Team Bondi and Rockstar games have made it official. L.A. Noire will finally be releasing to consoles on May 17th in the United States and May 20th in Europe. With the latest trailer released officially today the long awaited game will be making its way to store shelves within only a few short months.
But besides the release date reveal, the trailer also showed off plenty of in-game footage. In fact the entire trailer was of footage in the game with nothing touched up, which means all of those beautiful facial expressions are nearly true to life from what is shown in the trailer. Also we find out a little bit more about the plot of the game, as it looks like you will be hunting down a serial killer that murders women and leaves them with messages on their bodies. Sounds like just the mystery game we’ve been waiting for.
I don’t recall there being many promotions that took advantage of the year 2010, but alas maybe my memory is slipping considering it’s a whole year later and all. Then again one can also take notice in how many companies are taking advantage of the year 2011 already in their marketing plans. Sony isn’t one to be left behind in this regard.
Tomorrow the PSN will be getting a discount of 50% off 11 different games in what Sony is calling an 11 for 2011 sale. Now a few notable titles on sale are Costume Quest from Double Fine, Deathspank Thongs of Virtue, and of course, Peggle. This means you can get yourself and family members addicted to Peggle for half the cost! Catch the full list of discounts below.
Costume Quest – $7.49 sale price; $14.99 regular price
Deathspank Thongs of Virtue – $7.49 sale price; $14.99 regular price
Hoard – $7.49 sale price; $14.99 regular price
Soldner-X2: Final Prototype – $6.49 sale price; $12.99 regular price
MotorStorm 3D Rift – $4.99 sale price; $9.99 regular price
Peggle – $4.99 sale price; $9.99 regular price
Space Invaders Infinity Gene – $4.99 sale price; $9.99 regular price
Swords and Soldiers – $4.99 sale price; $9.99 regular price
Tumble – $4.99 sale price; $9.99 regular price
Comet Crash – $4.99 sale price; $9.99 regular price
Ready to be scared this Fall season? Because Konami released more information today regarding Silent Hill: Downpour in the form of some screenshots and a vague release window that will keep fans of the horror series eager to save up the money until it comes out. Currently announced for a European release window of Fall 2011 for the Xbox 360 and PS3 (maybe even a Halloween release?) players will venture into the town of Silent Hill once again.
Now how about those screenshots that I mentioned? You can catch them all below and take a look at Murphy Pendleton, who will be the main character this time around. Also shown are two areas that are being described as “brand new” from Konami. The two areas are called “The Diner” and the “Devil’s Pit” plus plenty of fog to go around. A few side characters are also shown but there names have not been released as of yet, nor any monsters of course.
The release of Dead Space 2 is only a few short hours away in certain parts of the world, what a few of you might not know is that Iron Monkey Studios a division of EA Mobile located all the way downunder in Melbourne Australia have also been working on something very exciting for all you Dead Space fans out there that also own a iPhone or iPad. If you live in New Zealand, you’ll be on of the first people able to grab your copy of Dead Space HD or Dead Space for the Apple iPhone & Apple iPad. Sometimes it pays to live in New Zealand with all those lovable cuddly sheep and Australia with those hopping mad Kangaroos as all the new release titles are released here first before reaching the rest of the world.
Today we bring you a video interview with Jarred Trudgen the lead designer over at Iron Monkey Studios as he walks and talks us through some gameplay of Dead Space on the Apple iPhone. Jarred takes us through and explains gameplay mechanics and a number of interesting features and facts about the game and what you can expect to see in both the iPhone and iPad versions. Pretty much all of the level designs in the game were created by Jarred, this is certainly an amazing accomplishment. Jarred also mentioned that Dead Space took approx one year to complete, the amount of hard work and dedication by Jarred and his team can be seen almost instantly as soon as you watch the opening video which is actually running using the in-game engine.
The story to Dead Space on the iPhone/iPad takes place after the events of Dead Space and leading up to Dead Space 2. So fans of the series will really find this quite interesting – SORRY no spoilers – Your all going to have to see and experience the horror for yourselves. So make sure you pick up your copy on either iPad or iPhone (personal preference would be iPad due to the much larger screen and slightly better graphics). Jarred’s recommendation is to play with headphones on in a dark room so you can totally immerse yourself into the game and experience every little thrilling moment as you make your way though the main story mode which will take approx 4-6 hours complete depending on your skill level and experience with 3rd person action games. The great thing iOS version of Dead Space is after you finish the game you can start all over again keeping everything you’ve already obtained, earned and upgraded making it possible to attempt to complete the much harder difficulty levels and unlocking some crazy achievement (beat the game in less than 3 hours )
Dead Space on both iPad and iPhone are currently available right now from the NZ iTunes store. Check out both links here :
The rest of the world should be able to download their copies within the next 24 hours. For now click on the play button below and enjoy the Gameplay / Interview
In 2009, details emerged of Tiger Woods infidelities and were promptly spread across the front pages of the press, as new revelati0ns came to light regarding one of the World’s weathiest sportsmen.
But when a Lead Designer at EA Tiburon, the makers of the Tiger Woods golf franchise, was quizzed about the scandal and how it affected the franchise, he assured everyone it was business as usual behind the scenes. Despite the superstar’s troubled personal life, Lead Designer Mike DeVault said: “We have our job to do. It’s pretty much business as usual for us. It hasn’t impacted us at all.”
The fact that Tiger Woods is on good form at the moment as he gets back into the swing of things (sorry) could be fundamental, because, probably as a result of the scandal, sales of last years incarnation were lower than expected. This is further reiterated by quotes from EA’s John Riccitiello last year saying how they “have no plans to move away from him, but it’s a business relationship on the basis of we make the best golf game and he’s the best golfer”. Above is a screen from the game, and as you can see it is looking very nice. This year’s title will be taking us to the Masters when i
Publisher: THQ Developer: THQ Studios Genre: Action, Family Format: PS3, Xbox 360 Release: Out Now Price: $30.00 (US), £34.99 (UK), $79.99 (AU)
Story
Continuing where the hit movie left off, Megamind: Ultimate Showdown aims to provide platforming fun for all the family…
Following the events of the movie Megamind is now a reformed character and do-gooder whose main goal, instead of global domination, is to uphold peace in his city. Quite a turnaround for the former master villain and he was actually doing a surprisingly good job of upholding peace until his arch nemesis, Blue Titan, and the Doom Syndicate decided to start causing chaos across the city making Megamind look responsible! The Doom Syndicate has also gone and stolen Megamind’s DNA Tracking device and playing as the former/new bad guy/hero it’s down to you to reclaim all the parts of your DNA Tracking Device which are located at the end of each of the games levels and restore order and your reputation.
GamePlay
Scattered throughout the levels are collectible blue orbs known as B.I.N.K.E.Y’s ( ‘Blue Ion Nano-Kinectic Energ-y) which act as the game’s currency and gathering as many as you can will allow Megamind to upgrade his arsenal of weapons. Upgrades range from improving firepower and targeting range to destroying multiple enemies at the same time.
Eagle-eyed players will also find collectible and randomly placed ‘loot items’ scattered about. There appear to be just one of these per-level and finding them all is a tough ask made all the more difficult by an uninspiring trophy room which doesn’t reveal which loot items were picked up from which location. However, they are not essential to the competition of the game or the unlocking of any in-game achievements.
Mini-games unlock as you play through the story, but the two player modes on the mini-games (player & computer) don’t seem to work very well so i did not really explore them much, besides it’s more fun to play them with two real people then it is to plow through on your own.
During the one player play mode the game runs like a dream and the film tie-in story is great and the simplicity of the controls means pretty much anyone can pick up and play the game without issue. The levels have a few puzzles which mainly involve moving a objects to start a chain reaction or flicking switches or using different weapons to access otherwise inaccessible areas.
One thing I did find is that each level had very limited health pickups which can be frustrating when you are running low on energy. You only have one bar of health and when it’s gone it’s gone. It’s not too much of an issue though as when you die in-game your health gets restored and you only lose a little bit of B.I.N.K.E.Y. If you are playing on the PS3 or Xbox 360 and are low on health then try and die before the boss battle so you get a full health bar when you face the big bads as if you die during the boss battle then you won’t earn your extra achievements.
Megamind: Ultimate Showdown, can also be played as a two player cooperative adventure but this is buggy at best and riddled with silly little issues that make me wonder whether this was a last minute decision. In the two player co-op mode the second player plays as one of Megamind’s robot helpers and I assume that their main aim is to help pick up B.I.N.K.E.Y and provide additional firepower against enemies. You are lead to believe that there are certain areas that only two players working together can reach but I didn’t come across any in my travels. In addition the in-game camera makes it next to impossible for your companion to play as it only ever tracks Megamind. So if you decide to wander off to fight crime you might find you disappear off screen only to re-spawn seconds later next to Megamind again which can be a little frustrating for those faithful number twos and not the friendly, cooperative experience as witnessed in Traveller’s Tales seminal Lego games. Another factor you might find annoying is that the robot character is so small on screen that sometimes you misplace yourself – especially when the screen is swarming with enemy robots. Whilst it is all too easy to lose track of yourself at times if ever in doubt just look for the red laser firing from your gun!
Controls, Graphics and Sound
The controls in Megamind: Ultimate Showdown are extremely easy to use and children will find this game very easy to pick and play. On the Xbox 360 (version played) the analogue stick moves Megamind whilst the A button is used to jump (press it twice to double jump), B interacts with objects by moving or picking them up and the X button attacks. Simple!
The overall design of Megamind is a real visual delight. The backgrounds are well animated as are super-heroic, likable characters that inhabit them. Boss encounters are especially fun and memorable for the funny voice acting. Jonah Hill (as Titan) really shines here and it’s a shame that more of the movie’s actors did not sign on to do voice work for the game.
The game’s audio fits in well with the overall atmosphere and the soaring themes that are reminiscent of all the best super hero movies certainly do the game justice. Sound effects are uniformly great and well implemented and there are some truly amusing one liners from the henchmen of the Doom Syndicate.
Overall
I actually enjoyed the game very much and found it to be both very entertaining and also very amusing at times. One of the few let downs was that it was not really as much of an ‘Ultimate Showdown’ as the title suggests as the game felt too short and can be completed in just a few hours. In fact getting a full 1000 achievements points on this game was very easy and can actually be done on your first play through! As mentioned earlier, the disappointing two player option was also a letdown – particularly given the short length of the game otherwise. I would have liked some two player achievements as an incentive to play the game in the otherwise broken co-op mode but don’t let a few minor gripes put you off especially if you are a fan of ‘old school’ platforming titles as there is much to enjoy here even if only in the short-term.
Pros
Decent single-player game.
Great animation and beautiful vistas
Upgradable weapons make looking for B.I.N.K.E.Y fun.
Easy 1000 achievement points on a single play through
Jonah Hill and some great voice over work
Cons
The two player co-op mode can be a little too frustrating at times
No health pick-ups.
Too short
Other actors did not sign up to do the voice acting
A couple of days ago, we brought you the screenshots for a new puzzle game from Bulkypix. And now we have a trailer for the game. Coming on Nintendo DSiware, iPhone, and PSP Minis, this puzzler is sure to bend your mind. The object of the game is to twist and match different objects to their silhouettes. But I think there is only one way this game could get get better. Wouldn’t it blow your mind if this game came out on the Nintendo 3DS? Then it would be the 3D 3D Twist and match. And then we get into hologram territory and everybody blows their tops, because heck, we are in the future… Oh yes, look at these awesome trailers for a great game!
Basically everybody wants $1 million smackarroos. $1 million bucks. $1 million DDDOOOLLLAARRSSS! And 2K Sports is offering us that very thing. Pitch a perfect game on the highest difficulty and win yourself a pile of mulah. A noun like money has so many names, you know everybody wants it. If you are not excited yet, just watch the trailer below.
Of course, the only thing I can think of is actually trying to win the this challenge. I would probably get to the last strike and allow a hit. Wow, that would suck. On second thought, I think I will let you try for the big money. You probably deserve it anyway, right? 😉 And before you lose faith, somebody did win it last year.
EPIC Games, creators of the Unreal Engine, have recently released the January 2011 updated version of their free to the public version of the UE3. The third Unreal Engine powers some of the most beautiful games on the market today, games like ‘Unreal Tournament 3’, ‘Gears of War’, ‘Bioshock’, ‘Mass Effect’ and many other great titles.
While the tools are free and a great way to learn about what goes into the game design process, many of the features are likely to go over the top of the average gamers heads. But if you’re willing to put in the effort and get a game out there, this development kit is a great place to start and build your skills in game design. A quick search on the popular video streaming service youtube shows many tutorials on the usage and tools of the kit, these would be a great place to start for anyone wanting to learn the tools.
The January update brings many new features to the UDK, to quote Epic –
Upgrade Notes
PhysX is now enabled for iOS development!
Rendering
There is a new Colorize post process.
You can now force depth of field.
The new Min Blur Amount post process setting can be used to force in-focus pixels to be blurred.
Various image reflection quality and performance improvements have been made.
Optimizations have been made to particle emitters, as well as memory improvements.
Mobile
PhysX is now supported on iOS.
Rigid body physics, fracturable meshes and ragdolls are among supported features.
Note: Cloth, fluids and soft bodies remain disabled on iOS for performance reasons.
Upgraded to iOS SDK 4.2
The latest version of UDK Remote supports ping functionality, so it knows when it is talking to a PC.
The latest version of UDK Remote’s text entry box has been fixed on older versions of iOS.
Unreal Editor
UDK now has a mesh selection preview.
You can now highlight sections of a mesh simply by selecting the corresponding material property.
UDK now supports editor map favorites.
You can now star maps that you work with frequently and they’ll persist in the editor’s toolbar.
Move to End of Track has been added to Unreal Matinee.
The functionality of the individual translation and rotation track selections in the Matinee curve editor has been improved.
A box for selecting subgroups within the matinee curve editor was added.
The rotation widget now draws how many degrees have been rotated in the viewport.
Kismet undo is now able to undo shortcut key-inserted sequence actions.
An option to preserve degenerate triangles has been added to the FBX importer.
Various fixes were made to the FBX importer, including rotations in Matinee, LODs, lightmaps, tangents on movement curves and auto tangents on cameras.
When importing atop an existing object in an unloaded package, there will now be a confirmation screen instead of clobbering the existing object.
The AnimSet Searcher now searches all AnimSets that are currently loaded.
You can now double click on colors in the material editor to open a color picker.
The new Align to Floor editor lets you snap actors using their pivot point.
There is now a map check warning for combat volumes and triggers that aren’t referenced.
You can now re-order properties in the favorites panel.
A confirmation dialog is now displayed when baking instanced mesh paint data back to the mesh asset.
The group selection dialog now defaults to listing just the groups in the current package.
Properties for Location, Rotation and Scale3D are now displayed in real time in the property windows when objects are modified outside of them.
Ctrl-Shift-A can now be used to select all Kismet actions.
Miscellaneous Enhancements
Various improvements were made to Unreal Frontendincluding key bindings, map sorting and new cook/make buttons.
The Bink player has been upgraded to version 1.99a.
A new network profiling tool captures server information primarily for outgoing bandwidth as it relates to data transmission and network events.
The network profiler takes into account all actors types, RPCs and properties that are replicated during a data stream and then summarizes replication counts and sizes.
According to many, the world is black and white. There are no gray areas. But, what if you didn’t have to choose between them. Perhaps, you could traverse the gap and effortlessly move between the expanse of differing views. Of course, due caution is necessary, as just like in life, spikes of pain exist and you are always only one step away from the the depths of an excruciating death.
Gameplay
SHIFT Extended continues from where its PC predecessor left off. You are Test Subject 12378. Much like Portal, you are trapped in varying rooms and given instructions that will lead you to success in the puzzles that await. Press the “X” button to jump. Spikes will kill you. This collectible will affect the environment in this way and so forth. Oh, and pressing the “Left” or “Right” triggers will turn the world upside down and teleport you to the other side. For example, if you have a maze, it is as if the maze part was drawn on white piece of paper. Therefore, if you are standing on the maze, you can shift between the white backgrounds and the black ink of the drawing. However, the collectibles will let you unlock pieces, extend portions of the drawing and let you solve the puzzle. Or, a checkered piece in the game will block your progress and you must find a way around. Success is determined by reaching the exit; the score you receive is based on the regular requirements of speed, moves taken and lives used.
The unique idea is well executed and is very addictive. Being able to control your environments in such an effective and simple way is fun. The game is very easy to understand, and it will also test your spatial thinking abilities. Although I found the game amazing in many ways, some may be turned off by the fact that virtually every room merely requires you to find the collectibles, follow the route and finish each room in under a few minutes. I personally found the game rewarding, in a Pavlovian like fashion, but fairly simple. Sure, I did die a few times, but I was able to fly through the first 30 levels in under an hour. But, the game does progressively get harder. And with a 120 levels in this extended version of the game, versus 60 in the original game, this game will keep you entertained at an enjoyable price.
Audio and Graphics
Audio in the game is well done. The game is devoid of any type of speech. This makes you feel like a test subject all the more. Occasionally, text boxes will pop up a witty saying, but otherwise, I felt like an abandoned person, sent out to survive a forgotten experiment. In other words, I felt that the game did a very good job at putting the player in the game. The soundtrack reminds me of the Pink Panther or a lighthearted story. That is to say, the soundtrack is not suspenseful, but more of like a mysterious, playful tune that is only interrupted by the occasional audio cue or death.
Speaking of death, that is the only time color is involved in the game. The graphics are very basic, harkening back to the game’s Flash roots. But when you do die, your bloody carcass sprays red. Thankfully, you are very quickly respawned. In fact, there are hardly any load times at all in the game.
The graphics may seem very basic. They let you really focus on the game though. And they add a symbolic meaning to the game as well. Is life just one big experiment? Is there more to life than just the black and white justice we conceive of? Really, maybe simpleness is best.
Overview
SHIFT Extended is a great game. I kept playing and playing the game. Since the game is Playstation Mini, it is very attractively priced. Although it may be a little simple, the engaging concept will keep you keep coming back after you have finished the main part of the game. And there are always high scores to chase. Unfortunately, that Mini price also keeps the leaderboard options squarely on the local and, not online, side of the fence.
In conclusion, SHIFT Extended has a great graphical style. A repetitive soundtrack is a little stale after a bit, but it does keep you entertained most of the time. Awesome gameplay takes the puzzle genre to new heights. If you are the type to be nauseated easily, you may want to hold off though. The world will constantly spin, and after playing too late at night, I did get a little queasy. The game even makes a joke about that.
Ultimately, this game is ray of light in the darkness. A speck of incredibleness in an overcrowded sea of indie blandness.
