mad professors

More Metal Gear Solid after MGS4?

2007-10-04T00:30:00.000-07:00

Good news, lads! According to Next-Gen.biz Konami says that "Metal Gear man Hideo Kojima will “always” be involved with the Metal Gear franchise, despite the game designer’s statements to the contrary." Kojima said many times Metal Gear Solid 4 is his last MGS game. Apparently, Konami has a different opinion. Some marketing guy told Next-Gen.biz in a recent phone interview that they'll never let the MGS franchise go, nor the Snake. We madprofessors understand that of course. On the other side we also understand Hideo Kojima who - afer four Metal Gear Solid games - wants to go further. Anyway, Konami can always use him as an adviser or consultant for more Metal Gear Solid games.

Gears of War PC

2007-08-10T01:33:00.000-07:00

Here it is. Though both Microsoft and Epic have been rather diplomatic on the PC version of Gears of War, an obvious fact finally came out a few weeks ago.
Gears of Wars for PC is coming out Q4 2007. PC version will add five new campaign missions, new multiplayer modes, and more - especially the level editor.

IGN: Can you describe what's possible with the level editor or generally how it works?

Cliff Bleszinski: This is the same exact tool that our designers used to build, script, and visualize the "Gears of War" environments. All of those graphics - from the pillars in the House of Sovereigns to the intricate cave stalagmites in the Hollow - will be available for mod makers to build whatever they can imagine. We're dying to see what the community comes up with, not just in environments but also with the scripting tools. (read more)

And how does Gears of War on PC look? GameSpot has the answer:

"As good as Gears of War looked on the Xbox 360 (and it looked great), it's got nothing on what it looks like on a high-end PC. That's the first thing that struck us as we got to see and play the upcoming PC version of last year's blockbuster Xbox 360 shooter." (read more)

Now, here's the question: What's the Xbox 360 for when ALL the games for it come to PC sooner or later? Hmmmpppf?

SimCity Societies

2007-06-24T08:01:00.001-07:00

Looks like Electronic Arts really do get the new approach they promised. SimCity Societies is a new title in the well-known SimCity franchise. But there are few important differences from the previous Sim City games: it's not beeing developed by Maxis, instead Electronic Arts choose Tilted Mill Entertainment (creators of Caesar IV or Children of the Nile). Moreover, the new SimCity Societies looks more like the excellent City Life. There's no zoning anymore, you construct directly the building you want to have in your city. Each of the building emits a "social" energy like obedience, happiness, creativity and by these energies to these you can design all your city.
Very interesting approach to the new SimCity title, though I think it's just a spin-off and sooner or later there'll be the "classic" SimCity 5. Or something like that.

Play games for free!

2007-03-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

We've just launched a new download site - Download Games 4 Free. You can download Board Games, Action, Kids, Card Games, Puzzle Games and many more!

PlayStation Home - new PS3 online service

2007-03-02T11:24:00.000-08:00

Phil Harrison has a pleasant surprise for all the PlayStation 3 owners. It's called PlayStation Home. “Basically, you get to make an avatar for your console (like a Mii) and this avatar has a room. As you play games and accomplish certain tasks, you will receive items with which to adorn the room that are specific to the game (like Achievements). The kicker is that this is going to be a new requirement for every PS3 game.”
There's been a nice fight between Sony and Kotaku which resulted in confirming the very promising PlayStation Home online service which seems to be quite an advanced version of Wii Mii and Xbox 360 Achievements. What will Nintendo and Microsoft say?

// seen at videogamesblogger

CryEngine 2 Tech Demos - photorealism, finally?

2007-02-22T10:22:00.000-08:00

GameTrailers shows off two new trailers from the adored CryEngine 2 by German game developers CryTek (now owned by Electronic Arts). Real-time video rendered with CryEngine 2 shows beautiful landscape behind glass windows and practically photorealistic interiors and exteriors. OK, photorealism is here. What's next?

// seen at ggmania

3 million Gears of War sold

2007-01-21T02:38:00.000-08:00

Bravo, Microsoft & Epic! Almost every second owner of the Xbox 360 game console has bought the celebrated Gears of War game. Now it's 100% certain there will be Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3 and maybe even Gears of War 4. Who knows?!

UFO: Afterlight demo download

2007-01-20T06:26:00.000-08:00

Check out the new UFO: Afterlight by the Czech development team Altar games (former Altar Interactive). Download the demo from Gamershell.

1 million PS3 consoles sold in Japan. Finally.

2007-01-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

Finally! Sony sold 1 million PlayStation 3 consoles in Japan. And two million worldwide. In just two months, it's not bad. Plus there're five million pieces of software sold. PS3 is said to be in good supply for USA so we can expect more sales. And at the end of March Sony launches PlayStation 3 in Europe. There's gonna be fun!

PlayStation 3 will get new versions of arcade classics

2006-11-30T12:35:00.000-08:00

PlayStation 3 owners will be able to download remakes of classic titles - just as Xbox 360 owners can currently do with Xbox Live Arcade. Sony's online limit is more wise 500MB. The PS3 Store already offers games which exceed the Live Arcade-standard 50MB limit, such as Blast Factor and Cash Guns Chao. (read more)

Developers waiting for PS3?

2006-11-29T01:07:00.001-08:00

Very interesting interview on GamesIndustry asking GDC boss Jamil Moledina. Moledina says "It's a relatively complex platform to develop for, considering it has a very unique multi-core processor with the Cell. A lot of developers are new to figuring out how to work with that structure, as well as the RSX, the graphics processor. A lot of the developers I know are waiting out on the first round and focusing on handhelds; they're creating DS and PSP titles because that's actually a much simpler migration from the current-gen". (read more)

Alpha Prime gameplay video

2006-11-28T12:11:00.000-08:00

Gameplay video from new FPS called Alpha Prime from the Czech game development team Black Element Software. Story was provided by the famous Czech science fiction writer Ondrej Neff.

MotorStorm demo video

2006-11-27T12:19:00.000-08:00

MotorStorm live demo looks gorgeous! Well, not so gorgeous as at E3 2005 but still it's nice. MotorStorm for PlayStation 3. OK?

Metal Gear Solid 4 details

2006-11-26T08:45:00.000-08:00

Hideo Kojima talked to the Official Playstation Magazine (OPM) UK. He's the head of Kojima Productions, creator of the PS3 exclusive stealth game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. What are the new details?

Solid Snake has to do moral decisions, he's not on the side A or B

Snake has to shoot people he doesn't want to shoot and player experiences all the emotions derived from this

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots takes place in Middle East, somewhere in South America and somewhere in Eastern Europe

Snake can directly control his little robot friend, the Metal Gear Mk.II

Metal Gear Solid 4 uses the new SIXAXIS controller motion-sensing functionality

story is inspired by the nowadays events like Americans going everywhere and creating war
Metal Gear Solid 4 release date will be pushed back to 2008

The Sims for Wii! Uiiiiiii!

2006-11-24T07:25:00.000-08:00

The Sims 2 + Animal Crossing-like characters = The Sims for Wii! Check out the new video straight from Electronic Arts. Release date is somewhere between March 31, 2007 and April, 2008. It would be great if we could create our own characters using the Mii channel, wouldn't it? Sadly, EA has no confirmation of this. Anyway, The Sims for Wii look cute!

seen at videogamesblogger

PS3 losing exclusive titles

2006-11-24T04:49:00.000-08:00

Two games by KOEI which were announced as PlayStation 3 exlusive aren't exclusive anymore. Both Fatal Inertia and BladeStorm are confirmed for Xbox 360 in March 2007. Muhahaha, are there ANY MORE exclusive titles for PlayStation 3. Or did Sony just screw up? Are you going to buy PS3?

Capcom's Lost Planet new multiplayer demo abailable on Xbox Live Marketplace

2006-11-23T07:05:00.000-08:00

The following content is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace for all Xbox Live Gold members*:

Name: Lost Planet Multiplayer Online Demo
Price: Free
Available in: All Xbox Live regions
Dash Details: The online demo for the highly anticipated SciFi action shooter Lost Planet is here! Snow pirates around the world await your entry into the hostile, frozen world of LOST PLANET!

*This content will be available for all Xbox Live Silver members on 11/30/06.

seen at EvilAvatar

Free Supreme Commander beta

2006-11-23T05:50:00.000-08:00

Exclusively on FilePlanet you can register and download free Supreme Commander beta. One thousand years of endless, brutal warfare. Oppression. The clashing of incompatible ideas and principles. The rise and fall of empires. The slaughter of millions. This is the universe of Supreme Commander, a future reality in which the Infinite War rages between three diametrically opposed human factions: the United Earth Federation, the Aeon Illuminate and the Cybran Nation. This devastating war has impacted nearly every sector of the known galaxy, with few systems escaping its fury.
Sign up now!

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 first details

2006-11-21T05:27:00.001-08:00

Videogamesblogger has got some fresh new details about Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (GRAW2) which is in development at Red Storm and Ubisoft Paris.

GRAW 2 deals with the escalating turmoil just south of the US border.
It all takes place over 72 hours.
It will have way more varied locations including fighting through the mountains, forests, etc.
What’s more is that the combat will be on both sides of the border, Mexico and the US apparently.
The first section of GRAW 2 will take place around the Mexican City of Juarez, 2nd in a war torn urban Center, the final tasks players with repelling a full fledged invasion of US soil for control over El Paso Texas
In another demo the smoke cloud was forced away from a sudden explosion, and the light from the fire reflected off the particles in the cloud in real time.

seen at videogamesblogger

Original Railroad Tycoon for Free

2006-11-21T02:11:00.001-08:00

Check out the excellent homepage for the new incarnation od Sid Meier's Railroads at www.2kgames.com. The music is just awesome! But there's more... 2K has released the original Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon for FREE! The game is available for download from www.sidmeiersrailroads.com.

2006-11-20T04:04:00.000-08:00

PlayStation 3 causing riots

Two people were arrested after a crowd waiting to buy Sony's PlayStation 3 rushed an electronics store, trampling people in the parking lot of a Fresno shopping center, police said. Police declared the crowd of several hundred people an unlawful assembly about 10 p.m. Thursday and threatened to use Tasers on the die-hard gamers, some of whom had camped out since Tuesday hoping to buy one of the 34 consoles for sale at Best Buy. More at FUK.CO.UK. Check the YouTube video as well.
My question is: why didn't this happen with the Wii launch? Because they had more than 34 units? Or because there were families with children in the crowds? Or because...

2006-11-20T03:54:00.000-08:00

Gas-Powered legend Chris Taylor discusses Supreme Commander

Once more from CVG, this time very interesting interview with Gas Powered Games CEO and creative director Chris Taylor who is currently hard at work on Supreme Commander, the RTS that's been labelled the spiritual successor to his ground-breaking real-time strategy classic Total Annihilation.

So what's your favourite unit in the game?

Taylor: It's hard to pick a favourite. I like the Galactic Colossus as it's a character - it's like a big drunken Frankenstein. Like Frankenstein's monster could get any weirder... But I like them all - it's like being asked to pick your favourite child. I love them all the same - all the units and factions. Although I do lean towards the Cybrans.

2006-11-20T03:48:00.000-08:00

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess review

The greatest Zelda ever? Find out in the CVG review.

" It goes without saying that upon booting-up any Zelda game you're embarking on a particularly special gaming romp, but we could tell that this really was the premium of Link's adventures when - like Ocarina of Time - we managed to spend five minutes staring at Twilight Princess's majestic title screen, before clicking through to the game entry screen a letting that well-known fairy fountain music wash over our heads and sweep us away to a land of pure gaming ecstasy."

2006-11-18T09:15:00.000-08:00

Wonderful EA skate game footage

YouTube reveals a wonderful in-game footage of EA's new skate game probably for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

2006-11-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess in-game footage

Hyrule.net has got some nice in-game footage from Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess, apparently the GameCube version.

2006-11-18T07:41:00.000-08:00

PlayStation 3 gets smashed

A brand new Playstation 3 is purchased, and smashed in front of dozens of fanboys with a sledgehammer on a busy downtown street. From the guys who brought you www.smashmyxbox.com. Now it's www.smashmyps3.com.

2006-11-18T06:08:00.000-08:00

Army of Two Xbox 360 gameplay trailer

Wow, this cooperative action style looks rather good. Army of Two is coming 2007 for Xbox 360.

2006-11-17T10:30:00.000-08:00

Nintendo Wii for $100?

Eurogamer says: Ninty wanted hundred-dollar Wii.

"Our goal was to come up with a machine that moms would want - easy to use, quick to start up, not a huge energy drain, and quiet while it was running," Miyamoto said.

Read more - Ninty wanted hundred-dollar Wii.

2006-11-17T10:15:00.000-08:00

Awesome Mass Effect Xbox 360 trailer

This is the game PC gamers should envy Xbox 360 users. Not Gears of War. Mass Effect is gonna show'em all Xbox 360 is worth a penny. True movie-like experience. BioWare do not make disappointing games. I wonder if Mass Effect is ever going to be ported for PC?

2006-11-17T08:55:00.000-08:00

Gears of War for PC

As we haven't expected that. PC Gamer's holiday issue, page 28, contains a photo of stand photographed on the Microsoft campus showing Gears of War among several upcoming PC games.
Microsoft of course didn't confirm anything. But with Command and Conquer 3 coming for Xbox 360 and lots of other games vice versa, it's highly possible Gears of War will come to PC. Moreover, Microsoft needs to push Windows Vista for all the costs.

+ seen at IGN

2006-11-17T08:11:00.000-08:00

Medieval 2: Total War impressions

Just got my hands on Medieval 2: Total War, latest follow-up in the Total War series. Setting is once again the medieval world like in the original Medieval: Total War.
There's not much new - battlefields are bigger and nicer, armies are... bigger and nicer. Tons of new units, new types of settlements, detailed history timeline. Gameplay remains roughly the same.
However, the game itself plays rather well. Gameplay on the strategic map resembles Civilization IV whereas the battles are classic Total War bloody carnage. Controls are intuitive and there are tons of actions on the strategic map. You can make diplomacy, trade, build castles, fortifications, make marriage proposals, breed new family members, conquer lands. It's quite fun even after many hours of playing.
Overall impression: not surprisingly new, but still great gaming experience.

2006-11-17T01:07:00.000-08:00

Sid Meier’s Pirates! for PSP

Hey, Sid Meier wants to see his Pirates! on PlayStation Portable. And 2K Games agreed. The game is expected to be in stores as early as on February 23, 2007.
“Sid Meier’s Pirates! is already a proven success,” said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. “The universal appeal and compelling gameplay in Pirates! makes it a perfect match for the PSP system.”
Really? I dare.

seen at videogamesblogger

2006-11-17T00:28:00.000-08:00

Ageia PhysX price drop

Hahaha! Physics accelerators turned out to be almost worthless with minimal support from game developers, so geia decided to reduce pricing of the PhysX add-in cards with 128MB 733MHz GDDR3 memory designed for PCI bus to $179 - $249, down from $299 initially. Also they'll bundle $100 worth game along with every physics accelerator board. But the only valuable games to support Ageia PhysX accelerator are City of Villains, Bet on Soldier: Blood of Sahara, and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. Crap.
Who wants a physics accelerator which slows down the computer? Maybe with GeForce 8800 series it can get better - anyone tested already?

ggmania

2006-11-16T02:22:00.000-08:00

Ultimate Star Wars Collection from LucasArts

Star Wars: The Best of PC is a new Star Wars collection which includes realtime strategy Star Wars: Empire at War, role-playing game Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic, first-person shooters Star Wars: Battlefront and Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, 3D action game Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and last but not least free 14-day trial of the not legendary MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies. LucasArts say "Star Wars: The Best of PC offers the greatest collection of Star Wars PC games in one package." We agree. For $39.99 you can't get any better.

2006-11-15T14:12:00.000-08:00

Supreme Commander impressions from Paris

Just got back from Paris. THQ held there a Supreme Commander media event for press from all over the world. Russians, Southafricans, Norwegians, English, Germans, people from all over the world to see Supreme Commander in action and mainly to talk to Chris Taylor, it's Creator.
Well, Supreme Commander looks gorgeous. We saw a one-hour presentation on 40x20 metres screen in a spheric theater somewhere in Paris, next to technical museum. Chris showed us a lot of advanced gameplay, saying he knows it's hardcore - it's a hardcore realtime strategy from a hardcore fan for hardcore gamers.
The game was played on the well known mega-map which is by the way completely simmetrical. Chris hates enemy to have an inch of advantage. Everything must be balanced. Supreme Commander also fully supports multicore processors. Dual-core as well as quad-core, which is said to be the right thing for this game.
From the cinema we moved to the Eiffel tower. There was a party on the second floor and we could play the game, either in singleplayer and multiplayer. Interface is very intuitive but still very hardcore, and so is the game. It's jsut like Total Annihilation but like thousand times better. Graphics is not as gorgeous as we've seen on the early screenshots but it's probably just the matter of brightness and contrast.
Overall impression? Chris Taylor is a great showman and Supreme Commander one of his best shows. You should've seen him in the bar 'round the midnight after he had three mojitos (and probably lots more before) ;).

2006-10-20T05:56:00.000-07:00

This is funny!

"Xbox 360 costs $698," says Sony 'fact sheet'. Check ggmania for more.

Along with announcing the PlayStation 3's launch title lineup yesterday, the Japanese company published a "fact sheet" (*.doc format) that compares the PS3 to Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii. The fact sheet says an Xbox 360 system comparable to Sony's cheapest $499 PS3 costs a staggering $698. This figure is derived from Sony's claim that the $299 Xbox 360 Core System "requires users to buy" a $100 20GB hard drive, a $199 HD DVD drive, a $50 wireless controller, and a $50 Xbox Live subscription.

So, how much does any of the next-gen consoles cost, huh?

+ seen at: ggmania

2006-10-19T01:23:00.001-07:00

10 PS3 prognostications

GamingNexus's got 10 PS3 prognostications:

PS3’s will be on sale on eBay for over $3000
Retail employees are going to be very popular people after November 17th
Hardware horror stories will be rampant
flOw isn't going to be the PS3's Geometry Wars
Resistance: Fall of Man is going to do well but not as well as Call of Duty 2 did for the 360 launch
Crab monster jokes will populate nearly every single Genji II review
People won't really miss the rumble as much as they think they will
The motion sensing component of the controller is going to go over better than expected but it won’t go over as well as the Wii
Sony's new online service is going to be better than people expect but still fall short of Xbox Live. People will forgive this as it is free
Sony has one last surprise left up its sleeves related to their online service and I think it might be access to the vast Sony music and video library.

Right?

+ seen at: GamingNexus

2006-10-19T01:22:00.000-07:00

What's inside the Wii box?

1. Wii Console
2. Wii Console Stand
3. Wii Remote
4. Nunchuk
5. Sensor Bar
6. Wii AC Adapter
7. Wii AV Cable
8. Wii Startup Disc

+ seen at: Go Nintendo

2006-10-17T02:00:00.000-07:00

Hands on Review of the Wii

Little known gaming site 2old2play has a hands on review of the Wii, Wii Sports and other launch titles. 2old2play had the opportunity to attend the Wii Ambassador parties in Chicago. Nintendo has been holding these events around the United States for a select group of people.
What do they say? Wii has lower grade graphics but that doesn't matter. Gameplay is what matters says 2old2play. "Each and every game offered a new way to hold and utilize the Wiimote to control the action on screen."
They played The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. "All the Wiimote issues aside, there is one thing that was certain, the game felt like Zelda. Everything from the atmosphere, enemies and the puzzles to solve put me right back into the classic Hyrule setting. Within minutes I was sucked in and ready to play for days."
And the hardware? "The single most impressive thing about the actual Wii console is its size." 2old2play says Wiimote doesn't feel cheap at all as some sites reported earlier. "Yes, it is extremely small and light, but that is what you want out of a controller that you are going to be swinging around for hours."
Have you got a new HDTV? "While the Wii may not be HDTV ready, it sure seems to favor the larger sets for optimal use."
Read the whole article at 2old2play Hands on Review of the Wii.

+ seen at: 2old2play

2006-10-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

Internet browser for Xbox 360?

Now, that's good question. "Why doesn't the Xbox 360 have its own browser?", Joystiq asks. Wii got it, PS3 as well. Why not Xbox 360?
Xbox Live is an excellent online service. For a gamer. But it's not quite the right thing for a casual gamer, right now. Then there's the controller problem. How to navigate through web pages with a gamepad? How to type? Is Microsoft much more interested in pushing Windows Vista and IE7? Maybe.
There are even some news that Microsoft will be releasing a web browser for it in the next update. We shall see.
Anyway, very interesting question nobody asked before.

+ seen at: Joystiq

2006-10-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

Heroes of Annihilated Empires - first impressions

Heroes of Annihilated Empires is a new realtime strategy game from Ukrainian game development studio GSC Game World. I've just been playing it for a few days. Impressions? Well, it's a mix of Lord of the Rings (main theme & fantasy world), Pirates of the Carribean & Gladiator (music is completely copied from Hans Zimmer who did music for all these motion pictures) and Cossacks, GSC's previous RTS game. The overall impression is good - you can build REALLY massive armies with hundreds of units. Graphics is good, maps are huge and detailed, story doesn't suck much yet (apparently it will soon - there is some sort of time-travelling clue in the opening cinematics). Base management is a little disturbing and sounds are poor. Anyway, I enjoy playing this game. Check the official homepage.

2006-10-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

Mutant Storm Empire - now that's a SHMUP!

Mutant Storm Empire is a sequel to Xbox Live Arcade launch title Mutant Storm Reloaded. The video looks excellent!

seen at: Joystiq

2006-10-15T13:03:00.001-07:00

Hey, that's SHMUP! Lots of SHMUPs!

What's a SHMUP? You don't need to know but you've certainly already played it. These are the classic shooters. Pure action as it was born. R-Type. Xenon. Tyrian. Ikaruga. All these classics.
If you got some time check the archives and look for the good old SHMUPs (that states for "shoot-em-up" or "Shoot Them Up!" or "shoot'em up"). Recommended sites: www.shmup.com (in French), www.classicgaming.com/shmups/ (in English), www.shmup-dev.com (in English).
Anyone knows about more SHMUP sites?

2006-10-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

PlayStation 3 online service looks good

Eurogamer is one of the first who got the chance to see PlayStation 3 online service fully working. They went to see the Sony's worldwide studios boss Phil Harrison and his office, which is one of a few in the world to have "a fully functioning PlayStation 3 unit sitting under a massive HDTV screen, and hooked up to the test version of the PS3 online network which will switch over into a live service in early November when the console heads to store shelves in Japan and America."
Overall impressions? Sony knows online is one of the keys of success. They've learned a lot from launching PlayStation Portable (PSP), which despite it's technological superiority, loses the handheld war. Hopefully, they will use the knowledge and do their best.

2006-10-14T07:43:00.000-07:00

MS Entertainment division in severe loss

Are you still waiting for the Xbox 360 price cut? Don't wait anymore. It's not going to come any soon. Next-gen has a great article on Microsoft Entertainment division's loos which tossed $1.26 billion, "mainly due to Xbox 360 launch expenses."
Analysts say hardware maybe won't ever turn profit for Microsoft or Sony. They'll have to rely on royalties from third-party software sales. But only when there is installed base of more than 10 million Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 there is gonna be place for really exklusive titles. How many widely expected exclusive titles does Microsoft has today? Gears of War? Not enough.
The price of Xbox 360 will hardly go down until Microsoft's Entertainment division gets into better results.

2006-10-14T01:40:00.000-07:00

Gears of War the real next-gen

"The next-gen era truly begins when Gears of War arrives."

During the past few weeks there appeared many Gears of War impressions. I had a mixed feeling from them - like this is not what I expected. Well, guys at HEXUS.gaming made heir wair to London to play the game. Now, this is what I expected! Read their excellent preview of the game.

Gears of War is world's apart from any shooter title currently on the Xbox 360; if it wasn't for having to catch a train home we'd still be there now. The era of next-gen shooters is upon us and youd be foolish if you didn't want to be part of it.

2006-10-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

Company of Heroes vs. Faces of War

I've been recently playing both of these realime-strategy games. Company of Heroes does provide an extremely polished RTS experience. Although delivers a few key innovations to the genre, the overall feeling is a bit contrarious. There were some boring passages where I had just to wait to collect points for new units to begin an offensive.

Now, Faces of War. A lot less hype. Though Ubisoft could do A LOT of hype, company chose not to push Faces of War too much. Don't ask me why. I don't get it. Maybe becuse they knew it's still a little buggy? Anyway, even though buggy, this game rocks. It's not anymore the old-school realtime-strategy concept. No buildings. No resources.

Just your squad, the map and the Nazis. Deal with it. It's more tactical action than real-time strategy game. You have to manoeuvre your troops, take favourable positions, defend key points. Yup, sometimes your troops do not do what they should. There are few glitches here and there. But the overall impression is A LOT better, more detailed, funnier, deeper than Company of Heroes. Shame on you, Ubisoft!

2006-10-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

Aquaria - hand-painted indie 2D action

Aquaria is an independently developed action-oriented, non-linear 2D side-scrolling game. Beautiful 2D hand-painted graphics adds a lot of magical atmosphere. Unique gameplay blends an intuitive and fluid mouse control system, creature interaction and expansive environments along with gorgeous visuals. Watch a trailer or check the homepage at www.bit-blot.com/aquaria/. Game should be out spring 2007.

+ seen at: TIGSource

2006-10-13T02:28:00.000-07:00

8-Bit: best game documentary ever made?

VH1 Game Break: "Guys, this low budget production by Marcin Ramocki and Justin Strawhand is clearly the best movie about video games that's ever been made. Forget insulting crapola like the Game Show Network's “GSN Video Games” (2003). Here, the documentarians don't spend much time on the history of video games, although smug movie critic turned video game expert Ed Halter put the history into perspective succinctly." read more

Looks really impressive. Check the homepage at www.8bitmovie.com. Looking forward to watch it!

+ seen at: Joystiq

2006-10-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

PlayStation 3 - Wii - Xbox 360 - Who Wins? Gamers!

The disputes on who wins the next console war appeared even before the war itself began. You can predict the winner of war between USA a Iraq. But you can't predict the winner where the parties are Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. After all, does it even matter?
Microsoft won't stop making Xbox 360 until the next generation appears. There are too many sold consoles. And too many has to be sold. Sony will surely sell as many PS3's as needed to continue the production for many years. There are too many PS2 owners. And Nintendo? That's another league. Nintendo is not competing with anybody. Nintendo fights alone. Yet, its Wii has the biggest chances. Wii is cheap. Wii is fun. And it has tons of games. So, who's the winner? Gamers!
In the next console war there - surprisingly - are no loosers. Companies win because their hardware get sold and their games get sold, if they're good. Gamers win because they have nice cheap hardware and good games. Who cares about console war anymore?!

2006-10-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

Linux-based Wii OS

According to a recent interview with Satoru Iwata Wii console will operate on top of a proprietary form of the Linux kernel. Nintendo intends to develop the operating system in the future via online system updates. Bright future for Wii?

+ seen at: Slashdot

2006-07-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

E3 is over. So what?

Many sources report cancellation of the world's biggest gaming show. Annual Electronic Entertainment Expo alias E3 in Los Angeles is going to change. According to Next-Gen, Doug Lowenstein, the president of the Entertainment Software Association is going to announce somewhat like a "big shrink". E3 will continue in a much different way. It will be smaller, cheaper and less bombastic.
E3 as we know is at the end. And no one really cares. Because E3 as we knew it was merely a big audiovisual show rather than an event oriented on games. It was good and bad for gaming at the same time. Publisher squandered millions of dollars for media attention which they didn't get. No surprise they don't want to continue. Just wondering it took them so long...
Will the gaming industry without E3 do better? No one knows. But one thing we know. Gaming journalists will do.

+ seen at: Next-gen

2006-07-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

Where the Hell is new X-COM game?

The original X-COM (UFO: Defense in the US, UFO: Enemy Unknown in Europe) was great and I loved it. It was one of those game that are hard - or even impossible - to improve. There's a great article at GamersInfo.net summarizing the history of X-COM series and looking to its future. But what future?
CoDo Games founded by the Gollop brothers, authors of the X-COM series, is not very communicative. They silently develop their tiny games like Rebelstar: Tactical Command and Laser Squad Nemesis. Where the Hell is new X-COM game? Wouldn't it be great to have a brand new UFO: Defense with the exactly same game mechanics running on Epic's Unreal Engine 3? Imagine the enviroment from Gears of War, the huge building, dark corners, detailed characters, in addition to the turn-based battle system, base building and intense dogfights all around the globe. Is there anybody willing to do this? But what's more important, are there enough gamers eager to play this? Because only then there's this tiny chance such a game will ever be made.

+ seen at: Evil Avatar

2006-06-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

Sega to release Golden Axe remake in 2007

Cool! Sega announced more than year ago they want to make a remake of Golden Axe. Joystiq says it was shown behind closed doors at Sega's booth at E3 this year. Are you looking forward to the remake of the "classics of all classics"? I do! Which one will it be - PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or even Wii? Take a guess...

+ seen at: Joystiq

2006-06-10T02:19:00.000-07:00

PS3 more than just a game console. Really?!

So, it's official. PS3 is not a game console anymore. It's said to be a computer! Yeah, really. Ken Kutaragi, "The Father of the PlayStation" and the president of Sony said that. "PS3 will have no problem adopting new hardware parts," meaning not necessarily an "upgradable" console but different versions of PS3 being released someday in the future.
OK, why not? Microsoft is going to release a new version of Xbox 360 in Q1 2007 too. But there are a few problems: are the early adopters - market segment for which Sony is aiming first of all - going to buy PS3 even though they'd know they don't have the best machine? Second, what about the developers? For which configuration should they develop their products? Third, where's the advantage of consoles against PCs? Fourth, what's PS3 for as a computer without keyboard?
But that's not all. Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer has been recently interviewed by Wall Street Journal. Without any constraints he admitted he admires Bill Gates and Xbox 360. Sony is damned already!

+ seen at: Next Generation, 1UP, EvilAvatar, Kotaku

2006-05-31T09:32:00.000-07:00

Crysis for PS3?

There's an interesting announcement on CryTek's (creators of Far Cry) vacations page. They're looking for an experienced programmer to work on unknown PS3 project. Does it mean Crysis is coming to PC after all? Would be no surprise, EA is not gonna let lose the opportunity to make even bigger bunch of money! Anybody in doubt there'll be Xbox 360 version as well?! Sooner or later.

+ seen at: Xboxygen