Toronto-based independent video game studio, DrinkBox Studios, released their new PlayStation Network game today.
Guacamelee! is the third title from DrinkBox to be released on Sony’s download service. Previous games in their portfolio include About a Blob for the PlayStation 3 and Mutant Blobs Attack!!! for the PlayStation 3 and Vita.
“Guacamelee! is a Mexican-themed Metroidvania-style co-operative platforming brawler,” says Graham Smith, co-founder of DrinkBox Studios. “That’s a mouthful, but I’m pretty sure that’s the shortest way to describe it.”
Image provided by DrinkBox Studios
Guacamelee! features a distinct art style inspired by Mexican culture, featuring playable characters dressed in flamboyant Luchador wrestling garb fighting monsters inspired by Mexican folklore. “For example, the player encounters an Alebrije early in the game,” says Smith. “In Mexico, these creatures were created by an artist named Pedro Linres in the 1930’s, and are still commonly sold as sculptures.”
Guacamelee! has been DrinkBox’s largest production to date, with a 2-year development cycle, including 7-months of pre-production.
“With this long pre-production time, we were really able to flush out the game’s mechanics with a small team of people before moving into full production with the whole team,” says Smith.
Smith added that the team’s ambition with the project meant that the DrinkBox engine, used for Mutant Blobs Attack!!! was expanded in a number of areas, including combat systems, scripting systems, conversation systems, an in-game mini-map, and PlayStation 3-to-Vita features such as remote-play, which allows players to stream the game from their PlayStation 3 to their Vita, and cross-save that allows saved files to be transferred from the PlayStation 3 to the Vita.
“We were more ambitious with the characters and story in the game, including a lot of dialog, in-game and animated cut scenes with musical scores, and boss fights.”
Guacamelee! will be the third game from DrinkBox to launch on a Sony platform first.
“For Gucamelee! We are working with Sony as part of their Pub Fund program, which gives us an advance on royalties when the game ships in exchange for an exclusivity period,” says Smith.
When asked about releasing titles on platforms other than Sony, Smith adds, “We don’t have any objections to releasing on other platforms at all. Mutant Blobs Attack!!! was actually released on Steam a few months after the Vita version shipped and our engine runs on Xbox 360 as well.”
Guacamelee! is available on the PlayStaion 3 and Vita as a downloadable title through the PlayStation Network today.
The Playstation 4 was announced yesterday, arriving on the scene with equal doses of Sony’s trademark “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality (see: the name of the freaking console) and new innovation.
There’s a YouTube in my Playstation
First and foremost, Sony is focusing on making the new Playstation more social. The console relies on a cloud-based service called Gaikai to let gamers share their gameplay instantly, watch playthroughs and replays, and let friends watch you from their living rooms. You can even let a friend take over for a few minutes and beat that boss you’ve been stuck on, or watch in horror as they fling your character off a cliff and loot you. Oh, the possibilities!
Partly Cloudy
The cloud will also be used to download PSN and classic Playstation titles from the last three consoles, even letting you start playing a game as it’s being downloaded, saving you the precious 3 and a half minutes you would’ve spent playing a different game while that one was downloading. Sony knows that time is precious to you. You’ll also be able to instantly suspend and resume a play session just by pressing the power button on your controller.
The Vita’s Still a Thing
This is where the Vita comes in. Using the Vita in tandem with your shiny new PS4, you’ll be able to take those suspended games with you and keep playing, a new feature that totally doesn’t sound like another console that just came out a few months ago. Unlike that certain new console, you’ll be able to do this anywhere, not just in your bathroom, thanks to the cloud. Sony’s hoping this new feature will help save the Vita, or at least give your kids a reason to keep it once they find out it doesn’t play Pokemon.
The Dualshockvitaplay 4000
Ah, yes…the controller. The Dualshock 4, which has been causing a rumble (get it? GET IT?!) since pictures were leaked a week ago, combines aspects of the Dualshock 3, the Vita, the Playstation Move, and a VHS rewinder from 1987. You’ll still have the tried and true face buttons (sorry fans, guess you’ll have to wait another year for the long-awaited trapezoid button) and a slightly more comfortable-looking pair of analog sticks and d-pad. On the front Sony’s put a touchpad borrowed from the back of the Vita, and the back features a light bar that will take the place of a Move controller, allowing players to crash into buildings twice as much when they try to use it to fly in Arkham City. New to the controller is the share button, which lets you upload gameplay videos to the cloud instantly. This means we’ll likely see some popular “let’s play”-style video series emerge, while having to search through way more “re: OMG SLY COOPER PLAYTHROUGH HARLEM SHAKE” garbage to find them.
No More Cells
Don’t forget, there’s some chips and hard drives and doodads running this whole show, too. The PS4 architecture is taking a big step towards making game development easier and more powerful, with a PC-like environment boasting an X86 cpu and 8 GB of ram to the PS3′s 256 MB. In short, this means we’re going to see some powerful graphics processing, and game developers will be able to work with a system that’s more like a PC and less like a military supercomputer.
You Can Play Things On It!
Oh yeah…the PS4 has games, too. The lineup showed off during the conference seems a good deal more robust than the PS3′s initial offerings, with Killzone: Shadow Fall, Drive Club, and E3 darling Watch Dogs confirmed as launch titles. Sony also showed off a new original IP called Knack, Infamous: Second Son, and Braid developer Jonathon Blow’s new game, The Witness. Also notable is the announcement of a Diablo 3 port for both the PS4 and PS3 and Bungie’s Destiny.
What’s It Look Like?
As for what the damned thing actually looks like…Sony offered zero hints. Maybe the console’s in the cloud too, and you have to throw the controller into space to make it work. Who knows. But we do know the insides are going to be powerful, the games look solid, and the controller has a whole bunch of fun little touchy things. The Playstation 4 is slated for a 2013 holiday release, just in time for you to get elbowed in the ribs by a score of angry parents at your local Toys-r-Us.
All images/information credit: Sony Computer Entertainment, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiNGZMx2vhY&feature=youtu.be
Pictured, left to right: Old n’ Busted, New Hotness
The day is fast approaching where all media will be available predominately in digital form. Paper books are already being replaced by ebooks, newspapers are going out of print in favor of news media online, digital downloads of movies will overtake DVDs and Blu-ray, and systems like the PlayStation 2 will be replaced by the rumored Steam Box.
Oh wait, that already happened.
After 13 years, 150 million units sold, and over 10,000 games, Sony has announced that they are ceasing production of the PlayStation 2. When it first launched in 2000, its amazing technology left its rival systems Nintendo GameCube and Sega Dreamcast in the dust. It was backwards compatible, included a DVD player, as well as online multiplayer content. The PlayStation 2 was a huge leap forward in gaming technology, and its success has never been duplicated. It’s successor, the PlayStation 3, came nowhere close to repeating the PS2′s sales, and production on the PS2 continued until now.
While the PlayStation 3 (and it’s rival, the Xbox 360) made tremendous leaps forward in gaming technology, one of the biggest innovations was the PlayStation Store. It wasn’t just online multiplayer anymore, now gamers had full access to the internet to download games, movies, TV shows, and music. Hell, you can pre-order an upcoming release, and have it automatically download to your console on release day. It’s like something out of science fiction!
It’s also one of the many recent blows against physical media, the most recent of which is the newly confirmed Steam Box.
True, Valve’s gaming platform unveiled the Big Picture a few months ago, an interface catered to those who have their PCs hooked up to their televisions. But now all your Steam purchases can be enjoyed on its very own console, freeing up some of that hard drive space. Now you’ll have piece of Linux run hardware dedicated solely to playing your Steam library in your living room.
In an interview with Verge, Valve CEO Gabe Newell gave a few details.
What we see is you’ve got this sort of struggle going on between closed proprietary systems and open systems. We think that there are pluses and minuses to open systems that could make things a little messier, it’s much more like herding cats, so we try to take the pieces where we’re going to add the best value and then encourage other people to do it. So it tends to mean that a lot of people get involved. We’re not imposing a lot of restrictions on people on how they’re getting involved.
So are most of these going to be Linux-based Steam Boxes?
We’ll come out with our own and we’ll sell it to consumers by ourselves. That’ll be a Linux box, [and] if you want to install Windows you can. We’re not going to make it hard. This is not some locked box by any stretch of the imagination. We also think that a controller that has higher precision and lower latency is another interesting thing to have.
So what does this mean to the console industry? It would seem the only thing they’ve got going for them now is exclusive content. The openness promised with the Steam Box, the extensive game library and irresistible sales, the factthey are embracing the modding and indie game development community… it hardly seems like a fair fight. If the hardware capability is comparable to the current consoles, Sony and Microsoft need to step up their game with their next generation of consoles, or the PS3 and PS4 will have a much shorter lifespan than the stalwart PS2
Ten years is a long time for a video game machine.
There are not a lot of tech devices or hardware that go more than a year or two without some kind of substantial upgrade – look at the iPhone with its near annual revisions. Technology changes at breakneck speeds so when Sony says they will support the PlayStation 3 for a minimum of 10 years, you can understand some raised eyebrows.
“As regards home consoles, the PS3 was put into business in 2006, and it has a 10 year life cycle… I think the value of the PS3 will continue to rise,” says Sony President Kaz Hirai in an interview translated by Eurogamer in February of 2011.
But if you look at Sony’s history of how they deal with new hardware this does not necessarily mean we will not see a PlayStation 4 until 2016. Even after the PS3 launched in November 2006 the already aged PlayStation 2 still received support. The following year Sony published God of War II on the PS2. In fact in 2008, two years after the PS3 had already launched, the PS2 saw 71 new game releases, including Persona 4, Yakuza 2 and Kingdom hearts: RE:Chain of Memories. These were not last minute cash-ins, but significant releases with a budget and talent put into them. The PS2 was still alive and well.
There is also the Wii U launching next month. Sony has gone on record saying they are not concerned about the Wii U. In fact, Sony will have a new extra slim PS3 model launching near the Wii U, which also shows that Sony plans on supporting the PS3 brand well into the new year.
“We won’t be going after the same niche early adopter market [Nintendo] will be going after this Christmas,” says Sony UK Chief Fergal Gara in an interview with Eurogamer. “I think we’re sitting in separate camps at this stage, so it won’t be head to head.”
Of course, Nintendo has been playing up the unique interactions players can have by using their new touch screen enabled controller with the new high definition Wii U console. However Sony was quick to point out that what the Wii U can do is easily implemented using the PS3 and the new PS Vita handheld.
“We tell our PlayStation fans all the time that what the Wii U is offering is something that Vita and PS3 can do quite easily,” says Sony Executive John Koller in an interview with Tech Radar last month.
And while this is true, it also requires a significant investment on the consumer’s part, requiring the separate purchase of the PS Vita hardware, currently retailing for $249. But maybe more important is that this shows Sony still has significant plans for the future of the PS3.
However, even with the potential of the PS Vita helping combat the Wii U, new hardware may still be necessary in staying competitive. We may not be playing Uncharted 4 on a super-high definition, 4K resolution mega console using the PS Vita as a controller in the next 12 months but we can probably expect Sony to have spilled the beans on what we can expect from the next generation by then.
In short, the PS3 has the potential to keep on trucking into 2016, there is still a lot of exciting software coming out now and into the new year to keep people playing, but the tech consumer’s hunger for something new and exciting can only delay the launch of a new PlayStation console for so long.
Like the start of most of my ideas, I was sitting down drinking an ice-cold beer, playing some Xbox (Borderlands 2 to be specific) when I thought to myself there’s quite a few games they should really, I mean really, make into movies. We’ve seen some success with video-game turned movie franchises like Resident Evil and Tomb Raider, but I think we can all agree they are sometime lacking something. With the current creative state in Hollywood producing stellar comic book inspired films, hopefully fans can see such a transition into video game inspired films. So, hopefully a few Hollywood writers/producers visit WOTN here and are intrigued by my next few suggestions.
Legend of Zelda (Nintendo): Who wouldn’t want to see our favorite green-hooded hero save the lovely princess Zelda from God knows what evil warlords and wizards. The best part a movie version of the game could spin-off any number of the games such as Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword, or even just utilize those stories as a base for a brand new storyline incorporated solely for the movie adaptation. Either way, the simplicity of ‘unlikely hero saves a dashing princess’ storyline that drives the Zelda franchise is an easy recipe for box office success.
Soul Reaver (PS1): With the ultra-success of vampire centered stories nowadays, this should be a no-brainer. The American public loves vampires right now and personally I think all video game fans would applaud if Raziel made it to the big screen. A Soul Reaver movie would also create a new spin on the vampire movies of late. By new spin, I mean less love story and more action. The complexity of Raziel’s story makes for a great tale. Raziel goes from vampire royalty betrayed by his king to an undead servant of the Elder God; his new purpose in life is to now restore order to his decaying world and kill his former King who’s caused such unbalance in his homeland. It is a dynamic story because of Raziel’s ability to phase through two different dimensions (one being reality the other being purgatory), but I believe there is enough creative firepower in Hollywood to make this game into a fantastic movie.
Gears of War (Xbox): What can I say other than who wouldn’t want to his Marcus and Co. slaughtering Locust and defending Earth from extinction? A beloved franchise by gamers and quite possibly the most made-for-a-movie game I’ve played in recent years. An alien invasion leads to a human resistance and years of fighting turn the world into a war-ravished, post-apocalyptic scene. What more can movie goers want than a film that is sure to be high on action and a cast of brutally colorful characters?
Metal Gear Solid (Playstation): A bit confusing with an ever-changing cast of characters (or villains I should I say), but anyone who’s played any of the Metal Gear’s knows that the amount of cut scenes in each game makes it feel like you’re watching a movie rather than playing an epic video game. That being said, why not just make use of the excessive amount of cut scenes and unleash Solid Snake onto the big screen? The guy makes Jason Bourne look like a boy scout, so why not bring this wildly popular franchise to life?
Metroid (Nintendo): Samus may be one of the most wicked female characters in all of video games and she deserves some silver screen spotlight. I’ll admit the Metroid storyline appears a tad far-fetched for non-gamers, but when you simplify the game into a sci-fi action-thriller, whose main character is a female bounty-hunter you begin to notice a more marketable plot forming. Toss in today’s effective use of CGI and a Metroid-inspired movie does not seem all that far-fetched.
Final Fantasy (Nintendo/Playstation): I know, they made a Final Fantasy movie already, but they haven’t made a live-action one yet. Between Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII I believe there’s enough to build a strong movie with actual actors/actresses. Again special effects nowadays will be able to carry the action in the movie along with the use of magic (materia) that was a large focal point in both games. You could also make a movie off any number of the FF games, but I like VII and VIII because of their more modern setting than the other FF games who focus on a post-modern medieval time frame.
Assassins Creed (Xbox): Now with this beloved franchise I’d have to say a movie would need to eliminate a key part in the game, which is the split between Animus and reality. A first movie would need to focus largely on the action taken place in the Animus with Desmond Miles reliving his assassin predecessors’ memories. Near the end of the movie, it should showcase how the Animus is a machine and Desmond Miles is merely re-living past assassin’s lives through DNA enhanced memories setting up a second movie, which would shift focus on Desmond Miles out of the Animus and his present-day fight with the Templars. I say this because Assassins Creed is too complex of a story to fit into one movie and needs to be broken up into two parts between the two realities, otherwise it will turn off non-gaming fans.
Uncharted (Playstation): Being an Xbox guy I’ve never actually played the Uncharted series, but I have witnessed the stellar game play and graphics of the series and I’d be lying if I didn’t say it felt like I was watching a movie sitting on the couch watching friends play this game. Similar to Lara Croft in Tomb Raider the main character, Nathan Drake, is a modern-day treasure hunter who always seems to land himself into a heap of trouble while searching for priceless artifacts.
Mass Effect (Xbox): Last, but not least one of my favorite video game franchises of all time and one I believe most fans would love to see come to life. My only argument here is with so many characters a movie adaption may not actually do this video game franchise justice. I fear a movie adaptation would need to be a trilogy and a long trilogy at that, so may I suggest instead of a movie perhaps Mass Effect would better be represented as a T.V. series where characters and side plots are introduced systematically and are layered into the story. Either way, Commander Shepard’s story is to captivating not to market.
It’s been a long, hard road bringing the hit game series Metal Gear Solid to Hollywood, but now it appears that we’re finally going to see a movie following the exploits of Solid Snake.
Columbia Pictures and producer Avi Arad (Spider-Man, Iron Man) announced the upcoming film at the 25th anniversary event for the game series in Tokyo.
A Metal Gear Solid movie has been in the works since 2008, when Boogie Nights and Moneyball producer Mike De Luca was working on an adaptation that fizzled in 2010. X-Men and Watchmen screenwriterDavid Hayter tackled the project next with a new script in 2010, but once again the project fell through.
Series creator Hideo Kojima expressed his desire to see Christopher Nolan direct, but so far there have been no casting rumors or release dates announced. Who would you like to see play the leading man?
The official Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con brought some expected but nonetheless exciting news about two new playable characters.
First up is the star of Playstation 3 gems inFamous and inFamous 2, Cole McGrath.
As a HUGE fan of the inFamous games, I’m very excited to see that Cole is going to be included into Sony’s smash fighter. The reason I say that it was expected is because the actor who plays McGrath, Eric Ladin, is now infamous for revealing information via his twitter account. The information he tweeted a recently was supposed to be secret and the posts were removed fairly swiftly, presumably by request from Sony representatives. Here are the tweets:
As you can tell, Ladin confirmed Cole McGrath as character for Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale long before Sony did but it is still so cool to see the electrically charged hero/villain in action in the arena.
The other combatant(s) revealed are the long-standing Sony exclusive and titular heroes of the Jak and Daxter series, Jak and Daxter themselves.
While the duo have not featured in an original game on Sony’s current generation console, the recently released HD remastered Playstation 2 trilogy was met with large critical acclaim. While they have starred in games separately, Jak and Daxter will play as one character in Battle Royale. As one the leading series of the last generation, it didn’t take a detective to deduce that they would be playable characters in Sony’s upcoming massive fighting game.
Now that many of the most obvious characters have been announced, who else would you like to see in PlaystationAll-Stars Battle Royale? Let us know in the comments below, on Twitter or on Facebook.
First up isTekken‘s Heihachi Mishima. Mishima is the original antagonist of Playstation’s premiere beat-em-up series and is one of only four characters to appear in every installment to date. He has also appeared in theSoul series, Namco Bandai’s other long running fighting game. With such a storied history of combat, it’s easy to see how well Heihachi will fit in to All-Star Battle Royale.
Also announced is Sony’s Japanese mascot Toro Inoue. While not particularly well known overseas, Toro is a very recognizable face in Sony’s home country of Japan. Toro mostly recently appeared (alongside Heihachi Mishima, funnily enough) inStreet Fighter X Tekken.
Along with these new characters, a new stage called Dojo was unveiled. The stages in Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale are mash-ups of two signature Playstation games and Dojo is no exception, it’s a combination of Parappa the Rapper‘s Master Onion’s dojo andKillzone‘s waling fortress.
In the final pieces of news, Sony has officially confirmed that Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale will be available on October 23rd in North America, October 24th in Europe, October 25th in Australia & New Zealand and October 26th in UK & Ireland. Mark your calendars!
Smartphone and tablet devices have really taken off in the past five years.
Going from near obscurity to mainstream way of life in a very short period of time. It is not uncommon to see a half-dozen people or more with their nose in a Smartphone where they used to be in a newspaper or book on the subway or bus.
Well it looks like the three big console publishers, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, have taken notice. This year at E3 each of them outlined how they plan on keeping players connected through Smartphones and Tablets, syncing them with the video game experience.
Nintendo’s Miiverse
This may be most significant for Nintendo, since they have traditionally been most resistant to incorporating Smartphones into their business strategy. For over a year, Nintendo has had to deal with investors demanding they adopt a Smartphone friendly business model and they have finally solidified their mobile strategy.
Two days before Nintendo’s E3 show, they announced some of the functionality of their new Wii U console launching later this year (You can read our breakdown of that announcement here). The most significant announcement was the new online social network called Miiverse, where players can leave passive messages, see what friends and strangers are playing, and exchange content.
During the pre-E3 presentation, Nintendo President Saturo Iwata confirmed that Miiverse will also be accessible though the Nintendo 3DS and as an app on Smartphone devices “sometime after the Wii U launches.” He did not go into detail on which kinds of Smartphones will support the software, but it is still significant. Everything about Miiverse, from the social media influences to Smartphone integration, are light years ahead of the traditionally modest Nintendo method of online support.
However, Nintendo was not the only one with plans for supporting Smartphone devices in the coming year. In fact, both Sony and Microsoft announced their own strategies for incorporating Smartphones and tablets.
Microsoft’s SmartGlass
Maybe the most ambitious strategy is Microsoft’s SmartGlass software being incorporated into the Xbox 360. The concept behind SmartGlass seems to be one part Wii U like functionality, one part mobile entertainment experience. SmartGlass is an application that will allow users to sync their Xbox 360 with Windows Mobile, Android and iOS devices, including Smartphones and tablets. Unlike Nintendo’s strategy, SmartGlass seems to be an experience enhancer. One of the basic examples of how their device synchronization would work was allowing players to transfer a video they were watching on a tablet device on the bus to their Xbox 360 when they get home to finish watching their show seamlessly on their big screen. More complex interactions include getting preliminary data on videos or games they are running on their Xbox 360 to a tablet or Smartphone device.
Essentially, what Microsoft did was announce tablet enhanced controls, like inputting plays on Madden using a tablet, the day before Nintendo got a chance to blow-out their Wii U console, featuring a similar enhancement. And on top of that, with SmartGlass players can take advantage of the technology using hardware they may already own, rather than having to buy a whole new console. Granted, the Wii U has the benefit of having their tablet and game pad integrated into a single controller, but it was a big step against the new console. Another interesting point was that SmartGlass will work with just about any Smart device, not just the Microsoft branded Windows Mobile. Already we know that Halo 4 and Madden 13 will support the software, but time will tell how much support it will get in future games.
Sony’s Playstation Mobile
Finally, Sony made a new announcement for a new brand of Playstation certified Android phones called Playstation Mobile. Like last year’s Xperia Play Smartphone, Playstation Mobile will be a new line of THC Android devices that will be able to access the Playstation Store and play games developed using the Playstation Mobile Development Kit. It is hard to say how Playstation Mobile will be received, since the Xperia Play was met with a fairly lukewarm reception. How it integrates into the existing Playstation Network account may be key. Forcing players to purchase special Android hardware, rather than having Playstation Mobile integrate into a wider variety of Android devices, may hold Playstation Mobile back.
It was made clear at E3 2012 that into 2013 players can expect to see video games moving into a mobile environment aside from simply playing games on mobile and dedicated gaming handhelds. The Wii U and Xbox 360 social experience will be going beyond the living room and Sony’s Playstation Mobile will expand into more devices than just the Playstation 3 and PS Vita. In 2013 this may become just as important to gaming as functions like Xbox Live and the Playstation Network.
That sound you just heard? That was gamers everywhere rushing to make sure they had May 1st off of work.
Playstation announced today that they would be releasing the much loved game The Legend of Dragoonin their PSN Classics store on May 1st.
Originally released on December 2, 1999 in Japan, the game saw a US release the following year, releasing on June 11, 2000. It received mixed reviews initially, with Gamespot only giving it a 6.4 rating out of 10 and calling it a “highly generic RPG” that ”borrows too heavily from other games and lacks that ‘hook’ to make it worth dealing with excessive defending.” Nevertheless, in the years following it has amassed a huge cult following, still making it one of the go-to titles for many RPG gamers out there holding average user scores around 9/10 on Gamespot and IGN.
The Legend of Dragoon has you playing as Dart, a young man returning to his hometown after journeying to find and defeat the creature that killed his parents. He finds that his hometown has been destroyed in a civil war that is raging in the country and that his childhood friend, Shana has been taken by the enemy army. Dart sets off to rescue her, and before he knows it, is swept up in the civil war… and then a war greater than anything he ever imagined.
What made this game so unique for its time was the use of the “Additions” system in combat. Unlike other turn-based RPGs where you simply selected “Fight,” chose your target, and let the battle animation happen, you were forced to pay attention to your character’s attacks, and time button presses accordingly to finish combos that would help to charge your power. The more you completed these combos, the more powerful they got, and the more powerful combos you unlocked. It could be an exercise in frustration learning a new combo, but I know many gamers out there who still have the rhythm to the tougher ones memorized to this day.
Throughout the game, you also gained the power to transform into “dragoons,” powerful warriors that command the power of the dragons. This changed your combat by giving you access to powerful combos and spells instead of your normal tactics. You were on a timer after you transformed, and after a certain number of rounds in your dragoon form, you reverted back until you could gather enough “spirit points” to transform again, which were garnered by attacking foes in combat. As you leveled up, you were able to accrue more spirit points and thus stay in dragoon form longer.
The cinematics were stunning for their day, and while they definitely show their age today, they still look good. It also featured full voice over work for the characters during combat. When you successfully finished a combo in battle, you were awarded with the character shouting out the name of the move. The voice overs were hit and miss, but for the time, gamers weren’t used to much of this in their RPGs, and it was a welcome thing, no matter how cringe-worthy it might be today.
There’s no word on a price point for the re-release yet, but the post, which was written by Shu Yoshuda, one of the game’s producers, revealed an interesting little tidbit. Fans have for years been clamoring for a sequel to The Legend of Dragoon. There was one in production after he left the Japan Studio of Sony Computer Entertainment, but for some reason, the plug was pulled on the game.
I’ll finish this off with a quote from his piece (which can be viewed in its entirety here) and which sums up my feelings on the re-release perfectly.
It’s great to see the game being prepared for release as a PSone Classic on PSN, which means that fans can revisit the world whenever they want. Maybe it’ll make a new fans, too. Long live LOD!
At Anime Boston, Sentai Filmworks confirmed that it would be able to retain the original voice acting cast from the PS2 version of Persona 4 when the company begins production on the Persona 4 anime dub.
This announcement comes after months of fan speculation. Some believed the company would do everything possible to ensure the original voice actors were given their respective roles in the animation dub while others felt that it was just far too impractical for Sentai Filmworks to go through. Much to the delight of fans across the internet, however (myself included), all of the original cast will be returning to play their parts in the new dub.
While this news is absolutely wonderful, Sentai Filmworks has thus far been mum on a solid time-frame for the release as well as what sort of format the series will be released in. The company wants to gather more information on streaming numbers before they decide on home video formats and digital release patterns.
The Persona 4 anime is currently available on Hulu+ for streaming.
Welcome to the fifth issue of Nostalgia! Let me explain a little bit about what Nostalgia is. Nostalgia is an idea that came from the creative depths of my little mind that lets me bring back one retro game from the past to you guys! When I say past, I mean anything from the original Pong all the way up to good ol’ Playstation classics. If your one to yearn for the past than you can’t miss an Issue of Nostalgia!
WORMS
I remember playing Worms back in 1995. I had never heard of such a game until my uncle drove from Arizona to my house in Minnesota, on his motor cycle. All he brought with him was a little bag of clothes along with his Playstation and two games: Commandand Conquer Red Alert and Worms. C&C was to difficult for me to play at the time so my uncle busted out Worms. Once Worms was spinning in the Playstation I knew I was in for a treat. What I had just witnessed would change the style of game I preferred to play for a long time to come.
Worms is a turn based artillery game, similar to other early games in the genre such as Scorched Earth. The game is set on a two-dimensional field. The players control a team of worms, each consisting of four members. The objective is to kill every member of the opposing teams within a set time limit per round. Each turn, which lasts from 45 to 100 seconds, a player may move a selected worm and use one or more of the available weapons and tools.
The weapons include simple firearms like the shotgun and Uzi, alongside a variety of heavy weapons such as the bazooka (the default selection), cluster grenades and airstrikes. The game also includes a number of ‘secret’ weapons such as the Banana Bomb and exploding sheep, for which the series has become famous. Some of these weapons were so fricken funny. The sheep bomb was so funny I only used it for a laugh! Also available are various tools such as the ‘girders’ – primarily used to add protection – as well as the ‘drill’, ‘blowtorch’ and ‘ninja rope’, which are primarily available for greater mobility across the playing field. Some of these weapons in the game were so ahead of their time I could possibly imagine these in many other games. Once I used the blowtorch I realized that it might make a good weapon as well instead of just using it to digg through most of the level. So i lined it up to a worm and began to burn him with the torch why they screamed obscenities at me!
The game was originally created by Andy Davidson as an entry for a Blitz BASIC programming competition run by the Amiga Format magazine, a cut-down version of the programming language having been covermounted previously. The game at this stage was called Total Wormage (possibly in reference to Total Carnage) and it did not win the competition. Davidson sent the game to several publishers with no success. He then took the game to the European Computer Trade Show, where he met with Mark Foreman – Head Games Buyer at GEM Distribution. Mark suggested to Andy that he should speak to Ocean/Team17 as they would be an ideal partner – they also had a stand at the show. Team17 made an offer on-the-spot to develop and publish the game.
The game was called Total Wormage, before it was renamed Worms.
I still remember what the game felt like and played like today. I have had hours of fun playing this game. From listening to what they were saying all the way to throwing the banana bombs at them. Like I said before, this game led the way for other games. They have created so many other Worms titles now days that have many more options than the original.
The graphic for this game were very good at the time of its release; you had backgrounds and foregrounds that moved in opposite directions of each other. You had multiple levels and that looked like they just copied and pasted every worm. But it’s safe to say that it seemed like they used all the memory they could possibly use for this game.
The sound in this game is something that can never be forgotten. It was original and kept you focused into the game. The best part was how many different phrases they had for the worms for each different attack and effect. The weapons sounded very good too. All around the sound is still up to par with today’s standards.
As if Katamari on a portable device with dual-analog sticks wasn’t enough of a reason to encourage my purchase of a Playstation Vita, Atlus announced the game that seals the deal for me.
Persona 4.
The Persona series is an absolutely fantastic set of JRPGs done by the popular company, Atlus. Atlus always puts out good work, and if Persona 3 Portable (known to fans simply as P3P) is anything to go off of, Persona 4: The Golden will provide a solid roleplaying title for the still green Vita.
The title hits in Japan on June 14th. Pre-orders for the regular edition and a special Famitsu DX Edition (which will feature tons of extras including Marie’s multi-purpose pouch, six A3-sized clear posters, and a Persona 4 manga) have already begun.
There has been no solid word on a release date for English-speaking countries, but there is very little doubt in my mind that we will get such a date very soon. In the mean-time, I leave you with the breath-taking design that will be gracing the cover of the Japanese title done by character designer and art director Shigenori Soejima.
Love prizes? Zach and Jerad do! That’s why there are so many chances to win some in this weeks’ episode! Not only are their chances to win great prizes, they also go over A LOT of gaming news. Jerad and Zach talk about a slew of topics. They cover the mass effect 3 demo along with a brief review of SSX. They then discuss a few old games from the past that hold a special place in gamer’s hearts. Sit back and enjoy the sounds of The Dork Side.
On this weeks EXCITING episode Jerad and Zach are lone rangers, secretly they are joined by the washer and Bird along with a surprise noise from Kim, They go over a whole slew of news. First they talk about Zach’s new laptop then they move on the classic games of the past where Jerad covered Star Wars for the NES and Zach talked about Vigilante 8 for the PS1. They then go over the new SSX for the Xbox 360. After wards they announce the winners of Nostalgia as well as Guss the game. They come back after commercial break to listen to play Big Lip Radio Essy Bits of the Past, they spun Nostalgia and Guess that Game. they wrap up the show with discussions on Batman Arkam City as well as Zach’s modded controller. So sit back and relax while you listen to the sound of the noise dryer and chirping birds of Jerad and Zach.
Welcome to the Second issue of Nostalgia! Let me explain a little bit about what Nostalgia is. Nostalgia is an idea that came from the creative depths of my little mind that lets me bring back one retro game from the past to you guys every Thursday! When I say past, I mean anything from the original Pong all the way up to good ol’ Playstation classics. If your one to yearn for the past than you can’t miss an Issue of Nostalgia!
I can’t believe I still remember this game like it was yesterday! I can remember a time when my brother and myself we waiting anxiously all night for my uncle to ride into town on his cool motorcycle. We were around the age of ten and my uncle had been living in Arizona while we lived in Minnesota at the time. So my brother and I are playing the same old games that we have been playing for years, simply because we did not have money of our own and out parents had other things to spend their money on. Sp finally my uncle arrives around 1am in the morning. We are peeling our eyelids back with tape, we were so excited. Low and behold the awesome uncles pulls out of his mysterious pack a square shaped jewel case. We knew at that moment we would be up for another 4 hours. Yes my friends we were up till 5am playing Vigilante 8for the Playstation.
The developer of the two Vigilante 8 games, Luxoflux, produced a game very similar to Vigilante 8 using the Star Wars licence (and the Vigilante 8 game engine), titled Star Wars: Demolition, and has since produced the Grand Theft Auto-inspired True Crime: Streets of LA.
Vigilante 8 is also very similar to the Twisted Metal series, but with improved graphics and more realistic physics. Vigilante 8 and Vigilante 8: Second Offense were innovative in the degree of level interaction, weapon design and combo systems. It should also be noted that, in the PlayStation version of the game, you may switch the Vigilante 8 disc with any audio CD to replace the game’s soundtrack; the game will continue to play without the game disc.
The game’s storyline is built around an alternate history, in which there was a worldwide oil crisis in the 1970s and the U.S. was on the verge of an economic breakdown. Strikes, riots and crime were rampant, and all available law enforcement were brought to the cities leaving the outlands vulnerable. A foreign multinational oil consortium, Oil Monopoly Alliance Regime (OMAR), was determined to monopolize the world oil trade. The U.S. was the last country that stood in their way and they were prepared to go to any length to bring the U.S. to its knees.
OMAR hired Sid Burn, a professional terrorist, to push the U.S. economy over the edge. Sid began to organize his troops in the remote areas of the southwest. Calling themselves the “Coyotes,” they began to target oil refineries, commercial installations and other vital industry throughout the region. With the law enforcement in the cities, some desperate civilians began to take the law into their own hands. Led by a trucker named Convoy and referred to simply as the “Vigilantes,” this oddball group soon became a major hindrance to Sid.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government, feeling more vulnerable than ever, was intensifying its research and development of a new military arsenal. The most advanced weaponry, rumored to be based on UFO technology, was located at Site-4, a secret facility at Papoose Lake. This information was not lost on Sid, and the Coyotes ambushed the facility. However the Vigilantes unexpectedly appeared to stop them and as a result, both parties found themselves in possession of the world’s most advanced weaponry.
What followed were no ordinary skirmishes. Auto clashes ensued all over the land, from Colorado’s Rockies to California’s farmlands, only to culminate in a battle like no other. To this day the events which took place are only a matter of speculation.
As far as the game play, it was like Twisted Metal but more intuitive. It was much more simple to control and just like a pick up and play. The graphics weren’t to impressive compared to now but in its time they were AMAZING! The weapons in this game were much like you would imagine would be taped to a car, getting ready to blow up another car. It was fun for hours. Using different players that had different special weapons was just so fun. The level design was simple but complex at the same time, meaning the weapons were easy to find but at -3" src="http://www.wordofthenerdonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/37772-Vigilante_8_U-3-300x213.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="213" />the same time that easy to find weapon would be floating and you would have to find a way to launch of certain objects to get that weapon.
They also released Vigilante 8: second offense for a few of the systems and Vigilante 8 arcade for the Xbox live market place for only 400 Microsoft Points.
Have you checked out the Kickstarter page for “A CON-voluted Story”? Our very own Word of the Nerd team is involved with this awesome project! Show them some love!
Welcome to the first issue of Nostalgia! Let me explain a little bit about what Nostalgia is. Nostalgia is an idea that came from the creative depths of my little mind that lets me bring back one retro game from the past to you guys every Thursday! When I say past, I mean anything from the original Pong all the way up to good ol’ Playstation classics. If your one to yearn for the past than you cant miss an Issue of Nostalgia!
Nostalgia #1: Streets of Rage
In the first issue of Nostalgia I’m bringing back Streets of Rage. Streets of Rage is a game that is near and dear to my heart, maybe even the video game that opened my eyes to games all together! It was released in Japan on August 2, 1991 and was brought to the U.S. shortly after in September of the same year. As time went on, a few sequels were released (Streets of Rage 2, Streets of Rage 3) along with ports to many other systems such as the Game Gear, Sega CD, and the Master System. In 2007, the game was released on the Virtual Console for the Wii. In 2009 it was released on the iPhone and one of the later installments (Streets of Rage 2) was also released on the Xbox Live Arcade for 800 MS points.
Streets of Rage was the first game I ever played. I can still remember my first experience like it was yesterday. Sitting there on the floor looking at my old television with my jaw stuck in the zombie state (open) I decided to grab the controller and flip the power switch. The word “SEGA” appeared on the screen followed by the famous SSEEEGGGAAA jingle. I was hooked. The fact that Streets of Rage was the game cartridge still in the SEGA was luck. It could have been any game in that system. I have now been playing Streets of Rage for about 19 years, and it still makes me drool. Let’s find out why it was able to grab the attention of so many gamers.
Plot & Characters
“Adam Hunter, Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding decided to forgo their careers in legal law enforcement and put their lives on the line. They are without weapons, but each possesses great hand-to-hand combat abilities. Take them into the heart of the city and battle the most dangerous wave of bad dudes and chicks ever assembled. Make the city a place where people no longer have to walk the Streets of Rage!”
There were a total of 3 characters that you could choose to play with. Not much, but for the Sega it was pretty impressive.
Adam Hunter (left), an ex-cop and an accomplished boxer. He is noticeably slower than the other characters. This is Adam’s only appearance as a playable character in the Streets of Rage series, although he and his kid brother, Skate, figure largely into the plot of the sequels.
Axel Stone (center), an ex-cop and skilled martial artist. He is the most moderate of the three characters as he moves slightly slower than Blaze but faster than Adam and is stronger than Blaze but slightly weaker than Adam. His only negative attribute is his weak jumping ability compared to the other characters. Along with Blaze, Axel features prominently in each game of the Streets of Rage series.
Blaze Fielding (right), an ex-cop and judo expert. She is somewhat weaker than the other characters but is the most agile of the three as she can jump the highest and move about more quickly. Her jump attacks have the longest range. Along with Axel, she is playable in all three games of the series.
Back-Up Enforcer (not shown) He is not a playable character and is only seen during “special attack” sequences and during the ending credits. The one good cop left on the force, he has secretly allied himself with the three player characters and so provides fire support to all three throughout the game. He is summoned when the player is in tight situations – he clears the area with either a missile-launcher or heavy-duty machine gun.
Sound
The game’s soundtrack was acclaimed, with several soundtrack albums being released. The soundtracks were composed by Yuzo Koshiro. Three soundtrack CDs were released in all, each of which now sell for high prices at auction and in Japanese markets. If you get a chance check out MegaDriver, they make great recreations of the sound tracks with real instruments.
Graphics
The graphics in Streets of Rage have no significance compared to other games of the time. But when Streets of Rage 2 and 3 come along then they start to get much better and note worthy. Although I still try to recreate those graphics in personal projects but I can not seem to get the technique down. The style that they have is hard to recreate.
Gameplay
This game reminds me of Golden Axe, which was released two years prior. Bad guys walk onto the screen from all angles. The player must defeat each opponent to progress through eight locations, known as rounds. With the exception of round seven, there is a boss battle at the end of every round with a disproportionately large enemy. Unlike its sequels, none of the enemies are named within the game (only in the Japanese version’s manual) and only the bosses have life gauges. In Streets of Rage, the special attack is assistance from a police car, which will pull up at the level’s left and fire explosives, taking health from all enemies. The player is given one special attack per-life or per-level, with power-ups shaped like police cars giving another. In round eight, the special attack cannot be used. Depending on whether the game is played in one-player or two-player co-op, and the player accepts or rejects Mr. X’s offer to become his henchman, there is a possibility for an alternate ending where the player becomes the new head of the crime syndicate.
The gameplay is very addictive and has a quality about it that keeps you coming back for more, weather it be popping quarters into one of the cabinets or just hitting continue on the home console, this game has a bunch of replay value. The value of replay to me means that there needs to be an addicting quality such as getting a high score, collecting different items with each run through, or alternate endings.
Overall
Overall, this game was not a mile stone, but that fact that it is still around today must mean something. This goes down in my book of “Games You Must Play Before You Die.”
Another great piece of information about this game is the fact that they had three six-part comic strip series based upon the games and appeared in Sonic the Comicin the early 1990s. The first two of these were written by Mark Millar, while the other was written by Nigel Kitching. The art for all of the issues was produced by Peter Richardson.
Yes, you crazy Walking Dead lovers, the rumors have come true. The video game following the loved series “The Walking Dead” has been announced by Telltale Games. There will be a series of video games released for multiple consoles and platforms. It will be a year to year deal, like the Call of Duty series and according to Robert Kirkman, the first game was suppose to be released in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Telltale is a great developer known for their line of adventure games like Sam & Max, Monkey Island and most recently Back to the Future. Telltale Finished Jurassic Park and they announced Fables game.
At this point in the game’s development it is still unclear as to what the game has to offer as well as to exactly what systems it will be on – it has been announced that it will be on the PC, Mac, consoles, handhelds, mobile, and social platforms, but none specific. It also hasn’t been determined what genre the game will be –Kirkman told IGN, “The game is at an early stage, and we’re in the process of mapping this all out now.” One thing that we do know is that the video game will take place in the comic book world and will play out over many chapters, as Telltale are known for and normally do.
The comic book series was adapted into an AMC television series last October 2010. The first season will be out on DVD and Blu-ray on March 8 2011, while the second season premiered October of 2011, and had it’s mid-season return just last Sunday February 12th. Be sure to sign up on Telltales website for the most recent news dealing with the video game!
Have you checked out the Kickstarter page for “A CON-voluted Story”? Our very own Word of the Nerd team is involved with this awesome project! Show them some love!
There isn’t a lot of information yet, but what is clear is that the adorable Sony mascot, Sackboy, is going to be getting behind the wheel in something called LittleBigPlanet Karting.
Sony confirmed the title on Twitter, though little else has been said.
In fact, nothing else.
Some comments floating around the internet express concern over the idea of Sackboy coming to a racing type game. Is this going to become direct competition with ModNation Racers? Will this end up replacing the already beloved ModNation series? Is Sony potentially harming the charming and very unique series by letting it expand into something other than what it was originally intended to be?
I don’t have the answers to those questions, and Sony isn’t talking yet. But what I can say is that Sackboy is absolutely adorable, and I think that with the right creative team and the proper direction, LittleBigPlanet Karting could be an absolutely fantastic game.
What do you think? Do you share some of the worries about the direction? Or are you just excited to put that little burlap man behind the wheel of a cardboard car?
Gotham City Impostors is a game that came from the creative minds of Monolith Productions who have been creating insane games since 1997. You may have heard of a few:F.E.A.R.™, Contract J.A.C.K.™, TRON® 2.0and many more. If you haven’t heard of these than you NEED to come out from under that rock! They put this game out for download only on the Xbox 360, PC, and Playstation 3 for 1200 Microsoft points or $15 bucks.
Why fight crime when you can kill it.Gotham City has gone insane! Batman is up to his pointy ears in unwanted “helpers” determined to dish out their own bloodthirsty brand of vigilante justice in his name (and image). Meanwhile, a small army of self-appointed junior Jokerz has turned the streets of Gotham into a barmy battlefield of bullets, bodies, and bear traps.
Gotham City Impostors is a 6 vs. 6 first person multiplayer shooter that puts you in the roll of either batz (batman wannabes) or a junior Jokerz ( wannabe Jokers). You are pit up against one another in 3 different modes such as Team Deathmatch, Fumigation, and last but not least Psych Warfare. There are 2 other game modes (Challenges and Initiation) that allow you to learn the basics and then hone your skill to be that better player.
When it comes to customizations there is no limit in this game. From weapons all the way to your voice you are able to change it all. When you first start your game none of the customization items will be open for use. You have to progress through the ranks much like MW3 or BF3 in order to open up different items and categories. The weapon customization system reminded me a lot of MW3′s system, you can pick a custom class than choose your weapon, throw on some attachments, and paint it different styles of camo. You can then pick some “perks” to help you along the way such as better defense or maybe roller skates or even a grappling gun. Like I said almost exactly like MW3. That is not a bad thing at all. If their were mods to throw Batman themes and such on MW3 I would but now we don’t have to, we have this game. Their are even titles and emblems in this game. When it comes to character customization You can pretty much do everything and anything. Yes you are only limited to one of a thousand or so character options, but there are so many you wont even notice that you can’t alter the boob size are change the jaw line.
The graphics are very comparable to the original Call of duty Modern Warfare. They are fun and keep you glued to the game. Gotham City Impostors has 5 maps Amusement Mile, Ace Chemical, Crime Alley, Docks, and Gotham Power. The maps are some of the most impressive multiplayer maps I have seen in any downloadable game. They are all medium in size but allow you to glide, jump, bounce, or repel up the side of buildings to reach the top. You can only imagine what type of advantages a good sniper will have in this game. I find that the medium size maps also allow for faster game play which eliminates the urge to quit or just sit their pissed off due to the fact that you have to run all the way across the map to get back in the action.
Overall this game is way under priced and I would NOT mind paying $60 bucks to get into the action! Their is almost as much content as MW3 has to offer. This game amazes me in ways that only non-money hungry developers and publishers can do. Go get this game and play the HELL out of it! You will not regret it!
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