Month: October 2009

On the Etiquette of Gaming

The thing that unites us here at GamerSushi is our unhealthy love and adoration of all things related to gaming. I’d like to think it creates a unique bond between us. Something that forms a common knowledge through shared experiences, a collective set of ethics and codes that we follow. Sure we deviate on issues here and there (Splinter Cell Conviction and night vision, for instance), but for the most part, we seem to understand one another.

With that in mind, I’ve put together a list of a few things that I’ve been curious about in terms of gaming etiquette. Things that tend to cause awkwardness in gaming circles or in the online atmosphere. I want to hear what you guys think about these things. Feel free to give as much or as little response as you like. Let’s roll.
Continue reading On the Etiquette of Gaming

Rumor: InFamous 2 to Shock With New Voice Actor?

infamous
Hey, so, I guess that InFamous 2 is in production! I had no idea, but apparently Sucker Punch, developers of the original lightning-themed open world game and the Sly Cooper titles, are fishing around for a new motion-capture/voice actor for the game’s protagonist, Cole McGrath.

The biggest part of this rumor for me is that InFamous is getting a sequel, which is awesome. As you may remember from our Quick Hits feature, I gave InFamous a nice healthy A-. I had a lot of fun playing that game, and even though the story was kind of silly, I’d like to see where it goes.

I didn’t mind Cole’s voice, personally, but I think that if they’re re-casting Cole, they should re-work Zeke as well. He was a pretty awful supporting character with few redeeming qualities. Anyways, enough about my musings on the re-casting, what are your guys’ opinions? Did you play InFamous, and do you think that re-casting Cole is a step in the right direction? What are some games that you enjoyed, but would re-cast the main character?

Source: Destructoid

GamerSushi Asks: Greatest Single Player Game?

uncharted2Two great single player games are coming out today, in case you didn’t know. That’s right, both Uncharted 2 and Brutal Legend are dropping today, and from the reports, they are both awesome. In fact, Adam Sessler referred to Uncharted 2 as the greatest single player game he’s ever played. Ever. While it’s usually hard to take such grand statements seriously, I can’t help but get hyped for this game.

So it got me thinking about what the greatest single player game I’ve ever played actually is. There are quite a few of them, to be honest. Knights of the Old Republic, Mario 64, Final Fantasy 7 and Suikoden III come to mind. Also, Shadow of the Colossus is a strong contender for number one as well.

I’m very much aware that this topic of discussion is the complete opposite end of the spectrum from one we had last week, but I wanted to explore it anyway. So what about you guys? What’s the best single player game you’ve ever played? And are any of you going to pick up Brutal Legend or Uncharted 2? Go!

Dragon Age: Origins Sacred Ashes Trailer

If there was a technical term in the video game industry that was the equivalent of what it would be like to have mind boners, then this new trailer for Dragon Age: Origins comes dangerously close to producing this effect in me. It’s hard to necessarily quantify how badass this trailer is in words, so I’ll just let you guys do the watching. Needless to say, there are dragons in this fantasy game, and it’s something that’s been sorely missing from my favorite pastime.

Who else is getting this game on November 3rd? I’ll be first in line.

GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?

wyp?
Happy Turkey Day to my fellow Canucks, and um, happy Columbus Day to my friends in the States. Seeing as how this is a nice long weekend, perfect for unwinding from the stresses of our daily lives, I thought it would be pertinent to do our monthly checkup on your gaming habits.

Personally, I had a nice zombie-themed day yesterday with a few of my friends, and just zoned out on Nazi Zombies and Left 4 Dead. To cap it all off, we checked out Zombieland, which gets two hearty thumbs up from me. Check it out if you like laughter…or gore.

Besides zombies, I picked up Operation: Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, and so far it’s really engaging. It’s a lot more “realistic” than, say, Call of Duty, which makes it perfect for my mood right now. I’ve only played an hour or so, and it’s got my hungry for more.

What about you guys, though? I know Uncharted 2 and BrĂĽtal Legend don’t come out until Tuesday (who was the genius that came up with releasing these games after a long weekend?), but I’m planning on picking them up anyways, following up with some Borderlands. Are you planning on getting any of these titles, and what’s in your box, station, or PC right now? Answer, or we shall make you play Wii shovel-ware from now until the release of the 2012 movie, which we will force you to watch. It will be torture unending.

The Death of Single Player Gaming

brutal-legendWe’ve talked around these parts before about how single player gaming seems to be going the way of the buffalo, slowly shuffling towards some great doom in future generations of gaming yet to come. It seems that you can’t make a decent single player experience without trying to tack on a co-op mode or some kind of competitive multiplayer. Why, Brutal Legend and Uncharted 2 are recent examples of this idea in action.

Kotaku has put up a fairly thoughtful piece on the idea of single player gaming’s slow extinction, and what it means for the industry. The big factor in most of these multiplayer mode add-ons is that companies don’t want people to resell and buy their games used. To me, you can’t escape the inevitable- used games are here to stay, and there’s nothing you can do about it. What you can do as a game company is lower your budget and (gasp) maybe even the prices of games so that there’s more incentive to both buy and keep the games you want. Another great model is Fallout 3’s DLC packs.

So what do you guys think? Is single player gaming dying?

Kotaku

Review: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

carnage-marvel-ultimate-alliance-2-screenshot
Mindless beat-em-up brawlers occupy a special place in my heart. First off, they’re the easiest games to pick up and play: just grab a controller and mash the hit button until everything is dead. Second, brawlers are awesome for co-op, especially if they are vested in a universe that both you and your co-op partner are interested in.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 takes its cues from a lot of different games and smashes them together with the Marvel universe in hopes that you’ll like the offering. It does have a lot going for it: the Civil War storyline that Marvel published a couple years ago is the main background for the game even if it does make a left turn at the corner of Metal Gear Solid 4 and go all nano-bot on us, forgoing the actual conclusion of the comic series. It is a lot better than the “cram everything in for fan service” campaign from the original Ultimate Alliance where you would be fighting Arcade one second then dusting up Mephisto the next. A more coherent story helps move the game along at a fairly brisk pace while keeping you engaged. The voice-acting is a little hit or miss, however, but the most painful gaffs are confined to the minor characters. Visual representation for the game is serviceable, as you always know what your looking at and your characters are easy to follow. It’s not the most beautiful game by any means, but it’s far from being the ugliest.
Continue reading Review: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Become Filthy Fuel Vultures in Left 4 Dead 2


We’ve got some good news coming out of the Left 4 Dead 2 front this week as it creeps inexorably closer to its November release date. With the demo coming up for pre-order customers (of which I am one), Valve has dropped information for another competitive mode called “Scavenge”.

In this new mode, the four survivors band together in an effort to gather fuel cans from around the level while the Special Infected try to choke, burn, and other-wise decimate the poor would-be escapees. Adding to the complication of having a whole passel of crazy zombies on your tail is the fact that the gas cans in Left 4 Dead are extremely fragile, and can easily be set off by either the Spitter’s acid or an errant bullet. “Scavenge” matches consists of three round at 120 seconds each, with each fuel can be collected by the Survivors adding twenty precious seconds to the clock. The Survivors need to find 16 cans spread across the level in order to win. The levels themselves are arena-like updates of sections from the existing campaign maps.

Now, this strikes me as an excellent idea. I used to play a Source mod called Zombie Master which had a similar mechanic to it, where the humans would collect various item from the level in order to rebuild an escape vehicle while the Zombie Master commanded his hordes in a bid to stop them. Granted, the role of Zombie Master was more of an RTS-type control scheme, but I think Left 4 Dead 2 can pull it off admirably.

So, what do you fellas think of this new mode? Does it strike your fancy, or are you going to stick to campaign and versus? Also, who else has pre-ordered this and for what system?

Source: Destructoid

UK Police Enlist Gamers to Catch Crooks, Form Combine

combine
Now here’s something you don’t see every day. Apparently, the British Police are developing a video game in which ordinary citizens can look through the lenses of actual CCTV cameras and try to catch a crime in progress. If they do see some shifty stuff going down, they just have to click their mouse and the operator on the receiving end is sent a text message including a picture of the alleged dirty deed.

Called Internet Eyes (Eagle Eye was taken), this web-based initiative will launch next month in a town called Stratford-upon-Avon. The site for the game has a “Hall of Fame” for the caught criminals, and will offer ÂŁ1,000 to the most successful sleuth.

This raises all sorts of questions about, first off all, how the Police determines that something is actually a crime, and not just someone who locked their keys in their car. This system is open to abuse that way, where a griefer (and you know there will be griefers), will spam the site with a whole bunch of pictures of nothing. While I’m sure there are contingency plans in place to deal with potential problems, this might backfire in a pretty spectacular way.

I still think it’s a neat idea, just not one without its possible pitfalls. But, what do you guys think? Is this a brilliant scheme by the British Police, or does this cross a line? Can you see something like this spreading around the globe?

Source: Destructoid

Modern Warfare 2: Infamy Trailer

There is no question that Modern Warfare 2 is the most anticipated title of the year, with a hype level that has been snowballing as of late. As if that wasn’t enough, the folks over at Infinity Ward have released a brand new trailer for the game, moving me from excited to a near fever pitch. One of the wildest parts of the trailer? Images of what looks to be Washington, DC under attack. Why isn’t it November yet?

Getting the Gaming Craving

firefightOh man, what a weekend and a week. You guys may have noticed a lack of posting on my part. That is because my life is just a poopstorm of activity these days, with a slight chance of things slowing down finally. We’ll see. My wife and I just bought a house a couple of weeks ago, and have finally moved in. In addition, I’ve been working on Web Zeroes and not to mention my full time job. Mitch, likewise has just started a new job as well, and Anthony’s PC broke. So, we’re doing our best, and I think things are finally about to return to normal.

Since I’ve been so busy, I’ve missed out on the chance to play some games over the last week. And the thing is, the longer it goes, the more I’m starting to crave it again. I find myself oddly dying to play games I haven’t touched in a while, like Resident Evil 5 or Fallout 3. Though another part of me just wants to kick back and do some Firefight in ODST.

So what about you guys? When’s the last time you’ve had to go awhile without playing any games? What games do you start to crave when you haven’t played in awhile?

Review: Halo 3: ODST

Halo 3 ODST reviewHalo 2’s E3 demo from 2003 was the stuff of legends, something that had the fans salivating for the next instalment of Bungie’s break-through franchise. The sight of the Pelican dropship swooping down onto an Earth city under attack by the Covenant took people’s breaths away, and gave them a tantalizing glimpse of our home planet in the Chief’s universe. Ultimately, the final version of Halo 2 featured a New Mombasa that couldn’t deliver on the high hopes set by the demonstration, and left Halo enthusiasts wanting.

Six years later, we finally get our chance to explore the city of New Mombasa as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, or ODST. These special forces troops are dropped from orbiting ships in one-man pods, and are the only human soldiers in the Halo games that can stand up to SPARTANs in terms of bad-assery. The basic premise of the game is that your squad is dropped into New Mombasa, ostensibly to assault a Covenant ship that’s parked above the city, but things go horribly awry. The ship enters light speed inside Earth’s atmosphere causing a massive explosion and scattering your squad to the winds. You mostly play as the Rookie, a new-comer to the ODST squad, six hours after the drop. You search the hub city of Mombasa for clues as to what happened to your squad and your mission.
Continue reading Review: Halo 3: ODST