This year, the latest in a franchise of highly regarded games by Eidos, Tomb Raider, was shown off at the Microsoft Keynote earlier today.
The game itself looks to be an extremely updated take on the Tomb Raider theme while still retaining the feel of a Tomb Raider adventure. The game was shown to a large audience and the sequence that was shown included what appeared to be gameplay footage of a level (or most of) where Lara Croft had to find her way out of a shipwreck and through some dangerous caverns to reach safety. She had to do all of this while she was bruised and battered from the crash.
Look out for more News here or at the games official site.
There’s no doubt Kinect is capable of some very exciting things. And although they may be very interesting in themselves, some of its capabilities may not lend themselves to a full retail game. At least, not yet.
Kudo Tsunoda, the Kinect Creative Director, today announced Kinect Fun Labs, a playground for new ideas using the Kinect hardware. These small “games” or programs basically act as prototypes, and the interesting mechanics they demonstrate could later become springboards for interesting game concepts. Fun Labs will sit on the Xbox Dashboard from today, and allow all Xbox Live users to access and experiment with these features.
Tsunoda gave three examples of the kind of technology available to play with. The first demo showed an easier way to create Xbox Avatars; rather than scroll through countless menus to pick facial features that don’t quite fit you, the camera simply scans your body and face and churns out a fairly accurate digital representation of yourself. Yeah, the 3DS does the same thing, but with so few options it never gets it right.
The second demo showed off an interesting feature, although it’s hard to see how it could be implemented into a game. But hey, that’s for the designers to figure out. The presenters called it “finger tracking”, and one use for it lets you draw across the screen by moving your fingers. Doesn’t sound too interesting yet, but after taking a photo of himself, the presenter drew lines both in front of and behind his photographed image. And in true Matrix fashion, he could rotate the image by leaning left and right, giving it a 3D appearance. It’s sort of hard to explain, but it looks pretty cool. Have a look at the video.
The third demo shows some potential for user-generated game content. By holding an object up to the unit, users can create an animated digital likeness of the scanned object. The presenter scanned a monster teddy thing, which appeared on screen in surprising detail, and responded to her movements. The potential for LittleBigPlanet style games becomes almost endless, giving users the power to create unique environments out of anything around them, not limiting them to the same palette of objects in-game as everyone else.
I can’t wait to see what creative indy developers can do with this kind of technology. Have a look at the video below to see it in action (courtesy of IGN).
During Sony’s E3 2011 Press Event, Yoshinori Ono came on stage to talk about the Street Fighter X Tekken crossover. In addition to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game there’s a PlayStation Vita edition in the works as well. Ono, always fun to watch, demonstrated the PSV version with a PlayStation-exclusive character: Cole from InFamous. Ono started well but quickly put the PlayStation Vita down once he started to perform poorly. It was only shown for a moment but the game is already looking in great shape.
No release date or new details on the console versions were announced.
Sony, leader of crazy announcements you would never expect, announced something you didn’t expect. At Sony’s E3 2011 Press Event they once again came out punching and announced a PlayStation branded 3D Display. Available worldwide, the 24-inch full HD LCD display gives PS3 users easy, affordable access to 3D entertainment. Designed to deliver the ultimate gaming experience, the 3D Display comes equipped with a special two-player feature that allows two players playing a multi-player game to see individual, unique, full-screen images of gameplay using the bundled 3D Glasses and supported software title.
Crazy you say? I’m inclined to agree.
The 3D TV will be released in the fall with a pair of 3D glasses, Resistance 3 and an HDMI cable for USD $499.99. That’s one hell of a deal Sony, I commend you.
With an announcement coming straight out of left field, Ken Levine, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Irrational Games took the stage at Sony’s E3 2011 Press Event and announced that their upcoming title, Bioshock Infinite will have Move support. There was no demonstration or mention as to how Move will be used during gameplay. In addition to Move support, the PS3 version of Bioshock Infinite will come exclusively bundled with the original Bioshock on the same Blu-Ray.
And what can either be construed as pure evil or generous tipster on his part, Levine also teased some sort of PlayStation Vita integration/new game at the end of his discussion by pulling a PSV out of his pocket. What this means, only time will tell.
Bioshock Infinite is scheduled for release on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in 2012.
Well it’s official. After rampant rumours and leaks abound, Sony announced today at their E3 2011 Press Event that the NGP will be forever known as the PlayStation Vita. “Vita means life” said Kazuo Hirai, Group Chief Executive Officer and President of Sony Computer Entertainment. “And we’re confident that Vita will be the first product that blurs the lines between reality and interactive entertainment.”
There will be two models available at launch. The Wi-Fi only model will run you USD $249.99 and the Wi-Fi and 3G model will set you back USD $299.99. Sony announced a partnership with At&T for the 3G version of PSV, and received laughs from the audience. Obviously, AT&T isn’t as credible as they’d like to be. Also announced was Near, a PSV social-networking component that will allow players to match up against other PSV users close by.
Sony showed off a slew of titles including: Uncharted: Golden Abyss, WipEout 2048 (with PS3 cross-play), Little Big Plant, Ruin (with cloud saves to continue your game state on PS3), Mod Nation Racers and Street Fighter X Tekken.
PlayStation Vita will be available for sale this holiday season.
Following the unveiling of the Mass Effect 3 release date and official trailer, EA and Bioware also took the liberty to provide us gamers around the world with a sneak peek at the action behind the final instalment of the trilogy.
There’s only one word…epic.
The gameplay video showcases Commander Shepard and Mordin having a quick conversation, but really it’s all about shooting, running, and action. It is epic, to say the least, and the video really is demonstrating just how much more movement will be in the title. While Mass Effect 3 has always been known more for its role playing aspect, this preview seems to be shutting up all the gamers who complained about the lack of action. Of course, the story will be as epic as the action – the game was written to span across three games – but hopefully this last title will satisfy both gamers who appreciate story and gamers who love to shoot things.
We all know that football isn’t fun unless you share it with other people – it is the world game, after all. EA have found a new way to integrate this into their upcoming football title, FIFA 12: introducing the latest social tool for FIFA, the Football Club.
I’ll take great delight in beating Manchester United…but I don’t represent the rest of the Capsules Crew!
EA announced at E3 that this latest feature will allow players from all around the world to support their favourite clubs, compete against rival clubs for club points, build experience points for their club, and improve their club’s position in the League tables. Players will also be able to participate in “real world challenges” where they will experience and play through real world football events through challenges in the game. Unfortunately, the Football Club will only be available for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC, so Nintendo and PSP gamers will miss out.
FIFA 12 is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated FIFA games yet – with the Football Club, Player Impact Engine, and improved movement controls, the title appears to be taking football realism and simulation to the next level…
…and here’s another piece of good news: the Football Club will come with no additional charge.
Sports games seem to be the best way for companies to show off their motion-sensing controls, and with the first Kinect Sports game holding the title of top-selling Kinect game to date, a second was all but inevitable.
Kinect Sports Season Two features six new sports – baseball, skiing, golf, darts, tennis and football – and by not including the sports from the original Kinect Sports, it doesn’t negate the need to play the first game.
Golf and Football were demonstrated, and look to be much the same in presentation as the first game. In-game voice is included this time around (with the given example being to change clubs in the golf game), and the game will also respond to new gestures. Producer Nicole Makila demonstrated one such gesture in golf; placing a hand over her forehead in a salute brought up a sweeping view of the course ahead. These interesting additions should keep the game responsive and fun.
The success of the original just about guarantees the success of this one too, as it demonstrates many possibilities of the Kinect hardware.
In the Microsoft E3 conference, it was revealed that ALL Tom Clancy games, starting with Future Soldier, will be utilizing Kinect in some way.
For Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, this ultilization comes in the form of gun customazatoin. If you spread your hands apart, the gun comes apart and you can use your fingers or voice to select new peices to add. By saying, “Randomize,” you can get a random gun, and by saying , “Optimize for long range,” you’ll get a sniper rifle. All in all, it was a pretty snazzy demo. It looks as though using the Kinect to shoot will also be included.
