Category: Playstation 3

Rumor: Diablo 3 Coming to Consoles?

diablo 3 on consoles

The Sundering has begun, people! One of the surest signs of the apocalypse, as foretold in the forbidden tome the Necronomicon, is the debut of a Blizzard title on home consoles. Long has the realm of this developer been the PC world, but according to a recent uncovering by Gamasutra, the winds of change are blowing.

While it’s safe to say that this is firmly in the rumor category, job postings by Blizzard point pretty strongly towards a console version of the upcoming hack-and-slash RPG Diablo 3. Normally these sorts of things are kind of ambiguous, but the phrase “prior experience in console game development” with an “extensive knowledge of Diablo” is kind of specific. Blizzard has never confirmed nor denied the possibility of Diablo 3 showing up on the Xbox 360 or the PS3, so keep that in mind when you pick up the torches and pitch forks on your way to California.

To editorialize a bit here, I’m sure that the fervent PC-playing masses are going to blow this thing out of proportion and claim that Diablo 3 will be “dumbed down” for the console players, but the more people who get to play Diablo, the better. I played the junk out of Diablo 2, and in this day and age, it’s more economically viable for people to have a console than an up-to-date gaming rig. I’m sure that the PC version of Diablo will be handled with due care by Blizzard. They know which side their bread is buttered on.

What do you guys think? Of all of Blizzard’s franchises, isn’t Diablo 3 the best suited for a console transition? If it came out on the Xbox 360 or PS3, would you get it? Doesn’t Gamasutra sound like a dirty word?

Source – Gamasutra

Poll: Which Type of Shooter Do You Prefer?

Last night, I fired up Halo: Reach for the first time in several weeks. I think it was something of a coping mechanism, since I know I’m going to be holding out on Call of Duty: Black Ops until around Christmas. It was pretty nuts to see everyone on my friends list in the new CoD, and meanwhile I was playing the classic space marine scenario.

The funny thing is, I had a lot more fun than I expected to, even though I’m itching for Black Ops more than I can say. One of the things I’ve always loved about Halo is the ability to have these isolated little firefights, epic stand-offs between you and one other player that feels separated from the rest of the match. The only reason this is possible is because of the way the game’s health system works. I remember Goldeneye playing much the same way back in the old days.

It seems that as time goes on, more shooters go in a different direction. Like Counter-Strike, the health in CoD pretty much works on the “one shot, one kill” method, which is a big part of what makes it so addictive I think. The ability to respawn and immediately jump back into the fray and rack up more kills has a lot of appeal to it, for a totally different reason than a shooter like Gears of War or Halo.

Thinking about these two styles of play, I thought I’d make a poll to see what you guys think. Got a preference?

Which type of multiplayer shooter do you prefer?

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GamerSushi Asks: Games that Grow on You?

Heavy Rain

Reviewing game experiences is a tricky business. Often times, my opinions about a game change and shift over time. I’ve found that more often than not, I really need some time to step away from an experience to see what sticks and what ultimately fades away in my mind.

For instance, I reviewed Heavy Rain several months back, and while I enjoyed it, I did have some strongly negative feelings about how the game unfolded at the end. Oddly enough, now that I look back on it, I find myself feeling more positive about it overall, and actually dying to go back and play it through. I know this happens for me in the opposite way sometimes as well. This happened after Metal Gear Solid and more recently, Alan Wake. With both of those, my initial impressions gave way and I now look back much less fondly on them.

So what about you guys? What games have grown on you over time that you didn’t like as much at first? What games did you feel more negatively about over time? Go!

Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops

Call of Duty is something of a phenomenon, a strange black hole that gamers throw their money into year after year. No matter how tired we get of the previous entry, there’s something that keeps us coming back to the franchise even when we swear that we’re done. It used to be the tight, focused single player mode, but that’s given way to the addictive multiplayer component. Now that Modern Warfare 2 has bruised our fragile psyche in that respect, it’s fallen to the underdog, Treyarch Studios, to breath life back into the franchise.

Even though Treyarch is pegged as the B-team for Call of Duty, churning out sequels in the off years, they’ve never really had a chance to strike out on their own. Seemingly forced to make games based on World War 2 after their audience had moved on, every Call of Duty that didn’t have the Modern Warfare moniker was almost destined to fail. Something different happened this time, though, and this new Call of Duty is set on the sidelines, focusing on the deadly Black Ops special forces soldiers who went behind enemy lines and did the dirty deeds no one would know about. With a new era and a new focus, does Call of Duty: Black Ops deliver the goods?

Continue reading Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops

L.A. Noire Trailer Brings the In-Game Drama

Rockstar’s 2nd most secretive project after Agent is L.A. Noire, which is due in Spring 2011 for the 360 and PS3. And just in time, we finally get some in-game footage in this new trailer of the detective thriller. In case you forgot (and who could blame you) players will work to solve a series of murders. Judging from the dramatic trailer which reminds me of a movie trailer with all the one-liners designed to make you wonder what the hell is happening, the game will be heavy on the dramatic flair. The facial animations are pretty impressive, I must say, although a few are in the valley dubbed Uncanny.

Well, there you have it. What do you think? Is this on your radar? Rockstar has let this game go largely unnoticed, but I have a feeling the hype machine is about to ramp up. Are you interested?

Rumor: Call of Duty Gets Space Marines?

Space Marines

It seems like everything’s been Call of Duty around these parts lately, no? Considering it’s probably going to end up as the year’s largest release, I guess you can’t really blame us too much. If you don’t believe me, check out the reports that Black Ops moved 5.6 million copies and defeated Modern Warfare 2 in day one sales. Yeah, it surprised me, too.

Anyway, the franchise seems to just build on itself every year, no matter who’s in charge. Eventually though, it stands to reason that at some point, people will get tired of the same formula. There are only so many time periods to exploit, after all. Which is why it’s interesting to hear rumors that Call of Duty’s next entry, developed by Sledgehammer Games, will take place in the future. From Gamasutra:

That unit hasn’t talked specifically about what it’s doing with the franchise. But industry sources say Sledgehammer’s Call of Duty will be set in the future and feature, for lack of a better term, space Marines, a very big step for a franchise that has historically based itself on realism.

Could this be the Call of Duty game that is due out next year in 2011? What about the title that the leftovers of Infinity Ward are still working on? Only time will tell, I guess.

What do you guys think about these rumors? Would Call of Duty: Halo be a good direction for the series to go?

Source – Gamasutra

Heavy Rain Deleted Scenes Show “The Secrets of the Scenario”

I actually liked Heavy Rain quite a bit. I thought it was a very fresh take on both game mechanics and narrative, even if the story did become really uneven in the second half. There was something strangely compelling about this game, even if I was just deciding whether my son would eat pizza or have a healthy meal. That said, there were certain parts of the game that left me with nagging doubts, like Ethan Mars’ unexplained blackouts. Fortunately, a new video expunging the deleted scenes of Heavy Rain shows the explanation for this and many more mysteries besides. I’ve embedded the video for your viewing pleasure. Obviously, this thing is chock-full of spoilers, so beware!

This is a pretty rare glimpse into the game design process, and it filled in a lot of the blanks in Heavy Rain. Personally, I feel that most of the stuff they cut was well deserving of it, but the missing parts of Madison’s story would have been cool to play. What do you guys think of Heavy Rain’s deleted scenes?

Valve Chats Multiplayer, Crafting Sequels and Portal 2

Portal 2

Remember in the first Batman movie when Joker is watching Batman do his superhero thing, and Jack Nicholson famously quipped, “Where does he get all those wonderful toys?” I kind of feel like that every time I read interviews with Valve, who are just so good at what they do that it astounds me. Whether you like their games or not, you have to admit that they’re at the very least smart, and good at talking about games.

To me, the most respectable thing about Valve is the drive to always one up themselves, and to continue delivering experiences that will give the most value to their customer base and build up community around games. Take their recent interview with Game Developer Magazine, where project manager Erik Johnson talked primarily about Portal 2 and what it means to create a sequel for a much anticipated title.

Reading over the article, it seems like Valve really understands what made the first Portal click so well for such a huge audience. Check out some awesome quotes after the jump. Continue reading Valve Chats Multiplayer, Crafting Sequels and Portal 2

GamerSushi Roll Call: Call of Duty: Black Ops

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Call of Duty: Black Ops is finally out my friends, and it’s getting good reviews across the board. From what I’ve seen, the praise is ranging from “best Call of Duty yet” to “It’s OK, but it’s Treyarch so it’s better than I expected”. Honestly, I think by this point that Treyarch have proven themselves to be a competent studio. Sure, Call of Duty 3 was a little rough, but for a franchise off-team, they’ve managed to turn things around pretty significantly (I mean, they’re no Obsidian).

In honor of this monumental release, I thought I’d get a little roll call going. Who has Black Ops, and what do you think of it? Have you tried the campaign, multiplayer or zombie mode? What do you think of all the new additions that Treyarch has made, and what about the omissions? I was a little disappointed to hear that Spec Ops mode isn’t making a return. Lastly, what platform are you gaming on? Personally, I’m going PC, but I’m tempted to pick up a 360 copy just for the achievements. I know, I know, I’m terrible. Alright, hit me!

ScrewAttack’s Top 10 Online Multiplayer Console Games

Alright fanboys, it’s time to polish off your sticks. I know that we all just love to argue until we’re blue in the face about the lists that other game sites come up with, so I thought I’d bring a new one to your screaming attention.

You see, ScrewAttack just recently released a video that goes through what it considers to be the top 10 online multiplayer console games. They cover everything from Call of Duty to Phantasy Star Online, and manage to have a few other surprises on there as well. One only imagines how much different this would have looked if they had included PC titles on here as well. In fact, I think only a couple of these titles would have made the cut if they opened up the criteria in such a fashion.

So what do you guys think of the list? What other games would you include on there if PC games were added? Go!

Rumor: Metal Gear Rising to Strike in 2012?

metal gear rising 2012

Our podcasts are becoming strangely prescient, it seems. Only on our last show did we despair about the early announcement of games versus when they actually come out. While the target of our woe at that time was Gran Turismo 5, it can easily be applied to Konami’s up-coming Metal Gear themed hack and slasher Metal Gear Rising, which is apparently set for a 2012 release.

Metal Gear Rising, announced in the summer of 2009 as a multiplatform title, apparently won’t be making an appearance for a couple of years if Kotaku is to be believed. While they don’t cite a source, they do say that they have been “told” that the game won’t be out until 2012. I’d chalk this up to rumor for now, but as Kotaku did point out, there are usually long waits between the announcement of an MGS game and its actual appearance on store shelves. Metal Gear Solid 4, as the given example, was announced in 2005 and didn’t come out until 2008.

While Metal Gear Rising never had a firm release date, many expected that the game would be out in 2011. However, given the lack of information on the game, this change in date isn’t exactly surprising. What do you guys think of Metal Gear Rising’s delay? Does this affect your perception of the title at all? Should game companies wait to announce games until they have a release date set in stone?

Source: Kotaku

GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?

NBA 2K11

Video games, how I miss thee. Over the last several months, I’ve been swarmed by all kinds of things that have been taking away my gaming time. Some of these distractions fall into the realm of that general nagging living life thing (working, broken down vehicles, etc), and others are chosen (Krav Maga, personal writing).

Needless to say, I’ve been itching to play some games. When I’m not overwhelmed by these non-gaming nuisances, my time is being thrown into the following: Angry Birds and NBA 2K11. A basketball game may seem like an odd choice, but NBA 2K11 has already given me hours of sporty goodness. My brother and I have played countless games against one another, talking trash and throwing down sick jams all the meanwhile. If you’re into sports games at all, I’d suggest picking it up. On my radar are Fallout: New Vegas, Black Ops and Dead Rising 2 in the near future.

What about you guys? What are you playing this weekend and this week? Go!

GameStop’s November Trade-In Deals: Assassins Creed: Brotherhood and Call of Duty: Black Ops

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Multiplayer

Whenever we’re feeling magnanimous or simply not lazy, we like to try and keep you guys posted about gaming deals that can help you save a buck or two. Especially during the fall downpour, it’s nice to be able to get as many games for as little money as possible.

Right now, GameStop has a few special trade-in offers towards upcoming titles Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (November 16) and Call of Duty: Black Ops (November 9). They also have some ongoing deals that extend to Kinect as well as Donkey Kong Country Returns. Check them out, unless your name is Scrooge McDuck and have money spraying from your ears and have no need of these kinds of things. In which case, I hate you. Not really.

Here are the GameStop trade-in offers for November 2010. Continue reading GameStop’s November Trade-In Deals: Assassins Creed: Brotherhood and Call of Duty: Black Ops

A Portrait of the Decade’s Best Video Game Characters

Video game portrait - Game Informer

Wow. What you see above is just a small piece of a huge portrait that Game Informer revealed today, which will make up three distinct covers of the December 2010 issue, shipping soon to subscribers. The subject of this portrait? Thirty Characters Who Defined a Decade.

Not only is it fascinating artwork, it’s also an interesting way to recap 10 years of worth of gaming, all at one thought-provoking glance. In total, the portrait shows thirty characters, each original to this generation. While it leans a bit heavy to some newer games, and leaves out some fan favorites like Solid Snake or Leon from Resident Evil 4 (since they first appeared in the 90s), it for the most part encapsulates a decade of remarkable video games, and produces some instant nostalgia.

Seriously, go look at it. Full list of characters after the jump. Continue reading A Portrait of the Decade’s Best Video Game Characters

Call of Duty: Black Ops Ad Proves There’s a Soldier in All of Us

Call of Duty: Black Ops is fast approaching (it comes out next Tuesday, November 9) and the marketing machine is ramping into over-drive. If you weren’t sick of being bombarded by Reach and Kinect ads, then you can certainly withstand this latest barrage. This new trailer/commercial is pretty clever, so you’re missing our a little if you don’t watch it. If you’ve ever wanted to see Kobe Bryant in a shoot-out with Jimmy Kimmel and a couple office workers, I’m about to make your day:

This was a really great commercial, I feel, but as Eddy pointed out to me in gmail chat there’s a distinct lack of 12 year olds running around shouting out racial epithets. I probably watched this a couple of times just to see all the little touches the film company added like the custom insignias on the guns and the writing on Jimmy Kimmel’s RPG. Since Black Ops comes out next week, we want to know: is there a soldier in you?

GamerSushi Asks: Gaming Difficulty?

Castlevania Lords of Shadow

The subject of difficulty in video games is a tricky one. On the one hand, video games in general seem to be too easy in a lot of ways, holding players’ hands from step 1 all the way until the final boss. On the other hand, it seems like many developers don’t know how to ramp the difficulty up in a way that is fair and organic, instead opting to throw completely ridiculous situations at you to frustrate you. It’s actually an odd trade off. The more I find myself grumbling about an easy game, there are just as many games that make me want to rage quit with unfair deaths, impossible sections, etc. This is one of the reasons I loved Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, because it kept ratcheting up the difficulty level without completely infuriating me.

Over at Gamasutra, Tim Keenan has posted a blog about this very subject called The Difficulty I Want. In it, he talks about how it’s often hard to know what you want in a game until you’ve had a chance to play the game yourself. He makes some great points about how many games just make you pick a difficulty and force you to stay with it to see the game through, rather than being able to switch down after dying multiple times or up after not dying enough. He also praises the difficulty sliders of Oblivion, which is one of my favorite games in this regard. It really is interesting to note that difficulty options haven’t changed much since the beginning of gaming. We still have the same generic options without much evolution.

So what do you guys think about gaming difficulty? Are games too easy? Is this an area where games can improve, and offer more dynamic ways to play that would make them more enjoyable? What games were unfair/too easy to you in recent memory? Go!

Source – Gamasutra

GamerSushi Poll: How Many Hours a Week Do You Spend Playing Video Games?

It seems like forever ago, but a discussion happened on our podcast that covered the topic of how many hours a week a “hardcore” gamers spends on playing games (the answer was something ridiculous like 45+). We decided that this survey was a bit skewed, and it only occurred to me just now that we never conducted a census of our own.

I’m here to remedy this situation with a new poll, which you shall cast your votes on. It’s rather simple, we just want to know how many hours a week you spend glued to your TV or PC monitor. Personally, I’d say about 10-15 because anymore than that interferes with “real life”, that bothersome thing that keeps making me go to work and pay rent. That’s just me though. What about you?

How Many Hours a Week Do You Play Games?

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LittleBigPlanet 2 Takes This Battle to the Sky with an Awesome Afterburner Homage

Sackboy and his Sackbot’s have struck again, with another gem that makes me feel inadequate about my creativity. Using the beta, an adept gamer has created “Sackfighter Dogfight”, a game that owes more than a little to Sega’s classic jet-fighter shooter. Complete with barrel rolls, cinematic camera movements and even a gun that can overheat, LBP 2 just shot up high on my want list. Take a look at this:

What say you? Impressed yet? This thing isn’t even out of beta and it’s making that calculator from the first game look like child’s play. Anyone going to get this? Do you have any game ideas you want to share?

The Marvel of Great Gaming Worlds

Red Dead Redemption

There’s nothing more immersive or impacting about a video game than a fully realized world, one that you love to be in and help shape by your actions or general goofing around. One of the reasons Red Dead Redemption enthralled me so fully was that its world was something that totally sucked me in, grabbing me in its noose and refusing to let go. Even after I finished the game, I didn’t want to leave, and kept coming back for more.

CVG recently posted a feature about 9 Game Worlds You’ll Never Want to Leave, and just looking at it makes me want to go through and pick up Assassin’s Creed 2 again, a long with a few others. Interestingly enough, they also include Mirror’s Edge, which, while very linear, still had a cool and bleached look about it. The thought of the sequel being an open world game is more than tantalizing. In addition, Rapture, Azeroth and San Andreas all make an appearance. Honestly, I would throw Mass Effect’s universe in here as well, as it’s one of my favorite gaming creations to date. Sometimes I find myself itching for more space adventuring with the Normandy.

So what do you guys think? What are your favorite gaming worlds?

Source – CVG

Review: The Force Unleashed 2

Aside from a few misgivings, I actually enjoyed 2008’s The Force Unleashed. Despite the sometimes buggy way that all of its different engines would work together, it still managed to be a good game with a great Star Wars story that filled in an important part of the canon. Taking on the role of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, you guided Galen Marek, nee Starkiller, through various worlds until you reached the final confrontation on the first Death Star.

The game was filled with great moments and definitely seemed to have some promise of better things to come lurking around. We’ve seen a few games this generation that used the first game in their series as sort of a tech demo, a jumping off point for bigger and better things. The Force Unleashed seemed poised to make this leap when it was announced last year at Spike’s Video Game Awards, so how does it do now that it’s on the second iteration? Is this game any good, or has Star Wars disappointed us for the last time?
Continue reading Review: The Force Unleashed 2