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Rockstar Games Presents: Asked and Answered!

Jahanzeb Khan
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Rockstar Games has just published the very first edition of Asked & Answered, a series of articles where they will be responding to questions sent by fans via Twitter, Newswire, Facebook, and emails. Below are some selected questions with official responses, and fans can still continue to send questions to Rockstar Games at [email protected].

 

“Nooooooooooooooo why is [Max Payne 3] getting delayed??????” – MRMARTSON
We understand it’s disappointing to have to wait another couple months for the game, but we hope you know our goal is always to deliver the best games we possibly can. Trust that the delay is all to ensure the game is as epic and highly-polished as possible. Thank you all for your patience and understanding. We believe it will be well worth the wait.

“18th of May is also for Australian release?” – Jortan

Yes, the Australian release of Max Payne 3 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will also be on May 18th.

“Hey @R* can you show us the final cover for Max Payne 3?” – maciej595revan
“When will you guys show us the final cover art of the standard edition?” – emmi18176860

The final cover art will be revealed in the next few  weeks – stay tuned.


“@RockstarGames Why the two week delay for the PC version?” – wazups2x via Twitter

We also would like the Max Payne 3 PC release to happen as close as possible to the console release date. It just wasn’t possible to get the PC version lined up day and date with the console releases, but we’re working to make sure it’s with you just a couple weeks thereafter.

“Any chance there’ll be a feature sometime showing how Rockstar took the fan’s faces from picture to screen?” – Marney-1
“@R* Will you show us this screen of the selected people to be in the game, but with the in-game engine? I want to see how the faces look like with the engine.” –Undertaker13

Absolutely. They’re all being implemented now as we speak, using production photos provided by the fans we chose in the #MaxPayne3 casting event on Twitter. We’re excited ourselves to see the finished results and will be sharing a look with you all when they’re ready.


“What is the deal with giving U.S the game 3 days early? why do you do this?” – x_STREETKING_x
“Why does it get released later for Europe is it because of shipping?” – i-dunn0-o

No, it’s not because of shipping, it’s just the way entertainment gets released between the two different territories at retail – in the US, games, music and DVDs come out on Tuesdays and in Europe, on Fridays – so that is how our releases come out. We did, with GTAIV, try a global release – but it was very complicated and created a lot of problems with retail in Europe. We are old enough to remember when there were often months between American and European releases, and believe three days difference is not a huge deal, but we would also just as well prefer it if everywhere was easily set up for releases to be on the same date.

“It is written that BOPE will appear in the game, right?
But I would like to know how can this happen if the game is set in São Paulo and BOPE is from Rio de Janeiro.
I’m looking forward for an answer.” – LFKS123

No actually, the special police force in the game is the fictionalized UFE (Unidade de Forças Especiais) which are inspired by many of the real-life units mentioned in our first Max Payne 3 Research article – such as the GATE, GARRA, and GOE of São Paulo.


“I wanna know more about the shooting system Rockstar. Will Max Payne 3 have free aim like the PC originals?” – received via Mouthoff

Yes. The Max Payne series was built on its precise and fluid shooting mechanics, and a huge amount of work has been put into ensuring Max’s aiming and weapon balance systems not only live up to the reputation of the original but also try to maximize what is possible with modern third and first-person shooters, enabling us to deliver fluid free-aim mechanics on both PC and console. To go more in-depth and see some of it in action, check out our latest Design and Technology series video focusing on targeting and weapons.
We want lovers of the series to be able to dive right into free aim, but we also want to provide a range of aiming options and difficulty levels for players of all skill levels, so you’ll find a range of aiming options available whether you’re a hardcore shooter player or a newcomer to the series.

“Is James McCaffrey doing the voice again? That would really mean a lot to the game in my opinion! :)” – Faurschou

Yes, make sure to watch our official Max Payne 3 Pop-Up Edition Trailer where we confirm that tidbit along with lots of other facts about the game. He is also the face of Max in Max Payne 3, and provides the majority of his movement, in and out of cutscenes.


“I’m dying to know if we’ll be able to use Bullet Time in the Multiplayer part of Max Payne 3 too, or is it a singleplayer exclusive? Could it be kinda like the Dead-Eye integration we all know from Red Dead’s Multiplayer?” – BorisBlack
“How will Bullet-Time be in Multiplayer? Will it even be there or just for the single player experience? Thanks R*” – emmi18176860

Max Payne’s multiplayer is all about taking the physicality and tech of Max’s movement and shooting abilities and translating that directly into multiplayer in a way that fits with the overall story and the themes of the game, so getting Bullet Time right in the multiplayer experience is a huge priority. Bullet Time in multiplayer works via line of sight rather than applying to the whole level, or to a bubble around the player. While Bullet Time is Max’s special ability, it is just one of a range of special abilities  – called Bursts – that you’ll find in multiplayer. Each Burst plays on an aspect of Max Payne 3’s overall themes such as conspiracy, paranoia, heroism, betrayal – and all come into play in our new narrative-based gameplay mode, Gang Wars. You can read more first details about Max Payne 3 multiplayer here  http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/121/1214745p1.htmland we will be revealing much, much more information very soon.

“Hey Rockstar, can you change outfits in MP3?” – denisiscena
“Love the video, can’t wait until Max Payne 3 comes out – can you change the outfits Max wears in the game and how does the weapons wheel work?” – tombstone14

As you play through the story of Max Payne 3, each outfit is contextual to the narrative of what is happening at that level. For example, in the office level, Max is wearing that grey suit as he has a meeting with his new employer, Rodrigo Branco (apparently a quite eventful meeting at that).
As for the Weapon wheel, Max can carry three weapons at all times – two smaller one-handed weapons (like handguns and small automatics) and one larger two-handed weapon (such as an automatic rifle). The Weapon wheel allows you to quickly select between these three weapons. It also allows you to choose to dual wield the two single-handed weapons.

“I’m a big Grand Theft Auto fan, and have extensively played and loved every game in the series, and upon research I came across screenshots and other information about the beta version of GTA III that was given to game testers, and some of the beta cars and features that were removed. Since it’s been long since GTA III was sold at retail and interest is in the IV / V series now, I thought I’d email asking if there was any way I could obtain a copy (at a cost for inconvenience). I realise some things weren’t put in the games for certain legal reasons for the retail copies, and you may be under legal obligation not to let the beta’s out anymore, but no harm in me trying. Hope to hear from you soon :)” – received via Mouthoff

One important thing we should clarify is that the early work-in-progress version of Grand Theft Auto III you’re referring to was not a proper ‘beta’ but an early pre-alpha build that was far from complete or really functional. While it would be a fun thing in theory to be able to pull up and play it to check it out, unfortunately it’s technically not possible. Thank you though for reaching out, it’s certainly been a lot of fun revisiting the days of GTAIII’s development with our long-time fans recently (make sure to check out our 2-part series of fan questions answered about Grand Theft Auto III here).

“When will we know more about #GTAV” – Fash08 (via Twitter)
“When’s the release date for GTA5” – Akiieran (via Twitter)
“Can we expect a 2nd trailer this year for GTAV?” – mats hoi
“Any more news about GTAV on the way, I can’t wait!!!!” – mattoneill1991 (via Twitter)

First of all, we’d like to again thank you and everyone out there for the amazing response to the debut Grand Theft Auto V trailer. We know that there are a ton of questions you all have about the game, including release date and lots else.
Right now, we are very hard at work on the game and are excited as well to show and tell you more as development progresses – expect that we’ll be talking much more about GTAV starting at some point in a few months’ time.
Please hang tight until then and thank you all for your patience and support!


“Rockstar, I really can’t wait for new information about the new GTA. And is it only in Los Santos or too in SF and LV?” – MatsvanStam

As we revealed in our announcement about the game being officially in full development, Grand Theft Auto V is set in the city of Los Santos and its surrounding hills, countryside and beaches – and it will be the largest and most ambitious open world game we’ve ever created…

“Hello, I just purchased L.A. Noire and the extension for GTA (PS3) that includes The Ballad of Gay Tony. Firstly, I must say both are impressive games. L.A. Noire in particular is a work of art. Frankly I’m shocked that any video game company is producing something of this caliber and depth when it would seem that the market tends to reward video game makers for making fluff. One thing that rubbed me just slightly the wrong way was the manner in which the topic of homosexuality was handled in The Ballad of Gay Tony. Make no mistake here, I was not offended by the portrayal of a stereotype – I would be quite the hypocrite to be playing GTA and offended by a social commentary hitting too close to home. Rather I was shocked by something much more subtle: the fact that the main character was unable to dance with the men in the gay bars. GTA allows the player to sleep with and murder hookers, but disallows dancing between two men. This seems to have been an intentional choice on the part of the creators of the game and begs the question: why not?” – received via Mouthoff

Thanks for the feedback. We are pretty confident that Luis can dance with a guy in Hercules. You have to dance well with a girl first, then a guy will come and challenge you, as a way of seeing who is the better dancer. Luis is a heterosexual character. Tony is a gay character. They are best friends and work together. Luis is a vain, psychotic, deluded and somewhat confused mess, but he is not remotely homophobic, nor is he remotely bi-sexual. So he dances with women, but he is comfortable helping to run a gay night club. With all our open world games, we try to provide a range of experiences that fit the character and help develop the character while providing a good range of things to do. So Niko didn’t dance at all, but Luis did, and Jimmy (from Bully) can kiss people but not shoot them, like a normal school boy. Meanwhile, in Red Dead Redemption, John Marston won’t cheat on his wife, or dance, but is happy slaughtering any number of animals.

“Hey R* is there gonna be something more about L.A. Noire?” – Dezpoztomuz

While there won’t be any more DLC or additional content for the current release of L.A. Noire (we’re all too busy working on Max Payne 3, GTAV and other games to come), don’t count out the possibility of a new game in the L.A. Noire franchise in the future. We simply have not decided anything. We’re all very pleased with how that game turned out and are considering what the future may hold for L.A. Noire as a series. We don’t always rush to make sequels, but that does not mean we won’t get to them eventually – see Max and Red Dead for evidence of that – we have so many games we want to make and the issue is always one of bandwidth and timing.

Transformers Generations Deluxe toys showcased

Jahanzeb Khan
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Leading toy manufacturer, Hasbro, has announced some new news based on the upcoming Transformers: Fall of Cybertron video game, and is part of the Transformers Generations Deluxe line of toys.

Hasbro will be releasing five new Transformer action figures in their Cybertronian form and they will be based on how they will be appearing in the video game. The five new figurines are: Blast-Off, Vortex, Deception Brawl, Swindle, and Onslaught. These characters can combine together into Bruticus, a Decepticon.

Each of the five figures has three modes: robot, vehicle, and a combiner mode that will allow them to link together to form Bruticus.

They look pretty cool, you can check all five of them in the gallery below.

 

UFC Undisputed 3 Review

Jonno Weiss
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UFC Undisputed 3 Review

UFC Undisputed 3
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Yuke’s
Platforms: Xbox 360 (Reviewed), Playstation 3,
Release Date: Out Now, worldwide
Price: $99.95 (Available here)


Overview:

The 2009 and 2010 releases of UFC Undisputed were both really solid games to say the least.  They captured the sport magnificently and with the improvements that 2010 made to the series it set the bar oh so high for UFC Undisputed 3.  Aside from the voting for the cover star, THQ’s lips were pretty tightly sealed for quite some time upon the details of the game, and to be honest I grew a bit skeptical with how much progress they had made with this release.  Once the roster was released my excitement started to grow, with a whopping 150 or so fighters included across 7 weight classes (size does matter I guess),  not to mention some pretty flashy trailers, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this game.  The thing with sports’ games is they need to go above and beyond the previous release for them to be worth purchasing, and for a lot of less hardcore sports fans this is a big deterrence for buying or repurchasing sports games.  So how has UFC 3 fared? Is it worth getting or will 2010 be good enough to keep you happy until they try again?


Gameplay:

The match engine in UFC 3 will feel pretty familiar for those who have played either of the game’s predecessors, however as you play more and more you’ll start to notice how much they’ve actually improved.  Not only has the sheer amount of moves almost doubled, the collision and environment detection and smoothness of transitions are really impressive and make the matches a joy to play.  There are still a few kinks that could be worked on such as the new submission system, which although is personally preferable over the old tapping system, still seems to be pretty impossible to escape when playing on the top level against the top submission fighters, even if it’s right at the beginning of a match.

UFC Undisputed 3 includes all the similar modes from before such as Title Mode and Defense, Ultimate Fights and of course Career Mode, all of which have received some major and minor updates respectively.  There has also been one major addition in the form of Pride mode, the now defunct, extremely popular MMA organisation, which gives UFC 3 a breath of fresh air.  Pride mode plays very similar to the rest of the game (with the obvious exception that it is in a four sided ring), but once your opponent stomps on your head while you’re lying on the ground, all of a sudden you’re almost playing a different game.


Pride fighting has also been incorporated into the Career mode, at which you can choose to enter a tournament if and when the opportunity arises.  Career mode, as always is arguably the most important and focused on mode in the game, and this time round it does not disappoint.  You now have the option to use a roster fighter instead of just a created one, and furthermore, you can now switch weight classes throughout your career, giving you the ability to dominate your division, as well as the one above and below.  The mode plays through very smoothly and is generally quite simple to navigate.

You choose the fight you want, and are then given two “actions” for pre-match workouts including various training drills, camp workouts in which you can learn new moves or improve old ones, and a “game plan”, which alters your stats for the upcoming match depending on the style you want to implement.  You also get sponsors, which you progressively unlock throughout the game which offer you gear and also increase your credit points you earn in a match (which are used for purchasing things such as more gear or upgrading your sparring partner).  The option to simulate the trainings and workouts is quite handy, although you’re guaranteed to get an average reward it still saves some time. Although not impacting gameplay so much, the addition of real fighter interviews for milestones such as your first title fight, first win, and first time you enter a Pride match, all really help boost the overall experience of career mode and the inclusion of multiple videos for each milestone makes replay-ability even greater.

Online play is very solid as well, with very little issue so far, but overall remains largely similar to previous versions. Although, the matchmaking intelligence appears to have been improved quite a bit and the new THQ servers appear to be running very efficiently.


Visual:

The graphics in UFC 3 are as good as ever and are on the whole extremely commendable.  The 150 fighter character models are generally well done and sweat and blood effects have improved slightly as well.  The move animations, entrances, and pre-match promos as well as training and extra scenes such as the weigh in are all fantastic, with very little to complain about.  Pride matches are even presented in a classic lighting making it feel much more authentic and adding to the alternative experience.

Audio:

The soundtrack for the game is nothing special and doesn’t seem to have much variation, however thanks to the shortened amount of time spent between matches this isn’t something that really bothered me too much.  The commentary in the game is great, albeit a bit repetitive at times.  My favourite part of the commentary is at the beginning of each match in Career Mode, in which the commentators will give a brief rundown on either your recent improvements in the gym or your current fighting streak.  To add even more quality to the presentation of Pride matches, Stephen Quadros and Bas Rutten have also been employed to commentate the matches as well as the [annoyingly amusing] ring announcer.  It’s a nice novelty although does get even more repetitive quickly.

Overall:

THQ and Yuke’s have taken a really good game in UFC Undisputed 2010 and evolved it into a great, highly polished, realistic and entertaining simulation of one of the fastest growing sports in the world.  The game itself still feels quite familiar but there’s nothing wrong with that.  UFC Undisputed 3 feels really well thought out, plays very smoothly and has improved on almost all of 2010’s shortcomings.  The addition of Pride mode helps spice up the game a bit and the cleaning up of Career Mode makes it incredibly addictive.  There’s always still room for improvement but THQ really haven’t given themselves too many options for that, although that being said the matches do occasionally start to feel a bit repetitive after a while, but maybe that’s just the way I play.  It’ll be really interesting to see how they can find new ways to improve next time around, but for now I’m pretty bloody happy with this one.

9-0-capsules-out-of-10

Shadows on the Vatican – Act 1: Greed Out Now

Jorel Alvarez
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The English version of Shadows on the Vatican – Act 1: Greed is now available for purchase for $7.49USD on Zodiac, a new digital delivery platform primarily on adventure and casual games.

The first of four acts, Act 1: Greed is a point and click thriller featuring well integrated puzzles and several hours of gameplay. The game follows James Murphy, an American ex-priest now living as doctor in Chicago as he goes back to the Eternal City after leaving the Catholic Church. He and his best friend, Father Cristoforo, get entangled in a web of mystery after digging deeper to what at first was just a missing briefcase. With the Vatican’s apparent involvement, what will they come across now?

New Release Date for Adam’s Venture 3: Revelation

Jorel Alvarez
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The development of Adam’s Venture 3: Revelation is ahead of schedule and the game will now be released 3 weeks in advance.

From the end of next month, the third and final instalment will now be available for English speaking territories and the digital release on 9th March 2012 and the localised German version will be available on 27th April 2012.

Adam’s Venture 3: Revelation is not available for pre-order at the moment so in the meantime check out Adam’s journey through the Holy Land to look for Eden in The Search for the Lost Garden, and his involvement in the hunt for Solomon’s Secret.

Zenonia 4 hits the Android Market

Jahanzeb Khan
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Independent mobile game developer, GameEvil, has just released the fourth installment of their popular RPG series, Zenonia. The latest entry, titled Zenonia 4, is available as a free download on the Android Market.

Zenonia 4 features vastly improved visuals, optimised to take advantage of the display settings of latest Android devices. Several additions have been made to the gameplay system in the form of new transformations, beast summons, and touchscreen gesture combos.

Some new additions have also been made to the mulitplayer aspect of it by adding a new 2-0n-2 battles and a ‘mercenary for hire’ system. The game also adds a host of new classes, weapons, skills, and some new characters and enemies.

“The series has gained a multi-million fanbase over the years and we set out to wow them all with our best-looking ZENONIA ever” said Kyu Lee, VP and Head of GAMEVIL USA, Inc. “We’re very excited that our Android fans will be able to enjoy the enhanced gameplay features and brand new adventure of ZENONIA 4 for free.”

Resistance: Burning Skies Release Date Announced

Joshua Spudic
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The first ever first person shooter that will emulate the console experience on an handheld has a release date. Resistance: Burning Skies will be released on the Playstation Vita on May 29, 2012, announced on a Playstation Vita live chat over on the US Playstation Blog. In addition to dual analog support, expect front and rear touch support for actions such as melee attacks and throwing grenades.

Set in a tale of survival during the August 1951 Chimeran invasion of the East Coast, you take control of Tom Riley, an everyday firefighter from New Jersey who is thrown headfirst into the teeth of the Chimeran war machine, forcing him to redefine his notions of duty and heroism.

You can check out the box art below, which was also revealed on the same live chat.

 

Ms. Splosion Man – A Valentine’s Challenge

Joshua Moris
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Running from February 14th to February 27th is the third installment to Ms. Splosion Man’s themed challenges. The newest competition is called “Shoot the Glass” and requires the player to break 33 panes of glass throughout the level. For every glass that is not broken, the player will gain 10 additional seconds to their overall time. Placing as the top five on the leaderboards will grant you the amazing award of an Omaha Steak Filet prize pack.

Here are the contest rules:

  • Contest runs only from February 14th – 27th.
  • Only the best five (5) scores can attain the prize.
  • Contestants must reside in the continental U.S. due to edible food shipping regulations.

Twisted Pixel cannot wait for challengers to step up to cause massive explosions. If you cannot share an impulsive explosion on Valentine’s Day, then where is the love? Check out the “Shoot the Glass” screens below, and salivate by clicking on the Omaha Steaks’ website (Here).

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Love in the Time of Controllers

Michael Irving
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Video games seem generally more focused on making war, not love, but whether you’re rescuing another helpless princess, cracking on to every NPC of the opposite sex, or playing super-creepy Japanese dating sims, romance abounds in the gaming world.

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, here’s our round-up of relationships you could spend some time developing/ruining today.

DISCLAIMER: We accept no responsibility for damage to relationships with actual persons, as a result of pursuing the following relationships.

 

Mario and Peach

Gaming’s royal couple, Mario and Peach, are inseparable – you know, when she isn’t being kidnapped. But that’s a small obstacle, and Mario takes it as a chance to jump on his white steed (or green dinosaur), ride to her rescue and express his love by slaughtering hordes of turtles and destroying castles to get her back. Other guys might buy flowers.

Their relationship is the archetypal hero’s journey love story, and suitably frames the series’ simple gameplay with a goal relatable to people of all cultures.

That said, judging by the frequency of her abductions, Mario is either an inattentive lover or Peach has something going on the side with Bowser. Either way, their relationship may seem perfect at a glance, but it looks like the plumber and the princess have some issues they need to sort out.

 

Sonic and Princess Elise

From perhaps the most loved gaming couple to the most contested, the bizarre love story in the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog reboot, between Sonic and Elise, the very human Princess, is often cited as a jumped-the-shark moment for Sega’s manimal mascot.

In a buggy game with slippery physics, claustrophobically-linear levels, and a convoluted plot, the bestial relationship was the unpleasant icing on an already-unpleasant cake. It’s no wonder that Sega has since swept Elise under the rug, with nary another appearance or mention in the series.

Not only was she a human with a thing for hedgehogs, but she looks like a stock-standard anime character, out-of-place in the Sonic universe.

Promise me, dear reader, that you won’t spend Valentine’s Day (or any other day, really) rescuing Elise, and enduring that awkward kiss that sparked many a creepy Internet fan-fiction story.

 

Shepard and the Entire Normandy Crew

Most games give you some choices: Which character do you play? Which weapon do you use? Which part of the enemies’ bodies do you shoot?

Others let you choose more peaceful things: the length of your character’s nose, shoe size, their favourite breakfast food.

Mass Effect throws romantic subplots into its narrative, allowing players to choose between various crewmembers for romantic encounters.

In the first game, Shepard can pursue a relationship with Ashley or Kaidan, depending on the player character’s gender, while either gender can start something with Liara.

In the second game it gets more complicated, allowing these relationships to continue, as well as opening up no less than nine more characters you can become involved with. It’s been confirmed that the third game contains new love interests, and the option to continue others you’ve carried over.

A player’s romantic choices mostly just colour their experience in the world, and won’t really affect the flow of the overall narrative, but the feature gives the characters more personality than in most games, and sets an interesting precedent for characters of future games to be more than macho military men devoid of personality.

 

Vincent and Katherine and Catherine

Atlus’ recent game Catherine is a strange mix of platforming, puzzle solving, horror and romance, tasking players with determining the fate of the protagonist Vincent’s love life. After his long-term girlfriend Katherine (note the “K”) begins to talk of marriage, Vincent’s subconscious freaks out and forces him to climb blocks, with anthropomorphic sheep, in his dreams. Hey, it’s a Japanese game.

Soon he meets and begins an affair with Catherine (that’s with a “C”), which just complicates matters. There are inklings of a conspiracy behind the nightmares, and a subtle choice system means the sum of Vincent’s actions dictate the ending the player will see, without necessarily making huge, obvious decisions like those in Mass Effect.

Catherine plays like a basic puzzle-platformer in Vincent’s nightmares, and in his waking world it’s all about dialogue with NPCs and performing relatively mundane activities, similar to Heavy Rain. Its focus on characters, romance and more realistic relationship problems make it stand out, and the Japanese weirdness of the dream sequences are the icing on the impending wedding cake.

 

Time-traveling Tim and his atomic princess

Much like the namesake hairstyle, Braid is a tightly woven little package, and to unravel it isn’t easy. Creator Jonathan Blow insists there’s a specific meaning hidden in there somewhere, but it’s so vague that people have come up with a lot of possible explanations.

Whatever its true meaning, Braid begins as a simple guy-rescuing-princess story, and evolves into something much more complicated as the game progresses.

What we do know (or do we??) is that protagonist Tim is trying to find his special someone, who’s been taken by a monster of some sort, and he harbours a deep regret he wants to wipe clean.

To rescue his princess and absolve his past deeds, he must manipulate time in various ways to traverse a beautiful 2D puzzle/platformer world.

It’s not until the end that things come together, and rather than getting clearer, it spawns a multitude of theories.

I’ll warn you of spoilers now, before I launch into the ending. If you don’t want it ruined, why not skip down and read about that slut, Ditto?

Ok, so if you’ve reached the final level of Braid, you’ll know that when you finally find your princess, she’s in the arms of a knight. She escapes, and runs along above you, clearing your path through the caves below. When you finally reunite, the tone changes. You’ve been manipulating time all through the game, so it’s only fitting that at the end, time is not what it seems. The scene of your princess running towards you is reversed: she was running away. You are the monster, Tim’s regret is whatever caused her to run from him, and the game is him trying to win her back.

That’s the basic ending, but there are other theories. There are apparently eight stars you can find in the game, which unlock an alternate ending. These stars are never officially said to be in the game, and are so ridiculously obscure to find that I doubt anyone honestly discovered the alternate ending without the Internet’s guidance. For instance, one star supposedly requires the player to stand in a level and wait for two hours. Yeah, screw that.

Anyway, once you collect these stars, the ending plays out a little differently. When you reach the princess, she disappears in a blinding flash of light, and you clearly hear the sound of a large bomb going off. Texts found afterwards quote:

“On that moment hung eternity. Time stood still. Space contracted to a pinpoint. It was as though the earth had opened and the skies split. One felt as though he had been privileged to witness the Birth of the World… Now we are all sons of bitches.”

These are direct quotes from writings about the detonation of the first atomic bomb. As such, some hypothesize that Tim is a scientist working on the atom bomb, the “princess” is the key to its invention, and the regret is the detonation.

Others give it a feminist meaning (somehow), and some just dismiss it as aimless pompous prose, deliberately vague writing with no specific meaning.

Whether the princess is running away from our protagonist or she’s actually a nuclear bomb, Braid weaves an interesting take on the classic love story.

 

Ditto and 600 Other Pokemon

Don’t lie – while playing any version of Pokemon, you had a slut Ditto you used to breed Pokemon. I know I did.

In the later Pokemon generations, players could breed their Pokemon for trading, completing the Pokedex, or grinding for better stats. Just drop a similar-species male and female Pokemon off at a Day Care Centre, and come back later to find an egg, which (without going into the crazy statistics) hatches into a young version of the female, in most cases.

Pokemon can only breed with similar Pokemon, except one – Ditto. That weird little blob has no standards, breeding with anything it’s left alone with and effectively duplicating its partner. It’s such an efficient strategy that there’s really no reason to bother breeding at all without a Ditto involved.

I ended up with a Ditto as a permanent resident of the Day Care/farm/brothel, throwing in any Pokemon I needed copied. Meanwhile my brother started up a lucrative business, endlessly breeding rare specimens and trading them on the Pokemon Black Market for any other critter he wanted.

It’s not a shining example of love by any stretch, but a world where people make their pets do everything for them is already pretty messed up. Why would their idea of love be any different?

Explore Mt. Zinit with the latest Wafku patch

Travis Bruno
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Those currently taking part in the Open Beta of the unique looking Wakfu will have more of the world to explore on February 15th when the next patch for the game is made available. In this patch players will be able to journey to the highest point in the World of Twelve, Mt. Zinit. Mt. Zinit used to be a sacred and holy land, but now this beautiful area has been turned into one of grief and destruction as Ogrest has taken control of the area.

Ogrest must be defeated and the only way players can do this is by finishing multiple quests and defeating his minions. Those eager to take part in Square Enix’s and Ankama’s Wakfu can do so for free now through the Open Beta, but others may choose to wait until February 29th when the game is officially launched for free. Though those willing to spend a bit of money on the title can do so through a $6 monthly fee and will also gain access to premium content.

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