Category: GamerSushi News

Skyrim for Console Could Include Mods

CE LogoThe biggest reason I would never get an Elder Scrolls game for a console may be going out the window with the upcoming installment, Skyrim. This news is huge and is something that would change console games dramatically. Todd Howard, Bethesda’s executive producer, was spotted as saying user created content may come to the consoles.

The Creation Kit, part of the development engine used to make Skyrim (Much like the Construction Set used for Morrowind and Oblivion) will be available to users on the PC to create their own content. This feature allows users to mod the game and extends gameplay beyond what even DLC can do. Todd Howard was quoted with the following

“It works on all the consoles,” he said. “As far as the 360 and PS3, right now there’s not an avenue for us to make that available, but we’d very much like to find a way. We have talked to Microsoft and Sony, and so there’s a chance it might happen one day, [but] I don’t see it happening for release.”

He also makes mention that there is no problem with content made on the PC running on consoles. Apparently 90 percent of Elder Scrolls gamers use consoles; meaning only 10 percent gets to see the wonder of modding. Hopefully this will be a feature that is extended into Skyrim and will allow the console world to enjoy the extended gameplay that the Elder Scrolls series has to offer. So what do you guys think about this news? Are you worried this will blur the line too much? Does this change what platform you will get Skyrim on?

Source: Next-Gen

Team Fortress 2 Introduces the Director/Replays

Saxxy Awards

It looks like Valve has added replays to Team Fortress 2, along with a fancy new machinima contest of sorts. The Saxxy Awards are designed to let users explore all of their filmmaking abilities in a Thunderdome fashion, where awards will be handed out based on YouTube views and all manner of categories such as “Most Pwnage”, “Most Epic Fail” and “Best Team Costume”. Basically, you have until May 19th to submit your awesomely edited piece and receive your lootz. They’ve got a Saxxy trailer up (see what I did there) which will tell you all you need to know.

In addition to all this, Valve tucked a TF2 comic into the update called Meet the Director, and I have to say I’m intrigued. Perhaps I’m looking too deeply into this, but it seems to be pushing at the universe of TF2 and giving us a cool new story to go on. Not to mention the art, which is fantastic.

Anyway, this will probably make me jump back into TF2 a little. My last PC could only barely run it, and I imagine it will sing on the new one. Who knows, maybe I’ll dabble with some machinima. Old habits die hard, after all…

What about you guys? Is anybody excited about this? What do you think of the comic? Go!

Source –Team Fortress 2

GamerSushi Asks: Do Games Fail at Endings?

Red Dead Redemption

We’ve talked about video game endings multiple times on this site, but I just had to bring the issue back up after reading an excellent article about today by Christian Higley over at Digital Hippo about How Video Games Fail to End.

In it, Higley explores the idea that many games fail at a very basic level of storytelling: narrative structure. While stories typically have a first, second and final act, most games end the game right after the second act, before the real conclusion can actually set in. Red Dead Redemption is one of the few games I can think of that actually gives gamers a third act (and does it to great effect), in that Marston is allowed to return home, and the player spends time winding the story down before its sad but powerful conclusion.

While that’s not a new argument, the writer goes a step further by pointing out that most games are even missing the first act, choosing instead to thrust players right into the second act. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how true it is: games typically begin at the “inciting incident”. It’s the equivalent of starting A New Hope at the very moment Luke’s aunt and uncle are killed. Or in many cases, even after that. Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: Do Games Fail at Endings?

Today’s Awesome: Portal 2 in Halo: Reach

So Portal 2 is awesome, and all you guys love it. Well, I don’t like it (as much), and all of the other GamerSushi editors are pretty sure the reason is because Portal 2 is not a “bro” game (e.g. Call of Duty, Halo, Gears). Well, thankfully, some kind soul has cooked up an amazing Forge World creation that puts the reality-bending mechanic of Portal in the dudetacular world of Halo: Reach.

Pretty wicked, no? I was surprised that the Halo: Reach teleporters actually transfer momentum as you travel through them, so hats off to the creator x 7revorBlack x. What do you guys think of this odd mash-up?

Ezio is Back for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations this Fall

assassins creed revelations

How do you guys feel about the Renaissance? I hope you’re not sick of it yet because Ubisoft just announced that Ezio Auditore will be back for another adventure this fall in Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. VG247 has the whole wrap up about Revelations, but for conveniences sake here’s the juicy part of Ubisoft’s PR blurb:

In Assassin’s Creed Revelations, master assassin Ezio Auditore walks in the footsteps of his legendary mentor, Altaïr, on a journey of discovery and revelation. It is a perilous path – one that will take Ezio to Constantinople, the heart of the Ottoman Empire, where a growing army of Templars threatens to destabilize the region.

In addition to Ezio’s award-winning story, the acclaimed online multiplayer experience returns, refined and expanded, with more modes, more maps and more characters that allow players to test their assassin skills against others from around the world. The latest chapter in the Assassin’s Creed saga also includes revolutionary gameplay, allowing players to manipulate the construct of Desmond’s memories and the Animus to decipher the mysteries of his past and gain insight into the future.

So there it is, fellas. Looks like Revelations is shaping up to be a Brotherhood type sequel. Not necessarily the worst thing in the world, but I think this is probably the last time that Ubisoft can get away with this. I’ll obviously play it, but as Eddy told me in chat this morning, if it has gimmicky blue and orange robes it is an automatic hate. Here’s the first screenshot of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, showing Ezio (with a grey beard?) climbing a tower in Constantinople.

So now that we know a bit more about the next Assassin’s Creed chapter, what do you guys think about Revelations? Sick of Ezio? Where do you want the series to go next?

Source – VG247

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 27: The Portal One

Well, it was only inevitable that when we all finished Portal 2, the next podcast would be mostly dominated by that discussion. So, Episode 27 is the fruition of that idea. In it, we chat for a very long time about Portal 2, and then we move on to other big topics from the last couple of weeks, including Nintendo’s Project Cafe and the crazy huge hack of PSN.

After all of that tomfoolery, we jump into an exciting game of Fill in the Blank that was extremely well-played by myself. Trust me, you’ll want to hold onto your butts from my amazing vocabulaciousness. Anyway, be careful of the Portal 2 section, which makes up the first half hour, because the discussion comes complete with single player spoilers. If you’re not wanting to hear those, feel free to skip about 30 minutes ahead, as indicated by the time chart below.

What are you waiting for? Listen, rate and enjoy, yo. Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Ep 27: The Portal One

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GamerSushi Asks: Star Wars?

Star Wars

Since I’m positive the majority of you are somewhere near the same level of nerdiness as myself, I’m going to go ahead and assume that you all are happily aware that today was Star Wars Day. I thought there was some deeper meaning behind it besides the “May the Fourth be with you” pun, but a Wikipedia search tells me that I am dead wrong about that.

All the same, though, happy Star Wars Day! My love for Star Wars is something I can barely even put into words, because it’s such a huge part of my childhood and my desire to tell awesome stories with fun characters for a living. To me, Star Wars represents the best part of the magic only a good story can conjure, with tales of good and evil, joy and woe, sacrifice and spaceships. It’s such a hard thing to describe all the ways it helped shape me when I was little, and the way its universe continues to do so today.

Anthony sent this around in an e-mail today, and I thought I would post it here, too. Think of it as a Star Wars survey of sorts. Who says all we have to do is talk about video games? Hit the jump to check it out. Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: Star Wars?

Today’s Sadface: Mass Effect 3 Delayed to 2012

Mass Effect 3

Say it isn’t so!

Well, it looks like the first of the AAA delay casualties has struck, and boy if it isn’t a big one. It was only a matter of time before one of the many gaming titles threw up the white flag for 2011, and it looks Mass Effect 3 is the first. Today a Bioware employee posted a quote on the Bioware forums from Casey Hudson, Executive Producer of the Mass Effect series, announcing the delay.

Today we have confirmed that Mass Effect 3 will be released in the first three months of 2012. The development team is laser focused on making sure Mass Effect 3 is the biggest, boldest and best game in the series, ensuring that it exceeds everyone’s expectations.

Pretty standard delay business, really. Honestly, I’m not too surprised, seeing as how the turn around time between ME2 and ME3 seemed to defy all logic anyway. We can only hope that this makes the game better in the long run. In the short term, my wallet can breathe a little easier this fall.

So what do you guys think? Upset? Disappointed? How do you feel about the reason for the delay, which seems to be to adjust mechanics that will increase Mass Effect 3’s market opportunity? Go!

Sources – Bioware Forums, Joystiq

GamerSushi Asks: Gaming Hardware Horror Stories

gaming hardware horror stories

It’s a sad thing, but sometimes we lose our precious gaming hardware through the cruel machinations of an uncaring universe. I know the pain of lending a GameBoy to a friend only to have it returned minus an intact screen and case, or felt the sting of seeing all my game discs laid out bare in the hot afternoon soon, or resting upon the heat dispersal vent for the Xbox 360.

I’ve never had anything really truly horrible happen to me aside from the aforementioned GameBoy incident, but I do know of a computer that has melted not once, but twice. The first time my friend booted up his PC only to be greeted with an unfamiliar beeping noise was a harrowing experience, and when it happened again recently, we knew the device was toast. In both cases, it had been the video cards that had melted; they were originally in a RAID configuration, but over the six years of that computer’s life span, they both bit the dust.

As is so often the case here on GamerSushi, I bring this topic up because I was wondering if any of you have a similar story, or perhaps worse. Ever throw your Wiimote into the TV, or cracked a controller in a fit of rage? Let us know in the comments, you crazy kids.

Square Enix to Publish Dead Island

Dead Island

In honor of Zombie Awareness Month (Look it up, it’s a thing), we’ve been given some undead corpse-related news from our good friends over at Deep Silver, the developers of the highly anticipated FPS/co-op with a twist of melee zombie game known as Dead Island. They’ve found a publisher and it might raise your eyebrows and the dead from their graves. OK, I got carried away with that last one.

Square Enix, the publisher of Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and other games where buckles, zippers and spiked hair reign supreme, will publish the game, due out something before the end of the year, as IGN is reporting. This is pretty smart because Square Enix still knows how to market a blockbuster game in a crowded field of contenders.

But it also gives us the chance to make jokes. So, other than an emo main character who can’t remember what’s going on, what JRPG stereotypes would you like to see in Dead Island? (I realize the real answer is “none”, but just play along, OK?) Do you think Square will try to change anything before release? GO!

Source – IGN

Diablo III on the “Home Stretch”

Diablo 3

Urge to squee… rising…

OK, I think I can hold off long enough to type for a few minutes. In the midst of all of Sony’s craziness, plus that whole Bin Laden thing, you might have missed out on some Diablo III news this past weekend. And of course, who could blame you?

And what’s the news, you ask? Well, Blizzard gave a bit of a hands-on preview of Diablo 3 to the New York Times last week. While the article has some nice tidbits about the game that we mostly knew, and a few we didn’t know (such as a much simpler trading availability), the big shocker comes near the end of the article. Jay Wilson, Diablo III’s director, had this to say about the game’s development.

“We’re definitely in the home stretch. We’re crunching. This is when the magic happens.”

Now, maybe I’m just reaching here, but does this mean we could possibly see a Diablo III release in 2011? Blizzard as of yet has been noncommittal about when the game is going to come out, and have seemingly gone back and forth on it a few times.

What do you guys think? Am I being too optimistic here? Place your bets on 2011 or 2012. Go!

Source – NYTimes

When Co-Op Gaming Brings Out the Worst in You

magicka co-op gaming

Ever since Eddy built his new gaming PC, we’ve been planning to do a little Magicka and last Friday we had our chance. Eddy, Nick, Jeff and myself all hopped on Skype and booted up the co-op magic fest and a blast was had by all. Well, mostly by all; I discovered that day that I have a bit of a tendency to be a (huge) jerk when people don’t perform to my exact specifications.

I can’t quite remember the specifics of the incident now, but having completed Magicka before, and therefore being an expert at the game, I am sad to admit that I wasn’t exactly the best guide to be shepherding a group of noobies through this unforgiving game. Just because I know how to do most of the powerful spells off by heart, and I’m willing to sacrifice an ally for the sake of casting lighting, doesn’t mean I’m the nominal leader.

Even though cooperation is at the heart of the Magicka experience, I was letting my own hubris get in the way of teamwork and to my fellow wizards at arms, I apologize. Now that my sordid laundry has been hung out to dry, metaphorically speaking, I was wondering if any of you have a similar horror story. Were you playing a game with a friend and you tweaked out on them? Do you maybe just want to laugh at the fact that Magicka turned me into a huge douche? Cast some comments!

Worst Gaming Marketing Moments

Moore

Yikes. PSN is still down, you say? Well it looks like Sony’s Kaz Hirai is apologizing for that as I write this post.

You’ll hear more on my thoughts about the whole PSN hack-n-crash on this week’s podcast, but for now, I will go as far as to say that this is a nightmare for Sony in terms of PR. The sad thing about it, from their point of view, is that this seems to come right on the heels of some recent efforts to get back in gamer’s good graces over the last year or so.

Anywho, with all of this bad PR and marketing business, I thought this list of the Top 10 Embarrassingly Bad Moments in Video Game Marketing was certainly relevant these days. It was posted about a month ago, but I think it’s found a bit of new life in wake of the PSN fiasco. It’s got some goodies on there, especially the time when Peter Moore tattooed release dates on his arm, as well as some of the old Atari Jaguar ads. Good memories, there.

So what do you guys think? What are some other terrible bits of video game marketing and PR? I’d say that “Riiiiidge Racer!” and the 360 RRoD probably round out the top of the list, but that’s just me. Go!

Source – Calm Down Tom

Relic Talks Being an OG Space Marine in Warhammer 40K

I know that we’ve sort of reached the point around here where developer diaries are kind of passe with everyone and their Nintendogs talking about how their game is the awesomest. That said, I do kind of have a soft spot for Relic and their skills in bringing the tabletop strategy game Warhammer 40K to PCs with their Dawn of War series. Now that they have that genre nailed down, they’re taking a stab at third-person action by dropping you into the boots of a Space Marine. Take a look at this new trailer which details what it’s like to be a Space Marine, and what you’re doing to stop the enemies of the Imperium.

I have to say, the game has a very Dawn of War feel, and given that that series has been getting progressively more about controlling a small selection of characters rather than a giant army, this seems like a natural step. The action looks brutal, the Space Marines look stoic and the Orks are ripe for the killing. What more could you ask for from a Warhammer 40k game?

Gamestradamus Predicts: E3 2011

Every now and then, we like to pay a little visit to our good friend, Gamestradamus, the Gaming Fortune Teller. Last year, we asked him his predictions about the Nintendo 3DS, which turned out to be largely true, minus a few small quibbles. Gamestradamus is different than the rest of us lowly gamers in that he is gifted with the ability to see into the great beyond, the ever-future, the swirling blender of time – and he can tell us bits of what he knows.

As the E3 fervor is getting ready to build into complete mania over the next few weeks, we thought we’d pay Gamestradamus a visit to glean his secrets before the rumors broke. What we found was shocking, titillating (tee hee) and worth reporting about here at GamerSushi. Beware, gents. Spoilers. Continue reading Gamestradamus Predicts: E3 2011

What Can Sony Do to Regain Your Trust?

PSN

By now, we’ve all heard about the massive data breach of the Playstation Network by a hacker of unknown origin. If this is somehow breaking news to you, IGN has a nice summation of the entire saga here. As someone who has a credit card linked to my PSN account, not to mention my undying desire to play Portal 2 co-op, I am pretty steamed. (Get it?)

Sony and the hacker both share a lot of blame and I don’t think Sony kept it secret for a week that our information was stolen, but the fact remains: Sony has lost the trust of its consumer base. Granted, there will be fanboys who defend them to the last breath, but those people don’t count. Also, one benefit from this fiasco: it makes it real easy to spot the fanboys.

So what will it take for Sony to win back your trust? Free loot? Cross-game chat? Paying for credit protection for 2 years, as some have suggested? Personally, I want all of the above and maybe a little more. I am disgusted by this whole thing and I want more than a silly email and some vague mutterings about checking my statement.

What say you? Has Sony lost you forever? Speak now or forever hold your PSN anger!

Source: IGN

Poll: What’s Your Current Game of the Year?

Seeing as how we’re almost five months into the glorious year of 2011, and given that we’ve already seen a slew of quality releases, I thought I’d conduct an informal poll (TWSS) and find out what your current Game of the Year is.

While we do have a few luminary titles coming at us in a few weeks, the recent release of Portal 2 gave us undoubtedly one of this year’s critical juggernauts. Gaming is for all types though, so maybe you liked something else? Let us know which game you’re rooting for in this handy-dandy poll we cooked up. Chances are, you’ll like a game with the number “2” in it. Just a guess.

For anyone wondering why I picked these games, I basically selected big ticket titles over a score of 87 on Metacritic. If you’d like me to add something else, please let me know in the comments!

What's Your Current Game of the Year for 2011?

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GamerSushi Asks: PC Specs?

Unreal 3 Samaritan

I’ve done this a couple of times before, but since I just upgraded my PC last week, I figured it was time to do so again. You know, just because.

The PC upgrade comes courtesy of Nick, who priced out a few of these parts for me. I gave him a $500 limit (before the OS and HDD) and he came through pretty well, I think. The result is a new PC that isn’t the fastest thing out there by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a far sight better than the 6 year old machine I’ve been using, without breaking the bank. I doubt I’d be able to run the Unreal 3 Samaritan demo on it in a couple of years, but still.

Here’s what’s under the hood, minus the power supply:

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3
GPU: Radeon HD6850 1GB
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Quad-Core with 3.2GHz 4000MHz
MEM: 4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz

It scored a 3300 on the 3D Mark 11 demo, which is about standard. Like I said, nothing special, but not bad for coming in under $500 bucks. So far, I’m really happy with everything, and I really can’t wait to start digging into some more PC games in the months to come. I’ve already got Shogun 2 on the docket as well as Magicka, and as soon as PSN gets back online I’m going to link my Steam account and play through Portal 2 on it as well. Also on the menu: Starcraft 2 and Civilization V. And Battlefield 3, whenever it drops.

Any other recommendations for me that are strictly PC fares? What are your PC specs? Go!

Is Valve Done with Single Player Games?

Half Life 2 Episode 2

Interesting. I’m not sure if you guys have heard about Geoff Keighley’s The Final Hours of Portal 2 app for the iPad, but it sounds like a fascinating look into the development of Portal 2, particularly the last few weeks before it was done. Keighley was given a staggering amount of access to Valve, much like when he covered the Final Hours of Half-Life 2, and I’ve heard the results are phenomenal.

On top of being a remarkable piece of journalism, it seems that Keighley reports on a few choice remarks from Gabe Newell himself, particularly about the future of Valve when it comes to single player gaming. Apparently, Here’s what Keighley had to say:

“Portal 2 will probably be Valve’s last game with an isolated single-player experience… What this all means is something Newell is still trying to figure out.”

Apparently, he heard this from Newell during his time at Valve. Considering Valve’s track record seems to be skewing towards more multiplayer and co-op focused games, it doesn’t surprise me that much. However, it does make me curious about what the future could hold for a title like Half-Life 2: Episode 3…

So what do you guys think about this quote and about its implications? Is it just the gaming press getting out of hand? Or could you see there being something to this idea? It should be noted that Valve allowed Keighley to publish whatever he wanted with no limitations as soon as Portal 2 was done, so it’s very likely that he did in fact hear this straight from Gabe’s mouth.

Thoughts?

Source – Kotaku

The Joy of Rediscovering Games

Halo: Combat Evolved PC Version

I was combing through one of the boxes I had been dragging around with me in my various moves in the past year and was pleasantly surprised when I found my copy of Halo: Combat Evolved for the PC. I have Halo for the Xbox, true, but this version of it is a little more rare, almost to the point of mythical status. I put that sucker in my laptop and found out that I can run it, so I’ve been playing through that the last couple of days and having a blast.

Previously, a similar thing happened when I found a GameBoy Color and a copy of Pokemon Red which rekindled my Pokemon obsession, so I was wondering if anything similar has happened to you guys. I know that in the day and age of digital distribution, where publishers pimp out older games to prey on our nostalgia, finding older games is easier than it has been, but happening upon a treasured game from your youth and the proper system to play it on is nothing short of a miracle.

So what about you? Have you stumbled onto a game that you thought was lost? What was it? Go!