Saturday, February 23, 2008
APB’s Geek Squad: Miyamoto, Molyneux, Spector & Garriot
6:30PM Michael McWhertor |
Portal Devs Reveal The GLaDOS That Never Was, Inspiration Behind Weighted Companion Cube
6:00PM Michael McWhertor | Kim Swift and Erik Wolpaw, two of the key developers on Portal, gave GDC attendees a behind the scenes look at The Orange Box hit, focusing on the process of integrating narrative and design. The two also showed early and, by their own admission, failed, version’s of the game’s final boss fight with GLaDOS, the talkative, ever present artificial intelligence. They highlighted three attempts at making a successful boss battle, driving home the fact that ample playtesting brought them to the incinerator battle they ultimately settled on. More »
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Molyneux Says He Was A Bit Of A Prat
5:30PM Luke Plunkett | A few weeks back, EA boss John Riccitiello was all about admitting mistakes. Like the way EA bought three of PC gaming’s best developers in the 90s – Origin, Westwood and Bullfrog – and ruined them. And he was upset! Made it sound like it was all EA’s fault! There there, John. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Peter Molyneux, former head of Bullfrog, says he’s as much to blame: I was a bit of a prat back then, to be honest. To be fair, I think [EA] didn’t do anything bad. I was just very immature, and I was coming to terms with not having 30 of my friends but instead having 200 strangers around me. That was difficult, and I made life difficult for them. You mischievous little scamp! Still, bit of public repentance never hurt anyone. Peter Molyneux: I Was A Bit Of A Prat [1UP] More »A Week In Comments
5:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Does Brain Age Actually Work? No, Apparently. Comment by Kuraudo Nominated by geekgrrl This is why there’s no class division in high school between the intelligent and the sporty. The Cake Goes to Portal’s Commentary Comment by BolognaFire Nominated by sethmad Imagine: BABIES – Commentary “A big issue we had with starting off development was deciding who our target audience would be.”First APB Vids
4:30PM Luke Plunkett | After Mike brought us our first real info and shots of Realtime World’s upcoming MMO APB, we’ve now got the first footage of the game in action. Looks like a nice break from – and alternative for those not interested in – the orcs-n-loot status quo. Above is some cops-n-robbers action, while after the click’s a walkthrough of the character customisation utility.
No Wii Devil May Cry 4, Forget It
4:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Whenever a PS3 or Xbox 360 game comes out, Wii owners say it would be great if Nintendo’s console got a port. And for some games, it really would! For others, it wouldn’t be so great. Devil May Cry 4 is one of those games, says the title’s producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi. According to him: You know, a lot of people ask us if we are going to bring out a Wii version. I simply don’t think you can make the game the type of game it is, with the awesome graphics and control — I don’t think that would work on the Wii. So, I don’t think we’re going to bring one out, no. Put away those petitions. This is a big, fat “no”. Kobayashi Interview [Crispy Gamer via Capcom Blog] [Pic] More »
New NVIDIA Series Catering To The Great Unwashed
3:30PM Luke Plunkett | The usual strategy for releasing new graphics cards is as follows: company releases ridiculously expensive graphics card, few can afford it, then as its technology ages it gets cheaper and trickles down to the lower ends of the market. Nvidia’s strategy for its new GeForce 9600 GT is a little different: it’s being pitched directly into the massmarket. The 9600 GT is the first card in Nvidia’s GeForce 9 series, and instead of coming in at a silly-expensive price will launch in the entirely reasonable $US 169-189 range. Bold new territory for a graphics hardware company, then, but it also shows Nvidia are serious about this whole PC gaming alliance deal, as it gives a good slap in the chops to the “upgrading is too expensive” argument. [Nvidia Product Page] More »
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Iwata Says Miyamoto is “Scary”, “Merciless”
3:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Shigeru Miyamoto is not some lovable man-child! He used to smoke and gamble. And he gets pissed, man, he gets PISSED. Just listen to what Nintendo honcho Satoru Iwata has to say about him: Miyamoto-san gets pretty scary when he’s angry, doesn’t he? …and… Miyamoto-san is really merciless when it comes to planning! (laughs) Shigeru Miyamoto, brilliant game designer. Frightening dude. He doesn’t just upturn tea tables. He BEATS people with them. Volume 4: A New Creation [Wii.com] [Pic] More »
Activision Now Offering Refunds For GH III Wii
2:30PM Luke Plunkett | So you bought Guitar Hero III on Wii, you got it home, and found out it only played in mono. Urgh. From there, things only got worse. Well, if you’re jack of the whole fiasco, Activision are now offering you the chance to hit the big shiny red button on the whole sorry mess and bail out. If you visit the company’s support page you’re now given the option of a full refund for your purchase, which you can then take, return to your nearest gaming store and buy a game that doesn’t give you months of customer support drama. Guitar Hero® III Wii Refund [Activision] More »
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