Category: Microsoft

New Splinter Cell: Conviction Story Trailer Channels Jack Bauer

Splinter Cell’s release date is finally set in stone, so we can all sit back and enjoy the upcoming barrage of videos to remind us that, yes, the game is coming out this year. Ubisoft just released a trailer to give us a quick refresher on what everyone’s favorite grizzled super spy, Sam Fisher, has been doing since Double Agent. Take a look:


Man, all he needs to do is headbutt a fashion designer and he’ll be Keifer Sutherland. All jokes aside, the game does look sharp, but I’ll still worried about the game’s controls, specifically the ability to queue actions and watch them go off. I’m sure that the game will pull it off just fine, but it does make me a bit nervous. I’m going to pick it up regardless, but what about you fellas? Is this one your purchase list, or will you still be playing one of the millions of games that comes out between now and April? Has the news about Assassin’s Creed II’s DRM done anything to dampen your enthusiasm for Ubisoft products?

Life After Halo: What Does Bungie Have Planned?

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When you’ve been basing all your games for the past ten years around one franchise, at a certain point I’d imagine that you’d like to spread your wings a bit and try something different. With Halo: Reach drawing ever closer, various Bungie employees are starting the hype machine for their next title after Reach, a game that will be set in a brand new universe; “something totally original from Bungie”, in the words of Brian Jarrard, the studio’s Community Director.

It’s been a recurring theme whenever anything Halo crops up: people come out of the woodwork maintaining that Bungie can’t do anything but make sub-par (yet extremely popular and lucrative) shooters set in the same generic sci-fi universe. As an avid Halo fan, my automatic response is to defend these claims but after ten years I’d like the see what else Bungie can make. While their talents for building worlds and back-stories haven’t really come across in the games themselves, those of us who cared to read the Halo novels found that the setting of Halo was a lot more deep and varied than a guy in green armor smearing aliens into paste. I for one would be interested to see Bungie take a stab at a Western-style RPG, but that’s just me.

Now that Bungie is an independent studio it’s no longer tied to Microsoft’s whims, so it’ll be interesting to see where their next title ends up. I’m guessing that they will still be a 360-focused studio, but the thought of Bungie making a PlayStation 3 title has me interested. What do you guys want to see out of Bungie post Reach? Do you think this is actually Bungie’s last Halo game, a claim they’ve made in the past? Sound off!

Source: Kotaku

Alan Wake for PC Gets Lost in the Dark

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Bad news for all you PC hopefuls out there: it turns out that Remedy and Microsoft have officially canceled the PC version of Alan Wake, a story about a novelist with writer’s block who goes to vacation in a small town Stephen King style, only to get embroiled in some paranormal shenanigans. Originally announced as a PC exclusive when Remedy started making the game five years ago, the development had since shifted to be 360 centric but up until yesterday it was assumed that a PC release would be following shortly after the 360 version drops in May.

As to why the PC version got canned, a Microsoft spokesperson had this to say:

“Some games are more suited for the intimacy of the PC, and others are best played from the couch in front of a larger TV screen. We ultimately realized that the most compelling way to experience “Alan Wake” was on the Xbox 360 platform, so we focused on making it an Xbox 360 exclusive.”

The spokesperson goes on to maintain that although Microsoft and Remedy both have a history of crafting PC titles, this choice was all about making the right decision as to which platform could best represent the game.

How do you guys feel about this development? Considering that Alan Wake was a PC title first, this seems to be a bit of a slap in the face, but that’s just me. Not to toot the “PC is dying” horn, but this is just one more nail in the coffin. Tell us you thoughts!

Source:1up

Halo: Reach ViDoc Prepped for Combat Insertion

Microsoft’s X10 event wrapped up yesterday, and what a day it was for casual fans and X-Bots alike. Long-coming psychological thriller Alan Wake actually has a release date, and Crackdown 2 is looking very fine in my opinion. The only real disappointment to come out of X10 was the rough-looking trailer for Dead Rising 2, which tempered my excitement for the zombie-slaying sequel a bit. The best news to come out of X10, though, was the announcement of the date for the Halo: Reach beta! Slated for May 3, this beta may be a bit far away but I’m sure that Bungie has some excellent treats to keep the rabid fans sated for a while, like the following ViDoc.

This documentary, even though it’s full of Alpha footage and concept art, has me ridiculously excited for this game. Honestly, when the video gives you a comparison of the graphical changes of the Marine and assault rifle models from Halo 3 to Reach, it’s enough to warm my jaded heart. What do you guys think? Can Bungie finally pull off a more human Halo story? Who else is getting this game?

Get Your Games in Now: Original X-Box Losing LIVE Support

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It seems like the end of an era somehow, but as the current generation pushes into the future it had to happen. Microsoft announced their plans to discontinue support for the original X-Box on LIVE today, and that includes playing backwards compatible games online on the 360. X-Box LIVE general manager Marc Whitten explains this move as necessary to facilitate the continued evolution of LIVE as a service, but I’m sure that more than a few people will be disappointed with this action. Microsoft has continually stated that the furtherance of original X-Box games have been holding up certain LIVE features on the 360 such as raising the friend list cap to 100 Gamertags.

While the official press release does do a lot to trumpet the Microsoft horn, it’s good to see that the LIVE team is taking steps to make sure that those who will be adversely affected by this move are being taken care of. Users who are still subscribed to the base LIVE service will receive prorated refunds, and Mr. Whitten had this to say about those being left behind:

“We will contact the X-Box LIVE members directly impacted by this change and if this includes you, I encourage you to check your LIVE messages and associated e-mail account over the coming weeks for more details and opportunities. We view you as a partner in this process.”

Interesting developments indeed, but what innovations are coming to LIVE that required this change? Who here is going to get in a few more games before the serivce gets axed on April 15? Just for kicks, what were your favorite original X-Box games to play online? Halo 2 was a good one, obviously, but who played Crimson Skies? Oh yeah, have you heard that XBL Arcade crested a hundred million in sales last year?

Source: Major Nelson and X-Box 360 Press

What The? Gears of War in Lost Planet 2?

As far as video game cross-overs go, we’ve seen some great ones (Marvel vs Capcom 2) and some not so great ones (Spawn in Soul Caliber). This new promo for the X-Box 360 version of Lost Planet 2, I just can’t place. On one hand, Marcus and Dom have had a lot of experience slaughtering strange abominations of nature; on the other, putting two characters from an exclusive Microsoft game in a Capcom multi-platform title seems odd. One wonders who the PS3 purchasers will get as bonus characters.

Consider me officially intrigued, though. I tried the original Lost Planet but couldn’t really get into it, though I’ve always felt that the title may have some merit. What do you guys think? Worth a purchase, or more of a rental? Who do you think the PS3 owners will get, if anyone?

Halo Legends Clip is a Thing You Can Watch

Most of you have probably figured this little factoid out already, but I am GamerSushi’s resident Halo fan-boy. I seriously loves me some Halo, so naturally you would figure that a series of animated shorts would be right up my alley.

Well, as anyone who becomes engrossed with a franchises’ fictional history can tell you, if you outsource a project to a collection of companies and they do not get it exactly right you will have a large amount of butt-hurt nerds on your hands. That sounds weird, but I digress. If you haven’t caught any of the Halo animes on Waypoint, now’s your chance to see what you haven’t been missing.

The full DVD/Blu-Ray (irony lol) release is in early Feburary, but I think I’ll pass. What about you guys?

GamerSushi Game Night Part Two: Halo for Haiti

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There’s been a huge outpouring of support for Haiti from all over the world, but the Caribbean nation is still a disaster zone and more help is needed. For those of us who can’t contribute directly, Bungie Studios, makers of the hugely successful Halo series, is holding a charity where they will donate $100 per every thousand players on Wednesday January 20 and Thursday January 21.

Bungie is hoping to raise over $77,000 dollars, and we here at GamerSushi think that playing some Halo is a great way to assist in this noble cause. On Thursday January 21, we’re having another Halo 3 game night to benefit the humanitarian efforts in Haiti. It’s simple: all you have to do is log onto X-Box LIVE bearing a specific emblem (directions contained within this link) and your contribution will be counted.

Same deal as last time, Eddy (Pwnocchio) and myself (Lubeius) will be sending out invites at 7:30 pm CST (check your time zone here) so leave your Gamertag in the comments below. News about PC and PS3 Game Nights forthcoming, so don’t think we’ve forgotten about you!

What Were the Top 20 Most Played 360 Games of ’09?

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We’ve got one more top something of 2009 list for you, but this time it’s a little different as it’s not some publication doling out their “best-of” awards, but rather a unique compilation decided entirely by you the player. Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb recently posted the chart-topping games of 2009 as tracked by X-Box LIVE, and it may surprise you to learn that Halo 3 has once again taken the top spot three years running with Call of Duty 4 riding its coat-tails and Modern Warfare 2 in third.

I know you’re going to say that MW2 was only released on November 11 of this year, and I’m sure that future metrics will show the widely acclaimed First-Person-Shooter rocketing into the lead and leaving Bungie’s mean green machine in its dust. I just think it’s amazing that Halo 3 continues to lead the charts even though it’s beginning to get a bit long in the tooth. If it’s any consolation, Call of Duty titles fill out the remainder of the top four.

The charts also list the most popular Arcade titles (Battlefield 1943) and the most-played original X-Box titles (Halo 2). How do you think 2010 is going to break down? My bet is MW2 will clinch the top spot then fight with Bad Company 2 until Reach comes out.

Source: Major Nelson

Geek Out Over Early Halo: Reach Scans

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Like it or lump it, there’s no denying that one of 2010’s biggest titles will be Halo: Reach, Bungie’s (supposed) final game in the Halo series. The next issue of Game Informer was confirmed last week to include a bunch of new information on the upcoming sci-fi shooter, and some kind soul has seen fit to scan an advanced copy onto the internet. The scans are fairly clear considering that they’re straight off a magazine, and I have to say that the game is looking sharp. The infamous “ugly-people” produced by the Halo 3 engine are gone, and the marines in Reach look like actual futuristic grunts as opposed to cartoon characters. Speaking of Grunts, the Covenant species have been given a face-lift and there’s one new type of enemy confirmed, a Jackal look-alike of some sorts.

The article expands upon the setting and the various characters and there’s a lot of info for Halo canon nerds (like myself) to obsess over. Go check out the scans and tell us you thoughts!

Source: All Games Beta

Splinter Cell Conviction Co-Op and Deniable Ops Gameplay

Wow. You all know of my mega-boners that I get for Splinter Cell. Specifically, co-operative play in the Splinter Cell franchise is something that I will go off on a rant about, because of how much I loved the mode in Chaos Theory. Well, they’re bringing the mode back in Splinter Cell: Conviction, and I couldn’t be happier.

Up until now, all we’d gotten to see was a slick trailer for the mode. Now, though, we’re getting to see honest-to-goodness footage of the co-operative mode, in addition to Deniable Ops, which is more of an adversarial multiplayer in some ways. The coolest mode from Deniable Ops seems to be the “Spy vs Spy” gametype, where two players showdown in the midst of hostile enemy AI guards. The thought of that makes me a tad crazy, in the best way possible. Anyway, check out the new video and leave your thoughts.

Splinter Cell: Conviction is out on February 23rd, 2010. Anybody else jumping on this?

He Said What? The Most WTF Quotes of ’09.

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Hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year! As we slip into 2010 and eagerly await the best first quarter of video game history, we look back and reflect on 2009 and what an interesting year it was for gaming. We had plenty of great games drop this year (Batman, Resident Evil 5, Assassin’s Creed II just to name a few), and we finally saw the release of the undeniable juggernaut, Modern Warfare 2. But, as great as this year has been, there’s been more than a few eyebrow-raising moments as well. Whether you’ve got Infinity Ward’s decision to use matchmaking on the PC, Bobby Kotick’s Emperor Palpatine-esque villainy or Microsoft and Sony’s bizarre desire to tap into the motion control market, 2009 has seen its share of shenanigans. 1up has put together a list of their top industry quotes of 2009, and I’ve gone through and picked out a few of my favorites:

“You ever wonder what the bottom of an Avatar’s shoe looks like? Well BAM! There it is!”

Kudo Tsunoda demonstrating Natal at the E3 2009 Microsoft key note.

“Games have been used for stimulation, but maybe it won’t be long until games are used for relaxation and even to fall asleep.”

Nintendo prez Satoru Iwata introducing the ultimate WTF, the Wii Vitality Sensor, at the E3 2009 Nintendo key note. Continue reading He Said What? The Most WTF Quotes of ’09.

Franchise Fanboy Wars

Things are pretty messy out there in the video game realm. Gamers fighting against gamers, flames flying around the tubes left and right. People claiming superiority over one another because of a purchasing decision. What have we become?

I suppose it was only a matter of time before it came to this. Sure, everyone’s got their favorite system of choice, be it PC, XBox 360, PS3 or the Wii… But what about the franchises? To help feed the fanboy flames, I thought I’d throw some of our most beloved characters and stories together, to see who came out on top after a brutal battle to the death. It’s the franchise fanboy wars!
Continue reading Franchise Fanboy Wars

Mass Effect 2 Features the Dreaded Disc Swap

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We all know Mass Effect 2 is going to be, ahem, massive, but just how gargantuan is the upcoming sci-fi epic? Chris Priestly, community coordinator at BioWare, mentioned on the game’s official forums that Mass Effect 2 is going to be a two-disc game, three if you’re picking up the collector’s edition.

PC owners get the benefit of only using two discs for install, but 360 players will have to experience the awful exchange mid-game. It’s not going to be so bad though, as Priestly went on to break down just how the two-disc system is going to play out:

“Even though there is a disc swap, it occurs at a carefully planned place in the game (that does not interfere with gameplay) and is done once,” Priestly wrote on the Mass Effect 2 forums. “You do not swap back and forth. 1 swap and then done.”

Well, that’s a relief. I honestly don’t mind swapping discs, but it has been a while since I’ve needed to do that. The way I figure it, the more discs you use, the less time you spend in elevators. How do you guys feel? Is this a big deal for you, or not so much? Are you excited by the prospect of the sequel being so immense that it requires more than one disc?

Source: Kotaku

Abandoning Ship: Choosing a Different Console for Sequels?

assassinscreed2If I were in charge of the PlayStation division of Sony, I’d be feeling pretty good about myself right now. According to Gamasutra, more and more consumers seem to be buying up the hotly anticipated sequels to Assassin’s Creed and Modern Warfare on the PS3 as opposed to the X-Box 360.

Gamasutra’s article focuses on something called “franchise lineage”, which for us laymen is “gamer intent to purchase sequels to successful games”. The direction of the lineage seems to be changing for Assassin’s Creed 2, which shows the biggest shift. According to GamePlan Insights, the company that ran the research, fifteen percent of those who own the X-Box version plan to buy it on PS3 while only seven percent of PS3 Assassin’s Creed owners are purchasing Assassin’s Creed II on the X-Box.

While Assassin’s Creed II seems to be in the forefront of this movement, the report also indicated that Modern Warfare 2 shows a varying trend as well. The big question is this, though: why is the X-Box 360 losing sequel sales to its competitor?
Continue reading Abandoning Ship: Choosing a Different Console for Sequels?

Left 4 Dead 2 and Halo Waypoint Have Avatar Awards, Nerds Rejoice

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As the self-explanatory title above states, both Left 4 Dead 2 and the upcoming Halo Waypoint, your X-Box hub for all things Halo, are going to feature Avatar Awards, little pieces of clothing and other accouterments that your creepy cartoon doppelganger can sport.

Avatar Awards are earned by completing specific achievements in the corresponding game; i.e. getting the “Dark Times” achievement in Halo 3: ODST will unlock an ODST hoodie. Tougher achievements will earn you some cooler pieces like a Drop Trooper helmet or the body armor.

This strikes me as a better endeavour than the current model of paying for Avatar items. Sure, a lot of people don’t really care about their Avatars, but I’m glad to finally be getting something back for putting in all that time to getting those achievements, or “cheevos”, as the kids are calling them now.

What do you guys think? Are Avatar awards a good way to start giving back to the gamers, or would something else intrigue you? What kind of games would like to see star giving awards? I’d like a Brotherhood of Steel power armor suit for my Avatar personally.

Source: Kotaku

Review: Halo 3: ODST

Halo 3 ODST reviewHalo 2’s E3 demo from 2003 was the stuff of legends, something that had the fans salivating for the next instalment of Bungie’s break-through franchise. The sight of the Pelican dropship swooping down onto an Earth city under attack by the Covenant took people’s breaths away, and gave them a tantalizing glimpse of our home planet in the Chief’s universe. Ultimately, the final version of Halo 2 featured a New Mombasa that couldn’t deliver on the high hopes set by the demonstration, and left Halo enthusiasts wanting.

Six years later, we finally get our chance to explore the city of New Mombasa as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, or ODST. These special forces troops are dropped from orbiting ships in one-man pods, and are the only human soldiers in the Halo games that can stand up to SPARTANs in terms of bad-assery. The basic premise of the game is that your squad is dropped into New Mombasa, ostensibly to assault a Covenant ship that’s parked above the city, but things go horribly awry. The ship enters light speed inside Earth’s atmosphere causing a massive explosion and scattering your squad to the winds. You mostly play as the Rookie, a new-comer to the ODST squad, six hours after the drop. You search the hub city of Mombasa for clues as to what happened to your squad and your mission.
Continue reading Review: Halo 3: ODST

Today’s WTF: Splinter Cell Conviction Has No Night Vision

scconvictionOk, I hate to sound the “WTF” alarm for just anything these days, given the rather easy-to-upset gaming community at large, but this article I read today kind of jumped out at me. As some of you know, one of my most anticipated games for next year is Splinter Cell: Conviction. Chaos Theory still ranks among my favorite games of all time, and I’ve been waiting for a true sequel since then.

Well I might have to wait a little longer. While I’m largely OK with some of the additional gameplay mechanics that Ubisoft has added (the one-button executions, etc), something I read in an interview with the game’s creative director Max Beland disturbed me…

I crept through some dark areas as I worked my way into the building. Even in darkness, I did not need night vision to see, notably. In dark areas the game’s graphics become grainy, but the expected night-vision overlay doesn’t come into play. Beland doesn’t like green night-vision sequences in games and told me that Fisher’s goggles aren’t used for anything like that; just for sonar scans, which show enemy positions through walls.

Seriously? No night vision in a Splinter Cell game? I mean, call me crazy, but that just about throws the game off my radar. Looks like I might not get the proper return of the franchise that I wanted.

So what do you guys think? Am I overreacting to this? How would some of you guys feel if your favorite franchise was stripped of a staple of its gameplay?

Source- Kotaku

Thoughts on a One Console Future

one-consoleA lot has been made recently over the recent (and supposedly untrue rumor) that Microsoft may purchase Electronic Arts. Even though this rumor appears to be false, it does bring up some valid questions, and ones that got Anthony and I engaged in a ripping e-mail debate this morning.

As most debates go, it ended with us making various claims about each other’s mothers, but before that there was some reasoned discussion going on. Anthony believes that a move like this could really hurt the video game industry on the whole, and potentially see the downfall of the other two giants (in this case Sony and Nintendo). My position is that while I agree that such a situation might occur, we are reaching a point where a one-console future could and probably will be a reality, it’s just a matter of who goes the way of Sega first.

So, what do you guys think about this idea? Would you push away the idea of a one console future, or welcome it? To me, we are already on our way there, seeing as how there are fewer and fewer exclusive titles to separate the systems out anyway. Go!

Who’s Getting Ready to Drop?

halo3odstAs many of you devoted Halo-ites know, we are mere hours away from the launch (or should I be cheesy and say drop again?) of Halo 3: ODST in stores all along these American shores. Though you east coasters won’t see it for another hour or so and the rest of us have to wait even longer than that, I’m sure the anticipation is already pretty high for another Halo title release.

I have to admit, I was trying to avoid the Halo fever this time around, but starting about two weeks ago, I once again got caught up in the hype train. It was completely inevitable. The thing that really sold me on the game has to be the 4 player co-op story play as well as the Firefight mode, reminiscent of Horde mode from Gears of War 2. I’m hoping to attend the midnight launch in just a couple of hours. And if I can’t do that, then I’ll pick it up tomorrow after work.

So- which of you guys is planning on getting the game, too? Go!