane, "We hired an artist to direct the game ... he had such a distinct point of view of how he wanted to do the game, and we let him do what he wanted." That artist happens to be Takeyasu Sawaki of Okami and Devil May Cry fame. El Shaddai will most likely surprise players, as the scenery changes aplenty and sometimes hundreds of years can pass between levels. I could be more specific about what may appear in later stages -- Shane figured that at this stage, there's not much point to trying to save people from spoilers -- but I still don't want to spoil it for folks. That's how striking I found one of the later levels. Amazingly, it's this artistic approach that has made the game successful in courting otherwise elusive markets. The game has already been released in Japan, and the demographics have been surprising. "More than half of the people who bought it there were women ... because of the characters, because of the art, because of the story." Who would have thought that you simply needed a good narrative, art direction, and characters to court that market? Of course, there are some design choices that lend themselves well to a casual market, too. The game may be challenging, but it's still very forgiving. There are a generous number of checkpoints, and Enoch has the ability to bring himself back to life after being defeated, at the cost of one segment of armor per death, however. The design paradigm is essentially "teaching without punishment." What you must understand about this game is that it's different, eccentric even. That's not my coy way of injecting marketing-speak at you, either. Unlike the plethora of games this generation borne from a focus group or designed in accordance to metrics or data, El Shaddai is a game that dares to approach an artistic vision without compromise. What I saw in the demo last Tuesday was all the more striking and fresh for it. |
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