Author Archive
3 Ninja School: Ninja Gaiden Sigma Gets DLC
Does it bother anyone else that his bicep is nearly bigger than his head? On a side note, Tecmo has announced three Survival Mode expansions for Ninja Gaiden Sigma—the first of which will hit for about $3—and we’re guessing the rest will go for a similar price.
8/30: Weapons Master Mission, five weapon limit
September: Speed Master Mission, quick fights on a time budget
October: Rachel Master Mission, different character with five survival tests
None of these expansion missions are rocking my world, but each will offer a tangible measurement for a global ranking system sure to cut your ego down pretty quickly. And besides, your subsequent dependence on booze is a priceless commodity.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Downloadable Content Announced [IGN]
Random Bitching: Xbox 360 Dashboard Theme Problem
Dear. Microsoft,
I love the 360. Even though it breaks, and mine is currently making sounds that can best be verbalized as R2D2 getting raped, I’m enjoying the console.
But about those dashboard themes. Yes, I’ll pay for them. You knew it all along, so congrats. What I want to know is: why can’t I update my Marketplace blade? Because I’ll be wasting time tabbing back and forth, experiencing the sybaritic joy of Earth tones combined with the dashboard’s oceanic swooshing effect, and BAM! BRIGHT ORANGE!
Please fix. I’m sure that a Smackdown Vs. Raw background on Marketplace will not hinder my consumerism.
Sincerely, Love, Waiting in angst,
Mark Wilson
Mushroom Kingdom Hypocrisy: Miyamoto Not Digging Haze’s Drugs
Haze is one of the titles that really benefited from their E3 showing, getting a lot of positive buzz at the show. But Miyamoto wasn’t digging it, as pointed out in this month’s Edge magazine:
“Cliffy B dropped by to see Haze…He liked the drugs and the violence. Mr. Miyamoto dropped by to see Haze - and he didn’t.
If it makes the Haze crew feel any better, they should just remember that if Miyamoto were making drug-heavy FPSs, they’d all be out of work. Violent, drug-heavy sidescrollers where magical mushrooms can cause hallucinations of super powers—that’s Miyamoto’s territory.
Free Radical legend David Doak meets Mr. Mario [gamesradar]
Slap Fight: EA to 2k, It’s On Like Donkey Kong
EA’s CEO John Riccitiell has been kept awake at night when thinking about competitor 2k Sports and their success with All-Pro Football 2k8. Here’s what he had to say:
When you’ve got a competitor like Take-Two on the sports side, and they launch a football title using some of the industry legends, you want to make sure that ends up being a blip and is not repeatable, because we like to defend our franchises aggressively.
And then he totally didn’t add:
We’re between egging their house and signing an exclusive NFL contract that lasts forever. Go to EA.com to vote for what you want to see.
I sincerely enjoy when companies are forthright about their competition. There’s nothing more pitiful than pretending that guy standing in the room, scowling in your direction is some anonymous stranger, whose wife you didn’t sleep with.
Riccitiello: EA Needs To Ensure 2K’s All-Pro Football Is ‘Not Repeatable’ [via aeropause]
Rally The Troops: Age of Empires III Gold Edition Announced
Cheap gamers rejoice, as Age of Empires III Gold Edition is coming this September. For $39.99, you get the original title along with the Warchiefs expansion. OK, that sounded like a lot more in my head…what else will you get…let’s see…a box…instructions…pwned by gamers who’ve been playing it since the release…
Age of Empires III Makes it Gold [gamedaily]
I Knew It: IBM - MMO Players Can Make Corporate Leaders
Eric Lessner is a member of the IBM think-tank Institute of Business Value, and as part of a study collaboration with MIT and Stanford, studied Everquest and WoW players. And he saw the games as excellent preparation for the business world.
For example the ability to bring together distributed groups of individuals - often who are on a volunteer or semi-volunteer basis - to be able to make more rapid decisions under conditions of uncertainty. To incorporate and use different sources of data and make decisions rapidly. To recognise people for their contribution. To be able to motivate.
Chalk up another win for videogames by anonymous expert who is smarter than you, making total the tally:
Gamers 10,271 Stupid People 0
Gaming’s business end [via maxconsole]
Probably Coming Soon: Army of Two…2
Army of Two Lead Designer Chris Ferriera likes his game. And he’s feeling pretty confident about it…already looking to make a sequel.
This is EA right? So when we have a hit we’ll make more.
While I generally support sequels with my wallet, I wish so many developers weren’t talking trilogies and IPs before their game is even launched. Sure, Star Wars was a great trilogy, but there’s a reason Humphrey Bogart wasn’t talking Casablanca 2 while the first was still in production.
To Ferriera’s defense, he said a lot more about game developement, and sounded much more humble in the process.
“This is EA right?…” [gamesradar]
Give Me 5 Minutes: New Mass Effect Trailer
Close the blinds and crack open a fresh bottle of baby oil, because we have a new Mass Effect Trailer.
I know what you’re thinking. “Does Mark need to post EVERY piece of Mass Effect footage that hits the Internet?”
Yes, yes I do.
E3 07 Trailer 2 [gametrailers]
This Game Brought To You By: EA Signs “Massive,” Realtime Ad Deal
EA just signed a deal with Microsoft-owned advertising company Massive to put realtime, dynamic ads into five of EA’s upcoming titles: Madden NFL 08 (Xbox 360, PC), NASCAR 08 (Xbox 360), NHL 08 (Xbox 360), Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (Xbox 360, PC) and Skate (Xbox 360).
In-game billboards will download new content via broadband connection and brainwash you accordingly, with pricing determined by the amount of time the ad is on screen. And while I have no issues with ads for realism, it’s our bandwidth that is paying…ahh, never mind. It’s useless to fight these corporate giants. Until Lara Croft’s jigglies are replaced with 2-liters of Coca Cola, I’m not complaining. And even then, things won’t be that different.
As for Sony not being involved with this advertisement…we may see those effects on spreadsheets down the road.
Game Ads in Realtime [underdark]
SmackTalk: Mark Rein - Halo 3 Shouldn’t Have Shown at E3
Epic head Mark Rein, though a huge Halo fan, has been dissing Bungie’s/Microsoft’s decision to show Halo 3 at E3.
I think that [showing the single-player campaign] hurt Halo 3 at E3…[it] didn’t win any game of the show awards that I could see….I’m sure if they’d actually had a big Halo 3 presence, if Microsoft had set up eight machines or 12 or 16 machines so you could sit and play it, it would have won all kinds of awards. But they don’t need to because, like me, everyone’s already placed their order… So I think that worked against them at E3.
I saw Halo 3 at E3, and would agree with Rein. There wasn’t much to gain and there wasn’t much shown. But the big reason Halo 3 might not have stolen every award is not directly because it wasn’t playable so journalists couldn’t love it enough, but because you couldn’t vote on what you couldn’t play*. And Bungie wasn’t offering hands-ons, even in small group sessions. On a side note, I did get to touch the new Xbox. And I palmed that shit, Peter Moore style.
*Critics who requested could play the game, but there was confusion on that point even amongst the critics themselves.
Mark Rein: Halo 3 showing at E3 “hurt” Bungie’s sequel [cvg]
Whoopie: Army of Two Coming November 15th
EA has confirmed that Army of Two will be released for Xbox 360 and PS3 on November 15th. And while the rest of you may be above making fart jokes and playing air guitar automatic weapons in the midst of blowing away endless hordes of suicide bombers, I can’t wait to shake and bake through a co-op experience that looks as fun as a bathtub full of cherry Jello.
Just remember that the characters who are making the fart jokes do not representing your own personal comedic discretion, but what’s funny to mercenary employees of companies like Halliburton. It makes flatulence all the more bearable.
Army of Two Gets Mid-November Launch [totalvideogames]
Oohh: New Guild Wars Eye of the North Trailer
Any game trailer composed solely of in-game footage gains a few points in my book. The landscapes aren’t all rocking my world, but some of the new baddies are looking pretty cool…a dollar to whoever spots the blatant Star Wars Episode One ripoff. Spotting Lord of the Rings influence is too easy—we’re not paying a dime for that.
Wogdc: Austin GDC is MMO Hat-Trick
Austin’s Game Developers Conference has just added another keynote to the roster, that of Square Enix executive officer Hiromichi Tanaka (of Final Fantasy XI fame). He will be speaking about developing multiplatform MMOs, a topic that should be interesting to the market today. This keynote is in addition to those already in the works from World of Warcraft co-creator Michael Morhaime and Habbo Hotel creative voice Sulka Haro.
It looks like the year of the MMO at this year’s GDC. Live it up, Fahey. Live. It. Up.
Austin GDC Adds Keynote From Square Enix’s Tanaka [gamasutra]
Missing You: UK Retailers Want The Old E3 Back
This year’s E3 was universally praised…by software companies. They had it great, saving money while not competing with loud booth neighbors. But there were some who disliked the format…other than those of us who had to trek all around Santa Monica to make our meetings. They are the UK retailers, and they are taking a stand!
Gamestation Product Manager:
The UK market lacked both clarity and enthusiasm for this year’s E3…The old E3 gave us a glimpse of where tomorrow’s customers could be found.
Oxygen Head of Marketing:
We sensed that E3 had lost the buzz that made it so crucial. It appeared as if the industry had decided that Leipzig would be the new soul of industry networking.
This response is no surprise. While the one-on-one developer time benefited many of us (including Kotaku for sure), E3 was a cultural equivalent to the Oscars’ red carpet. It was the glitz and glamor of the industry. It was excess. It was eating whole pigs sacrificed over an open flame. And it was what made a lot of people excited about the future of gaming, even from thousands of uninvited miles away.
No E3 Thanks, We’re British [mcv]
Just Doing Our Job: AP Interrupts Our Miyamoto Interview
It doesn’t sound like much on tape, but during the last two minutes of our E3 interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, an unnamed writer of the AP was getting tired of waiting outside of the room for us to finish. What started as a polite knocking kept building through this 2-minute interview, becaming nothing less than a full-out military artillery strike aimed straight at the hotel door. My favorite moment? Ash suggests that helicopters will bust through the back window and Miyamoto glances to check.
Shocking: Moore Tips His Hat to Nintendo
When Gamasutra interviewed Peter Moore at E3, they asked him what one thing Microsoft could be doing better, this is what he said:
The only thing after this week is that we’ve got to continue to accelerate and broaden our reach into the broader market…in terms of what our competitors are doing. I think Nintendo is doing a phenomenal job in providing that fun, unexpected experience, to their credit.
Sure, it seems like a lob compliment to a competitor who isn’t really a competitor. But look what he may have said next:
Honestly, I could care either way. Because people play Madden on every system under the sun. I’m leaving, suckers! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
How we missed that quote a few days ago is beyond me.
The Moore Interview [via gonintendo]
So Long: GameFAQs Creator Calls it Quits
Jeff Veasey, known to many as “CJayC“, is leaving GameFAQs after founding the site 12 years ago. In a farewell letter to readers, he traces over his history with the site, explains his departure and says goodbye.
I feel like it’s time for GameFAQs to move on, and I’m the one holding it back. Or is that vice versa? GameFAQs was never truly my site, or CNET’s site, but your site, as it belongs primarily to its contributors, and how they choose to contribute shapes what GameFAQs is today. I was the first glue that held this conglomeration together, but glue wears out, and I do too.And so yes, today, I am announcing my eventual departure from GameFAQs…My goal is to slowly make myself obsolete, something most tech workers dread, but something I plan to welcome with open arms.
Best of luck to to CJayC—there will be pwnage in your honor.
The Long, Slow Goodbye [via digg]
Analysis: Symbolism and Story in Silent Hill 2
Leigh Alexander, scribe behind Aberrant Gamer, has an excellent analysis detailing how symbolism drives story in Silent Hill 2. It’s an article with a “deep reading” of the game—analysis too often reserved for 18th century romantic literature and Far Side cartoons.
Some of the first enemies James confronts resemble piecemeal jointed mannequins, naked, shiny and flesh-toned, jerking as they move. But while they may be composed of human parts, they’re not even complete mannequins–instead, they appear to be two hips fastened end-to-end, thighs splayed…the immediate onslaught of these telltale monsters is like a sudden break with reality–and for James, one could theorize that might be exactly what’s happening, thrusting him into a white-edged limbo state deep inside the self, wherein he has the opportunity to confront the truth about…his deeds.
Sure, paranormal walking hip mutants aren’t exactly the epitome of subtle symbolic themes, but they can be a lot more effective at reinforcing narrative than yet another cut scene or instruction manual filled with unread backstory.
The Aberrant Gamer - ‘Sundering the Mind’ [gamesetwatch]
I’m So Sorry: Red Rings of Death Condolence Card
We all know someone who has befallen the horrible tragedy…maybe it’s a sibling, parent or cousin. Maybe it’s just a friend, or a friend of a friend. But it’s happening to loved ones around us…every day. The Red Rings of Death are less a matter of “how” than “when.” There are homeopathic cures like the towel trick and acupuncture, but in the end, there is not a whole lot that can be done for your loss…of gaming time. That’s why console condolence cards should not be a laughing matter at all, but as important to any gamer as a spare controller or 2-liter bottle of Vault. Hit the jump for a mega pic.
Red Ring of Death Condolence Card [hawtmcbloggy]
Glow Goodness: PSP LED Gives Us WUDE
This updated PSP LED mod from AcidMods easily tops Sony’s new PSP in this blogger’s very important “book.” As soon as we’re tempted to get all nit-picky and complain that not all of the buttons light up, we remember that we’ve been too lazy/drunk/admittedly stupid to approach any accomplishment this great in our entire lives.
Sadly, we’re being honest in ranking this mod higher than the PSP Slim. Does Sony not realize how easy it is to captivate the small minds of the consumer public? It takes like, what, a couple of LEDs and a matching wallpaper? [acidmods]
