Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’s ‘Knives Chau Add-On Pack’ DLC is arriving later this week. Since only friday is left, probably tomorrow… or they meant next week; it doesn’t really matter. The DLC brings drop-in, drop-out co-op beat ’em up action, dodge ball and Battle Royale mode. You can also play as the new character Knives Chau (duh…).
Keep an eye out for the Knives Chau Add-On Pack on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PSN soon and check out the trailer below if you want to see the extras in action.
Steam is having a big “Give and Get” sale happening this weekend, with a few daily deals thrown into the mix. As of 11PM EST, you have 14 hours left before you can no longer grab these sweet deals. So grab them while you can.
So you want to make your own game; maybe the next Gears of War or Unreal Tournament. Youv’e just downloaded Epic Games Developer Kit for Unreal Engine 3.0 and now you’re stuck, staring at a blank bunch of windows and some test maps. How the heck do you do anything!
The first thing I noticed when you open the editor/ which is separate to the player, is just how similar the tools are to Unreal Engine 2.0 editor. More or less identical in fact.  This makes it incredibly easy and intuitive for previous modders but still a bit backwards for the novice user. Below is a compile of many useful videos to check out BEFORE heading into the edtior, just to see if it’s for you. As well some n00b pro tips that may seem obvious at first but are also easy to miss when considering the possibility of making maps.
I for one was overwhelmed with a wave of nostalgia, I havn’t felt in years from my time teaching game design and level editing back in 2004. That’s right, I was employed ie payed to go into class every day and teach students how to make maps and levels: and trust me when I say, it takes time and patients.
– Building maps takes time. Obvious, but you must be willing to spend weeks if not months perfecting that ideal map
– The UDK will crash! Unreal 2.0 was notoriously buggy (many projects were lost) and on top of that, a decent rig is recommended to test the designs to their optimum- some features you use may not appear if the settings for graphics are not good enough or correct.
– This is NOT Gears of War. From the install the assesstts provided are for Unreal 3 only as with previous editors. So expect to make maps and arenas for Unreal using the weapons and default characters of the game.
–Making anything other than a level or map takes time, but also more advanced and higher levels  of coding and tools. Making anything other than Unreal Maps and Mods, means importing from other programs and finding other asset’s or making them from scratch.
–You want that sweet Lancer gun from Gears, you may just have to model it yourself. Programs like 3D Studio Max or Maya support the Unreal Engine, and are required to make models, textures or other assets. Photoshop is the most useful for materials and skins.
–The Unreal Engine does not do everything! Game Engins are complex and made up of many 3rd party software for physics, video and lighting. This one Unreal 3.0 editor does not have them all. New updates include better surface mapping, materials and water reflections, lighting and shadows and dynamic physics, tree generation.
–Tutorials are your friend! If you can’t find the right software to do the job, there is usually a free alternative such as GIMP 2.0 instead of Photoshop. There is no shame in using tutorials to learn how to do something harder to basic. It has probably already been done before.
–Draw and write your ideas  down. It all starts on paper young Jedis. Draw your maps and plan them in 2D from the top before trying to model them in 3D across the XYZ axis.
The Unreal Engine works on subtractive modelling; that is, you carve out levels from inside a box rather than additive modeling (think lego blocks), although seemingly backwards at first it allows for a solid foundation to build your map inside. Just remember what you are looking at is a 2D representation of 3D enviroment. You screen is flat! 3D is just an illusion (depth) it doesn’t really exist and if you want to see the back of objects, be prepared to rotate them from all angles.
Here is some light reading for starters:
The file format is MP4. No other codecs are required.
Each compressed archive contains one or more videos:
Crescent Moon Games, the creator of the award-winning western RPGs, Ravensword: The Fallen King and Rimelands: Hammer of Thor has already working for months with Galoobeth Games to bring you their latest installment. The name is Aralon: Swords and Shadow, and it will be available for both iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad. You will play the role as a unique hero and explore the land set in a pretty 3D world. Not much is known about its release date but we do hope to see this on the App Store by the end of the year. Let’s keep our fingers crossed! Till then, enjoy the video trailer. (Watch it, the graphics in this game are absolutely stunning!)
– Over 30 hours of gameplay
– Gorgeous 3D graphics and interactive environments
– Explore a massive world with different regions, a vast city, coastal villages, caverns, and castles
– Customize your character’s appearance
– 4 Character Classes: Warrior, Ranger, Rogue, and Mage. Each class has its own unique skill tree that you can develop as you choose
– 3 Playable Races: Humans, Elves, and the fearsome Trolls
– A primary quest and multiple, optional side-quests that will take you throughout the Kingdom of Aralon
– Hundreds of items to acquire and wield: Swords, Axes, Bows, Staves, Shields, and Armor, part of a Comprehensive Inventory System that dynamically alters characters appearance
– Battle various enemies that use different fighting tactics
– Diverse gameplay options including a faction system, herb gathering, crafting potions and magical items, dual-wielding, lockpicking and more
– Acquire a mount for fast travel throughout the kingdom
Game Name: SBK X SuperBike World Championship Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360 Publisher: Southpeak Games Developer: Deep Silver Genre: Racing Release Date: June 7th 2010 (EU), Dec 7th 2010 (US) Price: $39.99 (US) ESRB/PEGI rating: E10+/3 Pre Order the game HERE(US)
I find it totally odd that SBK X came out in europe on June 7th yet, the US release date is six months later. If you are into simulation racing, you are most likley playing that other game that came out recently with 1000 cars in it. Have you noticed that game has little to no Speed cycles or Superbikes in it? That is where SBK X comes in. Its touch of realism is nice and refreshing compared to the other well known Motorcycle game, Moto GT.
Most if not all simulation racers do not have a story so lets move on to what counts, the gameplay.
Gameplay
This is the heart and soul of racing games. SBK X does very well in this factor. It has two modes that change the gameplay. Arcade and Simulation mode. Arcade is quite easy and very fun. This is the mode to choose  if you have friends over that want to get stuck into some arcade action without the difficulty of a racing sim. Arcade mode is really easy to pick up and play. Using the X button to “Boost”  on Straight-a-ways involving alot of screen blurring.
Simulation mode is main course of the game. It is the only way you can play story mode. In story mode you pick a team to ride with and take on the SBK curcuit. Any real racer knows that it isn’t what’s on the outside of the car or bike but its what is under the hood and how the car or bike is personalized to the driver. That is what this game is all about. You don’t get to pick the make, model, or colors of your bikes. All of that is chosen when you pick your team. What you get to choose is a extensive mode of options that tweak your bike to the way you want to ride it and what is best for the track.
In story mode a few rounds of practice are given before the actual race, this is where you get used to the track and tune the bike accordingly. If the track is more curvy, then the bike needs to be tuned to be more reactive and more toward the acceleration side. Alot of straight lines? more on top speed and less reactive. You have your engineer to rely on when you do not know how to tune your bike. It is almost like going to the doctors. Tell him where it hurts and he will try and fix it. If you want the bike more attuned to yourself though, you will learn to tune it yourself. There are alot of options and it can get confusing but a tips button helps out. Gear ratios, suspension tunings, chain tension, even the kind of tires you put on can be changed. All can be tweaked to provide an overall change in the bike or just a specific change. For example if the bike skids and slides a bit when you come out of a turn you can do a couple things. Raise the suspension on the back and lower the front, lower the tension on the chain, or lower the gear ratio. It shocked me how a simple tune this or that way can change the way the bike handles completely. Sometimes though it is just the rider that needs work. Once you get the bike to where you want it, it is essential to ride it and get a feel for it. If you jump into a race with a fresh tuned bike and have no idea how it handles it could cost you the race. I enjoyed tuning my bike to perfection on each track then racing against the CPU.
One gripe I have with it though, is it just throws you in the pot with no instruction. No tutorial for driving or buttons. You just have to feel it out until you get the hang of things. In a game like this where every detail counts, a tutorial is almost essential. Especially to a new comer like me. This takes away from the experience some but it quickly gains it back. Â Sadly there is little to none online community. Maybe because I have the game before everyone else in the US, but this was a let down.
Audio and Visual
If a game promotes itself a simulation it has to look the part too. SBK X did real well in this department. No real glitches or frame rate drops I could see. The tracks look realistic as well as the bikes. Very detailed and accurate. Every engine sounds unique. It has a nice soundtrack if you like rock. Not very expansive when it comes to the music but, if you do like rock then it is good.  I like the way the screen blurs when you are going high speed. Rain looks very well done also. The terrain was a bit lacking. It looked fairly bland. I did not notice too many trees or shrubs but that isn’t too much of a gripe as long as the tracks looked as close to 1:1 as possible.
Overview
A very solid racing game. I have never heard of SBK or even the pro motorcycle racing was even out there. Being a fan of sim racing though I had alot of fun with it. It is pure motorcycle racing – you tweak the bike to each track, ride it, if you do not like it then tweak it differently. It is all about the bike and shouldn’t that really be what all racing games should be about ? If only the visual options on your bike were more abundant and little more bikes and tracks were put into the game. Also a little more variety of music would have helped also.
So the actor formally known as Max Payne, is now currently planning to fill the boots of seminal cult character Nathan Drake: Yes I am talking about Mark Wahlberg. How many other movies based on video games can he star in before someone tells him to stop! On top of which surely he is not the only actor who looks like Nathan Drake?
Thankfully, I personally was one of the few people who enjoyed Max Payne for what is was as a movie, without worrying too much about the liberal art direction it took away from the game series. Director of 3 Kings and The Fight David O. Russell is in the chair and MTV reports he is hoping to start filming this summer.
“David is one of the best writer/directors I’ve ever worked with,” Wahlberg told MTV. “The idea that he has is just insane. So hopefully we’ll be making that movie this summer.”
I don’t know if insane is what I would call Uncharted, but it can’t be any worse than a Tomb Raider knockoff, I mean Indiana Jones (please don’t turn it into Indiana Jones). What might be insane, just a bit, is that Nathans Uncle and Father may make an appearance in the movie, unlike the games and have none other than Robert Deniro and Goodfellas cohort Joe Pesci! It is hard to know where to go from here ( I still have my doubts about that Greenlatern movie and actor) but at least, hopefully we can expect a good old treasure hunt adventure.
So 2 days after the Nov 24th launch, have you already had enough of GT5? No, then this patch might be for you. Excuse our English, because we have another translated piece of news all the way from Germany.
From what we can tell, the patch on December 1 will basically add damage modelling to all vehicles in the arcade mode outright, including engine damage and addresses an issue with the front and left axel that would cause the car to pull left  more and roll. It sounds all very specific but  also very much like GT5 is getting supported, very well. It will not effect graphics per say, except to fix some clipping issues.
“The physical damage modeling in GT5 is released from currently Level 20. In addition, the Gran Turismo 5 Patch physical damage such as problems with the front axle, which can roll the vehicle to the right or left, bring. Even the players had after installing the patch, the GT5-way engine damage or total one-issue, respectively.”
Other patches are incoming from Polyphony Digital before Christmas.
This news comes from Games Aktuell via videogameszone.de
The latest addition to Origin8’s popular sci-fi strategy game, namely Sentinel 3: Homeworld, has just been approved by Apple hours ago. This latest installment of the award winning Sentinel tower defense series includes many improvements from the previous versions and also some of the most requested features by Sentinel fans. Check out the huge list of features below!
New in Sentinel 3: Homeworld:
– A completely new campaign featuring 20 levels across 14 distinctive and demanding maps.
– A powerful new Commander unit which can level up and gain customizable stats and abilities as you play.
– Over 20 unlockable turrets, orbital ship weapons, automated drones and abilities at your disposal.
– Customize your weapon loadout in the Armory to match the demands of the mission.
– Stunning graphics and effects, with full high-resolution Retina display support.
– Endless modes for all maps with online highscores.
– Classic mode allows you to compete for scores in a pure skill-based game mode.
– Support for social gaming networks for achievements, global scores, friends and more using OpenFeint and GameCenter.
– View strategic layouts from the leaderboards – see how the best players think (OpenFeint required).
– New exclusive music by the creators of the Sentinel 2 music – Specimen A.
– Completely reworked and revamped game engine for optimal performance on all iOS devices
Classic Sentinel series features:
– Specialized structures and units provide unique tactical gameplay.
– Use the landscape and destructible defenses to maximize the effectiveness of your weapons.
– Unleash the Sentinel’s incredible ship weapons system – if you’ve got the power to do so…
– Deploy mobile attack drones to harass the enemy and augment static defenses.
– Construct boosters to buff your offense, and upgrade to top-tier towers for devastating special moves
– Resource harvesting and interest system adds a new dimension of risk and reward.
– Visually stunning environments, towers and enemies with fluid zooming and scrolling.
The game will due on the App Store worldwide with less than 24 hours to go at $3.99 (and equivalent amount in other currencies). While you wait, check out their previous releases, Sentinel 1: Mars Defense and Sentinel 2: Earth Defense. Both are great tower defense games at $0.99that you wouldn’t want to miss. Enjoy the video trailer and stay tuned for an in-depth review of the game soon at Capsule Computers!
If you have been following any coverage for the followup to High Voltage and Sega’s The Conduit, Conduit 2, then you know the gameplay is shaping up and looking quite impressive. One thing which not too much light has been shed on though is the story of the game. A new trailer was recently released by Sega is now out and shows off the story more like a cinematic trailer. Along with high quality visuals and audio, the trailer shows Michael Ford as he crosses through a conduit and is being congratulated for “doing what needed to be done” by an eerily voiced AI.
I can’t wait to try this one out as Conduit 2 is showing more and more promise with each passing day. The release as shown in the trailer is February of 2011 but you can check out the trailer below and check back here are well for even more news for Conduit 2 as we hear it.
Game Name:Sonic Colors Platform(s): Nintendo DS (Reviewed), Nintendo Wii Publisher(s):SEGA Developer(s): Sonic Team, Dimps Genre(s): Platformer Release Date: November 16th, 2010 (US) November 12th, 2010 (AU)
November 11th (EU) Price: $49.99 (Wii Version) $29.99 (DS Version)
When it comes to portable “ports” of games that also hit consoles the same day of release, the final product is usually a cheap, quickly thrown together mess that is barely playable. Sonic Colors completely shatters this way of thinking though with the DS version of the title. Made by the makers of the Sonic Rush series, Sonic Colors for the Nintendo DS should not be considered a port or watered down version of Colors for the Wii by any means as it shines even a little brighter than it’s console brethren under the same name. Here is my review for Sonic Colors on the Nintendo DS.
Story
The story is nearly the same for this version of Colors if you compare it to the Wii version, just told in a different way. Dr. Robotnik…erm..Eggman is building an Interstellar Amusement Park as a cover to harness the energy from the alien species known as Wisps and it is up to Sonic to stop him. Nothing really more or less story wise but the story is actually a bit easier to follow this time around.
Instead of fully animated cutscenes, most of the characters dialogue is told with images and text. This method for me actually made the game have a better overall flow and kept the overall story progression a smooth process. There is a bit of voice acting mixed in, but nothing really more than a few quick lines from time to time which mainly is used to set the tone for the character who is talking. There still are a few cheesey bits of dialogue as well, but nothing you haven’t seen before if you have played any other Sonic game in the past 10 years.
A few of the newer characters also make appearances as well such as Cream the Rabbit and Silver, but fret not as these cameos really don’t tie into the story at all and are mainly used for bonus missions.
Gameplay
Sonic Colors for the Nintendo DS plays completely in 2D throughout the whole experience. The touch screen is used throughout small sections but the D-Pad along with the standard four button layout work well to control the game as they are used for all of the main stages nearly the whole time. Colors DS also fully utilizes both screens on the Nintendo DS throughout each level as both screens are used in the level design. This method will take some getting used to as looking up and down can be a chore at first, but after about an hour I stopped noticing as the game moves so fast this method becomes second nature.
The level design for Sonic Colors DS is where the game truly shines. The game is set up nearly the same as the Wii counterpart, but every level is set up more like a classic Sonic game and never throws in too much of the same thing keeping the experience nostalgic and fresh the whole time. In the Wii version, I felt a few levels threw off the pace of the game by adding an unnecessary gimmick. The portable version rids the game completely of those moments and kept the feeling of a classic Sonic game (with a bit of a Sonic Rush twist) until the end. There are still some sections of trial and error but I never ran into a pitfall or any other glitch that hurt the overall feel of the game. Also speaking of the level design it would be a shame if I did not mention the clever placement of obstacles and interactive portions which can have you jump off Jello, fly down a waterslide, grind on rails, and many more stage additions that made me look forward to what was around the next corner because these are all a blast to play and are included so often which give each act it’s own feel.
The Wisps are of course the main plot and gameplay point to Colors. The Wisps control just as good if not better than the Wii version, except now there are four less and two extra exclusive Wisps to absorb. Each gives Sonic the ability to transform or take the powers to better reach the next area, break through walls, or defeat certain enemies. The placement of the colored Wisps was really effective and actually useful each time I encountered them. New Wisps such as “Red Burst” which turns Sonic into a fireball and “Violet Void” which sucks everything into a black hole such as rings and Wisp power are spectacular additions which got me through a lot of tight spaces along with the standard four power-ups in the game. Wisps work great, but a lot can be said about Sonic’s own abilities. I’m talking positive aspects by that of course. Sonic’s homing attack, jump, and re-incorporated spindash are utilized perfectly and never break the flow of a level keeping each act moving along nicely.
Difficulty is extremely varied in the game as some stages are easy to just fly through, others can be quite a challenge. Boss Battles would be the best example as there is a lot of strategy you must use to take down the main foe from each world. Overall though this range of difficulty does wonders for the feel of the game and keeps the player on their toes for whatever unexpected challenge is ahead.
Remember the “Collect the Rings” 3D bonus stages in Sonic 2? Those are back as well in Colors DS being the main touch-screen controlled element of the game, and of course to get the emeralds at the end as well. Instead of collecting rings though you must collect a certain amount of a particular color of orb, then move to different colors as you progress. Sliding your stylus in different directions to do the bonus stages is performed well and is a great change of pace after a frantic level.
As for replay value, there is plenty to do after you complete the main game as all levels including the bonus missions can be revisited at any time. There is also scores that can be beaten just like in the Wii version which adds a lot of room for completionists to go back and perfect acts to score the top grade. Add in the newly implemented single and multi-card versus mode and the heap of unlockables and this journey for the blue hedgehog is an easy one to take again and again.
Graphics/Audio
The graphics in Colors DS are some of the better on the system but it can be hard even noticing as the game blazes by rather quickly. Each level is different in it’s own right and the worlds are vividly detailed and come to life with the high usage of color and sprites. Sonic’s Sprite I felt was a bit plain in comparison but this is just a minor nitpick as everything else pops off the screen and makes level progression an engrossing experience. Even the rings are given a golden shine though and the visuals can easily put you back in the early 90’s with the glory days of Sonic.
The music may not be at the same level as Sonic’s Wii counterpart, but it still does a great job of fitting with the game and the tunes feel at home with the 2D world. The voice actors do a decent job for what little voice acting that is in the game and set the tone well for the story. Cream still is a bit hard to bare though but she isn’t too prominent so that alone barely effects the game. A lot of the sound effects such as a charging spindash to the clink of rings being collecting at a lightning fast pace all come off with great results and never will you want to turn the volume down as the music and sound as a whole give a third dimension to this 2D title.
Overall
Sonic Colors for the DS proves that you can have a successful counterpart on a portable which lives up fully to the console version. In many ways the Nintendo DS version does it better as well. Where the Wii version had obvious flaws that were easily made up by the fantastic moments of the game, this version isn’t bogged down by any of that and easily outshines it gameplay and level-design wise. While the game is a brand new fresh experience, it still feels a lot like the classic Sonic games and in my opinion the DS version of Sonic Colors is THE current gen Sonic game to own as it is just more polished and feels more like it was a bit more of a gift to the 2D Sonic fanatics out there who have been craving a new experience. If you are a Sonic fan or just someone who wants one of the best platformers this year for the Nintendo DS, look no further as this blue hedgehog’s blazing colorful
return is an experience not to be missed on the portable scene.
