June 2011 Archives

Game developers iD Software pioneered the first-person shooter genre with PC games like Wolfenstein 3D and Doom.

I still remember the first time I saw Doom, which happened during a church group event at my pastor's house, of all places. His son showed off a Star Wars title and Doom on his PC, and I couldn't believe somebody actually made a game where players could shoot demons while viewing the action from the perspective of somebody holding a gun. I thought the concept was wild, if not transgressive. (Although I wouldn't have used "transgressive" anytime soon after the game's 1993 release.)

The company's newest project is Rage, another FPS set in a dystopian world. The developers and publishers at Bethesda Softworks today released "The Legacy of Id," the first behind the scenes video for Rage.

Rage is scheduled for an Oct. 4 release for PC, PlayStation 3 and XBox 360.

I was on furlough/vacation when the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association.

The 7-2 ruling affirmed video games enjoy the same First Amendment protections as cinema, literature and theater while overturning a California law that banned the sale of violent video games to minors.

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin colleague Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino wrote the following article on the court's ruling. Her piece first published on www.dailybulletin.com on June 27. Read it after the jump.

Irrational Games and 2K Games today released a two-minute teaser trailer for Bioshock Infinite, the forthcoming title which won the Game Critics Awards "Best in Show" prize for its showing at this year's E3 convention.

The teaser-trailer's release precedes a scheduled July 7 broadcast of a 30-minute Bioshock Infinite special on Spike TV's "Game Trailers TV." The broadcast is set to include a play-through of the game's 14-minute demo and an interview with Irrational Games president Ken Levine,

The teaser trailer, available here, introduces audiences to former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth within the floating city of Columbia. In the game's world, Columbia is a floating city that resembles the United States of the late 19th/early 20th century. The game takes place in 1912.

The first Bioshock immersed players in the underwater city of Rapture and a violent critique of Ayn Rand's proposition of the virtue of selfishness. Game critics - especially philosophically-inclined ones - regard the title's "would you kindly moment" as a pointed commentary on the illusion of choice within video games.*

Bioshock 2 also took place among the art deco architecture of Rapture, but Bioshock Infinite trades that venue for the Americana of Columbia. I expect the game's writers to use the venue to express some kind of satirical viewpoint regarding American politics and culture, while simultaneously providing players with the chance to shoot at many, many enemies.

Bioshock Infinite is being developed for PC, PlayStation 3 and XBox 360.

Alicia Crawford, a young woman from La Quinta who attends Art Institute of California, won a $10,000 scholarship from Sony Online Entertainment, the company announced.

Crawford is the fourth winner of Sony's Gamers in Real Life (AKA G.I.R.L.) scholarship. The prize comes with $10,000 and a 10-week internship at Sony Online Entertainment's headquarters in San Diego where she will be assigned to the company's Free Realms team.

The scholarship, Sony says, is intended to help young women get into the gaming profession. Free Realms, a free-roaming online game targeted at child players.

Crawford won the scholarship with these art submissions, inspired by Everquest II.

Fear 3, the third iteration of the paranormal FPS series goes on sale today. The franchise's malevolent Alma returns to the game, as do her sons Point Man and the telekinetic Paxton Fettel. The game comes from Day 1 Entertainment and Warner Bros. Interactive Studios for PC, PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 and is rated M for Mature.

Also out today:

• Shadows of the Damned (Grasshopper Manufacture/EA Games). Action/horror title placing players in the role of a demon hunter. Released for PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 and Rated M for Mature
  
• Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident (Big Fish Games) Puzzle/detective game with four-player multiplayer. Released for Nintendo Wii and rated E for Everyone.
• Cars 2: The Video Game (Avalanche Software/Disney Interactive Studios) Adaptation of the new Pixar movie about talking cars involved in racing and espionage. Released for Mac, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii PC, PlayStation 3 and XBox 360.

Tech-Out became self-aware around 9 a.m., June 21 and instead of declaring nuclear war, started a Twitter account.

Please follow Tech-Out at twitter.com/techout.

Former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell says in an interview with film site Indie Wire that he would like to see videogame developers present their work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Mitchell is new curator for the Film Independent/Los Angeles County Museum of Art

That said, Mitchell's interests lie in expanding, if not redefining, what it might mean to see a movie at an art museum. "I'd love to get in the people who make videogames (like) 'LA Noire,' 'Grand Theft Auto,' he said. "You can't go to movies and not see the influence of those games. I want to expand and not ignore the late 20th-century additions to filmed entertainment."

That also could include television. "For kids under 25, there is no line of demarcation anymore," he said. "There's not that kind of snobbery."

Personally, I think movies have had a greater influence on those games than the other way around. "L.A. Confidential," one of my favorite movies, obviously influenced L.A. Noire and Grand Theft Auto IV players will remember an obvious homage to the famous bank robbery scene from "Heat."

That out of the way, Mitchell's idea sounds like a decent attempt to get draw Southern California movie fans and video game players (often the same people, obviously) to the museum. I like forward to hearing more about LACMA's plans to exhibit games alongside cinema.

(Indie Wire, via L.A. Observed.)

Nintendo released "Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D" on Sunday for the Nintendo 3DS portable.

The re-release include the original and "Master Quest" editions of the popular title in 3D, plus motion controls and a "Boss Challenge" mode allowing players to relive fights against dungeon bosses like King Dodongo and Phantom Gannon. (Nostalgia levels rising ...)

Fans on the Internet are divided as to whether re-releasing a popular game that first appeared in 1998 for the Nintendo 64 and was also re-released for the Nintendo Gamecube is that much to get excited about.

Full disclosure: Ocarina of Time, in its original version, is my favorite game of all time. I plan on reviewing the game and posting my own opinions in due time as to whether the 3D version warrants a purchase. In the meantime, I think it's safe to say this is the most popular game of all time to have "Ocarina" in its title.

As you may now, this year is the Legend of Zelda franchise's 25th anniversary.

I first became aware of something called Zelda when I saw this commercial and wondered if whatever the Legend of Zelda was came with instructions so people would know what to do with it.

There's a lot of noise on Twitter over what has been going on with the PR over 2K Games' release of Duke Nukem Forever.

I've played the game and it isn't as bad as some of the reviews make it out to be, but apparently, the PR firm attached to promoting and sending copies of the game to reviewers has drummed up controversy over a tweet they had made as reported by several outlets such as MTV and Ars Technica. Thanks to the speed of information, scandals can go from zero to public in less than a mouse click.

In what now appears to be a burst of emotional outrage over the panning that DNF is receiving, the Redner Group implied that they would be "reviewing who gets games next time". You can see the full tweet in the pic above, captured by Ars Technica since it was deleted from the Redner Group's Twitter feed.

Shortly afterwards, 2K Games severed ties to the Redner Group in a public tweet of their own. It started to look as if the PR group had taken things into their own hands and that 2K's damage control via blacklisting was the result. That is until Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell tweeted that they had also been blacklisted by 2K, presumably over comments made in a previous podcast according to one of the moderators for their forums.

As messy as this is, it isn't the first time PR in the gamespace has fun afoul in implying the need to control who and what reviewers should report back to their audiences. When Dark Energy's Hydrophobia had come out last year and was the recipient of negativity flowing in tweets and reviews, their PR went on the warpath.

It's one thing to promote your product, but quite another to begin cherry picking and blacklisting the journalists you want talking about your game. The whole idea of having someone independently review material is to give an honest assessment of its strengths and weaknesses based on their experience - without interference from who would have a vested interest in the game itself, like a developer...or someone paid to promote it.

I'd like to think that reviewers, on the whole, don't go in expecting to rip apart a game based on hearsay. The good ones will always, for good or ill, tell it straight and give solid reasons why something is or isn't worth anyone's time. And it's not all of PR that should be ashamed for the actions of only a few, though it might seem that way.

In the end, it's keeping an unspoken level of trust in the system that keeps it working and when either side start picking favorites, the only ones to really lose out in the end are the gamers.

Some players may want to try the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword because the Nintendo Wii's motion controls may end up creating a pretty decent sword-fighting experience.

Others may be interested because franchise hero Link will be able to ride birds.

And others may do so because they've been buying Zelda games over the course of 25 years.

Nintendo promised a holiday season release for Skyward Sword at E3. Here's the new trailer.

The first Halo game meets the next one.

Here's the trailer for Halo 4, set for a 2012 release:


And here's the trailer for the 10-year anniversary remake of the original Halo. Halo Anniversary is set for a Nov. 15 release date for XBox 360. Credit goes to Machinima for uploading the videos.

I'm still clearing out my backlog of E3-related content, but if you have a PlayStation 3, do yourself a favor and check out the trailer for Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.

I can objectively say the multiplayer footage I saw at E3 was gorgeous. The developers at Naughty Dog are great at showing a world of color that really stands out from the brown and gray hues gamers see in many shooters.

Click on the link to view the trailer on Machinima's YouTube channel. Language is slightly NSFW.

Throw the words "old school" into an RPG conversation and you might get a number of different answers depending on who is in the room with you. Visions of spreadsheets filled with statistics, inventory menus filled with +2 weapons, or a hack 'n slash slog through deviously crafted dungeons rife with hidden horrors and HP draining traps are only a few that you might get.

And that's what Hunted delivers - deep, mysterious ruins, hidden treasures, weapons, and plenty of monster fodder to wade through. Remembering my own time with Stonekeep on the PC, it was as if inXile had shaken loose the good bits from the games its founder, Brian Fargo, had made in the late 80s and distilled them through the Unreal Engine's alchemy. What came out the other end, though, is slightly sweet with flawed grit.

"Steel Diver" is a decent little game. The only problem, however, is that it's not quite $39.99 worth of decent.

The game, which places players in the role of a submarine captain navigating hostile waters, is a launch title for Nintendo's new 3DS portable but its campaign feels like a throwback to the 8-bit era. Although the game's designers did find clever ways to make use of the 3DS' capabilities, most of the gameplay takes place in two dimensions.

I had fun playing Steel Diver, but at a time when developers can offer iOS and Android games for 99 cents, consumers need more from a full-priced game.

If you want to watch a trailer for Bethesda Softworks' "Prey 2" featuring Johnny Cash's rendition of "Rusty Cage," click on the link.

Prey 2 is an FPS in a sci-fi setting under development for PC, PlayStation 3 and XBox 360.

You gotta be 18 to watch it because of the raw language. Rules of the game.

If you just want to hear the Man in Black sing one of Soundgarden's best songs, listen to this before you break your rusty cage and run.

The United States is not at war with Iran, at least not yet, but will be inside the game world of Battlefield 3, according to this new gameplay video.

EA released this new footage during E3. The video shows new character U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Miller in a tank battle outside Tehran.

There's some naughty language in the video, so you'll have to watch it via the link if you're old enough for that sort of thing.

Battlefield, developed by DICE for EA Games, is set for an Oct. 25 release on PC, PlayStation 3 and XBox 360.

"Aliens: Colonial Marines," an FPS based on the Alien movie franchise Sega and Gearbox Software, is being "prototyped and considered" for Nintendo's announced Wii U console, Sega announced during E3.

The game is presently scheduled for Spring 2012 release for PC, PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 platforms.

"We are extremely thrilled about the potential of the Nintendo Wii U and are honored to be a part of the earliest efforts for research and development on the platform with the Aliens: Colonial Marines project that is so perfectly matched with the platform's unique and exciting new capabilities," said Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford said in a press release. "As more details about the Nintendo Wii U emerge, Gearbox Software is equipped and motivated to engage and support the platform and its customers."

Nintendo's announced Wii U console features a tablet-like controller with its own screen. I'm imaging Gearbox's crew is thinking up some kind of gameplay elements in which players blast aliens on their main television screen while tracking their xenomorphic enemies on the handheld monitor.

Tecmo's insanely difficult Ninja Gaiden series made its North American debut on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989, but its latest versions have bypassed Nintendo consoles.

Ninja Gaiden 3 is set for an early 2012 release for PlayStation 3 and XBox 360, according to Tecmo Koei. The company announced during E3 that the game and its protagonist, Ryu Hayabusa, are also set to appear on Nintendo's forthcoming Wii U console for a version of the game being developed under the working title of Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge.

Nintendo's Wii U console is scheduled for a release some time in 2012. Nintendo tends to release home consoles later in the year for its North American customers, so I'm guessing the Wii U will be out in time for a fall or holiday release.

Here's one for old school PC strategy gamers. Paradox Interactive, perhaps best known for the Hearts of Iron strategy series set during the World War II era, has a new title out called Pride of Nations.

Paradox released the game Tuesday.

Pride of Nations is turn-based strategy game set during the 19 Century, allowing players to lead a number of European colonial powers as well as the United States or Japan. In other words, it sounds like an ideal game for anyone who idolizes Otto Von Bismarck but a bad choice for Franz Fanon readers.

Another trailer from a Namco Bandai franchise. I saw "Ace Combat Assault Horizons" at E3 and I can report that the game I saw looked nice and maintained the franchise's tradition of decent flight controls and giving fighters way more missiles than any jet can actually carry.

This title appears to be taking the Call of Duty route and making the Russians the bad guys. I'm personally waiting for game writers to realize the Cold War is over and make a title that recognizes the threats posed by Suriname or the Republic of Maldives.

Here's the new trailer for Mass Effect 3, set to be released next March. People on other websites like to argue whether BioWare's space saga is an RPG or TPS.

I don't care what genre you call it, as long as the game's fun.

Good morning, gentle readers. I'm clearing up a backlog of E3-week content now that I finally have a some time to do so.

First up: Namco Bandai's latest trailer for SoulCalibur V. For me, the proper way to play this franchise will always be a nice session at the UCLA dorms with SoulCalibur 2 on the Sega Dreamcast, but time moves on.

Ever since Nintendo made their announcement at E3 earlier this week, this song has been rattling around in my head. I finally tracked it down. Thank you, Internet.

Pilotwings Resort is a simple game, but it accomplished something many titles have not.

It made me smile.

The game, 3D visuals and all, is simple without being simplistic. Players get to fly around Nintendo's fictional Wuhu Island and complete a series of "missions" that basically involve performing a series of increasingly difficult tasks while aboard a variety of missions. This is a video game in its most essential form. There's no attempt to mimic cinema, Pilotwings Resort is a game that people can play for 20 minutes or so to have a little fun.

Here's the story we ran on Nintendo's next console in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and The Sun. Stay tuned for more stuff and commentary on E3.

OS ANGELES - Nintendo revealed its forthcoming "Wii U" console Tuesday at E3, the gaming industry's annual convention.

The new video-game system - set for release in 2012 - features a touchscreen built into its controller and at first glance, appears to represent yet another step in the company's efforts to transform the way its customers use its products.

"It can change the way you play games and change the way you interact with family and friends," Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said during his company's presentation at Nokia Theater.

Nintendo came on strong in their press conference. Hot on the heels of the 25th Anniversary of the Legend of Zelda, Nintendo also took the time to finally unveil their successor to the Wii. Did they win everything? I felt their conference did really well for them. But calling it the Wii U? Either they're being zen about the name, or Nintendo is basically telling everyone that no matter what they call it, they're ready to print money.

Sony held their press conference at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena with over 6000 attendees waiting to see what they had to offer up this year, especially in light of the PSN outage. Though they didn't drop too many bombshells, Sony did their best to get people excited for the Move and their new handheld, the PS Vita. 

EA Games delivered some pre-E3 news today by revealing the release dates for Battlefield 3 and Mass Effect 3.

Battlefield 3 is EA's latest salvo against competitor Activision's "Call of Duty" franchise. The title is now set for an October 25 release date.

Mass Effect 3, the conclusion to BioWare's space saga (almost typed "space Sega," hah hah) is set for a March 6, 2012 release date.

Slime, go-karts and scantily clad women with bad attitudes all had a part in the event Konami called its first-annual pre-E3 show.

E3, of course, is gaming's annual convention in Los Angeles. It's a time for big companies to host big events for big ideas like new consoles and AAA-titles all in hopes of making big money.

Konami's event, however, was smaller in scale. The publisher's pre-E3 show took place Thursday at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City and gave attendees a chance to sample some lower profile titles.

Games included:

• Jimmie Johnson's Anything With an Engine: The game's developers credit NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson for helping out the game's design, but there's no way for an observer to miss Mario Kart's strong influence. "Anything" puts players in crazy vehicles and racers get to shoot pizzas (instead of turtle shells) at each other. That said, I raced around a barnyard-themed track and it seemed fun. The game is set for a fall release "for all three major home consoles," which I assume are not the Neo-Geo, Intellivision nor Atari 2600.
• Puddle: This is a rather clever - and insanely difficult - game based on fluid dynamics. I tried the PlayStation Move version and had a chance to fail at the challenge of guiding a puddle of water through a maze filled with flaming obstacles that evaporated my puddle character. The idea is to twist the Move from side to side and let simulated gravity do the rest. Another level on display featured a slimy puddle, instead of a watery one. The title is set for a summer release via PlayStation Network and XBox Live, although the XBox version won't have motion controls.
• Skullgirls: Like "Anything," this one comes from an indie house called Autumn Development. The title is a three-on-three "Marvel vs. Capcom" styled fighter with cartoony - and jiggly - female characters. The exception, however, is Peacock, a crazy woman designed like an old Looney Toons character with a ridiculous amount of weapons at her disposal. She may have cult potential if the game catches on.
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Microsoft started the day off with their press briefing on what you can expect from them in the coming year. And thanks to the miracle of streaming, everyone could catch it from any number of online channels. There was plenty to talk about. Literally.

Nintendo's new 3DS portable is brimming with potential, but much of that potential has yet to be realized.

Given its capabilities and popularity of its predecessors in Nintendo's DS family of portables, the 3DS is likely a product that many gamers would enjoy, but its high price ($249.99 MSRP) means it may not be an essential purchase for anyone who is not rolling in money right now.*

The 3DS' glasses-free 3D screen is the portable's most hyped feature, and deservedly so. The portable's ability to create the appearance of depth and images that seem to float behind the screen's glass is nothing short of impressive. The technology does not yet seem to be something that will revolutionize the way people play games, although that revolution may come with future releases.

It wasn't so much of a press event as it was a pre-recorded briefing on what Konami is excited about in 2011. A few games were shown, such as NeverDead, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011, Silent Hill Downpour, MGS Snake Eater for the 3DS, and a teaser for the next Contra at the very end.

Anyone hoping to see Hideo Kojima reveal what his next game is going to be are going to be disappointed, however, as the cagey designer revealed only tidbits of what he was working on including a new "lifestyle" regarding save games.

The briefing started off with a look at the 3DS version of Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, the PS2 classic that explored the origins of Solid Snake. For the handheld, players will be able to use the motion sensor to help keep Snake's balance and even utilize photos taken as camouflage.

Next up was the 3rd person action game, NeverDead, with a MegaDeth scored video to show off some of its action. The Japanese and European developed title will have players star as Bryce, a heroic demon hunter that challenges the demon king 500 years ago but loses with his wife getting murdered in the process. Cursed with immortality by his enemy, Bryce can be blown apart but never die as you try to get him back together should that happen. One shot revealed a rolling head on the floor, probably manipulated by the player, trying to get back to the rest of its body.

Some information was revealed on a new Silent Hill film in production and a small tease for Silent Hill Downpour, the next game in the series, but little else other than that it was coming.

Later, Mark MacDonald of 8-4 visited Hideo Kojima at his studio. "Transfarring" was shown off, a save transfer mechanism that would allow players on the PS3 use the same save for the same game (such as the upcoming Peace Walker) with the portable version, and vice versa so that you don't miss a beat. Kojima hopes to extend this capability to the PS2/PS3 level, and eventually to the PS3 and NGP.

Kojima didn't show off a new game so much as he did the new engine that will be running it. Called the "Fox Engine", it will be used in Kojima's projects going forward as a multiplatform engine. Development for it started shortly after MGS4 and a jungle scene was displayed as a test environment, though it has nothing to do with the next game whatever it might be.

Lastly, it was revealed that MGS Peace Walker, Sons of Liberty, and Snake Eater are going to be together in an HD collection in November this year for the PS3 and the Xbox 360. Later in 2012, that will be followed by both Zone of the Enders titles. Far from being tweaked graphically, they'll also sport new interfaces and a few more tweaks to keep them from feeling like a simple port dumped onto a disc.

As the briefing ended, a gout of flame filled the screen soon forming into a burning "C" with words hinting at the return of a classic series - Contra. As for what Konami has planned, your guess is as good as mine.

Nintendo announced today that the (kind of) long-awaited software update adding web browser functionality to the new 3DS portable.

Those who receive the update will also be able to download a free 3D remake of Excitebike, a throwback to the NES days.

The software update will be available the evening of June 6 to 3DS owners with access to a wireless broadband connection. The update will also allow customers to buy downloadable titles of such old school Gameboy titles like Super Mario Land and Alleyway.