GamerSushi Asks: Thoughts on Day 1 DLC?

Javek

When the current generation of gaming started, I think we all had a set of expectations. We expected to see new forms of gameplay. We expected bigger games, bigger stories, grander ideas. We all hoped for stunning HD graphics, beautiful renderings of worlds we could barely imagine. I don’t think any of us anticipated Day 1 DLC.

A hotly contested topic in the world of gaming, Day 1 DLC has had more than its share of negative association. Developers have used this in all kinds of ways, ranging from the downright cruel to the sometimes puzzling. Opinions about this practice seem to fall all over the map, even here at GamerSushi. However, Bioware recently addressed the idea of Day 1 DLC at GDC.

Here’s a quote from Fernando Melo, director of online development at BioWare:

“Contrary to what you might hear on the internet, fans do want more content. They tend to say, ‘I want it now.’ The problem with day one content and the challenge around it is that the right answer for now is different for every player. There is no single right time, there is no single now. It’s subjective, and it’s unique to every player.”

The idea is that players want their content when they want it. Some want it the day the game is released, and others won’t want it until they’ve finished or are about to finish the game. Seeing as how most players don’t finish video games (a shocking 42% of players finished Mass Effect 3, which practically warrants its own post), this is a good incentive to keep players coming back for more.

Personally, Day 1 DLC only bothers me in certain instances. For the most part, I know that Day 1 DLC tends to be what developers do when they have shipped a disc, and then would like to include even more content that they can work on between the game going gold and the release date. It’s when developers include this content on the disc that I’m really annoyed.

What about you guys? How do you feel about Day 1 DLC? Go!

Source – IGN

TF2’s Mann vs Machine Gets Off to a Rocky Start

mann vs machine

Valve’s crazy new addition to Team Fortress 2, the co-op mode Mann vs. Machine, launched last night, and if you had a similar experience to me, you spent most of the evening waiting in a queue for a community server because you’re too cheap to buy a Tour of Duty ticket.

If this is the first you’re hearing of Mann vs. Machine, here’s a quick rundown: you team up with five friends and fight robots. Even if you haven’t played Team Fortress proper in years, the prospect of co-op in that game is probably enough to entice you to come back (I know it worked for me). The problem last night was that, given that the mode just launched, the demand for community run servers far outpaced the supply.

To play in the official Mann Up mode and get access to the Valve servers, you need to buy a Tour of Duty ticket. When Mann vs. Machine launched last night, there were a whole bunch of Valve servers waiting for paying customers. The co-op is still free-to-play, but it has to be on community run servers, of which there were a ridiculously low number; somewhere in the neighborhood of hundreds as compared to the thousands of official servers. If you’re still confused about how Mann Up works in conjunction with Mann vs. Machine, Icrontic has a great flowchart explaining how the whole thing works.

I would have loved to play MvM last night, but the fact that you can’t even host a private server to get a game going (at least not yet, without console commands) kind of killed my enthusiasm. Well, that and the waiting an hour in queue for a community server without success. Once more unofficial servers start popping online, this hiccup will go away, but unless you’re willing to spend money to play on the Valve servers, expect Mann vs. Machine to be a less than stable experience for the first few days.

Did anyone actually manage to play this last night? If you did, what are you thoughts?

Film Crit Hulk Smashes the Ending of Mass Effect 3

mass effect 3 ending

Just when you thought we left this debate behind, we drag it back kicking and screaming for one more go.

In what may go down as one of the most divisive topics in video game history, the ending of Mass Effect 3 has earned equal amounts ire and praise, and the Extended Cut DLC only served to add more fuel to that fire. Some people claimed it salvaged the tarnished legacy of the series, while others said that it all the EC did was spell out what was implied anyways.

We’ve given our thoughts on the ending, but this recent breakdown by Film Crit Hulk over at Badass Digest is too good not to pass along. If you’re still harboring ill-will about the ending of ME3, be warned: by the end of his article you might be more than a little upset.

I guess that because the author is behind a character he feels free to say what many of us held back for politness, or fear of the consequences, or whatever, but Film Crit Hulk says everything I’ve been thinking about the ME3 ending since March. I especially loved his tear-down of the video he imbedded, and his reasoning that Mass Effect 3 didn’t fail as a story, but rather didn’t deliver the indulgence we expect out of video games.

So what do you guys think of Film Crit Hulk’s rant? Does he make points that you agree with? Disagree? Is caps lock really cruise control for cool? Go!

Source – Badass Digest

BioShock Infinite, The Last Guardian and the Perils of Sensationalizing

BioShock Infinite multiplayer cut

Yesterday was kind of a strange day for the video game journalism industry at large, as two odd pieces of news hit about a couple of anticipated games: BioShock Infinite and The Last Guardian. One garnered an almost “they sky is falling” type of reaction, and the other was met with a sort of apathy. Let’s look at them, shall we?

First up, BioShock Infinite hit a rough patch yesterday after two key staff members left the project and multiplayer got the axe. Art director Nate Wells and director of product development Tim Gerritsen recently left the project, news which was only compounded by the whole multiplayer fiasco. BioShock Infinite was delayed earlier this year to 2013, and its absence from major trade shows did not go unnoticed.

This was enough cause for alarm that almost every single news outlet declared this the “end times” for Infinite, leaving Ken Levine and Irrational to do a serious amount of damage control. The game is still on track for its February 2013 target and Rod Fergusson, formerly of Gears of War studio Epic Games, was brought on to take Infinite into the home stretch. While this string of events is unfortunate, I doubt tht it’s the major disaster that it was made out to be.

On the other hand we have The Last Guardian, the next game from Team Ico which we haven’t seen in what feels like a couple of years. Sony let the trademark filing for The Last Guardian slip which news sites were quick to brush off as “nothing major”. It’s a sort of odd contrast where one unfortunate event can spur paragraphs the of woe that will betide us, while the trademark expiry of a vaporware game is no big deal. Sony has said that The Last Guardian is still in development, so take from that what you will.

What do you guys think of these two bits of news? Thoughts on BioShock Infinite’s multiplayer trouble? Does the trademark issue for The Last Guardian herald anything? What about the sensationalizing that happened around Infinite while Last Guardian got the brush-off?

Source – Kotaku and Kotaku

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Multiplayer Looks Kind of Fun

If broshooters are your thing, you can’t really get much more bang for you buck than Call of Duty. Even with a new title releasing every year, there’s enough ranking and unlocking packed into the games to keep you busy for a while.

While the Call of Duty series has been waning in the eyes of the gaming public for while (to those of us “in the know”, at any rate), I’ve always appreciated Treyarch’s willingness to stick their necks out and deviate from the formula set up by Infinity Ward. Things like zombies, crazy Cold War conspiracies and now trips to the future are all helping to keep the series somewhat fresh while Modern Warfare approaches stagnation. The new multiplayer trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 shows you how you’ll be fighting in the future of 2025. If you thought that Call of Duty needed more ridiculous kill-streak rewards, then you’re in for a treat.

Walking tanks and helicopter drones and suicidal UAVs, oh my! The only thing missing from this trailer is the crazy customization that Treyarch packed into the original Black Ops, but I’m sure all of that will be revealed in another trailer closer to the release date.

So, what do you think? Does the multiplayer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 do it for you? Is it worth going black to the future?

Day Z Makes the Jump to Standalone Game

day z standalone

Day Z, the mod scene’s recent obsession, is now wearing the big boy pants: that’s right, Day Z will be a standalone game developed by Bohemia Interactive and headed up by Dean “Rocket” Hall.

The new Day Z will follow the Minecraft route where people can purchase an Alpha that will be continuously and quickly iterated upon. Day Z the mod will exist alongside the full title, and will continue to be improved upon as well. There isn’t much more information availible at this time, but the new Day Z has its own website, so check there for updates.

It’s kind of crazy to think that almost three months after our interview with Dean Hall, when his mod was just gaining steam, Day Z is fast on its way to becoming a fully-fledged game. Not that being a mod was a knock against it, but I think Bohemia is moving in the right direction by turning it into a Minecraft-style title with a community Alpha. This allows the game to retain the same feel while at the same time moving it out of the mod scene (and of course, generating new income).

As always though, we’d love to get your thoughts on this development. Is Day Z becoming a standalone game good news for the players? Should it have stayed a mod indefinitely? Could this be a move by Bohemia to get out ahead of the recently announced The War Z, or has this been in the cards for a while?

Source – Day Z Dev Blog, Day Z Game

Dead Space 3 and the Voice of Reason

You might have noticed today that Dead Space 3 is in the news for comments coming from EA that they thought the first two games were “too scary”. The Internet at large, being the hyperbolic creature that it is, jumped to all sorts of conclusions about the direction the game is taking and the changes EA is forcing on it.

But is that actually what was said in the interview? Apparently not, as the headline associated with the article in question is quite different from EA’s comments. The original story over at MCV had the headline EA research said Dead Space 1&2 were too scary, but right down in the article, this is what the EA rep being interviewed, Laura Miele, actually said: Continue reading Dead Space 3 and the Voice of Reason

Let it Snow with the Battlefield 3: Armored Kill Trailer

Oh, Battlefield 3, what a strange relationship we have. First I liked the game, then I hated it, and now I like it again. Fanboyism is a fickle beast (just ask BioWare and Blizzard), but as long as DICE keeps making quality expansions, I’ll be happy. Just don’t ask me about Battlefield 4.

Here’s the trailer for the upcoming Armored Kill DLC, thundering your way in September. Snow maps, everybody!

I think I posted on a Halo: Reach DLC trailer that I never expect the games depicted to turn out the way the trailers advertise, but with Battlefield, I can totally see everything happening. Charging through a rocket barrage while helicopters, jets and gunships clash overhead is just a normal game in BF3. What do you guys think? Excited? Sick of my roller-coaster affair with Battlefield 3? Come at me, bro.

Today’s WTF: EA Leaks Battlefield 4 Beta on Origin

Battlefield 4 beta leak

Everyone on here knows that I love Battlefield just as much probably more than the next guy, but it’s not a game the benefits from having a successor so soon, considering that the latest version was released under a year ago. Add in the fact that Battlefield 3 Premium meant that customers bought the game twice, advertising the fact that there will be a Battlefield 4 Beta included with a Medal of Honor: Warfighter pre-order is a bit much.

I tried to grab a screenshot of this myself, but EA’s crack team of monkies running Origin seemed to have nipped this in the bud. The Internet is always quicker than you think, though, as Reddit user krov grabbed this screenshot of the Battlefield 4 Beta being advertised on Origin. Add this to the fact that IGN has their own screengrab and it’s looking like EA accidentally spilled the beans on Battlefield 4.

It’s fairly obvious that EA is positioning Medal of Honor and Battlefield to trade off on a yearly basis, but seeing one of my favorite franchises essentially working the digital street corner is disheartening. I try not to fall pray to the whole “gaming is ruined” thing, but it’s looking pretty ugly out there. What do you guys think about this? Is it actually legit? Should EA at least wait until Medal of Honor: Warfighter actually comes out before pimping the next Battlefield?

Source – Reddit, IGN

Borderlands 2 Will Judge How Badass You Actually Are

borderlands 2 badass ranks, customizable skins, golden chests

Guys, we are getting actual news™ out of San Deigo Comic Con, and I am so excited. I thought that we were going to be dead in the water until September, but I’m glad to have been proven wrong.

If any of you played the original Borderlands, then you may remember the challenges the game presented you with as little notifications that popped up and then quickly went away. It was a small distraction, but most of us probably never paid attention to them beacause they weren’t that well integrated. Borderlands 2 looks to change that with Badass Ranks, which will incentivize players to complete challenges by giving them new ways to beef up their stats.

For every Badass Rank you’ll get tokens, and those tokens can be used to improve your character in various ways. The best part is, improvements gained from the ranks carry over your account, meaning that if you give one character +10% to health regeneration or something, every subsequent character you create will have that ability. It’s a great way to promote replaying the game without feeling like you’re starting from square one every time. Of course, purists can turn off both Badass ranks and the buffs if they so desire. Badass Ranks sound like an awesome addition, but that’s not all. Continue reading Borderlands 2 Will Judge How Badass You Actually Are

GamerSushi Asks: Your “Sleeper Hit” of 2012

Quantum Conundrum

We’re finally past the halfway mark in 2012 and we’ve seen a lot of big name titles come and go. Some are still hanging around, but even with all these games to take up our time, there are a few that pass under our radar.

There’s been couple games this year that I’ve had my eye on that haven’t exactly gotten a lot of attention here at GamerSushi. As this isn’t our job (unfortunately) we tend to focus on the huge games that everyone is playing, and that means games like Spec Ops: The Line, Spelunky and Quantum Conundrum get passed by. We’d like to cover every game, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen.

So what I’m essentially asking is: Is there a game that you’ve been loving the hell out of that you haven’t seen on GamerSushi? Given what I said above it’s only natural that the really big titles take up the front page, but what game is driving you crazy that we haven’t taken a look at?

Get a Peek at Halo 4’s Forge Mode

I was originally going to title this post “Halo Fourge Mode” but I realized that nobody would search for that term, ever. Bungie left some big shoes to fill, what with their Halo titles raising the bar for extra features in a console game. The Theater and Forge mode of Halo 3 and Reach spawned hours of awesome creations, so 343 and Certain Affinity (the developers of Halo 4’s take on Forge) have their work cut out for them.

Convention goers at RTX 2012 (which our very own Eddy Rivas attended and had a panel in) got to look at Forge mode and the new toys that are being packed in. There’s a 15-minute plus demo floating around, and while it is off-screen, it’s still a good look at what we’ll be getting our hands on come November.

While I never had the patience to mess around too much in Forge, some of the maps and gametypes that have come out of it are simply stunning. With all the new tools in the box, I can’t wait to see what people come up with. What do you guys think about Halo 4’s Forge Mode? Can 343 and Certain Affinity step up to the plate?

Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut DLC Arriving June 26

mass effect 3 extended cut dlc release date

After a couple months of silence, BioWare has finally dropped the release date for the Extended Cut DLC for Mass Effect 3, and in a pleasant surprise it will be coming out next Tuesday.

So, what does the Extended Cut DLC contain? You can check out the Mass Effect website to get the whole lowdown, but here’s what you need to know about the DLC.

The Extended Cut expands on the endings of Mass Effect 3 through additional scenes and epilogue sequences. It provides more of the answers and closure that players have been asking for. It gives a sense of what the future holds as a result of the decisions made throughout the series. And it shows greater detail in the successes or failures based on how players achieved their endings.

So, just to clarify, the Extended Cut does not change the current endings, but just fleshes them out, which is something that they could benefit from. The Extended Cut is a whopping 1.9GB as well, making it the largest chunk of downloadable content for the Mass Effect series to date. The best part is the price tag, which is zero dollars and zero cents.

Next Tuesday will determine whether or not the Extended Cut actually changes things for better or worse, but what do you guys think? Are we in for another wave of disappointment? Will we have to re-retake Mass Effect? What do you want to see in the Extended Cut, bearing in mind that it just builds upon the established endings? Go!

Source – MassEffect.com

Stay Frosty with 20 Minutes of Dead Space 3 Gameplay

EA’s E3 2012 press conference seemed prime for backlash, what with the DLC-promoting intro and the stale showing of some of the games, but the negative reception that surprised me most was directed at Dead Space 3. That franchise has kind of a soft-spot in my heart and I felt that many other gamers shared my affection but after the co-op footage showed off a new direction for the game, things kind of went south in the public’s eyes.

Visceral Games just put out a whopping 20 minutes of Dead Space 3 gameplay footage, so you can decide for yourself on whether or not Dead Space 3 is changing for the worse.

So, what do you guys think? It’s just a first glance, but how is DS3 shaping up for you? Will the third title cap off an excellent series? What do you think about the fact that EA has said that Dead Space 3 needs to sell five million copies to keep the franchise going?

GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?

what are you playing max payne 3

It’s already June, Sushians, and you know what that means: another installment of What Are You Playing, the recurring post where you get to tell us what currently occupies your PC or console and what you think of it.

May saw a couple big releases, namely Max Payne 3 and Diablo 3, but given that we’re also in somewhat of a draught from now unti September, this is also a good time to catch up on your backlog.

Personally, I’ve been getting back into Battlefield 3 a whole bunch, especially since it’s just had another huge patch which has fixed some of the glitches that the last patch brought on and has tweaked some things that needed it, like suppression and a number of weapons. It’s nice that DICE is committed to upkeep on their game, but this just shows how unprepared Battlefield 3 was when it launched in October of last year. The game has changed in a lot of fundamental ways and I expect it will continue to do so with all the DLC coming out over the next year.

Enough about me though, what are you guys playing? Something new, or maybe catching up on the backlog?

Gears of War: Judgement Will Change as You Play

gears of war judgement declassified system

If there’s any game that’s more unnecessary than a Gears of War prequel, I’d like to see it (already seen God of War: Ascension) but it sounds like Epic subsidiary studio People Can Fly are doing their best to make the next trip back to the Gears-verse worth your time.

As Gears of War: Judgement is being told from the perspective of Baird and Cole defending themselves at a treason hearing, certain elements of the game will change each time you play it because, like any memory, things are going to be forgotten, replaced, or just plain made up. For example, the first time you play through a level, you might have access to sniper rifles, but the next time you play, Baird might say something like “we didn’t have access to snipers rifles” and poof: where you were once popping fools with snipers, you now have to get down and dirty with them.

As you play the missions you’ll eventually get to go through “declassified” versions of the levels, which is the actual series of events. Gears of War: Judgement also comes with a smart-spawn system similar to Left 4 Dead’s director: if you’re doing well the game will throw more enemies in different locations and you, and if you’re struggling to progress, things will get a bit easier.

Mixing things up like is what helps make a prequel a bit more palatable. I’m interested to see how this system will preform when the game drops, but for now it sounds like an interesting concept. What do you guys think? Is Gears of War: Judgement sounding a bit better to you now? What do you think of the declassification system?

Source – Kotaku

Dead Space 3’s Co-op Gets a Chilly Reception

There are no secrets in the video game industry, which is why we knew about Dead Space 3’s co-op mode almost a week before its official debut at the E3 press conference. Even though we knew it was coming, we didn’t know what it would look like, so the six-minute on stage demo was enough to get a good idea. Here’s that demo so you can watch for yourself:

So what do you guys think? Is it a little too action packed for your taste? How will Visceral Games maintain the horror with two people running and gunning? How does new character John Carver compare to Isaac Clarke? Speak up!

Star Wars 1313 Hits E3 with Gameplay Footage

So dang, guys. Even if the big dogs have shown up to E3 without a single announcement for next gen plans (phew), that hasn’t stopped developers from hitting us with games that could be running on next generation hardware. See yesterday’s Watch Dogs, if you’re uncertain. Or just take a gander at Star Wars 1313.

In the clip, we get a sneak peek at some in-engine cinematics, featuring a couple of bounty hunters in what’s being billed as a grittier, more mature Star Wars universe. Sure, those are some awful big buzzwords, but combine them with Star Wars and you’ve got a pretty nice hook. In addition, we also see shots of gameplay. The best way to describe this game so far looks to be Uncharted in spcae, and I mean that in a good way. And yeah, it’s kind of gorgeous, to boot.

What are your thoughts on Star Wars 1313? Do you think this is running on next gen tech? Go!

Is the Next Gears of War Game a Prequel?

Gears of War Game Informer

It’s possible. Game Informer’s got the scoop on the newest no-neck cover-based execution-loving third-person shooter from Epic Games, and while we don’t know much about it, we do know that it’s a brand new Gears of War game. It’s the particulars that get a little bit iffy.

So far, the big rumor that’s swirling around the tubes is that the fourth Gears of War game is a prequel. And not only that, but the first game in a prequel trilogy, developed by People Can Fly, the team that created Bulletstorm. The cover image from Game Informer’s July issue would seem to indicate that this new game could possibly show how Marcus Fenix ended up in the prison cell when the first game started.

As much as I’ve adored the Gears of War franchise, count me among the people in the world that is just not that excited by the term “prequel” any longer. The problem with most prequels is that we’ve seen the end of the story already, so they just don’t hold the narrative steam of new content. And even though Epic and Co. insist that they can go a million different directions with the story, I’d rather see a new setting/universe, but with the same mechanics that make Gears of War unique. Why keep spinning out endless threads for a story that we’ve already explored to death? I guess we’ll find out more next week at E3.

So what do you guys think of the idea of a new Gears of War game? Do you dislike the idea of it being a prequel? Are prequels old news now? Go!

Update: Game Informer has updated the link, showing that the cover image is actually of both Cole and Baird in chains, not Marcus Fenix. So it looks like this will still be a prequel, but starring the two fan favorites. Does this change your feelings?

Source – Game Informer and CVG

Rumor: Battlefield 3 Premium Fact Sheet Leaks

battlefield 3 premium fact sheet

Poor, poor EA. You know, I do kind of feel bad for them at this point. Between all the stuff with Mass Effect, trying to launch an much-maligned digital store and Battlefield 3, they really have been getting the short end of the stick recently. Not that they don’t deserve it, but still, it must suck to be the new punching bag.

As another addition to EA’s recent list of slip-ups, a rumored fact sheet for Battlefield 3 Premium has appeared, listing everything that should be coming with the service. As I speculated on The GamerSushi Show, it is a “season pass” of sorts, getting you access to all the DLC and a few goodies for a flat $50 fee. Here’s a quick and dirty read-out of what you get:

  • All Battlefield 3 DLC (up-coming and previously released) with two week early access
  • Unique in-game knife, dog-tags, soliders camos and gun camos
  • Stat reset option
  • Server queue priority
  • Exclusive events, double-EXP events and videos
  • 5+ unique assigments
  • Stategy guides
  • Additional bonus content

In addition to all that you also get some new platoon decal options and the ability to save Battle Reports. Battlefield 3 Premium is shaping up to be pretty decent, considering that all told you get a $10 discount on the DLC. What do you guys think? Are EA and DICE going back on their Call of Duty ELITE trash-talk by offering up a similar service? Will you be picking this up?