Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Things We Don’t Ever Want To See At E3 Again. Ever.
11:20PM Luke Plunkett | E3 was a disappointment. But you knew that already. Yet do you know why it was a disappointment? Sure, there are the easy answers. Few new game announcements. Anything Nintendo said or did. But they’re just that. Easy answers. There were a lot more things wrong with the show than just those limelight-grabbers. Things that we never want to see at E3 again. Ever.
More F.E.A.R., Different Name
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | As previously announced, developer Monolith Productions is back with a new F.E.A.R. game, but it’s not called F.E.A.R. 2. And we had a chance to check it out at this year’s E3. Since publishers changed during development, the game is now called Project Origin. Different titles aside, this actually is the sequel and is set in the same world F.E.A.R. was — though the game does follow Delta Force sergeant Michael Beckett instead of the mysterious Point Man. The devs are thinking of giving Beckett the same slow motion that Point Man had in the original game. More »
Alan Wake At TGS? ‘Not An Announcement’
10:40PM Brian Ashcraft | Remember when we told you to pencil (yes, pencil) in upcoming Remedy title Alan Wake for the Tokyo Game Show? As Kotaku’s own Mike McWhertor pointed out a mention that it would be at TGS appeared in a Windows branded contest that actually dates from last year. Over on the Alan Wake Forums, Remedy has posted: The Microsoft Vista promotion referring to TGS took place in 2007, and is old news – we’ve had the winner over for taking the pictures already. Sorry for the confusion and possible disappointment, but this was not an annoucement that Wake would be shown at TGS 2008. Remedy’s team is just getting back from a bit of holiday and we haven’t had time to chat with Microsoft on upcoming shows/showings yet. Oh. Question: Then why didn’t we see it at E3? How far has Remedy comed on Alan Wake [Alan Wake via VG247] More »Last Guy Looks Simple, Sounds Fantastic
10:20PM Luke Plunkett | Here’s a gameplay trailer for The Last Guy, due on the PSN at the end of the month (least, in Japan). They sure weren’t fooling around when they said it was using Google Maps, whose services you use to lead the survivors of a zombie apocalypse to designated “safe zones”. The whole thing looks nice and simple (which it will be, since it’s going for under $US 5), but whatever, if that music makes it into the final game, this moves up a spot on our shiny white purchase board from “will buy” to “must buy”. More »
Nintendo President Doesn’t Think Friend Codes Are Perfect (Who Agrees?)
10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Even Nintendo president Satoru Iwata doesn’t think friend codes are prefect. Heck, hear him say it: First of all, I don’t think the current system we have with friend codes is perfect. However, if it’s an online world where you can get access to anybody without any restrictions, I as a father do not feel like allowing my daughter be engaged in that kind of world. So for Nintendo, especially in terms of the people who have never experienced online video games before, we think that it’s still very important to create a world where we can assure that there will be no harassment for these online beginners, and we really want to assure the security and safety for them to do that. So we will be studying this on an ongoing basis in order to improve Nintendo’s own circumstances where people can freely and safely enjoy the communications through the net. Quick show of hands. Who likes friend codes? Okay, who tolerates them? And, who hates them? Nintendo is doing its best to make sure that its online service is friendly to all players, and the company should be commended for that. (Think of the children!) Interview: Satoru Iwata Talks [GameDaily via CVG] More »
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There Are Finally Clueless, Mean Girls & Pretty In Pink Games In Development
9:30PM Luke Plunkett | Seriously. If you remember, back in March Paramount movie studios announced they were getting into the gaming business. Today, they’ve announced their first three titles. To be developed in conjunction with Legacy Interactive, the first three games (all adaptations of films, obviously) will be…yes, Mean Girls, Clueless and Pretty in Pink. No word on target platforms or anything of the sort, but Legacy are in the business of cheap, disposable/casual titles, so anyone hoping for a sprawling, 100+ hour adventure based on the busy social life of Cher Horowitz will most likely be sorely disappointed. Universal gets into games with Wanted, Paramount making Pretty in Pink videogame [Variety] More »12 Yr. Olds And Up Get Tentacles, Rope Play And Suggestive Udder Spray
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft |
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British Sales Charts
8:30PM Luke Plunkett | And the gentrification of the British gaming scene continues! While American charts continue to be a refuge for games about big men with guns, this week’s British charts only reaffirm the fact that the sceptred isle’s great unwashed care not for the adventures of Snake, or what kind of company Battlefield keeps. They care about anything that has “Wii” in front of it, or is for the Wii, or just looks like it’s for the Wii. More »
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Of Course, Capcom Wants Mega Man 9 Hard
8:00PM Brian Ashcraft | When we were kids, Mega Man was a hard game. We died all the time. And when we were dying in Mega Man, we were dying in Mega Man. It was that hard. So when Capcom decided to make the multi-platform Mega Man 9, the company knew it had to make it hard. Says the game’s producer Hironobu Takeshita: Mega Man 9 is very hard. We didn’t want to do Mega Man, but easy. We want players to get better, we want them to remember. I’ve always tried to challenge players, and I think there are gamers who miss being challenged by games. We’d like to think so as well. Takeshita also expressed his interest in making more Wii titles, which is good news for Wii owners looking for a challenge. More »
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