Monday, January 31, 2011
Elder Scrolls V :Skyrim...again
6:23 PM
The Game Peddler
In a game as large as the open world RPG The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, comprehensive menus are a necessary evil. Though they may not be pretty, players need a way to easily manage items, review skills, and map out directions to their next dungeon crawls. The menus in Oblivion functioned, but they were essentially a cumbersome medieval equivalent to Excel documents. For the sequel, Bethesda is striving for a friendlier user interface.
Rather than refine the pre-existing menu system from Oblivion or Fallout 3, Bethesda decided to toss them on the scrap heap and develop a new, streamlined interface. Searching for inspiration, the team kept coming back to Apple, and for good reason. Over the last decade the company has revolutionized how consumers interact with software and hardware moreso than any other tech outfit.
”You know in iTunes when you look at all your music you get to flip through it and look at the covers and it becomes tangible?” game director Todd Howard asks. “One of our goals was 'What if Apple made a fantasy game? How would this look?' It's very good at getting through lots of data quickly, which is always a struggle with our stuff.”
Like in Oblivion, pressing the B or circle button opens up the menu system. Instead of returning you to the last page you visited as it did in Oblivion, Bethesda now presents you with a simple compass interface that offers four options.
Pressing right takes you to the inventory. The interface is a clean cascading menu system that separates items by type. Here players can browse through weapons, armor, and other items they gather during their travel. Instead of relegating players to looking at an item’s name and stat attributes, each possession is a tangible three dimensional item with its own unique qualities. Thousands of items are fully rendered, and players can zoom in on or rotate each one. You can even get an up close view of the flowers and roots you pick for alchemy. “It becomes an interesting time sink,” Howard says. “You can look at and explore every single thing you pick up.”
Pressing left from the compass gives players access to the full list of magical items, complete with breakdowns of how the spells operate. As we mentioned in the Building Better Combat story, the world of Skyrim features over 85 spells, many of which can be used in a variety of ways.
In Oblivion, players could map eight items from their inventory onto the D-pad for easy access. Given the new two-handed approach to combat in Skyrim, Bethesda didn’t want to limit players to eight items. Instead, pressing up on the D-pad pauses the action and pulls up a favorites menu. Anything from your spell library or item inventory can be “bookmarked” to the favorites menu with the press of a button. How many items appear on that menu is up to each player. Bethesda isn’t placing a cap on the number of favorite items, so theoretically you could muck it up with every single item you own. Though you can choose how many items appear, you can’t determine the order; items and spells are listed alphabetically.
Pressing down in the compass menu pulls the camera perspective backward to reveal a huge topographical map of Skyrim. Here players can zoom around to explore the mountain peaks, valley streams, and snowy tundras that populate the northern lands. Pulling the camera as far away as possible gives you a great respect for the size of the game world. From the map view players can manage quest icons, plan their travel route, or access fast travel.
Finally, pressing up in the compass menu turns your gaze up toward the heavens. In previous games, astrology played a large role in character creation. Though Skyrim abandons the class structure in favor of a "you are what you play" philosophy, Bethesda is preserving the player’s ties to star signs.
Three prominent nebulae dominate the Skyrim heavens – the thief, the warrior, and the mage. Each of these represents one of the three master skill sets. Each nebula houses six constellations, each of which represents a skill. As in Oblivion, every player starts out with the ability to use all 18 skills – any player can use a two-handed weapon, try alchemy, or cast a destruction spell (provided you find or purchase one). As you use these skills in Skyrim, they will level up and contribute to driving your character's overall level higher.
Every time players rank up their overall level, they can choose a supplemental perk ability for one of the 18 skills. For instance, if you fight most of your battles with a mace, you may want to choose the perk that allows you to ignore armor while using the weapon. As in Fallout 3, several of the perks have their own leveling system as well, allowing you to choose them multiple times. Once you choose a perk, it lights up the corresponding star in the constellation, making it visible when looking up to the heavens while interacting in the world.
“When you glance to the sky after you’ve played the game for a while, what you’re seeing in the sky is different than what somebody else is seeing based on the constellations,” Howard says.
To read more about all of the great details we extracted from Bethesda during our cover trip, visit the Skyrim hub by clicking below.
Call of Duty: Black Ops new maps Feb 1st
6:08 PM
The Game Peddler
CO
The first release of downloadable content for Treyarch’s mega-blockbuster ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops’ is scheduled to arrive on Xbox360 this Tuesday, and gamers’ mouths are watering.
This release will include four new multi-player maps usable in both online and local play, and one new level for the ‘zombies’ game mode.
The downloadable content release will not only provide players with more virtual square footage to play through, but will also introduce new game play dynamics such as a functioning zipline and a collapsible bridge. These features are unique to the new multi-player maps and have never been seen in any of the previous ‘Call of Duty’ installments.
Some of the maps were inspired by sections of the single player campaign mode while others are completely new and built exclusively for multi-player.
The developers at Treyarch listened to gamers’ feedback on the existing multi-player maps and tried to create levels that addressed players’ concerns. The result, according to Treyarch are maps with more sniping opportunities and more “verticality.”
‘Black Ops’ is the seventh installment in the ‘Call of Duty’ series and has enjoyed critical acclaim as well as breaking several industry-wide records. The games release was not only the most successful release in video gaming history, but broke records across the entire entertainment industry. The game grossed more than 650 million dollars in its first five days on the shelves, which is more than any other book, video game, or theatrical film in history.
‘First Strike’ will be available on Xbox Live February 1st, and will be available on Playstation Network and PC sometime next month.
The first release of downloadable content for Treyarch’s mega-blockbuster ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops’ is scheduled to arrive on Xbox360 this Tuesday, and gamers’ mouths are watering.This release will include four new multi-player maps usable in both online and local play, and one new level for the ‘zombies’ game mode.
The downloadable content release will not only provide players with more virtual square footage to play through, but will also introduce new game play dynamics such as a functioning zipline and a collapsible bridge. These features are unique to the new multi-player maps and have never been seen in any of the previous ‘Call of Duty’ installments.
Some of the maps were inspired by sections of the single player campaign mode while others are completely new and built exclusively for multi-player.
The developers at Treyarch listened to gamers’ feedback on the existing multi-player maps and tried to create levels that addressed players’ concerns. The result, according to Treyarch are maps with more sniping opportunities and more “verticality.”
‘Black Ops’ is the seventh installment in the ‘Call of Duty’ series and has enjoyed critical acclaim as well as breaking several industry-wide records. The games release was not only the most successful release in video gaming history, but broke records across the entire entertainment industry. The game grossed more than 650 million dollars in its first five days on the shelves, which is more than any other book, video game, or theatrical film in history.
‘First Strike’ will be available on Xbox Live February 1st, and will be available on Playstation Network and PC sometime next month.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Now, that is a gun!!!!
11:01 PM
The Game Peddler
Next time someone gives you the “You talking to me?” speech, you might be able to respond with a confident, “yeah.” This massive shell shooter, dubbed “The Raging Judge,” offers a very pragmatic approach to settling disputes — even .57 Magnum dualers will shake in their boots. The Judge creator, the Brazilian armsmaker Taurus, recently revealed the 28 gauge firearm.
Don’t expect to see it anytime soon. In fact, Taurus pulled it from their booth at the SHOT show is Las Vegas, and said they weren’t going to make the superfluous handgun.
PlayStation 3 to Allow Saved Games in the Cloud
10:56 PM
The Game Peddler
Kotaku has learned that earlier today, Sony informed developers of a new feature for the PlayStation 3: the ability to save games in the "cloud".Cloud storage means that, rather than just keeping your save game data on your PlayStation 3's hard drive, users will be given the option to upload their saves remotely to a server. The advantage of this is that not only does it save the user space on their hard drive, but since it's tied to a PlayStation Network account, it can be pulled down to different consoles whenever and wherever the user desires.
First rumoured all the way back in 2009, there is of course a catch: it'll only be made available to PlayStation Plus subscribers, not the great unwashed. Actually, there are two catches: Sony bundled the announcement with the clause that, because saving games to the cloud "will allow save data with the copy prohibited attribute to be copied into the online storage", developers are able to opt out and bar their games from using it should there be a concern.
Sony will call the process "Online Saving", and it'll be made available as part of the PS3's upcoming 3.60 firmware update. We've contacted the company for further information, and will update if we hear back.
Send an email to the author of this post at plunkett@kotaku.com.
Portal 2 Co-Op Hands-On
9:55 PM
The Game Peddler
We take on lethal team-building tests in Portal 2's co-op campaign.
If you thought GLaDOS might go easier on robots than treacherous, squishy humans, you'd be wrong. The two robot stars of Portal 2's cooperative offering--one tall, with an egg-shaped body and orange eye, and one short, with a blue eye in its spherical body--are no better off than the human heroine of the single-player campaign. They face a series of lethal test chamber puzzles in the game's co-op mode, as well as the unhinged snark of Aperture Science's AI overseer.
The test chamber doors are arranged around the Hub, a towering room of platforms and bridges, navigable via the portal guns with which the two bots are equipped, over a pool of nonspecific but lethal goo. ("How can you fail at this?" GLaDOS taunts after a misstep, "It isn't even a test.") Routes to further test chambers open up as you make progress, and you'll be able to access any puzzles you or your co-op partner have already beaten. We sampled the first set of tests, labelled "Team Building"--a series of puzzles to familiarise you with key co-op features and introduce puzzle-solving tricks in their simplest form. In your co-op toolset is the ping ability, which lets you pinpoint a spot to which you want to draw your buddy's attention--say, a button you need pressed or somewhere you need a portal placed. There's also a picture-in-picture view that lets you see through your partner's eyes--useful for online cooperative play rather than the split-screen two-player mode. Combined with voice chat, these tools should make collaboration easier in the fiddliest puzzles. Less essential, but more adorable, are the gesture abilities, including a simple wave and a celebratory high-five. Unlike GLaDOS, these bots don't talk. Like WALL-E, they are all the more charming for it.
The first few tests keep Blue-bot and Orange-bot in parallel rooms, separated by glass walls, and make the point that cooperation isn't preferable--it's mandatory. In an early test, one robot has to press a button in its room to drop a cube from the ceiling in the other's. Unless the second robot grabs it, the cube falls into another pool of lethal goo and is lost (GLaDOS: "Nice catch, Orange"). In another pair of side-by-side rooms, one robot must fire portals through slots in the dividing wall to let his neighbour pass obstacles on the other side. To differentiate the portals from each robot's portal device--especially since later on in the game all four portals will be in play simultaneously--one produces blue and purple portals, the other red and orange.
As the robots progress together through the tests, finding Portal's familiar cubes and buttons and turret-mounted guns, new items are introduced, too. The prism cube, for instance, must be used to redirect deadly red lasers--"thermal discouragement rays," in Aperture Science's euphemistic techno-corporate speak--towards goals or to destroy those three-legged turrets. It's all too easy to scorch your partner while fumbling with a prism cube, but death is never the end for these two--if destroyed, a bot is reconstructed and tossed back into play. GLaDOS wouldn't want either robot getting out of it that easily. "Oh, sorry," she says, distracted. "I was just thinking of all the ways humans can die--unlike you."
In a more advanced "team building" exercise, the robots are reunited in a single chamber and must cross a river of more deadly liquid to the exit on the far side. The solution begins with an infinite falling loop, with one portal placed directly above another. While one robot falls and falls, the second must hit a button to temporarily retract an obstacle over the river and then quickly relocate the upper portal to send the first flying over the liquid--to hit a switch that builds a bridge that allows the other to cross over. It's a twist on the falling puzzles from the first game, now demanding the intervention of a second player, rather than having the falling player shoot a new portal mid-plummet.
Expect the complexity of the tests to ramp up steadily (the co-op campaign is about twice as long as the original Portal, as is the single-player campaign), with new items introduced along the way; back in the Hub, the second set of test chambers is labelled "Mass and Velocity," and the third is labelled "Hard Light Surfaces." But the learning curve for collaboratively solving puzzles is cleverly done, so that you'll be instinctively looking for opportunities to cooperate. So Aperture Science does know a thing or two about team building. Find your Portal 2 co-op buddy before launch in April
Dungeon Siege III – Hands-On Opening Acts
9:44 PM
The Game Peddler
The venerable Dungeon Siege series is ready for a comeback, so we go hands-on to see how this latest incarnation stacks up against its past.
Since its initial release back in 2002, the Dungeon Siege series has always been about two things: exploring dungeons and collecting loot. It was a series revered for accessibility, addictive gameplay, and cooperative multiplayer. After getting our hands on Dungeon Siege III, we are excited to see that developer Obsidian isn't deviating from the elements that made this series great.
Our demo began in the shoes of intrepid adventurer Lucas Mont Barron. As an orphan, Lucas has finally come of age and is ready to assist in rebuilding the Legion after its near destruction by the villainess Jeyne Kassendar. Right away, Obsidian's in-house-developed Onyx engine made the game's fantasy setting pop with color, lending a storybook feel to our surroundings. We set out across a mountain pass on the way to our birthright, the Mont Barron estate, to meet with the few remaining Legion members. Naturally, things went awry almost immediately. Cresting a rise in the pass, we spotted the estate--or what remained of it--engulfed in flames.
Horrified at this turn of events, we plunged into the inferno. A few stray barrels caught our eye, and we stopped just long enough to try out Dungeon Siege III's combat system on these wooden targets before facing the inevitable danger that lay ahead. Combat is conducted through stances, with different sets of abilities tied to each stance. By default, our character looked every part of the adventurous rogue, with a quick-hitting sword and sturdy shield in hand, as well as access to a shield-bash ability. As the name suggests, this maneuver let us smack an opponent upside the face, knocking him prone and occasionally stunning him.
The next stance substituted our current armaments for a massive, two-handed broadsword and a dash ability that was handy for nabbing pesky ranged units behind enemy lines. Finally, a defensive block stance allowed us to--you guessed it--block hostile attacks while conferring the ability to regenerate health. As the barrels crumpled beneath our blade, a few home invaders took notice and attacked. We quickly switched to the sword-and-shield stance, which excelled at cutting down individual foes, while the slower-hitting broadsword caught multiple enemies in its wide arc.
With flames licking our ankles, we cut through the smoke to find Martin Guisgard, a fellow Legionnaire. A dash of exposition later, and we were assigned to seek out Odo, the man in change of organizing this failed event, at the chapter house in the woodlands of Rukkenvahl. However, the path there was littered with bandits and other malcontents. But the one good thing about bandits is that they're always loaded with loot. As we hacked our way from one villain to the next, color-coded treasures spilled out at our feet--some in the form of currency, others as weapons and armor.
The acquisition of loot played a large role in our time with Dungeon Siege III. Every piece of armor we equipped changed the appearance of our hero, and a detailed equipment screen clearly displayed the statistical differences between the various pieces. And should you run out of inventory space, unwanted items can be broken down locally into cash rather than simply thrown away. Six pairs of boots, three chest pieces, and one flaming sword later, we located the chapter house and met with Odo.
Without even giving us a chance to rest, Odo sent us in search of survivors who might have fled to the nearby village of Raven's Rill. By this time, we had done enough stabbing to reach the next level. Leveling up lets you unlock new abilities for your stances, modify the effects of those abilities, and upgrade your hero's stats. Our shield-bash ability, for instance, could be modified to do more knockdowns or have a higher stun chance. You may choose to advance through either of these ability trees--or both if you have enough skill points to spend--but you'll have a limited number of skill points throughout the game.
We arrived at the sleepy village of Raven's Rill, and after a stern word with the town's gatekeeper, we promptly got sidetracked by side quests. After aiding a merchant who had been robbed and helping a vengeful elderly woman, we were set upon by the mysterious Katarina who--despite her introduction--was anything but subtle. We interacted with her, as well as the other locals, using a dialogue wheel. After some questioning, she turned us on to a nearby cave where some Legion members were being held captive.
Inside, we finally located our brethren and their captor: Vera, a powerful witch who served as our first boss encounter. Versed in the arcane arts, Vera preferred to teleport around the arena and pepper our hero with some nasty offensive spells. She also sported a nasty aura designed to impede our movement. Ultimately, all it took was a liberal application of cold steel to fix it. Once she was defeated, we turned our attention to the prisoners.
Among those captured was our first would-be companion Anjali, a spellcasting ranged hero who is supposedly an Archon of legend. The way you talk to and interact with others can influence your companion's opinion of you, for better or worse, manifesting in small performance boosts for content cohorts. However, our demo ended there, so her power remained untapped. In the full release, you'll be able to manage a party of up to four heroes, either in a single-player game where you control all four characters, or with a group of three other people in co-op mode. Two players may share the screen locally, and you can bring in two more players online. The other players will serve as assistants to one main player, and no progress will be carried over to their game.
While our time with Dungeon Siege III was spent on a PC, we played it using a Xbox 360 gamepad. The controls were simple to understand, with movement tied to the sticks and stance-specific abilities tied to the face buttons. Combat flowed fast and frantic as enemies would charge us in large numbers with ranged attackers supporting them in the rear. Tapping the X button unleashed the broadsword's dash ability which proved invaluable by letting us quickly cut through the center and dispatch two, or even three, ranged attackers at once with the sword's wide reach. After that, a simple click of the shoulder button let us switch to our sword and shield stance. We had to keep moving to prevent our numerous foes from encircling us. And if one did start hitting our flank, the shield bash could incapacitate them long enough for us to regain the advantage. For the duration of our admittedly short play session, we had only these two offensive abilities at our disposal and no party members to command--but the game will have other skills you can learn and companions who can join you later.
To help curb potential living room fisticuffs, items and equipment you find during your travels are unique to the individual characters--meaning only one character may wear a particular pair of gloves or wield a specific staff. Inventory is also shared among the party members. Players may drop in and play and drop out when they're finished, with the computer retaking control of their discarded hero. In addition to co-op play, Obsidian is pouring a lot of effort into crafting a robust story. Creative writer Geroge Ziets, author of the moody Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer expansion, is penning this tale, with series' progenitor Chris Taylor serving as a project adviser. Be on the lookout for Dungeon Siege III this May.
Our demo began in the shoes of intrepid adventurer Lucas Mont Barron. As an orphan, Lucas has finally come of age and is ready to assist in rebuilding the Legion after its near destruction by the villainess Jeyne Kassendar. Right away, Obsidian's in-house-developed Onyx engine made the game's fantasy setting pop with color, lending a storybook feel to our surroundings. We set out across a mountain pass on the way to our birthright, the Mont Barron estate, to meet with the few remaining Legion members. Naturally, things went awry almost immediately. Cresting a rise in the pass, we spotted the estate--or what remained of it--engulfed in flames.
Horrified at this turn of events, we plunged into the inferno. A few stray barrels caught our eye, and we stopped just long enough to try out Dungeon Siege III's combat system on these wooden targets before facing the inevitable danger that lay ahead. Combat is conducted through stances, with different sets of abilities tied to each stance. By default, our character looked every part of the adventurous rogue, with a quick-hitting sword and sturdy shield in hand, as well as access to a shield-bash ability. As the name suggests, this maneuver let us smack an opponent upside the face, knocking him prone and occasionally stunning him.
The next stance substituted our current armaments for a massive, two-handed broadsword and a dash ability that was handy for nabbing pesky ranged units behind enemy lines. Finally, a defensive block stance allowed us to--you guessed it--block hostile attacks while conferring the ability to regenerate health. As the barrels crumpled beneath our blade, a few home invaders took notice and attacked. We quickly switched to the sword-and-shield stance, which excelled at cutting down individual foes, while the slower-hitting broadsword caught multiple enemies in its wide arc.
With flames licking our ankles, we cut through the smoke to find Martin Guisgard, a fellow Legionnaire. A dash of exposition later, and we were assigned to seek out Odo, the man in change of organizing this failed event, at the chapter house in the woodlands of Rukkenvahl. However, the path there was littered with bandits and other malcontents. But the one good thing about bandits is that they're always loaded with loot. As we hacked our way from one villain to the next, color-coded treasures spilled out at our feet--some in the form of currency, others as weapons and armor.
The acquisition of loot played a large role in our time with Dungeon Siege III. Every piece of armor we equipped changed the appearance of our hero, and a detailed equipment screen clearly displayed the statistical differences between the various pieces. And should you run out of inventory space, unwanted items can be broken down locally into cash rather than simply thrown away. Six pairs of boots, three chest pieces, and one flaming sword later, we located the chapter house and met with Odo.
Without even giving us a chance to rest, Odo sent us in search of survivors who might have fled to the nearby village of Raven's Rill. By this time, we had done enough stabbing to reach the next level. Leveling up lets you unlock new abilities for your stances, modify the effects of those abilities, and upgrade your hero's stats. Our shield-bash ability, for instance, could be modified to do more knockdowns or have a higher stun chance. You may choose to advance through either of these ability trees--or both if you have enough skill points to spend--but you'll have a limited number of skill points throughout the game.
We arrived at the sleepy village of Raven's Rill, and after a stern word with the town's gatekeeper, we promptly got sidetracked by side quests. After aiding a merchant who had been robbed and helping a vengeful elderly woman, we were set upon by the mysterious Katarina who--despite her introduction--was anything but subtle. We interacted with her, as well as the other locals, using a dialogue wheel. After some questioning, she turned us on to a nearby cave where some Legion members were being held captive.
Inside, we finally located our brethren and their captor: Vera, a powerful witch who served as our first boss encounter. Versed in the arcane arts, Vera preferred to teleport around the arena and pepper our hero with some nasty offensive spells. She also sported a nasty aura designed to impede our movement. Ultimately, all it took was a liberal application of cold steel to fix it. Once she was defeated, we turned our attention to the prisoners.
Among those captured was our first would-be companion Anjali, a spellcasting ranged hero who is supposedly an Archon of legend. The way you talk to and interact with others can influence your companion's opinion of you, for better or worse, manifesting in small performance boosts for content cohorts. However, our demo ended there, so her power remained untapped. In the full release, you'll be able to manage a party of up to four heroes, either in a single-player game where you control all four characters, or with a group of three other people in co-op mode. Two players may share the screen locally, and you can bring in two more players online. The other players will serve as assistants to one main player, and no progress will be carried over to their game.
While our time with Dungeon Siege III was spent on a PC, we played it using a Xbox 360 gamepad. The controls were simple to understand, with movement tied to the sticks and stance-specific abilities tied to the face buttons. Combat flowed fast and frantic as enemies would charge us in large numbers with ranged attackers supporting them in the rear. Tapping the X button unleashed the broadsword's dash ability which proved invaluable by letting us quickly cut through the center and dispatch two, or even three, ranged attackers at once with the sword's wide reach. After that, a simple click of the shoulder button let us switch to our sword and shield stance. We had to keep moving to prevent our numerous foes from encircling us. And if one did start hitting our flank, the shield bash could incapacitate them long enough for us to regain the advantage. For the duration of our admittedly short play session, we had only these two offensive abilities at our disposal and no party members to command--but the game will have other skills you can learn and companions who can join you later.
To help curb potential living room fisticuffs, items and equipment you find during your travels are unique to the individual characters--meaning only one character may wear a particular pair of gloves or wield a specific staff. Inventory is also shared among the party members. Players may drop in and play and drop out when they're finished, with the computer retaking control of their discarded hero. In addition to co-op play, Obsidian is pouring a lot of effort into crafting a robust story. Creative writer Geroge Ziets, author of the moody Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer expansion, is penning this tale, with series' progenitor Chris Taylor serving as a project adviser. Be on the lookout for Dungeon Siege III this May.
Shippin' Out Jan. 30-Feb. 5: Earthrise, Black Ops DLC
9:30 PM
The Game Peddler
By Eddie Makuch, GameSpot
Posted Jan 30, 2011 5:08 am PT
Light release schedule led by Masthead's MMORPG, first map pack for Treyarch's latest Call of Duty entry; Rock Band Country Pack 2 also out.
Last week Issac Clarke and his plasma cutter frightened retail with the release of Dead Space 2. This week's focus, however, is on post-apocalyptic settings and first-person shooter action.
Leading the week is Masthead Studios' massively multiplayer online role-playing game Earthrise. The first project from Sofia, Bulgaria-based Masthead, Earthrise is set in a world in the wake of civilization-leveling World War III, which nearly eradicated Earth's human population.
Now, a tyrannical corporate government has assumed control of the remainder of humanity, pumping out human clones in an effort to create the perfect society. Players can choose to align themselves as an agent of the totalitarian regime or join the resistance movement known as the Noir.
Also out this week is the first map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops. The $15 First Strike add-on content lands exclusively on Xbox Live on February 1. The content sports five new environments ranging from war-torn Germany to an American hockey rink. The content also bundles a new environment for the fan-favorite Zombie game mode called Ascension. None of the maps are remakes of legacy environments, as was the case with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's controversial Stimulus Package DLC.
Gamers with an ear for country music and a proclivity for the Rock Band franchise this week can pick up the Rock Band: Country Pack 2 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. The $30 title includes 21 songs from artists like Darius Rucker, Lady Antebellum, Johnny Cash, Sugarland, and Keith Urban. The track pack is compatible with the original Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and Rock Band 3. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation iterations of the track pack allows gamers to export the tunes to their existing Rock Band libraries.
For further details on the week's games, visit GameSpot's New Releases page. The full list of downloadable games on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, and Wii Shop Channel will be revealed later this week. Release dates are based on retailer listings and are subject to change.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 30
Gabrielle's Ghastly Groove--DS--Natsume
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Reverie--X360, PS3--Konami
Call of Duty: Black Ops - First Strike--X360--Activision
The Sims 3: Outdoor Living--PC--Electronic Arts
Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2--PS3--Capcom
Kevin Van Dam Fishing--PS3--Zoo Games
Junior Brain Trainer 2--DS--Avanquest Software
Alien Breed 3: Descent--PS3--Team 17
Rock Band: Country Track Pack 2--Wii, X360, PS3--Electronic Arts
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2
Bionic Commando Rearmed 2--X360--Capcom
Shadow Harvest: Phantom Ops--PC--Viva Media
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4
Earthrise--PC--Masthead Studios
Leading the week is Masthead Studios' massively multiplayer online role-playing game Earthrise. The first project from Sofia, Bulgaria-based Masthead, Earthrise is set in a world in the wake of civilization-leveling World War III, which nearly eradicated Earth's human population.
Now, a tyrannical corporate government has assumed control of the remainder of humanity, pumping out human clones in an effort to create the perfect society. Players can choose to align themselves as an agent of the totalitarian regime or join the resistance movement known as the Noir.
Also out this week is the first map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops. The $15 First Strike add-on content lands exclusively on Xbox Live on February 1. The content sports five new environments ranging from war-torn Germany to an American hockey rink. The content also bundles a new environment for the fan-favorite Zombie game mode called Ascension. None of the maps are remakes of legacy environments, as was the case with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's controversial Stimulus Package DLC.
Gamers with an ear for country music and a proclivity for the Rock Band franchise this week can pick up the Rock Band: Country Pack 2 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. The $30 title includes 21 songs from artists like Darius Rucker, Lady Antebellum, Johnny Cash, Sugarland, and Keith Urban. The track pack is compatible with the original Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and Rock Band 3. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation iterations of the track pack allows gamers to export the tunes to their existing Rock Band libraries.
For further details on the week's games, visit GameSpot's New Releases page. The full list of downloadable games on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, and Wii Shop Channel will be revealed later this week. Release dates are based on retailer listings and are subject to change.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 30
Gabrielle's Ghastly Groove--DS--Natsume
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Reverie--X360, PS3--Konami
Call of Duty: Black Ops - First Strike--X360--Activision
The Sims 3: Outdoor Living--PC--Electronic Arts
Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2--PS3--Capcom
Kevin Van Dam Fishing--PS3--Zoo Games
Junior Brain Trainer 2--DS--Avanquest Software
Alien Breed 3: Descent--PS3--Team 17
Rock Band: Country Track Pack 2--Wii, X360, PS3--Electronic Arts
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2
Bionic Commando Rearmed 2--X360--Capcom
Shadow Harvest: Phantom Ops--PC--Viva Media
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4
Earthrise--PC--Masthead Studios
Saturday, January 29, 2011
If You Think You Need This $825, Biometrically Secured Wallet, You Have Paranoia Issues
1:25 PM
The Game Peddler
Look, maybe you've had your pocket picked a few times and are really paranoid about losing your wallet. But you're not Julian Assange and I doubt anyone is coming after you, so you probably don't need this biometrically secured wallet.
The Dunhill Biometroc Wallet combines a biometric finger reader with a bluetooth alarm and carbon fiber frame to ensure noone can crack into it without destroying it. If you have the Bluetooth alarm activated, the wallet will sound an alert anytime it is more than five feet from your phone.But the damn thing costs $825 and it's not even that great looking. The beat-up slab of leather in your back pocket will do just fine
Regret the past and fear the future: Ars reviews Dead Space 2
6:12 AM
The Game Peddler
Isaac Clarke, the hero of the Dead Space series, began the first game as an engineer sent to rescue a ship that seemed to be having problems. Once there, he tangled with an ungodly strain of mutated humans and the mind of an eldritch relic that had inspired a Scientology-style religion. He escaped that situation with his life, but how much of his mind came with him? Like Ellen Ripley of the Alien films, he's now defined by his experience of fighting something he barely understands.
The second game picks up directly after the first... we think. We see everything through Clarke's eyes, the camera peering over his shoulder. He's an unreliable narrator, forced to make sense of where he is and what he's doing, using the words of people he's not sure he can trust. He sees things that aren't there, and even at the end we're left to ask ourselves what just happened. No matter what you think or believe about what the game shows you, you'll leave it knowing you had one hell of a ride.
There was concern that Dead Space 2 would ditch the horror of the first game and move to a more violent, action-oriented style. That worry will pass within the game's first hour, which presents scenes of dread and tension very effectively. If you're scared of not being scared, to put it one way, you have nothing to be afraid of.
One of the characters you meet early in the game leads to a disturbing conversation, drenched in direct threats of violence. "We're going to burn for what we did to you," he tells Isaac. The scene turns even darker after that. The game knocks you off-balance multiple times, and now Isaac will often remove his helmet to speak directly to other characters. This is for the better.
The game does a good job of balancing the big, loud "Boo!"-style scares with the quieter existential dread, keeping both sides of that argument happy. When Clarke enters a place where every nerve of his body screams at him to get out, the game wisely steps back and has nothing happen for a long stretch of time. You know things are going to get bad, you know you shouldn't be there, and you know—like the loud person in the movie theater during a horror film—you would never enter there yourself. But the game shows you no reason to be afraid, and then begins to slowly work on you with hints, sounds, and then... well, it pays off.
While you hear yourself breathing and other sounds from your suit, there is no other sound during the few times you find yourself venturing into space. The game deftly juggles the intense, ear-splitting din of the action scenes with the otherworldly calm of space, creating set pieces that last until they're nearly unbearable before backing up. This is a game that understand pace and how to use it to the fullest.
"Is this going to hurt?" Isaac asks someone before climbing into a machine that he doesn't understand. "Yes," comes the answer without any hesitation, but it's said in the same voice I used to speak to my daughter when she needed stitches. It's the voice of "this is going to be unpleasant, but we can get through it together." The eerie foreshadowing may make you think the game is all talk, but what happens inside that machine is horrible. I was playing with a friend, and he couldn't watch. Just to drive the point home, the game makes you participate.
You'll die multiple times in the game—the battles are not easy and the odds are often stacked against you—but the horrific ways you go make it almost worth popping back at the last save point. Fans of splatter will be just as happy as fans of the more psychological horror.
The game now sports zero-gravity sections where Isaac can fly around freely, and there tends to be some sort of small puzzle connected to these sections. A quick click of the analog stick orients you to the ground and causes you to land, but when you're using the jets located in your boots to fly around, you can expect some disorientation. You're now skulking around a huge space station called "The Sprawl," but the environments remain similar to what you saw in the first game (minus the very green hydroponics area). Even before the Necromorphs started ripping people to shreds, the Sprawl does not seem like it would be a happy place to hang your hat.
You still gain power nodes to upgrade your weapons and your suit, and there are a few new guns to try, although we still found the Plasma Cutter to be a fine weapon in 75 percent of the situations. Trying the different weapons feels satisfying and primal. Many of the weapons you use are re-purposed equipment, suited to other tasks, and as a result they can often feel powerful and dangerous. Each weapon has character, and it's worth being fiddly with the four weapons you can carry with you at any time; changing your loadout from time to time will be beneficial.
There are a few new enemies, and perhaps some new enemy behaviors—you'll have to find out. My personal favorite is a monstrous beast that hunts in packs, poking its insectile head out to track you every now and again before screaming and charging. These are used in completely unnerving ways a few times in the game, and if you're wondering what creature this enemy has been modeled on, the achievement for killing your first pack is called "Clever girl."
Another slightly jarring change is how funny the game can be in the last quarter. The dialog gets downright witty in places, even though it remains very dry. It's better in reality than it reads in this review, I'm sure.
The majority of the following text comes from our review of the Wii original, but we've updated a few sections for this re-release. If you have both the 360 and the PlayStation 3, this is a bonus that should be enough to sway your decision; Extraction was worth your money when it was first released, and this version not only looks better, but takes advantage of the buttons on the PlayStation Move so you don't need to play with a Navigation controller.
Dead Space: Extraction plays with your expectations. It's the second game in the franchise, but EA decided to go the prequel route this time around to show gamers what happened before the events of the first game. Considering that game began with the main character landing on a derelict ship overrun by monsters, Extraction has a shaking, dire feel to it. In a very real way, you already know what happens to the "good guys": they lose.
The game features a stunning introductory level, and you'll quickly get the sense that EA did not take the safe way out with this game. The environments and characters look great, with recognizable monsters, environments, and weapons from the first game.
For an on-rails shooting title, you use an impressive number of buttons on the Move controller. You have to twist the controller on its side to activate secondary fire, which you'll use often if you want to survive, and you also have to point at items on the screen to grab them (this is how you upgrade weapons and gain ammo). You have a button that cycles through your weapons, and another that activates the Stasis shot and Kinesis.
The controller is used in other ways, as well; some sections force you to construct barricades by riveting steel onto a door—which looks and feels like the tense welding scenes from James Cameron's Aliens—and you'll have to "hack" into computer systems by tracing along circuit boards without touching the obstacles. This is little more than a science fiction version of the board game operation, but it's used sparingly enough that it's a nice twist, not an annoyance.
In fact, the entire game keeps your interest by offering a story and character you'll actually care about, while keeping the action interesting with a steady supply of new and upgraded weapons. Revisiting the Ishimura and seeing familiar settings in a new context is also welcome; the game even re-creates the zero gravity sections of its big brother by having you point at sections you want to jump to when your character ventures off into space. The heavy breathing and dense thuds of your guns in open space remains creepy and wonderfully atmospheric. Not only are you being hunted by hellish creatures, but the environment itself feels unforgiving.
The game's strategic dismemberment mechanic was also made for this sort of play. You can simply blast away at an enemy's main body mass, but you'll waste a ton of ammo that way. The best way to deal with enemies is to take out a limb or two, and then go for the head. Hit a charging mutant with a stasis blast and then pick off an arm or two at leisure. So much fun.
Since you're graded on your performance on every level, there's plenty of reason to go back and see if you can perform better. Multiple difficulty levels and the inability to carry more than four guns mean you can try levels again with a different loadout, making this a game that's easy to return to repeatedly.
When was the last time a light gun game pulled that off?
The on-rails shooter is one of the most cinematic genres, and this is one of the rare times it's used in a way that not only serves a greater story but is genuinely scary. The game even offers limited areas where you can look around at will, mostly to find items or to grab ammunition.
Dead Space as a light gun game feels natural, well thought out, and the game looks and sounds great. It's more than enough reason to choose the PS3 version over the 360.
The game's ending feels a little too pat, and a few characters are given short shrift when it comes to finishing their story, but overall it does what it set out to do. The journey is more impressive than the destination, and as the credits roll it did seem like there were a few opportunities for exploration that were passed up; but detailing these would send us spiraling directly into spoiler territory. It may be worth revisiting this topic after everyone has had a chance to play the game.
The action is more satisfying, the battles are more intense, but the game retains the tension and fear that made the first title so effective. This is a sequel that has made everything bigger and better, while not getting rid of what people loved about the original. Go get your copy.
The second game picks up directly after the first... we think. We see everything through Clarke's eyes, the camera peering over his shoulder. He's an unreliable narrator, forced to make sense of where he is and what he's doing, using the words of people he's not sure he can trust. He sees things that aren't there, and even at the end we're left to ask ourselves what just happened. No matter what you think or believe about what the game shows you, you'll leave it knowing you had one hell of a ride.
There was concern that Dead Space 2 would ditch the horror of the first game and move to a more violent, action-oriented style. That worry will pass within the game's first hour, which presents scenes of dread and tension very effectively. If you're scared of not being scared, to put it one way, you have nothing to be afraid of.
One of the characters you meet early in the game leads to a disturbing conversation, drenched in direct threats of violence. "We're going to burn for what we did to you," he tells Isaac. The scene turns even darker after that. The game knocks you off-balance multiple times, and now Isaac will often remove his helmet to speak directly to other characters. This is for the better.
The game does a good job of balancing the big, loud "Boo!"-style scares with the quieter existential dread, keeping both sides of that argument happy. When Clarke enters a place where every nerve of his body screams at him to get out, the game wisely steps back and has nothing happen for a long stretch of time. You know things are going to get bad, you know you shouldn't be there, and you know—like the loud person in the movie theater during a horror film—you would never enter there yourself. But the game shows you no reason to be afraid, and then begins to slowly work on you with hints, sounds, and then... well, it pays off.
"Is this going to hurt?" Isaac asks someone before climbing into a machine that he doesn't understand. "Yes," comes the answer without any hesitation, but it's said in the same voice I used to speak to my daughter when she needed stitches. It's the voice of "this is going to be unpleasant, but we can get through it together." The eerie foreshadowing may make you think the game is all talk, but what happens inside that machine is horrible. I was playing with a friend, and he couldn't watch. Just to drive the point home, the game makes you participate.
You'll die multiple times in the game—the battles are not easy and the odds are often stacked against you—but the horrific ways you go make it almost worth popping back at the last save point. Fans of splatter will be just as happy as fans of the more psychological horror.
What has changed
In terms of mechanics, the game looks and feels very much like its predecessor. The environments are a little more detailed, the lighting effects a little more impressive, and you can tell the team had enough time to improve on the work done on the original, but don't expect a sea change in terms of game mechanics or graphics. This is not a bad thing.The game now sports zero-gravity sections where Isaac can fly around freely, and there tends to be some sort of small puzzle connected to these sections. A quick click of the analog stick orients you to the ground and causes you to land, but when you're using the jets located in your boots to fly around, you can expect some disorientation. You're now skulking around a huge space station called "The Sprawl," but the environments remain similar to what you saw in the first game (minus the very green hydroponics area). Even before the Necromorphs started ripping people to shreds, the Sprawl does not seem like it would be a happy place to hang your hat.
You still gain power nodes to upgrade your weapons and your suit, and there are a few new guns to try, although we still found the Plasma Cutter to be a fine weapon in 75 percent of the situations. Trying the different weapons feels satisfying and primal. Many of the weapons you use are re-purposed equipment, suited to other tasks, and as a result they can often feel powerful and dangerous. Each weapon has character, and it's worth being fiddly with the four weapons you can carry with you at any time; changing your loadout from time to time will be beneficial.
Another slightly jarring change is how funny the game can be in the last quarter. The dialog gets downright witty in places, even though it remains very dry. It's better in reality than it reads in this review, I'm sure.
Extraction
The PlayStation 3 version of the game comes with Dead Space: Extraction, a Move-compatible light gun game that details the events before the first Dead Space game. The game was originally released on the Nintendo Wii, but has since been updated to high-definition for the PlayStation 3. While you can use a standard controller, Move support allows the game to come alive.The majority of the following text comes from our review of the Wii original, but we've updated a few sections for this re-release. If you have both the 360 and the PlayStation 3, this is a bonus that should be enough to sway your decision; Extraction was worth your money when it was first released, and this version not only looks better, but takes advantage of the buttons on the PlayStation Move so you don't need to play with a Navigation controller.
Dead Space: Extraction plays with your expectations. It's the second game in the franchise, but EA decided to go the prequel route this time around to show gamers what happened before the events of the first game. Considering that game began with the main character landing on a derelict ship overrun by monsters, Extraction has a shaking, dire feel to it. In a very real way, you already know what happens to the "good guys": they lose.
The game features a stunning introductory level, and you'll quickly get the sense that EA did not take the safe way out with this game. The environments and characters look great, with recognizable monsters, environments, and weapons from the first game.
For an on-rails shooting title, you use an impressive number of buttons on the Move controller. You have to twist the controller on its side to activate secondary fire, which you'll use often if you want to survive, and you also have to point at items on the screen to grab them (this is how you upgrade weapons and gain ammo). You have a button that cycles through your weapons, and another that activates the Stasis shot and Kinesis.
The controller is used in other ways, as well; some sections force you to construct barricades by riveting steel onto a door—which looks and feels like the tense welding scenes from James Cameron's Aliens—and you'll have to "hack" into computer systems by tracing along circuit boards without touching the obstacles. This is little more than a science fiction version of the board game operation, but it's used sparingly enough that it's a nice twist, not an annoyance.
The PlayStation 3 version of Extraction shows its Wii roots, but the high-definition upgrade is impressive
The game's strategic dismemberment mechanic was also made for this sort of play. You can simply blast away at an enemy's main body mass, but you'll waste a ton of ammo that way. The best way to deal with enemies is to take out a limb or two, and then go for the head. Hit a charging mutant with a stasis blast and then pick off an arm or two at leisure. So much fun.
For the long haul
The game features ten chapters, and the story and progression make you actually want to see them all; this is the first light gun game that didn't make me feel like I'd be having more fun at the arcade. Co-op is supported, with the players actually having to work together in some sections, and you'll also unlock challenge maps as you compete for high scores.Since you're graded on your performance on every level, there's plenty of reason to go back and see if you can perform better. Multiple difficulty levels and the inability to carry more than four guns mean you can try levels again with a different loadout, making this a game that's easy to return to repeatedly.
When was the last time a light gun game pulled that off?
The on-rails shooter is one of the most cinematic genres, and this is one of the rare times it's used in a way that not only serves a greater story but is genuinely scary. The game even offers limited areas where you can look around at will, mostly to find items or to grab ammunition.
Dead Space as a light gun game feels natural, well thought out, and the game looks and sounds great. It's more than enough reason to choose the PS3 version over the 360.
This isn't over
While we weren't able to play Dead Space 2's multiplayer in time for the review's release, you can read our thoughts on the beta to get some idea of what to expect. With the ability to start a new game with all the upgrades you earned on the first playthrough, online play, and Extraction on the PlayStation 3 there is more than enough content to keep you content for multiple playthroughs and many hours of game time. It's hard to find much to complain about in terms of replayability, length, or the justification of the price.The game's ending feels a little too pat, and a few characters are given short shrift when it comes to finishing their story, but overall it does what it set out to do. The journey is more impressive than the destination, and as the credits roll it did seem like there were a few opportunities for exploration that were passed up; but detailing these would send us spiraling directly into spoiler territory. It may be worth revisiting this topic after everyone has had a chance to play the game.
The action is more satisfying, the battles are more intense, but the game retains the tension and fear that made the first title so effective. This is a sequel that has made everything bigger and better, while not getting rid of what people loved about the original. Go get your copy.
The Good
- Keeps the setting, horror, and unique weapons from the first game
- Retains the sense of isolation even though Isaac speaks and has a face
- Call-backs to the original game are well thought out and effective
- The addition of Dead Space: Extraction to the PS3 version adds to the value
- Gore fans are going to love this: the violence is disturbing and constant
- The use of sound is likewise strong, make sure to play with your system cranked
- Zero-G segments are a great diversion, don't overstay their welcome
- Multiplayer gives you another reason to keep playing
The Bad
- If you don't like tense games, you should probably leave this one
- The voice of a certain "character" can be too distorted / garbled to be understood
- The storytelling is linear, and many questions are still left unanswered
- The game leaves horror and goes into action during the final chapters
The Ugly
- Listen, damage to a certain body part freaks me out. And that part is mutilated during multiple scenes of this game. To make it worse, you control it happening during one gut-wrenching scene.
Verdict: Buy
Nintendo 3ds pricing
5:57 AM
The Game Peddler
The Nintendo 3DS will be on available starting March 27 for $249, Nintendo announced at a press event today. Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo's president, described in detail the features and launch games for the glassesless 3D handheld at the event.
The 3Ds will initially be available in two colors: aqua blue and black. The game card slot on the back will accept both 3DS and DS games, and the 3DS will come a 2GB SD card and charging cradle. A home button under the bottom screen will allow players to pause whatever they're doing and change applications, and a 3D slider lets them set the depth of the picture.
A light on the top left corner will communicate various statuses on the 3DS—for instance, green means a friend is online, and red means the battery is low. The front-facing camera above the top screen is 2D, and two cameras on the 3DS's back allow for 3D pictures.
The StreetPass feature will allow 3DSes that move past each other on the street to grab each other's Mii avatars to populate a virtual public area. The feature will also integrate with games, allowing characters to fight or exchange data.
Fils-Aime spoke at length about the slate of launch titles for the 3DS, including new versions of Pilotwings Resort, Madden, Dead or Alive, Super Street Fighter IV, and Nintendogs + cats, in which pets will be able to recognize players' faces, even licking them when they hold their faces close to the screen. Another title, Steeldiver, has the player targeting enemy ships through a periscope by rotating the 3DS itself.
Fils-Aime also noted that certain titles have no firm launch date, but 30 titles will become available for the 3DS between now and early June. But a minor emphasis of Fils-Aime's speech was Nintendo's goal of appealing to nongamers—"the system offers more than enough even for people who have never played a video game before," he noted, including the 3D camera and pedometer. There will also be an online store offering for-pay downloads of Game Boy and Game Boy Color releases. Mii Maker will allow you to create avatars based on your face, and the system will also come with a shooting gallery that uses your own image for target practice.
Nintendo plans to put 5,000 interactive units into stores, as well as mobile units on the streets of various cities, with the goal of getting a million people to try the 3DS before the March 27 launch date.
The 3Ds will initially be available in two colors: aqua blue and black. The game card slot on the back will accept both 3DS and DS games, and the 3DS will come a 2GB SD card and charging cradle. A home button under the bottom screen will allow players to pause whatever they're doing and change applications, and a 3D slider lets them set the depth of the picture.
A light on the top left corner will communicate various statuses on the 3DS—for instance, green means a friend is online, and red means the battery is low. The front-facing camera above the top screen is 2D, and two cameras on the 3DS's back allow for 3D pictures.
The StreetPass feature will allow 3DSes that move past each other on the street to grab each other's Mii avatars to populate a virtual public area. The feature will also integrate with games, allowing characters to fight or exchange data.
Fils-Aime spoke at length about the slate of launch titles for the 3DS, including new versions of Pilotwings Resort, Madden, Dead or Alive, Super Street Fighter IV, and Nintendogs + cats, in which pets will be able to recognize players' faces, even licking them when they hold their faces close to the screen. Another title, Steeldiver, has the player targeting enemy ships through a periscope by rotating the 3DS itself.
Fils-Aime also noted that certain titles have no firm launch date, but 30 titles will become available for the 3DS between now and early June. But a minor emphasis of Fils-Aime's speech was Nintendo's goal of appealing to nongamers—"the system offers more than enough even for people who have never played a video game before," he noted, including the 3D camera and pedometer. There will also be an online store offering for-pay downloads of Game Boy and Game Boy Color releases. Mii Maker will allow you to create avatars based on your face, and the system will also come with a shooting gallery that uses your own image for target practice.
Nintendo plans to put 5,000 interactive units into stores, as well as mobile units on the streets of various cities, with the goal of getting a million people to try the 3DS before the March 27 launch date.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Sony's next PSP, codenamed NGP
5:51 PM
The Game Peddler
By Vlad Savov 
posted Jan 27th 2011 1:27AM
posted Jan 27th 2011 1:27AM 
Specs include a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, 5-inch touchscreen OLED display with 960 x 544 resolution, dual analog sticks (not nubs as on the current generation), 3G, WiFi, GPS, a rear-mounted touchpad, the same accelerometer / gyroscope motion sensing as in the PlayStation Move, an electronic compass, and cameras on both the front and back. Available this holiday season. Wait... what?!
Games will come on "new media," not UMD anymore, but we're unclear on what sort of flash memory is being used. Sony's rather proud of the fact it's offering the world's first dual analog stick combo on a portable device, though we're more geeked about the quadrupling of pixel count from the original PSP.
Sony's live event has been graced by demos of some pretty popular games, including Killzone, Resistance, Little Big Planet, and Uncharted -- with the latter serving as a demo platform to show off how the NGP's rear touchpad can be used to more intuitively climb up some vines. That touch panel on the back is the same size and positioned directly under the front OLED touchscreen, which allows for some pretty sophisticated controls when using the two simultaneously.
The new console's UI will be called LiveArea, which has a bunch of vertically navigable home screens and built-in social networking through PlayStation Network. You can jump between games and the LiveArea without losing your progress and comment on your buddies' great feats of mobile gaming.
In closing its presentation, Sony trotted out Hideo Kojima to show off a cutscene from MGS 4 rendered in real time on the NGP. It was pulled directly from the PS3 version of the game and ran at 20fps, which looked very smooth indeed to our liveblogging eyes. Videos and Sony's full PR are now available below.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Fantastic death????
7:12 PM
The Game Peddler
Death Comes to Marvel's First Family
The Fantastic Four scribe answers our questions about the death of an icon.
January 25, 2011
LATEST IMAGES
The secret is out: Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, perished in the pages of Fantastic Four #587. Johnny's death in this issue concludes the "Three" story arc, and marks the second-to-last issue of Marvel's ongoing series that has been in publication since 1961.
So what led to Johnny's death, and how are the remaining members of Marvel's First Family going to deal with the loss? We talked with writer Jonathan Hickman about today's big finish.
So what led to Johnny's death, and how are the remaining members of Marvel's First Family going to deal with the loss? We talked with writer Jonathan Hickman about today's big finish.
IGN Comics: Jonathan, thanks for taking the time to talk to us today; I know it's probably quite the media blitz. But let's get down to brass tacks… why Johnny Storm?
Jonathan Hickman: Well if you've been following along, you know that the world that we live in, the world as it is, is in the middle of trying to be changed by Reed into the world it can be. Johnny represented the child-like idealism, and he probably had the most utopian ideal. Taking him away adds a narrative push, a resistance, to what the book is actually about and what Reed is trying to achieve. He made sense thematically. Story wise, there's also some other stuff going on in the background of this issue that will make a lot of sense in the future. The events surrounding Johnny's death is pretty key in all of that.
IGN Comics: So is this a story beat you had intended on hitting from the very beginning?
Jonathan Hickman: Yeah, this was in my initial pitch to Tom Brevoort, the editor of FF. I wrote out roughly three years worth of stories, and this little bit is actually kind of the end of the first arc of the bigger story that I'm trying to tell. So yeah, this was always in there; it was always part of the plan. It was approved and embraced. It's organically part of the story and not something that we did as a way to boost sales or anything like that. This was always a part of the larger picture.
IGN Comics: You mentioned organic; do you think this was a natural progression for the character himself in terms of his recklessness or unwavering optimism?
IGN Comics: So this sort of plays off Reed talking with Johnny earlier about finding what he stands for in life. It also seems like it's a very shocking way to suck out the Heroic Age from the Fantastic Four by taking out the most optimistic character.
Jonathan Hickman: Yeah, well the story is actually called "The Last Stand of Johnny Storm". You picked up on that, and that's absolutely correct.
IGN Comics: It's interesting because Johnny's had the least amount of focus out of the four characters in your run thus far, but he's someone that is thoroughly connected to every member of the family in different ways. Is this something you're going to explore or was perhaps the catalyst for the story that you're telling?
Jonathan Hickman: Well, as with most families, there are outward gregarious individuals and there are the quieter, more supporting characters. The interesting thing about Johnny is that while he is outgoing, he is in fact a support mechanism for everyone else. He's the guy that's always telling a joke and making everyone feel better. He's always the guy that rallies the team and that kind of stuff. He's the guy that likes the big fire in the sky, right? I think that by subtraction it'll become more obvious that he was a much greater and necessary part of the team.
Jonathan Hickman: Well, the next issue, #588, covers the next month in the Fantastic Four's life. We see some of that. Ben Grimm has an interesting year ahead of him. This is kind of the genesis point of that.
IGN Comics: What about the rest of the team? I assume they'll all be coping in their own different ways?
IGN Comics: What about the rest of the team? I assume they'll all be coping in their own different ways?
IGN Comics: Now, Fantastic Four#587 was solicited a while ago and we've known that someone was going to die for quite some time. How difficult is it to keep a secret like this under wraps for so long?
Jonathan Hickman: Part of it is the structure of the story that we told and that everyone was always in peril until the very end. That helps. It also helps that I don't run my mouth a lot. I don't give away what I'm going to do. It also helps that Marvel was on board in turning this into a bigger thing, so there was additional interest in keeping that knowledge to ourselves.
IGN Comics: Do you think that the mass media blitz for something like this is a blessing or a curse, from purely a storytelling perspective?
Jonathan Hickman: Purely from a storytelling perspective, it is a detriment; there's no question about that. I don't want people knowing the ending of the book. I don't even want people to know that it's coming. The idea that people could have read the entirety of "Three" just thinking that it's a classic hero's journey and they're all going to get back together at the end as a happy family and then this happens; we lost something powerful there. But I'm a professional writer. I want people to read my book. [laughs] It doesn't really matter how great it is if no one reads it. If we sell so many more copies of this issue, there's no way I can consider it a loss. It's just not. It's a win across the board. Hopefully, if I do my job correctly, people will just buy more of my books in general. We have lots of surprises in the future.
Jonathan Hickman: Thank you for asking, but we can't talk about that today!
IGN Comics: I tried! Is there any potential of the Fantastic Four (three?) playing a role in Fear Itself?
Jonathan Hickman: Just to be clear, there is no Fantastic Four going forward. But the characters themselves that remain, they will continue in some form or fashion. Do they play a part in Fear Itself? Absolutely.
IGN Comics: That's all I've got for you, but I wish you the best in the massive media storm today. Thanks for talking with us!
Jonathan Hickman: Thanks! Anytime.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Call of Duty the reason?!?!
11:05 PM
The Game Peddler
State-sponsored Russia Today channel says Call of Duty game "mirrors" Monday's suicide bombing outside Moscow.
On Monday, tragedy struck outside Moscow when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Domodedovo airport, killing 35 people and injuring 180. In the wake of the massacre, no parties have come forward to claim responsibility, although Chechen separatists, which have mounted similar attacks in the past, are likely to be blamed.
Sadly, though, it appears the Russian media has found something else to blame--video games. As spotted by the New York Times, state-sponsored satellite network Russia Today broadcast a report that juxtaposed security camera footage of the actual attack with clips of the infamous "No Russian" level of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. In that mission, players must join in a Mumbai-style attack in a fictional Russian airport, gunning down civilians en masse.
"The bloody scenes of the Moscow attack are reminiscent of what can be seen in a computer game that controversially involves a character who is urged to attack civilians in an imaginary airport," says the anchorwoman, before cutting to a montage of the No Russian level and disturbing images of the real-life attack. Later, the correspondent says that the level "mirrors" the real-life suicide bombing.
The report goes on to quote Fox News terrorism analyst Walid Phares as saying he is concerned that terrorists could be using games as training tools. "I think those who have been radicalized already, let's suppose in this case jihadists [or] Al Qaeda or [some] other kind, they look at the games and say these games will serve them to train."
As of press time, Activision reps had not commented on the Russia Today report.
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