China, who just happens to make everything has finally decided to step into the market of game consoles, probably because it’s closed off to every other console. You don’t see gamers over there with PS3’s, Xbox’s or Wii’s, but ironically some of the parts are probably made in China, so it only makes sense for the country to step in. Originally dubbed the ‘ebox’, the renamed Isec was announced a year ago and has been in development for around two years, but the 3D camera technology behind the beast was recently announced including a few images.
Similar to Xbox Kinect, the DepthSense™, developed in partnership with Namuga using SoftKinetic’s patented 3D sensor technology will enable gesture-based entertainment on EEDOO’s iSec platform. The console is aimed at a market of 120 million homes, in the hope of changing the way Chinese families interact with digital content. Said to come with 30 built-in games, the console sounds like a glorified Xbox kinect more than anything, whether or not non-casual games are being developed is another question, all signs are pointing towards ‘family friendly’ content only. However games are being developed by in North America and Europe, what specific studios are unknown, but they’ll be ready for launch.
Currently 40 of the companies software engineers are working on the console. They believe that by including games in the system they can cut down on the rampant piracy that already controls much of the PC market there, how future releases after the launch are handled is still in question. The interesting thing is that on the Chinese market foreign company’s are forbidden to selling video game consoles and titles for them, so how and why western developers are working on games makes for an interesting future.
The console is set to release in China during the second half of 2011 (pricing wasn’t released) and the console’s maker, Eedoo Technology, says it will consider selling the unit overseas after it sells one million units in China. Given the lack of consoles in China and the mass market, I don’t see that taking too long.
Activision is yet to announce details on the next instalment of the Modern Warfare series but websites all over the world are starting to report all sorts of rumours. One has only recently surfaced and states that Modern Warfare 3 will feature a bigger story and more destruction.
A source close to Infinity Ward says Modern Warfare 3 will continue along the storyline from MW2, delivering “a world of crisis” in the United States after the invasion. They believe it won’t follow the opposed Red Dawn approach explored by Homefront. While it’s unconfirmed what location the game will be specifically set, the source reports Modern Warfare 3 will have an urban setting, much like the U.S. missions in Modern Warfare 2, with military vehicles, including tanks, rolling through suburban streets.
Modern Warfare 3 will take place on a much larger, epic scale. The game will explore the lead up to a set of engagements that could pull in other countries, creating a potential World War III scenario. The game will also feature large, urban destructible environments, made famous by the Battlefield series.
Gamers are expected to hear more news about Modern Warfare 3 at the annual E3 trade show this year.
As an American, I‘m obligated to show support for US made products (especially if we plan on getting out of this recession any time soon), and as a gamer I’m happy to give you this weeks releases for the Xbox 360. Most notable is the ambiguous L.A. Noire Rockstar Pass which I can only assume is some sort of portal for L.A. Noire content akin to Halo Waypoint.
Microsoft is also showing off Bing Rewards. With Bing Rewards, gamers can now earn Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, Microsoft Points for Xbox LIVE, Zune Pass subscriptions and much more just for search and exploring the web with Bing. Signing up is free and includes a 250 credit bonus towards your first reward. For a limited time, members can also redeem their credits for an Xbox Kinect sweepstakes and coming soon to the Rewards redemption center are Hulu Plus subscriptions which you can use to watch your favorite TV shows and movies on Xbox LIVE. Sign up today and start earning credits towards a variety of gaming rewards.
New Games on Xbox LIVE Arcade
May 11: Gatling Gears (Electronic Arts) – 1200 Microsoft Points
May 18: SEGA Rally Online Arcade (SEGA) – 800 Microsoft Points
GAME ADD-ONS
May 17: L.A. Noire Rockstar Pass (Rockstar Games) – 800 Microsoft Points
May 17: Fallout: New Vegas Honest Hearts (Bethesda Softworks) – 800 Microsoft Points
May 17: Crysis 2 Retaliation Map Pack (Electronic Arts) – 800 Microsoft Points
May 17: Shift 2: Speed Hunters (Electronic Arts) – 800 Microsoft Points
DEAL OF THE WEEK
2K Theme | May 10-16
Mafia II Joe’s Adventure (2K Games) – 400 Microsoft Points (50% off)
Mafia II Jimmy’s Vendetta (2K Games) – 400 Microsoft Points (50% off)
Mafia II Fedora (2K Games) – 80 Microsoft Points (50% off)
Bioshock 2 Minerva’s Den (2K Games) – 400 Microsoft Points (50% off)
Bioshock 2 The Protector Trials (2K Games) – 200 Microsoft Points (50% off)
Bioshock 2 Bouncer Big Daddy Helmet (2K Games) – 80 Microsoft Points (50% off)
Up periscope. Let’s take a look at the latest game to surface from the Nintendo Company. Hopefully it’s not a dive. If you haven’t figured it out yet from my string of naval pun’s Nintendo’s latest game is a submarine game entitled Steel Diver. Available on the Nintendo 3DS, Steel Diver is a strategy game where players must guide their submarine through treacherous waters while at the same time avoiding and destroying any enemies that float by.
Gameplay
Steel diver is divided into three different mini-games. The first of these games involves navigating a submarine through an underwater maze, while avoiding hazardous enemy subs, rocks and sea mines. Before submersing into the depths of the ocean, you are given the option of choosing your very own submarine. There are three to choose from, each with their own pros and cons. The first in the fleet has a simpler navigation control system, which makes it easier to use but difficult on those narrow passages. It also has the ability to fire torpedos vertically that comes in hand for those looming enemies ships at sea level. The second sub is a good all rounder, with more advanced steering options in the form of a wheel-type controller. The last vessel you can choose is the most difficult to control, but allows for more complex movement, despite its size. This last submarine also has the most firepower, with the ability to fire four torpedos consecutively rather than two.
Regardless of which submarine you choose to pilot, all three are still rather difficult to control. This is of course the point of the game. The challenge is to navigate through a rocky maze using two controls: horizontal for pitch and vertical for depth. If the submarine receives too much damage it will spring a lead and the controls will be momentarily disabled unless you quickly plug the leak with your stylus. Once the health meter reaches its end, the game is over. The good news however is that if you surface to the top for a while the submarine will repair itself. The key to utilising this is time management, if you spend too much time floating on the surface the timer will run out. There are also convenient little air pockets located underneath the depths of the ocean for you to strategically utilise on your journey.
There are two means of entering the second type of game in Steel Diver. After completing a mission, the periscope breaks the surface of the water and Periscope Strike begins. This portion of the game utilises the 3DS’ gyroscopic technology and allows you to rotate in a circle while attempting to locate and destroy enemy ships within a certain time limit. While this mini-game automatically comes at the end of completing a mission, there is also the option of selecting it to play on its own. Playing Periscope Strike this way will give you a few more options, such as selecting different enemies and different weather conditions, my favourite being enemy ships in a storm which proved to have some impressive graphics.
The last mini-game type of Steel Diver is a clone of the classic board game, Battleships. Steel Commander creates a battleship type board on the touch screen. The goal is to locate your enemies’ ships and destroy their supply ship and protect your own. Personally I feel like this portion of the game is designed a little like an iOS game with some 3D graphic cut scenes. While the graphics are impressive, I can’t help but be annoyed as I just sit there and watch my ships be attacked without the ability to move. On the other hand, if I am to locate an enemy ship or sub myself, I have the more engaging option of attempting to either drop a bomb or shoot a torpedo at them – fairly similar to the Periscope Strike version of Steel Diver. It should also be noted that this portion of the game also has an online multi-player function, or failing to log online, you can also test your skills against the artificial intelligence of the game.
Graphics and Audio
Nintendo have made good use of their 3D technology on this one. Depending on which of the three gaming options you take, you are going to have different graphical representations. Because Steel Commander emulates a game board, the graphics aren’t impressive. However, in terms of representing a board game graphically, I think Nintendo have done a good job, creating little game pieces to sit on the board that look like they are straight out of the box. This portion of the game also has some pretty decent 3D cut scenes and gaming options, but compared to the other capabilities of the game graphically it is a little dull. The missions’ portion of Steel Diver has some incredible use of the 3DS’ graphic capabilities. Nintendo have created some amazing undersea worlds, with stormy seas and even underwater volcanoes. With the 3D slider up to full capacity, these graphics are truly impressive. With stormy seas in mind, it is worth noting that the most impressive graphics in the game are those that emulate weather at sea. The best example of this is one of my favourite portions of the game, enemy ships in a storm in Periscope Strike. Not only does it just look incredible, in 3D or 2D for that matter, but also the graphic representation of the physics of being at sea is pretty much on the mark. At least I can only assume, it’s been a while since I used a periscope in hazardous seas.
The sound effects for Steel Diver are great fun. There are a lot of explosions and of course a fantastic array of submarine lingo: “surface”, “dive!” and “all ahead”. This paired with the music really makes for an atmospheric experience, fit for underwater adventure. The music is somewhat reminiscent of some older games for Nintendo consoles. I can’t help but think of Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo, and the ever-annoying underwater levels. This, paired with some mechanical and industrial sounds really adds to the underwater submarine aesthetics of Steel Diver.
Conclusion
As a time management and strategy game, Steel Diver has some merit. It is a fun game to attempt to master, but that is where the fault of the game lies. It takes some time to try and get a good grasp of the controls, once you do the game is fun. However, it seems that as soon as you begin to get to grips with how the game functions, you’ve exhausted all your options of game play. The mission option has an option where you can try and beat your records, but I’ve never really been a fan of trying to best my own timed scores in games. There is also the option of completing missions with all three submarines, but again I feel that this gets a bit repetitive with only seven levels and some quick timed levels to complete. While the graphics of Periscope Strike might be incredible, the gameplay is very near exhaustion by the time you get to have a go at the third option of playing the game. It is essentially always the same, and what adds to this more is the fact that this option of gameplay has been integrated into the mission mode. Chances are you have already had a go at playing missions before trying your luck at this game on its own. There is no doubt about the playability of Steel Diver as a whole game, my only concern is how many times will you come back to it after completing the rather short game.
As a follow up to all of the excitement surrounding the Portal 2 ARG that led up the release of the game, we had a chance to talk to Two Tribes, developers of two of the games in the Potato Sack of indie games. Those games were Toki Tori and Rush, two great games from the puzzle genre. The following is what Two Tribes had to say about their involvement in the Portal ARG and all the spuddy goodness that it involved.
1. To kick this thing off, why don t you fellas (ladies?) tell us a bit about Two Tribes as a developer. How would you like people to identify you?
[Collin van Ginkel – Lead designer Two Tribes] We started out doing mostly contract work. We made games like Garfield, Worms and Rubik's World for Wii and Nintendo DS, but we always wanted to do our own thing. With the arrival of the digital download culture, were able to make the jump to being fully independent, which is awesome. We try to be very open about what we do and I'd like to think people see us as a friendly bunch, who care about delivering high-quality games.
2. It seems like the retro style of gameplay has sort of returned to glory a little bit in the last year or two with games like Donkey Kong Country Returns, New Super Mario Bros., the upcoming Sonic Generations, etc. Toki Tori, which Two Tribes put on Steam recently, also has a pretty retro vibe to it. Did the decision to bring back Toki Tori on a more modern platform have anything to do with this current retro revival or was it something that your team had wanted to do for a while?
[COLLIN] Well, Toki Tori has first been revived on WiiWare in 2008, so perhaps they got inspired by us! 😉 Seriously though, as you can see with the enormous success of 'simple' games on all recent platforms, people are not looking for more complexity in their games. They value clarity and ease of use, something which the old games (aside from their devious difficulty) already had. We're all for this, since it means we can just focus on making great games.
3. Toki Tori has some similarities to other puzzle/platformer type games, like Lemmings for example, while still remaining unique. Were there any games or series that were a big inspiration in either the original Game Boy version or the remake?
[COLLIN] I think the entire 90's catalog of games has inspired us. Games like Lost Vikings (SNES), King's Valley (MSX) and Adventures of Lolo (NES) have concepts that are similar. But to be honest, it's been so long ago, I can't tell you how the process went precisely.
4. Rush is quite reminiscent of Chu Chu Rocket, a puzzle game by Sega for the Dreamcast, only with a much sleeker, more stylish presentation. It is a pretty classic type of puzzle, but with Rush you gave it a distinctly modern look and feel, with bright colors and electronic music. Did you feel that the game needed to have a sort of modern appeal in order to sell or did it just feel right for the atmosphere of the game?
[COLLIN] The foundations for RUSH had been laid by Rubik's World for Wii. Since that had the Rubik's license, we needed something blocky and abstract. When we removed the license and improved on RUSH for the Steam version, we stuck with the blocky theme, but wanted it to have its own vibe.
5. How did Toki Tori and Rush come to be included in the Potato Sack and how did you feel about their inclusion?
[COLLIN] We were invited by Valve to participate, I'm guessing based on the quality of our games on Steam. We had no clue this was coming and were extremely excited once we learned what was going to happen. It's been a real high-point in our history so far 🙂
6. Did your team have any involvement with the recent Portal ARG that Valve ran other than having your games be included in the stack of indie games? Fans might think that being involved in a project like this would mean being privy to all sorts of neat secrets relating to Portal or the ARG, is that the case or were you kept in the dark like the general public?
[Hessel Bonenkamp – Designer Two Tribes and Project Manager Portal 2 ARG] Well, the password for one of the final phases of the ARG was "collaboration". That didn't only stand for the collaboration within the community to solve the ARG and release Portal 2, but also for the collaboration between the developers and Valve.
So, basically, every developer was responsible for creating their part of the ARG. There was some cross-pollination between developers where parts of a puzzle where hidden in another game but the bulk of the ARG content was made by the developers themselves. Valve did most the more central stuff such as the basic structure (the three updates), the Seattle puzzle, the sites and overlays, etc.
To do our work properly we've got the whole game spoiled for us back in December and we've been in close contact with Valve ever since. So, yeah, our involvement in this project gave us loads of inside information on Portal 2 way before it's release. Though Collin has been able to avoid all Potato spoilers during the development of the ARG.
This is actually quite an interesting question because we have seen that quite a number of people credit the whole ARG to Valve or even to Gabe Newell alone. You now know, of course, that this has been the work of almost a dozen companies collaborating to create a fantastic ARG.
7. I have also heard that some of your team had an interesting little stakeout when a fan showed up at Two Tribes HQ to sniff out some clues. Can you tell us a little bit about that, or any other interesting stories from during the whole event.
[HESSEL] Ha! That was such an awesome moment!
You should know that we hid a set of GPS coordinates (in Braille) in one of our Toki Tori levels. For a while those coordinates were mixed up and the community was focusing on some location near the Seychelles. It took them a while to figure out that they were pointing to the front door of our offices where we'd placed a poster with further clues.
The community was fairly organized and they had an IRC channel running in no-time. All the developers, including us, kept a close eye on the IRC channel during the ARG. One afternoon we noticed that one guy was stating that he lived a mere 20 minutes from our offices. When he left we went to the barbershop across the street and started waiting (I also got a haircut while we were there, you know, to be inconspicuous).
After a while he showed up and after a while he noticed our poster. The poster was hidden from plain sight at the top of a streetlight, but it was still very legible from street level. What we hadn't expected though was that our guy actually climbed the streetlight because he needed to bring back some photographic evidence. If he had looked across the street he would have seen a whole barbershop going mad!
We got his climbing actions on film which Hidden Path then used to create a movie with. The movie started a nice back-and-forth between us and the community. I think they really liked the fact that we were responding to their actions. It might also have creeped them out. A little.
There have been many more great moments during the ARG, but this was definitely one of the highlights.
8. While the Potato Sack and the ARG were generally pretty successful, especially at promoting indie game devs like yourself, there was some disappointment felt by PC players who eventually realized that Portal 2 s release wasn t going to be significantly earlier. How do you feel Valve handled the whole affair from this angle? Do you think there is anything they should have done differently to prevent potential disappointment?
[HESSEL] The crescendo event has been addressed in the postmortem, I think it's one of the bigger what-went-wrong points. It was a last minute decision to move it forward a little and it would have been better if we hadn't done that. Then again, a Valve game that releases a good 10 hours early. I don't think that has ever happened before.
9. The Potato Sack, and by association the included games, received quite a few downloads thanks to all of the commotion and the relation to Portal 2. Was there a large effect on sales/downloads of Toki Tori and Rush thanks to the ARG? Can you give us an idea of how big of an impact this event had on your user base, even if you can t give us hard sales figures?
That should give you a pretty good indication. An important factor that you can't see in the graph is that a lot of people are now introduced to our, and other indie developers', games. Those people might normally not stumble upon our games.
10. Other than the obvious answer, being your own game, what is the teams favorite of the other indie games included in the pack? I personally am a sucker for Bit.Trip Beat, and I know Super Meat Boy is another fan favorite. Would you say Two Tribes has a consensus or do you each have your personal picks?
[HESSEL] I, personally, really like super meat boy. I know one of our programmers has become quite fond of Defense Grid another programmer really likes Amnesia. One of our designers has spent 89 hours in Killing Floor, so I guess we all have our picks.
[COLLIN] COGS!
11. A lot of fans were joking during the ARG that Amnesia: The Dark Descent's bar on the GLaDOS@Home site would never be filled because the game is just too scary. We here at Capsule Computers know firsthand the sheer terror involved in Amnesia, but what does Two Tribes think? Does anyone around the office have the stones to play it with the lights off?
[HESSEL] I'm too scared to install it.
[SHAN] Definitely NO! I don't even dare to play it alone all by myself 😉
12. Finally, let s end this interview by taking a look into the future. What s on the table next for the very talented (and very handsome) people over at Two Tribes? Any big news on the next big thing we should be looking forward to?
[HESSEL] I'll leave this one to Collin (but where did you get that we are handsome? I mean, we are, but how did that get out there?)
[COLLIN] We're now almost done with Swords & Soldiers for iPhone and iPad, after which we'll continue on EDGE for Steam and perhaps some other platforms. So we're quite busy!
In September it will have been ten years since the original release of Toki Tori. We will not let that pass without a bang, so expect something awesome around that time 🙂
We here at Capsule Computers would like to thank the good folks over at Two Tribes for shedding some light on the behind-the-scenes details of this huge collaboration. I think it will probably be quite a while before we see an event that brings together the gaming community in quite the same way, for both gamers and developers. Keep a look out for announcements on the future of Toki Tori for its upcoming anniversary this September!
The last time we heard about Dark Souls we heard that it was coming out some time in the Fall but thankfully the latest trailer released for the game has shed a bit more light on the release date. Arriving sometime in October of this year the spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls is set to have players grow increasingly frustrated at the title and die plenty of times.
The amount of deaths that you will be experiencing is so great that Namco Bandai thought that you should take a look at a few of them now so you know what to expect when the game comes out. At least this time you will be able to pick your poison as Dark Souls will be released for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 whilst Demon’s Souls was a PlayStation 3 exclusive.
Today Capcom has released quite an interesting video for Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. It starts out simple as a newscast but escalates from there when they talk to a reporter on the front lines where all of the mercenaries are fighting it out with the various infected enemies. That is of course until something else happens, but we’ll leave that for you to find out.
Along with the trailer was finally a US release date of June 28th which places it a few weeks after E3. Also confirmed for the title was the previously leaked character Rebecca Chambers, bringing the list of current mercenary characters to seven. With Rebecca, Chris, Claire, Krauser, HUNK, Jill and Wesker to choose from, who will you choose to fight as when the game releases on the 3DS?
The Gundam franchise has been alive and well for 32 years now and fans have been following it all the way from the original Mobile Suit Gundam to the most recent Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. Both Tecmo Koei and Namco Bandai are joining forces yet again to bring fans of the Gundam series another game to play as their favorite characters.
In the screenshots released today we see how combat will look in Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 and how the title itself will look with the cel-shaded look that will appeal to fans of the series. With hundreds of enemies in your path waiting to be cut down through any number of different energy weapons this is going to be a game that will be hard to miss for a fan of Dynasty Warriors, Gundam, or better yet a fan of Dynasty Warriors Gundam itself. It’s been released in Japan since the end of last year but it will be released to the West on June 28th for the US and the 24th for Europe.
Fans of the Hitman series can take a deep breath and rejoice because Square Enix and IO Interactive have just revealed the existence of Hitman: Absolution via a teaser trailer you can see below. In the trailer there isn’t much actually shown besides a barcode with 110706 highlighted. This coupled with the fact that Square Enix also said that more information will be given out on June 7th at E3 makes those numbers match perfectly.
Tore Blystad from IO Interactive says that “For the first time we are taking Agent 47 on a personal journey which allows us to explore other parts of the Hitman fantasy” and that it will be “both a familiar and yet significantly different experience from other Hitman games; something our silent assassins will relish, as will all those new to the Hitman world.”
Agent 47’s been betrayed by those he once trusted and now with the police hunting him down he must find himself in a personal journey in the dark world that he involved himself with. Hitman: Absolution will use IO Interactive’s Glacier 2 technology and will be built from the ground up for a game unlike any other Hitman before it.
Let it be said that Microsoft is a company with very deep pockets and when it wants something, it will usually end up getting it. Microsoft has announced that they have entered an agreement to purchase Skype for $8.5 billion which is a very high price tag for a service that provides nearly all of its services at no charge to its users.
Skype has had various companies looking into buying it over the past few weeks but with Microsoft’s expensive purchase they will now be able to use it in all of their devices. This means that Skype “will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices.” It also means that Microsoft will now be able to use Skype to connect with people using “Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities.”
There has yet to be a timeline of when Skype will be integrated into Microsoft’s products but they have assured Skype users that they will maintain the standard clients used today by PC users and others. With E3 just under a month away this will most likely be one of the things showcased during the event.
