For those who don’t know, Seth Killian is a legend in the fighting game community. Some know him for his commentary, some know him as Capcom’s Special Combat Advisor, some know him for his work in community management, but most know him as Seth – the dude who had a Street Fighter IV boss named after him. Yeah, told you he’s a bit of a legend!
Whilst preparing for Capcom’s Super Ultimate Showcase in Sydney, Capsule Computers was invited for an exclusive hands on preview with a few of their upcoming titles, and I was lucky enough to meet up with Seth there. So we hit record for an interview, discussing Street Fighter x Tekken and how it works. Check out the interview below and see for yourself.
You may have caught Telltale Games’ episodic Back to the Future: The Game last year as a digital download for PC and PSN. But just in case you missed it, the game is now set to be released physically thanks to Deep Silver gaining the publishing and distribution right for game.
All 5 episodes of the game will be packaged into one cohesive retail version for Playstation 3, Wii and PC. Bring back the time travelling adventures of Marty McFly and Doc Brown, to once again restore the space-time continuum.
No release date has been formally announced yet but the game is expected to be released first quarter of 2012.
The Sims Freeplay Developer: Iron Monkey Publisher: EA Mobile Platforms: iTouch, iPhone and iPad (reviewed) Release Date: Price: FREE – Available Here
Overview
The Sims has always achieved a high amount of success over the years, ever since that first PC game. Each title is a sure fire hit (except maybe the furniture packs, but even then), so EA’s choice to let the latest release go for the low, low price of nothing at all is a surprising one. So is there a reason that they’ve let this one slip through free, or are they just being generous?
Gameplay
To start with, Sims Freeplay looks and feels like a normal Sims game, but it really isn’t. The biggest difference is the fact that it all happens in real time. No more lining up a bunch of actions and fast forwarding through them like normal. In fact, once you start on an action you better like what they’re doing because you may have to wait another ten minutes for them to finish. I don’t think I’d ever realised how long a minute was until I had to wait for one of my Sims to finish a social action.
The other big change is that instead of taking care of a family, you take care of a whole town. While this may sound intimidating, it’s actually not that bad, mostly because of the fact that everything is done in real time. At first getting used to the controls and switching between people and houses was bewildering, especially because it is just so different from other Sims games. Once you play it for a little while it becomes natural, and you forget there was ever another way of doing things.
However, there are ways around waiting for things to finish being done. You can spend life points (which are earned by completing wishes, as per usual) instead of your time, with the amount needed changing with the amount of time you’re saving. The life point cost doesn’t change if you’ve already completed half the task though, so if you’re going to bludge off something it’s best to decide so quickly.
You do have the choice of buying life points or Simoleons through as an in-app purchase, of course, which is Farmville-esque. So it’s up to you if you are willing to pay money to speed the game up, although that sort of defeats the point of this installment. For those who are having trouble adjusting to this way of playing it is an option.
Your game is measured by how much your town is worth, not really by how much money you have in the bank. While having money is useful because it means you can buy more buildings to raise your town worth, you can be basically broke and still have a decent net worth. Which I learned on a few occasions.
Something else I discovered was that your Sims don’t really die if they don’t eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, shower, and so on. Shortly after discovering this I took on a different form of saving money by one of my Sims only owning a toilet and a garden to earn some money. Not cruel at all.
I also had a full community feel by having most of the neighbourhood hanging at one of the houses, socializing and eating and whatnot. The way that the new app is designed means that it’s a lot easier for that to happen, with having full control of each of the neighbours and stopping them from staying over too long, or deciding they couldn’t be bothered to come over.
The careers part of the game is similar to what has happened in the past, with the exception that you have to actually build the work environments. As you go on in the game, get more Sims, and have them climb the work ladder, you will have more money and it will become fairly easy for you to pick them up as you go.
Instead of being a game that you can spend hours playing, it takes over your life far more subtly. In a way it’s like Farmville, you end up timing it and keeping an eye on the clock so you do certain things with your Sims after they finish their actions, or make sure to send them to work, or whatever else.
Visuals
As with the standard of Sims games that have already been released onto the market, the visuals are top notch and respond well to interactivity. Even though this app is far cheaper than it’s cousins, you won’t notice a difference in the performance of the app, and certainly not in the graphics.
Audio
Once again, you won’t find a huge deviation from the norm. Everything about the soundtrack screams the Sims, but that isn’t a bad thing in the least. I mean, I have a whole range of memories and nostalgia tied to that soundtrack, so I love the fact that it’s stayed pretty similar.
Overall
Considering the fact that the app is free, offers updates, and hasn’t at all skimped on the features and in fact offers something vastly different from what we’ve seen in Sims installments in the past. This is a definite must get, and not just for Sims fans.
Just like in past years, Electronic Arts is using their football simulation game to predict the Super Bowl Winner. So far, the Madden Series has predicted a few winners and a few losers, so it may be just as accurate as your own prediction. Nevertheless, if you trust electronic machinations, then this video might help you figure out who to root for on Sunday.
Spoiler Alert to follow:
The video predicted that the Giants would win. However, as many Youtube comments point out, EA’s Madden predicted that the Patriots would win in ’08, and we see how well that worked out. However, if you take a look at some of the 2012 Championship Games that Madden 12 predicted, it seems as though this years game may be more accurate than in past years.
Trials Evolution is one of the most anticipated games of this year. And yet, its release date has not yet been revealed. Luckily, the newest trailer for the game gives us a hint as to when the game will hit. The video mentions that the game will be releasing sometime in the Spring of 2012. In addition, the trailer reveals that this iteration of Trials will be crazier and more over the top than the last game. With 4 player multiplayer and an insane track creator, this game looks like it will be 100 times better than the first game.
The rivalry lives on between Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono and TEKKEN producer Katsuhiro Harada. The two face off in an amazing battle to promote Namco Bandai’s upcoming title for the 3DS – TEKKEN 3D Prime. Ono has been a rather good sport in allowing himself to take one on the chin in order to promote the rival franchise TEKKEN. Originally aired at Tokyo Game Show last year, the trailer has now been released to the public – which is sure to excite TEKKEN fans across the globe. Although, it may excite Street Fighter a little less. Whatever game you prefer, it’s hard to not laugh at this brand new trailer and get a sense of warmth at this example of good sportsmanship. One the bright side, at least Ono has one more Mii to add to his collect, right?
Rumours ramp up this week as Microsoft is lurking in the shadows with a potential new Xbox Console made out of magic and unicorns and the Wii U may be getting a (much needed) name change. Australia will debate and finally vote on an R18+ rating in February and we talk about our biggest gaming disappointments.
Cast: Alexis Ayala, Matt Vella, Michael Marr & Grace Mitchell
Sure, that MW2 mission in the airport may have been all grisly and controversial, but something tells us that Ghost Recon: Future Soldier may be even more seriously plotted than any shooter we have seen before. First off, the video below proclaims that “You don’t win the battle by doing what’s right. You win by doing what’s necessary.” And of course, layered on top on those words is some rather Mature gameplay content. Our thoughts on this video are the same as some Youtube commenters: “I keep throwing my wallet at the screen but nothing is happening. :(”
Although Alan Wake’s American Nightmare won’t be here until February 22, PC gamers will be able to experience one of his adventures for the first time on February 16. Coming to Steam (and later Origin), Alan Wake will be priced at $29.99. This includes the game and all the DLC, specifically the “The Signal” and “The Writer” content.
In addition, a Limited Collector’s Edition will be priced at $35. Included in it is everything mentioned above, plus an Alan Wake Files Book, developer commentary and extended soundtrack.
Will you be picking any of these games up, or are you holding out for the XBLA title?
One of the last ties that remained between Bungie and Halo will be severed on March 31. Bungie will finish transferring all live Halo data to 343 Industries and 343 will begin managing all that data. Already, most Halo data is available on halo.xbox.com. But starting on the date mentioned above, “Bungie will no longer be able to update game stats and player service records, to host new user generated content, or to operate the Bungie Pro service.”
In addition, “Any replacement functionality, and all future Halo support, will be provided by Microsoft and 343 Industries via Halo Waypoint.”
Luckily, “Bungie will preserve all existing historical Halo data on Bungie.net for as long as the Internet and Bungie’s data storage systems remain functional.”
Bungie finishes their message with thanks, as usual for this classy dev:
“Thanks for making the Halo-era version of Bungie.net more successful than we could have possibly imagined. You complete us. See you starside.”
One question that has yet to be answered is whether you’ll still be able to redeem your Vidmaster achievements for Recon armor on the new 343 site. Hopefully so, as there are still plenty of people fighting to get their flashy new duds unlocked.
