Eddy has written a total of 422,116 words on this site.

I write about samurai girls and space marines. Writer for Smooth Few Films. Rooster Teeth Freelancer. Author of Red vs. Blue, The Ultimate Fan Guide, out NOW!

Beyond Good and Evil 2: What Do You Expect from Next Gen?

Beyond Good and Evil 2

For years, fans have been clamoring for a sequel to Michel Ancel’s cult classic, Beyond Good and Evil. Even though the game didn’t enjoy huge commercial success, it’s developed quite a following from those that experienced this sci-fi adventure set in a truly engrossing world. A couple of years back, Ubisoft teased those of us that have been dying for a follow-up with a short CGI trailer for Beyond Good and Evil 2, but since then, rumors of the game’s cancellation and subsequent re-start have been in wild circulation.

Where does this game actually stand? Last week, some new details popped up in a video interview with Michel Ancel, which was then translated at NeoGAF. Apparently, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is still in active development — for next generation consoles. Since then, even more news has come to light, first in the form of leaked screenshots, but then in the form of a leaked environment video, showcasing some of the game’s settings. Continue reading Beyond Good and Evil 2: What Do You Expect from Next Gen?

Assassin’s Creed III Gets First Gameplay Trailer

I can’t help it. I love a solid, good old-fashioned look at some gameplay. While these kinds of trailers are few and far between for the gaming industry these days, every now and then we’re given a treat of several minutes of footage that actually gives us a glimpse of what a particular title is going to look like.

Enter the world premiere of the Assassin’s Creed III trailer, which does just that. Here, we have small snippets of everything Ubisoft has been declaring about the game for the last month. Shots of epic battles, tree climbing, seasonal effects and combat against numerous firearm wielding opponents all abound in this new video, designed to get our taste buds ready for yet another entry into the Assassin’s Creed franchise. And dare I say, I’m excited about it.

What say the fine folks at GamerSushi? Yay or meh? Go!

Some EVE Players Just Want to Watch the World Burn

EVE Online

Another month, another crazy thing to report from the insane realm that is EVE Online. We’ve talked about this startlingly player-directed space MMO on a couple of other occasions, and each time I hear these things I get a renewed interest in the game. Sure, the actual playing of it sounds boring, but it feels like it would almost be worth it to experience these epic scenarios.

If you’re unaware, the thing that makes EVE Online so unique is that developer CCP basically lets anything go down, as long as it doesn’t break the game’s terms of service. This means that some huge fluid narratives have taken place, from the take down of major in-game corporations to the loss of actual, real dollars in the form of ISK, which can be renewed for subscriptions or even other products.

The latest insane in-game caper? A player-organized movement to crash the whole game’s economy, which works just like an actual economy. This movement was called Burn Jita, with Jita being the major trading system, full of companies and frigates carrying anything from equipment to other ships or billions’ worth of ISK. The goal was to organize thousands of players in a huge ransack mission that would destroy/burn all these assets in order to upend the entire economy. Continue reading Some EVE Players Just Want to Watch the World Burn

GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?

Dear Esther

It’s been a little over a month since we asked this wonderful question of you fine readers: what are you playing?

As we’ve come through the spring, we now hit that nice little lull that allows us gamers to catch up on the things that have been eluding us for quite some time, or perhaps take a shot at titles we wouldn’t normally try out. Sure, we’ve got Max Payne 3 and Diablo III on the way, but generally speaking, the summer is a nice relaxing (or boring, depending how you look at it) time when we get to play what we want, rather than try to stay on top of an unclimbable pile of games.

Myself, I’ve got a baby to contend with these days, so it makes my gaming time limited to quick little bouts of Trials Evolution when I’ve got a few spare seconds, but in the near future I hope to dive into MGS HD and Team Ico HD. But before that, I’ve set my sights on two indie gems: Fez, which I’ve already begun playing, and Dear Esther, a curious title that has really captured my imagination over the last week. It’s actually downloading as we speak, so I’ll be sure to report in on my thoughts of the game soon enough.

So what about you guys? What are you playing this fine May?

The GamerSushi Power Rankings Update, Week 2

Trials Evolution

One of the newest features of GamerSushi would be the Power Rankings page, wherein we pit the games of 2012 against each other every few weeks or so, in order to see who is leading the chase for that coveted top 10 spot. We’re pretty excited about updating this regularly, and we think it’ll be fun for you guys to get involved. Heck, your comments might even sway our rankings for the next go around.

Anyway, we’ve just given the page its first update, and there is already some moving and shaking going on. Continue reading The GamerSushi Power Rankings Update, Week 2

Required Reading: Designing Shadow of the Colossus

Shadow of the Colossus

Shadow of the Colossus is heralded as one of the greatest games of last generation, if not one of the greatest games of all time. That piece of information is of course nothing new to anybody here, or anybody that has played games, for that matter, but it’s still something that is understated due to the emotional impact that it had on so many. Part of what really made Shadow of the Colossus shine was its superior art design, which went above and beyond what many expected out of the PS2 hardware. It just goes to show that great art trumps a massive amount of polygons, and continues to be a stunning example of atmosphere and design to this day.

In some newly translated interviews with the creators found in the official guidebook to Shadow of the Colossus, Team Ico boss Fumito Ueda and the game’s artists discuss the creation of SotC’s world and the ideas behind its design. Both of these articles give a fascinating look into the minds of a truly remarkable video game, and what drove the decisions they made in development. Of particular note is a section where they talk about how the artists and the environmental guys had to work together to create the Colossi arenas, since the way the Colossi functioned hinged so tightly on the arenas themselves.

Anyway, it’s hard to do the damn things any kind of justice, but I know that so many of you are interested in game design. I’ve got a new kind of respect for Ueda after reading both of them. And this is also making me want to put in the Team Ico HD Collection in the worst possible way. So yeah, what are you guys waiting for? Go!

Source – Siliconera and Siliconera

GamerSushi Asks: The Kickstarter Process?

Kickstarter

Kickstarter. It’s the newest buzzword. And not just in the video game realm, but in every realm. Anyone anywhere that has a dream can take to this crowd-funding service in order to make their pet project a reality, and now artists all over the world (and all over the talent spectrum) are heading there in droves. After Double Fine’s successful Adventure project, Kickstarter was heralded as the savior of the industry, in that it could provide a new method for publishing titles that don’t always get their fair shake. But are people hopping to Kickstarter too quickly on both sides?

A few weeks back, Ben Kuchera had a nice editorial on PA Report about the Ugly Side of Kickstarter, looking at what all goes into a successful Kickstarter venture. Not only are there a ton of fees that supporters (and project leads) are unaware of, but frankly, many of these people don’t understand how to spend your money in the right way. And what happens to the first crowd-funded game that severely disappoints its backers? What then? Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: The Kickstarter Process?

Giving Slack to Indie Games

Botanicula

Over the last couple of years, the indie games scene has been given the spotlight in a major way. With shockingly good titles dropping on Steam, PSN and XBLA, more people have access to these off-the-beaten-path games than ever before. And with the recent influx of games like Journey, Fez, Trials Evolution, Super Meatboy and Botanicula, plus a slew of cheap downloadable mobile titles, it looks like this won’t be slowing down any time soon.

But are people giving these smaller titles too much slack, just because they’re indie? That’s the question that Game Front’s Jim Sterling poses in his new article, Are We too Generous to Indie Games. In it, he wonders if people give passes to indie games simply because they’re not made by Activision or EA — and as such, let indie games get away with a lot more grievances than most games.

This is definitely an interesting question, and one we sort of touched on in the as of yet unreleased podcast. There’s this idea going around that just because something is small and charming, it’s better — and if you don’t like an indie title, it’s because you love Call of Duty or Halo too much to appreciate a title like Fez’s nuances.

I honestly don’t know how I feel about this viewpoint. While I recognize that some of the gaming community is indeed soaking up everything indie, I also think that some of these titles are totally worthy of the praise that they’re getting. I also think that yes, it is fair to cut some slack to a game that you paid only a few dollars for as opposed to one that requires a $60 entry fee. I absolutely don’t expect as much out of something that didn’t take much of an investment as I do out of something I have to spend an ample amount of money to play.

So what do you guys think? Are people too forgiving of the flaws in indie titles? Are they given too much slack? Sound off!

Source – Game Front

Freddie Wong Is a Skyrim Badass

Freddie Wong is at it again, but this time he takes his hijinks to the wonderful world of Skyrim. Imagine if the game allowed you to pull off some sweet finishing moves, dragon headshots and dap it out with your foes. Basically, if the game allowed you to be a badass. I really shouldn’t introduce it anymore. You should just watch it.

As you guys know, I’m really not a huge fan of the viral video/effects showcase formula, but Freddie Wong is on a different plane than everybody else trying to do it. He’s clever, fun, produces tons of content and knows how to keep the gags simple and sweet without overstaying his welcome. In short, he’s awesome, and this is one of my favorite sketches of his yet.

What are your thoughts? Is Freddie Wong a Skyrim badass? Go!

The Great GamerSushi Review Round-Up

Bastion

Ahoy, gents and lasses of GamerSushi! I’m writing to you from the ridiculous world of fatherhood, some bizarre alternate reality where the universe felt that I was somehow fit to be entrusted with the care of a little girl’s life. It’s just a bit of an adjustment, which is why I haven’t been posting at all this week. In the meantime, Mitch and Anthony (and Jeff!) have been rocking it out with some great content. I’ve found the tiniest bit of equilibrium over the last couple of days, and hope to be producing more of that myself shortly.

But first, I wanted to draw your attention to the newest batch of reviews. In the GamerSushi update post, I promised that we’d been awaiting the debut of our new grade chart to post a few outstanding reviews, and for once I wasn’t a dirty liar. Here are the reviews we’ve posted in the last week, with more coming all the time:

So far, I’m really liking the way the updated review system has translated into actual grades. It seems a bit more balanced to me, and doesn’t give us quite as many A and S scores. Other reviews coming soon: Journey, Twisted Metal, Portal 2 (that one is super late), Final Fantasy XIII-2 and more.

What are your guys thoughts on the new review system? Have we completely lost our minds? Go!

The Uncharted Series, Edited as Feature-Length Movies

So I’m posting this from the hospital, where my wife and I await the impending arrival of our daughter. Kind of crazy.

Fortunately, as this whole waiting process can stretch on for a day or so, I’ve had a bit of Uncharted to help pass the time tonight. And I don’t mean playing Uncharted in video game form — I mean watching it in movie form.

You see, Reddit user morphinapg did something that I’m surprised nobody has done up until now — he edited all three Uncharted games into feature-length films, with each one clocking in at about 2-3 hours. He did this by taking the games’ cut scenes and stringing them together with the minimal amount of gameplay necessary so as not to create plot holes. The result is a pretty entertaining trilogy.

More links after the jump. Continue reading The Uncharted Series, Edited as Feature-Length Movies

GamerSushi Asks: Footing the Bill?

Trials Evolution

For some reason, an invisible price barrier lives somewhere inside of the part of my brain that processes money. This magical barrier keeps me from springing on downloadable titles, even when it makes a lot of sense to do so. Whereas Physical Goods Eddy is just fine paying upwards of $40-$60 for AAA titles, Digital Goods Eddy hesitates at the prospect of a $15 title like Journey. Or Trials Evolution, which is the game that I spent about fifteen seconds debating last night.

Trials Evolution, the follow-up to the hit Trials HD, released on XBLA last night to the squeals of ghost-beating track timers the world over. If you’re unaware of the mania that this game has inspired or what makes it so fun (as I was up until the last couple of weeks) — Trials Evolution is 2.5D platformer/physics racing game, wherein players control a motorcycle through ridiculously impossible tracks. The addictive part of the game isn’t just the sensation of negotiating through these Sonic-esque levels at the fastest speeds possible, but also from the way the game uses your friends’ times to taunt you. Glowing white dots that represent your friends race alongside of you, daring you to beat them even as you crash repeatedly.

The game is great fun, and the magical barrier in my head that keeps me from picking up digital titles was shattered more quickly than it normally is. It’s funny that even though I try to enter these things cautiously, there are certain factors that can make me foot the bill with almost no hesitation. For Trials, it was the almost limitless content (the game comes with a pro level editor, for instance, meaning that players will create their own ridiculous tracks), the replay factor that comes with competing against your friends’ times, and the number of unlockable races that come packed inside.

So what about you guys? What is it about games that convinces you to foot the bill? What games have recently made you ignore price completely and throw your wallets at the screen? Go!

Conan O’Brien Records Halo 4 Dialogue

Conan O’Brien is a pretty funny dude, if you like hilarious people. I suppose that’s why he gets to run his own late night show, and used to be a producer on The Simpsons. Being a famous comedian tends to land you big gigs like that. And apparently, a voice acting job on Halo 4.

I won’t waste too much time intro-ing this video, because Conan does that well enough himself. But let me just preface this clip with this: imagine Conan O’Brien and Andy Richter riffing in an audio booth as two grunts (don’t call them dockworkers) in the Halo 4 universe, and you’ll get a decent idea of the humor level here. I couldn’t help but laugh at Conan’s reception to his character, in particular.

So yeah, check it out.

In terms of new information about Halo 4, we did get the piece of news that Halo 4 releases on November 6, 2012, along with this spiffy Red Vs Blue announcement video. Care to discuss?

The GamerSushi Update: Don’t Worry, Your Eyes Are Fine

Welcome to a sort of new GamerSushi! And as the title says: don’t worry, your eyes are just fine. Things are, in fact, slightly different than they were before. This update is a bit more subtle than the last one, but it brings with it some section changes that we’re rather excited about.

Reviews

Yes, the reviews section has been up for quite some time, but we’ve changed the way we assess games, yet again. You’ll notice that many of our grades have been shifted to reflect our new Grade Chart. The new chart makes a much better attempt at using the entire grading scale, one that’s more suitable to the games that people actually play. We noticed our reviews kept skewing higher and higher, and we wanted to remedy it.

Beyond that, the most notable addition would be the “A/S Nomination” designation, wherein games are up for an “S” grade that will be decided on later in the year. If they don’t get the “S”, they still keep the nomination, so to speak. Kind of like how a movie is forever known as an Academy Award nominee.

Waiting for this update has been the primary reason we haven’t put up any new reviews in a few months. Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll see a slew of regular reviews that incorporate this new scale.

GS Rankings

The Rankings page, while still in its early stage, will see lots of shifts over the course of the year. The basic idea is the same concept of a Sports power ranking, where every few weeks we re-rate the top 10 games of the year so you can see what’s in the running for the best of 2012. What’s nice is that over time, sometimes games fade away or haunt you, and this list will capture that. I think it’ll be a nice addition to the site, and will make for some good discussion.

There are some other subtle cosmetic things that Nick did, but that about sums it up for the big shifts. Praise the Beard for his good work. If you like it, that is. And I’m sure you will.

Working at Valve: a Glimpse Behind the Curtain

Valve Offices

If I know anything about our Sushi-ans, it’s two things: you guys love Valve, and many of you are interested in landing a job in the video game industry. And though jobs in the video game industry are sometimes defined by long hours, menial tasks and not always working on that dream game, it does seem that Valve marches to the beat of a different drummer on multiple fronts.

In a new blog entry by Michael Abrash, currently working in the R&D department at Valve, we’re given a pretty candid look at just how different things operate at the house that built Half Life. On top of having an incredibly unique long term view of how they see the company moving forward, it sounds like Valve has mostly abandoned the corporate structure. To me, this was one of the coolest excerpts:

Hierarchical management doesn’t help with that, because it bottlenecks innovation through the people at the top of the hierarchy, and there’s no reason to expect that those people would be particularly creative about coming up with new products that are dramatically different from existing ones – quite the opposite, in fact. So Valve was designed as a company that would attract the sort of people capable of taking the initial creative step, leave them free to do creative work, and make them want to stay. Consequently, Valve has no formal management or hierarchy at all.

Now, I can tell you that, deep down, you don’t really believe that last sentence. I certainly didn’t when I first heard it. How could a 300-person company not have any formal management? My observation is that it takes new hires about six months before they fully accept that no one is going to tell them what to do, that no manager is going to give them a review, that there is no such thing as a promotion or a job title or even a fixed role (although there are generous raises and bonuses based on value to the company, as assessed by peers). That it is their responsibility, and theirs alone, to allocate the most valuable resource in the company – their time – by figuring out what it is that they can do that is most valuable for the company, and then to go do it.

I could sit here and comment on that, but I think it speaks for itself. It says a lot about the quality of Valve’s products, why Steam is so innovative, and why their games have such a degree of polish. I highly suggest you go read the rest of the post yourself. Not only does Michael talk about what he’s currently working on at Valve (wearable computers – yes, seriously), he also ends the post with a call for people that want to work at Valve.

Out of curiosity, who are the folks at GamerSushi shooting for something in the industry? What are your thoughts on Abash’s post about Valve? Go!

Source – Valve Blog

Review: Saint’s Row: The Third

Saint's Row 3

When ranking the great surprises of this past generation, I would have to stick both Saint’s Row 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV somewhere near the top, for completely opposite reasons. GTA IV was heralded as the savior of all fun things ever, but turned out to be a game that I found soulless and dull. On the other hand, Saint’s Row 2 was dismissed as nothing more than a Grand Theft Auto clone — yet it found a way to make its sandbox a true chaotic playground in nearly every sense, offering up scores of hilarious rabbit holes, lots of customization and a decent story to boot.

Enter Saint’s Row: The Third, Volition’s follow-up to the mayhem manager and one of my most anticipated games for 2011. This entry into the bombastic franchise promised even larger scales of destruction, more violence, greater levels of absurdity (there’s a dildo bat, for goodness’ sake) and an all around hilarious time. But does it deliver the goods? One thing’s for certain, Steelport and the Saints will never be the same. Continue reading Review: Saint’s Row: The Third

Review: Sonic Generations

Sonic

Let’s not be coy about it: the Sonic franchise has seen better days. What once stood as the speedy bastion of an entire console experience and a worthy rival to Nintendo’s Mario has limped along for many years, a hedgehog much past his prime. Over the years, Sega seems to have lost its way with the spiky blue wonder, unsure of how to transition him properly to 3D while still honoring the tried and true flavor from generations past.

With Sonic Generations, they tried their hand at something new — rather than try to reinvent both wheels, why not package both 2D and 3D Sonics together into one comprehensive experience? Continue reading Review: Sonic Generations

Gaming Pop Quiz: Spring 2012 Edition

Pop Quiz

Did you know we haven’t done one of these pop quizzes since October? That’s half a year. My, how time flies. Things seemed so much simpler back then. There was no Mass Effect 3 debate to keep us up at night. We hadn’t yet played the likes of Arkham City, Skyrim or Uncharted 3. Final Fantasy XIII-2’s ending hadn’t shocked us. And Assassin’s Creed III hadn’t turned on the hype machine to its full effect.

So now here we stand, Spring 2012, and we’ve got a few months of quiet to look forward to while we catch up on gaming backlogs (The Witcher II and Kingdoms of Amalur for me), or enjoy some quality time with the games that currently tickle our fancy (Battlefield 3 and Mass Effect 3). All while we wait for Diablo 3, Borderlands 2 and then the eventual tidal wave that hits us at the end of the year. It’s an age-old cycle, but one that I sort of love.

In light of that, it’s time for a pop quiz. We wanted to ask you guys some questions that take more of a sit-back-and-reflect stance this time around. As always with our getting-to-know-you type games, feel free to answer with as much or as little as you like. Answer to the best of your ability. Go! Continue reading Gaming Pop Quiz: Spring 2012 Edition

Spartan Ops Brings the Episodic Co-Op Flavor to Halo 4

Halo 4

With 343 having officially taken the reins of the Halo universe from the old masters at Bungie, it seems that we’re finally starting to get little trickles of information about the upcoming sequel, Halo 4. On top of the recent news that Massive Attack producer Neil Davidge will be scoring the game, 343 has also given some juicy ammunition to Game Informer over the last week.

While there are new screenshots and other bits to take away from the reports of the Game Informer story, the most curious bit is what lies in store for Halo 4’s co-op. Yes, the campaign will still have 4 player co-op. However, it seems that Firefight is getting the axe – or the gravity hammer, perhaps. That’s right, Firefight is history, but in its place, 343 is providing Spartan Ops, an episodic 4 player co-op campaign with its own story. The most interesting part of all of this, though, is that 343 plans on releasing regular free updates to Spartan Ops, allowing players to devour its content in a weekly format almost like that of a TV show, with new gameplay to experience with each one.

I have to say, this is some interesting news. While I think that booting a (now) series staple like Firefight is probably the wrong move, Spartan Ops will provide a welcome new flavor into the franchise. I love the idea of regular episodic content, as it’s something that nobody has done just yet. Which is odd, considering that this generation is finally ready for something like that.

What do you guys think of the idea of Spartan Ops for the Halo 4? Would you like to see more games experiment with regular episodic content like this? Go!

Source – CVG

9 Year Old Makes Cardboard Arcade, Happiness Ensues

This is just one of those things that tugs on the heartstrings. Caine is a 9 year old boy who loves arcades so much that he decided to build one himself in his father’s used auto parts store – out of cardboard boxes. Not only does Caine maintain and operate the “machines” himself, he actually devised a series of passes, tickets, rewards/prizes and even a security system to confirm that customers are legit.

Caine’s problem? He can’t get any visitors. So a bunch of people decide to give him one of the greatest days of his life in the way of a flash mob. The results are pretty heartwarming.

Caine’s Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.

Needless to say, the whole thing is absurdly adorable and harkens back to those days when we were kids, and our imaginations ran wild. It’s also pretty cool that, in a world where the arcade is fading away, there are still kids that are as addicted to them as I used to be back in the day. I spent far too many (or not enough, depending on your point of view) summer days and dollars at the pizza buffet behind my house, slamming my palms on driving games, the Simpsons arcade game and whatever shooters I could find.

What did you guys think of this? Favorite arcade memories? Go!