Category: GamerSushi News

Gears of War 3 Trailer Drops on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

We all knew it was coming, but somehow the promise of a trailer for Gears of War 3 made us forget that the surprise had been spoiled last week. Cliff “Dude Huge” Bleszinski himself made an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and he brought with him the first trailer for Gears of War 3, entitled “Ashes to Ashes”. Take a gander:

Very, very cool, and definitely in the vein of Epic’s previous trailers, all of which have paired the traditional shooty-shooty vibe of Gears with some somber strains of music. There’s a few things that attentive fans may spot in the trailer, such as a female Gear, and the first signs of the new enemy for Gears 3, the Lambent. What did you guys think of the trailer? Should we start the hype train? Anyone else get a sort of “Pompeii” feeling from all the ashen bodies in the video?

Today’s WTF: Fable III Allows XBL Friends with Benefits

Well, for those of you who have always longed to knock boots with that sultry voiced minx on your friends list, you may have finally gotten your chance. It seems that Fable III is going to allow for players to get intimate and create babies with their friends in co-op games. Hot stuff, right?

I mean, as with anything that goes in a Peter Molyneux game, this should be taken with the grainiest grain of salt one can think of, but still it’s interesting to talk about. The idea of a unique weapon that is tied to your profile and gamerscore? Sounds good, I hope it makes it in. The idea of a king-like RTS that takes over part of the tale? Another great idea, can’t wait. Sleeping with someone on my friends list to make virtual babies for our co-op game? Not so keen on that one.

However, if I’m being completely honest here, if there is an achievement for doing someone on your friends list to make a baby… someone out there is going to have to help me do this. I’m not a picky man, either. I only ask that you be gentle with my evil avatar.

Source- Kotaku

Crysis 2’s Writer Slams Modern Warfare 2

crysis 2First Battlefield Bad Company 2 takes a swing at Modern Warfare 2, and the newly-announced Crysis 2 is attempting to kick them while they’re down. EA Games recently revealed a trailer for the up-coming military sci-fi First-Person-Shooter, and now they’re trotting out the various people who are working on the game to let you all know how awesome their game is.

One such person is Richard Morgan, who you may or may now know of as the 2003 winner of the Philip K. Dick award for his novel Altered Carbon. Turns out he’s also a huge video game nut and he’s stoked to be penning the story for Crysis 2. As a video game junkie, he’s probably played a few of last year’s mega-titles, and in a recent interview with CVG, he’s let the world know that he doesn’t have a very high opinion of Modern Warfare 2:

“I thought Modern Warfare 2 was an immense disappointment,” he said.

“It was a massive stepdown from CoD4. What I thought when I played it was, ‘Jesus guys, what have you been doing? You’ve not ramped anything up. The story is worse and the game doesn’t really hang together, it’s just a bunch of mission levels.

He goes on to say that the whole campaign was basically “bad storytelling”, and that Infinity Ward were “too impressed with themselves”; he also states that Modern Warfare 2 was “the same but…way worse. And it cost more money”. While taking pot-shots at the competition is nothing new in the video game industry, he did have a few good things to say about Uncharted 2, praising how developers Naughty Dog created an excellent storytelling vehicle.

You talk a big talk, Mr. Morgan, but let’s not forget that the first Crysis had a story that didn’t amount to much either. You’ve got some big shoes to fill, but you definitely seem to be qualified for the job.

What do you guys think about these comment? Any of you PC guys worried about Cyrsis 2 making the jump to consoles? What’s your opinion on the trailer? Finally, is anyone going to get this game?

Source: CVG

When Videogames Attack

If you’re an avid of Web Zeroes (shameless self promotion plug), then you’ll know from Episode 14 that the secret to viral videos is relevant references plus humor or special effects. Well this newest video called Pixels by Patrick Jean combines all of that and then some.

The concept? New York is under attack by pixelated video game characters. It’s a few parts nostalgia, a few parts cleverness and all parts awesome.

Who else loved this?

Kojima Says Consoles Will Be Dead Soon

Hideo KojimaWhile I’m not normally one to chalk hardly anything that Hideo I’m-On-Crack Kojima says up to rationality, occasionally he says something just wild enough that it’s worth a second look. After all, this is the same guy who said he wouldn’t be doing Metal Gear Solid 3 or 4. And yet, here we are reading updates about Peace Walker, the new PSP entry into the popular sneaking franchise.

Anyway, at yesterday’s press conference for the portable game, Kojima had a few rather bold claims to make about the future of gaming. In short, he basically said that soon, we won’t have consoles any more. O rly? Check out the quote.

In the near future, we’ll have games that don’t depend on any platform. Gamers should be able to take the experience with them in their living rooms, on the go, when they travel — wherever they are and whenever they want to play. It should be the same software and the same experience.

I certainly hope this quote is mainly coming from his desire to promote the new portable game that he’s making, rather than having any kind of insider knowledge about new technology. But like I said, I don’t put much stock in anything the guy says. I think the more interesting point of discussion here is the idea that people would ever transition from home console gaming and PCs to handheld only. It seems like such a niche market to me, I can’t see it ever becoming the mainstream way to play games.

So what do you guys think? Just promoting his game? Being a loony (not the Canadian kind)? Or is he a Gamestradamus, predicting our console (or no console) future?

Source- VG247

Modern Warfare 2 Fan Video is Too Good Not to Share

I already know what you’re saying: “Two Modern Warfare 2 videos in a row, Mitch? WTF, you crazy Canuck!” Well, slow your roll, dude, because this film is a little different than your average bear. Freddie Wong, the man behind the Bike Hero video and the real life Portal Gun is back, but this time he’s dishing up some MW2-flavored action. Filmed for the budget price of $209.42, this fan film pays a wonderful tribute to Modern Warfare 2. Take a look:

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Despite having a production cost of two hundred dollars, Freddie Wong and his crew did pretty well. What do you guys think of the video?

Today’s WTF: From Zero to Nuke in 30 Seconds

I’m sure that, by this point, most of us have ventured into Modern Warfare 2’s online arena and have seen some crazy shenanigans go down. From the Javelin glitch and speed skating to ridiculously accurate knife tosses, Infinity Ward’s leviathan continues to provide quality entertainment at other people’s expense. Just take a look at the following video where some lucky dude grabs a early multi-kill and proceeds to dominate everyone:

Too wild, eh? What do you guys think? Is this legit, or is the user engaged in some shady activity?

RoosterTeeth Builds a Grand Theft Auto Car

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we could drive cars the way we do in video games? You know, from a third person point of view so that you could see everything around you. Well, so did the dudes over at RoosterTeeth.

As a result, they decided to build a rig that mounted a camera in a way that mimics the kind of driving we do all the time in games like Grand Theft Auto. They then blocked out the windshield and hooked up a monitor so that a few test subjects could try it out. The end product equals hilarity.

Source- RoosterTeeth

SEGA Admits Mistake in Putting MadWorld on the Wii

madworldAh, the Wii. No other console in the history of gaming has done more to both bring together and tear apart the masses. While it is introducing a whole new generation of people to the joys of our hobby, the reception to Nintendo’s little white juggernaut by the enthusiast gamers has been nothing short of underwhelming.

Last year’s MadWorld, a black-and-white blood bath death match by Bayonetta creators Platinum Games, is a great example of the divide between the game’s target audience and the people who actually own a Wii. No one knows this better than Mike Hayes, President and COO of SEGA Europe, who recently commented that putting MadWorld on the Wii was a bit of a “mismatch”. He went on to elaborate why he thought that, in hindsight, MadWorld should have been a 360, PC or PS3 title.

“Clearly that was a mismatch with the Wii audience — particularly in terms of the amount of cross-ownership between Wii and the other home platforms. If you’re going to play a mature-rated game, you’re going to get your 360, PC or PS3 out to do so. But you can’t knock us for having a go.”

Continue reading SEGA Admits Mistake in Putting MadWorld on the Wii

The Addictive Nature of Gaming

Video Game AddictionIt’s 3 o’clock in the morning. My eyes are heavy like somebody has tied weights to them. I can feel them starting to droop, but I don’t care. Who cares if I have work in the morning? What does it matter if I’m running on empty with only the blinding light of my TV casting dark shadows about the living room? I’m just trying to get to the next boss. Trying to reach the next level. Trying to grab that upgrade. Wanting to get another headshot.

Whatever the reason for doing this to ourselves, we’ve all done it at one point or another. And while it may not always be the lure of a soft pillow to sleep on, we’ve all blown off plenty of things to do just a little bit more in a game we love or loathe. Sometimes it’s a girlfriend, a spouse, a job, a duty, or a social activity. They’re all just different suits that represent the same thing: distractions.

And the thing that is really odd to me, is that I don’t really do this with my other hobbies. There are plenty of other things that I love to do, besides playing videogames. I write, play guitar, watch movies, read books, hang out with friends. But none of those things make me think about them when I’m gone to the level that a Final Fantasy does. Or a Call of Duty. Or anything in Bioware’s library. So what makes videogaming so different than everything else?
Continue reading The Addictive Nature of Gaming

Best Lines of Mass Effect 1 and 2

It’s no great secret that I am a massive nerd for anything related to Mass Effect. As far as video game franchises go, it’s one of my favorite, and ranks among some of the most well thought and planned universes that has ever existed in gaming. Yes, that is quite a lofty claim but I will knife fight a person about it. Truly.

Anyway, if you don’t want any spoilers for the Mass Effect games, I’d say to stay away from this new video. However, there aren’t really any plot spoilers per se, just spoilers about some of the game’s awesome writing and unique brand of humor, all edited together to showcase the best lines of the two Mass Effect games. Pure hilarity.

Bee tee dubya, I want that Shepard’s facial hair.

Weeping for Games Lost

Goldeneye Xbox Live ArcadeAs avid videogamers, we’ve all grown used to the hype machine. Every year it bares itself before us, offering up plenty of food for us to feast on, all the while luring us into its clutches. Kind of like that scene in Pan’s Labrynth. Only instead of the weird hand-eye dude it’s Master Chief. You know what I mean. Anyway, because of all this pumping of videogames that we’ve seen, we’ve grown equally used to the disappointment when some of these games somehow fall into the nether regions of gaming vaporware.

Taking a look at some recent entries into the ever-expanding catalog of games that won’t see the light of day, GamesRadar has posted a list of 19 Incredible Games You’ll Never Play. It really is astonishing to take a gander at the list, because I remember reading about a couple of the games in particular (Tiberium and Cipher Complex) as featured stories on magazines like Game Informer. In addition, there were a few of these titles that I didn’t know had been canned, such as Division 9.

I think the title on the list that makes me the most upset would have to be the Goldeneye HD remake that was going to release on XBox Live Arcade, which eventually got shelved. I also would have loved to play the FFXII spinoff mentioned, which is described as Helm’s Deep meets Chocobos. Um, yes please. And last, but certainly not least, Star Wars Battlefront III, a sequel to one of my favorite games of last generation.

Anyway, were you guys looking forward to any of the games on this list? Which of those titles do you think you would have wanted to play, and what games have been canceled in the past that really stung?

Source- GamesRadar

The Freedom of Movement

just cause 2Well, we all had a lot of laughs on Thursday, didn’t we? We fooled a few of you, but it was all in good fun. With that out of the way, I had some time yesterday to really sink my teeth into Just Cause 2. While the demo did give me some pause, I was willing to look past my reservations and give the game a go. It turns out that second guessing myself in this instance was a good call, because so far the game has been excellent. While the story is non-existent and the voice acting borders on offensive, the freedom that the game allows you is nothing short of revolutionary.

For those of you who haven’t picked the game up yet, you’re basically dropped into a massive island playground after a couple of requisite missions and you’re left to your own devices. When I say this island is huge, I’m not exaggerating. I stole a helicopter from a mountain top military base and flew it all the way into the capital city; all told, the trip took me twenty minutes. So, with a sandbox on such a massive scale, how does the game allow you to move around so easily?
Continue reading The Freedom of Movement

The Law Abiding Engineer Puts TF2 on the Big Screen

I thought I would interrupt the madness of the day to post this, because this video is worth noting.

YouTube dude TrueOneMoreUser has posted a couple of videos which I found terribly impressive, given what he did with these TF2 characters. Basically, he re-edited live action footage of the trailer for Law Abiding Citizen and replaced the real actors with the characters from Team Fortress 2. The result is the amazingly awesome Law Abiding Engineer.

He’s also posted a vertical comparison video, which shows the original and the new trailers next to each other. I’d recommend checking that one out as well.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjGrHBpfqCo[/youtube]

April Fools: Cliffy B. and Miyamoto Team Up for Gears of Wario

Gears of WarioI’m sure many of you heard that next week, Cliffy B. is set to appear on Jimmy Fallon to deliver the dish on Epic’s new game, and quite possibly debut it for the whole nation. While many people foolishly assume that this is going to be the much anticipated Gears of War 3, other sources have learned that this is something even bigger than that: Gears of Wario.

We all know that the secret to good video games is collaboration, and that Epic Studios is no stranger to working across the Pacific to team up with Japanese gaming greats. This is more than evidenced by Epic’s willingness to let Gears of War characters appear in Lost Planet 2 this year. However, Gears of Wario will be an experience unlike any other, as the two super pimp producers Cliffy B. and Shigeru Miyamoto (Shiggy M.) team up to deliver one hell of a gaming curb stomp.

Gears of Wario focuses on Wario and Waluigi as they travel across a war-torn Mushroom Kingdom, on the run from the law and the locusts, who have come out of emergent pipes dotted about the apocalyptic landscape. The game is set to drop in March 2012.

Source- Joystiq

April Fools: Valve Does Some Backtracking, Announces New DRM Measures

valvedrmWhile Steam, Valve Software’s online store, has typically been a haven for Digital Right Management – or DRM – free titles, recent events have forced the company to take a different stand on their policies.

While similar moves by UbiSoft have been largely decried by gamers world-wide, Valve Software sees the merit in maintaining a tighter hold over their products. This update, set to be released with the service’s next patch, will introduce Valve-Net, the program that will regulate users and ensure that only registered members with legitimate copies will have access to the network.

Valve-Net works just like UbiSoft’s service where an internet connection must be constantly maintained in order to play your games. While the move is sure to make the developer unpopular, Valve’s head of Steam Community Management, Ryan Hayworth, assures fans that this change is for the best.

“We just want to make sure that only paying customers our games. We’re not a fan of piracy, and Gabe [Newell, CEO of Valve Software] agrees that only the most stringent of protection methods will ensure the success of PC gaming. We currently have no plans for a refund for anyone who is unhappy with Valve-Net, and we thank our faithful player-base for their patience.”

What do you guys think about this sudden reversal from Valve? Will this change your perception of the company? Will you continue to use Steam? Will we ever see Episode Three?! Let us know!

Source: CVG

April Fools: Natal Delayed Indefinitely: “Just Not Working”, Says Lead Developer

Project NatalIn news that could change the future of gaming forever, Natal lead developer Alex Kipman has announced that Microsoft’s Project Natal is on “indefinite hold” due to problems inherent in the system’s design.

Kipman was quoted as saying,

“The issues we are currently experiencing with Natal go far beyond the normal bugs and glitches when creating new technology such as this. If Natal were to be released without extensive reworking, it would make the hardware failures experienced by the XBox 360 look like child’s play. We’re talking Toyota-like catastrophe unless we go back to the drawing board.”

When pressed for a potential new release date, Kipman could only speculate, but did confirm that Natal won’t hit store shelves until at least 2011.

Whatever the problems are with Natal, you can be sure that Sony and Nintendo are thanking the gaming gods for this unfortunate mishap, but kudos to Microsoft for being so upfront about the whole mess. Does this change your view of Natal? Are you more or less likely to get one? Or will you just go ahead and get a Playstation Move?

Link: CNN.com

Metroid Other M Trailer Dishes Some Gameplay

I have never been in love with Metroid, but I know that there are many out there that are. I was not a huge fan of the Metroid Prime games, particularly the last Wii outing. However, the announcement last year that Team Ninja would be handling Metroid Other M got me excited for the franchise in a new way, especially considering the mix of the Prime style with what looked to be an old school platforming in some ways.

Up until now, we haven’t really gotten to see much in the way of gameplay, especially how these two will phase together on the fly, except in some small bits. Enter the new Other M trailer, chock full of gameplay goodness. What do you guys think?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrAWYvUG8N8[/youtube]

GameCrush: Giving Play Dates a New Meaning

GameCrush facepalmWe all know how it goes. Lonely nights at home eating cheese puffs. Drinking our Halo Mountain Dew. Thinking about the next Dungeons and Dragons night while we putter away at World of Warcraft or Modern Warfare 2. Wishing that we had a lovely lady to talk to. Actually, I’m not too familiar with that, but I know some sad dudes are. They could probably use GameCrush, a new service that allows gamers to pay girls to play video games with them.

Honestly, I would like to say that I’m surprised that a service like this exists, but really I’m not. In fact, I wish I’d thought of it first because I’m sure they will find an audience for it. Whatever pays the bills, right?

Basically, you pay GameCrush $6.60 every ten minutes to have a girl play on either XBox Live or flash based Web browser games. Apparently, the options range from “flirty” to “dirty”. Yikes. Anyway, I’d link you over to their actual site, but it seems that GameCrush itself is currently getting slammed (pun kind of intended) with traffic right now, so instead you can check out the press release. I hope for your sake that it is for purely lol-cational reasons.

Source- PressLift

Today’s WTF: Breach Gameplay for XBL Arcade

Today’s WTF is actually a good one. Maybe your reaction to this Breach gameplay video will be the same as mine: “Wait, this is a 15 dollar XBox Live Arcade game?”

Cover. Destructible environments. Pretty impressive graphics (though this video is taken off screen). Coming in June/July for only 1200 Microsoft points. There’s not really much else to say, except that this might be a day one purchase for me, and the very thing that holds me over with Bad Company 2 while I wait for Halo: Reach. I have to say that they’ve won me over with just one video, which is funny considering I haven’t even heard of this until now.

Who else wants this?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQmXifRw9nM[/youtube]