New Games |
- Inversion weaponizes gravity for PS3, PC & 360 on Tuesday
- Epic Games saves Big Huge Games staff, now Epic Baltimore
- Is there something to the texts in Super Mario Wii U?
- Nintendo Direct: Wii U features NFC and curtain controls
- Nintendo Direct: Finally control TV with Wii U controller
- Nintendo Direct: Miiverse: Nintendo's online chat system
- Nintendo Direct: Wii U opens up with Mii Wara Wara
- Nintendo Direct: Iwata details the Wii U's philosophy
- My E3 Wish: Sony fully supports the PS Vita
- Nintendo Direct: Wii U goes pro with Wii U Pro Controller
- E3: 2012 badges tout Persona, 3DS, and Wii U
- Kobito Dukan is the new cute-ugly 3DS sensation
- What's this? What's this?
- Senran Kagura sequel gets new enemies, same old boobs
- Bloggers Wanted: E3
- On The Media talks to Tim Schafer about being awesome
| Inversion weaponizes gravity for PS3, PC & 360 on Tuesday Posted: 03 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT
Inversion is one of those games with the unfortunate distinction of launching during the week of E3. Namco's forthcoming third-person shooter looks like it could be surprisingly good, but that's unlikely to matter what with the vast majority of this upcoming week's gaming coverage centering around the chaos that is about to unfold in Los Angeles. However, if you're looking for something new and are interested in playing new shooter with an interesting twist of perspective, Inversion might be something to pick up next week if you're not too busy reading all the news and preview coverage. Just in case, Namco Bandai have taken advantage of the calm before the storm, reminding you that the upside-down shooter still exists with this behind-the-scenes video featuring the developers at Saber Interactive. |
| Epic Games saves Big Huge Games staff, now Epic Baltimore Posted: 03 Jun 2012 01:00 PM PDT After effectively gambling with this month's rent money in a bid to pay for next's, things were looking pretty bleak a for Curt Schilling's 38 Studios. Running into financial difficulty following the release of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, 38 Studios laid off nearly four hundred employees from its Rhode Island and the Baltimore-based studios. But they say every dark cloud has a silver lining, and Epic Games has certainly provided a happy ending for this tumultuous saga. The Gears of War developer's President, Michael Capps, had this to say regarding the former staff members of Kingdoms of Amalur studio, Baltimore-based Big Huge Games.
Dr. Capps went on to say that the situation with 38 Studios arose around the same time that Epic was looking to take on more projects. The timing was not only opportune for both Epic, but for the families of a development team that's breadwinners would be looking for work in a struggling economy. Capps says "there's still a million things to work out," but they're working on it and will have more information at a later date. In the meantime, other former BHG staff have safely found homes at Zenimax, Zynga East and other studios in the region. Big Problems Need Huge Solutions [Epic Games] |
| Is there something to the texts in Super Mario Wii U? Posted: 03 Jun 2012 12:20 PM PDT We're just about an hour out from the Pre-E3 Nintendo Direct 2012, and people are already getting into a deep analysis of the scant bits of new game footage that was shown. In Nintendo's bizarre new video showing off Miiverse functionality, there were a few seconds of footage of what looked like a new 2D Mario title. We saw a new, stranger background, a Super Mario World-style overworld map, and some Miiverse text messages from other players that might hold clues to what other features the game has in store. They include talk of a "baby Yoshi that balloons up to carry you," talk of an achievement looking thing for beating a level in less than 100 seconds, and how "...being a flying squirrel is WAY more fun than it should be." This could all be references to hypothetical aspects of gameplay, but with E3 just a couple of days away, I wouldn't be surprised if these are legit leaks regarding the new Mario title for consoles. A flying squirrel would make a lot of sense for a Mario game, as would baby Yoshis. I'm sure we'll find out for sure what's going on here soon enough.
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| Nintendo Direct: Wii U features NFC and curtain controls Posted: 03 Jun 2012 11:58 AM PDT On top of working as a TV/cable remote control, Nintendo officially revealed that the Wii U GamePad has compressible control sticks and an NFC reader. We'd already seen that there is some sort of NFC functionality with the upcoming Rayman Legends, but that looked to involve placing toys firmly on the Wii U GamePad touch screen. The little rectangle on the left side of the GamePad seems to do something else. Insane wish -- I hope we can use the NFC reader/writer to scan e-Reader cards. I've been waiting to play the rest of the Super Mario Advance 4 e-Reader levels since I first purchased the game over ten years ago. Of course, Nintendo would also have to support GBA emulation to make that happen, but that's more of a minor detail. We've also learned that when transferring pictures or video that you're browsing from the GamePad screen to the TV, you can add a "curtain" effect before the image hits the big screen to make it more dramatic. It's... insane. Nintendo is so corny and I love them for it. |
| Nintendo Direct: Finally control TV with Wii U controller Posted: 03 Jun 2012 11:10 AM PDT From the moment I unboxed the Wii and pointed the Wii Remote at my television screen, I thought to myself, “Why can’t I use this to watch TV?” Club Nintendo in Japan was kind enough to offer a universal TV remote shaped like a Wii Remote, but I had always hoped for a “TV channel” that would allow me to control my TV to toggle between television, gaming, and other inputs. My idea never became reality, but based on today’s announcements, it looks like this was something Nintendo had been thinking about. |
| Nintendo Direct: Miiverse: Nintendo's online chat system Posted: 03 Jun 2012 11:04 AM PDT
Nintendo just announced a major component of its online strategy for the Wii U. Entitled "Miiverse," this online communication system is built directly into the Wii U OS. Even if a specific game doesn't support Miiverse functionality, the system can be activated at any time without terminating play. Potential functions include video chat, text chat (via both type written and handwritten messages), commenting on other peoples' games with Nico Nico video/Demon's Souls-style on-screen text, and the ability to access a Facebook-like "wall" where you can communicate with others en-mass. All this can be accessed via the Wii U GamePad. Probably the biggest news is that Miiverse will "eventually" be accessible by 3DS, PC and any device with an Internet browser. Posting messages on your Miiverse wall, having your friends read them on their smart phones, chatting with grandpa about how to scan a zombie's glands, it will all be possible due to Miiverse's focus on "gameplay empathy with players." Weird. Below is a video of Miiverse's in-game comment system in action via GoNintendo.
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| Nintendo Direct: Wii U opens up with Mii Wara Wara Posted: 03 Jun 2012 10:56 AM PDT The aesthetics and functionality to the Wii U's opening menu screen are... different. Code named "Mii Wara Wara," booting up the Wii U grants you the sounds of a horde of little Miis all wandering around your television screen. These Miis will come from your own console, from your online friend list and from any Wii U owners that "speak your language." They will gravitate towards the icons for whatever games they've been playing, dropping little type written and hand written messages to you a long the way. On the Wii U controller, you'll only see icons for games that you've played before, but on the TV screen, you may see icons for games that you've never even heard of. It's basically like an animated friends list that automatically tells you what games are trending in popularity right now, which is something that I'm sure a lot of developers are excited about. Up until now, Nintendo consoles have had a reputation for having a lot of third party "cult hits;" games that are adored by a small, nonvocal community that doesn't tell anyone else about how great they are. With Mii Wara Wara, you'll see what games other people are playing, regardless of how vocal their fan bases might be. I can only hope that helps No More Heroes 3 to find a larger audience if and when it's ever released on the Wii U. |
| Nintendo Direct: Iwata details the Wii U's philosophy Posted: 03 Jun 2012 10:44 AM PDT During Nintendo's "Nintendo Direct" Pre-E3 event, company President Satoru Iwata gave us some juicy details on the Wii U, and what he hopes to accomplish with the new device. Come next generation, Iwata hopes to change the relationship between families and consoles, consoles and TVs, and enhance Internet integration more than any console has before it. Iwata echoed that the Wii U's mission is "uniting, rather than dividing," and that will be accomplished not only through local social play (just like the Wii), but with the "Miiverse," and Nintendo Network. The Wii U will also come fully equipped with its own remote control, accessible from the touch screen, to help with the TV integration aspect, and as previously announced, it will still support full gameplay when the TV is turned off. He cited Sherry Turkle's book Alone Together as an influence on the design philosophy behind the Wii U. Iwata promises that when you're playing the Wii U, "you won't feel alone." |
| My E3 Wish: Sony fully supports the PS Vita Posted: 03 Jun 2012 10:25 AM PDT Sony's annual E3 press conference kicks off tomorrow night, one full day ahead of E3 2012. I'm expecting lots of huge announcements on both the software and hardware fronts, but what I'm really hoping for is some support for their latest console, the PlayStation Vita. It's kind of a given at this point that they'd come into their first E3 after system launch with some key franchise announcements, but this is Sony we're talking about. Remember the PSP? Yeah. Sony's PlayStation Vita has more potential than any other game system released in recent memory with its powerful hardware and connectivity. But potential doesn't make a successful game system. Games will, though. Sure, that launch line-up was nice, but what about the months after that? I started to have flashbacks of the PSP launch and following drought soon after the charms of the launch line-up wore off. Those still linger, unfortunately, as software support since then has been weak. And it's not just games that have me worrying about Sony's portable. We're still missing lots of features that we expected to have at launch, and there's still a lot of untapped potential beyond these. I know that a blogged list of wishes won't somehow magically change Sony's plans for tomorrow, but I wanted to get them off my chest anyway. Hopefully you'll read these and make your own noise. The Vita is too nice of a system to be cast off into the closet; we should do our best to be heard. Where are the games? While the relatively strong launch was appreciated, things haven't been so great since. Not bad, mind you. But key franchises are missing. Key genres haven't shown up. Where is the third-party support for Vita? Hell, where's the rest of the first-party support for Vita? I can see the smirk on the Sony rep's face right now. He'd give me a 'oh, just wait 'till tomorrow' look. Yes, I'm sure there will be Vita announcements at the press conference. There's LittleBigPlanet Vita, which is fantastic, but we already knew about that. We'll probably get a confirmation on the PlayStation All-Stars fighter as a Vita title, with cross platform supper as a bonus. I bet Killzone will get some handheld love, too. Beyond this, third-party stuff like Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed might show up as a tease, and we might get a reminder of farther out titles, like Final Fantasy X. Expect one of those crazy Sony video montages that drills super-quick cuts of footage and game franchise logos into your eyeballs. But it'll be like 6 titles over and over again. Is that enough for you, early adopter? These alone, as big as they are, would be enough…for me to not trade in my Vita just yet. I need more of a commitment, especially these days where mobile/portable gaming is a way of life, and downloadable games are on everything. A $250 portable already felt a bit silly. It feels even a bit worse now. What about backwards compatibility? I feel anger build up inside of me every time the lack of PSOne support on the Vita crosses my mind. I'm not kidding; I grit my teeth, breathe deeply and stare off into the distance with murderous intent. This is bullshit, Sony. We were teased with this feature from the beginning, but PSOne play is still not supported. Is it not a priority for you? We've heard that it's "coming soon," but I'm tired of waiting. I could have played UmJammer Lammy today! One of the key points on the huge list of potential plusses for the Vita is that it can download, contain, and play all of your favorite games. Maybe I'm spoiled from having all my Vita, PSP and PS Minis games on my system now, but I can't help but feel like Vita is incomplete without access to the huge back library of fantastic PlayStation classics. These are games that many of us happily paid for a second time, and I still continue to enjoy them on my PS3 and PSP. They would be perfect on the Vita with its big screen and dual analog sticks, but we still have that situation where we'll scroll through our download list to find that unsupported message for every PSOne game. Sony, if you don't announce PSOne backwards compatibility tomorrow I'm going to throw my fucking Vita toward the stage and then I'm going to put a booger on every screen of every PlayStation product on the E3 show floor. I was a bit worried about PSP support early on, as not all of the library was backwards compatible at first. They seem to be working on this, but it looks like they're not quite done yet. Please finish. Let's talk about future potential: Sony likes money, so I'm sure they're thinking about this stuff. I'm sure they're already planning new features and support for the Vita. They know that the more ways they can find for us to use this system, the better chance it has of staying around and making more money for them. The more it plays nicely with existing PlayStation and Sony products, the more games will be likely to buy one and use it. No shit, right? You'd think. But I still can't remotely play all of my PS3 games. I'd love to play my PS2 games just as much (or be able to download a digital re-release). And don't get me started on the PSOne library again. Beyond game support, there's a bunch of things they could do with the connectivity hardware. More and better connected experiences with friends should be a priority. These days, if you're not having an Xbox Live-like experience with a game system, it feels second rate. Seeing as how the Vita has both WiFi and 3G support, there's no excuse for falling behind on this. And those apps. Where are those apps? Sony, I made you a list: I have a wish list of things to be addressed, Sony. In no particular order. Just, you know -- whenever you can get to them.
That was a lot of bitching. Sorry. I really do like the PlayStation Vita. Mind you, my favorite and most-used system is still the PSP. I want this to be my go everywhere, do everything system. It's almost there. It just needs a little push. Don't disappoint us tomorrow, Sony. Remember: system throwing and booger smearing. |
| Nintendo Direct: Wii U goes pro with Wii U Pro Controller Posted: 03 Jun 2012 10:20 AM PDT Nintendo's Wii U will feature connectivity with a more traditional style controller, Nintendo Global President Satoru Iwata revealed on Nintendo Direct today. The controller, called the Wii U Pro Controller, can be seen in that beautiful screencap above, and it looks hella comfortable. Kaboom! |
| E3: 2012 badges tout Persona, 3DS, and Wii U Posted: 03 Jun 2012 09:40 AM PDT Our own Chad Concelmo is now in possession of his E3 2012 press pass, and he was nice enough to send along a pic for us to all take a gander at it. It's always interesting to see what companies are willing to get their products promoted on the E3 lanyards and badge holders, and this year is no exception. Last year's passes came equipped with Legend of Zelda lanyards and Catherine badge holders. It looks like Atlus and Nintendo are at it again this year with Teddy from Persona on the badge holder, and the 3DS and Wii U logos on the lanyard. The Wii U logo looks a little better in white on blue. I hope that becomes the standard look. Anything to further send the message to the uninterested and uneducated consumer that the Wii U is an entirely different product than the Wii. It's less than two days before the Dtoid staff storms the show with our badges in hand. I personally can't wait to go around scooping up all the discarded Teddy badges. I have about 20 of last year's Catherine badges in a drawer. Every once and a while I give one to a total stranger just to keep 'em guessing. |
| Kobito Dukan is the new cute-ugly 3DS sensation Posted: 03 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT
While at Dtoid's PAX East 2012 party a few months ago, Dtoid artist Linzb0t introduced me to Kobito Dukan. She handed me a kobito Dukan toy and said something like "It's like you and Tingle had a baby". I couldn't have been more flattered, though I had no idea what she was talking about A little research has revealed that Kobito Dukan is more like Pikmin than anything else. It's a modern mythology about a group of small, weird dwarf-things that have weird one-piece outfits that have giant protrusions coming out of their heads. They actually look a lot like Pikmin, except more troubling to the eye. So that's where the Tingle part comes in? I'm not sure what Linz thinks I have to do with any of this though. I don't look like a cute-ugly nature-demon, do I? The dwarfs are getting a 3DS title, and it looks appropriately unsettling. It's not clear what you actually do in the game other than look at dwarfs, take pictures of them, and put your face on their bodies. Sign me the f*ck up. [Via 4Gamer] |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2012 08:50 AM PDT
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| Senran Kagura sequel gets new enemies, same old boobs Posted: 03 Jun 2012 08:30 AM PDT Senran Kagura is a 2D brawler that was popular enough to get an upcoming sequel in Japan, but it still hasn't been released in the US and Europe. I'm still trying to figure out why. Do 3DS publishers really think that the game's cheesecake elements would cause it to sell poorly in the West, or that the only reason it's selling well in Japan is the country's well documented affection for well-endowed cartoon schoolgirls? I just want the game for the action and the character animations, both of which look pretty neat. The sequel looks even better, with more detailed enemies (like the Project A-Ko-esque burly schoolgirl seen above) and more combat on screen. The PG-13 rated boobs and butts are immaterial. It's strange that so many people feel so strongly about the game's occasional focus on the female anatomy. It's neither offensive or titillating. I feel the exact same way about Nathan Drake's ass, or Kratos's loincloth. It's hard for me to imagine why people are offended by something as benign as the human body, or conversely, how others can be so impressed by flashes of softcore sexuality in world where endless streams of hardcore pornography are just clicks away for anyone with an internet connection How about you? Does the added sexuality in games like this turn you on, turn you off, or leave you totally lukewarm? [Via Famitsu] |
| Posted: 03 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT [When we're looking for blogs on a specific topic, we'll put out a Bloggers Wanted call. Check out the blog prompt, write your own response in the Community Blogs and tag it with the "Bloggers Wanted Essay Response" tag, and you may see your blog promoted to the front page. -- JRo] E3 starts tomorrow, and we want to hear what you have to say about it. What are your predictions? What did you think about the Nintendo press conference? Is the new game that got announced amazing or terrible? All this week, we want you to blog your thoughts, expectations, and reactions to everything at E3. To participate, just write a CBlog, title it "E3: [Your Blog's Title]", and select the Bloggers Wanted Essay Response tag. Throughout the week, keep an eye on the blogs and get some discussions going with your fellow Dtoiders! |
| On The Media talks to Tim Schafer about being awesome Posted: 03 Jun 2012 06:30 AM PDT NPR is slowly but surely becoming the best "mainstream" media outlet for intelligent and well-meaning coverage of videogame news. Their coverage of Ian Bogost's Cow Clicker phenomena was fantastic, and I still regularly link people to their short piece on the perspective of a young female gamer. A couple of days ago they posted an interview with Tim Schafer on his past work with LucasArts, his recent success on Kickstarter, and more. This is the kind of thing I'm hoping to do with Sup Holmes? (which is on hiatus for the week due to E3 taking over everyone's lives). Alex and PJ's mix of genuine fandom and enlighted inqueries make for a fun and informative piece. For those concerned parties out there, Sup Holmes? will be back next Sunday with Zoe Quinnzel, developer of the upcomign text adventure It's Not OK, Cupid. It should be awesome.
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