Month: August 2010

About Time: Mass Effect 2 On PS3 In 2011

Mass Effect 2 PS3

File this one under “better late than never”, for sure. There has been speculation for some time that EA and Bioware would eventually bring their critically acclaimed Mass Effect series over to the PS3, and it seems that the time has finally come. At Gamescom today, Bioware announced that Mass Effect 2 will hit for Sony’s machine in January 2011.

While there doesn’t seem to be any word about the first Mass Effect and whether or not it will come included as part of an anthology or if it simply won’t be showing up at all, this is still exciting news. Even though the experience will be slightly diminished without your choices carrying over between two games in such an unprecedented way, Mass Effect 2 will still have a lot for newcomers to enjoy. In terms of storytelling, it’s one of the better games of this generation, and it has to be one of the best and most developed original universes we’ve seen in gaming to date.

I know a bunch of you have already played this game, but surely, there are some happy PS3 users among us who will jump on this on release day. My next question is: what about Mass Effect 3?

Source- Story and image from Joystiq

A Spartan Will Rise When Halo: Reach Falls

Bungie has a new ViDoc out that highlights the various Spartans of Nobel Team, giving you an insight into the minds of your squad members in Halo: Reach. Although the video isn’t especially long, I have to say that the character animations for Halo: Reach are much improved over the previous titles, and every Spartan in the trailer seems to have a great deal of personality. As a little treat to Halo fans, the trailer is narrated by a character we’ve read a lot about in the books, but have never seen in a game. Watch the following video to get the run down on your teammates:

We’re almost at September, so the Halo: Reach news will be coming fast and furious. We’ll definitely try to sort out the chaff so we’re not flooding the website with Halo posts, but this trailer was too good to pass up as a fan of Halo lore. I know this sort of video won’t turn anyone around who has decided not to get Reach, but what about those who are? Even more excited now?

Red Steel 2 Blames You For Low Sales

Red Steel 2One thing you hear over and over again is that the Wii is a waggle-laden fad, and real gamers prefer the precise input of a analog controller to wild arm flailing. Nobody ever considered that we might be at fault instead of the controller, though. At least, this is what Ubisoft Creative Director Jason VandenBerghe claims, saying that the testing phase of Red Steel 2 resulted in “absolute random chaos.” Testers couldn’t figure out how to use the Wii Motion Plus properly, and often resorted to uncoordinated thrashing in order to get the job done. One thing the Ubisoft team behind Red Steel 2 realized is that motion controls were boundless in their potential, limited only by the player utilizing the controllers.

Another factor that contributed to Red Steel 2’s lackluster performance is something VandenBerghe dubbed “audience willingness”, or the motivation to actually get up and move around when playing video games. VandenBerghe claims that no more than “20 percent” of people are going to get up off the couch and move, something that he thinks hindered Red Steel 2’s marketing appeal. Once motion control supplants analog as the main source of input for video games, “audience willingness” will go up, and games like Red Steel 2 will be better received.

Right now I’m wondering what you guys think about Mr. VandenBerghe’s statements. A lot of it seems to place the impetus on gamers to pick up the subtle nuances of game mechanics, something the developers should be attempting to do through in-game tutorials. While VandenBerghe did mention that the design team solved this problem during testing, it seemed to be too little too late. Though Red Steel 2 had decent reviews, it just hasn’t sold that well, barely passing 270,000 copies worldwide. Are we as gamers at fault for the game’s poor performance, or does it lie with the developers and the publishers to ensure that a fun experience is had by all regardless of whether or not they “understand” the controls? Tell us what you think!

Source: Edge

Force Unleashed 2 Video Explores the “Familiar but New”

Personally, I really enjoy the current trend of developers taking time out from building their games to film little documentaries that highlight certain aspects of their current projects. The Force Unleashed 2 appears to be no exception, and a video diary recently hit the internet that highlights the story of the Force-powered sequel, and expands a bit on the roles that Yoda and Boba Fett will play. The two producers interviewed in this video constantly mention a “darker tone” for the sequel, which, coupled with the appearance of Fett and Yoda, definitely serves as a less than subtle allusion to the Empire Strikes Back. Since this is the second chapter of the Force Unleashed, this comparison is most fitting. Much as Luke discovered more about being a Jedi in the second movie, I think we can expect to see Starkiller make the same sort of journey.

I’ve got a lot of hope for the Force Unleashed 2, and I think it can capitalize on the potential of its successor, just as long as the developers can even out the difficulty. What do you guys think? Eager for the second game? Anyone become a little bit more interested after watching this video?

GamerSushi Asks: What’s Your Video Game Dream Job?

As more and more colleges offer courses in designing video games, it occurs to me that I likely don’t have the proper skill set for such an endeavor. I’m not great with math, not artistic and my skills with computers is somewhere between George Jetson and Jar Jar Binks. Plus, from the horror stories I hear about the long hours and stressful deadlines, it just doesn’t sound like my cup of tea.

But still, the idea of making games and having a say in what makes a game great is somewhat appealing, so I wanted to ask you guys what position would you like in a video game company? Myself, obviously, writing the script or scenario for a game would be ideal. I know others would like to create the graphics or gameplay or perhaps even something as specific as enemy design.

So what’s your video game dream job? Engage!

Today’s WTF: Gun Loco Trailer

Square Enix has announced a new X-Box 360 exclusive today called Gun Loco, and the trailer is perhaps one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen. The gameplay looks normal enough, all run and gun action with sliding, weaving and plenty of chest-high objects, but the art style is very, very odd. If you’re old enough to remember Virtua Fighter, you may find the characters in the video to have a similar look with their angular features and blocky body shapes. No word on whether this is a retail title or a LIVE Arcade release, but based on the rough look of the game, I’d guess the latter. Give the trailer a watch:

This is all the info I’ve seen about Gun Loco so far, other than the little tidbit that the character designs were done by respected toy maker Kenny Wong. The game will have both single and multiplayer components when it is released. What do you guys think of the trailer. Did you find it as weird as I did?

Update: It looks like this game is going to a be a full disc-based product after all. Hopefully the art gets a few more passes for polish before the release date.

Quantic Dream Surprised, and also Encouraged, by Heavy Rain’s Success

HEAVYRAINGamesCom is happening this week in Germany, which is yet another awesome convention that we didn’t get to go to. I hear that flights to Europe are pretty expensive, however, so maybe that’s for the best. At any rate, we can expect to see a lot more delicious info about up coming games in addition to all the usual interesting interviews and quotes that come out of these big events.

Take this talk given by Quantic Dream’s David Cage for example. If you’re unfamiliar with the studio, they recently put out Heavy Rain, a different sort of animal by video game standards. Sony put a lot of money behind the game, but even the studio was expecting a flop. Heavy Rain was received rather well, and had pretty good sales number to boot, so David Cage has decreed that gamers are ready for “new paradigms”.

What he means by that is for the last 25-odd years, all we’ve been doing is killing, racing, and hopping on platforms. He feels that violent games are very narrow in their emotional scope, and games like Heavy Rain have a broader impact. He goes on to add this little snippet:

“Games should be art and not toys, if you are uncomfortable with the word ‘art’, then ‘entertainment’ is fine. Toys are disposable, art is poignant,”

Very interesting perspective from David Cage, to say the least. While I think games can function as both a toy and as an art form, I know this is also one of these divisive things that people love to talk about. What do you think or Cage’s statement? Was Heavy Rain a one-off, or will we see similar games in the future?

Source: VG247.com

The Perfect Game?

Halo 3Since I’ve been knocking out some of gaming backlog, I’m currently tussling with a few titles that I wouldn’t ordinarily play in the midst of some heavy hitting releases. At the moment, I’m trying to knock out Alpha Protocol, which is a meager portion of gaming goodness at best. While the game isn’t bad per se, to me it just highlights everything that Mass Effect 2 did right with that style of play. Even Mass Effect 1, which wasn’t nearly as good as the sequel, does many things better than AP.

But as good as Mass Effect 2 is in my mind, I know that it was a game that was far from perfect. And as I thought more about this, I realized many of my favorite games have some huge glaring flaws. Anthony, a newcomer to the 360, just finished Halo 3 over the weekend, and had some legitimate complaints about the last third of the game, really (though I’ll let him speak more to that himself). The game is one of my favorites of this gen, but I won’t argue about all the things that are wrong with it.

Interestingly enough, one of my other friends calls Halo 3 multiplayer “the perfect game”. While I disagree from just a game play perspective, I think I must disagree from a philosophical perspective as well. Is there such a thing as the perfect game? I’m not talking about just a game without any technical glitches or whatever, but a game that is the perfect blend of all the things that make gaming good? Some of my favorite titles are far from perfect. And really, the closest thing I can think of off the top of my head is Portal.

So what do you guys think? Can there ever be a perfect game? And what games to you hit the closest?

Chrono Cross Game Blog Part IV: The First Disappointment Is The Worst Disappointment

Welcome back! When we last left our heroes, they were heading to Termina, the largest city on the El Nido archipelago. But to get there will require a brief journey through Fossil Valley, a place that sounds like a track from Mario Kart.

Turns out there are some soldiers who are excavating the area and apparently are in need of an exorcist? A few lies later and I am past the guards, who clearly have no idea what an exorcist looks like. PROTIP: They’re usually wearing a white collar and carry a crucifix. It seems there is a spooky howling noise and the soldiers want me, the alleged exorcist, to make it stop. Personally, it sounds like the wind to me, but maybe that is due to the limitations of the PS1’s sound card.

Walking up to a very large fossil of a dragon, when a skull bounces up to greet me. Suddenly, I wish I had done more drugs in my youth.The skull claims that he can tell Serge is dead, which is partially true, at least in this world. He wants me to help him find the rest of his body. Sounds like Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest but with slightly better graphics. How do I know this guy is on the up and up? Answer: I don’t, but what the hell else am I going to do right? It’s not like I’m stuck in a parallel dimension or anything, far away from home and my loved ones. So now I have a HEAVY SKULL. Jealous, much?
Continue reading Chrono Cross Game Blog Part IV: The First Disappointment Is The Worst Disappointment

Game Music Face Off!!! Halo 3 vs. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Time for some more juicy gaming music goodness. This week, we have the two biggest FPS franchises in the world, squaring off.

Less than an hour ago, I finally finished the fight and completed Halo 3. During my many runs of the final level, I came to know this song rather well, as it plays during the mad dash you make at the end. Through many retries, I finally managed to best it, but it wasn’t so bad because the music was kind of kick ass. An epic song that honestly was the part I liked most about that last level.

On the other hand, Modern Warfare 2, for all its heights and lows, has some pretty good music, too. Whenever this song plays before an online match, it gets me pretty pumped up. Crunchy metal guitars mixed with orchestral music? Count me in!

So which do you prefer out of these two songs?

Halo 3 – Greatest Journey
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34cGnonnTiA[/youtube]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Going Loud
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPj5iEoEIeY&feature=related[/youtube]

Which song do you prefer?

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FOX News Talks About Medal of Honor, is Surprisingly Even-Handed

There’s a new Medal of Honor coming out, and news has dropped that in the multiplayer segment of the game, one side will take on the role of the Taliban. Naturally, this sort of “ripped from today’s headlines” type of story is a natural fit for FOX News, which previously treated gamers with a fair and un-biased look at the sex scene in Mass Effect. Sarcasm aside, this time around the FOX News anchor actually played the devil’s advocate for EA and Danger Close Games, the developers of Medal Of Honor. The segment’s guest, a mother who had lost her son in the current conflict came on to say that treating modern events like a game does a diservice to those who have died in uniform. I’ll let you watch the interview and decide for yourselves.

Now, I’m not one for censorship, and the anchor is correct, someone always has to be the bad guy. Unfortunately, the bad guy in this case is one of the most violent and dangerous terror groups in recent history. On the other hand, playing as the Taliban is confined to multiplayer, and games like Call of Duty and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 give you the option to gun down virtual American troops as well. There are multiple sides to this issue, but I want to know what you guys think. Is it wrong for EA to allow players to play as the Taliban? Is it any different than playing as a similarly themed, but differently named, terrorist faction in other first person shooters?

GamerSushi Asks: Where Do You Get Your News, Reviews and Previews?

As much as we might like to imagine it, we here at GamerSushi can’t always supply you guys with reviews of all the latest games or previews of anything that we didn’t download as a demo. And most of our news is culled from other sites, though carefully chosen so you get only the coolest stuff here.

And we aren’t naive enough to think that you don’t visit other sites. It’s okay, we see other people, too. We have a nice open relationship and I think it’s working out for everyone involved. And unlike the ones in college, this sort of open relationship is less likely to cause emotional trauma (Although, watch out for IGN’s Insane-O Ads; those things could slow down Skynet).

So that leaves the question: where do you get your gaming news? What sites or magazines do you trust the most for reviews and previews? Are there any that you refuse to visit, perhaps due to a past experience? Go!

Wanna Watch A Halo: Reach Team Slayer Match?

Psst. You got that itch? That little feeling in your hands, the one where you just ache to throw a plasma grenade at somebody and feel that awesome tingle of joy when it sticks to their body and you watch them run around like they just found out they were adopted before they explode? Yeah, me too.

Sadly, we have another month to go before Halo: Reach hits store shelves, so I can’t do anything about your desire to blow people up or LOCK BLOCK them, but I can give you a small taste of what you will be doing for the next few months. Enjoy and remember…the first hit is always free:

Gaming Journalism Needs To Grow Up

GamePro has a great article that gets to the heart of an issue that I have been stewing about for quite some time: the quality of games journalism. Oftentimes, it seems that it consists of previews, reviews and industry news. There is very little investigative reporting, unless you count interviewing a voice actor as investigating and almost no follow-up once a game has been released, unless it is a buggy mess.

Publishers use journalists to get the story they want out there and if you don’t cooperate, they will just limit your access and all of sudden you will find yourself being the only website in the world not having a preview or early review of the latest and hottest game.

This article goes into details about a few issues facing reporters these days and I think it is worth reading. Reporters are not there to cheer or advocate for their favorite games or consoles, that should be clear.

What do you think can be done to improve the state of gaming journalism? Do you even think there is a problem?

Source: GamePro

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Trailer is Double Elbow all the Way

We’ve seen a few CGI trailers for Deus Ex so far, but nothing that remotely resembles gameplay. A lot of you are probably wondering how the game looks when it’s running in-engine, and Square Enix has put out a new trailer to quiet your inquiries. This new video blends cutscenes and in-game action, and it looks pretty slick if really, really golden. Seriously, they need to get some white lights in this city.

Looks like we’ll be able to do all the stuff promised in the first trailer, such as neck-snapping through walls and turning invisible. Also, any game that features transforming gun-arms are OK in my book. What do you guys think of Deus Ex? Now that you’ve seen some gameplay, are you excited?

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 7: Rage Quitting the Cast

Rage QuitAnd we’re back!

We’ve been on break with the GamerSushi podcast for several weeks now because I was on vacation in the land of Florida, drinking orange juice and sunshine and visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. As soon as we got a chance this week, we all sat down and recorded a new edition of the show.

In this episode, we talk about a number of things including Limbo, pirating video games and the idea of rage quitting. It clocks in at right around an hour and forty minutes, and I think it’s a good time. Unfortunately, something went wrong with our connection, so the last twenty minutes or so has some audio glitches, but it’s nothing that breaks the podcast. We actually recorded this a few days ago, but since I’ve been lazy it’s not going up until now.

As always, please go rate this cast on iTunes and subscribe with the handy links to the right. Enjoy!
Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Ep 7: Rage Quitting the Cast

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StarCraft II Victim of Pirate Rush: Downloaded Illegally Over 260,000 Times

starcraft_2_logoAs you may have heard, a little known franchise called StarCraft returned from obscurity this past week, shocking everyone in the world by selling 721,000 copies in its first week according to the NPD numbers. Surely this unexpected bonanza will lift Activision-Blizzard from the depths of poverty in which they had lain for so long.

What may or may not shock you, depending on your depth of reality, is that StarCraft II is also the most pirated game of the year. Probably. I mean, no one has bothered to check the figures on APB, but I doubt they come close.

According to TorrentFreak, the rampant pirates of the Internet have illegally downloaded StarCraft II 260,000 times, with 50,000 people sharing the game at one time on BitTorrent. Now, you may call me naive, but I tend to think that this isn’t the same few people downloading and redownloading the game over and over. No, call me cynical, but I think these are all unique users.

Now, despite my earlier sarcasm, we all know that StarCraft II is one of the most anticipated games of all time. So, keeping that in mind…wouldn’t you just save up some money and buy it? I mean, you know it’s coming out, it’s not like they kept it a secret or anything.

How does this make you feel? I know, I know, most of these people will buy it once they verify that the OVERWHELMINGLY positive reviews are not giant balls of deceit, but I still can’t help but feel angry on behalf of the people who worked for years on this game, only to have some dude with a broadband connection decide he (or she; I’m not sexist) doesn’t have to pay money for it.

We actually talked about this very subject in the new podcast you must listen to right this second, regarding the game Machinarium, which was also a victim of massive piracy.

What do you guys think? Did you buy StarCraft II? Does it make you angry that some people choose not to play by the rules?

Source: TorrentFreak

Scott Pilgrim Brings The Retro Gaming Easter Eggs

As some of you may be aware, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is set to come out in theaters tomorrow. For those of you who have not seen the preview, I urge you to google it right the hell now. If you like video games, you will, at the very least, be amused by the trailer.

The movie is based on a graphic novel, which contains tons of references to old school games, some so old that I had forgotten about them completely until now. Our good friends at GamesRadar put together a nifty little list of them and I thought it might be fun to share it with you guys.

Personally, the River City Ransom “BARF” and the coins dropping are my favorites. I’ve always had a soft spot for that game, ever since I first read about it in Nintendo Power back in the 80s. What references did you think were cool? Are you planning on seeing the movie?

BARF! I mean, GO!

Source: GamesRadar

GamerSushi Poll: Which Do You Think Will Sell Better: Move or Kinect?

We are about a month away from the launch of Sony’s Playstation Move and in November, Microsoft will release Kinect. The two devices, rather than being similar, are actually quite different and seem to cater to two different mindsets of gamers out there.

Personally, I’m not looking seriously at buying either one of them, but if I had to choose, I think Move has that hardcore edge I would be looking for. Plus, I like buttons and I’m lazy.That being said, I think Kinect will outsell Move by a wide margin. The money of Microsoft and the allure of something so high tech will trap the casual game market more so than the precision that Move seems to offer.

So my question is…

Which do you think will sell more units?

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