Gaming Today |
- Microbot Review
- Rockstar Confirms L.A. Noire Spring 2011 Release Via Substance-Free Tweet
- PSP2 Announcement on January 27 Question Mark
- Minecraft Breaks 1 Million Sales As Predicted
- THQ Picking Up Three More Devs From Ubisoft
- Half-off (Some) Activision DLC This Week on Xbox Live
- 25 Terrible Current-Gen Game Boxes (PICS)
- Little Big Planet 2 Cheats
- Mass Effect 2 PS3 Launch Trailer
- Missile Command: The Movie Is Not Something We Just Made Up
- Why You Should Care About Mobile Gaming
- MindJack Cheats
- ‘Splosion Man Creators Think Capcom Ripped Them Off
- Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga PC Demo Download
- A Slight Difference in Intensity Levels
| Posted: 13 Jan 2011 12:11 AM PST
Twin-stick shooters are all pretty much the same, right? Not really. The two best examples of the genre, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 and PixelJunk Shooter, are quite different from each other. Microbot — an effort from developer Naked Sky published by EA — comes in somewhere in between those two, but it has an identity all its own. Microbot is the tale of a tiny robot injected into a person to battle some sort of technological infestation. We’re never given any sort of context for this; the entire game takes place from the perspective of the tiny robot. Given that, Naked Sky sets the mood perfectly — sounds effects come in muted tones, and the music is quite sedated and never uptempo. The environments are beautiful and the colors luscious yet dark; the swirling blood and plasma in which you swim around are entrancing. Because of that mood, I never felt tense while playing Microbot, even though it’s just as frantic at times as any arcade shooter you’ll play. There’s an almost existential satisfaction to playing it; it creates a feeling of calm inevitability in the player. You’re here to do a job, no matter how long it takes, and you will get it done. Yes, I blew up, but that’s part of the process and I will finish this. In the environment, soft shapes give way to hard edges as you move closer and closer to the source of the infection to nurture a growing feeling dread, but the effect is subtle and creates a nagging feeling in the back of the mind rather than overwhelming the general mood.
It’s really a quite marvelous feeling, and I’ve not experienced anything like it in a game since Flower. Unlike Flower, though, there is little strong emotion in Microbot. It’s not a feel-good experience, and the act of finishing the story is not so much satisfying in the traditional sense as much as it is a quiet appreciation for the completion of a life’s journey. Indeed, this tiny robot has completed its sole task in life, and it can now, finally, rest. Gameplay is varied and grows in complexity as you progress, and you can customize your little robot in a huge number of ways. You’ll earn many different weapons, defenses and even items that drastically change the way you move, and you can arrange them in in way you want, even going so far as to, say, put seven electric rotors and no weapons on the bot; this actually works really well, because you’ll move very quickly and you’ll slice through your enemies. The game gains value with a another pair of features. You can play single-screen co-op, and there is a Challenge Mode in which you get one life to try to survive as many levels as possible. For the “value-conscious” gamers (aka douchebags), this is a plus, but I don’t feel these modes make the game better; having a friend play with you negates the somber mood the game creates, and a mode in which you play in order to move up on a leaderboard feels antithetical to Microbot’s journey. These are hollow additions.
And the truth is you don’t need extra value because Microbot will only run you 800 MS Points/$9.99 on PSN anyway. And for your money you get a a truly artful and thought-provoking spin on the twin-stick shooter. It deserves to be played. Pros: It’s just a beautiful experience, man Cons: Extra features feel tacked on Final Score: 95/100
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| Rockstar Confirms L.A. Noire Spring 2011 Release Via Substance-Free Tweet Posted: 12 Jan 2011 05:41 PM PST A few minutes ago, Rockstar saw fit to issue the following non-announcement via their twitter feed:
There you have it: Yes, L.A. Noire is happening this Spring. And yes, yet again there’s no release date. But look! They swear that soon, they will be announcing that information. No, seriously. Those elipses all-but guarantee that something awesome is on the way. Yes, it’s substance-free, but maybe you wanna add them to your twitter following list anyway? Sure, why not. I’m sure the next L.A. Noire announcement will contain actual information.
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| PSP2 Announcement on January 27 Question Mark Posted: 12 Jan 2011 05:19 PM PST
The PSP2 is happening; at this point we’re just waiting for Sony to make it official. MCV and VG247 both say they have sources who tell them Sony will do just that on January 27 at a “business overview and strategy meeting” in Tokyo. I won’t speculate as to whether or not this is true, and Sony obviously won’t openly say s–t about it right now either way as they’re still trying to pretend it doesn’t exist. (Aside from leaking this info in order to build hype.) I wonder, though, if it is true, if Sony would use this event to also announce the Playstation Phone. They’d have to, right? When word about it first came out the thought was that it might come out at the end of 2010; obviously that didn’t happen, but nobody would have thought that could be true if the thing weren’t somewhat close to being retail-ready. Meanwhile, nobody is expecting the PSP2 to hit shelves until late this year, so it’d seem odd if they announced that first. Start the countdown, Sony fanboys. Only 15 days.
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| Minecraft Breaks 1 Million Sales As Predicted Posted: 12 Jan 2011 05:13 PM PST
It’s not always about graphics, marketing or investing millions of dollars — sometimes, it’s just about making a great game. As expected, Minecraft has broken 1 million sales and it hasn’t even left beta yet. The game was released in May 2009 and has scored three Independent Game Frestival Awards nominations. It has also spawned numerous awesome videos. Apparently the urge to be creative is a big draw for players. You can purchase the Minecraft beta today for about $23 and you’ll get the full game when it’s released. Wait, and it’ll go for about $31 — and it could be something totally different than what you’d playing today. Via GameSpot.
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| THQ Picking Up Three More Devs From Ubisoft Posted: 12 Jan 2011 04:56 PM PST
THQ Montreal head and former Assassin’s Creed developer Patrice Désilets is bringing more Ubisoft talen along with him to his new company. Désilets left his position as creative director at Ubisoft in October. In an interview with Joystiq, THQ boss Danny Bilson said the company has hired three of Désilets’ former colleagues at his request. just who they are, however, hasn’t been released yet. “I just know Patrice said, ‘I need these three guys.’ And I said ‘Okay! Whatever you need!’, Bilson said during the interview. “We put all of them on retention and got them started on their non-competes [non-compete agreement]. I kind of know what their roles are, but they were the most important people to Patrice. All three of them are Ubi.” While he’s technically left Ubisoft, Désilets doesn’t start work until the end of May. Via Eurogamer.
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| Half-off (Some) Activision DLC This Week on Xbox Live Posted: 12 Jan 2011 04:12 PM PST
We’ve got the details on the big Activision content sale that’s going on this week, and there’s a ton of it. Major Nelson first let us know about the sale earlier this month, but didn’t release any info about exactly what would be included. Now we know: map packs for a bunch of old Call of Duty games (sorry, no love for Modern Warfare or Modern Warfare 2), some XBLA games and some Guitar Hero and DJ Hero track packs. A bunch of EA content will be on sale later in January. Here’s the full list of what’s on sale: Games
Add-ons
Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
DJ Hero
DJ Hero 2
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| 25 Terrible Current-Gen Game Boxes (PICS) Posted: 12 Jan 2011 03:56 PM PST Game box art has certainly gotten better through the generations; pretty much every game had s–t box art in the 80s, but now only like 80% of the boxes are ugly as sin. The gallery features some of the best of the worst game boxes from the current generation. This gallery is not definitive, and it is not ranked. Just enjoy it.
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| Posted: 12 Jan 2011 03:53 PM PST
Almost completely unique in the gaming world, the original Little Big Planet was a sleeper hit when it was released in 2008. Two years and three million user-generated puzzles later, Media Molecule is unleashing the sequel, sporting a graphics update thanks to the God of War III engine. There are also manifold gameplay changes. Creating levels is easier than ever before, and thanks to the LBP.me website, you can go online and track stats and other useful information. Sackboys can now use grappling hooks and other devices, and level designers can program evil “Sackbots” to act as adversaries for their players. The addition of new game modes is probably the biggest change, since players and creators are no longer confined to puzzling. LBP2 can be played as a puzzle game, a racing game, or even an RPG. With all this stuff going on, you’ll want resources to help keep track of it. Take advantage of the information below, including a full walkthrough. Little Big Planet 2 Walkthrough Little Big Planet 2 PS3 Trophies
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| Mass Effect 2 PS3 Launch Trailer Posted: 12 Jan 2011 03:42 PM PST
I’m sure several of you PS3 owners are peeing your britches full waiting to get a copy of this game in you hands. – Yeah me too. But until then check out this new launch trailer.
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| Missile Command: The Movie Is Not Something We Just Made Up Posted: 12 Jan 2011 03:36 PM PST
Yesterday, Variety reported that the least justifiable movie idea ever is actually happening;
No, that is not a lie. Someone actually thinks that the public is screaming for Missile Command: The movie. The film adaptation of a game no one who wasn’t alive during the Reagan years has ever played. Amazing. But what an ambitious idea, right? Why, they’ll have to spend millions hiring the right screenwriter to take the action packed, epic story of this classic game and translate it to the screen without losing the essence of what makes people care so much about it.
Oh, right. Well, win-win, right? Look, Atari, This is a terrible idea. No one is going to watch this movie. No one. Gamers who remember this game fondly? They are mocking you. People who haven’t heard of this game? THEY OWN CELL PHONES MORE IMPRESSIVE. You are going to take a bath on this, which leads us to conclude this is either a hoax or a tax write off of epic proportions, or… Atari has been inherited by an an insane, inbred, booze addled member of the Spanish Hapsburgs, he has killed off all rivals, and that there is absolutely no one left in the company with the power to tell him no! Assuming the Hapsburg theory is correct, since they’re clearly throwing money at It’s 1980, and a tired, Jolt Cola sotted Air Force technician is in the command center of an isolated, midwestern Nuclear Missile silo, alone. There is nothing to do, ever, so he passes the time playing Pong, Tank, or Donkey Kong on a dusty Atari console. Cast one live actor and hire Gary Cole to voice the computer system. Soundtrack by a reformed J. Geils band. It’s Hollywood gold, baby! I’m not just saying this because I want to
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| Why You Should Care About Mobile Gaming Posted: 12 Jan 2011 03:36 PM PST
Verizon announced that it will carry the iPhone, and there was much rejoicing — for about 10 seconds, until everyone realized that the CDMA chip inside the new phone means you can’t use voice and data at the same time. Even still, Verizon getting the iPhone is kind of a big deal. There are 93 million people on the Verizon network, and while they won’t all be getting iPhones, a whole lot people who formerly didn’t want to because of AT&T probably will be. And many of them are going to have access to the iTunes App Store’s massive complement of mobile games. I know, I know: iPhone games, man. Lots of us in the gaming community don’t believe in them — another casual gaming gimmick in an industry desperately trying to appeal to grandparents and young girls. Guess what, though: Apple and iPhone game makers are literally pulling down billions in revenue from mobile games, and that doesn’t even take into account phones running on Google’s Android OS. Today you can do on a phone what you had to have a high-end PC to do just 15 years ago — you can play games. Against other people.
Lots of mobile games already have leaderboard and achievement support, in the form of Apple’s Game Center and services such as Open Feint. They let you make friends, connect to other players, and see how you measure up. But then there are truly multiplayer online games — N.O.V.A. 2 includes first-person shooter deathmatches to go along with its full-fledged FPS single-player campaign. All you need is a Wi-Fi connection and you’re actually gaming against other people, but on a phone. At CES 2011 last week, we saw another huge leap forward: Electronic Arts is bringing a Rock Band game to Verizon’s 4G LTE network that further increases the power of mobile multiplayer, and ditches the need for Wi-Fi. You’re not going to have to find a Starbucks or a McDonald’s in order to tap away at rhythm games or race opponents (like in Real Racer 2′s 16-player iPhone tracks) — you can do it anywhere, like on a car trip or in line at the bank or from any number of places where playing video games with other people was previously impossible. The big innovations aren’t coming from consoles or even PCs. They’re coming from phones. And here’s really why naysayers should sit up and take notice. LG has a phone that can play games against consoles and PCs. Let me say that again: the LG Optimus 2X can play games. Those games can be played against consoles and PCs. Meaning that 12-year-old French kid who frags you next year in Call of Duty 9 might be playing from a phone on a boat in the middle of a lake. And he’ll still kick your ass.
Time to sit up and take notice, I’d say. We’re talking about gaming quickly becoming possible on just about any device, with the kind of strength that used to be reserved for dedicated machines. We’re talking about gaming in your back pocket wherever you go. And not just shrunk-down console and PC games, either. The small size and dedicated technology found in phones — touchscreens, for example — are actually making for gaming experiences you can’t get anywhere else, and they’re pushing the envelope. App developer Somethin’ Else recently released Papa Sangre, a video game almost completely devoid of graphics. It’s played entirely with sound, in headphones, with the touchscreen controls meant to help you orient yourself in relationship to what you hear and either approach or move away from it. It’s creepy and trippy, to say the least. It’s also a great f—ing idea. For my money and in my experience, the real innovation in gaming right now isn’t coming from having a new motion control rig on every console that fine-tunes the art of virtual bowling. It’s coming from games that are melding touch, tilt, augmented reality and online service, and making it available on small-scale, indie-produced games.
If you’re still not sold on mobile games, you obviously haven’t played them. Sure, there are those that are slight and shallow, but that’s certainly not the whole story. The sooner gamers figure that out and start embracing what’s coming, the sooner the industry will start supporting even more great, platform-crossing user experiences in the realm of things we previously thought impossible.
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| Posted: 12 Jan 2011 02:48 PM PST
Its hard not love a game that features gigantic cyborg gorillas. It becomes even harder when that game offers you the chance to control the aforementioned gorillas with your mind. Mindjack, a new 3rd-person shooter from feelplus and Square Enix, is built around this kind of mind control. Players can take advantage of the cybernetic implants common to all denizens of the gameworld and hack them, inhabit them, and enslave them — whatever best achieves their ends. As part of a team of rogue special ops agents, its your job to combat the corrupt government with your repertoire of mind-hacking skills. Don’t let the evil NERKAS corporation win! Instead, take advantage of all the cheats and information listed below, including a full walkthrough! MindJack Walkthrough MindJack Xbox 360 Achievements Regular AchievementsMind Hacker – Mind hack successfully for the first time – 5G Honorary Citizen – Mind Hack 100 citizens – 20G Newbie – Reach Level 5 – 5G Berserker – Equip the "Berserker Time" plug-in and clear "Destruction Site" or "Steel Giant" – 20G Demigod – Equip the "Demigod Time" plug-in and clear "Headquarters" or "Doorway" – 30G Artist – Obtain all plug-ins – 30G Head Case – Take our 30 enemies with head shots – 20G Combo King – Defeat 10 enemies in a row using attack combos – 30G Hacker – Reach Level 30 – 20G Guru – Reach Level 50 – 40G Artisan – Equip a plug-in for the first time – 5G Birth – Experience the wonder of birth as a Wanderer – 5G Contact – Successfully make contact with Rebecca at San Mira Airport – 10G Star – In Host Play, get hacked into by over 100 Hackers – 40G Shield – 10 people engaged as bullet shields get defeated – 30G Blue Coat – Win 5 times as a Blue Hacker – 5G Apprentice Gatekeeper – As a Red Hacker, hack into an enemy and win – 5G Gatekeeper – As a Red Hacker, successfully defeat 50 Mind Hacker enemies – 20G Guardian – As a Blue Hacker, successfully defeat 50 Mind Hacked enemies – 20G Red Flag – Win 20 times as a Red Hacker – 20G Red Devil – Win 50 times as a Red Hacker – 50G Mind Jacker – Clear half of the scenes with Hackers present – 100G Blue Helmet – Win 20 times as a Blue Hacker – 20G Blue Blood – Win 50 times as a Blue Hacker – 50G Red Cap – Win 5 times as a Red Hacker – 5G Blue Hacker - As a Blue Hacker, defeat a Mind Hacked enemy for the first time – 5G Street Ripper – Mind Hack a Titan and defeat 10 enemies – 30G Gun Wheel Guru – Mind Hack a Gun Wheel and defeat 20 enemies – 30G Muderous Machine – Mind Hack a Quick Draw and defeat 10 enemies – 30G Multi-Tasker – Mind Slave 4 enemies at once – 30G Medic – Heal 20 people – 15G Scratcher – Mind Hack a Swarmer and defeat 10 enemies – 30G Hothead – Defeat an enemy within 1 second of them being Mind Hacked – 5G Receptionist – In Host Play, be hacked into by a Red Hacker for the first time – 5G Red Hacker – As a Red Hacker, defeat a Mind Hacked enemy for the first time – 5G Puppet Master – Successfully Mind Slave 255 times – 30G Mower Man – Use a Finishing Blow on 50 damaged enemies – 30G I Know Kung Fu – Defeat 100 enemies using Attack Combos – 30G Secret AchievementsPyrrhic Victory – Uncover the truth, but lose something valuable – 10G Push the Truth Button – Successfully press on to confront Andrew Gardner – 10G Terminal Departure – Evade enemy forces and escape San Mira Airport on the monorail – 10G Digging Down – Dig down into the truth behind the attack at the airport – 10G Breakthrough – Escape the security cordon – 10G Counterattack – Successfully join forces with Rebecca to repel the terrorist attack – 10G Quick Mover – Working with Fernandez, make good time to Nerkas Campus – 10G Betrayed – Discover Fernandez's betrayal – 10G Confessional – Discover Rebecca's link to Jim's wife – 10G Piece of the Puzzle – Obtain an important piece of the NERKAS puzzle – 10G Search – Search the port for hidden bodies – 10G Reunion – Join forces with your comrade in arms, Fernandez – 10G
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| ‘Splosion Man Creators Think Capcom Ripped Them Off Posted: 12 Jan 2011 02:16 PM PST
The guys at Twisted Pixel are a little annoyed with Capcom Mobile right now. See, Capcom dropped MaXplosion yesterday, an iDevice platformer that puts you in the role of an escaping test subject that explodes to kill enemies and propel itself through the air. Thing is, Twisted Pixel made a game a whole lot like that for Xbox Live Arcade, called ‘Splosion Man. Twisted Pixel’s Mike Henry started tweeting about his irritation with Capcom’s game (which is, in fact, quite similar to ‘Splosion Man) on Twitter — you know, the outlet where you should air all grievances. He started by writing, “MaXplosion gameplay video makes me sad. If you’re going to outright steal a game, you should at least understand what makes it fun.” Ouch.
Mark Wilford, Twisted Pixel’s CEO, took it a step further, calling Capcom out and suggesting that his company needs to make a better iPhone game. And that it shouldn’t be hard to one-up. But he also mentioned that Twisted pitched ‘Splosion Man to Capcom for publishing — and that Capcom turned the game down. Regardless of bad blood spread around on Twitter, Twisted Pixel has told Gamasutra it doesn’t intend to pursue any sort of legal action against Capcom. There’s still no comment from Capcom about the whole matter. Meanwhile, the whole incident has spawned a funny fake Twitter account in @MaXplosion. Via IGN.
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| Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga PC Demo Download Posted: 12 Jan 2011 02:06 PM PST
Divinity II – The Dragon Knight Saga is an epic role-playing game on PC and Xbox 360, that combines the complete adventures of the legendary dragon Knight. This incredible RPG includes the entirely remastered and improved version of Ego Draconis, the original adventure of the Divinity II saga. The content of this edition as well as its graphic engine have both been much improved and overhauled, in order to provide a more beautiful and richer game experience! Divinity II – The Dragon Knight Saga also includes the brand new adventure Flames of Vengeance, which adds dozens of hours of gameplay to the original story, and packs loads of new quests, creatures and items, as well as a spectacular finale to this great saga! A total of over 100 hours of gameplay and more than 180 original quests await you in this epic role-playing game. Embrace the Dragon Knight’s destiny and annihilate the threat that looms over Rivellon! You can visit the official page here for more information.     
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| A Slight Difference in Intensity Levels Posted: 12 Jan 2011 01:18 PM PST
Nice “catch” by Reddit user igotdapowa in identifying Discovery’s Deadliest Catch cover for Xbox 360, and its clear inspiration. I can’t really shame Discovery for borrowing from Call of Duty, but I imagine that players (and hell, maybe World War II veterans) would take issue with comparisons between getting shot at by Nazi gun emplacements and a job the end result of which is a plate of steamed crab legs.
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