Thursday, December 23, 2010

Gaming Today

Gaming Today

How Video Game Makers Design Characters (amusing chart)

Posted: 23 Dec 2010 12:47 AM PST

Here is a funny chart about how developers create characters for their games. As a professional working in the games industry, I would say this chart is accurate at least half the time, though a lot of female characters are less explicitly full of boobage these days (not all the time, though). This chart and the bonus chart below come from I Love Charts. You will now look at the charts below and then spend the rest of your day browsing that website. Enjoy: (click on it for a slightly larger version)

Here is a bonus Christmas chart:

via Kotaku

Portal 2 Has an Official Release Date

Posted: 23 Dec 2010 12:21 AM PST

When Portal was delayed from its planned February release, Valve said it’d be out “the week of April 18th.” Since the 18th is a Monday, one would only assume that means the game is coming Tuesday the 19th. That is not so, however; EA Partners said today that Portal 2 will be released worldwide on Thursday, April 21. And now you know what day on which you’ll need to plan to call in sick. Mark it down.

Live-Action Call of Duty Multiplayer is Less Upsetting Than I Expected (VIDEO)

Posted: 23 Dec 2010 12:02 AM PST

So this guy, Freddie Wong, who I remember best from that Flower Warfare video I posted in July but can’t find in our archives (here’s a direct link) makes a lot of cool vides, but I like to only post about the really cool ones. Guess what. He made a new really cool one. This one features a bunch of guys running around int eh woods pretending to play some Call of Duty multiplayer. It’s totally great. Watch it.

Heavy Rain Sucks: A Fight to the Death Between Ross and Phil

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 08:13 PM PST

Heavy Rain was lauded by critics when it was released back in the spring, earning it an 87 rating on Metacritic. There are a few dissenting voices in the midst of the chorus of praise, however, and Phil Owen has been one of them all year. Ross Lincoln, however, took exception to Phil constant bitching about the game, and the powers that be at GameFront decided it's time for these two mortal enemies to have it out in front of everyone with a debate over the year's most talked-about game.

Phil: Let me start this off by saying that I think Quantic Dream put together the framework for what could be a really great and powerful game. Unfortunately, the game they made with that framework, Heavy Rain, fails to fulfill its potential because Quantic Dream f–ked it up in a few very basic ways.

Ross: And I'll start by saying that I don't think Heavy Rain is a perfect game, and I can think of a few missteps, (which I'll talk about below), but overall, I think Quantic Dream ended up creating one of most original and in some cases, genuinely thrilling games I've ever played. Even with the stupid sci-fi sunglasses wearing FBI agent, it was a pretty revolutionary.

Phil: Sure, it's revolutionary, but being revolutionary is not directly related to quality. A game like this, which David Cage calls "interactive drama," you must judge it in all the same ways you would judge, say, a movie in addition to judging it as a game. As a game, then, I think it works pretty well, but when you look at it the way you must in order to properly judge it, huge, gaping flaws become readily apparent; the most important being the mindbogglingly bad voice acting and a nonsensical plot.

Ross: I'll try to address your points one at a time: First, you're right – 'revolutionary' is a nebulous adjective so let me clarify – I think it is an innovative game, a leap forward in terms of what a game can be, but it is also genuinely thrilling to play. Not a perfect game, because that stupid FBI guy I'll keep mentioning is still in it, but great nonetheless.

I don't believe you can separate the "interactive" part from the "drama" part because they depend on each other for the game to work at all. Here's why: Yes, the plot is, of course, a mishmash of basic movie of the week plots thrown together under a serial killer frame. And despite that, you're supposed to care about what happens to these characters, particularly the patsy. Making you interact with even the most mundane aspects of their lives via what essentially are extremely wonky quick-time events pulls that task off brilliantly. Learning to shave or go to the bathroom in the beginning lays the groundwork for later, when you're trying desperately to control a speeding car while evading a police chase, it's great.

I wouldn't call the plot nonsensical. The serial killer's MO is a bit convoluted, but from my POV he functioned much like Tom Cruise's hitman character in Collateral, framing a patsy for his crimes whenever he gets the urge to kill. The Journalist's investigation dovetailing with the patsy's plot made a lot of sense too. I agree that the stupid FBI agent plotline is dumb but everything else I bought. I even liked the schmaltzy bittersweet redemption blah blah blah of the "perfect" ending. But I also thought that least chapter of Blood's A Rover was awesome too, despite being a major infodump, so I might not be the best judge here.

As for the voice acting? It's definitely not… authentically American, and if you already hate the game I could see it would be like scratching nails on a chalkboard made of hungry babies who listen to Ke$ha. This might come down to the most infuriating aspect of arguing about art ever, that is, the matter of taste, but I don't think it's particularly bad, and actually kind of liked it. Hell, Mark Meer's acting in Mass Effect 2 can be grating, particularly when you hear his very noticeable Canadian accent combined with his equally noticeable reading-from-cue-card/no-second-takes-ever style of voice acting (this is a problem that plagues the Mass Effect universe).

For what it's worth, considering that the actors are French, and fluent in English, their inability to master the American accent isn't even a thing. It has the feel of another English speaking country's version of English, which is to say, weird to my accustomed-to-British/American tones. There's definitely the cadence of a romance language to an extent, but it's not like every other line is "Az an Amereecahn, I am, how to say, loving ze football games" or anything. It's just sort of weird, charmingly, I think.

Phil: To say the actors, with the exception of those portraying the detective and the journalist, "can't quite master the American accent" is objectively wrong-headed and misleading. It's not unusual in movies for, say, an English actor to play an American, and when one of those actors can't pull it off, they end up speaking with a completely new, awkward accent. (see: Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean). It's not something to get too hung up over in those cases, because it's close enough.

But it's not "close enough" in Heavy Rain. By having French actors try to replicate an authentic American accent, they create a new, weird, offputting accent that is made worse by their still-very-French vocal patterns. There's much more to an accent than just word pronunciation; tone and inflection are just as important, and most of the actors in Heavy Rain miss all three.

Obviously, there is always room for personal taste to enter the discussion, but I find that defense odd, even so. If Heavy Rain were only a movie and all the voice actors from the game played the same roles in the movie, it would be regarded as wildly unintentionally hilarious, and not one critic would say the weird accents weren't that bothersome. They would skewer that s–t endlessly.

Ross: Touché. (See what I did there? It's a French word!) But also, I just don't think it's bad. I really don't. I think the painfully off accents Michal Palin and Eric Idle attempted in The Meaning of Life are way, way worse. (acknowledging they were deliberately parodying American accents, but even then they couldn't… quite… do… it). But let's move on and talk about the actual game a bit. The reason I find it genuinely thrilling and enjoy playing it.

Truffaut once claimed that there's no such thing as an anti war film because combat looks so cool on screen it's automatically glamorized. I don't think it's a completely accurate observation but I agree that glamorization of violence in general is really damned difficult to avoid, and that's doubly true for depictions of sexual violence. Even well meaning attempts have a tendency to linger for too long on beautiful female bodies, or simply to become so detached or stylized that though you know it's a horrible thing, you don't really feel the weight of it. (The infamous rape scene in A Clockwork Orange comes to mind.)

Back to Heavy Rain. The fact that there are as many variables and possible endings as there are Heavy Rain isn't unique; after all, it isn't the only game in 2010 where anyone can die. But what is unique is that it actually manages to make you feel the impact of those variables, hard. My friend Angelle observed, and I agree with her wholeheartedly, that this is the first media she's ever consumed which portrayed a woman in a very violent situation that accurately managed to convey the feeling of menace and helpless terror that the average woman often experiences simply by being at the grocery store too late at night. It's difficult to really explain to us dudes what the "male gaze" really means, or what is so insidious about rape culture, and part of that is due to the inability to really put ourselves in the shoes of people who actually experience it.

In Heavy Rain, the problem is averted in full by making you personally endure the horrors inflicted on the player characters. The female character is subjected to two particularly nasty incidents in which the fact that she is a woman – smaller and physically weaker than her male assailants – is integral to how the scenes play out. I won't spoil them for people who haven't played the game but suffice to say it's one of only times, if not THE only time, I can remember actually fighting the urge to close my eyes while I was actually playing. It's brutal, and brilliant, and I kept thinking about the scene for weeks. Heavy Rain is full of individual moments like that, where you feel a sense of real, visceral peril. Whatever the weaknesses of the story, they hold it together, and that's amazing.

Phil: Some individual moments are good and some are powerful, but they lose some luster in the context oft he full game. Take the first of the two scenes you referred to in which Madison is in danger; it does do what you say it does, but it also doesn't serve any real purpose in the narrative aside from putting Madison in a position to meet our main protagonist. From a character perspective, too, it doesn't work, because it doesn't really jive with how Madison is portrayed later on.

And that takes me back to the first point I made in this discussion. Quantic Dream has a great idea for a game, and they can implement it as far as setting up scenes and, when said scenes are light on dialogue, the scenes can be very successful. Other times, though, scenes are completely undercut by the voice acting, such as the scene early on when Ethan has his son Shaun for the night. That scene oozes an oppressive atmosphere, but since Pascale Langdale delivers every one of Ethan's lines very awkwardly and the child voice actor for Shaun is even worse, the scene loses a lot of its impact.

And then other scenes, such as Madison's trip to the hospital and every Scott Shelby scene, just don't make any sense. Madison goes to the hospital to track down info on the killer, but she's following a lead picked up by the FBI agent, who Madison has not met. And don't even get me started on Ethan's blackouts.

Ross: That's a fair point, and though I still disagree, it brings me to the one thing that I cannot defend even a little bit. I'm a huge fan of crime genre fiction, and I do mean genre with all the slumming-it-literature the term implies. I read Robert Crais for crying out loud, which means you can officially make fun of me. The best of it tends toward the Improbably Melodramatic Plot Convenience Manufacturing Facility side of things. So the story of Heavy Rain, which I immediately recognized as filled to bursting with some hackneyed shizz, grabbed me anyway. The interactivity I part is key to that, which is why I think it's a great game after all.

Now, I actually love the origin of the Oragami killer, I genuinely felt bad for Ethan and wanted to get him out of the predicament he found himself in. It's true Madison the intrepid journalist functions as sidekick even as her individual scenes are still cool. I even like the reveal about the killer that I won't spoil (though, admittedly, it requires me to accept that he's both Popeye Doyle and Lex Luthor). But that damned FBI agent might be the worst thing I've ever seen in a game I otherwise loved.

In fact, thinking about those stupid sci fi glasses and his stupid sci fi drug addiction makes me, briefly, come around to Phil's point of view. The majority of the game does a good job of existing in a kind of Dark City Anycity USA that is most definitely in modern times. Then all of a sudden this douche shows up who has bat vision plus Bad Lieutenant problems and looks f*cking stupid to boot. Every time you're playing as him it feels like Paz de la Huerta's scenes in Boardwalk Empire, though thankfully without the constant merkin.

But even with that in mind, no, I still love it. I guess this is going to sound like damning with faint praise but it's not: Heavy Rain manages to successfully pull off making a hackneyed, hodge-podge crime thriller and still make it a compelling, can't look away story. And really, that plus the innovative and original gameplay makes it a great game. That there are a lot of variables, which means you'll never play the same game twice, is added incentive and is the reason I'll keep playing to see how it unfolds. That doesn't mean it's perfect; The story is forgettable, but the (vast majority of the) individual moments themselves are gripping, and that's enough to keep the story compelling, and worth revisiting again and again, at least for me. Maybe I'll feel differently about this in a few months, maybe not. But right now, I can confidently say that Heavy Rain, though flawed, is excellent and richly deserves the praise it received.

Phil: Go f–k yourself, Ross.

Ross: No, please, I insist. You go f*ck yourself. You're a jerk and your opinions suck as much as you do.

Phil: Well, at least I'm not so dumb that I think Heavy Rain is good. Merry Christmas, errbody.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 PC v1.03 Patch Download

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 03:18 PM PST

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 fans rejoice! We have a new patch released by Konami today. Online Mode connectivity issues have been improved through changes made to the disconnection process. Check out the links below for your favor of patch.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 v1.03 Patch (Digital Download)
http://www.filefront.com/17686878/Pro-Evolution-Soccer-2011-v1.03-Patch-Digital-Download/

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 v1.03 Patch (Retail)
http://www.filefront.com/17686882/Pro-Evolution-Soccer-2011-v1.03-Patch-Retail/

StarCraft 2 Demo Download

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 02:46 PM PST

If you haven’t played StarCraft 2 yet, here is your chance. By the way, what is wrong with you? Just kidding, kind of. Grab the demo from the link below and download the file from GameFront’s FAST and FREE servers!

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Demo
http://www.filefront.com/17687078/StarCraft-II-Wings-of-Liberty-Demo/

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the long-awaited sequel to the original StarCraft, Blizzard Entertainment's critically acclaimed sci-fi real-time strategy game. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is both a challenging single-player game and a fast-paced multiplayer game, and it also taps into Battle.net – Blizzard Entertainment's fully-featured online gaming service. So, what exactly is StarCraft II? Check out Blizzard’s official StarCraft 2 page.

Want more StarCraft 2? Yes, of course you do. Check out the following links:

Here’s The Trailer for Laura Croft (ATGOL): Raziel And Kain Character Pack

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 02:24 PM PST

I don’t play Lara Croft games, so I can’t tell you if this looks cool or just silly, but one thing is certain: This is a character pack for the latest game, and people who play it might want this too. Enjoy.

Microsoft to Target Windows 8 on PC Gaming

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 01:29 PM PST

If you read our wish list for next year, you know that I’m wishing for a resurgence by PC gaming next year. It seems that Microsoft is thinking along the same lines as I am.

TechRadar has a source that tells them Microsoft is targeting the next version of Windows squarely on gaming. The unnamed source said,

Windows 8 will represent a real new push into PC gaming. Gaming will be a key component for the whole OS.

We knew MS was starting to look PC gaming’s way again, what with the announcement of Age of Empires Online, Fable 3 for PC, and an updated Flight Simulator. The big question is this: How will Microsoft plan to dethrone Steam from atop the PC gaming heap, especially with the failure of Games for Windows Live to reach a substantial number of gamers?

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Another Incentive To Buy The Humble Indie Bundle

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 11:06 AM PST

It’s great news that the good people behind the Humble Indie Bundle came back with the Humble Indie Bundle 2, but the news just got even more good newsy. The second bundle – Braid, Cortex Command, Machinarium, Osmos and Revenge of the Titans – has already been a huge success. 187,752 people have spent $1,392,587.77. That’s a lot of money, and to thank everyone for their purchases (and entice more people to donate), they’ve sweetened the deal by adding the Humble Indie Bundle #1 to every purchase that exceeds the current average donation.

Here are the deets (from their statement):

For new purchases of the bundle, the Humble Indie Bundle #1 is unlocked if you pay more than the current average. If you’d like to pay under the average and increase your payment later on your download page, that will work too. You just need to increase the average at some point to permanently unlock the first Humble Bundle. This is not possible for gifts though, as the order amount is secret.

You will find a new slider that lets you decide how much you’d like to give to the five main HIB #1 game developers (Samorost 2 is a freebie).

Don’t worry, everyone who’ve already purchased the Humble Bundle #2. You’re getting Bundle #1 complimentary.

If you’re an owner of one of the 180,000+ Humble Indie Bundle #2s already purchased before this announcement, you will find a complimentary Humble Indie Bundle #1 on your download page. I’d like to sincerely thank all of you for supporting the bundle and making it a success!

If you enjoy this gift of six additional games, please consider adding more to your order on your Humble Bundle download page.

Proceeds go to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child’s Play (and the Humble Bundle guys themselves, if you want). So, obviously you’re heading over right now to make a donation. Right?

Happy Holidays.

Commodore 64 Reborn

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 08:48 AM PST

If you were a game in the late 1980′s then you played or owned a Commodore 64 system. In the era before the home console, there was no better gaming system than the C64 with its floppy disks and massive 64k memory space. Well, if you’re a gaming enthusiast looking to relive the heyday of the “me” generation the Commodore 64 is available once again.

Except, this time it’s actually packed with modern computer parts. The Commodore 64x is an Atom based PC that is built into the design of the classic computer. The beige chassis includes a motherboard, memory, integrated keyboard and video card.

The Commodore 64X is basically a fancy Netbook system sans screen, leaving it underpowered as a modern gaming system but the company is including its Workbench 5 OS that allows those classic programs to run on the modern system alongside Windows.

The 64x specs include an Nvidia ION GPU, 2GB RAM, DVD or optional Blu-Ray drive, and 2 onboard SATA controllers for storage. Unfortunately pricing and a release date were not available for the unit.

Blizzard Finally Rolls Out the Starcraft 2 Demo

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 08:41 AM PST

Speaking of demos, Blizzard has just dropped a long-awaited demo of their own.

Less than a week from being on the market six months, there is finally a Starcraft 2 demo. This is different from the guest pass that has been available already. The guest pass required you to have a Battle.net account and a friend with a trial key, and still was only playable for a limited time.

This demo only allows you to play the first three missions of the single-player campaign, and Skirmish mode against the AI. You also won’t be able to play as the Zerg or Protoss.

Still, at least you can try out the game, if you somehow haven’t played it yet. If you’re wondering if you should, here’s our review to help you decide.

Once you decide, you can go grab the demo right here.

If you have more questions, check out Blizzard’s Demo FAQ.

Dungeons & Dragons Daggerdale Announced

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 08:31 AM PST

Dark forces continue to imperil the Frogotten Realms in Dungeons & Dragons Daggerdale this spring. Atari and Hasbro have the first ever D&D downloadable game slated to appear in Spring 2011 on Xbox Live!, PSN and PC.

Centering around the Dalelands, Daggerdale puts players in the path of an evil wizard names Rezlus, one of the Cult of Zhentarim. Up to four players can cooperate to rebuild the Nentir Vale by exploring the Mines of Tethymar or scaling the Tower of the Void to defeat the arch-wizard.

Little detail is available at the moment for long time fans of the Forgotten Realms. The Forgotten Realms received a pretty big shakeup in its fiction a few years back when Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition launched and if set after the Spellplague, this would be the first 4E era game for this setting.

Players should expect a title similar in approach to the classic console Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance series from all indications.

Check out the announcement trailer here.

Lord of Arcana Brutal Bosses Trailer

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 08:05 AM PST

The new video offers plenty of raw monster meat to feed any slayer's soul. Watch out for splatters of blood as these plump beasts explode onto the screen. You can download this video here or watch it below.

PS3 Owners Get Three Huge Demos

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 08:02 AM PST

If you’ve got a PS3 in your living room, this is a great week for you. This week’s update to the PlayStation Network brings not only the Mass Effect 2 demo, it also adds the demos for LittleBigPlanet 2 and Dead Space 2.

As if that’s not enough, you can also get the Vietnam expansion for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Echochrome 2.

That’s not all of the stuff in this update, but really, do you think you’ll have time for any more over Christmas? Those three demos are nice little stocking stuffer from Sony. I think I’ll go get to downloading.

GameFront 2010: Best Game Box Art of 2010

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 07:15 AM PST

Every year we’re lured to pick up games with the seductive use of marketing and design. While not every awesome game box surropunds a cool game, there are some that stand out every year. Here are the game covers that resonated best with a few of our writers.

Enslaved: Journey to the West

Shawn Sines

I like game covers that sell the core concept of a game right up and in your  face and Enslaved, Ninja Theory’s latest platform adventure title told me everything I needed to know about it on the cover. You play a burly guy with a hot red-headed sidekick who is being relentlessly chased through the post-apocalypse by robots. Namco, you had me at hot red-head.

Fallout: New Vegas

Obsidian and Bethesda know what draws Fallout fans – power armor, weapons and next-generation brown. Throw in some neon Vegas glow and you’ve drawn me to the box. Then again, maybe the eerie glowing eyes peering through the helmet or the nice ballistic hardware worked just as well. Either way New Vegas  grabbed me from the get go.

Limbo

In a throwback to my years in Art School, the minimalist approach of Limbo really sells the game for mee. The smoky setting and visual ties along with a simple, nebulous design that doesn’t feature much more than a shilouetted protagonist evoked mystery and got me interested enough to download the demo.

Gran Turismo 5

Phil Ownes

It's a tame cover, which is why it works so well. Like the game itself, this box art doesn't scream for your attention, because it doesn't need to. The title on the box speaks for itself, and so the art is content with just being quiet and classy.

Alan Wake

This art sets the mood, with Alan a dark figure in the middle of foggy woods, but what makes the cover is the tagline — "A Psychological Action Thriller" — presented in the very muted Futura font. That font, in this context, is creepy and comforting all at once, and it's perfect for such a minimalistic cover.

Alpha Protocol

I really just enjoy looking at this box. It's in the style of a movie poster, and the outline of our hero evokes the Bourne movies — which is appropriate since it's a game about spies — without aping those movies' posters. The faces, then, communicate that you're getting a complex game full of interesting-looking characters. But, as I said at the top, what's most important here is that it just f–king looks very pleasant.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Ron Whitaker

Blizzard always knocks it out of the park in the art department, and Cataclysm is no exception. Deathwing just looks flat-out menacing on this cover, and his huge claws seem to indicate he's about to head out of the cover to lay waste to your house, just like he has most of Azeroth.

Medal of Honor

When EA said they had a first-person shooter in the works that would be more realistic, and less over the top than the Call of Duty games, I chuckled a little. I believe my first thought was, "I'll believe it when I see it." That is, until I saw the box art.

The subdued cover, showing only a Tier 1 operative standing on the line between light and dark, perfectly captured the mood they were shooting for with this game (no pun intended). It didn't need a lot of visual cues, it was just right.
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