New Games |
- StarCraft Universe developer preview begins tomorrow
- Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Cyborg Skills Pack incoming
- Keflings 'It Came From Outer Space' DLC priced and dated
- Latest Xbox 360 holiday bundles detailed
- Pretend to be Travolta in Grease this holiday
- New 'Paranormal' Pinball FX2 table free for one week
- Check out Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One's opening trailer
- Uncharted 3 will be getting a season pass for $25
- Checking out the Modern Warfare 3 Turtle Beach headsets
- PlayStation Vita US launch date announced: February 22
- New trailer for Deus Ex DLC The Missing Link
- Happy Action Theater makes you feel like a kid again
- Daytona USA: Development details, pics, Japanese date
- Batman: Arkham City PC release date, Steam offer unveiled
- Preview: Popcorn Dragon
- Kinect Sports: Season Two demo drops today
- Talking to Women about Videogames: Fear for the future
- Watch this Rocketbirds trailer, then go buy it on PSN
- Christina Hendricks, Sean Faris star in NFS: The Run
| StarCraft Universe developer preview begins tomorrow Posted: 18 Oct 2011 04:00 PM PDT I hope you guys are not only aware of, but super excited for StarCraft Universe. If you're not, I'll get you caught up to speed: SCU is an MMO-like Custom Game (known as Use Map Settings for some of us) that's being developed for StarCraft II entirely within the game's map editor. I'm really excited for this project and have even created my very own wish list for the title, compiling ideas that I think would be great additions to the game. The new video, featured above, shows off a lot of the PvP in action and from the looks of it it's going to be a very frantic experience. We can see some new additions like an in-game achievement system and customizable UI. Possibly the best news of all is that while the developers head to BlizzCon they're allowing us to test out the game starting tomorrow! This preview will be PvP only and will start players at level 30 with all of the appropriate gear and skills. Judging from the video, some of these skills look very impressive (did I see the Diablo II Barbarian's Whirlwind skill being used?). As someone who stinks at "traditional" StarCraft II matches, I love seeing all of the phenomenal Custom Games coming out of SCII's map editor and I think this game is one of the biggest projects yet to come out of it. If you're like me and want to follow along with the development of SCU, head over to the official website. |
| Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Cyborg Skills Pack incoming Posted: 18 Oct 2011 03:30 PM PDT For the truly zombie-obsessed, Capcom has a downloadable content pack due out on October 25 for Dead Rising 2: Off the Record which turns Frank into a cyborg. Y'all like cyborgs, don't you? The benefits of this $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) add-on aren't merely cosmetic:
This is planned for PlayStation 3, PC, and Xbox 360. In related news, the standalone Dead Rising 2 titles Case West and Case Zero are going to be offered at half price for Xbox Live Gold members starting next Tuesday. The latter is definitely worth trying if you're new to the series. |
| Keflings 'It Came From Outer Space' DLC priced and dated Posted: 18 Oct 2011 03:00 PM PDT Staying true to their word, NinjaBee has unveiled more information on A World of Keflings' upcoming "It Came From Outer Space" DLC, which we already knew would be set to include a new alien-themed kingdom. What we know now is that "It Came From Outer Space" will cost 320 Microsoft Points and will be hitting Xbox Live Arcade on October 26th. So if you want the game that's already sucked up many hours of your life to do it for a propised "two to four extra hours," then this might just be the thing for you. |
| Latest Xbox 360 holiday bundles detailed Posted: 18 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT Microsoft has announced two Xbox 360 holiday 2011 bundles: the first ($399.99) includes a 250 GB hard drive, a Kinect, Kinect Adventures, Carnival Games, and three months of Xbox Live Gold; the second bundle ($299.99) comes with a 250 GB hard drive, Halo: Reach, Fable III, and again, three months of Live. It's funny to see the two opposing audiences they're going for based on what's being included. These bundles should be available within the next week or so. |
| Pretend to be Travolta in Grease this holiday Posted: 18 Oct 2011 02:00 PM PDT With everything going on during this year's E3, you may have missed some big news. Grease for the Kinect and PlayStation Move is out this week in the US, and will be out November 4th in Europe. This isn't just another singing, dancing game since it will have all the music and moves from the movie. I know you're excited about this news, but please don't hurt yourself, or others, in your frantic race to pick this one up. I have some doubts about how good this title is (it's no Once Upon a Monster) but it must have sold fairly well on the Wii for it to get a port to the Kinect and PlayStation Move. I enjoyed the movie, but I'm not sure how much I would enjoy singing and dancing about cars, love and beauty school dropouts. |
| New 'Paranormal' Pinball FX2 table free for one week Posted: 18 Oct 2011 01:30 PM PDT
Zen Pinball is celebrating a year of success for Pinball FX2 with a little gift for everyone. The brand new "Paranormal" table will be made available for free for one week, October 26th until November 2nd. It looks to be a pretty good table too, judging by the video, with a cool upper play field. All you have to do to get the game is have the free Pinball FX2 client installed on your Xbox 360 and then download the table during the promotional period. Over the last year, Pinball FX2 has pretty much become my go-to game for when I want a quick break to just vegetate on the couch for a bit. I'm glad to hear that the title is doing well for Zen, as the quality of the content produced for it is of a rather high level and I want them to keep making more. |
| Check out Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One's opening trailer Posted: 18 Oct 2011 01:00 PM PDT
Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One hits stores today, and to celebrate this new opening cinematic has been released. If you haven't heard, this game takes Ratchet and Clank and sticks them in a 4-player co-op adventure, with Qwark and Dr. Nefarious being the other two characters. There's tons of weapons, lots of puzzles and bosses, and even 3D support. With a new game comes a new story. This one takes place after the events of Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time. The duo has a job escorting newly elected Galactic President Qwark to a ceremony that will award him with an Intergalactic Tool of Justice Award. But things never go smoothly when they take place at the beginning of the game, do they? You'll see what I mean in the trailer above. |
| Uncharted 3 will be getting a season pass for $25 Posted: 18 Oct 2011 12:30 PM PDT The official PlayStation Blog has confirmed that Uncharted 3 has, as of now, seven map packs planned for it. With so much DLC it's only natural that it comes with the opportunity to get a Season Pass, right? Following suit with the likes of Mortal Kombat, L.A. Noire and Gears of War 3, Uncharted 3 will be getting a Season Pass called the Fortune Hunters' Club. The Fortune Hunters' Club entitles you to four of the seven packs and three skin packs. If you pre-order now for $24.99 you can also get the Fortune Hunters' Club theme for free. Once you're part of the club and the packs start rolling out, you'll get a XMB notification that will take you directly to the PlayStation Store where it'll be waiting for you. So at 45% savings, is anyone going to be picking up this Season Pass? At least we can safely say it's a better deal than Gears of War 3's Season Pass. Uncharted 3 DLC season pass available for $25 [Shacknews] |
| Checking out the Modern Warfare 3 Turtle Beach headsets Posted: 18 Oct 2011 12:00 PM PDT Love it or hate it, the release of Modern Warfare 3 is sure to be one of the biggest launches in gaming history. We've already seen the fanfare, ranging from amazingly stupid promotions, to the most badass events (friggin' zip lines and paintball!) The most recent stop on this hype train brings us to one of its more practical destinations, Turtle Beach headsets. I recently had the a chance to check the latest line of Turtle Beach's hardware. In a nutshell, FPS nuts have a real cause for celebration, but get ready to break the bank for real quality. These Modern Warfare 3 branded headsets are the first licensed headsets that Turtle Beach has every put out. With the aim to do more than simply cash-in on the Call of Duty brand with a pretty paint job, Turtle Beach has really gone deep with the design by including the audio designers at Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer. Some of you might remember the Turtle Beach PX5 that were released earlier this year. One of the first fully programmable headsets, the team at Visceral Games were given advanced version of the headset's sound editor to fine tune the presets for optimal performance with Dead Space 2. Turtle Beach has done the same with the new line of headsets for Modern Warfare 3. Out of the box, each of the Modern Warfare 3 headsets are sharply tuned and optimized for the best possible performance with Modern Warfare 3, courtesy of Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer. From the high-end Delta to the budget line Foxtrot, these headsets are quite literally designed with Modern Warfare 3, for Modern Warfare 3. If you find yourself wanting more control over these presets though, the Earforce Delta allows for full audio customization. The partnership with Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer has benefits beyond the technical design too. At the cosmetic level, Turtle Beach has worked with the two studios to create unique packaging for the higher-end Delta and Bravo models. Both headsets come packaged in a military-style hard case with foam cushion lining, aiming to sell the look and feel that you are buying a piece of equipment rather than a consumer electronic. All of the MW3 headsets also come packaged with additional content such as download codes for an abridged version of Brady Games' Modern Warfare 3 strategy guide, desktop wallpapers and trial memberships for yet to be announced services and promotions (Fingers crossed for a Call of Duty: Elite trial.) So even with the lower end Foxtrots, you get quite of bit of extra content. Additionally, the MW3 branded headsets have voice prompts to alert you of what chat mode you are in, when the headset is powering on or off, when the batteries are running low, etc. All of these prompts are voiced by Col. Hank Keirsy, the military adviser for the Modern Warfare series. I got a brief amount of time to see how this feature works, and while it's nothing to write home about, it adds a small touch of personality. Factor in that you can download and switch out voice prompts from characters in the Modern Warfare universe and it has potential to be pretty cool, for the sake of added customization if nothing else. There are a total of four MW3 branded headsets: Delta, Bravo, Charlie, and Foxtrot. Delta leads the pack as the best in class. Retailing at a whopping $299.95, it features wireless Dolby 7.1 surround sound and is fully programmable so you can further optimize presets to your liking. Its functionally universal and comes packaged with a Bluetooth adapter that plugs into the Xbox 360 controller, eliminating all cords. The Earforce Delta was the first headset I got to try out, demoed with Modern Warfare 2. To really put these headsets through their paces, I tried them out on the single-player mission "The Gulag" where the audio is an absolute assault on auditory senses, loud and rich with the sound of gunfire, explosions, helicopter blades and jet engines. Here, the Earforce Delta stood up extremely well with pitch perfect clarity from all of the audio channels. Sounds were all distinct and beautifully delivered, never once jumbled or muddled together. The physical design is no slouch either. The ear cup cushioning felt soft and light, and I even started to forget they were there from time to time. I can easily envision continued comfort after hours of play on the Delta. Next were the Earforce Bravo stereo headsets retailing at the more attractive $179.95. Bravos are wireless and universally functional like the Deltas. You can choose from a number of presets, but Bravos are not fully programmable. While the sound remained solid throughout, the drop off in quality is very noticeable. When there isn't too much going in with respect to the audio presentation, the Bravos work admirably well. However sounds are noticeably muddied and can even drown out one another when there's a lot of gunfire, explosions, music, dialogue and other sounds going on at the same time. The clarity just doesn't seem to hold up when put under pressure. On the lower end we have the Earforce Charlie and the Earforce Foxtrot. Designed specifically with PC gamers in mind, the $129.95 Charlie is an eight speaker, multi-driver headset with four speakers in each ear cup. The Earforce Charlie offer 5.1 surround sound and complete control of each of the 5.1 audio channels with the headset's amplifier. Rounding out the series are the Earforce Foxtrot. The lowest end of the MW3 headsets, the Foxtrots are simple stereo wireless headsets. Retailing at $99.95, they're poised to offer solid stereo sound at a budget price. Neither the Foxtrot or Charlie was part of my demo. Finally, Turtle Beach will also be releasing their XP500 series alongside the Modern Warfare 3 branded headsets. Feature identical to the Earforce Delta, the XP500 is a fully programmable 7.1 Dolby surround sound headset that offers universal functionality and completely wireless Bluetooth functionality for the Xbox 360. A key difference between these and the Delta is that the presets for the XP500 were not fine tuned and optimized by the sound designers at Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer. Only the MW3 branded headsets enjoy that privilege. It will retail for $269.95, and will be available for all of you to get your hands on October 24, day and date with the Modern Warfare 3 branded Turtle Beaches. The quality on offer with the Earforce Delta is to be lauded, but at just about $300 (MSRP $299.95) most will find the barrier of entry too high. The Bravos may not warrant the same high praise that the Deltas do, but for the price they definitely seem like a better offer for those wanting something more financially feasible. But even at the Foxtrot level, stereo headsets have always proven reliable enough for sounding out enemy footsteps in multiplayer and all of these headsets will give you an edge against the competition. |
| PlayStation Vita US launch date announced: February 22 Posted: 18 Oct 2011 11:37 AM PDT [Update: Canada, Latin America, and Europe are also getting their Vita on Feb. 22. The image you see above is the final North America box.] Today, at San Francisco's Web 2.0 Summit, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, Jack Tretton, announced the official release date of the PlayStation Vita for North America: February 22, 2012. Yes. YES. This delicious portable will be available at your favorite game store for $249.99 for the Wi-Fi model and $299.99 for the 3G model. That's too long to wait, though less than we thought at first. I want it. I WANT IT NOW. |
| New trailer for Deus Ex DLC The Missing Link Posted: 18 Oct 2011 11:30 AM PDT
Dug Deus Ex: Human Revolution and want more? The Missing Link downloadable content is now available in North America for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. It's available for 1200 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360, and $14.99 on the PlayStation Network and PC. What do you get for that kind of cash? Try up to six hours of new gameplay, ten new achievements/trophies and 250 Xbox Gamerscore points. The game's producer, David Anfossi, says that this DLC provides an enhanced game with deeper insight into the conspiracy, visual improvements, new characters and enemies, and a twist on gameplay elements. Here's a new trailer to celebrate the launch. |
| Happy Action Theater makes you feel like a kid again Posted: 18 Oct 2011 11:00 AM PDT When much-loved game designer Tim Schafer announced a new game coming up from Double Fine Productions, I guessed the hive-mind response was "Is it a super awesome adventure game?" But with games like Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, Costume Quest, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster and Tren -- I mean, Iron Brigade -- under their belt, one never really knows what to expect. And, well, I certainly wasn’t expecting something like this. The new brainchild of Double Fine is a little something called Happy Action Theater, a riotously fun family game for the Kinect that transforms your living space into an interactive environment onscreen. The overarching theme of this game is a circus funhouse, and the main attraction (or object of ridicule) is naturally, yourself.
Happy Action Theater Not to worry though, you can also bring friends, family, co-workers, frat brothers and even your dog Sparky into the mix. Unlike Mordor, anyone can simply walk right into Happy Action Theater and take part in a series of activities ranging from deflecting pooping pigeons, sinking in a pool of molten lava or destroying small cities as an angry monster from a Japanese flick. As a game seemingly aimed at attention-deficit kids and adults, it’s important for the developers that it comes with no controls and no instructions. According to Tim, "We thought it was a great idea to make a game that has no rules, has no failure state. It's a series of activities for either a birthday party for 3-year-olds or a college dorm full of drunk 20-year-olds." That for me truly captures the spirit of the game. It is up to the players to jump right into it and figure out how can they physically interact with the things they see on screen and with each other -- and that is a fun enough experience by itself. The only walkthrough is within the recesses of your crazy mind -- you are only limited by your imagination, creativity and the ability to make fun of yourself. You can be hyper, childish, perverse, insane or however you like. There are 18 galleries in total. Some are pretty straightforward -- one is a room full of balloons that you can pop by kicking or jumping on them. Others require a higher degree of creativity. For example, one of the stages mimics the burst mode in a typical camera. This mode takes a continues series of overlapping pictures -- meaning you can potentially do naughty things with you and your friends’ still images that you’ve never thought of doing before. In the more bizarre category is an 8-bit shoot-em-up mini-game where your avatars suddenly grow a pair of ... butterfly wings. You then have to veer left and right and raise your arms to zap the bugs coming from the sky. Another hilariously absurd stage would be the disco showdown with some cartoon characters. You don’t even have to dance at this point. The game does the dancing for you by animating your body and making it jump around in a frenzied sort of jig. I can only imagine how the creators of this game conducted their meetings in order to conceptualize these mini-games. One of the developers explained to me that they wanted to explore the range of what they can do with the Kinect. Indeed, it is a simple concept that takes advantage of the motion controls and camera features. It is also a tried one, but it makes up for this with its zany atmospherics and popping visuals. It does have its limitations as well, like there is no way to capture memorable moments that happen in-game. Plus, a general problem I’ve had with the Kinect is it’s sometimes difficult to figure out exactly the dimensions of the objects on the screen. In any case, Happy Action Theater does seem like a party game that both kids and adults can appreciate and play together -- kids would want to hop around like the maniacs that they are, and the adults would discreetly recognize the LSD in-jokes. Both would enjoy the humor of the game in different ways. I genuinely enjoyed Happy Action Theater both as a sort-of adult and a kid at heart. I felt the childlike glee of a second-grader released to the playground, in a world before the word “glee” had any derogatory meanings. And I think this interactive, exploration-driven and magical experience for kids is something the videogame industry needs more. |
| Daytona USA: Development details, pics, Japanese date Posted: 18 Oct 2011 10:30 AM PDT Japan gets Daytona USA on October 26. It will be priced at 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360, so we can be pretty sure our version will be about $10 on both systems. Daytona USA features new HD visuals and support for eight player online play. Modes include a time attack mode, a challenge mode, and a Rooooooling Staaaaart!-tastic karaoke mode. I'm basically in for just the last feature. Who's making this game? Andriasang says that Daytona USA is being ported by the same team that previously worked on the home ports of Virtua Fighter 5, Virtual On Oratorio Tangram, After Burner Climax and Virtual On Force. A recent blog post calls them the AM Port Team. You'll find some new screenshots of the game in our gallery below. They are blocky as f*ck. I love that there's still 8-sided wheels in the pit crew shot. |
| Batman: Arkham City PC release date, Steam offer unveiled Posted: 18 Oct 2011 10:15 AM PDT If you're planning on playing Batman: Arkham City on the PC, then news of its delay would have been disheartening and probably not that big a surprise. At least, like Assassin's Creed: Revelation on the PC, we'll be seeing Rocksteady's sequel this year, on November 18. If you're keen to put some money down, then Steam has a tempting offer; those who already own Batman: Arkham Asylum or LEGO Batman (... okay?) will get a 20% discount on Arkham City. To sweeten the pot, both LEGO Batman and Arkham Asylum are reduced by 50% until Thursday evening. I like the idea of offering you a discount for showing some loyalty to a franchise. GSC did something similar with the last S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game and it's something publishers should offer more frequently. Now if you don't mind, I'm off to save some money... /realizes he bought Batman: Arkham City for the PC at retail. Oh, when will I learn?!? |
| Posted: 18 Oct 2011 10:00 AM PDT PopCap has made a name for itself by creating charming, addictive games like Plants vs. Zombies and Peggle for computers, and then bringing those experiences to all kinds of game-playing devices such as consoles and handhelds. With Popcorn Dragon, PopCap's new IP, the studio is -- for the first time -- starting on iOS, building a game from the ground up for that platform. Popcorn Dragon (iPad [previewed], iPhone) Ignatius might be a dragon, but he's not so different from you and me: for him, films and popcorn are inextricably linked. Popcorn Dragon is essentially a twin-stick shooter with dual-finger touch controls instead of joysticks. The game contains ten movie-themed stages in which corn kernels float across the screen. You drag a finger on the touchscreen to fly Ignatius around and orient him in a particular direction, and you tap with another finger to unleash a burst of flame. (A translucent but noticeable arrow ahead of Ignatius' snout indicates which way his next breath will go.) Once he's roasted the kernels, it's time to swoop in and snatch them up. But outside forces conspire to try and keep Ignatius from his fluffy, inside-out corn snack. Each level throws obstacles at you, so you have to weave your way around them if you're going to fill your belly with popcorn. For example, in the prison-themed stage (seen above), Ignatius has to pop corn clandestinely -- that is, away from the harsh glare of the guard tower's spotlight. Getting caught in the beam temporarily brings the action to a halt, and resets the points multiplier to 1x. In some cases, you can fight back instead of just evading: Ignatius is, after all, a creature that can shoot fire from his maw, and that flame is good for scorching more than just corn. From my (admittedly limited) time with the game, Popcorn Dragon seems to be more of a quick diversion rather than a full-fledged experience. But on these platforms, that's not necessarily a drawback; it might be exactly what iOS gamers are looking for. We'll find out when Popcorn Dragon launches this holiday season. |
| Kinect Sports: Season Two demo drops today Posted: 18 Oct 2011 09:30 AM PDT Good news for people that like to move around: There's two free Kinect game demos up on Xbox Live today: Dance Central 2 and Kinect Sports: Season Two. In the latter you can try out both Golf and Tennis for yourself, using its full body motion tracking and in-game voice controls. In Golf you can ask your caddy for clubs, or put your hand to your forehead to get an overview of the course. The Tennis demo supports two players. Kinect Sports: Season Two will be released on October 25. |
| Talking to Women about Videogames: Fear for the future Posted: 18 Oct 2011 09:00 AM PDT [Talking to Women about Videogames is a series where Jonathan Holmes talks to different people who are women about the biggest videogame news of the week for some reason.] Like sex, hate, family, and most other concepts based off of leftover animal instincts, fear sells. That counts for just about everybody, though it seems to be an ever increasing presence among both the videogame press and readers/commenters who engage with the gaming press on a daily basis. That's part of why stories about Nubageddon, online passes, motion controls, tacked-on multiplayer, Capcom's Mega Man game cancellations, and other "scary" videogame trends make such a big impact. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to... irrational obsession and Internet ranting. That's not to say that the fear that starts that cycle off is always unfounded. I can understand why people would be fearful of multiplayer in Mass Effect 3. Imagining that a beloved, narrative-focused series could slowly turn into another online frag-a-thon must be quite worrisome to fans of the first two games in the series or of the genre in general. Honestly though, I feel like that fear isn't all that productive. Fear helps us protect ourselves from threats, but in this case, the threat probably isn't real. In the end, most of our fears (about videogames or anything else) are usually for nothing, though that doesn't mean that we're wrong for having them. Here are some thoughts on fears of the modern gamer and how best we can deal with them. How about a little autobiography to start with? When I was just out of high school, I studied the in-game artwork of titles like Street Fighter III, Darkstalkers, Earthworm Jim, Mega Man X, and many others, much like how people study a textbook. Sure, I read up on more conventional forms of animation as well as "fine art," like sculpting and sequential art, but sprite-based videogame graphics were what I really loved. I'd spend eight to ten hours a day designing walk cycles and standing animations for various videogames characters, trying to make them looks as expressive and original as possible. At that time, I considered the quiet, simple elegance of Cyclop's standing animation from X-Men: Children of the Atom to be a masterpiece. Then polygon-based videogames came along. Yikes. I'm not sure if people in their teens or even their twenties can imagine what this was like. Picture a game that you feel has the best looking polygon-based graphics, be it Gears 3, Uncharted 2, or Final Fantasy XIII, then toss them in the garbage. Next, replace them with the shoddiest, crappiest, most broken-looking crap you can imagine, and that's what it was like for me when polygon-based graphics blew up. Are you a Gears fan who hates the Nintendo Wii? Then imagine that, one strange night, your copy of of Gears of War 3 suddenly transformed into Gears of War Mii; a cute and wacky mini-game collection designed to be played by the whole family (for five minutes a week). Are you Final Fantasy fan who hates Jersey Shore? Then replace Lightning and the rest of the cast of Final Fantasy XIII with Snooki and her gang. All your semi-turn based battles and adventures in a beautiful, futuristic world would be swapped out for battles over who gets the last squirt of styling mouse and "adventures" of mean-looking men lying motionless for three hours at the local tanning booth. That's what it was like for me when the polygons first took over. I'd be lying if I haven't had a few contained "I told you so moments" in the years that have passed since then. Now that there is more or less a consensus that games like Super Metroid and Street Fighter Alpha 3 have aged much better than the original Tomb Raider and Virtua Fighter titles, I feel like the rest of the world finally sees what I saw all along -- these newfangled "3D" games are just plain ugly compared to their sprite-based predecessors. Back when those games were first hitting the scene, though, I wasn't so contained in my contempt. While there was barely an Internet to rage on in those days, I was quick to seek out other outlets for my fiery despair. I found other 2D gaming loyalists via the letters column of the old videogame magazine Diehard GameFan, and we united in our disgust with the polygon. We had arcade parties where we grumbled that "this 3D gaming thing is just a fad" and swore that "if 2D gaming dies, we'll give up on gaming forever" all night. Trust me, it was way more fun that it sounds. Why the emotional reaction to something as skin deep as videogame graphics? The answer is simple: we were dumb, dumb with fear that the games we loved were going to die. We didn't know what else to do with that fear than to make a bunch of generalizations and absolute statements. I suppose that at the time, talking like that made us feel more in control of an industry that we loved, an industry that was headed in a direction that we despised. If you swapped out the words "polygon-based graphics" with "motion controls," "tacked-on multiplayer," "$1 apps," "stereoscopic 3D displays," or "over-priced DLC and/or online passes," then I suppose that our old anti-polygon conversations might sound a lot like some of the fear-based commiserations you see amongst gamers on the Internet today. Also, just like the today's scared and angry gamers, my polygon-hating pals and I had nothing to worry about. Sure, the kinds of games that I loved the most became pretty hard to find for a while, but I learned to adjust. Part of that adjustment was learning to dig deep for the kinds of games I truly wanted to play. If I had 2D games spoon-fed to me during the PS1/PS2 eras like I did in the NES/SNES days, I might have never found Ikaruga, Einhander, Viewtiful Joe, Guardian Heroes, or Metal Slug 3 (to name just a few). Would I have bothered to try those strange and unfamiliar games if I had big-name titles from familiar franchises in the same genres, mushed up on my face on a daily basis? No way! I would have just stuck with Final Fight and Gradius, and I would have potentially missed out on some of my favorite games ever as a result. You might have notices that a few of the games I just mentioned (gasp!) feature polygon graphics. That's because I also learned to stop being so judgmental and absolute in my thinking about videogames. For example, I may have hated the idea of polygon graphics at one point, but I loved the idea of zombie movies. Therefore, I just had to try Resident Evil, and it was love at first sight. Overall, I'm still more attracted to sprite-based visuals than to polygon-based ones, but even back then, I could see that those "dead-eyed" polygon characters were perfect for a zombie game. The polygon era (temporarily) made some of my favorite genres endangered species, but it also ushered in the world of survival horror, and for that, I am eternally grateful. The same could be said for a lot of the trends in gaming today. You have to learn to pick out the good from what, at first glance, may look like an endless sea of crap. That's the only way to experience the best of what gaming has to offer. If you swear off a game/console because it utilizes motion controls, multiplayer, or friend codes, because it doesn't have multiplayer, or (perhaps silliest of all) because it's made by a developer you're angry with, you are screwing yourself over. Hopefully, that's all common sense by now. If you just can't find anything you like in that endless sea of crap, remember that "this too shall pass." It took a long time, but all my favorite genres ended up making a comeback. Aliens: Infestation just came out, and it's one of my favorite sprite-based action games ever. This is hot on the heels of a new Shantae game, several BlazBlue and Cave Story releases, original titles like Tempura of the Dead, Half-Minute Hero, the entire Bit.Trip series, retro comebacks like Mega Man 9 and 10, Super Meat Boy, and countless other "old school" games. On top of that, we've got Skullgirls, Retro City Rampage, Mighty Switch Force, Fez, The Iconoclasts, and tons of other sprite games still coming down the pipe. Sure, the polygon still rules the gaming world, but it's a big world now, and it's only getting bigger. Whatever kind of game you like, and however you like to play them, there is room for you. We'd do well to remember that, historically, trends always drift toward the benefit of the consumer. People didn't think the PS3 was worth $600, and now it's a third of that price. People didn't like that Friendster took too long to load, so MySpace stepped in and replaced it, and then Facebook replaced that. People didn't like that the 360 had a horrid failure rate, so Microsoft put out a more death-proof model. People didn't like third parties putting their smaller, less marketable games on the Wii, and now we have Batman: Arkham City, Darksiders 2, and Tekken all coming to the Wii U. The market will bend to our interests eventually, but only on one condition: we can't become chumps. Once the series that we once loved goes in a direction that we don't want, we can't blindly stick with them. We have to be proactive in our purchasing practices. We can't just lie back and take it if Mass Effect turns into a multiplayer-only experience, or if the next Call of Duty requires an online pass in addition to a paid subscription. That doesn't mean we should get all pissy and boycott an entire company because it made some decisions that we don't agree with. That will only lead the company in question to produce even fewer games that we want to play, and more games for the people who are still willing to buy their titles. We'd do well to keep fear, anger, infatuation, and clan-like loyalty away from our love of gaming. Don't fear Mass Effect 3's multiplayer. Assess it, then either accept or dismiss it. If you try it and don't like it, then don't buy the next Mass Effect game if it's got a multiplayer focus. Maybe more importantly, don't just play through the next Mass Effect game because you're loyal to series. Only play it if it's fun! With a market this big, you only have yourself to blame if you're playing a videogame that you think is overpriced, overrated, or otherwise unenjoyable. Is this pep talk working? No? Well, how about this: next time you get upset about a new trend in gaming, remember that there was a time when I begged for the 16-bit era to go on forever. If I had gotten my wish, I'd still be paying up to $10 a week to experience the closest thing we had to online multiplayer (the arcade), paying $80 for new games that feature no multiplayer (online or offline) at all, and dreaming of the day when I could download an inexpensive quality game, some even more inexpensive quality DLC, or a (gasp!) free quality demo from the comfort of my living room. Now I can buy an online multiplayer game like Minecraft for $15 and be entitled to a lifetime of free content and updates (including dragons). In the 90's, that kind of deal was literally like a dream come true. And don't get me started on M.A.M.E.! I was wrong for wanting the 16-bit era to go on forever, and I'd be wrong if I wanted this current era of gaming to go on forever too. As long as consumers are willing to take risks on quality new products and don't succumb to blind brand loyalty, flashy-but-ultimately-meaningless gimmicks, marketing ploys, and fear of change, then things are only going to get better from here. Speaking of "flashy-but-ultimately-meaningless," can someone explain to me what a Jay-Z song about having quite a few problems (but no current "bitch problems" to speak of) has to do with this new "realistic" war simulator videogame? Yeah, I don't get it. Other than stuff like that, though, the future of videogames is looking pretty good! Past Episodes: Talking to Women about Videogames: 3DS 2nd nub panic Talking to Women about Videogames: Gears 3 isn't perfect? Talking to Women about Videogames: Sexy vs. sexist? Talking to Women about Videogames: What makes you want? TtWaV teaser: Sony's online sucks now? Talking to Women about Videogames: I'm not a real gamer? |
| Watch this Rocketbirds trailer, then go buy it on PSN Posted: 18 Oct 2011 08:30 AM PDT
Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken is out today on PSN and the developers, Ratloop Asia, have released a trailer to help get the word out. The original Rocketbirds: Revolution!, a PC based flash game, has come a long way and extra chapters, new music by New World Revolution and a co-op mode have all been added for the PlayStation release. If you're a fan of cinematic platformers, or want an inexpensive and entertaining title, you should check this game out. I enjoyed it, and think it is money well spent. You can pick up Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken on PSN starting today for $11.99. Go forth and kill penguins. |
| Christina Hendricks, Sean Faris star in NFS: The Run Posted: 18 Oct 2011 08:00 AM PDT Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) and Sean Faris (Vampire Diaries) will star in the upcoming EA racing game Need for Speed The Run. Hendricks plays Joan Harris in the hit AMC drama Mad Men, and now she makes her videogame debut in Need for Speed The Run as Sam Harper, a driver manager. Sean Faris (The Vampire Diaries, Never Back Down), will play driver Jack Rourke in Need for Speed The Run.
Need for Speed The Run will be available November 15, 2011 |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Destructoid To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
