Category: GamerSushi News

Consoles: Killing PC Gaming Softly?

ConsolesOnce again, get your flame suits on, and make sure to seal them up extra tight. I’m predicting a lot of heat in these comments.

In the ongoing super-friendly and always well-mannered debate of PC enthusiasts versus console lovers, both sides constantly engage one another in only the finest of rebuttals and, yes, even buttals. However, Maximum PC has just launched a new salvo against the console in a new article titled 12 Ways Consoles Are Hurting PC Gaming. Not to editorialize too much, but I’m surprised the author didn’t pull a muscle from all the stretching he did in the piece.

While he raises quite a few issues that gaming in general is facing, I think it’s kind of hard to peg all of these on the rise of consoles. Dumbed down sequels? In some cases, perhaps, but that’s going to happen as developers try to make their games have a wider appeal, on PCs and consoles alike. See: Counter-Strike: Source. He also makes some noise about auto saving and bad control schemes, as well.

Anyway, check it out and see if you agree. My question is this: have consoles made gaming better on the whole, or deteriorated it? I don’t mean just from your perspective, but as a whole? I think there are interesting arguments to make on both sides. Go!

Source – Maximum PC

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 24: Vestchewbacca

Gamers! Listeners! Friends!

Hey.

We’re back this week with Episode 24 of the podcast, which takes place entirely in real time. Sort of. We actually had a lot of technical difficulties with this one, but I think Nick did a great job of lessening the horrors that we faced.

Technical gremlins aside, this week we participate in the same tomfoolery that you’ve experienced from us every week, only this time we talk about Quantic Dream versus Rockstar, Square Enix’s fall into irrelevance, the most annoying fanboys in the world and Mass Effect 2’s Arrival DLC. After that, Nick drops a new game of Either/Or on us, and we hit up the PS3’s sales, Nintendo versus Angry Birds and the new trailers we got last week.

So, there you have it. Check it out. Rate it. Enjoy. Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Ep 24: Vestchewbacca

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Project Legacy and the Mystery of Social Integration

Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy

I’ve been playing Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood again because of the recent release of the single player centric ‘The Da Vinci Disappearance’ DLC. The content itself is quite fun, and a darn sight better than the expansions released for Assassin’s Creed 2. As I’m once again firmly ensconced in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, I decided to look around at the various other properties that UbiSoft has put out for the series, namely Project Legacy, the Facebook game connected to UPlay, and through that, the Assassin’s Creed games.

I can hear you groaning already about the fact that I’m playing a Facebook game, but Project Legacy isn’t Farmville. While the interface is really simple (you spend Action Points on a given sequence to achieve 100% synchronization) it really feels like an Assassin’s Creed game, boasting an Animus-like interface and featuring some shady dealings on behalf of the Abstergo Corporation, who’re putting you through the Project.
Continue reading Project Legacy and the Mystery of Social Integration

Gabe Newell’s Most Inspirational Games

Gabe Newell

When it comes to games, everyone’s got that list of a handful of titles that has influenced the way they view themselves as gamers, and to some extent individuals. I know that sounds a bit heavy, but I know that I have movies and music albums that have really affected me, and it’s just the same with games.

Have you ever wondered how your favorite developers feel are their most influential games? In a new feature titled Game Changers, CVG asks Valve founder Gabe Newell what his 3 favorite games of all time are. His answers? Star Trek on a Burroughs Mainframe, Doom and Super Mario 64, which convinced him that games are art (he still considers the controls to be unrivaled).

I’m glad that Gabe Newell and I are in total agreement about Super Mario 64, which still stands as probably the greatest platformer I’ve ever played. Other influential games for me as a gamer would happen to be KOTOR, Final Fantasy VII and Counter-Strike.

So what about you guys? What games have influenced you the most? What movies? Books? No holds barred!

Source – CVG

Halo: Reach’s Defiant Map Pack: DLC Worth Paying For

halo reach defiant map pack review

One of the biggest criticisms leveraged against Halo: Reach was the astonishingly low quality of the multiplayer maps included in the retail version. The original offerings were either spaces taken from the campaign or Forge World creations and remakes of older maps. Even the Noble Map Pack, released by Bungie on November 30, didn’t measure up to the maps of the previous Halo games, though they were better than the base offerings.

Interestingly, Halo: Reach’s second map pack, the Defiant Map Pack, was crafted by Certain Affinity, who made the Blastacular Map Pack for Halo 2. The Defiant Map Pack includes two new multiplayer spaces and a Firefight arena, but what makes this particular DLC worth your hard earned space bucks?
Continue reading Halo: Reach’s Defiant Map Pack: DLC Worth Paying For

Poll: Most Anticipated April Release

Now that publishers have finally decided to wise up and allow great video games to come out year round, we find ourselves with too many games and not enough time or money. So, we have to be more selective. And now that the month of April is upon us, that means more blockbuster games are on the way. Thankfully, this month is lighter than most, but the ones that are coming out are pretty gigantic.

Personally, Portal 2 is already pre-ordered and I expect to play that quite a bit with all my GamerSushi buds. I will probably pass on the other ones this month, as I am still working on my backlog.

What about you?

What April Release Are You Most Excited About?

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Behind the Scenes of Video Game Journalism

Video games writer

A dream that I’ve had for most of my life has been to get paid to either 1) write for a video game company or 2) write about video games. It combines two of the great loves of my life, which should be obvious from the career choices and their similarities. As such, I always find it fascinating to see behind the curtain a little bit for either career.

In this case, the peek happens to be the life of a video games journalist. Over at Kill Screen, writer Joseph Bernstein recently put up a piece titled Intern Affairs: Behind Closed Doors, which happens to be a series about the time he spent as an intern at GamesRadar. This particular entry covers the world of previews and handshakes between developers and journalists, and it’s actually kind of fascinating to see how the sausage is made, so to speak.

Bernstein basically shows the way previews are handled in some cases, and the gang mentality that occurs because of that as developers try to win you over. In the end, Bernstein even posts the preview he wrote as the result of this encounter, which happened to be for the game MX vs. ATV: Untamed for the Wii. I don’t think it necessarily exposes anything shady or surprising, I just find it interesting.

So what do you guys think after reading this? Does it jade you a little to what goes on behind the scenes at some video game sites? Go!

Source – Kill Screen, Image Source – PlatformNation

Team Meat Bemoans Super Meat Boy’s Xbox LIVE Release

super meat boy

Another April Fool’s has come and gone, and it is now safe to use the Internet for “tru facts”, as it were. As such, I present to you the first official post-April Fool’s story, a little tale about two-man indie developer Team Meat and their battles with Microsoft in bringing Super Meat Boy to Xbox LIVE Arcade.

In a recent issue of Game Developer Magazine (transcribed by Kotaku), one half of Team Meat, Edmund McMillen, waxes about the trials and tribulations faced by himself and his partner Tommy Refenes.

Aside from a few complaints that have really nothing to do with Microsoft (such as financial hardship brought on by emergency surgery), the duo experienced some difficulties getting the game ready for the Game Feast promotion on XBLA. They describe being in a forced crunch necessitated by the short release window brought on by the promotion which was clashing with their desire to add more features to the game. Fixing bugs at the same time as adding new things to the game meant that hours of hard work were rendered invalid by having more errors crop up on top of the ones they already fixed.
Continue reading Team Meat Bemoans Super Meat Boy’s Xbox LIVE Release

April Fools: Grand Theft Auto V Takes Place in Space

GTA5

Well, for weeks now, speculation has been running rampant about Grand Theft Auto V: when it’s going to be announced, who’s going to be in it and what parodies we can expect. However, one of the biggest questions still remaining about the next iteration of Rockstar’s landmark series is where it’s going to take place. It seems that Rockstar has finally silenced the masses with a press release that went out yesterday. The next GTA is going to take place in space.

Yeah, you read that right. Here’s what Rockstar’s VP of Product Development Jeronimo Barrera had to say about the new game’s astounding direction:

We just felt that we’ve “been there, done that” in regards to various other settings in previous Grand Theft Auto games and other Rockstar properties. I mean, we’ve done the 80’s, the 90’s, the Old West, the 1950’s in the upcoming L.A. Noire and even a modern-day post 9/11 America in GTA IV. Space is, quite literally, the Final Frontier in terms of where Rockstar’s games could go. It should be new and exciting for fans of our current games, just like it is for us.

The press release was shy on details, but here are a couple of things that have come to light about the way Grand Theft Auto (or should that be Shuttle, now) is going to play.

  • Multiple cities on various planets
  • Hijack button will dock you with a spaceship, mid-flight
  • Weapons will be futuristic, although some “antique” shops will have good old-fashioned rocket launchers
  • The main character is Max Rifle, intergalactic pirate extraordinaire
  • Earth will be playable, specifically a nuclear radiation infected Vice City

So, that’s quite the bomb to start the weekend with. What do you think of Rockstar’s bold new direction for the series?

Source – Rockstar Press Release

April Fools: Sony Drops Lawsuit, Hires Geohot

Geohot

In a stunning reversal, Sony Computer Entertainment of America has decided to drop their lawsuit against George “Geohot” Hotz and hire the hacker to head up a new division of cyber security focusing exclusively on the Playstation 3 and Sony’s upcoming handheld platform, codenamed NGP.

A Sony spokesman was quoted as saying:

He just had so many good ideas, we felt that he would be a better asset to us and the gaming community as an employee rather than a defendant.

Hotz, the infamous hacker who was the first to jailbreak the iPhone, expressed a desire to return the Linux operating system to the PS3 via firmware update by the end of April and upload a PS2 emulator before the end of the year. Sony also promised to compensate Hotz for his legal expenses, which seems decent of them.

Well, frankly, I am pretty shocked and more than a little upset. It seems that the online hacker community, which has been clamoring for Sony to just shut up and hire Hotz, has finally gotten their wish. I think this sets a dangerous precedent, where bad and perhaps illegal behavior is rewarded. Although PS2 emulation rocks my socks.

Am I being too harsh? Did Sony do the right thing here? GO!

Source: Wired

April Fools: Blizzard Splitting StarCraft 2 Sequels Into Four Games

StarCraft 2 Four Sequels

Unfortunately it is true, PC faithful; no matter how hard you pinch yourselves right now this is not a dream, and you will not wake up. Welcome to real life. It sucks.

In a post on the StarCraft 2 Forums, Lead Designer Dustin Browder has dropped the word that the upcoming StarCraft 2 sequels, Heart of the Swarm (Zerg) and Legacy of the Void (Protoss) will be split into two additional games each to best “convey the epic sci-fi story at the heart of StarCraft”. The full quote reads thusly:

“It was a really hard decision by the team leads for StarCraft 2, but ultimately we felt that the current format for the games wouldn’t convey the epic sci-fi story at the heart of StarCraft. Additionally, the lengthening of the release schedule gives us more time to iterate and improve on multiplayer formula, as well as find a way to get all five games to function properly in Battle.Net.”

That’s a real shame, if you don’t mind the editorializing. Mr. Browder says that the first part of what was originally Heart of the Swarm is still on track for its original release, so at least we can take comfort in that. The comments for that post are unfortunately disabled, but if you look around the forums you should find a few threads to voice your displeasure.

What do you think, GamerSushians? Is this another knock against the game that’s already had its share of WTF moments? Are you done with StarCraft, or Blizzard in general?

Source – StarCraft 2 Forums

Impressions: Eddy Plays a Nintendo 3DS

3D Hurt Eyes

The above image may or may not have happened. It’s mostly for the lulz.

So I finally got to see a 3DS up close and personal. I’ve honestly been excited about this since the handheld was first announced last year. It’s kind of weird to me that Nintendo keeps putting out trailers for it, because it’s really one of those things that can only be evaluated firsthand. During my trip to Best Buy yesterday to purchase Evangelion 2.22 (woot), I got my chance. Continue reading Impressions: Eddy Plays a Nintendo 3DS

Hawken Gameplay Is Stunning

Today I got a treat of something that that seems to be circulating around the internet. An indie company called Adhesive Games is working on a new project called Hawken. Adhesive Games’ upcoming indie title will be Mech Combat FPS, something I haven’t seen done well since Phantom Crash. The game looks absolutely stunning in two of their early game footage videos featured below. First we have a look at the beautiful world of Hawken in their unofficial trailer followed by some stunning gameplay. Hit the jump to check out the gameplay trailer!

Hawken Trailer:

Continue reading Hawken Gameplay Is Stunning

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 23: The Land Down Over/Under

And we’re back, fellow gamers. It’s been a couple of weeks because a certain bearded somebody forgot that Thursdays are our podcast nights, and decided to go out and have a life instead. However, everything is back to normal, and now a brand new podcast is out for your enjoyment.

In this episode of our gaming ramblings, we chat about a few new games in more detail, such as Dragon Age 2 and Crysis 2. We also tackle an awesome game of Over/Under, in which Nick has us guess on Metacritic scores for upcoming games. It’s seriously one of my favorite games we play, and I think the results in this one are pretty awesome.

So, here are the topics for this week’s podcast. Thanks to Nick’s efforts, we thought we’d try something different and list the time stamps for each thing in the podcast. Hopefully that’ll make it easier if there are certain topics you want to hear about.

Listen. Rate. ♥. Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Ep 23: The Land Down Over/Under

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Angry Birds Dev Flames Nintendo

Angry Birds

The video games industry is starting to remind me of the East Coast/West Coast hip hop wars of the 90s. First, Nintendo said that smartphone gaming was destroying the value of video games. Then they crapped all over “garage developers”. Now, the Angry Birds are firing back at the Big N for their arrogance.

Peter Vesterbacka of Rovio (love that name) responded to Nintendo’s claims by saying:

“Of course, if I was trying to sell a $49 pieces of plastic to people then yes, I’d be worried too. But I think it’s a good sign that people are concerned – because from my point of view we’re doing something right.”

He goes on to say that the consoles aren’t the fastest growing market anymore and that “real” games can be made on smartphones, as well as consoles.

Now, I have no interest in smartphone gaming one iota and I personally think Angry Birds is an overrated game, back when I played something similar to it years ago, but I agree (to a point) with Vesterbacka. There is enough room for everyone in this industry, but it appears he is doing the same thing Nintendo is.

Nintendo is writing off smartphone gaming because they view it as a threat. Vesterbacka is doing the same thing with consoles because they aren’t the hot new thing out there anymore. Both can coexist in the same market, though. And Vesterbacka shouldn’t worry: Nintendo is pretty good at selling pieces of plastic.

What say you, GamerSushi nation? Is Nintendo right or are the Birds’ anger justified?

Source: MCV

Things Get Hot With Battlefield 3 Fault Line Episode 3

Like clockwork, I bring you another episode of the Fault Line series of trailers for Battlefield 3. Last time, the squad was tasked with bringing down a sniper hiding in a building; this time, we see a little bomb disarming, some first-person fighting and a last stand against overwhelming forces.

These trailers are definitely starting to pick up, and I can’t wait to see what surprises are in store for us when the last video hits in April. What do you guys think? Is Battlefield 3 still looking hot? What’s your opinion on the addition of first-person melee combat?

10 Great Gaming Years

Video Game Characters

We’ve said it a million times (and have even said that we’ve said it a million times), but 2011 is easily shaping up to be one of the best years in recent memory for gamers, if not ever. At least, that’s what we say, because gamers are a fickle bunch and have such a short attention span. It’s true. We’re quick to forget about how good previous decades were to us, because all of it blends together into this big retro blur.

To help jog your memory a bit, GamesRadar has a list of the ten greatest years in gaming history, and I kind of love it. They basically start back in the 80’s and pick out ten excellent years where gamers got spoiled. It’s actually insane to look back and realize that Mario 64, Panzer Dragoon II, NiGHTS Into Dreams, Twisted Metal 2, Resident Evil, Quake and Civ II all came out in 1996. Likewise, 1998 saw Metal Gear Solid, Banjo-Kazooie, Ocarina of Time, Grim Fandango, Baldur’s Gate, Half-Life, Starcraft and Final Fantasy Tactics. Crazy, huh?

One thing to keep in mind is that this list was written several years back, and recently re-published. Still, it’s interesting to look at, and definitely tickled the nostalgic parts of my brain. So what do you guys think? What were some of your favorite years in gaming? Go!

Source – GamesRadar

Poll: Most Annoying Fanboys

Here at GamerSushi, we try to stay above the fray and out of the trenches of the massive fanboy flame wars currently raging all across the vast plains of cyberspace. That’s not to say that we don’t have our own preferences about systems and games and such, but I think we all truly wish success for all of the platforms. Except for the Kinect. And no amount of fervor can help the PSP. But I digress…

Sadly, we are the vast minority, our cries for equality and fairness bludgeoned by the maces of Microsoft fanboys, severed by the Sony swordsmen and bullied by the noogies of Nintendo nuts. Oh, and punctured by the PC polearms. Whew. Had to stretch that one out a bit. Anyhoo, I know we all have that one segment of the gamer population that just grates our nerves, so I thought I would take a poll and find out who is the biggest offender.

Please elaborate in the comments, but try to be respectful. We’re all friends here and just because someone likes something more than you do doesn’t make them evil. Just misguided!

😉

Which fanboys annoy you the most?

View Results

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Shepard Kicks Butt With Mass Effect 2’s ‘Arrival’ Trailer

If you were maybe living under a rock for the past little while, you might not know that Mass Effect 2’s latest and final piece of DLC, ‘Arrival’ is hitting tomorrow with all the force of a biotic punch to the head. To get us prepped for Shepard’s solo adventure to the far reaches of the known galaxy, BioWare has released a trailer that features a little Reaper taunting and a lot of Batarians being blown away. Enjoy.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to get ‘Arrival’ day and date, so I’ll have to endure a couple of weeks of listening to all the other GamerSushi editors talk about how awesome it is. I know there was some concern expressed about ‘Arrival’ when I posted a few details about it last week, but have any of you changed your mind? Still feel the same way?

GameCop Vs LameCop Vs PsychoCop: Fanboy Edition!

Our favorite men in blue are back, eager to bring gaming justice to a spattering of industry-related topics from the last few weeks: Nintendo’s stance against indie developers, Sony’s subpoenas and Microsoft’s On Demand pricing.

I’m sure you know the rules by now, but just in case you don’t: GameCop is a sensible gamer, looking out for your best interests. LameCop is your average forum troll, causing havoc for the lulz, while PsychoCop should be locked up for everyone’s safety.

Keep reading to find out what they have to say on these issues:

Continue reading GameCop Vs LameCop Vs PsychoCop: Fanboy Edition!