Category: Industry News

Zombies Return for Call of Duty: Black Ops

nazi zombies black ops
One of the surprise features in Treyarch’s 2008 Call of Duty entry World at War was the inclusion of the four-player co-op mode Nazi Zombies. Fans of CoD were originally dismissive of this offering, but those of us who played it quickly fell in love with the shambling hordes of Third Reich undead. Nazi Zombies featured a scaling difficulty that meant later rounds necessitated a good team working together, otherwise your soft flesh would quickly provide sustenance for the ravening swarm.

Nazi Zombies quickly gained in popularity throughout World at War’s life-span, with Treyarch adding new maps and even a mythology behind the game. Now that the Call of Duty off-team is up to bat again, they’re putting Nazi Zombies into Black Ops, but tuning it up for the upcoming release. Studio head Mark Lamia gave this little snippet in regards to the return of the walking dead:

“Zombies have been such a hit with our community that we were committed to bringing brand new zombie experiences to Call of Duty: Black Ops. We’ve taken extra special care to retain the essential ingredients of our Zombie game, and have also crafted a nice surprise for the fans.”

There’s nothing else beyond that, but one can only imagine what Nazi Zombies (or Communist Zombies?) is going to look like after two years in development. There have been a lot of changes to Call of Duty since then, so one can only suppose that the mode will change to compensate. I know that my purchase of Black Ops hinged on a Zombie mode, but what about you guys? Ready to kill some whiskey deltas? When more details unfold, we will be sure to include them. If you’re the kind of person who likes a good teasing, Call of Duty: Black Ops site GKNOVA6 has what you’re looking for.

Source – CVG

Dance Fortress 2 Busts a Move

This is sort of a week for excellent dance-themed machinima, it seems. First we get the sublime krogan dance off in the form of Mass Effect 2’s Dance Dance Redemption, and now we have Dance Fortress 2. This little beauty of a video was made by a talented man who goes by the name of James Benson. This project started two months ago, and the culmination of his efforts can be seen below. This was apparently made as a resume to Valve, so best of luck to you, Mr. Benson.

Breath of Death VII Creators Live the Dream

Breath of Death VII

You may or may not have heard of Breath of Death VII, an XBox Live indie game release that has been making the Web rounds for the last few months. Created by Zeboyd Games, a two man development unit, BoDVII is an old school NES style RPG that will cost you only $1 to download and play. It’s chock full of references to old RPGs including Phantasy Star and also packs a nostalgic punch for anybody that has loved and played those great little top-down titles of old.

The duo of developers released some stats on the game the other day, revealing that it has surpassed the 30,000 purchases mark. They also do a rundown of the things that they think the game did well to set itself apart from the rest of the pack, and some advice for would-be fledgling game developers. I know that a few of you are interested in game making yourselves, so I thought it would be a helpful thing to read.

I actually have not heard about this game until today, but I’m planning on downloading it as soon as I get home. Not only has it received some rave reviews, but I just kind of want to support the guys. I mean, seriously, they are living the dream, doing what they love, and made a killing with just a few months of hard work. Kudos to them.

Has anyone heard of this, and do you have any interest in playing it? Go!

Source – Zeboyd Games

Enslaved Goes Behind the Scenes With a New Video

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is a new game coming out from Ninja Theory, best known for the PS3 launch title Heavenly Sword. I’m not sure if we’ve ever posted about Enslaved on the site, so I’m going to do a quick recap for those who are unfamiliar with this game. Taking place 150 years in the future, the game follows two of the few remaining humans as they attempt to find their way home through a decimated North America past the various combat mechs that still plague the land. Sort of a different spin on the old post-apocalyptic yarn, and it borrows some design elements from the show Life After People, if I remember correctly. Check out the new behind the scenes video for Enslaved: Odyssey to the West which also stars Gollum himself, Andy Serkis!

It’s kind of a shame that I haven’t been following this game more closely, because it looks very intriguing. The game is actually coming out on October 5, so it’s hitting right at that perfect time before Call of Duty: Black Ops and Fallout: New Vegas dominate the market. Anyone here thinking of picking this up? Also, I want my title to be “Chief Creative Ninja”.

Microsoft Says It Needs to “Step Up” Its PC Support

games-for-windows-live-logoIt’s funny how things can change in just a few years. Microsoft, once the PC gaming giant, has now taken a back seat in that race, preferring instead to dump its collective resources into the console game. While it is making a good amount of head-way there, the giant company is rightly getting a bit of flack for “abandoning” the PC. Microsoft recognizes that it needs to give a bit more attention to the platform that launched its gaming business, and there are a few initiatives underway to make that happen.

Microsoft Game Studios’ General Manager Dave Luehmann recently had a little chat with MCV where he outlined the plan for the PC resurgence. He spoke pretty candidly on Microsoft’s stance in the industry, while at the same time being less than humble about the company’s position as a former forerunner:

“There’s been a fair bit of criticism aimed at Microsoft that we were spending a lot of our focus on console, and we need to be putting resources behind PC as well. Other companies should look to Microsoft for leadership, but I’m not sure they do. It is our job to lead the way on PC. And in some ways we are doing that and in other ways we are not. So we need to step up. We are putting some real investment and big IPs behind the Windows platform. We’ve spoken of the first three, Fable III, Age of Empires Online and Microsoft Flight. However we are not going to stop there.”

One thing is for sure, Mr. Luehmann knows how to talk a big talk. While X-Box LIVE has done some revolutionary things in regards to party connectivity and nickle-and-diming the customer, Games for Windows LIVE continues to languish as XBL’s neglected cousin. For those of us who play our games on the PC, GFWL is sort of a black-sheep compared to other, more user friendly services such as Steam or Impulse. While it’s nice that Microsoft recognizes the importance of PC gaming, it still remains to be seen as to whether or not they’ll actually do as they promise. What do you guys think of MS’s stance? Should they reassert themselves in the PC gaming scene, or is this just an empty boast? With the X-Box doing fairly well and Kinect on the way, should we even expect for Microsoft to bother with their former territory? Let us know!

Source: MCV

Review: Halo: Reach

Reach Winter ContingencyWhether we like it or not, Halo is a game that changed the FPS landscape forever. It can be argued that this is for both good and ill, but the fact remains that the epic FPS sci-fi series from Bungie typically constitutes a natural disaster in whatever year it arrives. Halo: Reach has made landfall, gentlemen, and it’s time to sort out the damage.

After a couple weeks of reading other Halo: Reach reviews, there seems to be a general consensus. One, that writers like to use the phrase “swan song”. Two, that Bungie’s final installment into the Halo series culminates in what might be its greatest and most critically acclaimed title yet. Reviewing a Halo game carries with it a tricky balance of managing hype, expectations and fanboy glee, but in Reach, it’s hard to ignore all of the wonderful things that Bungie accomplished, and how they’ve changed the game yet again moving forward.

So, just how good is the game? Read on to find out. Continue reading Review: Halo: Reach

The Sound and Fury of Fallout: New Vegas

Fallout’s biggest hook, at least for me, is the technology, envisioned as an extension of the 1950’s wistful imaginings of the future. All the computers are big, bulky and full of vacuum tubes, and the guns fire iridescent blobs of green plasma. It’s got a sort of innocent charm the belies the often brutal nature of post-apocalyptic survival, and the team at Obsidian is kicking the technology up a notch for New Vegas. While the game has the typical range of conventional weaponry, new types of energy guns will be included, like the Recharge Rifle, which replenishes its internal battery instead of requiring ammo. Pretty neat, if you ask me. Take a look at the most recent New Vegas Developer Diary for some other changes, including a look at the game’s sound design:

I tried the grenade machine gun during my hands on time with New Vegas at PAX 2010, and it is just as fun as it sounds. I also like they way Obsidian is taking the desert environment into account with distance being factored into how you will perceive sound. Despite some reservation on this title due to the fact that it is in the hands of Obsidian (no offense, but they don’t exactly have a stellar track record), New Vegas is shaping up nicely. Any opinions on the weapons and the auditory goodness in New Vegas? What system will you play it on? Fallout: New Vegas will be out October 19, 2010.

El Shaddai’s Breathtaking Visuals Are Heavenly

El Shaddai, a 3rd person action game from the creator of Devil May Cry and Okami, was announced at this year’s E3, but it has been largely overlooked. That may not be the case after you see this trailer, which was shown at TGS last and showcases the game’s fluid combat and unique art style.

Personally, I’m a sucker for anything that looks like something I’ve never seen before and this fits that bill perfectly. The game’s story is based on The Book of Enoch and the game follows Enoch on a quest to find seven fallen angels in order to prevent a flood which will wipe out mankind. So I hope you dig that Hallelujah-choir because I get the feeling you will be hearing a lot of it. It’s being published and developed by Ignition, who most recently gave us the watercolor world of Muramasa for the Wii. No release date has been announced yet.

So what do you think? Is this something you would be interested in? We always complain about drab games showing brown in HD, but this game steers far clear of that. Would you be willing to give it a shot?

Blockbuster Goes Bust, Files for Bankruptcy

blockbusterIn this increasingly digital age, the notion of actually getting up off the couch to go rent a movie is becoming an increasingly foreign concept. With Netflix, iTunes and all sorts of other modern conveniences, old brick and mortar dinosaurs, like former rental mogul Blockbuster, are slowly going extinct.

The franchise has been in trouble for a while, and signs of its impending bankruptcy has been looming for months. With Netflix set to expand its service North of the border to Canada, Blockbuster entered Chapter 11 in order to give itself a little more time to remodel in order to better meet the demands of the current market. It may be too little too late for Blockbuster, and with its potential demise passes one more sign of a bygone age.

Thinking about Blockbuster going bankrupt and the increasing frequency at which I download my games directly has me remembering the gaming days of my youth where a trip to the local Blockbuster occurred about once every week to see if there was a new game for rent. On my allowance, I couldn’t afford a new title constantly, so renting one for a short period of time seemed like a good trade off. So, I have a question for you guys: do you still rent video games from a store, or do you get your rentals via GameFly or a similar service? When was the last time you actually rented anything, be it a game or a movie, from a store?

Source – Bloomberg

The First 15 Minutes of Dead Rising 2

One of my favorite games this generation is Dead Rising, the zombie-outbreak in a mall title by Capcom. Dead Rising is famous amongst gamers for its obtuse gameplay style and outdated save system, but I loved the freedom of running around in a dress drinking milkshakes and dying my hair. Oh, and killing zombies too, I guess. Despite the fact that we’re reaching the saturation point with the walking dead, I’m still looking forward to Dead Rising 2, and to celebrate its upcoming release, some kind soul has decided to post the first fifteen minutes of the zombie-slaying sequel up on YouTube for all of us to enjoy. Kick back, relax, and enjoy the opening of Dead Rising 2:

It looks a lot like the original, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Dead Rising, for all its faults, has a lot of notions associated with it, and it looks like the new developers, Blue Castle Games, nailed the feeling of the first. One thing that might irk me is the amount of load screens, but what are you going to do? So, any thoughts on Dead Rising 2? Are you reserving your judgment, or is this fifteen minute glimpse enough for you to go off of? The game is out next Tuesday in North America and this Friday in Europe.

GamerSushi Asks: Tired of Zombies?

Dead Rising 2

Zombies. They’re everywhere. Swarming, gnawing, gnashing, brain chomping and being generally ugly while they do it. Not only do they ravage the earth like locusts in fiction, they are rending our gaming landscape littered with their undead bodies. Seriously. No matter where you look in video games these days, there will be a zombie horde doing something unseemly, constructed out of pixels and dismembering other pixelated bodies.

While I am generally eager to play Dead Rising 2, which releases next week, I kind of wonder if I’m zombied out on video games these days. If a game is not about zombies, it will inevitably have a mode that is about zombies of some kind. Sure, fighting the horde is fun, but when are we going to move past this? Next generation?

Anyway, I thought I’d throw the question to you guys: are you zombied out? Are you excited to play Dead Rising 2? What are your favorite zombies in video games? Go!

Microsoft to Increase Frequency of Halo Game Releases

master chiefNow that the release of Halo: Reach is behind us, did you think that we were at the end of the Halo related posts? We’re not out of the woods yet, kiddies, because Microsoft has a bit of news for us. Hot on the heels of Bungie’s super-awesome swan song, Microsoft and 343 Industries (the folks taking over the Halo franchise) have announced that they have a few plans for Master Chief and pals, and the first step is to ramp up the number of Halo releases we’re going to see. Typically, it’s a fairly long length of time between Halo games, about three years, but the success Activsion has had with yearly Call of Duty releases has been a source of inspiration for MS and 343.

Corporate Vice President for Microsoft Game Studios Phil Spencer recently had a little talk with IGN about the future of Halo post-Bungie and what we can look forward to for the next few years. While Mr. Spencer did say that a yearly schedule wasn’t the rule, he did also state the the long delay between releases is detrimental for fans of the series. Out of sight, out of mind, that sort of thing (ignoring the fact that Halo 3 is still charting on the top ten played XBL games to this day, but anyways). Phil went on the explain exactly how their new business model got its roots from Activision and Call of Duty: Continue reading Microsoft to Increase Frequency of Halo Game Releases

BioShock Infinite Gameplay Video is on Cloud Nine

BioShock Infinite (or Skyoshock, if you’re feeling sassy) was announced in late July amid much fervor and rumors. Is this a sequel to BioShock? What’s going on in the airborne city of Columbia? While we did get a glimpse at some of the fantastic looking screens, we haven’t really seen anything concrete on the game up until now. This video, shown during the behind-closed-doors press release event, goes over the sort of shenanigans we can expect to see in Irrational Game’s next foray into the BioShock universe.

One thing that strikes me about the video is how great Irrational is at world building. Much like Rapture before it, Columbia is at the tail end of its life, and the entire city is in shambles. The video opens kind of slowly, but it ramps pretty quickly after that. The game is currently set for release in 2012, so we’ve got a while to go. What do you guys think of the gameplay? Excited for Infinite?

Little Big Planet 2 Beta Produces Vietnam FPS, Zone of the Enders and Street Fighter II

Wow. The more I see about Little Big Planet 2 and its incredible sandbox, the more I can’t wait to play it. The beta for the game is currently underway, which means that players are creating all kinds of madness that has been previously unknown to us. However, the NDA for the beta has finally lifted, which means that we are now getting to see just what people have been up to in secret. Some of the results include an FPS, Zone of the Enders and Street Fighter II. And frankly, the clips are incredible.

First, we have the Vietnam-themed first person shooter. While it’s fairly basic, I’m actually quite impressed with the graphics here, and the possibilities are enough to whet the creative appetite for more.

See the next two videos after the jump!
Continue reading Little Big Planet 2 Beta Produces Vietnam FPS, Zone of the Enders and Street Fighter II

Fanmade Minecraft Trailer Has Both Mining and Crafting

For the last few weeks, I’ve been hearing more and more about the game Minecraft, the sandbox game that allows players to shape the world as they choose, albeit in pixelated blocks of wood and stone. Full disclosure: I don’t know much about the game, so if you do, feel free to explain some more in the comments, but from what I can tell, it was developed by one person and is currently taking the indie gaming world by storm.

While the game is normally just 9 bucks, it’s actually free to play indefinitely while creator Markus Persson works on getting everything back up and running. To me, the most interesting aspects of the game, on top of building whatever you want, is the idea of community construction and fashioning the world together in a multiplayer setting.

Anyway, this Minecraft fanmade trailer really has perked my interest even more than it was originally, and I’m tempted to try this out. Have any of you guys played this current PC sensation (looking at you, karhax and Muaddib)? Please share your thoughts!

To check the game out, go check out the Minecraft website!

Today’s WTF: Bungie, The Last Great Indie Developer?

Bungie LogoOh man, Activision’s Bobby Kotick is going to earn himself some new fans after this one.

For what seems like the hundredth time in just a few months, Kotick’s got a new quote circulating on the Web tubes, this one just as absurd or more so than the last few. At the recent America Merrill Lynch Media, Comms and Entertainment conference, the corporate chief had this to say about the world of indie game development. Brace yourselves.

Bungie are a very unusual company… They’re probably the last remaining high quality independent developer. It’s very hard to [pauses]… that has sort of has institutional skills and capabilities. And they’re a real company.

There’s more to it than that, but it seems to me calling Bungie “the last remaining high quality developer” packs with it a slight to quite a large list of excellent indie devs out there. You know, guys like Sucker Punch, Valve, Level-5, Insomniac, etc. I mean, it’s one thing to express the opinion that Bungie is the greatest independent developer left. But to say that there are no other high quality developers seems like a bit of a stretch.

Obviously, this is more horn tooting on the part of Bungie and Activision’s new distribution deal, but still, this is a bit heavy. So go ahead and share your feelings about this new WTF from Kotick. Also, who do you think is the best indie developer out there? Go!

Source – CVG

Last Guardian TGS 2010 Trailer is Gorgeous, Again

We seem to be on a bit of a Team Ico kick lately, but it’s hard not to be excited about all the awesome news that’s coming out of the Japanese developer these days. It’s been a long time since we’ve heard anything at all about their new project, The Last Guardian, and they finally delivered at TGS in Japan last week.

With such a long delay in news, I kind of wondered if there was some issue with development, but judging from the newest trailer, I’d say those fears have now been alleviated. I seriously can’t believe how gorgeous this game is, and I can’t wait to play it, whenever that release finally lands. What do you guys think of the trailer?

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 8: Nostalgia and the S

Mass Effect 2 LiaraIt’s been some time, gentlemen and ladies, but we’re back with another episode of the GamerSushi show. Chalk the delay for this one up to a few things. Namely, the update to GamerSushi 2.0, which sidelined Jeff and Nick on the weekends. Also, Halo: Reach which totally ruined my week, and I’m the dude that edits it. So sue me.

In this episode, we talk about a number of things, including PAX 2010, where Mitch gives us a rundown of all the things he saw and experienced. We also chat about a number of issues including cut scenes in games, Mass Effect 2 and Lair of the Shadow Broker, writing in video games and Alan Wake, and how small games companies are killing it with downloads. At the end, we break into one of my favorite podcast discussions we’ve had, piggybacked off of the conversation about S games.

As always, we had one or two issues during the recording, and this issue resulted in Mitch being dropped from the discussion part of the way through. You’ll hear the glitch associated with that a handful of times. Just blame him for using a free headset he won at PAX.

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 8: Nostalgia and the S

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Fallout: New Vegas Gets First Developer Diary

In just one month, folks will be clamoring to jump back into the world of the Fallout universe, this time taking on the wasted west and the deserts around Vegas. I know several people who are particularly looking forward to this game, eager to dip back into an enormous quest (or series of quests) yet again.

And for all of you wishing to see a little more to fuel your need for Fallout: New Vegas, you’re in luck. As is becoming custom for new video games these days, Obsidian just released its first Fallout: New Vegas developer diary, going over the setting and story of the game. I have to say, I’m intrigued by the nature of the story, complete with its own MacGuffin in the form of a mysterious package stolen from the player.

Anyway, give it a watch. Hard to believe it’s out October 19 here in the U.S. Who’s getting this game, and what do you think of the video?

Realtime Worlds Slaps the Cuffs on APB

apb-gal-logoThey say that only the good die young, but sometimes this old adage extends to the bad as well. All Points Bulletin (APB for those of us who have never been in the back of a cop car) was released only three months ago, but the cops-and-robbers style MMO is being put behind bars already. The game was lauded for its strong customization options but lost a lot of points for having dull combat, horrible player versus player and a very generic quest system.

While fans of the game are certainly upset, most of us who followed the news surrounding the title wouldn’t be surprised. Realtime Worlds, best known for the X-Box 360 hit Crackdown, entered administration (bankruptcy over in the United Kingdom) and laid off a significant part of their work force last month. APB’s Community Officer Ben Bateman posted a final thanks on the official forums:

APB has been a fantastic journey, but unfortunately that journey has come to a premature end. Today we are sad to announce that despite everyone’s best efforts to keep the service running; APB is coming to a close. It’s been a pleasure working on APB and with all its players. Together we were building an absolutely amazing game, and for that, we thank you. You guys are awesome!

It looks like this is the end of Realtime Worlds, folks. It’s a real shame that the studio that brought us Crackdown is on the down and out. While I was originally psyched for the game, really poor reviews led me to steer clear, and I imagine that’s true for a lot of us. What do you guys think of RTW closing? Any parting thoughts for this once celebrated studio?

Source: Kotaku