New Games |
- Jade Empire is probably not a dead franchise
- GoldenEye 007 Reloaded gets stealthy in walkthrough video
- The healing power of Gears of War 3
- XSEED reels in some Fishing Resort Details
- So jelly: Korea is getting a Power Rangers MMO
- Super Mario 3D Land brings back the P-Wing?
- Adventure Time creator thinks the best games have stories
- For real, here's eight minutes of Senran Kagura gameplay
- Mutant Mudds is shooting for a December eShop release
- Oil on water: How I can't love the games you love
- Fantastic Arcade: Closure is kind of like Limbo but good
- HAWP: Blavis likes Anthony's pube beard
- Win cash and meat products in this Techno Kitten giveaway
- Senran Kagura video gets jiggly with it
- Fantastic Arcade: Retro/Grade is a blast in the pants
- If you game on iOS, watch this Dark Meadow trailer now!
- That's So MMO!: Love Thy Companion
- Live show: The dead will rock this Hangover
- Star Wars: The Old Republic launches December 20
| Jade Empire is probably not a dead franchise Posted: 24 Sep 2011 04:00 PM PDT With the final installment of Commander Shepard's tale drawing to a close, the folks over at BioWare will be able to concentrate their creative genius somewhere else, and the possibility of another Jade Empire game is not totally out of the question. According to company co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk another tale from that universe may be surfacing some time soon. This isn't an announcement of a new game, and nobody at BioWare is claiming the contrary but they haven't forgotten about the Jade Empire world, which means there is still hope. I would like to think that with production on Mass Effect 3 winding down, they might give this game a bit of love. But who knows? I'm a pretty big fan of BioWare, so I'm sure whatever they produce next will be good even if it isn't martial artists from a mythical China-like world. Jade Empire is 'near and dear' to BioWare, sequel could be coming -- maybe [Joystiq] |
| GoldenEye 007 Reloaded gets stealthy in walkthrough video Posted: 24 Sep 2011 03:00 PM PDT
As the HD reimagining of the 1997 classic Rareware shooter's fall release draws nearer, Activision and Eurocom will be showing off the game's various features in developer walkthroughs. First up on the docket is a look at the stealth on offer in this recreation of the memorable mission at the Facility. I was a bit of a skeptic when Activision first brought GoldenEye 007 to the Wii, but this video has me genuinely excited for Reloaded. Perhaps, it's seeing the Facility again that gives me an incredible rush of nostalgia. Aside from Majora's Mask, I probably spent more time playing that level than anything else on my N64. This video bring back a rush of excitement and fond memories for anyone else? |
| The healing power of Gears of War 3 Posted: 24 Sep 2011 02:00 PM PDT While Dominic Santiago has spent three games slaughtering the Locust, grieving over his wife and exchanging longing glances with Marcus Fenix, he's got it easy compared to his voice actor, Carlos Ferro. Kids today don't care about Gears of War 3, they care about romantic comedies. Hulking space marines with giant chainsaw guns are the furthest thing from their mind. A lancer is definitely something you would want to bring to a hospital, though. You never know when a sick person might try to touch you. Gears of War 3: Careful What You Wish For [Funny or Die] |
| XSEED reels in some Fishing Resort Details Posted: 24 Sep 2011 01:00 PM PDT If you've just been itching for a new way to simulate the fishing experience on your Wii, XSEED Games has announced that they'll be bringing PROPE's Fishing Resort to the Wii this holiday season. For those of you who don't know, PROPE is the studio founded by Sonic creator Yuji Naka. As inclined as I am to just shrug this one off, I'm the slightest bit curious. Fishing Resort drops you on a island getaway with places to explore and people to talk to, minigames to partake in, and, of course, fishing. The resort has put you in charge of the hotel's aquarium and all fish you catch and add to the aquarium nets you cash for upgrades and island activities. These "activities" range from hiking and mountain biking, to kayaking and having an all-around relaxing time. With over 200 fish and the ability to literally fish wherever there is water, this sounds like the Animal Crossing fishing spin-off we've all dreamed of. |
| So jelly: Korea is getting a Power Rangers MMO Posted: 24 Sep 2011 12:00 PM PDT Friggin' Koreans and their cool-as-sh*t MMO scene. We get Free Realms and the endless parade of World of Warcraft updates, while they get the stuff I actually want, like Rockman Online -- this happens to be the only Mega Man known to be in active production, by the way. Oh, and how about a Power Rangers game for good measure? A teaser site has just opened up for Power Rangers Online, a side-scrolling action RPG with a closed beta scheduled for later this year. It's being developed by IronNos (developers of PSP's Crimson Gem Saga) and co-published by Ntreev (developers of the PangYa golf series). Naturally, nothing has been said about the possibility of release outside Korea. As for which Rangers series will be represented, we don't know. The Mystic Force Rangers are splashed across the game's page, and according to Wikipedia, the earliest series to air in Korea has been Jungle Force (known as Wild Force in the US). Therefore, the Mighty Morphin team will most likely remain absent. Still, I want this game. Why won't you let me give you guys my money? Power Rangers Online Announced As a Side-Scrolling Action MMORPG [DualShockers] |
| Super Mario 3D Land brings back the P-Wing? Posted: 24 Sep 2011 11:30 AM PDT Super Mario 3D Land brings back the Tanooki Suit? Pfffft, whatev. It's a gimped version that doesn't let you turn into a statue or even fly. What's this about the P-Wing, though? According to the back of the Japanese game packaging, there are Assist Blocks in the game that serve a similar function to the Super Guide in New Super Mario Bros. These blocks, emblazoned with the iconic P-Wing of Super Mario Bros. 3 fame, will bestow special items once opened. If one of these special items doesn't grant Mario infinite flight throughout the level, I will be severely pissed. There's also a SpotPass feature that allows you to exchange items and possibly more with other players. I hope we get more details on that as well as on the Assist Blocks very soon. 3DS Super Mario Land Has Assist Feature and SpotPass Item Exchanges [Andriasang] |
| Adventure Time creator thinks the best games have stories Posted: 24 Sep 2011 10:30 AM PDT We've already heard a lot from Pendleton Ward, creator of the hit show Adventure Time, about his interest in making a game based on the property. Up until now, I was excited about the prospect of an Adventure Time game. Now I'm not so sure. Previously, Mr. Ward said that he wanted to make an Adventure Time game that's like a cross between Katamari Damacy and Monster Hunter. That sounded awesome. Now he's saying that he "... think(s) games are amazing for telling stories. I don’t think that people do that very often. I think story isn’t always the most important thing to game designers, but I wish it were. I think that the best games have stories, and when I eventually make games, story will be front and center." Quite a not-awesome contradiction, considering that Monster Hunter and Katamari Damacy don't have real storylines. Read on for a brief write up on why Mr. Ward's focus on story has me a little worried. Adventure Time creator sings the praises of games wants to make an A.T. Game [GoNintendo] I don't know what it is about people who work in television and film that makes them want to shoehorn story into gaming. I think it must have to do with the storyteller's culture in those industries, the ingrained belief that stories are what matters most, not all the other things that make film great. Sadly, it seems a lot of these brilliant creative minds don't understand what makes their own work worthwhile. Adventure Time is a perfect example. For the most part, the show doesn't have much of a story. In fact, some of the best episodes of Adventure Time (like the one with the horse, the one where the Care Bears party in the body of a giant weird thing, and of course, the videogame episode) have almost no story. In fact, it's the near-nonexistence of plot in these episodes that allows you to just focus on being with the characters, sort of like My Dinner with Andre for fans of cartoon surrealism. Narrative and plot take a backseat, so the show's incredibly charming, genuine, and good-natured characters, and the imaginative and unpredictable world they live in, can take the spotlight. The same is true of most of my favorite videogames. The fact that the story of Monster Hunter dictatea that you have to catch a wild Ludoth, or that the story of Katamari Damacy dictates that you roll up a wad of crap the size of a continent, is almost immaterial. It's the fun that you have in the process of making all that amazing stuff happen that makes those games tick. That's true of most of my other favorite games. The explicitly told narratives of Super Meat Boy, Animal Crossing, the Mario games, the Zelda series, Pac-Man, River City Ransom, the Resident Evil titles, Chrono Trigger, all don't really mean that much to me. It's the gameplay, the characters, and the world that they inhabit that matters. That's also true of some of my favorite films and TV shows. The events that occur in the Star Wars movies, the films of Studio Ghibli, and shows like Arrested Development and FLCL are almost inconsequential when taken on their own. In fact, you can sum up the events in some of those stories in a few sentences. In Star Wars, a guy meets some droids and an old man. His aunt and uncle get murdered, so he goes on a rescue mission in space with the old man, the droids, and a jerk who wears a leather vest. They save a princess, then the old man gets killed. That probably should be the end of the story, but then they tacked on an extra scene where the guy blows up a big moon-shaped spaceship. The End. In Totoro, two kids run around the town and in the woods, where they meet cute furry things of various sizes. Later, one of the girls goes missing. With the help of a giant Catbus, they find her. Then their mom comes home from the hospital. The End. Those stories don't mean much on their own, do they? It's the worlds that those characters exist in, the significance of the characterization of each principal player, and the way they interact with each other that stick with you (not to mention the amazing music, acting, direction of photography, and editing that make them come to life). If you tried telling the story of Star Wars or Totoro with different characters, with different music and art direction, and in alternate worlds, you'd have completely different (and probably worse) movies on your hands. Again, that goes triple for most videogames. I hope Mr. Ward keeps that in mind if and when an Adventure Time game ever happens. I'd love to play an Adventure Time game that lets you revel in the characters of Finn, Jake, and the rest of the land of Ooo. I'd love to interact with those characters like I would if I knew them in real life, while inhabiting their world and going on adventures of my own design. What I don't want is to necessarily have another Adventure Time story spoon fed to me in a semi-interactive format. If that's what I wanted, I'd just... watch Adventure Time. Why waste the opportunity to utilize the superior medium of videogames, where the shackles of linear narrative can be easily broken, by intentionally weighing it down with more linear narrative? |
| For real, here's eight minutes of Senran Kagura gameplay Posted: 24 Sep 2011 10:00 AM PDT BWA HA HA HA HA HA! Okay, we all had some laughs. Time to get serious. Yes, there is actual gameplay footage of Senran Kagura, only it's all hiding. Like all things on the Internet, secrets aren't kept secret for long. Above, you can watch a solid eight minutes of action, which should give you a complete idea of what to expect from this game. I'm surprised by how fast everything moves, especially for 3D brawler. Even with all the cheesecake, it still looks incredibly fun and fluid. I can finally announce that I'm anticipating this title for a reason other than sheer irony. Senran Kagura Play Movie [YouTube] (Thanks for finding the vid, DarkSentry!) |
| Mutant Mudds is shooting for a December eShop release Posted: 24 Sep 2011 09:30 AM PDT Renegade Kid, the team responsible for pushing the DS to its limits with games like the Dementium series and Moon, is about ready to make its grand 3DS debut with something a little more scaled back. On the official Mutant Mudds Twitter feed, it was announced that the game should most likely drop in December. I had a chance to play Mutant Mudds during E3, and it was a very pleasant experience. It's a no-frills platformer with solid colors and basic jump-and-gun gameplay. In short, it's exactly what the doctor ordered. Sometimes, you don't need to "push boundaries" or "be innovative." Sometimes, you just need to go back to something simple yet fun. I just hope everyone with a 3DS remembers to put aside some dough for this one. Maximilian's response [Twitter] |
| Oil on water: How I can't love the games you love Posted: 24 Sep 2011 09:00 AM PDT I've played videogames for the vast majority of my life, to the point where I've been fortunate enough to make it part of my life. I feel I could confidently challenge anybody to rival my passion for the medium, my respect for the art, and my simple, honest love of playing games. Even so, I have a confession to make. I hate ICO and I cannot for the life of me understand why anybody feels a deep and meaningful connection to Shadow of the Colossus. Now, before you write this off as "trolling" or think I am trying to be contrary on purpose, you have to understand -- I don't enjoy this. I find no fun in not having fun, and when I see other enjoying a game I cannot, it's rather horrible. But what can you do when a videogame beloved so many is like oil on water to you? My wife adores Jeff Buckley, as do a fair few people I've met over the years. They say his music touches their soul, speaks out to them, and provided the soundtrack to a considerable majority of their lives. I've heard his stuff, and I just don't get it. It doesn't sink in. There's something interminably frustrating about that, to know that somebody is getting so much satisfaction out of something, and you can't access whatever font of pleasure others can merrily tap into at will. Having played a little of the ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, I found that I still couldn't penetrate whatever depth there was to these games. ICO, to me, is a glorified escort mission with poor controls, while Colossus is a slower, less interesting Prince of Persia with ... poor controls. I Tweeted this past weekend that I just didn't get why they were so popular among "hardcore" gamers, and I was swiftly buried under a torrent of desperate and invested appeals. Many of these retorts said the same thing -- the atmosphere, the visuals, the rich artistry of it all -- that's why these games are enjoyed so much. A few even admitted that the gameplay of both titles weren't quite up to par, yet still contended that the aesthetic pleasure was enough to make up for it. I understand that, I've been there before. I've had games speak to from beyond a veil of poor interfaces and aged gameplay. I am not here to argue whether or not Team ICO's games are good or bad. I'm here to tell you that my low opinion of these games is not something I revel in. In fact, if you love ICO or Shadow of the Colossus, I'm quite jealous of you. I wish I could join you in gushing over these amazing works of art. I love videogames that can make an emotional connection with the player, and to try these games, coming away with nothing but exasperation and regret that I wasted my time, completely confounds me to an unpleasant degree. To use an incredibly nerdy -- but game-related -- comparison, I feel like the Heartless from Kingdom Hearts, or really any stock character that is born without feelings and watches enviously as the "normal" people laugh, cry, love and feel things that I can't. There's an almost crushing emptiness when these games are brought up, a black hole where I know unfettered adoration ought to be. Some people think that I dislike certain games for fun and profit, but the truth is -- it's deeply uncomfortable. The same is true of fighting games, although there's a far more scientific reason for my disliking them -- I just can't play them. Of all the genres of games out there, the one-on-one fighting game is something I've never been able to wrap my head or hands around. Of course, it didn't help that Rise of the Robots and Primal Rage were my fighters of choice as a child, but the fact remains that, when people get excited for a new Street Fighter or Marvel vs. Capcom, I'm on the outside looking in. I can see the passion, but I cannot feel it, and I envy all of you who can. When Street Fighter IV released and fans begun to gibber with excitement, it was like I was a man without feet, surrounded by people who'd just bought the hottest new pair of shoes. The worst part is, disliking some of these games makes one feel like less of a gamer. Destructoid itself voted Shadow of the Colossus as its greatest game of the last decade. A game that means absolutely nothing to me, voted by my primary employer as the best game of an entire ten-year span. How can one not feel something of a fraud when confronted with a fact like that? There are plenty of gamers out there would would happily help that attitude to fester, as well. One reader told me that he'd lost "huge respect" for me after finding out that I didn't appreciate ICO or Colossus. Others in the past have entreated me with incredibly patronizing language, as if attempting to explain nuclear physics to a three-year-old. Telling hardcore gamers that you hate ICO is like telling a Tea Party supporter that you're gay ... only with a significantly decreased threat of being shot. Is it really so wrong to not love what everybody else, does? It certainly is frustrating, but gamers these days are so quick to jump down the throats of anybody who doesn't march in step with them that they might have forgotten that we're not all the same person. The phrase, "If you hate this game, you're not a true gamer" is one that I've seen far too many times over the years -- sometimes the wording is different and the games are never the same, but the sentiment is identical across the board. If you don't like a certain game, you are a fraud, and you deserve nothing more than to become a pariah. "We have this weird attitude that if we don't like a popular game either we're wrong, or the game is bad," Ars Technica writer Ben Kuchera told me after my Team ICO confession. "Games aren't objectively good and bad, and we don't need to connect with every one." Ben is right, of course. No gamer needs to love the same games as everybody else. There is no one game good enough to define the difference between a gamer and a non-gamer, and thinking that one exists is extremist thought of the highest order. Knowing this truth doesn't take away the sting of disliking games that so many others adore. It doesn't make one feel more justified or soothe the jealous pangs. Writing this definitely helps though. Attempting to communicate exactly how one feels about hating the games you love is somewhat cathartic -- and while there are definitely trolls out there who will take a contrary stance just to watch the feather fly, who will say they hate a game simply to rile up its fans and make them dance like puppets, there are others with legitimate, valid reasons for not enjoying the same things as you, and chances are good that they don't get off on it. Quite the opposite, in fact. So, what can you do when a videogame beloved so many is like oil on water to you? Nothing. But you can at least write a fancy little blog post about it, and hope people understand. |
| Fantastic Arcade: Closure is kind of like Limbo but good Posted: 24 Sep 2011 08:45 AM PDT [All this week, I'll be bringing game coverage from indie game festival Fantastic Arcade in Austin, TX. Be sure to check Flixist for my coverage of film festival companion Fantastic Fest.] I really didn’t like Limbo. I know, not the most popular opinion, right? Something about its pairing of “gotcha!”-traps , numerous checkpoints and dull, repetitious visuals got in the way of me enjoying its hit-and-miss puzzle design. Now that the rabble is on its way to shank me outside my house, I must hurry and tell you about Closure. Much like Limbo, it’s a minimalist, black-and-white puzzle game made by a very small team (two guys). Unlike Limbo, I rather enjoyed my time with this game and look forward to its full release. Read on to find out why (shank later, please). Closure (PlayStation Network) Closure is full of death-traps and restarts, but what makes me okay with these things is that the game is divided into small levels. These levels are a bit more compact than Braid but they grow more expansive as the game progresses. The goal of each stage is as simple as it gets: Find the exit! Finding the correct path is the tricky part. Darkness literally means death in Closure, as stepping into it sends you falling into the abyss. Your way around this persistent obstacle lays in finding sources of light, via spotlights and light orbs you can pick-up. At first, stages are as simple as jumping from light source to light source, aiming a spotlight near the exit, and juggling light orbs until you get to the end. While I quickly ran through the opening tutorial stages with ease, I found myself pleasantly surprised by the challenge I soon found afterward. All of a sudden, I am using light orbs with nuance, positioning them in such a way that they light some portions of the stage while leaving others in darkness. For example, you may move a light orb away from a wall in order to make it disappear. The game introduces concepts to you in a very smart way that makes you feel clever (like Braid), rather than feel like you’re banging a wrench until you find the solution (like Limbo). One of the most frustrating things in puzzle games like this is when you screw up and are not sure if it’s you or the game’s fault. As a result, you find yourself running around like a chicken with its head cut-off until you read a FAQ. You then discover you either missed the solution or something did go awry, leaving you stuck. In Closure, as soon as you screw up – for example, a key falling into the darkness – the game immediately suggests you restart a stage. It’s a small detail but one that makes a big difference in a game like this, where you don’t want anything to get in the way of logical puzzle-solving. The black and white visual style and art direction are kind of boring. The stages and characters look like a cross between Tim Burton’s drawings and a grimy, indie comic you’d find at your local comic shop. It’s kind of cool in a way, but I soon grew tired of looking at the screen. In a medium where anything is possible, looking at literally nothing starts to bother me after a while. The resolution of the game also seems to be lacking; it lacks the crisp detail you’d expect of a contemporary PSN game. Perhaps it's an aesthetic choice but it's one that didn't speak to me. Visuals aside, the sound design and ambient soundtrack are striking. They make Closure’s world feel real and full of freighting possibilities. There seems to be a narrative buried somewhere in the game, but I didn’t play nearly enough to discover it. Not to mention, I was playing a far-from-final build. In fact, many levels present in the build were removed or spliced into a later section. Glaiel has been taking feedback from players and retuning the game so that the more challenging levels don’t show up too early on. As a straight-forward puzzle game, Closure has my interest. By establishing rules in a clever, simple way and building upon them with intelligent puzzle design, Team Closure has side-stepped the pitfalls of its contemporaries. This is a game that knows its medium and genre, made by a developer that rather dedicate resources to puzzle design than have stunning visuals. The cinematic moments and narrative are just a bonus. [Also, Limbo sux. Send me your hate mail.] |
| HAWP: Blavis likes Anthony's pube beard Posted: 24 Sep 2011 08:30 AM PDT It's a good thing that Anthony shaved that disgusting thing off. I didn't want to say anything before, but now that it's out in the open... In the latest Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'?, the Burch children continue to pollute all that is good and wholesome in the world. Simply disgusting. HAWP: Lord of the Rings [GameTrailers] |
| Win cash and meat products in this Techno Kitten giveaway Posted: 24 Sep 2011 08:00 AM PDT YES! You read that right! The awesome people behind Techno Kitten Adventure want to give you money and delicious meat products. DELICIOUS! MEAT! PRODUCTS! Don't know what Techno Kitten Adventure is? It's a runner-style game where a cat flies through levels to crazy techno music. You can get the game on the Xbox Live Indie Channel for 240 MS Points and free on iPhone and iPad devices. The game has received multiple updates, with the latest being the "Meat Pack" add-on content. We're picking three grand prize winners where each winner will receive:
To enter, we want you to submit a creative Techno Kitten Adventure "Meat Pack" inspired video over on the Techno Kitten Facebook page (make sure you Like the page!) There are no restrictions to what you do in the video, just remember it needs to related to Techno Kitten Adventure and meat in some way. We'll be looking for the best three submissions to give the prizes to. Really, anything goes so long as it's safe for work. Some ideas I came up with include dancing with your pet cat to loud techno music or eating meat while raving to loud techno music. The entire concept is open to your interpretation. You get the idea! Three second place winners will get a Plastic Kitteh sculpture, shirt and stickers. Three third place winners will receive a shirt and stickers. You have until September 30 at 11:59PM CDT to enter and contest is open to anyone with a US based address that the prizes can be shipped to. Good luck! |
| Senran Kagura video gets jiggly with it Posted: 24 Sep 2011 07:30 AM PDT I'm sure there is a case to be made about upcoming booby ninja high school 3DS game Senran Kagura's being a legitimately solid title with plenty of action to satisfy the needs of the brawler crowd. This video, though? Doesn't make that case. 3DS Senran Kagura Changing Room [YouTube] |
| Fantastic Arcade: Retro/Grade is a blast in the pants Posted: 24 Sep 2011 06:45 AM PDT [All this week, I'll be bringing game coverage from indie game festival Fantastic Arcade in Austin, TX. Be sure to check Flixist for my coverage of film festival companion Fantastic Fest.] At first glance, Retro/Grade looks like the world’s worst shoot-em-up. The bullet patterns are completely random, the ship is restricted to five vertical planes and it’s pretty repetitive. Good thing I examined the game further and played through the demo at Fantastic Arcade. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have realized I had mistaken a rather ingenious rhythm game for being a poor shmup. If you have followed my articles here on Dtoid the last couple months, you might have gathered that I love shmups and rhythm games more than most things in life (including corgis [sorry, Dale!]). So imagine the happy load I dropped in my pants when I discovered I was playing a rhythm game in the guise of a classic 90s , Gradius-style shmup. Actually, don’t imagine that. That’s kind of gross. I don’t do that sort of thing, honest. I remove my pants first and … nevermind. Retro/Grade (PlayStation Network) 24 Caret Games’ debut has been in the works for a while. After gaining steam at the Independent Games Festival in 2009 and being featured at IndieCade in 2010, the developer gathered the resources to spruce up Retro/Grade and ready it for release on PlayStation Network later this year. Good thing too because you and I may have missed it otherwise. The game opens with protagonist Rick Rocket defeating the final boss, cueing the end credits. If the long list of names doesn't make it obvious enough – this is a game made by three guys – it’s an elaborate gag that introduces the player to the main premise of the game. After saving the day, a space anomaly reverses the flow of time. In order to survive your return back to square one, you must dodge bullets backwards and position yourself to shoot the bullets you previously fired. This doesn’t really tie all that much into the rhythm action, since the game would play the same if it were progressing forward. It’s a neat touch though. The mission descriptions also add character to the game, but it’s the fantastic soundtrack by Austin electronic artist Skyler McGlothlin (a.k.a. Nautilis), laser beam eye-candy and addictive action that makes the game standout. While the demo only let me play level 10 through eight (remember, you are beating the game in reverse), I got a pretty good feel for movement and rhythm in Retro/Grade. The first stage throws only simple bullet patterns at you that are easy to read. Since the game is modeled after a shmup, it’s very easy to manueaver your ship based on visuals alone. Once you lock into the groove of a song, you’ll find that the music will help you a lot more with timing those button presses. Since you are traveling backwards in time, the goal is to dodge enemy fire while shooting your bullets in the exact place you originally were. This might sound like a confusing concept, but it works because the game is so simple in execution that you don’t need to know any of this. It’s basically Rock Band with a spaceship (you can even use a guitar controller): You move your ship into the lane of incoming notes and hit a single button in-time to the notes/fire positions. If you screw up, you can rewind time. Another nice touch is that even if you fail to act upon it and find yourself staring at the “game over” menu, you’ll still be able to rewind back to earlier and change your fate. However, warping time is a limited resource like your health. Once you start dodging enemy bullets from the left, while hovering over your previous bullet positions to the right, you’ll find yourself in some tough situations where you’ll need that double-take. Retro/Grade feels like the missing link between Amplitude and Guitar Hero. It gives the player the accessible rhythm gameplay of the latter, while remaining abstract enough in concept to throw in new elements as the game progresses. For example, you’ll face off against different weapon types that will require you to spam the fire button or hold it down and trace a line that extends vertically and horizontally. I can’t wait to see what surprises will be in the final release. |
| If you game on iOS, watch this Dark Meadow trailer now! Posted: 24 Sep 2011 06:00 AM PDT I really can't say it much simpler than that. If you like gaming on iOS devices, then Phosphor has a launch trailer for The Dark Meadow that I think you should see. Using the Unreal UDK, this is a horror/combat game with what looks like a really twisted story. The presentation is fantastic and the visuals are damn beautiful. Of course, the real test will come when we play it for ourselves, but I'm certainly excited to see what it delivers. If this game turns out well, it will make me even more hopeful for Phosphor's larger project, Awakened. We'll see what happens when the game launches next month. [Via Touch Arcade] |
| That's So MMO!: Love Thy Companion Posted: 24 Sep 2011 05:00 AM PDT Hail, movers & shakers and welcome to another loot-filled bag o’ massively multiplayer madness. Let’s set those important delivery quests and faction grinds aside for a brief moment and get right down to it! “Screw your crew” In addition to the just-revealed announcement of a release date of December 20th for N. America and December 22nd for Europe, BioWare has announced a major overhaul of the Companion Character system for Star Wars: The Old Republic. It’s long been known that players will have access to five NPC crew members to help with missions and crafting and offer up rich story options. This week BioWare unveiled extensive cosmetic customization options and news that companions now level up, unlock skills of their own and can be given specific class roles; healer, ranged DPS, tank, etc. Companion AI will also be customizable much like party members in the company’s Dragon Age series. It was also recently confirmed that in addition to opposite-sex romance options with companions, same-gender love storylines will be forthcoming post-launch. Whatever’s next? If these virtual buddies could order me a pizza and give me the occasional sponge bath I’d never have need to log-out. I’m onto you, BioWare!
“Die, Deathwing! Die!” The impending Patch 4.3 for World of Warcraft is looking even meatier than previously thought. In a series of interviews, Blizzard’s Greg Street has revealed three new five-player dungeons which culminate in an epic final battle with Cataclysm’s big baddie, Deathwing. On top of the previously unveiled armor Transmogrification system and Void Storage options, Street also described a new pair of “Legendary” Rogue daggers and a “Raid Finder.” The Lead Systems Designer also hinted that the next WoW expansion may be arriving sooner than anyone suspects. Blizzard vs. BioWare -- Fight!
“Dead. And loving it!” New details have come to light for CCP’s World of Darkness following a developer panel at the Grand Masquerade event in New Orleans. Looks like the long-in-development and still largely unknown game will feature a single server for all players, “Perma-Death” for human and vampire characters and adult content like nudity and buckets of blood. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into this one!
“Gratis Lantern” Citing the success Free Realms, DC Universe Online executive producer Lorin Jameson says an October conversion to free-to-play for the superhero MMO is due to customer demand, not lackluster sales. Jameson stated “This is the right business model. If I can be honest, the game ended up costing a lot more than we thought it would, and this was our preferred business model from day one.” Heroic honesty? Super!
“Wing Ding” NCsoft’s Aion is two years young this week and kicking off a 10-day party with a reactivation of old accounts, an Ascension Festival offering fun prizes and funny hats, increased XP and accelerated loot drop rates. Pretty fly!
“Radiation celebration” Post-apocalyptic MMO Fallen Earth is also celebrating its two year anniversary. Despite a recent change of ownership from Icarus Studios to GamersFirst, FE is still kicking at the radioactive dust of a virtual Arizona and offering up free-to-play service beginning October 12th. Rad!
“Salem it ain't so! ” Paradox Interactive has announced a delay into mid-2012 for “fantastical” 17th-century America MMO Salem. In spite of the set back, developers Seatribe will be showing off the Old World sandbox game via a live-stream demo on September 27th. Pretty high tech for a game featuring a cast of paranoid colonials!
That’s going to chop the head off the undead werebear for this time around persistent playmates. Keep those corpse runs to a minimum and keep it logged in. KK? GL!
---- David Moore has run the site gamebunny.com for the past ten years and co-runs torwars.com, a site focused on all things Star Wars: The Old Republic. |
| Live show: The dead will rock this Hangover Posted: 24 Sep 2011 05:00 AM PDT What? Morning again? I've been trapped in a dark fugue where time has no meaning but I have been led to understand that it's time for another Saturday Morning Hangover. Today, as ever, Jordan and I will play through the latest Xbox Live Indie Games demos. Following this, we'll either play a little Rock of the Dead because it's the best first-person zombie music shooter released this year. Honest, the game has a tremendous amount of heart and a pretty good sense of humor. Come hang out with us over on Destructoid's Twitch.tv channel! |
| Star Wars: The Old Republic launches December 20 Posted: 24 Sep 2011 01:34 AM PDT You know those holiday plans you had? Cancel 'em -- BioWare and Electronic Art have announced that its long-awaited MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic will launch in North America on December 20. It will hit Europe two days later on December 22.
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