Fantastic Flash: Press X To Jason

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Heavy Rain, but today seems to be the day to highlight some of its flaws. The opening section in the mall left the actor in me cringing (at least the English voice acting--I've heard the French is much better). Leave it to a flash game to be able to express my thoughts on that section of the game with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor: Press X To Jason.

Warning: the flash game ends with a spoiler for the real game, so if you plan on playing through the latter and have not done so yet, you may wish to hold off a bit.

Complete with four achievements and a ranking board, the game takes all of thirty seconds to complete. Since Heavy Rain is one of those games that seems to be polarizing gamers in a seemingly binary reaction, it is interesting to see how the reactions are expressing themselves.

Wolfire Games' Overgrowth

Since I started writing about games, I have developed a little penchant for rabbits--particularly the violent kind (more true to life). Having also been a fan of Usagi Yojimbo as a wee lad, I found Rock Paper Shotgun's interview with Overgrowth developers Wolfire Games to be of particular interest.

What is Overgrowth? Martial rabbit fighter, simply put.

Longer answer?

Overgrowth is what happens when you mix one cup of Assassin's Creed with a seasoning of Redwall, add a pinch of Donnie Darko and stir it around with a broadsword. Following the tradition from Lugaru, our goal is to really force players to come up with their own survival combat strategies and tap into their primal kill or be killed instincts.

The game is a sequel to Lugaru, an indie game released six years ago by one of the developers on this title. This time there will be more enemies: rabbits, wolves, cats, rats, and dogs. The premise is that this both gives them an easy to understand enemy structure (as they remarked, "Wolves eat rabbits because they are hungry, which is more insight into the motivations of the 'bad guys' than you will get in most AAA games even after sitting through hours of cut-scenes.").

Currently it has no set release date, but if you want to support the project (in case, you know, the game interests you already), you can pre-order right here.

The rest of the interview covers basic thoughts of indie developers, how the fighting will work, what sort of learning curve exists, and the decision to keep with a martial arts based rabbit instead of human.

Review: White Knight Chronicles International Edition

White Knight Chronicles is a jRPG with no qualms or quibbles about the fact. At times it seems to wallow in the genre, as happy as a pig in mud, but the addition of its GeoNet and character customization offer a hint of something new. I recall first hearing of the title and a friend and I drooling over the concept.

A few years later, I finally received a copy and set about reviewing it for you, lovely readers. My initial impressions were surprise at the depth of the character customization, although I found myself slightly annoyed when I was creating a black character whose hair options were decidedly not. However, I spent a good hour or so just perfecting how my character would look, down to height, weight, build, facial structure, mustache, et cetera.

Was that time justified?

FFXIII Motomu Toriyama On Future

With the release of Final Fantasy XIII, it comes as no surprise that people have a few questions for Motomu Toriyama, the game's director, about the game and what is in store for the series. Gamasutra has had such an opportunity at GDC and reports that we can expect more content in the future--possibly in DLC, but definitely in future titles.

Citing the difficulties of the switch to HD, Toriyama explains that now that they have the Crystal Engine, they can more readily and easily add content. Since they did not have that option this time around, they relied on his strengths, which he declares to be storytelling and progressing a story. This would be why there are no towns around which you can aimlessly walk, minigames, et cetera. He refers to the ability to throw those elements into the game as a bento box system, where everyone on the team was able to provide input into what made it.

Of course, he is also of the mind that all these elements are not necessary:

Now that we have that base technology... The next time you see a Final Fantasy, we might be able to pack in more of those elements that existed in the past. And I also think that a game doesn't need to have all of those items in the future. We can create additional downloadable content for people to add, too. It doesn't have to come with that game itself.

While this hints at possible DLC, it also hints at the possibility that as a director, if he believes certain elements detract from the overall experience, he may well cut them. Only eleven hours into the thirteenth installment myself, I cannot say how much I miss the towns, for instance. The game is pretty well streamlined thus far, and while it brings to mind previous Final Fantasy games, I do not necessarily see this as a weakness. Perhaps my opinion will change after some more tens of hours.

Minigames, though? Minigames I don't miss. If those are DLC, I think my debit card will be happy to not see the light of it.

AVP Swarm Map Pack

Those who bought the Special Edition of Aliens vs. Predator will already be familiar with this map pack, but for those who are looking to grab four new maps in a DLC bundle, Sega has announced that they will be on their way to all the respective platforms and networks. Insert here some mention of how it will swarm on to your choice of console...

Of what do these maps consist?

Two new Multiplayer maps for six different online modes (Deathmatch, Predator Hunt, Infestation, Species Deathmatch, Mixed Species Deathmatch and Domination):

• Docks: The caustic alkali waters of BG-386 put an end to Weyland-Yutani's planned shipping activities. But this dockyard soon became an historic battleground.
• Machine: As well as processing exotic ores, the BG-386 Refinery provided electrical power to the colonists at Freya's Prospect. The lights may still be on, but nobody's home. Yet.

Two new Survivor maps in which up to four Marines battle to stay alive against increasing swarms of Aliens:

• Outpost: The site of the original Weyland-Yutani colony on BG-386 was abandoned, and soon reclaimed by the planet's voracious jungle plant life. It is now the perfect hunting ground for all manner of wildlife.
• Hive: Deep in the heart of the Freya's Prospect Refinery lays the Xenomorph Hive. Beware all who enter here.

The pack will be available later this month, March 18, for $6.99 USD or 560 Microsoft Points. Anyone tried these maps and can vouch for them yet?

Update On XBLA Spelunky

In September we reported that the PC indie game Spelunky would be headed to XBLA. Not only would it be jumping platforms, but it would be updated.

While the official release date has not yet been revealed, we now have some nifty new screenshots that explain more of what we can expect to see. So far, only four have been released, though they give an idea of at least two different cave-type environments.

Also, from Derek Yu in the Spelunky boards:

As you can see, we're spending a lot of time making the game look new and beautiful for XBLA. Mr. Andy Hull is helping me add all kinds of new graphical effects to make the game pop on your t.v. screen. Bombs will send shadows bouncing off of the walls, and if, for example, rubble falls into a small lake, it will send ripples dancing across the water's surface.

The only other forum poll thus far is a poll, asking people how much they believe the title should cost on XBLA. What would you be willing to pay?

Portal 2 Confirmed, Not A Cake

Portal has been receiving a little love from Valve in this past week. New ending, hidden little gems, and a rekindled interest in a gaming icon.

It should come as no surprise then, that Valve has officially confirmed a sequel today. We can look forward to seeing it this holiday season.

Furthermore, GameInformer has revealed its cover for next month to feature the game, which you see to the right. They boast:

Our 12-page cover story gives you the first details on Portal 2's new gameplay mechanics, storyline, and some surprising new twists.

Thoughts? Apprehensions? Breaking out in songs about the series still being alive? Perhaps plans to replay the original this weekend?

Rock Band Network Live

Finished with their open beta, Harmonix and MTV Networks have gone ahead and made the Rock Band Network live.

The idea is that any publisher and/or artist can publish their songs. Considering the music industry's constant throes, this seems like a step forward in being able to look into the future and speak to their audiences--though only time will tell how successful this venture is.

Since the launch of the open beta, 4,300 members have already signed up as both authors and peer reviewers on the creators' network. By purchasing an XNA Creators Club Online premium membership, one can become a peer reviewer as well.

If you're an aspiring band or musician, here's the link to submit your songs. Here the link to peer review said songs.

As for the details of payment to the artists?

Artists who submit songs for the Rock Band Network Music Store are able to choose from multiple pricing tiers for individual tracks and receive a royalty of 30 percent of the retail selling price (excluding tax) for every track purchased through the RBN Store. There are currently more than 100 songs available for purchase in the Rock Band Network Music Store from artists including The Shins, The Hold Steady, The Main Drag, Bang Camaro, of Montreal, Jonathan Coulton, Skeleton Witch, 3 Inches of Blood, Lacuna Coil, Stroke 9, and Steve Vai*. There are more than 300 artists in the RBN pipeline, with additional tracks already on the way from Flight of the Conchords, The Smashing Pumpkins, Twin Atlantic, All That Remains, Clutch, Prong, The Gaslight Anthem and many more coming soon.

For a full track listing of songs that released today (and my teen-aged self is more than a wee bit excited about KMFDM's appearance in that list), hit the jump.

American McGee's (Possible) Red

American McGee is a chap with some interest in old fairy tales, and apparently heroines. According to GameSetWatch, he has now shown off a piece of concept art for his latest idea, Red, pictured above. Instead of going the symbolic route, as The Path tended toward, Red is equipped with axe and hunting wolves this time around.

Currently it has no publisher, but said American McGee:

[The artwork] depicts a scene from a game concept I'll be pitching at this year's GDC. If we're lucky, an interested publisher will help us move it into production. It's an idea that [Spicy Horse art director] Ken Wong and I have been toying with for years.

Years is correct. Just poking about American McGee's blog indicates he's been working on this since at least 2006. The original intent was seemingly to announce more in 2007. What's a few years, eh?

Whether or not someone will pick this up is in the air, but at least we can rest assured that he's also working on the sequel to Alice.

Jonathan Blow's New Game

Braid was one of those titles which became an instant success and endeared itself to many gamers. That being said, I am sure many will be interested in Jonathan Blow's next project, The Witness, which now has a development blog.

With the tag line "an exploration-puzzle game on an uninhabited island," the premise of the game seems to have a hazy start. The latest entry sheds a bit more light on the premise for creating the game:

For The Witness, I wanted to develop a graphical style that values simplicity. It would be suited to mellower environments, with both indoor and outdoor settings. Some kind of global illumination solution seemed like the right idea here. (Global illumination is when you simulate light bouncing around in a scene; the resulting look is usually much richer and subtler than the direct lighting that games usually do.)

As to the game's goal or storyline, we will likely have to wait. Though the puzzle of Braid's was figuring out the story through its mechanics most of the time, so perhaps waiting on further details is for the best.

PSN Global Bug

It appears yesterday evening, the PSN had a global crash that has caused a few problems for older models of the PlayStation 3. Sony has acknowledged the problem both on their blog and Twitter, which state essentially the same things, and do not share much information:

We're aware that many of you are having difficulty connecting to the PlayStation Network this evening. Those of you with "slim" PS3s (the 120/250 GB models) appear to be unaffected.

Know that we have narrowed down the issue and have engineers working to restore service even as you read this. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, and genuinely appreciate your patience while we work to resolve this.

Before their acknowledgment, it was left to forums and other blogs to get this information out, which left users coming up with mobthink queries and possible scenarios. Ranging from calendar and clock bugs (some users noting this occurring when the month switched) to more nefarious problems, one solution or consensus has not been reached; regardless of what is causing this, at the moment please be aware that if you do not have the new Slim 120/250GB model, you may experience problems.

What problems?

Beyond just connecting to the PSN, this includes not being able to access some single-player games. Heavy Rain has been cited among the games that has had difficulty being played. Some users have also reported Trophies simply disappearing, though at this point we do not know if it a permanent or temporary bug.

Sony suggests following their Twitter for more information on the ApocalyPS3, as many have started calling it.

DICE Panel On Diversity

Gamasutra has an in-depth report on a panel that was conducted on diversity at DICE. Moderated by Jamin Brophy-Warren, of Kill Screen Magazine, and joined by Manveer Heir, Dmitri Williams, and Navid Khonsari.

Williams is a professor at USC, who recently had a study that showed how certain races in games were overrepresented, as well as pointing out the 85/15% gap in representation of sex. What was shown was that games were overrepresenting not based on the U.S. Census, but on the developers themselves. People make games about themselves, in essence.

Heir had the following suggestion, in particular about how Prey went about it, "We have to find mechanics in our games that can support the kinds of characters we're creating, so their backgrounds actually matter. Where do they come from? It could be racial, gender, or being homosexual." In a later discussion with the article's writer, Brandon Sheffield, asked him about games that allow character creation, a la Fallout 3 or the BioWare titles of late.

Heir pointed out that these titles often ignore the choices you make about your race, sex, et cetera, so they don't really have as deep an impact as they could. Of course, the article also brings up the business side, both mentioning that they need more diverse developers who want to take these risks, and looking at the markets they could gain if games were more inclusive.

The article points out two important points for the future of gaming: developers need to be willing to take risks in exploring demographics of which they are not a part (preferably with an educated view of such), and that one way the industry also needs to expand is getting a more diverse scenery on the development side of things.

Where I feel mixed from the article is in the last paragraph, "In my personal opinion, we should see more games like Fallout 3, in which many races are represented, but the race of the character is far outweighed by how they interact with you. We don't need to deal with all of society's problems in games, but having demographics represented even just visually seems worthwhile."

Representation is a good first step, but I also want to see how games can explore these issues. Video games are such an untapped medium for these things, considering their level of interactivity and ability to draw in a player. Just being present will not have the same impact as acknowledgment and exploration.