Posted by Justin on September 3rd, 2010 | 1 comment
There are many rules in life we as a people try to follow, but there’s only one we must follow: Always bet on Duke.
All the rumblings were true, Gearbox has officially taken over Duke Nukem Forever.
Duke Nukem Forever has been a long running joke within the industry for what feels like, yes, forever. This truly marks the first time in years I’ve ever said with any real confidence that the game will absolutely come out.
During a 2K live stream, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford guaranteed a 2011 release date. To go along with his guarantee was a playable demo for PAX attendees, which the live stream filmed a bit of (albeit with terrible sound and shaky footage).
Given that Borderlands was one of my top games of 2009, I have confidence that Gearbox can do the Duke right, or that at the very least, they can release a damn game.
Game’s coming to PS3, 360 and PC. The demo was running on a PC with a 360 controller.
Posted by Justin on August 31st, 2010 | 2 comments
Update: Controller launches November 9. That’s kind of important information.
As quoted from my wise brother, clearly Microsoft “must be hurting for cash.” The sarcasm is obvious, isn’t it?
Live is going up $10 and now Microsoft has this fancy new controller that features a d-pad that is, according to Microsoft, not complete shit.
Controllers are already expensive enough, but this “new” pad comes in at $65.
But wait! It’s packed with a Play & Charge kit so you’ll be rid of those pesky batteries for the two-month lifespan they’ve been known to have. Anecdotal evidence and all that, but those kits are shit in my experience.
Opting for a drab monochromatic color scheme, Microsoft has also sucked the life out of the control. Buttons come in a variety of grey and darker grey. Nelson points out the “cool” new look; I think it’s snooze-worthy.
I’ll give them this: the d-pad is interesting. Basically, it’s a normal 360 d-pad (the nasty disk design) but with a slight twist of the pad, the disk portion stays in place will the directional buttons pop up a bit. It’s hard to explain in words, but Nelson shows it off in the video up top.
If it does work, I’m not sure whether I’ll be happy or mad. Microsoft needs to make this d-pad standard on all controllers, not force its customers into spending extra money on a pricey one.
Seriously Microsoft, quit gouging your customers.
All that being said, this isn’t as bad as the Live ordeal because unless something crazy happens, Microsoft won’t be phasing out current controller models.
Posted by Justin on August 30th, 2010 | 5 comments
You know what’s awesome about Xbox Live? It’s about to get more expensive!
Wait, that’s not awesome. That sucks.
Recent reports show that Microsoft pulled in absurd amounts of money via Xbox Live and all of its downloadable wonders has raked in, and the bigwigs want to take the profit just a little bit further. Corporate greed is a nasty thing.
Starting November 1 of this year a Gold membership will run you $60, a price hike of $10. But being the nice guys that they are (because they’re clearly looking out for us, right?), Microsoft is giving current subscribers a chance to renew for a full year with a 20 percent discount. It comes out to be $40, which is still $10 more than you’ll pay if you do a little shopping around.
Don’t be so quick to tout all the great upcoming services as if it somehow justifies the price hike, Nelson. We’re already paying for Live to be something beyond stagnant. There are ads, countless amounts of DLC, and the already existing $50 premium. All of this more than covers the costs of operation and the expected new features.
It’s not the end of the world, it just comes off as slimy.
Having heard a little about it and its creepy sheep people, I figured watching the Catherine trailer was a necessity. Now that I’m in the other side of it, I have a few questions I’d like to ask.
First off, what? It’s a weird ass trailer, but Andriasang helps clear it up a bit.
Catherine is a 360 and PS3 title from the Persona team, a first for them I believe. The trailer appears to mix a few different art styles, but based on the one or two clips of gameplay, the in-game assets look a little rough.
Before you go watching this video, I should warn you that while it doesn’t show anything too explicit, there are multiple scenes of sexy time in the trailer. So, you know, you might not want to watch it at work anything.
Catherine has my intrigued, even if I have no damn clue as to what’s going on. It seems interesting, and people seem to love what the Persona guys make so I’m sure this game will turn out alright.
Work on tightening up the graphics on level 3 though, they’re pretty ugly.
Posted by Justin on August 17th, 2010 | 0 comments
While I tend to criticize CG trailers because they lack any relevance to actual gameplay, I’m willing to accept the fact that when done right, said trailers can be absolutely gorgeous and leave me wanting more.
Blizzard has mastered the art of CG hype trailers, and BioWare has certainly proven to be quite the talent with ‘em, too.
BioWare brought a new trailer for Dragon Age 2 to Gamescom and it’s beautiful. Not a damn bit of it is gameplay, but it’s beautiful.
Like many people, I was on BioWare’s case about Dragon Age 2 after seeing the lackluster early screenshots. Those comments stand, but as does my original sentiment: it’s a BioWare game so I have confidence they’ll get it right.
Hopefully we’ll get more than just a pretty trailer because seeing some actual gameplay would certainly be nice.
For now I’ll just, uh, watch this clip 12 or 13 times.
Posted by Justin on August 13th, 2010 | 2 comments
You’ve undoubtedly heard about BioShock: Infinite so this isn’t exactly news, but I wanted to weigh in on it so here we go.
I’ve got a feeling of both hype and trepidation about the project. The last thing I wanted Irrational to do was create yet another BioShock, and judging from their quotes leading up to 2K Marin’s launching of BioShock 2, Irrational was done with the series, too.
Yet here we are with a terribly named entry into the franchise. It feels forced; it feels like a marketing scheme. Attach the BioShock name for a sales boost, right?
But then I watch the trailer and hype kicks in.
Aesthetically, it’s worlds away from anything we’ve seen in the series. Rather than traveling the depths of the ocean, we’re stranded in a floating city. That’s where I’m drawn in because it looks gorgeous, and it’s a completely refreshing environment.
It doeshave some very familiar concepts. The game is set in Columbia, a sky city with true American ideals that have (surprise!) gone awry. It’s also set back in time, but Infinite dials back even further landing us in 1912.
Irrational is working with a new graphics engine and the game is better off visually for it.
I can bitch and nag about the name, but in the end it’s all about the game itself. After hearing the announcement, I fully expected to be turned off. The more I sit on BioShock 2, the more I realize how irrelevant it is to the series, so should I really care about a third?
Apparently if it’s Irrational made, then yes. After watching the Infinite trailer I was desperate for more footage.
Oh, and cut out all the SkyoShock crap. It got old five minutes after the debut trailer. If it came to your mind immediately, you’re not alone – there’s no reason to post (or worse yet make headlines) with your clever wordplay.
Here’s the bad news: Infinite releases in 2012. Bummer.
Update: As noted by Michael’s comment, Fable III launches just over a week before Kinect — I thought it was the other way around. Either way, with the current Fable Kinect plans canned, and with the two launching damn near simultaneously, don’t expect Kinect implementation anytime soon.
Well damn, it looks like core gamers have one more reason to avoid Kinect at launch. One of the last bastions of hope for Kinect was Fable III’s implementation. The prospect of a gamer’s game embracing at least some form of Kinect compatibility was at the very least intriguing.
Peter Molyneux told Engadget not to expect the previously announced Kinect support for Fable III’s launch. In fact, those ideas have apparently been scrapped because they weren’t “up to snuff,” Joystiq reports.
From his wording, it sounds like any Kinect support will come via DLC, if it comes at all.
Damn.
As someone who is actively trying to justify a purchase of Kinect, this makes it all the harder to do so. I’d be buying it for Kinect Sports alone because I honestly don’t give a shit about Dance Central. I swear, I think Microsoft isactively trying to talk me out of it.
It’ll very difficult to justify buying into Kinect for a Wii Sports clone, even if it turns out to be a good one.
You might be able to take on Hard mode, but can you handle God Hard? Given that Shinji Mikami says only a “chosen few” can, I’m guessing the odds are stacked against you.
Mikami gave a Vanquish update that listed off the five different modes found in the game. God Hard, which I have to imagine is a reference to God Hand, is the most ridiculous of the bunch and won’t be available on your first run through.
It’s for masochists, so if getting stomped on is your thing, have at it.
Mikami recommends Normal for most but gave a description of the easiest mode, Casual Auto.
“Before we started work on it, I can’t say that I had high hopes; however, once we got it up and running, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was wrong,” he said. “Once you get your target on the enemy, the rest is easy as pie.”
It sounds like a thrill ride mode where there’s no real threat, but it’s still a hell of a time.
I’ve had my eyes on Vanquish for a while now so it’s good seeing it shape up so nicely.
With Metroid: Other M releasing at the end of August and Halo: Reach a couple weeks into September, my love for things set in space will get ample amounts of attention soon.
Bungie released a campaign trailer for Reach and it is good.
Halo’s presence has been around for so many years now without break, it’s easy for me to sort of forget about whatever the latest entry into the series is. I mean, I knowI’ll be picking it up day one, it’s just that I don’t always bother looking up the latest details.
Then as its release date slowly starts to creep up, I have that sudden realization: holy shit, a new Halo is about to come out … and I love Halo.
Typically that feeling comes about when Bungie releases an awesome trailer like this one, or the amazing ODST live-action commercial.
Even if Reach didn’t get the massive graphical overhaul I was expecting, the visuals are significantly improved and Bungie has gotten progressively better at creating gorgeous scenes even if their engine isn’t as technically impressive as others. Zip forward to the 0:43 mark and you’ll see what I mean.
As is typical, each new piece of Kinect information that gets leaked comes a legion of forum dwellers desperate to post the latest in totally awesome gifs attached with no less than three laughing emoticons.
Kinect is officially $150 with Kinect Adventures packed in. Big surprise, right? We all knew it’d be $150, yet each time this price gets tossed around everyone flips their shit as if it’s breaking news.
The only surprise is that it comes with a game – albeit one that looks to be a dud. I’d ask why Microsoft chose to bundle Adventures instead of Sports, but the answer is obvious: one might actually sell, the other simply won’t.
And no, I’m not in some odd Kinect defense force, I just see the pricing structure as something that falls right in line with the rest of the industry.
How many millions of people bought pricey sets plastic instruments (known to break)? What about $150 Modern Warfare 2 bundles that came with a cheap set of night vision goggles. How psyched are you for that “real” guitar coming to Rock Band 3 that you just know is going to be expensive.
To assume that Kinect would be — as suggested by many forum goers — less than $100, one would have to pretend we live in a world where games aren’t damn near $100 alone.
If you hate what Kinect offers, simply don’t buy it. I’m all for discussing what’s so great or what’s so terrible about it (beyond idiotic trolling, of course).
But please stop pretending its price is an anomaly. This is the videogame industry folks, shit gets expensive.
