Month: October 2010

Gears of War 3 Gets Public Beta and Dedicated Servers

Somehow developers keep forgetting to invite us to their press conferences (our invite probably got lost in the mail), so we don’t get to see awesome things like Gears of War 3’s multiplayer hands on. Now that I have the self-deprecation out of the way, I can tell you that EPIC Games recently invited a bunch of journalist types to their offices in North Carolina to check out the latest offering in the chainsaw-and-cover franchise.

While we reported last week that Gears 3 was being delayed until the Fall of 2011 because of a marketing decision, it turns out this speculation was a little off the mark. In a total surprise move, EPIC Games will be hosting a public Beta for Gears 3 early in 2011. As we may remember from Gears of War 2, the multiplayer was a bit of a mess. It usually took about fifteen minutes on average to find a game, and then, if you didn’t get host, you might have well just quit. EPIC hopes to address this issue by having dedicated servers this time around to get rid of the hosting problem and a Beta to iron out the bugs. IGN has a video preview of all the changes coming at us in the Beta and Fall 2011, when the game finally hits:

Source – IGN

GamerSushi Asks: What Games Changed How You View Games?

Aeris and Highwind

This is a topic we’ve kind of covered before, but I love talking about it so much you’re not going to get me to stop. In my mind, there’s always that one game that gamers have that changed the way they felt about gaming in general. Somehow, it stretched beyond the boundaries of what we thought a game could be and do, and it stuck with us in ways that other games never did. Whether that’s because of emotional impact, story, a certain mechanic changes depending on who you ask.

For me, that game will always be Final Fantasy VII, and I say that completely unapologetic. As I talked about on our S games podcast, it’s a game that I played at exactly the right time in my life, and it not only turned my expectations of games on their head, but also the way I viewed story. As with anything I liked at that age, it’s by no means perfect, but it was perfect for a young dude like me and I think that matters.

I’ve written at length today about FFVII on my blog, but I thought the question would be pertinent here as well. What games changed the way you viewed games? Which have affected you most deeply, and for what reasons?

Poll: Twitter or Faceback Connectivity In Games?

A recent trend in video games that has slowly been building steam is linking your games to Facebook or Twitter, so all your classmates, coworkers and family members can see exactly why you left the family reunion early: to finally finish Uncharted 2 on Crushing.

Now, this kind of thing isn’t really for me, not because I’m ashamed of my nerdom status, but mainly because I don’t like to reveal my whole life on the Internet. Sadly, I think I am in the minority these days. I was curious if this was a generational hang-up or if my fellow gamers agree that they don’t really like these features. What say you?

What's Your Opinion On Twitter/Facebook Connectivity In Games?

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Force Unleashed 3 Not Actually Canned, Still in Planning Stages

Force Unleashed 3 Not CanceledIt seems that the earlier reports of LucasArt’s new heavy-handed boss Paul Meegan outright canceling the Force Unleashed 3 prematurely might have been unsubstantiated.  In a recent interview, The Force Unleashed 2’s project lead Julio Torres said that the third game hasn’t been trashed, but instead has been put into a holding pattern so the developers can figure out how to work it into the existing Star Wars canon.

Julio Torres mentioned that, with the way that The Force Unleashed 2 ends, a third act is inevitable. In the internal Star Wars timeline, there’s about a few years between the end of TFU2 and the beginning of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, so they need to take some time to figure out how to smooth things over with the existing continuity.

Now, I haven’t pegged George Lucas for a stickler for canon these last few years, what with the Clone Wars TV show completely obliterating all the preceding history set by the novels and the animated series that came out after Star Wars: Episode 2. While I’d like to think that The Force Unleashed 3 is inevitable, its life probably hangs on sales figures. If 2 does a bang-up job, I expect that we’ll see 3 being announced at next year’s Video Game Awards.

What do you guys think? Is The Force Unleashed 3 still in development, or has it already kicked the bucket? Would you like to see a third chapter?

Source: NowGamer

Ranking the Most Important Online Gaming Experiences of 2010

Valve Mac

The funny thing about online gaming is that it’s an experience that seems to get overhauled every few years. While still in its infancy compared to the longer history of gaming in general, online gaming is going to continue to change in marvelous and unexpected ways. I can actually still remember my first online game, which was in the older than old school Rainbow Six on the PC. After that, it was Quake 2.

As 2010 will soon be drawing to a close, Mashable is taking a look at the year in review for their upcoming popular Mashable Awards. One of their categories this year is “best online game”, so in preparation they’ve released this featured list of 5 Experiences that Redefined Online Gaming in 2010.

I have to say, it’s definitely an interesting read, and I can’t really argue with it. For one, they include Portal’s free release on Steam when it came to Mac systems (and let’s be honest, Valve finds a way to get Steam on a list like this every year). On top of that, they point towards both Minecraft and even Starcraft II’s removal of LAN play except over Battle.net as key moments in online gaming this year as well.

So what do you guys think of this list? What were some of this year’s biggest online developments? And on top of that, what were your favorite online experiences?

Source – Mashable

Rumor: Bungie Teases MMO as Their Next Game

Bungie MMOI don’t want to start off this article by saying that we’re a bunch of gaming prophets or anything, but sometimes we make frighteningly accurate predictions. I don’t know if any of you recall, but on our E3 podcast, we conjectured that Bungie and Activision might be putting out an MMO since Activision loves recurring payments and Bungie loves making games. Turns out we might not have been too far off the mark.

In a recent keynote speech at GDC Online Austin, Bungie’s Joe Staten, known for writing the Halo games along with the Contact Harvest novel, talked about building the canon around Halo and how that contributed to the game’s success. After he finished giving his speech (in which he admitted that the ending to Halo 2 was a total mess, confirming what we knew all along), he opened up to some Q&A with the audience. One of the questions was related to Bungie’s next project, to which Staten responded with this little snippet:

“Wouldn’t it be great if we could make a world that was always there for you?”, replied Staten. “Wow. That would be great.”

While he doesn’t out and out say that an MMO is indeed Bungie’s next project, his comment does seem to lean in that direction. While his whole discussion on the writing of Halo was a great read, this is probably going to be the sticking point for people going forward.

We’re undoubtedly going to see something concrete from Bungie’s next project soon, so do you guys think they’re going to go the MMO route? Do you think it will be First Person or some other genre? Based on Halo: Reach, I’d love to see some space combat in there as well.

Source: Gamasutra

Starcraft II Project Vector Mod Goes from RTS to Dead Space

Wow. This is one of those videos that’s so impressive there’s not really a whole lot to say about it. Project Vector is a Starcraft II Mod that was created with the goal of achieving a playable third person survival-horror game out of the popular RTS. And it looks like they’re actually making some progress, if the new Project Vector demo is of any indication. It’s pretty much Dead Space in Starcraft II’s engine, which is something I never saw happening.

According to its creators over on the SC2Mapster forums, the game is currently playable, but they are still working on some additional revisions. Since they know the entire project will take some time to finish, they’re considering releasing it in small chunks so the community can get their hands on it.

This is all kinds of awesome. And I’ll go out on a limb here: until consoles can start to do this kind of thing with this level of quality, no one can call PC gaming definitively dead. Boom.

Source – SC2Mapster

The Science of Games Goes Behind Fallout, but Still Can’t Explain Nuka Cola

One of the most imaginative franchises in gaming is Fallout, envisioned as an alternate future where the art-deco mind-set of the 1950s dominated the design of everything from home computers to robots. However, this retro-futuristic setting was destroyed be a devastating nuclear war, and humanity is still trying to rebuild itself during the series. While the game is fairly imaginative and speculatory, it still has to have a reality behind it. Where the Science of Games comes in is that point, where the fictional meets the factual. How well does Fallout stand up under the microscope?

I personally really enjoy this series, and in the past they have covered games such as Mass Effect and Star Wars and have explored whether or not the fantastical gadgets in those games are feasible. What did you guys think of this particular segment? What games would you like them to cover in the future? Personally, I’d love to see a Left 4 Dead or Dead Rising themed one, exploring the realities of the zombie apocalypse.

GamerSushi Asks: Console Regret?

ConsolesAh, the path not taken. Going down that line of thought can lead one into dizzying paths of despair and eventually, inevitably, to alcoholism. But sometimes, just sometimes, it can be fun. Hopefully, this will be the one of those times. I got to thinking the other day about my video game history and all the consoles I’ve owned. I have no real regrets about anything I bought, although perhaps getting an Xbox during its heyday would have been a smart move, but that was more of a monetary decision than anything else.

Which leads me to our question: are there any consoles out there that you wish you had bought? Perhaps something that, looking back through the clear lens of the present, you know now that you should have experienced? On the other hand, are there any consoles you bought that you regret? Any Virtual Boy owners out there? Commence weeping!

GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Since I haven’t been playing very many games in the last few days, I thought I’d live vicariously through you guys. Caught up in the middle of a substantial amount of personal writing, I’ve set my gaming aside just a bit. It keeps nipping at my heels, too, but I try and resist as much as possible.

So, if I weren’t writing, here are the games I would be playing: Halo: Reach (Captain Grade 1, bitches), Lego Harry Potter (I refuse to return it until I get an achievement), Breath of Death VII, Dead Rising 2, and Minecraft, although I might cave and check that one out tonight. On my list for the next couple of weeks: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

What about you animals? What are you playing?

Top 20 Most Played Wii Games List Has a New Challenger

Super Smash Bros Brawl

Being a nerd and a dude that both writes and studies numbers for my job, I suppose you could say I like statistics. While any marketing company can spin you a tale about how their games are being played online every day, it’s numbers that tell the true story, and without any of the other word garbage.

If you have the Nintendo Channel downloaded on your Wii, Nintendo has made a great deal of data available including charts and graphs and other fancy things to show fans which of their games average the most play time per user. This data is pulled from users who share their data with Nintendo via the Wii, and it figures out what users play and for how long. Each month, Kotaku pulls these 20 most loved Wii games for nerds like you and I to take a gander at.

This month’s edition of the statistics reveal a few interesting things, including the fact that Super Smash Bros (which averages 78 hours of play time per user) has been de-throned from the number one spot. You might be wondering which game would take down such a lofty title, one that formed some of the most fun I had on the Wii in my short time of owning one. Hit the jump to see the full list! Continue reading Top 20 Most Played Wii Games List Has a New Challenger

Little Big Planet 2 was Delayed to Accommodate Offline PS3s

little big planet 2 delayWhile Little Big Planet 2’s delay late last month was heartbreaking news, it wasn’t without reason. As a large part of LBP2’s uniqueness comes from the building and sharing of custom levels online, this requires your PlayStation 3 to be connected to the Internet. Alas, even in 2010, there are still some out there who don’t hook into the Internet, and by extension, the PlayStation Network. If you’re looking to place the blame on anyone for the game’s delay, look at these troglodytes rather than Media Molecule, the game’s developer.

Alex Evans, the head honcho over at MM, spoke to the news barons at VG247 regarding the delay of Little Big Planet 2 and why the studio thought it was necessary:

“Like LittleBigPlanet, we will be supporting the game with patches, updates and whatever, but you have to realize right from the beginning that there are those people who don’t have online and that is why we decided it was the right decision to delay the game. We respect people don’t have online and don’t want to patch their game to get the full experience. We could have shipped it and it would have been fine, however we realized that with just a couple of extra week’s we could make the game super amazing, adding the super onto the already amazing which exists today. This is something that will live forever and the delay, people will forget about. I’m really sorry the delay frustrated people, even us, I mean I really wanted to get this game out for Christmas so hard. We pushed ourselves but realized with just a few more weeks we could make it perfect.”

So there you have it people, Little Big Planet 2 was delayed so even your average person can get the full experience. It seems to me that those most interested in LBP2 would have their PS3s connected anyways because they’re aware of the game’s full suite of features, but I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry.

It’s nice the Media Molecule are being so candid about the delay, which reminds me just how upstanding the studio really is. Part of his quote makes him sound like he resents offline folk, but again that might be me. What do you guys think of the delay? Legitimate, or should those guilty PS3 owners join us in the year 2006? The game is due to come out early 2011.

Source: VG247

Minecraft: The Guest Review

People first started suggesting I cover Minecraft on Bytejacker a little over a year ago. I messed around with it a bit and felt lukewarm on it. At the time, it was basically just a world of Legos – a cute sandbox you could dig and build in with others, but really nothing more than a technical demo. “Impressive for being made by one guy,” I thought. “I hope he can turn it into something.” Continue reading Minecraft: The Guest Review

Catching Up with the Castlevania Retrospective

When it comes to original video content, I think that GameTrailers has some of the best retrospective features around. They’re usually informative, entertaining and ridiculously well researched. And to top it off, they’re about some of the biggest franchises in all of gaming.

This week, in honor of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow’s release, they return with part 1 of their Castlevania Retrospective, which is all about the origin of Dracula and his sordid history with the Belmont clan. Having never played a Castlevania game (don’t tar and feather me, Anthony), this whole thing is pretty fascinating to me, and I’d be a crazy person to hear that music and see that gameplay and not start itching to pick those titles up. Going to have to add Symphony of the Night to the list, and soon. I seriously can’t get enough of these things.

Can we get a roll call from the Castlevania fans out there?

GamerSushi Asks: Favorite Video Game Urban Legends?

Sheng Long Street FighterThe Tomb Raider Nude Code. Sheng Long in Street Fighter II. Savvy gamers instantly smile or roll their eyes upon hearing these phrases because we know what they are: lies. Dirty, shameless lies. Whether we were once fooled by them in our more naive days or we pulled the figurative wool over our friends eyes for a laugh, these myths have persisted throughout the years, like a digital Sasquatch.

So coming across this list from 1UP detailing the most famous video game urban legends, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia and a sudden fit of laughter. My personal tale involves a foolish friend who did all manner of insane things in Final Fantasy VII in a vain effort to bring Aeris back. Things such as accumulate 100,000 GP in the Gold Saucer and steal from a Tonberry 100 times in one battle. Where did this poor sap get this idiotic notion? Why, from me, of course! Man, was he mad!

Which myths on the list did you fall for? Have you ever played a trick on a friend in such a devious manner? GO!

Source: 1UP

Poll: Which Unannounced Sequel Do You Want First?

While we generally know the lists of titles available in the coming months, including Spring of 2011, we’re still unsure about what all lies in store for next year. There’s plenty of room for surprise when it comes to gaming release dates, and anybody’s guess is as good as mine.

That being said, I started thinking about a list of sequels that we haven’t really heard any rumblings about in a while, with no idea as to when they’re going to come. This “unannounced sequels list” includes: Half-Life 2: Episode 3, The Elder Scrolls V, Counter-Strike 2, Grand Theft Auto V, Mass Effect 3 and Uncharted 3. Really, looking at them, that’s an incredible line-up, and I wouldn’t be sorry to see all of them drop in the same year, say 2012 or so.

It’s actually hard to decide which one I’d want to tackle first, so I thought I’d let you guys decide. Go.

Which do you want to play first?

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GamerSushi Asks: Real Life Video Game Power-Ups?

Mario Fire Flower

Power ups are some of my favorite things created by game developers. Sure, they often take the form of nonsensical things, but what better way to mix up the gameplay in a stale title than to let your hero do something completely out of the norm, whether it be a special spin attack after eating pizza a la the TMNT arcade games or getting the Tanooki suit in Super Mario Bros. 3. Personally, some of my favorite power-ups include quad damage from the Quake series, as well as the Donkey Kong hammer in Super Smash Bros.

But what if we could have power-ups apart from gaming? That’s the question Filefront is asking in one of their recent features, 10 Greatest Game Power-Ups to Have in Real Life, and I found it quite entertaining. They cover everything from Pay n’ Sprays in GTA to skill books from Elder Scrolls. The number one is a bit obvious, but no less desirable. A few notable misses would include the speed shoes from Sonic and the star from Super Mario Bros., because who wouldn’t want to be invincible?

Which video game power-ups are your favorite, and which would you prefer to have in real life? Go!

Source – Filefront

Mass Effect 2 on PS3 Will Use Introductory Module to Bring Players up to Speed

mass effect 2 ps3One of the biggest features touted for Mass Effect 2 was the ability to import saves from the original game and carry on your story as Shepard. While PC and X-Box 360 gamers world wide were able to enjoy this bonus, PlayStation 3 users are going to have a bit of a handicap going into the sequel due to the first game never making it to their system. BioWare, ever the crafty sorts, have a solution in the form of an introductory module. BioWare founders Dr Ray Muzyka and Dr Greg Zeschuk relieved a little bit about the module in a recent chat with CVG:

“What we’re providing is an introductory module. We haven’t revealed the details of what that is yet, but it’s going to provide a lot of information on both the context and setting of Mass Effect”

So nothing significant at this point, but its good to know that PS3 players won’t be totally in the dark when they step into Mass Effect 2. Hopefully this introductory module will enable gamers to make the big decisions from the first game in a truncated form, instead of having Mass Effect 2 assign them a pre-determined background like it did for the PC and the 360.

There you have it, PlayStation 3 folks, not only do you get all the DLC bundled with the disc when the game hits in January 2011, but you’ll also have an opportunity to catch up with the universe pre-ME2. This is definitely good news, and the more people that get to experience Mass Effect the better. Any PlayStation people excited about this news?

Source: CVG

Nintendo 3DS Screenshot Comparisons Might Surprise You

Metal Gear Solid 3 3DS

As much as I might express concern over the still unsure pricing of the Nintendo 3DS here in the U.S., I’m going to swallow my pride and just admit that I want one more than you can imagine. Although I suppose you could imagine it if you tried really hard and thought about something you really, really wanted, but that ruins the illustration, and makes you a jerk.

Anyway, while I knew from trailers and screenshots that the 3DS had rather impressive visuals, the only real way to tell just how much better Nintendo’s new handheld looks over its predecessor is to see side-by-side screenshots. On top of that, how much better do the remakes of the old N64 games like Ocarina of Time and Starfox 64 appear? The answer could be shocking (hint: it’s “a lot”).

Check out the comparisons after the jump. Continue reading Nintendo 3DS Screenshot Comparisons Might Surprise You

Duke Nukem Forever Live Video Takes the Piss Out of Gaming

Duke Nukem Forever, shown in its resurgent form at PAX 2010 thanks to Gearbox Software, is finally gaining some momentum and is actually coming to home systems next year. The game has only been shown behind closed doors so far, but plenty of off-screen footage has been taken. This most recent video, taken at the Firstlook gaming convention in Amsterdam, shows that the humor that was prevalent in the series back in the day is still permeating the title. Whether or not people still find this stuff funny is up for debate, but I thought I’d post the video anyways since I know a bunch of you are jonesing hard for this one. The game actually starts going at two minutes in if you want to skip Randy Pitchford’s pontificating.

I’ll admit that the game itself actually looks pretty good, and the fight against the giant alien is pretty intense (who doesn’t use God Mode at demos?), but the attempts at toilet humor just didn’t do it for me. Also, when someone is urinating, can’t you typically see their equipment? Methinks Duke might be compensating. As always, we’d love to know what you guys think about this new video. Do you bet on Duke, or was this video not doing it for you? Are you maybe dreading the inevitable destruction of the world that will prevent this game from ever coming out? Go!