Friday, December 31, 2010

Gaming Today

Gaming Today

Nintendo: 3DS Might Negatively Impact Kids’ Eye Growth

Posted: 30 Dec 2010 08:52 PM PST

Video games might not rot your brain, but experts are a little worried 3D could rot your eyes. Okay, rot’s a strong word, and it’s not your actual eyes so much as your brain again.

But that’s why Nintendo is getting ahead of any rotten eye or brain lawsuits now — the company just released a warning on its website ahead of the handheld’s Japanese release in February, according to the Wall Street Journal.

WSJ has pinged the translation of the warning as such:

“For children under the age of six, looking at 3D images for a long time could possibly have a negative impact on the growth of their eyes.”

That might not necessarily be the case — there hasn’t really been any research on the subject of what stereoscopic images like the ones the 3DS and other 3D technologies can actually do to your eyes. But they do have the tendency to make some people feel a little woozy or cause headaches (kind of like first-person viewpoint games and movies), and nobody wants to take any chances.

Nintendo’s not the only company covering its a– on 3D, though. Sony has a similar disclaimer for its 3D technology, which the company is banking on being the next big thing in TV.

Stereoscopic imagery can’t actually damage your brain or your eyeballs, but the trouble, as Ars Technica puts it, is that the brain’s visual system learns by doing. The 3DS and similar technologies basically trick your brain into thinking it’s looking at a 3D image by manipulating what each eye sees — t00 much exposure, some people fear, and the brain’s visual system will start to adapt, uh…funny.

Anyway, there’s no reason to think your eyes will fall out of your head from playing too much 3DS, even if you are six years old. Hopefully parents take note of that part of the story as well, so the 3DS doesn’t rot on shelves. If a proper library of good games means a few kids lose the ability to see, I say that’s a worthy trade*.

Via Ars Technica.

*Dear Internet: That was a joke. We all know the world would be better served if little kids would lose their tongues so they shut up once in a while. They need their eyes to avoid walking into me whenever I go into Target. And no, I’m not too old to be hanging out in the toy section.

Left 4 Dead, GTA IV Prices Slashed for Steam Holiday Sale

Posted: 30 Dec 2010 06:34 PM PST

Clearly, if you’re not a Steam member, you need to be, because the deals on downloadable games are consistently awesome.

We’ve got 15 games on sale until 1 p.m. EST tomorrow, with more than a few of them under $10. Left 4 Dead 2 is among the available games, slashed down to just $4.99 if you’ve already bought Left 4 Dead, and you can get Transformers: War for Cybertron for just under $20, and Grand Theft Auto IV, with The Ballad of Gay Tony and The Lost and the Damned added in, for $10.

Time to warm up the download-button-clicking finger.

Via Joystiq.

Square Enix Releasing New Xenogears Orchestral Soundtrack

Posted: 30 Dec 2010 05:47 PM PST

Squaresoft RPG fans of the 1990s, join me in rejoicing over the fact that Square Enix is releasing a new, 14-track orchestral CD of songs from the soundtrack of its Playstation game Xenogears.

Composed by Yasunori Mitsuda (who collaborated with Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu on the Chrono Trigger soundtrack and yes, Xenogears’ music is at least as good as that), Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral Album includes tracks voted on by fans, with Mitsuda making the final calls. In Japan, you can already preorder the fully reorganized, re-recorded album. It runs about 3,000 yen — roughly $36 U.S. That puts it more than a dozen years after the game’s release, so apparently there are a lot more video game music nerds out there than just me.

For those of you too young or otherwise not in the know — Xenogears was the game that spawned Xenosaga after the release of the Playstation 2, but don’t let that bias you.

I snagged the full soundtrack for Xenogears back in 1998 when it was released, and damn if it isn’t amazing, even in a synthesized, non-orchestral version. Myth is sure to blow Xenogears OST away. There’s no word just yet on U.S. orders, but I’m sure we’ll be hearing about where we can make the purchase soon.

Meantime, check out the official site of the album to hear some samples and (attempt to) read Japanese.

Note to Square Enix: if you guys are taking orders on old-ass orchestral RPG soundtracks — Vagrant Story. Please. Thank you.

Via Gameswag.

Rock Band 3 Gets Johnny Cash

Posted: 30 Dec 2010 05:11 PM PST

Sorry, I couldn’t come up with a decent Johnny Cash pun for the headline. Plus side is, we get to start 2011 playing along to the Man in Black’s songs in Rock Band 3.

Harmonix is tossing us eight songs in its first Johnny Cash track pack for Rock Band, hot on the heels of another big set of downloads that just dropped on December 28. That one had six tracks in total, with four of them from Paul McCartney. This new pack will also include some free tracks that have already been released, smashed together into a nine-song free track pack to celebrate the ball dropping in Times Square.

Here’s what Harmonix is cobbling into Johnny Cash Track Pack 01, which is go on Xbox 360, Wii and Playstation 3:

  • “Cry, Cry, Cry”
  • “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town”
  • “Five Feet High and Rising”
  • “Folsom Prison Blues”
  • “I Got Stripes”
  • “I Walk the Line”
  • “Tennessee Flat Top Box”
  • “The Ballad of Ira Hayes”

And here’s what’s available in Rock Band 3 Free Pack 01, which 360 and PS3 players can grab (suck it sorry, Wii owners):

  • Abnormality – “Visions”
  • Anarchy Club – “Get Clean”
  • Bang Camaro – “Night Lies”
  • Breaking Wheel – “Shoulder to the Plow”
  • Libyans – “Welcome to the Neighborhood”
  • The Main Drag – “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter”
  • Speck – “Conventional Lover”
  • The Sterns – “Supreme Girl”
  • That Handsome Devil – “Rob the Prez-O-Dent”

Whoo! Throw some confetti in celebration or something!

Via Kotaku.

Watch The Gameplay Trailer For Uncharted: Drake’s Deception. All 3 of them.

Posted: 30 Dec 2010 01:05 PM PST

If you’ve watched the first Uncharted: Drake’s Deception trailer, then you’ve probably been feeming like a crack fiend. So far, Naughty Dog have delivered two instant classic in a row, and based on the first trailer, at least tonally it looks like we can expect number 3 in 2001. Even so, it would be nice to know what the actual game is like. Fortunately, Naughty Dog is back with an end-of-the-year gift in the form of the first 3 – !!!! – trailers featuring actual gameplay footage.

The first video has Nate and Sully trying to escape from a burning, collapsing building while, for some reason, they’re being shot at by mooks who aren’t themselves trying to escape. It looks great and Nolan North really delivers on the WHAT THE HELL panic.

I just love leaping down onto someone and killing them in the same moment.

In the second trailer, Drake and Sully are in a dilapidated structure overgrown with what appears to be jungle vegetation. It also looks somewhat similar to the one from the first video that was on fire, and for good reason – random bad guys are spreading gasoline or some other flammable substance. Arson is the surest sign of pure evil.

Third video time. Same building, same predicament. But the last bit before fade to black is all the proof we need that Drake’s deception isn’t fixing what ain’t broke.

Drake’s Deception drops in little less than one excruciating year, on November 11th, 2011.


Video Gaming Kills Korean Student, Article Doesn’t Say

Posted: 30 Dec 2010 08:00 AM PST

The Korea Times is reporting today that a college student identified only as “Moon” died after having spent more than 12 hours at a local PC Bang. It seems he mysteriously fainted, and later died after being rushed to a hospital (warning: Bad translation):

On Monday afternoon in a PC bang in the southeastern city of Ulsan, the collegian, only identified as Moon, suddenly fell to the ground and was rushed to a hospital but he was declared dead upon arrival, police said.

The 19-year-old collegian went to the PC bang at around 2 a.m., stopped by his home briefly at 10:30 a.m., to eat, and returned to the PC bang.

His families and friends told the police that he habitually played the online shooting game.

The article doesn’t actually say which online shooting game it is, but if his college experience was anything like mine, I’m betting it was Perfect Dark. Kidding, kidding. But seriously, if it is, actually, a shooter and not Prius, then my money is on either Call of Duty, or something like Battle Territory. We’ll be keeping our eyes out for more word on what, precisely, is going to be blamed for killing this poor kid.

And yes, we do say ‘blamed’, because while I’m no doctor and I certainly don’t live in Korea, I’m pretty sure that this poor guy didn’t die from gaming. 50 bucks, right now, says there’s a preexisting condition that was likely triggered by sleep deprivation. You’d think, since the compared to, say, alcohol, drugs, or living on top of American Oil, the amount of people who die from gaming related activities is hilariously low that people will keep their heads on straight. But no, video games are apparently a uniquely addictive, uniquely threatening pastime. At least in Korea, where stories about people being utterly ruined by their inability to control their gaming are epidemic. So what do I know?

Well, I know this: PC Bangs sound awesome:

the computer hardware used by PC bangs may be more powerful than the systems available in the players’ homes. Most PC bangs allow players to eat, drink and smoke (often with separate smoking and non-smoking sections) while they play. It is common for PC bangs to sell ramen noodles, canned coffee, soft drinks, and other snacks.

I don’t know about you, but my next vacation is in Seoul. Also, isn’t it funny how whenever old people don’t understand something, it becomes public enemy #1. This is either an argument in favor of free Wiis for everyone, or for keeping people over 50 from ever glancing at a TV screen. I can’t decide which, but say what you will about Americans, we might be ridiculous, but at least when we freak out about the Terrible Threat Of Gaming, we remember that sex sells.

In the meantime, while you’ve got Korea on your brain, why not revisit our E3 coverage of the upcoming FPS Homefront.

Via Hot Blooded Gaming.

C&C: The Forgotten Updated

Posted: 30 Dec 2010 07:00 AM PST

It’s no secret that we here at GameFront LOVE C&C: The Forgotten. We praised it to the stars when it emerged earlier this year, and liked it so much we named it our number one for 2010′s best mods. It also placed 3rd in Mod Db’s single player Mod Of The Year category, which only goes to show that they’re doing something right.

This is all prologue to the news that C&C Labs has begifted us with patch 1.1, an update that improves balance, fixes some glitches, and overall makes The Forgotten more immersive and fun. If you’ve been playing it, or if you’re looking for something to ring in 2011 in style, then get it now. You can download it here.
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