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Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land Earlier this week Microsoft let me try Project Natal in a hotel suite where test-versions of the new gaming sensor array was set up. Three times, I thought I found a flaw in the systems.
Well, have you? No? Well, if you ever did, Kudo Tsunoda and the technology behind Microsoft’s Project Natal finally make it possible for you to uncover the fascinating mystery of Xbox 360 Avatar footwear.
During my dinner with Shane Kim and Kudo Tsunoda I started talking with Kim about Rare’s relatively checkered history with Microsoft.
In the late 90s Rare established themselves as a top-tier studio, producing such classics as GoldenEye and Donkey Kong Country for Nintendo. But in 2002, Microsoft bought up the company and prepared to have the studio start work on some of the marquee titles for their upcoming Xbox 360.
I told Kim that back before the Xbox 360 launched I had heard that Rare’s Perfect Dark Zero was meant to be the platform’s launch title, the reason gamers would take notice of the 360 and decide to buy into the new platform.
When the game finally hit, with the launch of the 360 and Rare’s other title Kameo, it was met with a mixed reception, certainly not the sort that Microsoft had bet on.
Is Rare, I asked Kim, a developer that better suited to the audience and platforms of Nintendo gaming?
Last night Microsoft hosted a dinner with Shane Kim and Kudo Tsunoda for myself and four other game journalists after the Electronic Arts gathering. For most of the dinner our group huddled around the table talking games and eating Hawaiian fusion food.
Tsunoda, who was unfortunate enough to be sitting right next to me, spent much of the evening trying not to answer questions about Gears of War 2 and his new role as the game’s general manager. He said he felt fortunate to be working at Microsoft Game Studio and in particular to be working with Cliff Bleszinski and the folks at Epic Games.
MTV’s Stephen Totilo and I tried to pin Tsunoda down on how the game would fit into the Gears universe. Was it, Totilo asked, part of a trilogy. We haven’t decided yet, Tsunoda responded and then tried to change the topic, saying that the game has plenty of things to do in the way of improving on the original title.
Now that EA Chicago has closed its doors and former general manager of the studio, Kudo Tsunoda, has moved on to Microsoft, what will become of the destruction-filled Marvel fighting game the team had planned? Nothing, according to GameTap, as the parties involved have “jointly agreed to discontinue development of the Marvel titles under the EA Games Label.” That means that the ill-conceived Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects will be the only game to shoulder the burden of the EA-Marvel crossover deal.
Shown only in trailer form, the EA Chicago fighter looked to bring Marvel mainstays Spider-Man, Dr. Doom, Captain America and the Hulk together for a next-gen fisticuffs-fest that saw the characters battling amid crowds of bystanders, toppling buildings and generally wreaking havoc. Marvel’s other multi-character title, Marvel Universe Online, has also been the subject of cancellation talks. Maybe Marvel should just stick to movies.
When Electronic Arts shuttered its Chicago-based development studio, the one responsible for titles like Fight Night and Def Jam Icon, EA prez Frank Gibeau chalked it up to an inability to meet standards for “responsibility for product quality, ship dates and profitability.” Tough words, especially when some of that blame was most likely shouldered by former general manager of the studio, Kudo Tsunoda. Fortunately for Tsunoda, he has a new home, with GameTap reporting today that he’s landed at Microsoft.
Tsunoda, best known for his fighting games, including a licensed Marvel Comics brawler that may have been scrapped, has been supposedly put to work on a popular franchise. A new Gears of War title is said to be his first project. An interesting fit. And by interesting, I mean, you better not screw this up, Kudo, or you’re in big trouble. Oh, and congratulations.
