All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Dear Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment,

Look, we get what you're trying to do here with this F.E.A.R. 3 trailer, but you aren't getting the desired result. The live-action portions don't make the world more believable -- in fact, they do the complete opposite. It just comes off as hokey and low-budget. Did you really watch this before sending it out? Bush league, guys.

The gameplay portions of the trailer, however, are more our speed. There's slow-mo gunplay, creepy monsters and plenty of that wonderful ragdoll physics we've grown to love. That's the winning formula! Please keep that in mind for next time.

Sincerely,

#education American colleges and universities aren't the only ones who have noticed the appeal of games design courses; so has the Department of Defense, which will offer them in its vocational programs for kids of enlisted military and civilian workers. More »

Heavy Rain continues its slow progression from "like a movie with lots of button inputs" to "just a movie." Deadline reports that Unique Features is in the process of acquiring the film rights to Quantic Dream's game. Unique Features is a production company started by Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, who used to be with New Line, the studio that had optioned the rights to the game in 2006.

Shaye and Lynne are apparently so interested in the project that they bought the rights with their own money. Maybe the game was too hard for them and they just wanted to see how it ends.

[Via Dread Central]

#treyarch So, you enjoyed last night's boisterous Call of Duty: Black Ops trailer, but you wanted something even bigger, but running at a slower pace? A half dozen super-sized screens from the follow-up to Modern Warfare 2 might scratch that itch. More »

Collect and be your favorite gigantic-headed heroes.

I remember being a kid and playing Streets of Rage 2 saying, “This Galsia guy looks familiar!” Yeah, I never really gave a lot of though to respawning enemies in video games, but it really is hard to not notice them in certain titles (Kung Fu I’m looking in your direction). In games [...]

Some of the most fun to be had during multiplayer video games isn't actually in the game itself -- it's outside of the games, where players chat with each other for fun, break down a strategy during co-op, or trash talk in-between deathmatches. You don't usually get XP for taunting over voicechat or telling your team where the enemy is, but there's a reward nevertheless, a social bonus completely independent of the code that developers write.

Wideload Games has done a great job of focusing on that gameplay in Disney Guilty Party. I got to play the same co-op Party Mode as Randy at a pre-E3 event this week, and while it's definitely a family game, it competently serves up custom-made mysteries for families to take on. In hunting down and accusing various colorful suspects, that out-of-game conversation and interaction becomes just as important and fun as the in-game button pressing and Wiimote waggling.

Game Director Patrick Curry was my partner-in-crime-solving, and since we have common roots in Chicago (I used to work in the same building, one floor below Wideload's studios), we had a quick chat about the studio's direction towards family games, and its acquisition by Disney Interactive.

While the whole game industry was apparently tanking last month, it looks like people were still snapping up Microsoft Points. TechFlash noted late last week that the 1600 Microsoft Point card (equivalent to $20 in Earth money) was the top-selling "accessory" for both March and April, according to NPD. We decided to get in touch with the NPD Group for a closer look at how the accessory battle has been shaping up.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 1600 point card's closest competitors come from Nintendo (people have to play all those copies of New Super Mario Bros. Wii with something after all). In April, the Wii Nunchuk and Remote took the second and third spots, respectively. In March, the second and third spots belonged to the Nunchuk and Wii Motion Plus. The month prior, the card was actually at No. 2, so it seems like Microsoft is doing a pretty brisk business in MS Points.

The question, of course: Just why was everyone stocking up on Microsoft Points? Oh, right.

Multiplayer impressions and new platforms announced.

Multiplayer impressions and new platforms announced.

#remedyentertainment Did you know the alternate names considered for the Alan Wake game? Did you know Remedy turned down a chance to put Wake in another game? No? Then you need to download this week's Kotaku Talk Radio right now. More »

Think before you speak.

#wii When it hits the Wii, NBA Jam will pack more than 100 unlockables - including playable celebrities, this time with their permission. "If you've thought about it, chances are we have too and it's going in," says a developer. More »

More LucasArts outfits will hang shortly on the European PlayStation store's virtual racks for those who are spending hundreds of hours in Home. Many of these items are already available in the States or will be with the update on Thursday. Star Wars items include an Obi-Wan costume (with beard), along with Rex, Anakin and Yoda posters. There's also a clone helmet display, homing spider droid prop and AT-ST statue.

For archaeologist adventurers, Indiana Jones' costume with fedora will likely be a must -- oh yeah, along with framed whip for the wall. There are also Mutt Williams, Dovchenko, Mola Ram ("COVER YOUR HEART!") and Henry Jones Sr. costumes. Props include the Staff of Rah, Ark of the Covenant, fertility idol and, ugh ... the crystal skull. And here we'd just about forgotten that movie existed.

It’s just fun to contemplate what the new Zelda game could be like. E3 is closer than you think!

Metroid, Zelda, Scribblenauts and more! What to expect from the Big N.

Metroid, Zelda, Scribblenauts and more! What to expect from the Big N.

#wii It appears Mario prefers to be an early riser, rather than a night owl. Forgoing a midnight launch for Super Mario Galaxy 2 this weekend, many GameStop locations will instead open early, forcing many employees to miss church. More »

Game Pack 004 is now available for Game Room, featuring seven new titles. The two standouts are Asteroids and Time Pilot, classics of the arcade days of yore. Also in the pack are a handful of Activision Atari 2600 games, including Stampede, Grand Prix and Demons to Diamonds. Rounding out the pack is the arcade game Space Duel and the Intellivision title Shark! Shark!. The pack itself is free, while individual games run 240 ($3) to 400 ($5) depending on the license.


Xbox.com: Add Game Room Game Pack 004 to your Xbox 360 download queue

Erik and Dave delve deep into the details of the latest Call of Duty trailer.

#books The publisher of the original Halo novelizations will reissue the original trilogy "with updates and all new original content" in August, beginning with Halo: The Fall of Reach, the prequel that predates the upcoming game by almost a decade More »

Upon watching the Super Mario Galaxy 2 video after the break, there's a very real chance you will be smitten, smacked or otherwise clobbered by an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia. Nintendo, you see, decided to slip at least one Super Mario 64 level, Whomp's Fortress, into Super Mario Galaxy 2. The spirally mountain, the Whomp, the delightful music -- it's all there. Seriously, pour the Kool-Aid, heat up some pizza rolls and it'll be childhood all over again.

#glitches Guns go invisible. Horses go invisible. Your own cowboy hero goes invisible. These are some of the invisibility bugs we're hearing about from numerous Red Dead Redemption players, primarily in the game's multiplayer mode. Update: Rockstar comments More »

Monolith Soft's Xenoblade remains something of a mystery, even one month before its Japanese release. A new trailer (after the break) and new screens, analyzed by IGN, shed some light on the way battles play out in the RPG -- and it's nothing like Xenogears or Xenosaga.

Monolith took the Final Fantasy XII/White Knight Chronicles route with this game: real-time movement combined with time-constrained attacks. Your party is controlled by AI, as are your character's basic attacks. You affect the flow of battle by using your character's special attacks. You can also use the Monado sword's "vision" ability to see a few seconds into the future and anticipate enemy attacks.

Xenoblade will be released in Japan on June 10. Prospects for a North American release are unclear.

[Via N-Europe]

Filed under: X3F TV We've got two Xbox Live Arcade staples this week. First is Metal Slug XX, which has the advantage of Xbox Live online play over its XBLA cousin, Metal Slug 3. Next, we've got yet another twin-stick shooter in Aqua. As its title suggests, Aqua flavors its twin-stick shooting antics with an extra dose of H20 (and torpedoes). Metal Slug XX will run you 1200 ($15), while Aqua is 800 ($10). Watch this week's XBLA in Brief and decide if either tickles your fancy for destruction.

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Xbox.com: Add Metal Slug XX trial version to your Xbox 360 download queue
Xbox.com: Add Aqua trial version to your Xbox 360 download queue

Attn: Gunslingers, desperados, mercenaries, buckaroos, and assorted other colorful characters that make up the landscape of Rockstar’s new tour de force Red Dead Redemption! As you make your way through the game’s dusty terrain, pumping lead into lawmen, lawless men, and even a few not-so-cuddly members of the wildlife community, while grabbing Trophies left and right, keep your eye out for a few mile marker accomplishments that will grant you the kind of highly sought-after PlayStation Home rewards that will make you the envy of your entire posse. To give you leg up this week, here are the instructions to unlock two of the many PlayStation Home rewards that can be found in the killing fields of Red Dead Redemption: Complete the Rockstar Games Social Club “Skin it to Win It Challenge”, and unlock the “Gentlemen’s Attire” and “Lady’s Finest” virtual items.

In other news, the PlayStation Home Mall will be updated this week with new items for your avatars and personal spaces, including additional Red Dead Redemption items (such as the John Marston outfit), new Irem cowboy and cowgirl items (are you sensing a loose theme to this week yet?), LucasArts items (including Mola Ram items from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom — how sweet is that?!), and even this Minotaur head, for all of you that are participating in the ongoing Top Avatar competition, which is focusing on the Fantasy genre this week (details can be found here).

See you in Home!