For many PC gamers and television audiences, this may be the week of StarCraft. For those strategy gamers among us who prefer a more historical bent to our RTS games, however, there's still Creative Assembly's Shogun 2: Total War. Following on the success of this year's Napoleon and 2009's Empire, Shogun 2 brings the series' blend of cross-country maneuvering and battlefield strategy to the political machinations of fedual Japan.
The teaser we saw earlier was light on details, but the above video does a much better job of showing off the massive ranks of units that make up each side's forces in a typical Total War game... then zooming to the dirty particulars of a rainy swordfight as samurai clash for their shogunate. With the sweeping pans, daring charges, and desperate motion-captured swordplay, it may take all the concentration at your disposal to remember the trailer's disclaimer: "All footage captured in-game."
Shogun 2: TW doesn't yet have a release date, but if it continues on its path of offering believable historical land and sea battles amid the sakura-soaked hills of Japan, it will surely be worth the wait.
Via MTV Multiplayer, it looks as if we are to soon lose the Michael Jackson-inspired dancing zombie. Displaying both his outfit and moves from the Thriller video, the zombie would summon forth four other dancing zombies and perform the signature 'raised arm' dance from the video (available for your viewing here).
For those who own the iPhone version, the change has already occurred to have a disco zombie. The change is coming due to a request fro the Michael Jackson estate. In response to Russ Frushtick's query to PopCap, here was the response:
The Estate of Michael Jackson objected to our use of the 'dancing zombie' in PLANTS vs. ZOMBIES based on its view that the zombie too closely resembled Michael Jackson. After receiving this objection, PopCap made a business decision to retire the original 'dancing zombie' and replace it with a different 'dancing zombie' character for future builds of PLANTS vs.ZOMBIES on all platforms. The phase-out and replacement process is underway.
As Frushtick points out, legally PopCap could probably get away with saying this falls under the realm of parody, but has made a decision to respect the late Michael Jackson, and is in the process of phasing out his zombie. Beyond parody, I saw it as an homage to Jackson, so I guess I don't see the large problem with the resemblance. Then again, I tend to be irreverent in a lot of situations.
One further note is that those with the iPhone 4 may wish to hold off on updating, as the game appears to be crashing. This only affects those updating, and not those purchasing and downloading the latest version.
One of the best things about casual online gaming is that so much of it unexplored territory for content creators to explore. Developers jump at the opportunity to find new ways of entertaining, engage, and connect these new audiences players. But this unexplored area of gaming is a double-edged sword. There are a ton of mistakes to be made as well, such as what happens when a game shuts down. Hardcore MMO players have already experienced this at least once of twice before, but casuals who are new to the idea may not take it too well when the game that they've sunk hundreds of hours and/or dollars into ceases to function. Correction, make that "they will not take it too well and collectively lose their minds."
Zynga, the makers of FarmVille, recently announced the closing Street Racing, one of their not so popular casual titles, on August 2nd. In an annoyingly cute announcement, players are suggested that "if you liked Street Racing, try out FrontierVille..." Whatever connection that Zynga had in mind when they tried to connect the two totally unrelated games has been lost on every one ranging from industry professionals to casual gamers. Almost immediately after the announcement petitions to keep Street Racing up and running popped up, complete with player threats to never play a game by Zynga ever again. Over at Develop, things turned ugly when fans started a comment war on articles about Zynga.
While people have a right to be a little miffed when an online game shuts its doors, especially if it still has a sizable/vocal audience that has invested real money into it like this, the situation here begs the question: When is it okay for an MMO to close its doors? What could have Zynga done to avoid spurring fans into frenzy of anger? Hopefully this is just the growing pains of casual gaming and will serve as an example of not to do for Zynga and others to follow going forward.
This year's E3 seemed to be split into two groups of people: those who were blown away by the 3DS and those who didn't get to see the 3DS. To say that there is a lot of excitement around Nintendo's next handheld would be a gross understatement. So when can gamers expect to get their hands on a 3DS of their own? Nintendo isn't ready to announce a release date just yet, but it is ready to announce when it will announce a release date. Nintendo spokesperson Yasushi Hiroshi Minagawa told Bloomberg Japan today that pricing and release date details for the 3DS will be revealed on September 29.
So there you have it, we still have two full months to wait until Nintendo even clues us in as to when and for how much the 3DS will go on sale. The closest other hint we have regarding 3DS pricing comes from Nintendo UK's James Honeywell who told site Electricpig:
"Price, we haven't made any kind of announcement at the moment, but for everyone who already knows, you know, the Nintendo DSi is available for around £129.99. The Nintendo DSi XL, with the larger screens, is around £159.99. So obviously, it's going to fit, kind of, somewhere within that kind of architecture."
It's not quite clear whether Honeywell means that the 3DS will cost more than both systems in an incremental pattern, or whether the 3DS will be priced between the two systems due to screen sizes that fall between the two. If I had to guess though, I would think he intends the former. In the mean time, while we wait two months for a real announcement from Nintendo, enjoy the above screenshot of Blanka enjoying Zangeif's package from the 3DS version of Super Street Fighter IV.
If you've got Pokémon SoulSilver or HeartGold, and a Wii at home, you can use the Nintendo WiFi Connection service to download an Enigma Stone between Saturday, July 31 and Friday, August 27. This will give you a chance to catch the Legendary Pokémon Latias (HeartSilver) or Latios (HeartGold).
You'll also get a Soul Dew, an item that powers up the special attack and defense of Latios and Latias. But only players who have beaten the Elite Four, claimed the National Pokédex and have two or fewer Wonder Cards can solve the riddle of the Enigma Stone to capture the Legendary Pokémon. And I only understood about half of what I just wrote there. Sorry, it's been a while since I've played a Pokémon game. Remember, this is a limited-time offer, so don't delay, catch 'em all today! Check out the Pokémonwebsite for more details!
Hey, did you know that Linkin Park are still together? And that they're getting ready to release a new album? Well, how about the fact that they're headlining the in-game soundtrack for EA's upcoming Medal of Honor? The first single off of A Thousand Suns is called "The Catalyst," and will be featured in an exclusive trailer directed by the band's Joe Hahn with a mix of live action and gameplay footage.
"Medal of Honor marks the beginning of an innovative new relationship between EA and Linkin Park," said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive, Music and Music Marketing, EA. "I've personally known the band since 1999, and they have always been an intensely creative group who understand the power of videogames and have wanted to explore and expand the medium's possibilities. 'The Catalyst' is one of the most anticipated tracks of the year, and the combination of this new song and Joe Hahn's distinctive visual dynamic re-sets the bar in our commitment to bringing together landmark EA games with artists whose talents go far beyond music."
"This is a unique, creative association for us and a collaboration that we are excited about," said Joe Hahn, trailer director and DJ for Linkin Park. "The opportunity to help introduce 'The Catalyst' via the new Medal of Honor game creates a new bond between EA, our fans, and the band's overall vision for the new digital frontier. We are enormously proud of the music on A Thousand Suns and are excited to have created an exclusive trailer around the lead track."
I guess it won't seem weird to hear Linkin Park while playing Medal of Honor since this new entry in the series updates it from WWII to the present day. Still not sure how much of a selling point it is, but hey, I'm sure they have their fans. The trailer is being released on August 1 at www.medalofhonor.com/linkinpark, the day before "The Catalyst" is released to radio, iTunes and whatnot. The album is out September 14, and the game is hitting PS3s, Xbox 360s and PCs on October 12.
Last week, we were promised more information about the upcoming online title Mega Man Universe after an exciting-yet-confounding trailer that featured Capcom's Ryu and Arthur as well as three different versions of the blue bomber himself. Now the San Diego Comic-Con panel has come and gone, and the details aren't nearly as detailed as any of us would like.
Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune was introduced to the panel crowd along with the game's producer, Akito Ito, who was also the associate producer on Mega Man 10. After admitting that Mega Man Universe won't be out "for a little while," Inafune launched into his feelings about his series in the US. He launched the original Mega Man game in 1987, and was baffled by Capcom USA's decision to use the blue-yellow "old man motif" seen in the original cover art; he also notes that "Mega Man" sounds weird in Japanese compared to "Rock Man."
At the same time, he says, he gets approached by way more people in the US claiming to be the Mega Man's #1 fan. This is hard to judge, however - Inafune points out that everyone has their own idea about "what Mega Man is," usually based on whether their favorite game was the first, second, fifth, X series, etc. The idea behind Mega Man Universe is to preserve the classic look and feel while also allowing gamers to project their own ideas about Mega Man onto the screen. He did reveal that gamers could play as their favorite Mega Man, other Capcom characters, or even characters unrelated to Capcom. Since there exist "as many versions of Mega Man as there are people who love the character," Inafune wants you to play as the Mega Man of your dreams.
Unfortunately, that was it for the talk about Mega Man Universe. The team said they hope to have more news and a playable version in the near future. So, all we learned was that the game will allow play as even non-Capcom characters, which--to me--almost suggests a sort of character creation system, akin to 3D Dot Game Heroes. Capcom is surely aware of the staggering number of sprite-based webcomics hosted on the internet in the past, so it's a fair assumption that fans are willing and able to engage in some pixel-based creation to their own ends. Just let the player tweak jumping physics and weapons, and it's easy to see how Ryu, Mega Man, or just about any other player-made character could fit in a Universe like this...
We'll have to wait to find out for sure, though. At the end of the panel, Inafune said he "felt bad" about leaving Mega Man's fans without much news of his latest game, so he decided to let the panelgoers in on something that he hadn't told the press yet. Apparently, 2010 "will be a big Mega Man year" for Inafune, and he'll have more to announce soon about what he refers to as an "oft-requested game." Then he asked the audience to guess what he could be referring to. The Comic-Con audience erupted with suggestions, and most voices shouted, "Legends!"
Keiji Inafune listened for a moment, then ended the panel by leaning forward and saying, "Thank you."
This may well start becoming a trend; Sony Online Entertainment announced that they will start offering a different 'version' of EverQuest II, affixing an Extended to the title. The way they are structuring it seems to be slightly different from Turbine's approach, but largely the same.
The game will be downloadable for free, and you can play free, up to a certain point. First, it appears that the current EQ2 subscribers will be running a parallel game, actually. Then, the Extended servers will have four separate levels: Bronze, Silver (a one-time $10 purchase), Gold (recurring $14.99 monthly subscription), and Platinum ($200 for a year's service). A full view of what they will offer is on display here. The first notable figure I saw was that only four of the races will initially be offered to Extended players, even if one is a Platinum subscriber; one must purchase additional races. The same does not hold true for classes, where Bronze and Silver have access to eight and can purchase more, or become Gold or Platinum and have full access.
It all seems a bit confusing, but I'm sure there will be services in game that tell you where and how you can use your money to great effect. The chart linked above even mentions anyone below Gold service will receive upgrade reminders in form of pop-up advertisements (how, where, and with what frequency? Not sure yet--hopefully loading screens?). There do seem some odd choices (restricting Bronze to only four chat abilities), but considering it's a free game, I cannot say I feel particularly compelled to even bother raising an eyebrow. This seems largely uncharted territory in this half of the hemisphere, and I doubt any one model will be setting the standard any time soon. After all, an MMO has many things to tweak, including crafting skills (yes, EQ2 does tweak that a bit).
Last, it seems that both the original and Extended versions are to receive graphical and UI updates. I last played the game two years ago, and I recall not being particularly wowed or turned off by the graphics.
As of right now, the beta for Extended is to go live August 17. Meanwhile, have you any further questions, they have a rather long FAQ for you here.
Thoughts? What other MMOs do you expect to go free-to-play soon?
What would you do if you logged into Valve's digital distribution platform only to find out that your account had been banned even though you hadn't done anything to deserve it? I don't think it would be hard to imagine how "steamed" you would be, but that's exactly what happened to approximately 12,000 users of the service over the past two weeks.
In an email to the thousands of affected gamers, Valve company president Gabe Newell apologized, stating that "...the problem was that Steam would fail a signature check between the disk version of a DLL and a latent memory version. This was caused by a combination of conditions occurring while Steam was updating the disk image of a game."
I know that I semi-sarcastically refer to Valve as the best developer out there, but its things like this very transparent look into unfortunate situations like these that set them aside from other "fruitier" platform holders. Despite the mix up, I think their response was timely and sincere. But if there was anyone out there was still felt wronged about the whole thing, I'm pretty sure that they were soothed with a free copy of Valve's own Left 4 Dead 2. It might not be the biggest new release of the week but hey, a free $30 game is still a free $30. And if an affected user already has it they are free to pass it along to a friend for enhanced cooperative fun.
Generally, any racing game that steers away from realistic simulation is considered an "arcade-style" game. But few games deserve that designation as much as Hydro Thunder Hurricane. Back in the arcades, games were designed to give you that "one more try" feeling at all times to keep you pumping quarters into the machine. Hydro Thunder Hurricane recaptures that feeling, and does so with a vibrant energy seldom seen in modern gaming. There are no muddy brown and grey textures or weapons or generic pilots with a contrived sense of machismo. It's just you, a neon purple and green speed boat, and a course full of boosts, tight turns, and even tighter controls.
Hydro Thunder Hurricane will feel instantly familiar to fans of the original game from the arcade, PS1, N64, or Dreamcast. The three classes of classic boats return, with old favorites like the UFO-looking Rad Hazard controlling just as it did in the original. There are a few minor changes to the roster, the boat Midway has been renamed Vector to reflect the change in development studio and the bonus boats from the original are missing in action, but players should have no trouble gravitating toward a favorite craft that reflects their play style. Making a return is the emphasis on using boost to zip ahead of the competition, with boost canisters scattered around the course. When your boat is ready to boost, it undergoes a transformation with engines and rockets folding out of the back to add that extra bit of personality to each of the game's crafts. Also returning is the boost jump maneuver, allowing you to give your craft a hop in the air so long as you have some boost remaining, giving you access to the abundant shortcuts in the game.
And yet, even with that feeling of familiarity there is so much new in Hydro Thunder Hurricane. All of the eight courses in the game are new, each with its own secrets, hairpin turns, and personality. For example, on the Monster Island track a dinosaur leaps from the water to create giant waves on the course while the Area 51 track has police boats interfering in the race telling you that you are in a restricted area. These not only add to the personality of the track, but also serve a gameplay purpose as you can perform a jump off of the dinosaur's waves or draft in the police boat's wake for a boost. You can even cause the police boat to crash and take that component out of the race entirely. These dynamic elements keep each race feeling fresh, which is a necessity with the short list of eight tracks. As for gameplay mechanics, the aforementioned drafting carries over to your opponents, allowing you to save some boost while riding in another racer's wake. Also a welcome addition is how instantly your racer respawns upon crashing. Pressing the Back button repositions your boat in the middle of the track with only the penalty of how long you waited to press the button. Some may find this feature overly generous, but I found that it encourages experimentation to find new shortcuts without worrying about the consequences if there isn't actually a secret tunnel under that waterfall.
In addition to the standard races there are also Ring Master, Gauntlet, and Championship modes. Ring Master is Hydro Thunder Hurricane's version of a time trial, with a prescribed course of rings laid on the track for you to follow to get a fast time. Each course has a Novice, Pro, and Expert ring layout corresponding to each of the boat classes, with the more advanced layouts forcing you to make extensive use of the course's shortcuts and secrets. Gauntlet is another time trial mode, but instead of following rings you must navigate between and around explosive barrels all around the course. The explosive barrels present a different type of obstacle since it's possible to boost jump over them, allowing both modes to feel distinct despite offering a similar experience. Then there is the Championship mode which takes a combination of race, Ring Master, and Guantlet events and tasks you with completing them in succession.
Placing first, second, or third in any of these modes earns you credits, and it's those credits that are used to unlock new boats, courses, and game modes as you progress in the single-player game. In addition to the regular unlockables through earning credits, there are also new skins for each of the boats that can be unlocked by completing specific objectives with a given boat. One of the ways to unlock new skins is to collect 10 hidden tokens on each track, which the game thankfully remembers which tokens you have already collected so that you don't need to do it all in one race. You'll be constantly unlocking new features, which is a huge motivator for that ideal "one more try" aesthetic. Even placing in the top three ranks in multiplayer earns you credits to unlock single-player modes, so even if you're stuck on a single-player event you can still unlock new ones. More games need to break free of the separation between unlocking features in single-player and multiplayer, so it's refreshing to see Hydro Thunder Hurricane tie the online and offline experiences together.
Speaking of the multiplayer, this is where Hydro Thunder Hurricane changes from simply being a fun racing game to an addiction. Unlike the single-player modes, all of the tracks and boats are unlocked right from the start in multiplayer, allowing you to hop right in and start racing online without any barrier. Multiplayer supports both local split-screen and online matches, or a combination of the two with a group of four players going online from a single console. With all of the focus on online multiplayer in most games, it's great to see that the classic split-screen experience has been preserved. One subtlety that most gamers may not notice at first is that boost behaves a bit differently in multiplayer than the single-player races. In an effort by the developers to balance the game for all skill sets, players trailing behind the pack will get more boost from canisters than those in the lead. Of course, a skilled player who knows a tracks secrets will always come out on top, but it keeps the races close and ideally prevents race stragglers from getting frustrated and quitting. There's even an extra boat available in multiplayer: the Rubber Ducky. It's hardly the fastest or most maneuverable boat in the game, but there are few things as whimsically enjoyable as eight players zooming yellow ducks around the track, quacking and squeaking with each inevitable crash into a wall.
And what would an online experience be without leaderboards. Even if you aren't typically a leaderboard hunter, Hydro Thunder Hurricane may turn you into one. When playing in any mode offline the top leaderboard time is shown in the top right corner of the screen, as a constant challenge to further tie the single-player and multiplayer experiences together.
Hydro Thunder Hurricane is an excellent racing game. The controls are solid, the water physics are a joy, and there is just an infectious energy flowing throughout the game. I do wish there were a few more tracks, perhaps more bonus boats would be nice too, but with all of the single-player events that have been added there is definitely enough content to justify the 1200 point price tag. The main menu has a DLC option, so it's possible that more courses and boats will be available later on. It may come from a new developer, but fans of the original Hydro Thunder shouldn't hesitate to get on-board with Hydro Thunder Hurricane. And if you never played the original, then you're in for a treat. Hydro Thunder Hurricane is a throwback to the lost time of arcades with modern touches to expand the solo experience. It isn't a deep racing game with loads of strategy and customization options for your boat, and it isn't trying to be. When I think of how to describe the game, there is only one word that keeps coming to mind: fun. Pure, unadulterated, speedy fun.
The first game add-on for Alan Wake has landed on Xbox LIVE today and is called The Signal. The boundaries between reality and nightmare are becoming distorted, threatening to overwhelm Alan's fragile little mind. Can you handle the thrills? Keep that flashlight handy!
Anyone who purchased Alan Wake new received a token card to download The Signal at no additional cost, which is awesome. But those who bought it used will have to shell out the 560 Microsoft Points. And don't forget there's a novel from Tor Books, the original soundtrack from Sumthing Else Music Works, the strategy guide and the Alan Wake Illuminated hardcover art book from Random House. All of which you can enjoy while wearing your Alan Wake-branded T-shirt and hat from CafePress!
Hey, who's that Gay Gamer at the 2:15 mark of this episode of Nintendo Week during their segment on the Dragon Quest IX launch event at the Nintendo World Store? Why, it's none other than GayGamer.net's very own Wootini! While canvasing people to interview for this segment of their weekly program for the Nintendo Channel, the Nintendo Week folks inadvertently asked li'l ol' me to demonstrate the character creation steps with the adorable Gary. Don't know who that chick is they keep intercutting with me, though. Kills the mood!
• windgates on PvZ To Lose Thriller Zombie: I don't think it should be removed. I believe PvZ came out before Michael Jackson died, and I don't think...
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