Mitch has written a total of 335,654 words on this site.

mitch@gamersushi.com Twitter: @mi7ch Gamertag: Lubeius PSN ID: Lubeius SteamID: Mister_L Origin/EA:Lube182 Currently Playing: PUBG, Rainbow 6: Siege, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Total War: Warhammer 2

Microsoft Spending Half a Billion to Promote Kinect

kinect half a billionWe all knew that Microsoft had deep pockets, but I would have never pegged them as the kind to go hog wild with their limitless font of cash. Apparently I was wrong in that assumption, because the software giant has pledged half a billion dollars to promote Kinect, the controller-free peripheral launching November 4 for the Xbox 360.

According to the New York Post, Microsoft began planning the multifaceted launch of Kinect almost 18 months ago with the help of Stephen Spielberg. With such a large amount of money dedicated to getting Kinect on everyone’s minds, we can expect to see the little black sensor pop everywhere from soda cans and magazines to the TV shows Glee and Dancing with the Stars. All this is going towards getting Kinect in the minds of parents for the upcoming holiday season, where it will be squaring off against the Wii and Sony’s newly launched Move controller.

If you thought the ad campaigns for Halo 3 or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 got annoying leading up to launch, just wait until you can’t round a corner without seeing Kinect. To be fair, we’re not really the target audience for the sensor, but I’m sure there will be some “core” gamers out there picking it up.

I think this makes it more than clear that Microsoft is in love with the technology behind Kinect, and they’re really throwing the whole Xbox division behind it. Now, I don’t consider technically consider myself a Microsoft fanboy, but I’m kind of worried what the possible failure of Kinect will do to the console. While I think that Microsoft can take the hit overall, we may see the end of the Xbox if this doesn’t work. Half a billion is a lot of money, even if it is just a drop in the bucket for Microsoft.

This kind of news is just begging for your comments, so let us know what you think! Can half a billion guarantee a good showing for Kinect this holiday? Will a possible failure spell doom for future versions of the Xbox?

Source: New York Post

Minecraft Combines With Portal for a Delicious Video

Crazy Minecraft videos are kind of becoming all the rage here at GamerSushi, and really, can you blame us? The game, which basically plonks you down on a random map and goes “have fun”, has inspiried more crazy creations than any other title I can remember. This may be Minecraft’s refusal to guide your hand and leave most players to their devices, but it could just be that inside all of us is some crazy megalomaniac builder waiting to be let free. Just take this most recent example where YouTuber kopierjunge made a Portal game inside Minecraft. Madness!

I also give props to this guy for not including any cake jokes. I hope none of you are getting sick of funny or wild Minecraft videos, becuase I’m certainly not. Just think, if someone can make Portal in Minecraft, how far away are we from other ports? Halo? Civilization? Just think of the possibilities. What game would you like to see emulated in Minecraft?

World of Warcarft: Cataclysm Cinematic Intro Brings the Wrath of Deathwing to Azeroth

I know that World of Warcraft ain’t too popular around these here parts, but there’s no denying that once your subscriber numbers and gross monthly income surpasses most small nations, you’re definitely on to something. Blizzard’s MMORPG juggernaut has been gaining steam since it launched in 2004, and now, six years later, it shows no signs of slowing down. Blizzard just put the cinematic intro to the newest expansion, Cataclysm, up on the YouTube account, and good lord is it both gorgeous and terrifying:

The most amazing thing is that all of Blizzard’s incredible cinematics are done in house, not sourced out to a third-party studio like Blur (best known for The Old Republic trailers). While Blizz’s movies have been incredible in the past, this one seems to take them to a new plateau. I’ve never been more impressed by their videos, so kudos to them for continuing to raise the bar. We must have a few WoW players on the site, so can anyone share their thoughts on Cataclysm? Looking forward to the end of the world as you know it? The game launches December 7, 2010.

Update: Valve Not Considering Steam Trade-Ins

steam trade insWe generally like to avoid cluttering up the front page with multiple articles on the same story, but I think that this particular story deserves a follow up. A couple of days ago, I published an article in which I quoted Michael Pachter saying that Steam is “supposedly” looking into allowing trade-ins via their digital store. Now that the interview has had sometime to make it’s way to Valve, the quote is coming back to haunt Mr. Pachter.

Valve marketing head Doug Lombardi recently spoke to EuroGamer regarding the alleged trade-in plans, and said that Valve has never met with Michael Pachter, and they have no idea where he got the notion from. Pachter responded in turn, agreeing that he had never met Valve, and that the problematic quote came around because the game journalist posed the question to him awkwardly. This is his new stance on his line from a couple days ago after the jump: Continue reading Update: Valve Not Considering Steam Trade-Ins

Vanquish Video Shows How War Has Been Accelerated

The more I see of Vanquish, the more interested I get. While it does partly look like a very white Gears of War, it also throws in a few things to mix it up, like a heightened sense of speed in close combat or a morphing gun arm. While none of those conventions are new per se, mixing them all together may make for one tasty gameplay gumbo…or a mangled casserole of failure. Vanquish has a new trailer highlighting the A.R.S. Battle Suit (because what else would you use it for?), the same one you’ll be manning when the game drops on October 19th.

So there you have it folks, possibly the last of the Vanquish trailers we’ll see before next Tuesday. Call me crazy, but I think I might be sold on this game. The one thing that concerns me is how busy the game looks when everything is going all at once, but I guess I’ll find out how it shakes down soon enough.

Bungie Announces Noble Map Pack for November 30th

Halo_Reach_NobleDLC_Tempest_03
We’re exactly a month after Halo: Reach’s monumental release, and we keep finding things to post about it. It’s the gift that keeps on giving! For the small but vocal minority out there that have been lambasting Reach for its relatively slim selection of multiplayer maps, Bungie has heard your cries.

Coming at us next month for 800 Microsoft Points, or 10 real life dollars, the Noble Map Pack will deliver three new maps and 250 Achievement points. Considering that I still haven’t beaten the game on Legendary solo (it’s really hard!) I can only imagine what these new cheevos will bring. Halo 3 had some ridiculous Achievements added after the fact, so my inner Achievement whore shudders to think what I’ll be going through in a month and a half. Bungie has also released some screenshots of the battlefields contained within the Noble Map Pack, so hit the jump to see them in their glory!
Continue reading Bungie Announces Noble Map Pack for November 30th

Michael Pachter Believes Valve Will Offer Steam Trade-Ins Soon

Steam trade in service
Michael Pachter, an analyst that tries to gauge future trends in the video game industry, has basically built a career saying crazy things and hoping they come true (kind of like some games journalists, but I digress). While most of what he says can be brushed off as preposterous rumor, he sometimes produces a rare gem, like a diamond in a coal mine.

Take this recent interview he had with NowGamer where he postulated that Valve will begin offering a trade in service on Steam fairly soon. While we all love Steam, apparently there’s some demand to have Valve’s digital store offer the same sort of service provided by GameStop, i.e the ability to trade in titles for credit towards new ones. This is the explanation Pachter gave as to how he thinks it would go down:

“Steam is phenomenal, it’s a great service,” Pachter explained, “Steam gives gamers enough other stuff so that they don’t resent the fact they can’t trade in their games. And you know, name all the Steam games that you’ve purchased that you’ve traded back in to somebody else for credit. Steam’s about to let you do that supposedly, you know like trade and exchange, but they’re going to take a fee from it.”

While the “supposedly” does take this idea pretty firmly into guesswork territory, I think it’s a novel idea that Valve are possibly exploring, if only to further their dominance on PC gaming. What do you guys think? Any truth to Pachter’s statement? What kind of “fee” would Valve take, if any?

Source – NowGamer

Fable 3 Trailer is a Revolution

Ah Fable 3, the black sheep of the Microsoft exclusive lineup. Not as successful as Gears of War or Halo, you still manage to maintain a certain presence within the gaming community despite your continued over-promising. Broken dreams of a fully realized world aside, Fable still has enough clout to make a major debut this holiday season, and we’ve got a new trailer to celebrate the impending release. The launch video for Fable 3 chronicles the overthrow of the current, presumably evil, King by you, his brother. Worst family ever.

I kind of like the stylish presentation of the trailer, and I am anticipating being the King of Albion after busting my hump to save it in the past two games. Time for this faux-British fantasy world to start paying dividends (oh, and friends list baby making). Anyone here getting Fable 3, or is this one we’re passing on in this stuffed holiday season? Saving it for later? Anyone getting it on PC? The game hits the Xbox 360 on October 26.

EVE Online Gives New Players a Leg Up With the Commissioned Officer Box Edition

EVE Online Commissioned Officer EditionWe’ve talked about EVE Online here at GamerSushi a couple of times, and both occasions have been about how some unfortunate soul was ruined by the actions of other players. This sort of stuff is the norm for EVE, just on a smaller scale than $1,200 USD in damages or an entire guild being brought down overnight. Understandably, these kinds of stories creates a barrier for people interested in trying EVE for fear that their tender avatar will be ravaged horribly as soon as they click the “create” button.

Fear not, timid noobies, as EVE developer CCP has plans to make things a little easier for newcomers. The Commissioned Officer Edition of EVE Online gives players the Cerebral Accelerator, an in-game item that allows users to gain a significant advantage in skill gain for the first 30 days of playtime. The package also comes with a month of play time and a nifty poster covered with helpful hints (I wonder where “trust no one” falls on it). The box will only be available in brick and mortar stores, and I assume that there will be some sort of fail safe built into the Accelerator to prevent any unscrupulous activity.

There you have it, a nice little package designed to give you a running start in the dog-eat-dog universe of EVE Online. Apparently this is a good a time as any to get into the game as CCP has a couple new expansions coming out in the next half a year.

Anyone going to finally take the plunge with EVE Online now that it’s extending a helping hand?

Source: Massivley

Call of Duty: Black Ops Single Player Trailer Does Not Exist

If you weren’t watching ESPN tonight for whatever reason, then you may have missed the full length trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops. The teaser went up a few days ago, but good things come to those who wait, right? Because you’ve been patient, we have the trailer embeded right below for you. Go ahead and get a quick look at the single player campaign of Call of Duty: Black Ops:

Say what you will about Treyarch and their previous efforts, I kind of like the behind-the-scenes, cloak-and-dagger setting that the game is building, which is different from what Call of Duty usually gives us. While I’m sure the game will involve all the bombastic action that we’re used to, having an opportunity to fight through the Cold War is a new one for us gamers. Now that we’ve seen a bit more on the single player for Black Ops, any thoughts? Do you have doubts after Modern Warfare 2, or do you think Treyarch will succeed in single player?

X-Men Arcade Comes to Home Consoles, Makes Me Feel Old

Comic-Con NYC 2010 is going down right now and, true to form, there are plenty of video game related goodies for us to peruse. While I might be a bit biased here, I can say with the utmost certainty that this bit of news is the greatest to grace GamerSushi this week. Remember that old side-scrolling beat-em-up starring the X-Men? Well, Konami and Marvel are pleased to announce that this old favorite is coming to the PSN and the XBox LIVE Arcade at some point in the future. Although no date was given, the downloadable title looks to be a straight-up port, but garnished with a new feature, six player drop-in co-op! Consider me psyched! Take a look at the trailer (shot off-screen, unfortunately):

I didn’t realize that this game came out eighteen years ago, which is why I feel old. However, a brand new generation of gamers can now experience the Earth-rending difficulty that this game featured, so that’s good news. Anyone excited about this? What other old arcade classics would you like to see re-released?

Review: Dead Rising 2

dead rising 2 review

Very few “sandbox” games in this generation give you the option to wear dresses and dye your hair while mixing pie and whiskey into a drink. In fact, only one game in memory allows this, and that is Dead Rising. While Capcom’s zombie-slaughtering game’s claim to fame is both the number of walking dead on the screen and the impossible save system, I liked the game because of the freedom it afforded you. Sure, you could screw yourself pretty bad in the main campaign with the save system, but if you wanted to spend your time in the mall rescuing survivors or killing zombies or even just trying on clothes, then you could do that.

Dead Rising offered a lot of re-playability, but it was still fairly broken. Besides the save system, gamers also had to contend with the sluggish controls, terribly friendly AI and the damn guy from the safe room whose phone calls would somehow paralyze you on the spot in a mall full of zombies. As much as I loved the game, there were some problems with it. Now that we have a sequel, have these issues been addressed? With a new developer, Canada’s Blue Castle Games, jumping on board, is it even going to feel like a Dead Rising game?
Continue reading Review: Dead Rising 2

The Force Unleashed 2 Launch Trailer Features The Force Being Unleashed More Than Twice

I’ll admit that I’m anticipating The Force Unleashed 2 despite my current misgivings with Star Wars, but let’s face it: George Lucas’ eminent sci-fi franchise will continue to hold a special place in my heart despite all the attempts he makes at destroying my childhood.

The Force Unleashed is one of the few things in the last couple of years that I’ve enjoyed about Star Wars (except for the Republic Commando books), so a sequel is just what the doctor ordered. Despite the fact that I played it at PAX 2010 and liked it a lot, some people (Anthony) were worried about the lack of gameplay being shown in the trailers. Well, take a look at the launch trailer for The Force Unleashed 2 and let your fears be put to rest:

No too shabby if I do say so myself. October is kind of a ruinous month, considering that every Tuesday from here on out delivers a must-play game. Medal of Honor is next week, followed by Fallout: New Vegas then The Force Unleashed. It will be tricky to manage all these games, but how are you guys going about it? Is TFU2 a day-one purchase or are you saving it for the upcoming slump?

Today’s WTF: Halo Cartoon Apt. 117 is Only Slightly Nauseating

Apparently someone at 343 Industries was taking their crazy pills and signed off on Apt. 117, a cartoon about a “normal, average guy who lives with a Halo fanboy.” Sort of like the Odd Couple, but with more man-boobs. Actually, maybe the exact same amount. Anyways, the trailer for this cartoon recently went up, and you can watch it below if you’re so inclined.

If that didn’t excite you then maybe it’s doing its job, as the cartoon is described as purposely underwhelming. I don’t know if I’ve ever invested my time into being specifically disapointed but hey, this might be a new untapped market. Personally, I think a cartoon dedicated to Spartan 1337 would be better, as his short was the only one from Halo: Legends I enjoyed. Apt. 117 will be hitting Halo: Waypoint on X-Box LIVE soon, making it the only time in history that I will consciously stay far, far away from something Halo. Thoughts?

SEGA Admits to Making Terrible Sonic Games, Removes Them From the Shelves

Sonic Colors

If you were thinking of wandering in to your local video game store and picking up a new copy of Sonic Vs. The Black Knight anytime soon, you might be out of luck. With the upcoming release of Sonic Colors, Sonic Free Riders and Sonic the Hedgehog 4, SEGA is doing a little house cleaning, de-listing Sonic titles that have a poor or average Metacritic standing.

SEGA’s Senior Vice President of EMEA Jurgen Post explained that this was done to help “strengthen the brand” going forward, stating that having a large number of Sonic titles on the shelves will lead to a “cannibalization” of sorts. While it isn’t unusual for a company to phase out older games in a franchise to make way for newer titles, Sonic is sort of a special case considering how many mediocre games we’ve been plagued with since this generation started.

Fortunately both Sonic Colors and Sonic 4 are looking pretty good, so maybe it’s better to sweep those old ones under the rug. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forget Sonic 2006, but what about you guys? Are the memories of old Sonic games still plaguing your thoughts?

Source – MCV

Fallout: New Vegas Dev Diary 4 Introduces You to the Factions

I kind of love these Fallout: New Vegas developer diaries that have been appearing recently. I know that we’ve been humming and hawing about Obsidian and their track record (which is strange, considering that Knights of the Old Republic 2 was like crack to me), but these videos show me that they have a really good understanding of Fallout and what people expect from it. This makes sense considering that Chris Avellone (Senior Designer at Obsidian) worked on Fallout 2 back in the day. Check out the video to get your run down on the three main factions you can side with in New Vegas:

It’s a nice option being able to choose sides, especially considering in Fallout 3 your options were basically “join the Brotherhood of Steel or not”. Personally, I’m leaning towards the New California Republic with Mr. House in a close second. Fallout: New Vegas comes out really soon, October 19, so you’ve got a little bit of time to plan out whether you’ll support once faction or go for total anarchy.

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

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

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

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.