« September 2006 | Main | November 2006 »
October 30, 2006
Lara anniversary game in the works
Eidos announced "Tomb Raider: Anniversary" for the PS2, PSP and PC, a new adventure that's being inspired by the very first game that started the sweaty, lustful fanboy ball rolling.
Here's an excerpt from the Eidos release:
Inspired by the first Tomb Raider videogame, originally released in 1996, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary is a totally new 2006 adventure for Lara, faithfully preserving the elements which made the original Tomb Raider such a classic, selling over 7 million copies worldwide. Using an enhanced ‘Tomb Raider Legend’ game engine, the graphics, technology and physics bring Lara’s adventure and pursuit of a mystical artifact known only as the Scion right up to today’s technology standards and will offer gamers a completely new gameplay experience.
Hopefully, the old-school inspiration means the game will be much longer than Legend, which I liked, but could also finish in one work shift.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 01:05 PM | Comments (0)
October 29, 2006
What the ... ?
I'm a little late to the party commenting on this, but I finally saw the PS3 baby commercial while watching the Saints-Ravens game on TV.
You've got a toy baby sitting in a windowless, doorless white room across from a PS3. Then it cries (and you can see gameplay in the tears) before reaching out it's dead hand to make the console levitate.
This does not make me want to buy one -- at least, not without bringing it to church and having a local priest exorcise the evil spirits inside it. Do both models come with demonic toy possession, or just the $600 one with all the trimmings?
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)
October 26, 2006
Piercing the Wii's aura -- fanboys beware
At E3, many folks (including myself) played Nintendo's Wii for a scant playing session and came away singing its praises, or at least voicing how intrigued we were. Then came the whole "changing the way everyone plays" bandwagon, rolling into our collective gaming psyches.
To that, Ryan Garside of Bit-Tech says: Whatever. He got to play Nintendo's new console for an extended period of time -- away from the buzz, drooling fanboys and hype of the big conventions -- and writes that while new, the Wii might not be the revolutionary force of nature a lot of people are expecting it (or want it) to be. It's a solid, comprehensive read that brings up a lot of good points.
I've always looked at Wii as something with the potential to be great -- which is no different from any other game console that's come out during the holidays. However, the most negative aspect facing the Wii is it's potential to be seen as nothing more than a silly toy -- the Elmo of game systems.
"Cute" and "silly" can be pretty damning places to end up when it comes to gaming tech, especially when the industry and gamers have worked hard to dispel the games-are-for-weird-kids image. From what I've seen, gamers don't like novelties and doo-dads -- remember the Power Glove and Virtual Boy? Heck, how many people were ready to embrace the DS and its stylus right off the bat?
It's true, I really enjoyed Wii -- for the half-hour (at most) that I got to play it. Could I do it all day, every day? I don't know. Gaming is a lifestyle now, and it'll be interesting to see how much the Wii fits into that.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 05:43 PM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2006
My Xbox 360 out with sore hamstring
My Xbox 360 has failed me. I try every once in a while to use this space to offer up my first impressions of new releases, because sometimes waiting to file the review isn't quite enough. Plus, since I buy a lot of my games out of pocket, you can at least expect a nice chunk of honesty.
But instead of getting impressions of "Splinter Cell: Double Agent," I'm sharing my problem -- my game system can't play any games. It can play movies, it works on Dashboard -- but now when I'm trying to play something, the system locks up. This is NOT the legendary story of the console overheating, as 360s do. I have no red lights of death, nor do I have the orange or black screen. Everything just freezes -- like an old-school game crash. Sometimes I think it mocks me, letting me significant progress before crapping out.
So, off to the shop it goes, which means no 360 for at least a week. This means more time at Arena, as I'm pretty sure the 360s work there -- but that also means I'll probably have to tune out someone playing "Guitar Hero" next to me.
The "Bully" review comes out this week, and in case you didn't hear the Friday discussion on AGI, I enjoyed it a lot. Yes, it's a PS2-only game, but seriously, it's worth checking out. This is coming from someone who was expecting to lay down some negativity on it. It's that good.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2006
Electronic Arts announces PS3 titles
Well, they did. Actually 30 of them, but the e-mail I got featured 11. And here they are:
*Army of Two
Burnout 5
Battlefield: Bad Company
Def Jam: Icon
Fight Night Round 3
*Madden '07
*Medal of Honor Airborne™
NBA STREET
Need for Speed™ Carbon
SKATE
*Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 07
*makes more use of the Sixaxis features -- since people seem to love it so much.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 04:51 PM | Comments (0)
Game journos honored
Check out this list put together of the top 50 journalists. If you keep a relatively watchful eye on the scene, there shouldn't be any real surprises on it: Shoe, Brian Crescente of Kotaku (a former cops reporter) and Dennis McCauley of GamePolitics are all there, along with Morgan Webb and Adam Sessler.
It's strange to see a list like this, especially since it was hard to name even a handful of game journalists 10-15 years ago. I think it's safe to say to the haters -- gaming is NOT a fad. Understand this, and move on. It's not going anywhere.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 04:40 PM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2006
'Bully' for you, 'Bully' for me
First off, apologies for the silence yesterday.
There are a LOT of new releases this week -- "Splinter Cell: Double Agent," and "Battlefield 2142" among them, but the one the mainstream folks are going to be checking out is the much-delayed "Bully," the newest Rockstar game that will serve as the poster child for non-gaming politicos everywhere.
On my end, we're doing a story looking at the concept of bullying and how it's changed. The story is coinciding with the game's release this week. I'm going to have a short review of the game to go along with the story, and check out how much a game like "Bully" fits into the discussion. I talked with Dr. David Walsh of the National Institute for Media and the Family today while he was weaving his way through Dayton, Ohio traffic. He had some interesting things to say in the small amount of time we had.
If you're looking for a more in-depth review of the game itself, I suggest you check back here later or see if the discussion pops up on All Games on Friday (or perhaps earlier). If you want a little more info on the game itself, check out the game's Web site. Is it a "Columbine simulator" as Jack Thompson has called it (reportedly without playing it), or is it another example of expression for the edgy Rockstar? Well, now many of us get to find out. It's already sold out at some of the local stores here.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 04:47 PM | Comments (0)
October 12, 2006
Clover Studios ... GONE
So, I take a break from playing "God Hand" to find out that Capcom is planning to dissolve Clover Studios (which also made "Okami") by March of 2007. Wow. You know, we hear gamers of all kinds whine about how innovation is dying in the industry, and how games aren't creative enough -- and then they treat games like "Okami" like they have anthrax in the instruction manual. "Oh my god, it's different, we can't POSSIBLY try something new! Give me my sequel! Where's my Halo?"
So yes, I'm a little disturbed by Clover's impending shuttering. Perhaps they'll form their own company and bring us more stuff, but who knows? I saw a forum post about this by Scot Rubin on All Games, then bounced over to GameSpot to get more of the story.
Here's the quote from the press release:
"Clover Studio Co., Ltd.f promoting a business strategy that concentrates management resources on a selected business to enhance the efficiency of the development power of the entire Capcom group, the dissolution of Clover Studios Co., Ltd. has been raised and passed at a Board of Directors' meeting."
Thanks for playing.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2006
Catching Tiger
"Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007" was offically released yesterday, and EA celebrated in front of Graumann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood with the arrival of Tiger Woods himself to help promote the game. I'd never really seen the golf Jedi in person -- so, I went to check it out.
EA set up a pseudo golf course that worked its way up the steps leading to the Chinese Theater. It started with a green carpet, then widened out to a full-fledged faux fairway, complete with sand traps, some fake rocks and trees, and ultimately, a hole. Tiger's objective was to "golf" his way up the steps and into the hole, ending play right next to a mini-lounge featuring the 360 version of the game.
Tiger then met with some kids from the TIger Woods Learning Center, who showed off some of their putting skills before playing against him in the game. I didn't get to see much on screen, namely because a select few people were allowed near the stage. But it sounded like Tiger got pwned, especially by one young fella who nailed a shot from about 30 yards in.
"That was a sucker move, that what that was," said a smiling, miked-up Tiga-woo. "You just suckered me right in."
I had my camera phone with me, so I took some pics. Just a few problems -- I'm short, and I suck at taking pictures. Plus, it was a little hard to find space among the other ACTUAL photogs without whipping out a hurricane kick.
Anyway, I hope these precious few shots are at least mildly enjoyable.
Yep, I was this close. Tiger still had the nerves of steel -- especially after he accidentally blasted some lady with one of his shots up the steps. Don't fret -- the golf balls used for this thing were a lot different than real ones, so that anyone who got hit with a ball didn't suffer massive damage. Tiger graciously apologized, and the lady was a good sport about it.
Cute shot with the kids. Right Behind Tiger is Scott Van Pelt of "Sportscenter," who also happened to be staying at the same hotel where I was checking out the "Family Guy Demo." Oddly enough, I also saw Dan Ackroyd walk by at the same hotel, dressed in black and carrying a folder of stuff. I did have to urge to yell, "Go get her, Ray!!" but quickly drove a stake into the heart of that urge.
It was a little weird when Tiger was playing -- his voice is in the game, so I sometimes couldn't tell if he was saying anything or if it was his virtual self talking. Either way, the kids took a chunk out of him -- in his defense, however, the kids also practiced.
Random shot of the green, before the bustle started upon Tiger's arrival.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 09:09 AM | Comments (2)
October 09, 2006
Google grabs YouTube for $1.65 billion
You could just FEEL this coming. Reuters reports that Google is going to acquire YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock.
The purchase is the first one that puts a more than $1 billion dollar value on a user participation Web site, the story says.
It's quite a formidable sounding combination -- the Skynet-like Google, which everyone uses to find practically anything in the Internet universe (and then some), and what many people see as the site that ushered video-sharing into mainstream pop culture.
First question I have -- what does this mean for Google Video? Is YouTube going to be assimilated or is it still going to be treated like a separate entity and maintain its (what I think) user-friendly interface?
Second -- and this has been brought up already in other parts of the blogosphere -- what does this mean in terms of copyright lawsuits? Google, of course, has a godlike amount of money, so are companies going to be crawling out of the woodwork to sue over copyrighted stuff that's been posted on YouTube? The site might not be responsible for what's put up there -- but that doesn't stop people from firing off some legal bullets. Or takedown requests.
Mark Cuban talked a little bit about this Friday at an Online News Association conference. Here's the story.
For a little extra food for thought, here's the Hollywood Reporter's take on the union.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 05:49 PM | Comments (0)
Out with 'Scarface', in with 'God Hand'
It's so on. I finally got my copy of Capcom's kooky smashmouth opus today, practically within minutes of filing the "Scarface" review for LANG's disgestion. My quick take on "Scarface" -- I had fun with it, but I probably would have liked it a lot more if it came out two years ago. Like most people, I've already built enough virtual criminal empires and did enough dirt to last me several digi-gangsta lifetimes. I've even run out of fake liquor to pour out for my fallen virtual street soldiers.
Now comes "God Hand," which is just the kind of game I need for this week. I'm working on some stuff for a special section for the Sun and Bulletin, which means not a lot of time for deep gaming.
Deep ain't the word that jumps to mind for "God Hand" -- all you do is beat up people in spectacular fashion. Mayor Young of All Games said it didn't do much for him at E3. We shall see -- I'll haul it to the Arena Lounge on Friday.
Oh, and Electronic Arts is holding an event with Tiger Woods tomorrow, so I'll check that out and snap some photos if I can, since I finally have a freakin' phone that can take pictures now. Speaking of EA, plenty of people have put up YouTube videos pointing out the, uh, apparent bumps in the game. We talked a little about this on AGI, but I didn't know the hate was quite this bad.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 03:08 PM | Comments (0)
October 05, 2006
Tony Montana is in my house
Picked up my copy of "Scarface: The World Is Yours," a game that I felt a lot of people want to instantly categorize as a GTA ripoff. My view is this -- as long as a game rips off the right stuff and/or does some of the same stuff better, I'm not going to be too quick to judge.
I'm going to try and see how the "kingpin" lifestyle dynamic plays out -- I can allegedly hire henchmen and assassins to take care of loose ends, as opposed to simply riding in a car with a group of randomly recruited thugs. Plus, I get to check out virtual Miami.
And I will admit -- controlling Tony Montana can be a plus, since he really is a one-of-a-kind character who helped reshape the contemporary gangster kingpin image.
We'll see. Games like this get hurt by stuff dealing with execution -- animation, controls, collision detection, flow -- if there are too many nasty quirks, like with "Just Cause," this game could be toast.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)
Site of the seven wounds
Not exactly, but a parody of "Fist of the North Star" is what I keep thinking of whenever I see pics and trailers about "God Hand," Capcom's newest beat-em-down game that's emerging on the PS2.
Capcom announced the launch of the Web site today, loaded with screenshots, character bios and other sorts of goodies. I first heard about the game over vacation, when I saw some stuff on GameTrailers -- especially some of the machinegun punching and someone getting batted into the stratosphere (complete with the "star twinkle" effect at the end). There's also a move called the "ball buster" which really doesn't need much explaining.
You play someone who posseses a "God Hand," a glove-like weapon that essentially gives the user godlike power and the ability to lay down some righteous smack. The game is made by Clover Studios, which is the same house that brought us "Okami."
It's actaully shaping up to be a pretty solid few months for Capcom -- "Dead Rising," "Okami," "God Hand" and "Lost Planet," which is another title that holds a lot of promise. And with "DMC 4" gaining buzz -- Capcom's looking clutch.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 01:59 PM | Comments (0)
Hilary Duff can be yours
Smiley starlet Hilary Duff (and her Chihuahua) are going to be appearing in EA's "The Sims 2 Pets," for the PS2, GameCube, DS and a PC expansion pack. It's her video game debut, and I give her an edge over Paris Hilton, because Hilary at least knows the name of the game she's in.
As you'd guess, you can pal around with Duff and her dog as they roam Central Park, at least in the console version.
However, PC players can also download virtual Hilary, and she'll become a playable character, capable of doing the same stuff other Sims can do. She'll be downloadable from Oct. 17 through Dec. 31.
Think about that -- Hilary Duff at the command of gamers. In the wrong hands, the possibilities for evil could be endless.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 01:11 PM | Comments (0)
October 04, 2006
More Latino heat from Eidos
For those who didn't get a chance to experience "Just Cause" and all of its flamenco guitar playing splendor, Eidos announced "Chili Con Carnage" (what, "Carnage Asada" was taken?), a third-person action shoot-em-up for the PlayStation Portable. The game is set for a spring 2007 release.
The hero is a dude named Ramiro Cruz, who's out to avenge his dad's death by unleashing hell on the drug cartel and the boss who killed him. The appeal here is in the game's delivery -- it's meant to be an over-the-top, humorous gun party, so you'll have a truckload of weapons, as well as "spicy, gravity-defying" moves. Which is good, since I was getting a little tired of the mild, not-so-spicy moves. Let's change things up.
Oh, and there's exploding chickens in this game -- which I'm actually really interested in seeing. Perhaps there could some advertising opportunities for El Pollo Loco, Baja Fresh and Chipotle.
Here are a few shots:
Whoa -- they weren't kidding about the whole spicy moves thing. They're real. Spicy moves are real.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 04:37 PM | Comments (1)
October 03, 2006
'Street Fighter' comeback story
Check out this short episode about what happened to the Street Fighters after all the buzz from the fighting game genre died down. It's only the first episode, but I definitely want to see the rest.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 03:01 PM | Comments (0)
October 02, 2006
Feeling unrighteous -- random thoughts on 'Just Cause'
I have a few issues with "Just Cause" for the 360, and apparently, I'm not alone. I was one of the people who actually enjoyed what the demo had to offer, mostly because -- well, it's a demo, so there's a part of me that always thinks the final product will be much better.
Yeah ... not the case here. I'll start off with the stuff I like. Visually, I think it could be better, but I don't think it's the eyes-bleeding experience some people are making it out to be. After seeing the woefully underwhelming "X-Men" for the 360, perhaps I'm a little more generous than the average critic.
I like the concept of the stunts. Being able to hop from one moving vehicle to another, or jump off a bike as it sails off a cliff (and gliding down with a parachute) is just plain sweet. I can even latch onto helicopters. It made me feel a little bit like an action-hero cariciature of the '80s, the uber-soldier who could do just about anything. Rico (the hero of the game) is a like a Latino version of Vin Diesel's "XXX'' character crossed with the guy in the El Pollo Loco commercials.
However, another side effect of the '80s action star is the "one-man-army" corollary, where one guy and a lot of ammo can manage to massively de-populate the armed ranks of a small country BY HIMSELF. Part of this ownage is because the hero is supposed to be so damn good -- and the other part is that most of the people trying to kill him are so inept. They exist only to be cut down in a hail of gunfire. Think "Rambo" or even our governor in "Commando" -- and you have an idea of the "Just Cause" gunplay.
It was harder to kill the zombies in "Dead Rising" than the swarms of armed militia and corrupt police in this game. You get hooked up with a simple crosshair HUD, but once it gets remotely near someone, it "locks on" for you -- then all you have to do is pull the trigger. If there's a cluster of guys together, just put the crosshairs near them and then fire away. They'll fall like dominoes. Ridiculously easy. You can take out 100 guys on your lunch break.
And you'll have to, since it seems that while driving, one innocuous tap of a random vehicle can seem to get you into the kind of trouble where you have to dodge cartel members, soldiers and cops all day. That's annoying. What am I going to do, sit behind the slow, ragged truck on the dirt road so I don't risk hitting anyone?
Other thoughts ...
One more thing about the enemy solidiers -- they can't shoot. At all. I can count on one hand the times Rico has actually died from enemy bullets when I was at the helm.
Rico runs funny. I'm not sure what's wrong with him, but I can't think of any human being that runs like that without having some kind of injury.
Is it physically possible to to pull off the "stunt position" move out of a car in real life? Is Rico part elf?
I like it when missiles come out of nowhere to blow me out of the sky. Especially when I can't see them because of the sun. I also like playing "find the first aid kit" when a new safehouse is open.
Liberation gets a lot easier when you unlock the truck for the heavy drop. Simply have it delivered in front of the settlement, start the liberation, get into the truck and just start firing missiles. Freedom is yours.
The official review for the paper comes out this week. Be excellent to each other.
Posted by Redmond Carolipio at 04:31 PM | Comments (1)