Assassin's Creed III dev says press gives a pass to Japanese games

Alex Hutchinson claims many Japanese games have "gibberish" narratives, but are not criticized by "subtly racist" gaming press.

Assassin's Creed III creative director Alex Hutchinson has taken a shot at Japanese games and those who critique them. Speaking to CVG, the developer claimed the narratives in Japanese games often leave something to be desired, and reviewers give these games a free pass.

Hutchinson claims the press exhibits a biased appreciation for Japanese games.

"Just think about how many Japanese games are released where their stories are literally gibberish," he said. "There's no way you could write it with a straight face, and the journalists say, 'Oh it is brilliant'. Then Gears of War comes out and apparently it's the worst written narrative in a game ever. I'll take Gears of War over Bayonetta any time."

Hutchinson's remarks came as a response to a question regarding how Nintendo is able to release new iterations of long-running franchises every year without drawing much criticism. To this, Hutchinson remarked, "I think there's a subtle racism in the business, especially on the journalists' side, where Japanese developers are forgiven for doing what they do. I think it's condescending to do this."

Ultimately, Hutchison said he thinks games should be judged on a simple scale of "is the story any good?"




Source : gamespot.com

Ryse progressing 'really well'

Crytek's Roman warrior Kinect game making progress, but developer won't confirm if it's coming to Xbox 360 or next-gen.

Crytek's Roman warrior Kinect game Ryse remains in development, but whether it lands on the Xbox 360 or its successor remains in question. Speaking to Eurogamer, Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli said the project is "moving forward really well, we just can't talk about it."

Ryse was announced during Microsoft's 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo as "Codename Kingdoms," with its new name coming a year later. A report from December 2011 suggested the project had shifted from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox 720, which is rumored to ship in 2013 with Kinect 2.0.

Speaking to the rumor of Ryse shifting console generations, Yerli said, "I don't know!. We're still working with Microsoft, so obviously we can't change platforms. But if you mean within Microsoft--that I can't comment on."

Since Ryse was initially unveiled, development on the project has moved from Crytek's Budapest outfit to its Frankfurt studio. Yerli explained this shift, saying, "The development team shifted, but for different reasons than people assume. People think it's because it didn't work out, but actually it was a studio redirection. We wanted Budapest to focus a bit more on mobile and tablet, and they released Fibble, which was quite an excursion for Crytek. And we'll do more casual stuff but that's also free-to-play."

In June, Microsoft Studios executive Phil Spencer said Ryse will not ship until summer 2013 at the very earliest. At the time, he said the game was playable on the Xbox 360.



Source : gamespot.com

Lego Lord of the Rings features 85 playable characters

Traveller's Tales' adaptation of Tolkien's fantasy tome to include a number of characters not seen in Peter Jackson's movies.

J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings fantasy series is known for its numerous characters, and developer Traveller's Tales is keeping true to that spirit with its new game based on the franchise, Lego: Lord of the Rings. According to a report at The Verge, Lego Lord of the Rings will feature 85 playable characters, including some who have never appeared in Peter Jackson's film adaptations. These characters were not named.

Will Tom Bombadil finally get his chance to shine?

Due out this fall, Lego Lord of the Rings will be based on Jackson's Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings motion picture trilogy and will follow the storylines of each film, using dialogue from the movies. Unlike the Lego Harry Potter franchise, which was split over two games, the entire Lord of the Rings saga will be told in one entry.

The game follows Frodo Baggins and the unlikely fellowship that sets out from Rivendell on a dangerous journey to destroy The One Ring and bring peace to Middle-earth. Throughout Lego Lord of the Rings, players will enter the Mines of Moria, climb the Misty Mountains, and battle orcs, uruk-hai, and the nasty balrog.

In keeping with the staples of the Lego franchise, Lego Lord of the Rings will be peppered with lighthearted interpretations of the source material, with gamers tasked with solving puzzles along the way. Character players featured in the game include Frodo, Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Sam, Merry, and Pippin.




Source : gamespot.com

Rebellion suing Stardock over Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion

Trademark infringement suit alleges substantial losses suffered as direct result of confusion from strategy game's name.

Rebellion is suing Stardock over Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion. The trademark suit, which was filed in June in Stardock's home district of Eastern Michigan, alleges that Stardock knowingly infringed on Rebellion's trademark on its name as it pertains to video games both with the title of the space-faring real-time strategy game and in its promotional materials.

The offending logo.

Rebellion did not stipulate a set amount of damages, instead leaving it to the court to determine how much it was "deprived of substantial sales of its products" and "the value of its trademarks as commercial assets." Rebellion provided several examples where it claimed consumers would have been easily misled, including promotional materials which displayed the word "Rebellion" much larger than the preceding "Sins of a Solar Empire" and some that referred to the game only by the disputed trademark.

Rebellion, which is based in the UK, is the developer behind Sniper Elite V2 and both the 1999 and 2010 Aliens vs. Predator games. Besides publishing Sins of a Solar Empire, Stardock also developed Elemental: War of Magic and The Political Machine 2012, among others.

GameSpot contacted Stardock for comment on the lawsuit, but was told the company does not speak on ongoing court cases. Rebellion had not responded as of publication time.

[CORRECTION]: This article previously identified Stardock as the developer of the Sins of a Solar Empire series. It was developed by Ironclad. GameSpot regrets the error.

Source : gamespot.com

Hitman Absolution altered over outcry

Director Tore Blystad says he was "surprised" by reaction to action game's controversial trailer; level amended to provide deeper context.

IO Interactive has amended a level from Hitman Absolution following outcry stemming from one of the game's teaser trailers. In the video, the game's main character, Agent 47, is shown murdering a group of assassins disguised as gun-wielding nuns. Hitman Absolution game director Tore Blystad explained to Eurogamer that the trailer was based on a level in the game, which has now been tweaked to provide greater context.

IO is going back to provide greater context for this scene.

"One way to go about that level is to go in all-guns blazing, but of course, it's not the smartest way," he said. "We learned from the trailer that we really needed to give these characters some context and some backstory. We're working within the game--within that level--to build these characters up before you meet them. That way you know what you're getting and you aren't put off by them."

The reaction to the video was unexpected, Blystad said. He said despite hundreds of internal staffers having witnessed the trailer, none had any idea it would draw the levels of criticism it did.

"We were surprised by the reaction to it. We've been trying to find out, y'know, how could we not see this happening? If we knew it would get such a negative reaction we would have done it in a different way."

Ultimately, Blystad does not think drama related to the trailer, and the amended level, will be remembered when the game launches in November. "People will have forgotten about it," he said.

Hitman: Absolution is due out for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 20. It is the first entry in the series since 2006's Hitman: Blood Money, which saw Agent 47 bring silent death to locales ranging from mid-Mardis Gras New Orleans to the White House.

Source : gamespot[dot]com

Castle Crashers hitting PC

The Behemonth's beat 'em up coming to Steam with voice chat, achievements, and gamepad support years after original debut; release date TBA.

Castle Crashers is finally storming the PC. Developer The Behemoth announced today at Gamescom that the beat 'em up is coming to Steam, though no release date or price was provided.

Castle Crashers is bursting onto the PC.

Castle Crashers for Steam will feature voice chat, achievements, gamepad and cloud save support, and local and online multiplayer. The game debuted to a warm critical reception in 2008 on Xbox Live, with a subsequent release following in 2010 for PlayStation Network.

A four-player brawler, Castle Crashers places players in the oversized helmets of knights with elemental powers who must quest to regain a stolen idol and a kidnapped princess.

Castle Crashers for PC will be on-hand at next month's Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, Washington, which runs August 31 through September 2. For more on Castle Crashers, check out GameSpot's Xbox Live and PSN reviews.

Source gamespot.com

EA for sale?

Sources says publisher "quietly exploring" sale with private equity firms KKR and Providence Equity reportedly interested; EA shares surge on the report; analyst calls deal "low probability."

Electronic Arts may be for sale. According to unnamed sources speaking to The New York Post, the Mass Effect, FIFA, and Battlefield publisher is "quietly exploring" a sale.

EA sale discussions are reportedly in "early days."

EA has reportedly been approached by private equity firms KKR and Providence Equity Partners, the latter of which owns a partial stake in Bethesda parent company Zenimax. The discussions are supposedly in "early days."

EA shares surged by more than 8 percent this morning to over $14 per share, representing the highest intraday gain since February 2, according to BusinessWeek. One source reportedly familiar with EA said the publisher will "do a deal" when the company's share value rises to $20.

An EA representative told GameSpot, "We don’t comment on rumors and speculation."

Asked about the likelihood of EA being sold, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told GameSpot, "It’s a low probability. I don’t believe it."

EA is not the only major game publisher that could be sold. Media conglomerate Vivendi is actively interested in selling its stake in World of Warcraft and Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard, though the firm is facing a tough sell.

Source : gamespot[dot]com

DICE talks future of Mirror's Edge, Bad Company

Executive producer Patrick Bach says "we never kill something that is great," but coy on hard details for sequels.

The Mirror's Edge and Bad Company franchises have lain dormant since 2008 and 2010, respectively, with developer DICE remaining coy about the future of both series. Now, DICE executive producer Patrick Bach has confirmed that it remains committed those properties.

Faith and Bad Company have not been abandoned, Bach says.

Speaking to IGN, Bach said, "We never kill something that is great. Mirror's Edge is a game that we of course all love. It was a great game. It had some flaws, of course, like all games. But in general, it's an IP that we love and of course we haven't killed it, because it's too good to kill."

As for a sequel to Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Bach expressed a similar level of adoration for the franchise, but did not lay out any specific plans for the series.

"The Bad Company IP is still something we love," Bach continued. "And it’s very dear to me because I worked on both titles. We have no information with where we are to a sequel to Bad Company."

DICE may already be at work on new entries is both franchises. In May, various LinkedIn resumes included mention of Bad Company 3 and Mirror's Edge 2. Publisher Electronic Arts declined to comment on these rumors.

Source : gamespot[dot]com

EA's Frank Gibeau: "I've seen new consoles from Sony and Microsoft"

President of EA Labels confirms new hardware from major manufacturers; believes free-to-play will become the dominant pricing model for the industry.

The rumour mill regarding new hardware from both Microsoft and Sony has been particularly active of late. On Microsoft's side, general manager Brian Hall name-dropped a "new Xbox" earlier this month, while on Sony's side SCE UK boss Fergal Gara reaffirmed the company's commitment to retail "whenever the next cycle starts".

One key player for both consoles is EA's president of labels Frank Gibeau, whose company has pledged to spend $80 million on next-gen this year. And, during his keynote address at the Gamescom opening ceremony, Gibeau confirmed not only that new machines from both Microsoft and Sony exist, but that he has seen them.

"I've seen both of them", he teased during his speech about the future of the industry as he saw it. "Ten years ago we used to measure our market in terms of 200 million people. Now we are at a billion people playing games and we have a straight line view on 2 billion," he predicted.

Gibeau also reaffirmed EA's commitment to free-to-play, showing off the new Command & Conquer, which is built using developer DICE's Frostbite 2 engine. "Free to play will become the dominant pricing model by the end of the decade," he added.

Source : gamespot[dot]com

Mass Effect 3 Leviathan DLC releases August 28

Single-player campaign addition sets Shepard on hunt for mythical reaper killer, impacts Extended Cut endings.

Commander Shepard's intricate tale will get another wrinkle on August 28 when the Mass Effect 3 Leviathan downloadable content goes on sale. Bioware revealed the release date for the DLC today across PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, though European PS3 owners will need to wait until August 29 for it to appear on PlayStation Network.

Shepard's aquamech. Not pictured: a shark to jump over.

Leviathan's new missions unfold roughly in the middle of the game and see Shepard chasing clues to the existence of a mythical reaper-killing creature, as seen in the GameSpot preview viewable below. The events which unfold thereafter will have an impact on the Extended Cut versions of the game's controversial endings.
The DLC will cost $10 (800 Microsoft points) and is the third to add on to the events of the single-player game, after the day-one release From Ashes and June's Extended Cut.



Source : us.gamespot.com

Assassin's Creed director defends yearly releases

Creative director Alex Hutchinson calls argument over annualized franchises "strange," says yearly releases allow developers to keep franchises relevant.

Assassin's Creed III creative director Alex Hutchinson has defended yearly releases for major franchises. Presenting today at GDC Europe (attended by Eurogamer), Hutchinson said he finds the argument over annualized franchises to be "strange," and noted gamers should be concerned about quality, not the frequency of releases.

Is every year too often for a new Assassin's Creed game? Hutchinson doesn't think so.

"I find it strange we've decided yearly is too often," Hutchinson said. "If Radiohead put out an album every month, I'd buy it. It's about the quality."

Hutchinson went on to explain that releasing annual sequels allows Ubisoft to keep the Assassin's Creed franchise "in people's minds," so that the publisher can "keep telling the story."

The Assassin's Creed franchise launched in 2007 with the praised original, and subsequent console and PC releases followed with Assassin's Creed II (2009), Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (2010), and Assassin's Creed: Revelations (2011). Assassin's Creed III is due out later this year.

Elsewhere during his talk, Hutchinson said the development team at Ubisoft is treating Assassin's Creed III not only as a new game, but as an "entirely new franchise."

"Assassin's Creed III is as displaced from Assassin's Creed II as much as Medal of Honor is from Call of Duty," Hutchinson said.

Set during the American Revolution, Assassin's Creed III features a new protagonist with a mixed Native American-English heritage. Named Ratohnhake:ton but going by Connor, the hero of Assassin's Creed III will inject himself into the ongoing struggle between the Templars and the Assassins. The game is being built by Ubisoft Montreal and six collaborating studios on a new engine called Ubisoft-AnvilNext.

Assassin's Creed III will arrive for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 30, with a PC version following in November. A Wii U version is also in development, though its release date remains unknown. For more on Assassin's Creed III, check out GameSpot's latest preview.




Source : gamespot.com

ESports Championship tournament to be featured in STGCC 2012

Games used in Singapore comic convention include Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Persona 4 Arena and Soul Calibur V.

Fighting game fans in Singapore and Southeast Asia can look forward to the upcoming ESports Championship Series 2012 held at this year's Singapore Toys, Games and Comic Convention at the Sands Expo & Convention Center at the Marina Bay Sands building, Singapore.

The contests include a Soul Calibur V and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 tournament. Other competitions include a Persona 4 Arena three-versus-three team battle, a FIFA 12 two-versus-two championships tournament an Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 singles tournament, and a Street Fighter IV five-versus-five team battle. Players can either sign up on this link or sign up on the spot on September 1.

Will someone be cosplaying King or Paul from TTT2 in STGCC 2012?

Other games on the show floor for casual play include the English version of One Piece: Pirate Warriors, Hitman Absolution, Dragon Ball Z Kinect, and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3. On a related note, character designer Itou Noizi will make an appearance in STGCC 2012. She is renowned for being a character designer and artist in Sega's Shining Force Feather and a number of UnisonShift games in Japan.
The event will be held from September 1 until September 2.

Source us.gamespot.com

DiRT Showdown Asian finals to be held in Singapore

The upcoming finals will be held at the end of August and features previous DiRT Showdown winners from other Southeast Asian countries.

 Clothing company DC, CodeMasters, and distributors Epicsoft are teaming up to host the DiRT Showdown Asian finals tournament in Singapore.

Winners of the past DiRT Showdown tournament held since last July in Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia will be flown to Singapore to compete in the grand finals from August 24 to August 26.

The tournament will be held at the I12 Katong mall. The winner will get a cash prize of S$1,000, a DC gift voucher worth S$200, an exclusive Pro Spec 3.0 pair of shoes autographed by Ken Block, and DC-branded Ken Block apparel, and an accessories set.

Get some DiRT action starting August 24.

Players will need to compete head-to-head in Gymkhana mode and score the most points in the shortest time possible. The overall winner of the tournament will win a prize bundle that includes DC clothing and shoes, an autographed Ken Block poster and a few titles distributed by Epicsoft.

The DiRT Showdown tournament first started in Thailand in late July. For more information on the game, check out GameSpot's review.

Source gamespot.com

Battlefield 3 Premium Edition hitting September for $70

EA to offer bundle that includes base game, all expansion packs, and a multiplayer "head start" kit for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC next month.

Gamers who have held out on picking up Battlefield 3 may want to wait a little while longer. Electronic Arts today announced the Battlefield 3 Premium Edition, a bundle for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC that includes all of the game's planned and released downloadable content and more for $70.

Battlefield 3 Premium Edition, not to be confused with Battlefield Premium

Due out on September 11 in North America and September 13 in Europe, the Battlefield 3 Premium Edition packs in all five digital expansion packs, including the already released $15 Back to Karkand and Close Quarter expansions. Additionally, the premium bundle will include upcoming add-ons Armored Kill, Aftermath, and End Game.

A similar offer is currently available via the Battlefield 3 Premium service. For $50, players who already own the base game can grab all previously released DLC for Battlefield 3, as well as early access to upcoming add-ons. More than 1.3 million have already purchased Battlefield 3 Premium.

The Battlefield 3 Premium Edition also includes a "head start" kit for the game's multiplayer component. This collection includes 15 multiplayer unlocks.

EA calls the Battlefield 3 Premium Edition an "unbeatable value" at $70, noting if gamers were to purchase all content individually, the cost would exceed $100. If pricing patterns hold for the future add-ons, the total would actually be $135.

Source : gamespot[dot]com

Mobile is the new PC, says Epic

GDC Europe 2012: Mobile "starting to compete with current consoles", next generation chips will be 20-times as powerful.

The power of mobile GPUs and the complexity of developing for them is rapidly approaching that of consoles and some PCs, according to Niklas Smedberg of Epic Games. Speaking during a keynote presentation at GDC Europe, the developer said that mobile was "starting to compete with current consoles", but in doing so development has become much more complex.

"We are Epic, we never do the minimum."

Smedberg compared the process of mobile development to that of PCs, where there are hundreds of different platforms to develop for, each with their own hardware. "We have to scale things--we are Epic, we never do the minimum, so we have to scale for high to low devices". He went on to claim that mobile games will soon have graphics options similar to that of PC, with low, medium, and high for different effects, as well as resolution settings.

Citing the example of God Rays, a lighting effect used heavily in Gear of War 3 and Infinity Blade II, Smedberg said that the mobile version of the effect actually "ended up looking better" than on the 360. "In some regards, mobile is way better than console. There's way more memory, which allows for much higher texture resolutions."

Looking to the future, Smedberg claimed that the next generation of mobile GPUs will be up to 20 times more powerful. He cited product roadmaps from IMGTec and Nvidia as examples, and assured the audience that such steep rises in GPU power would be put to good use. "On console we were doing 720p", he said, "on iPad we're doing crazy resolutions".

Source : gamespot[dot]com

Day-one DLC good for everybody - Bioware

Developer says content makes most sense when available at launch, multiplayer microtransactions make for better support down the line.

Making downloadable content available for a game on the day of its release makes sense for everyone involved, according to Bioware. Eurogamer reported on Bioware's comments on its post-release content strategy at Game Developers Conference Europe today, saying gamers ask for more as soon as they start playing.

Thanks to DLC, their war will stretch on forever!

"From the moment the game launches … [fans] tend to say 'I want it now!' So it needs to be there when it's ready," said Fernando Melo, Bioware Edmonton online development director. He said day-one DLC gives concept artists and writers something to work on while teams responsible for tweaking and polishing before launch can continue on the main product. BioWare is no stranger to DLC, with the company including significant content in From Ashes, its day-one DLC for Mass Effect 3, and expanding the trilogy's controversial conclusion with a free download several months after release. Online passes for Mass Effect 2's planned content accounted for 11 percent of that game's DLC revenue, even though it was included in new purchases.

Mass Effect 3 also introduced a new revenue source for the developer in the form of online multiplayer transactions. Instead of charging $10 or $15 for a static piece of content, BioWare charged players smaller individual amounts to enhance progression through Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode. This both encourages more purchases and gives players greater choice, Melo said. "If you have five DLC packs at $10 each, you can only ever earn a total of $50." He said the popularity of the microtransactions has allowed for several free multiplayer content packs to be produced and released.

"Gamers are actually happier, as they are able to spend money when they want. People may not want to pay upfront. They may be happier to pay when they are 'in the moment'."


Source : gamespot.com

Gears of War Judgment creative director leaves studio

Adrian Chmielarz and two artists depart People Can Fly; Epic Games confirms total acquisition of Polish developer for undisclosed sum.

Development on next year's Gears of War Judgment will continue without its creative director. A statement provided to Kotaku today confirms that People Can Fly co-owner and creative director Adrian Chmielarz has quit the Warsaw, Poland studio, alongside senior artists Andrezj Poznanski and Michal Kosieradzki.

Gears of War Judgment will be judged without its creative director.

"Adrian Chmielarz, Andrzej Poznanski, and Michal Kosieradzki have parted ways with People Can Fly and Epic Games in order to pursue other opportunities, which they will announce of their own accord," Epic Games president Mike Capps said.

Chmielarz's departure from Epic Games comes the week after director of production Rod Fergusson announced he had left the Gears of War house. Fergusson has joined Boston area BioShock Infinite developer Irrational Games, where he now serves as executive vice president of development.

It was also revealed today that Epic Games now wholly owns People Can Fly. Speaking to Joystiq, Epic Games vice president Mark Rein explained that it formerly held a controlling stake in the company, but not the entire outfit. It was not mentioned how much Epic Games spent to acquire the remaining stake in People Can Fly, and the company declined to comment.




Source : gamespot.com

UK chart: Third week on top for London 2012

London 2012 holds onto first place; Batman, Spider-Man, Mario, and Sonic duke it out further down the top five.

There was no movement at the top of the UK sales chart last week, with official Olympics tie-in London 2012 holding firm at number one, Lego Batman 2 still at number two, and Mario & Sonic London 2012 Olympic Games still at three.

Canoe believe it?

Fourth place also goes unchanged, with Batman: Arkham City fending off The Amazing Spider-Man, which rose from number seven to number five thanks to the a 15 percent boost in sales that accompanied the launch of the PC version.

The scarcity of new releases meant London 2012 retained the top spot even with 9 percent decline in sales. Sales of Mario & Sonic's Olympic tie-in likewise sank 9 percent , while Lego Batman 2 sales dipped 20 percent.

The UK All-Formats chart for the week ending August 11 2012:
1. London 2012: The Official Video Game
2. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
3. Mario & sonic London 2012 Olympic Games
4. Batman: Arkham City
5. The Amazing Spider-Man
6. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
7. Battlefield 3
8. Assassin's Creed: Revelations
9. Dead Island: Game of the Year Edition
10. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier


Source : gamespot.com

The secret of Battlefield's success

DICE chief Karl Magnus Troedsson on 20 years of success as a studio and 10 years of Battlefield games.
The Battlefield series has gone from strength to strength since it started with Battlefield 1942 in 2002. That success peaked with the most recent game in the series, Battlefield 3, which has sold 15m copies to date, and surpassed 1.3m paying subscribers for the Battlefield Premium service. DICE's general manager, Karl Magnus Troedsson, attempted to explain the secret behind the studio's success to the attendees of GDC Europe 2012 today.

"We still run DICE as if it were a separate company--from our financials to our office to our people," claimed Troedsson, emphasising that though owner EA uses a lot of its technology such as the Frostbite engine, DICE itself still works independently. He also claimed he's keen for the studio to be known as more than just a one-game outfit.

DICE general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson.

"DICE is dedicated to the fact that we shouldn't just be a Battlefield studio," he said, following a question about other games that may be underway in Sweden. However, he was coy on the details of any upcoming titles. "If you want to see other games from DICE, you will have to wait and see," he said.

The main thrust of the seminar was to explain how the studio uses three metrics to determine success: quality, innovation and fun. On quality, Troedsson said, "We are very competitive. We always want to win. We always compete with ourselves."

However, this can sometimes have bad results, he claimed, with Battlefield 1942 being "a textbook example of over-scoping", with the team trying to cram too much into the game. He claims DICE needs to focus on the core elements of a game and not try to dress them up. "Don't put diamonds on the coke can," he said, using the soft drink as an example of something that is good enough as it is.

In terms of innovation, Troedsson dismissed the idea that it is impossible to innovate on an established franchise. "People talk about sequilitis--I think that is a cop-out argument for people lost in the debate about what innovation is. If innovation means that there has to be radical change [to be innovative], then I think we're talking about it in the wrong way."

Troedsson pointed to Mirror's Edge, a game where, "We set out to redefine what's possible with first-person movement." He pointed out that from that game the studio took the idea that the player character has legs, and put it into Battlefield 3. He also pointed to the addition of unlockable items and upgrades back in Battlefield 2 was a small innovation on paper, but a major innovation for those players who moved from Battlefield 1942.

The final yardstick for the team at DICE is fun--both for the player and the production team. "The game needs to be fun, but the creative process isn't always fun. Life is too short, [so] work on something you're passionate about. We strongly believe this will show in the product. We also feed off the community. It can be a bit of a harsh relationship, but we do listen."

Troedsson also bemoaned the media's obsession with platforms, stats and trends. "Why are we so obsessed with the boring parts [of the games industry]?" he asked. "Business models will come and go, and consumer patterns will change. It doesn't matter--if we create great games, it will span all that," he rallied.

"Swedish climate truly inspires game development."

He also emphasised the role that fun plays for both developers and players. "If you have a fun game, it will work. You need other elements as well. But fun is where it starts."

Finally, though Troedsson wouldn't be drawn on specifics in terms of the studio's upcoming projects, he did drop some hints as to what the studio would like to be working on. "We still want to stay in [the shooter] genre, and Battlefield 4 can live in this space and be successful," he said, referring to the recently-announced game.

"That doesn't mean that there might not be a Bad Company game in the future," he teased, but he reiterated that "the core of our games will always be the multiplayer". Troedsson also said that the modding community will have to wait a bit longer before support is offered for future Battlefield games.

"We're afraid of hacking--and I'm no way saying modding is the same thing. It's a huge undertaking to make mod support work, and we are not ready to do that yet."


Source : gamespot.com

Team Fortress 2 'Mann vs. Machine' update rumored

Speculation for new robot-fighting mode with tower defense elements emerges from hidden assets.

The crazed red and blue mercenaries of Team Fortress 2 may soon have more to worry about than the other team of crazed mercenaries. Various hints spanning from 2010 to 2012 (many compiled in one handy location by Reddit users) point to a new mode which will pit the two teams against waves of robots.

The Engineer might not be the only mechanical mastermind in town.

"Mann vs. Machine," the rumored name for the update, was most recently indicated by a suspicious splatter mark appearing this week on the logo of Team Fortress' website. The splatter mark links to an image: a birth certificate which indicates the feuding brothers who founded the opposing RED and BLU teams had a third sibling named Gray, who was "absconded with" soon after birth.

Previous hidden assets on the Team Fortress 2 website and within the game's code have pointed to robotic variants of each of the game's nine distinct classes, which would theoretically compose the rank and file of the Gray team. Reddit users have speculated that references to waves as well as new deployable items for the engineer indicate the mode will have elements of tower defense.

Valve, the game's developer, recently debuted its final "Meet the Team" update for the Pyro class, and unveiled a new cross-promotional Team Fortress 2 map for the upcoming Sleeping Dogs today. Valve also has a history of promoting upcoming titles and features with elaborate alternate reality games.

Source : us[dot]gamespot[dot]com

Team Fortress 2 'Mann vs. Machine' update rumored

Speculation for new robot-fighting mode with tower defense elements emerges from hidden assets.

The crazed red and blue mercenaries of Team Fortress 2 may soon have more to worry about than the other team of crazed mercenaries. Various hints spanning from 2010 to 2012 (many compiled in one handy location by Reddit users) point to a new mode which will pit the two teams against waves of robots.

The Engineer might not be the only mechanical mastermind in town.

"Mann vs. Machine," the rumored name for the update, was most recently indicated by a suspicious splatter mark appearing this week on the logo of Team Fortress' website. The splatter mark links to an image: a birth certificate which indicates the feuding brothers who founded the opposing RED and BLU teams had a third sibling named Gray, who was "absconded with" soon after birth.

Previous hidden assets on the Team Fortress 2 website and within the game's code have pointed to robotic variants of each of the game's nine distinct classes, which would theoretically compose the rank and file of the Gray team. Reddit users have speculated that references to waves as well as new deployable items for the engineer indicate the mode will have elements of tower defense.

Valve, the game's developer, recently debuted its final "Meet the Team" update for the Pyro class, and unveiled a new cross-promotional Team Fortress 2 map for the upcoming Sleeping Dogs today. Valve also has a history of promoting upcoming titles and features with elaborate alternate reality games.

Source : gamespot[dot]com

Southeast Asia to get region-exclusive Tekken Tag Tournament 2 collection

In-game DLC preorder bonuses also available for both standard and Asia prestige version within region.
Early bird Tekken fans are in for a treat as Namco Bandai has announced that it will be taking preorders for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 in Southeast Asia.

Gamers who order early will get the TTT2 Asia prestige edition when the game comes out on September 11 for Xbox 360 and PS3. All copies of this version will contain a 256-page art book, two soundtrack CDs containing the original tracks and remixes, a "Making of TTT2" DVD, and a Tekken wall-sticker signed by producer Katsuhiro Harada.

Southeast Asia is getting a bundle worthy for an iron fist fan.

As a side note, all Southeast Asian fans who preorder the game early (standard or Asian prestige version) will get in-game DLC. These include four playable characters (Angel, Julia Chang, Ancient Ogre, Kunimitsu), a "Snoop Dogg"-themed battle arena, over 150 in-game costumes for each playable character, and an interlocking code so that players can link their TTT2 arcade and console progress together.

The price of this version has yet to be announced. For more information on TTT2, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

Source : gamespot.com

July game sales the lowest in years

NCAA Football tops the charts as the NPD Group reports last month's US retail tally was 20 percent lower than the previous July's, which was already the industry's lowest total since 2006.

The gaming industry's summer swoon was deeper than usual this year, as the NPD Group today reported that total US retail game sales for July only amounted to $548.4 million, a 20 percent slide from July 2011. Making the decline worse is the fact that July 2011 was already the single worst month for the industry since October of 2006.

NCAA Football 13: Valedictorian of gaming's summer school.

Electronic Arts' annualized amateur pigskin sim NCAA Football 13 was the best seller for the month, and was the only new release to make the top 10. Super hero games performed well, with Lego Batman 2 the runner-up and the movie tie-in The Amazing Spider-Man finishing the month in third place. With one exception, the remaining games on the top 10 were all released in 2011. That exception was Call of Duty: Black Ops, Activision's 2010 entry in the first-person shooter series.

Game hardware sales were particularly soft side, down 32 percent to $150.7 million. While there wasn't much to crow about, Microsoft did announce that the Xbox 360 was the best-selling current-generation console for the 19th straight month, selling 203,000 units for July.

Accessories were the lone area of improvement for the industry, up 8 percent to $136.9 million. According to NPD analyst Anita Frazier, that number was bolstered by points and subscription cards, as well as Skylanders action figure packs. The NPD Group believes more than 25 million Skylanders figures have been purchased by customers since the game launched last October.

Frazier also cautioned anyone against expecting a miracle recovery for the industry in the back half of the year. "Based on year to date sales, and taking into account the release slate for the back five months of the year as well as the anticipated launch of the Wii U, annual sales for the new physical channel should come in around $14.5 billion for the year," Frazier said. That would represent a drop of nearly 15 percent from the NPD Group's 2011 US retail sales total of $17.02 billion.

JULY 2012 US GAME SALES
OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Total consumer spend (rentals, used sales, digital estimates included): $1.1 billion
Total retail sales: $548.4 million (-20%)
Non-PC hardware: $150.7 million (-32%)
Non-PC software: $260.7 million (-23%)
Total software: $278.2 million (-23%)
Accessories: $136.9 million (+8%)
TOP 10 GAMES FOR JULY 2012
Title (Platforms) - Publisher
1. NCAA Football 13 (X360, PS3) - Electronic Arts
2. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (X360, PS3, Wii, Vita, 3DS, DS, PC) - WBIE
3. The Amazing Spider-Man (Wii, X360, PS3, 3DS, DS) - Activision
4. Just Dance 3 (Wii, X360, PS3) - Ubisoft
5. Batman: Arkham City (X360, PS3, PC) - WBIE
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops (X360, PS3, Wii, PC, DS, PC) - Activision
7. Assassin's Creed: Revelations (X360, PS3, PC) - Ubisoft
8. NBA 2K12 (X360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, PC) - Take-Two
9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (X360, PS3, Wii, PC) - Activision
10. Dead Island (X360, PS3, PC) - Deep Silver



Source : gamespot.com

Witcher 2 mod tools debuting at Gamescom

CD Projekt Red planning to present REDkit at industry event in Germany next week to media; no information about public release.

Gamers eager to design and play their own adventures for Geralt the Witcher will soon be in luck. The developer announced today that it will present its Witcher 2 modding tools--called the REDkit--at Gamescom next week in Cologne, Germany.

What kinds of worlds will gamers create with the REDkit?

Gamescom is open to the public, but CD Projekt Red's REDkit presentation will only be open to members of the press. No mention was made concerning when the REDkit will be made available to the public, but CD Projekt Red said it will share more information next week.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is CD Projekt Red's latest body of work. It released in May 2011 for the PC to a warm critical reception, before later arriving on the Xbox 360. The Polish studio is currently at work on a Cyberpunk role-playing game, as well as a potentially related "mature dark fantasy" game.




Source : gamespot.com

Gamers 'overcharged' for modern DLC, says Witcher dev

CD Projekt Red game director says add-on content should be seen as a free "post-sale service."

CD Projekt Red game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz claims gamers are being "overcharged for what they receive" from modern downloadable content. Speaking to VG247, the Witcher developer said DLC today does not offer as much content as it did in the past.

Most modern DLC is not worth the price, Tomaszkiewicz claims.

"If today's DLCs offered the same amount of content they would be worth paying for, but in most cases players think they are overcharged for what they receive," Tomaszkiewicz said. "That’s why we offer expansions to our game for free. This is also a way of saying 'thank you' to the people who decided to buy our game instead of copying it from an unauthorized source."

Elsewhere in the interview, Tomaszkiewicz explained that CD Projekt Red has "always believed in free DLC" and that DLC should be seen as a "normal post-sale service that shouldn't be priced."

"Back when retail games were dominant, we had expansion packs," he continued. "These were really large chunks of content, which were worth their price."

Tomaszkiewicz's comments follow a statement from CD Projekt Red cofounder and joint CEO Marcin Iwinski, who said last month that the current industry trend is to "over-exploit" gamers. He suggested publishers will lose business if they continue to charge for DLC, and can actually stand to benefit from offering such add-ons for free.




Source : gamespot.com

Amalur assets now belong to Rhode Island

Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. and Bank of New York Mellon Trust. Co. win court approval to secure 38 Studios' assets.

The Kingdoms of Amalur now belong to the state of Rhode Island. Bloomberg reports that the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation and the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company have won a court approval to take hold of 38 Studios' assets. The developer, founded by former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, publicly crumbled earlier this year, and is now bankrupt.

Amalur now belongs to Rhode Island.

The motion was granted by United States Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath at a hearing in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday. Rhode Island and the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company will now attempt to sell 38 Studios' assets, which include intellectual property rights, to make back some of the controversial $75 million loan that brought 38 Studios to Rhode Island.

In May, industry analyst Michael Pachter estimated the worth of the Amalur intellectual property at $20 million, saying "nobody is buying MMOs after [Star Wars: The Old Republic fizzled]."

38 Studios shipped console and PC role-playing game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning in February 2012 to a warm critical reception and sales of 1.2 million in its first 90 days. The company's Amalur MMO--codenamed Project Copernicus--was reportedly being readied for release in June 2013.

According to the report, Rhode Island and the bank said they needed to take hold of 38 Studios' assets because if someone at the studio was granted permission to ditch computer equipment "all or substantially all of the intellectual property could be irretrievably lost."

Source : gamespot.com

AC3 for PS3 to get 60 minutes of exclusive content?

UK Amazon box art reveals the PS3 version of upcoming Ubisoft sequel will seemingly include "60 minutes of exclusive gameplay".

It appears that the PlayStation 3 version of Ubisoft's upcoming Assassin's Creed III will be released with an hour of exclusive gameplay.

A UK Amazon listing for the game reveals the PS3 box art, which is shown to display a "PS3 Exclusive Addition" sticker boasting "60 minutes of exclusive gameplay".

Ubisoft reportedly told Joystiq that this exclusive gameplay is the same content that was announced during Sony's Electronic Entertainment Expo press conference this year (when it was revealed an Assassin's Creed III PS3 bundle will be launching on October 30 with a console, game and DLC).

Ubisoft and Sony teamed up for similar exclusives with the release of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood in 2010, including a PS3-exclusive beta-testing phase and a batch of post-release DLC.

According to reports last month, it appears that Ubisoft is planning episodic add-on content for Assassin's Creed III, and may be offering a Season Pass for the game.

Set during the American Revolution, Assassin's Creed III features a new protagonist named Connor who will involve himself in the ongoing struggle between the Templars and the Assassins. The game is being built by Ubisoft Montreal and six collaborating studios on a new engine called Ubisoft-AnvilNext.

Assassin's Creed III will enjoy Ubisoft's biggest marketing campaign in company history, and is slated to arrive on October 30.
For more on Assassin's Creed III, check out GameSpot's latest preview.




Source : gamespot.com

Madden needs more innovation - EA Sports exec

Andrew Wilson says long-standing football franchise will have more significant gameplay changes in next iteration.

The Madden franchise may not be known for significant core changes in its every iteration, but Electronic Arts hopes its investment in Madden NFL 13 will buck that trend. EA Sports executive Andrew Wilson said in an interview with GamesIndustry International that the series has fallen short when it comes to fresh thinking.

Physics: Bringing you new ways to fall down since the dawn of time.

"I do believe that Madden did not have the level of innovation that some of our other franchises have had," Wilson said. "I think [Madden games] were still doing great things, they were great playing games and they were significantly more than roster updates." He said the team behind the core gameplay in this year's edition was 50 percent larger than last year, and the budget was the largest ever in the series' 20-year history. The game's new Infinity engine, which allows procedurally generated animations to affect the outcome of plays, is chief among the in-game alterations, as well as Kinect voice support before and during plays. Peripheral elements such as connected-careers mode and online seasons have also received attention.

EA's earnings report released last week revealed that preorder figures for Madden NFL 13 are up 25 percent from last year's edition, but Wilson said the franchise still needs to stay on its toes. "We recognize a need to fundamentally innovate in Madden. We have a brand new leadership team: Cam Weber, Roy Harvey and these guys. Roy Harvey did a fantastic job with NCAA; he made it the best football game on the market at the time. I think he did it this year with Madden."


Source : us.gamespot.com

Firemonkeys announces Real Racing 3

Newly-formed EA mobile studio to create sequel of popular iPhone, iPad title; Real Racing 3 to include new licensed tracks and manufacturers.

EA announced today that its newly-formed Australian mobile studio Firemonkeys (the product of a merger between Firemint and IronMonkey) is working on a sequel to Firemint's popular iOS titles Real Racing and Real Racing 2.

Real Racing 2 is getting a sequel.

Real Racing 3 will be released later this year and will incorporate a number of new features, including a 22-car grid, all-new licensed tracks, and cars from manufacturers including Porsche, Dodge, and Audi.

For the first time in the series, the game will also include a full line-up of real-world tracks, including Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Silverstone.

The rebranded Firemonkeys studio will be based in EA's Melbourne, Australia, office and will work on new intellectual property, in addition to Firemint's and IronMonkey's current products. These include Flight Control, Real Racing, and SPY Mouse (Firemint), along with Mass Effect Infiltrator, Dead Space for mobile, and The Sims FreePlay (IronMonkey).

For more on the Real Racing series, check out GameSpot's review of Real Racing.


Source : gamespot.com

Two top BioShock Infinite devs leave

Director of product development Tim Gerritsen and art director Nate Wells no longer employed at Irrational Games; original BioShock art director Scott Sinclair taking over for Wells.

The BioShock Infinite team at Irrational Games has lost two top developers. Director of product development Tim Gerritsen and 13-year studio veteran and former art director Nate Wells have left the company, according to updated LinkedIn profile pages reported on by Gamasutra.

The BioShock Infinite team has lost two top developers.

According to Gerritsen's LinkedIn page, he left the Boston area studio this month. Gerritsen was part of the senior management team at Irrational, overseeing the product development division of the company. As for Wells, his LinkedIn page also confirms his departure from the studio this month. He also reportedly updated his Twitter profile to say "New Job…Details to follow," although it no longer includes that note.

Following the publication of this story, Irrational creative director Ken Levine revealed over Twitter that original BioShock art director Scott Sinclair will fill Wells' role.

"Scott Sinclair, art director of [the original BioShock], back in the art director's chair for Infinite to bring it home. Can't wait to show you what's cooking," Levine wrote.

BioShock Infinite was announced in 2010 and was originally scheduled to launch this coming October. The game was delayed in the run up to the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo--at which it was not present--to February 2013. Explaining why BioShock Infinite would skip E3, as well as this month's Gamescom, Levine said preparing for the shows would come at the cost of development time.

"That way, the next time you see our game, it will be essentially the product we intend to put in the box," he explained at the time. "Preparing for these events takes time away from development."

When BioShock Infinite does ship, it will do so with great sales expectations. In August 2011, one analyst suggested the game would be a significant financial boon for Take-Two, saying it could ship 4.9 million copies.

BioShock: Infinite is set in a chaos-plagued airborne metropolis called Columbia. Gamers assume the role of Booker DeWitt, a former member of the feared Pinkerton National Detective Agency, which was the nation's largest security company in the late 19th century.

For more on BioShock Infinite, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.




Source : gamespot.com

Activision prepping Angry Birds HD for consoles

E3 2012: Publisher has reportedly embedded a sneak peek of its plans to bring popular iOS title to consoles in HD; Activision community representative confirm details.

LOS ANGELES--Activision is prepping popular iOS title Angry Birds HD for consoles.

Angry Birds HD coming to consoles courtesy of Activision.

Speaking to The Escapist, an Activision representative reportedly confirmed the move after the publication noticed a glimpse of the game on one of Activision's sizzle reels at the publisher's E3 2012 booth.
"We'll have some news for you in about two weeks," Activision told The Escapist. "Wait until you see Angry Birds on consoles in HD."

Later, Activision community spokesperson Dan Amrich also confirmed the news via his community blog, saying, "Activision is doing some form of Angry Birds on consoles. It's the teasiest of the teases, but it is official."

In May this year, Angry Birds developer Rovio Mobile today announced that games in the bird-flinging, pig-destroying portable strategy game franchise have been downloaded more than 1 billion times.

The developer also announced it is working on a new game titled Amazing Alex to be released later this year.


Source : gamespot.com

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #2 Review

It’s been said that Alien was brilliant because of its nuance. You didn’t even see the alien for much of the movie. If the first movie was a creepy, dark room terrorizing the viewer with suspense, though, the second was a roller coaster grabbing the audience by the throat and never letting go. I assume that writer Cullen Bunn’s intent was to exploit a similar dynamic with his second installment of his new Deadpool miniseries, but the results are catastrophic. Really catastrophic.

Where Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #1 had strong character moments that evoked revulsion and horror from its readers, issue #2 slips into a hemoglobin-tinged blur of anti-climactic executions. Look, we all know what’s going to happen. It’s in the title. The allure for this series is in the emotional pain driving Deadpool to destroy everyone and everything around and the crippling agony of those who are forced to watch their friends and heroes senselessly being culled. Instead of offering a rich tapestry of emotions, Bunn eradicates emotion from his script entirely, leaving the story as hollow and numb as Albert Camus’s protagonist, Meursault.

The worst part of the characterizations is that you don’t have anyone to care about. I was expecting more justification for Deadpool’s actions, but it seems that last week’s initiating events are all that we’ll have to go on. Deadpool’s soliloquies offer nothing more, and supporting characters are good for nothing more than katana fodder.

Even as a portrayal of an awesome killing machine in the vein of the Terminator villains, the book fails. The conflicts are very one-sided, and they’re so abbreviated that it’s hard to invest in them before they’re over. The actual deeds are occasionally clever but never impressive enough to justify the issue’s existence. Also, there are just so many killings that it’s hard to feel like any of them are terribly important. It’s like running down a list of names rather than portraying the loss of individuals that we’ve loved for so long.

Dalibor Talajic’s work isn’t particularly praiseworthy in this issue either. The entire sequence with Spider-Man looks as though both he and Deadpool have the ability to fly (the irony of that situation should hit you by the end of the sequence), and Talajic's characters’ gestures throughout the book are often irritatingly melodramatic. Many of the shots in this issue look overly posed as well, especially when compared to the moments that highlighted issue #1.

The one thing that I did enjoy was Bunn’s meta-commentary on the usage of Deadpool as a comic book character in his recent Marvel appearances. He’s been turned into a parody of himself (which is strange because he was a parody to begin with), and the character is enraged by it. Bunn’s jabs at comics’ big publisher editorial offices are so cutting that I’m stunned that it was allowed to reach the printed page. The problem is, we don’t need a four-issue miniseries to get that point across. Perhaps Bunn will tackle senselessly drawing out events and introducing must-have minis for the purpose of milking as much money as possible from their readerships in the next issue.

Maybe it’s just that I don’t particularly identify with existentialism, but this issue is a huge disappointment. It’s entirely bereft of emotion – the one thing capable of driving this series to success. If you know that Spider-Man and the Avengers are in this issue, I’m pretty sure you can imagine a story of equivalent plotting and comparable quality for yourself without too much effort at all. The future for this series is ominous as it reaches its midpoint, with an underwhelming introduction capping off a general expungement of the series’ emotion.

Source : feeds.ign.com

The Creep #0 Review

I’m a sucker for detective stories, and The Creep #0 has just about everything I love about them: an engaging mystery, a lead with a troubled past (and in this case, current affliction), a suspicious supporting cast, and pitch-perfect narration that never feels the need to over-explain things. Writer John Arcudi and artist Jonathan Case are confident in the abilities of their readers, and this issue shines because of it.

The Creep is about a private detective named Oxel who suffers from a disease called acromegaly, which causes him physical deformities as he ages. An old flame from his college days, Stephanie, seeks his help after her son commits suicide, but she hasn’t seen Oxel since he was young and handsome. While the death of the boy is this book’s primary narrative, Arcudi masterfully weaves in the troubled relationships of Oxel and Stephanie underneath the mystery. At this point, this could be indicative of their connection having something to do with the case at hand or it could just be an added bonus to make us care about these characters. But in terms of just issue #0, it makes the read fleshed out and engaging.

The only thing that struck me as odd is the case of Oxel’s acromegaly; it seems rather arbitrary at this point. Though it does offer up some really nice word/imagery juxtaposition in a beautifully crafted scene aboard a train, it remains to be seen what purpose it serves the story, if any. That said, even if the disease is merely an additional character trait, the character moments it provides the deeply lonely Oxel is much appreciated.

Jonathan Case’s artwork impresses, not just in storytelling ability but also in diversity. The Creep #0 has two distinct styles, one of which is a gritty and straightforward approach supplemented by a cold color palette. The other is a more painterly approach with warmer colors and thin, sketchy lines. Case employs the latter style when appropriate, usually during flashbacks or hallucinations, though its usage in one particular instance is what really sold Oxel’s character to me. When Oxel finally calls Stephanie, speaking to her for the first time in over two decades, Case cuts between Oxel on the phone and Stephanie at home, with Stephanie’s two brief panels being rendered in the aforementioned warmer style.

The fact that this style had previously only been used in an “imaginary” capacity indicates how Oxel still views this woman – a warm reflection of his old, and presumably better, life. It’s a heartbreaking moment that is completely visual and happens during a scene when the tragedy should really be about Stephanie’s son’s death, not Oxel’s loneliness, and thus creates an unexpectedly complex moment for the reader.
And that’s what I really enjoyed about this debut issue. There’s so much weight to Arcudi’s words and Case’s visuals, but they do so in a way that keeps the mystery at the forefront and everything else sitting subtly in the background. The Creep #0 requires a bit of careful, thoughtful reading in order to fully appreciate everything that’s being done, but I promise that the effort is worthwhile.

Source : feeds.ign.com

Super Paper Mario: One and Done

Paper Mario's getting ripped in half. It hasn't happened yet – it won't be final until Paper Mario: Sticker Star ships to stores later this year – but when that sequel does arrive it will, in a sense, split its own series in two. We'll have the Paper Mario RPGs on one side, including the 2001 original game, the 2004 GameCube sequel The Thousand-Year Door and Sticker Star itself. But then we'll also have the Paper Mario action game. The one Paper Mario action game, 2007's Super Paper Mario, sitting alone by itself. Separated. Torn away from the rest of its own franchise.

The reason is that Super Paper Mario dared to do something different. Its two immediate predecessors both fit fairly well into the traditional role-playing genre – story-driven adventures with turn-based battle sequences. Super Paper Mario kicked that style of battling aside to focus on more immediate action – its gameplay was more in line with older Mario games, where hopping on a Goomba's heads simply defeated it on the spot instead of triggering a cut-away transition to a separate combat screen. Super Paper Mario was faster and more fluid as a result, and while it still had RPG elements in its design – including an incredibly detailed and text-heavy storyline – it was hard to classify it alongside the previous Paper adventures as a "real" role-playing game.

Opinions were split when Super Paper Mario shipped for the Wii five years ago, as some fans appreciated the gameplay shift while others bemoaned the removal of turn-based battling. It wasn't until recently, though, that we found out what that extra action emphasis would mean for the franchise going forward. As it turns out, nothing much.



Paper Mario: Sticker Star is set to ignore the tangent that Super Paper Mario took with its design and instead offer us another more traditional RPG experience. There's a slight thematic shift to having battles controlled by using collectible stickers, but underneath it's turn-based, rhythm-rewarding combat the same as we first saw in the 2001 series debut. And since we now know that the new Paper Mario is going back to its roots, we also know something else too.

That Super Paper Mario was a one-and-done.

Nintendo has done this a few times over the years. You can go back as far as the NES era to find examples like Super Mario Bros. 2 and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, or you can look to more modern titles like Mario Kart: Double Dash!! All of them were one-and-dones in the sense that they were all sequels in established, on-going series. Each dared to do something different, and then each series went back to doing things the "normal" way immediately afterward. Multiple selectable characters in a Mario side-scroller, each with unique abilities? A separation of Hyrule into birds-eye exploration and 2D side-scrolling action? Two characters riding around on each go-kart together? All of these were intriguing gameplay changes over what came before, but none of them were ever used again.

Super Paper Mario seems like it'll be next in joining Nintendo's one-and-done collection, which is a shame. To me, Super Paper Mario wasn't just a Paper Mario game that did battles differently, but rather a brilliantly individual concept in world exploration. The game's big hook – beyond its visual style and streamlined combat – was the fact that it let you flip its worlds.

Mario started off in 2D, as usual, looking all flat and flimsy in his Papery form. But very early into the adventure you gained the power to rotate the camera 90 degrees, instantly transforming flat, 2D scenery seen from "the side" into full 3D environments viewed from "behind." Nintendo's designers had a ton of fun playing around with the different perspectives, as many of the game's puzzles dealt with interacting with things from both angles – you'd come to an impassable pit in the 2D space, flip the scenery and find that a hill in the background was actually a curved bridge you could walk across. You'd encounter blocks to hit in one perspective that would spin around and settle into the other, making new platforms for Mario to hop across. It was fresh. It was fun.

And now we'll probably never see it again. The Paper Mario series had two directions it could have continued in – it could have continued on from Super Paper Mario, using its design as the new "normal" in a series evolving over time. Or it could go back to traditional turn-based battling, settling back into the older template. Nintendo chose the latter, and because of that choice, it seems like the innovations Super Paper Mario introduced in environment exploration will be getting the axe as well.

Now, that's a lot of doom and gloom for Super Paper Mario fans – those of us who truly appreciated the new direction Nintendo chose five years ago and liked where things looked to be heading for this series. But even now that the franchise has doubled back, I'm still hopeful for the future. Here's why.



First, we don't yet know everything there is to know about Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Its battles are going back to turn-based, sure, but Nintendo has been especially quiet about the adventure beyond that – not even presenting a playable demo at E3 this year. So it's entirely possible that the inventive, perspective-flipping gameplay of Super Paper Mario could still live on in the series in some form during Sticker Star's environment exploration sequences (even if there aren't any helpful Pixls around.)

Next, it's by no means a terrible fate for a Nintendo game to go down in history as a one-and-done. The Big N's designers are so endlessly creative that there's no way each unique idea to come along even gets the chance to be used in a game – so these solo-outing mechanics and concepts are already better off than the thousands of other ideas sitting on the cutting room floor. I'd love a world in which we got a second take on Double Dash's driving duos or Zelda II's split viewpoint, to see what more could have been done with those ideas. But maybe it's those games' uniqueness, years later, that's helping me remember them so fondly to begin with.

Last and best of all for Super Paper Mario is the fact that the game itself has held up beautifully over the past five years. It was a late-generation GameCube project when it first went into development that finally shipped for Wii after being ported over and overhauled to take advantage of the Wii's controller. But now, just months away from the arrival of the next hardware generation, it's still just as fun and worthy of your time as it was in 2007. Better yet, it's become a part of the Nintendo Selects line of budget-priced games in the meanwhile, so if you missed it the first time around or got into Wii ownership a little later, you can grab a fresh copy in stores right now for just 20 bucks.

And I advise you to do just that. Because Super Paper Mario, while it may never inspire its own direct sequel in the future, is a brilliant game, even just as a one-and-done.

Source : feeds.ign.com

Daredevil Annual #1 Reivew

If you are fan of Mark Waid's current run on Daredevil, you don't need to buy this book. It doesn't tie in at all. This is not to say that it's a bad comic book; it's a fun little tale about a single night of Daredevil patrolling the city. But considering how great Daredevil has been, it's a definite step down in quality.

Alan Davis writes and draws this issue, which right away should tell you that it's a beautifully drawn comic book. Davis is a true master in the realm of comic art and he shines here. Daredevil looks awesome and graceful. The panels where he swings across the city are a true site to behold. Since this is an annual, it comes with a higher page count and price tag. For me, extra pages of Alan Davis artwork is worth the extra dollar, but not everyone will feel that way. Especially when you consider the fact that the story is just sort of mediocre.

In this issue, Daredevil crosses paths with the ClanDestine. It's less than compelling and not the kind of story that deserves to be stretched out with an extra long annual issue. Again, it's not bad and certainly does entertain, but once it's over you'll close the book and forget all about it. There is nothing lasting within this issue. It's a bummer, because Daredevil is a character that has been on my mind ever since Waid's relaunch.

Source : feeds.ign.com

Mass Effect 3: Operation Olympus Coming this Weekend

BioWare has announced Operation Olympus, the newest Mass Effect 3 multiplayer event. Beginning Friday, August 10th and running until August 12th, Operation Olympus focuses on “increased Reaper activity reported around London” and involves large-scale strikes against the Reapers intended “to buy the Resistance time to investigate.” Mass Effect 3’s free Earth downloadable content is required to participate.

The Squad Goal of Olympus is full extraction from Firebase London using any kit on any difficulty. The Allied Goal is completing wave 10 on any map using any kit against any enemy for a combined community total of 200,000 Bronze missions, 175,000 Silver missions and 70,000 Gold missions. If the Squad Goal is met, all squad members will receive a Commendation pack, while success in the Allied Goal will get all players a Victory Pack.

Mass Effect 3 will receive its next single-player downloadable content later this summer with the release of Leviathan. The game is also set to be a launch title for Wii U.

Source : feeds.ign.com

Android-Powered Nikon Coolpix S800 On the Way with Google Play Store

Like it or not, "smart" point-and-shoot cameras which use Google's Android operating system are on the way, and the first one may land later this month.



A filing with the Indonesian Communication Agency (that would be Indonesia's version of the FCC) has outed an application for the Nikon Coolpix S800c digital camera, which is believed to be the company's first foray into Android territory.



According to Nikon Rumors, the S800 will run Android 2.3 and, get this: It will come with Google's Play Store, which means the camera will be capable of running just about any Android app you want to install.
To accomplish this task, Nikon is empowering the S800 with Wi-Fi as well as built-in GPS for geolocation, and the Coolpix shooter will reportedly come with a 25-250mm lens and 3.5-inch OLED screen.

The best news for Nikon fans is that the S800 could arrive as early as August 22, which is a mere two weeks away now.

Nikon is certainly not alone in wanting to bring Android onto point-and-shoot cameras, with rivals Panasonic and Samsung also expressing interest in such an animal. Back in February, Samsung even trademarked the term "Galaxy Camera" -- and we can only think of one thing that might be intended for.

Source: Slash Gear