Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Team Fortress 2 Beta Live
11:35PM Mike Fahey | Things got a little tense last night while I was in my recuperative unconscious state regarding the Team Fortress 2 beta, which was set to go live for preorder peoples yesterday but as of midnight Eastern time hadn’t. My tips email reads like an episodic volcanic eruption, stemmed at the very last minute as the game went live and playable at 11:30 or so Pacific time, thus fulfilling the September 17th prophecy. Oddly enough I had to go to the Steam forums to figure this out, as our helpful tipsters completely forgot to tell me that the problem had been solved, far too busy enjoying the game to drop us a line. I see how it is. We’re only friends when you are angry, and that’s okay. I’ll take what I can get. More »
Every Extended Extra Extreme Impressions
11:00PM Brian Crecente |
Smash Bros. Brawl Online Detailed
10:30PM Mike Fahey | The latest update to the Smash Bros. Dojo! delivers details on the online multiplayer portion of the game and dammit, friend codes are still in effect. Every day I wake up and rush to the PC hoping to read an announcement about them going away, and every morning I die a little inside. Brawl players will be able to link up with their friends via impersonal strings of random numbers to battle it out online, complete with personalised, pre-entered messages mapped to the D-pad for taunting purposes. You can also opt to play random strangers, but without the personalised messages to keep the child predators at bay. Stats aren’t kept for battles with strangers either, so you get all the fun of beating up random people with none of the joy of taunting, or indeed any proof that the match ever happened at all. Joy! Visit the Dojo yourself for more details and pretty pictures, and remember, “If you think of your opponent as a simple scarecrow, any psychological barriers may melt away.” Wi-Fi Play [Smash Bros. DOJO!] More »Comatose Oklahoma Game Law Dies
10:07PM Mike Fahey | Back in June of 2006, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry signed into law a bill that would make it illegal to sell or rent violent video games to minors. Due to go into effect November of last year, questions of the constitutionality of the bill caused it to slip from consciousness via a preliminary injunction. After a long struggle to keep the law alive, it passed away quietly in its sleep yesterday via a judicial decision for permanent injunction. My main reason for bringing this up is to share this awesome quote by Bo Andersen, President of the Entertainment Merchants Association. “It is time for lawmakers to stop targeting video games and the retailers that sell them. They should recognise that all video games are rated, retailers are choosing to enforce the ratings in their stores, and the new PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 video game consoles and Vista computer operating system all allow parents to control the types of games that can be played on them. These voluntary steps, not government regulation, are true to the spirit of the American Constitution.” Someone give that man a cookie, right now. Oklahoma’s Unconstitutional Game Law Permanently Enjoined [GameDaily BIZ - Thanks Lucious] More »Justify Your Game: Rez
10:00PM Mark Wilson | We made Tetsuya Mizuguchi justify his Rez. And if our “Justify Your Game” segment is cruel to English-native Western developers, it’s straight up evil in Japan. More »
Miz on Rez 2, Wii Space Channel and Al Gore
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | While chatting with Tetsuya Mizuguchi, we touched on a variety of things. Things that matter. Like new Rez, more Ulala and Al Gore. What would be better than Rez remake? A Rez sequel. Miz didn’t explicitly mention a totally new Rez, but did hint at his interest in doing a Rez sequel. So, why start off with the HD port? I’ve heard from many who want to play the original Rez, but couldn’t buy it in stores anymore. I feel that’s the big reason why we’re releasing Rez now. I can’t say we’re doing Rez 2. I am ready to go to the next level. Sequels are a good approach, and Rez is a life theme for me. Does that mean Rez 2, Rez 3 and Rez 3? Who knows! Miz does! And another thing he might know about is a Wii version of Space Channel 5. Just think of Wii-mote dancing possibilities. When we put the question straight to Mizuguchi, he seems geniuely surprised, stating: Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh… (grabs heart) Give me water… The Wii is special. It’s not such a high def direction, but it’s a fun direction as a future toy. That kind of idea always stimulates us in our ideas. This [the Wii] is another direction. When pushed, he would neither confirm or deny a new Wii version of the game — instead, choosing to sweat it out. But hey, Miz can take the heat. He’s worked with Al Gore. For the recent Live Earth concert, Mizuguchi filmed a hologram clip with the former Vice President to be used in a Live Earth stage show with artist audio visual hybrid group Genki Rockets. Since Al Gore is a busy man, and busy men have busy schedules, he was available for exactly 17 minutes for video capture in New York City. Was Miz nervous about meeting Gore? No, I wasn’t nervous. He was nervous. During the filming, I had to give him direction like “relax”. And what did Mizuguchi and Gore talk about between takes? “Global warming”. More »Lumines Live! Holiday Pack Details
7:00PM Brian Ashcraft |
Miz Wants Every Extend Extra Extreme on PSN
6:00PM Brian Ashcraft | So, Every Extend Extra Extreme is coming to Xbox Live Arcade this October. But XBLA isn’t the only game in town! When asked whether Every Extend Extra Extreme would be coming to Sony’s PlayStation Network, Q Entertainment’s Tetsuya Mizuguchi said: We would like to. What about Rez HD? Is that XBLA title coming to the PSN? We haven’t decided yet. Okay, E4 looks like it’s PSN bound. And Rez HD? Fingers crossed PS3 owners, fingers crossed. More »Team Bondi Is Looking For Coders. Lots Of Them.
5:01PM Logan Booker | Tuesday last week, we caught wind of the news that Team Bondi’s L.A. Noire, a gritty, detective-themed PS3 title, had been pushed back to 2009. Which is a while away.
It seems the developer, headed by Brendan McNamara of The Getaway fame, is now on the lookout for a truckload of coders. On September 14, they posted 10 such job openings on their website.
I asked the PR folks at Rockstar last week how things were going with Team Bondi and L.A. Noire, and the reply was a tentative okay. They weren’t exactly eager to chat about the game; they made it clear there was nothing to say.
Well, if you think you can code, load your CV into a shotgun and fire the buckshot Team Bondi’s way. The developer is based in Ultimo here in Sydney, so they should be local, or at least in the same state, for more than a few. More » 
