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Dragon's Dogma: The Kotaku Review That mop of hair is Brunno Senna, professional Ferrari race car driver. So if anyone knows and understands what it’s like to take the wheel of a real Ferrari, it’s this dude. And while the rest of us, sit by and marvel at Gran Turismo‘s “realistic” Ferrari physics, Senna says “hang on there!” His opinion about GT?
It’s a good game but the biggest misrepresentation in GT HD is the Ferrari 599. It’s overly difficult to drive, even if you put racing tyres on. It’s almost as if the car has far more power than it does in real life. And the controller is really sensitive so it’s not so easy to input the exact amount of power you want out of the car. It becomes a bit too hard to be fun.
I love Gran Turismo — I have the fourth game and I’ve play it loads, and some of the cars are really good in the game. I think one of the most realistic re-creations of a car in the game is the Golf GTi and one of the Audis. They have the exact amount of oversteer as on the real car.
Disclosure: Senna worked as an advisor on the upcoming PS3 title Ferrari Challenge. So, what Senna is saying is that if you want to drive Ferraris, pick up his game. If you want to drive Golfs and Audis, well. Bruno Game [CVG]
Okay, Japan, we get it. You don’t like Halo anything. This group—about 8 in total—was declaring its presence outside a Taito branded game shop in the heart of Akihabara. We figured this was it. We’d hit the jackpot and that come 10 AM, when the store finally opened, we’d at least get some shots of Akiba nerds rushing the sales clerks and 10,000 yen notes flying. Instead we found out why they were waiting.
That Metroid Dread rumour? The one where Nintendo were meant to be working on a new Metroid handheld title? And which was supposedly alluded to in Metroid Prime 3? Yeah, no. No dice. Seems there was a cock-up in the game’s creative process, and something that was dreadful but not in any way related to any possible Metroid handheld games made it into MP3. Game director Mark Pacini: We actually had a fictional element of something else in the game that by a large coincidence could be read that we were giving a hint about “Metroid Dread” which was not the case. It’s a complete and utter coincidence.
Glad that’s sorted. Kind of. See, they go on to make a complete mess of that explanation, stumbling over all kinds of comments like “That’s all I can say on it”, which will no doubt serve as further fuel for the faithful’s great fire of handheld hope. Retro Studios Answers The Dreaded “Metroid Dread” Question — And Other “Prime” Exclusives [MTV]
We got up at the crack of dawn this morning to make sure we didn’t miss a beat for the Japanese launch of Halo 3. It’s rare for Japanese game shops to host a midnight launch of almost anything, even for the big guns like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, so we felt pretty comfortable waiting until the day of to beat feet down to Akiba. After a stinky stroll through the Tsukiji fish market, we ambled on over to Electric Town to take the pulse of Japanese gamers.
Rolling up to the giant Yodobashi Akiba, we were presented with this sign. It tells you where to start the line formation. So what did the line look like 30 minutes before launch?
The prospect of PC users going toe-to-toe with PS3 gamers in a game of Unreal Tournament III was always a possibility, but never certain. So your knickers shouldn’t get too twisted at the news the game won’t support the feature when it launches. Mark Rein (posted from an IRC transcript, if you’re wondering about his statement writing): The biggest challenge in doing cross platform play is syncronising the builds such that the build on the PC is 100% compatible with the build on the PS3. Unfortunately (or fortunately) when you games on console you have a lengthy certification process to go through each time you release anything new…
Master Chief certainly doesn’t have the same influence that other video game heroes do in Japan. He’s just another hideously designed robo-man in sea of crappy mecha. This billboard for Halo 3—the only one we’ve seen in Akihabara during our moments passing from ecchi bookshop to ecchi hobby store—got the same tender loving care we’ve come to expect from Japan when it comes to the Xbox 360.
This wasn’t an intentionally poorly chosen shot, I promise. This is literally the best angle you get on the billboard outside Yodobashi-Akiba. You’d think that for the Japanese launch of Halo 3 that Microsoft could have thrown its weight around and had this pruned. Maybe for Halo 4.
It’s nice to have the rumble back. Really, really nice. The SixAxis feels very, I dunno, empty? But now that we know the DS3 is coming and some of us have even gotten hands on, how does it compare with the DualShock 2? Is the DS3 rumble better? According to Metal Gear Solid 4 producer Ryan Payton:
Absolutely, yeah. It feels better…
And Payton knows his controls — he’s one of the guys responsible for making MGS4‘s more intuitive. All the games I played at TGS with the DualShock 3 added what the French call I-don’t-know-what to games. Not a fan of the SixAxis, not a fan at all. DS3 Is Good [1Up]
While chatting with Mark Rein at Sony’s TGS party, the dude asked us how long we’d be writing about Epic’s legal stoush with Silicon Knights. We promptly answered: forever, Mark. Why? Because like any good courtroom drama, it’s good reading. Take this latest development, with Epic seeking to have the entire case dismissed on the grounds that SK’s argument is a load of old codswallop: SK’s brief does not overcome the multiple legal defects in the Complaint. SK’s arguments are factually misplaced and at odds with the law. The Court should grant Epic’s motion to dismiss.
Love it. Let’s hope they can keep this up for the whole eight years. Latest Salvo Fired in Epic UE3 Case [Next-Gen]
Clover Studios was Capcom’s boutique team behind game innovative games like Okami and God Hand. What’s more, Clover is a pretty nice name! When things soured with Capcom, the studio was shuttered and producer Atsushi Inaba, Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami and Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya formed SEEDS. It was Clover reborn, and likewise it also had a cool name. The emphasis here is had. Over on the SEEDS official website, there is a notice that SEEDS is apparently merging with IT company ODD Solutions ODD Corporation to form, brace yourself, Platinum Games. Yes, PLATINUM GAMES. The website says something like:
On October 1, 2007, SEEDS Corporation will merge with ODD Corporation to create “Platinum Games,” which will be a fresh step forward.
More like a step backwards, amirite? Clover went from SEEDS to what sounds like a shitty PC game maker. And merging with a company called “ODD”? Strange! Any name would be better than Platinum Games — hell, they should’ve called this start up Earth. Ungh.
Seeds [Official Site]
Eds Note: As pointed out on forum NeoGAF, the ODD Corporation linked above (ODD Solutions) might not be what SEEDS is merging with. SEEDS is merging with a company called ODD Corporation, but info about that company is scant.
For those still interested in the whole Halo 3 scratched disc and foam saga, I just received my copy of the Limited Edition box and can confirm it came with foam. Picture after the jump if you’re particularly curious – for some reason.
That’s all.
