Kinect exclusive Dance Paradise has now got a teaser trailer showing some of the games features gracing those who decide to buy it when it releases this Fall.
The game features a top-notch choice of dance tracks from artists like Akon, Daft Punk and Lady Gaga, just to name a few. As you will see if you decide to watch the trailer, the game features real-time dance gameplay, similarly to Harmonix’s Kinect exclusive dance title Dance Central, and adds to the already bulging line-up of games accompanying the Kinect Launch.
It’s worth a watch just to have another look at Microsoft’s Kinect technology, let alone see a male avatar dancing in the most feminine way possible. Enjoy.
Peggle Nights™ Comes to the iPhone™ and iPod® touch Via New Game Upgrade
PopCap Games, the worldwide leader in casual video games, today announced it is offering a game update to Peggle™ for the iPhone™ and iPod® touch, which will include the non-stop action of Peggle Nights™.
With this update for Peggle iPhone, new and existing players can enjoy five levels of Peggle Nights for free, and can then unlock the entire Peggle Nights game via an in-app purchase. The Peggle Nights content is included with any new purchases of Peggle for the iPhone and iPod touch.
For international players, the Peggle update also adds localization for the French, Italian, German, and Spanish markets.
Ready to settle for Peggle? No? Play Peggle Nights or play both and get Peggle Nights via an in-app purchase!
Call of Duty: Black Ops will be available in stereoscopic 3D when it launches November 9th this year. It seems the 3D buzz will never die, Publisher Activision said that the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC Versions of the shooter will be compatible with 3D-Ready HDTV’s and PC’s using active shutter glasses.
Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia said “Development of stereoscopic 3D began as an R&D project, but once we saw what the technology brought to the Call of Duty experience, what a great fit and how immersive it was, we knew that we had to develop it for Black Ops”
Lamia went on to add “We made sure the experience is seamless for gamers to use with a simple menu option to enable stereoscopic 3D or disable it at any time whether playing in the single player campaign, multiplayer or Zombies.”
The Xbox 360 has 3D capabilities, however Microsoft decided not to market this feature as much competitors. Xbox Global Marketing boss has previously said “For us, it’s more going to be let’s see what the consumers say. Let’s see what happens on the TV side and the sell-through side. It’s something I think we’re going to follow on and that we’re fine to follow on”. He also claimed there’s nothing the PS3 can do in terms of 3D that the Xbox 360 can’t emulate.
I recently sat down with Michael Wilford CEO of Twisted Pixel Games the masterminds behind their latest smash hit COMIC JUMPER on Xbox Live Arcade !! We go through and ask Mike everything you need to know about this fantastic title from it’s development to its crazy humor.
Enjoy the interview :
1. “Where did the inspiration come from?”.
Our co-founder and CCO Josh Bear created the characters back when he was in grade school. He always wanted to make it into a comic book, but when we founded Twisted Pixel we convinced him to make it into a game instead!
2. “How hard was it to keep the art styles separated while in development?”.
This did prove challenging during development. We had to do spurts of development on each style where we focused entirely on that style, and then switch to another one. It was too hard to have the team try and work on multiple styles simultaneously.
3. “Which came first: the story or the idea?”
We had the idea for Comic Jumper for years, and a vague idea of what the story would be like. But story really came together when one of our designers, Sean Conway, outlined the whole script and invented the characters, which we then handed off to some professional writer friends of ours Matt Entin and Ed Kuehnel who have a lot of experience bringing characters to life.
4. “You have always been generous with giving stuff away in your games. Do you feel this helps a lot in selling your games?”
It probably doesn’t help that much, but we don’t think of it like that. I think giving away freebies is one of those cool things that downloadable games can do pretty easily, so why not do it? It’s a great way to say thanks to your fans.
5. “How did you decide the art styles?”
We wanted to invoke comic books that most anyone would recognize, not just the hardcore comic geeks. Everyone has seen what a silver age comic looks like, and most people know that manga is weird. So we chose to hit the broad strokes, but for the fans that really are into comics, there are a lot of nods in there that they will appreciate too.
6. “Will the free DLC for splosion man, have achievements? Or is it just extra levels?”
No achievements, that would have been a lot more difficult to pull off, but it was important to us to provide new levels.
7. “Will Comic Jumper have replayability? Like Extra difficulties, and maybe secret areas and easter eggs that people may miss on the first playthrough?”
Comic Jumper comes with over 200 unlockables that require lots of playing to unlock them all. They kind of chronicle the making of the game with behind-the-scenes videos and commentaries about early concept art and animatics. And yes, there are lots of easter eggs / obscure references in the game that would be impossible to find on one play through. I myself continue to hear new lines of dialog that I never knew were in there.
8. “Where do the jokes come from? Do you have one giant think tank of a writer, or does the entire team input lines and jokes as the game gets developed?”
It’s definitely a team effort. Just like Splosion Man, we have a lot of fun working on the game so there’s no shortage of crazy ideas that we try out by anyone and everyone on the team. Between the designers, the writers, the voice actors that have lots of ad lib in the game, and the rest of the team, it’s impossible to pinpoint where the jokes come from.
9. “In some of the gameplay videos, I’ve noticed a few references to your earlier games. Can we expect a whole bunch of those subtle references and do they ever take a bigger role then just background billboards for example?”
You’ll just have to see for yourself. =)
10. “The title is ‘Comic Jumper: The adventures of Captain Smiley’ does that mean we can expect other heroes for Comic Jumper even though you have stated that you don’t like making sequels?”
The game lends itself very well to the idea of doing DLC down the road where you get to jump into other comics, and we made sure the game supports that feature, but we’ve been focused on the content in this game and don’t have anything else in the works at this time.
11. “Did you ever get to the point where you felt the joke was simply too crude to actually use it?”
Many, many times. Damn you ratings boards!
And there you have it. Another fantastic interview completed. Special thanks goes out to Michael for taking the time to answer these questions. We wish the team over at Twisted Pixel Games the best of luck with Comic Jumper and we hope you all try it out. If you’re not sure whether to pick up this game then have a read of our review of Comic Jumpere here. Then click on the BUY it now link and download it directly to your Xbox 360 from marketplace.
Assassin’s Creed is a fine example of realised potential; the last entry was the epitome of what a sequel should be and one of the best games of 2009. Ubisoft took constructive criticism to a new level and fixed the repetitious flaws of the first game, whilst improving upon the already impressive graphics with solid art direction. What can they do next? A quick story recap: Assassin’s Creed brotherhood continues shortly after where the last game ended. Ezio has returned to his villa, and bounces out of bed to the Templars turning his town into a mess.
Ezio ensures the villagers get out safely, and then a new foe is introduced. Our hero becomes wounded and a murder occurs. Then the story continues with the theme of revenge, but instead of attacking immediately, Ezio bides his time and moves to Rome to recruit new assassins. Once he is healed, Ezio is ready to start seeking revenge once again. Speaking of Rome, Ubisoft has mentioned that the city is three times bigger than any city seen in previous games, which is pretty impressive considering their scope. Considering how quick this game is being turned around since the last, it wouldn’t be a crime to think this might be Assassins Creed 2.5, but rest assured that isn’t the case. The single player game is set to last 10 hours to complete, and much longer for the extras.
As mentioned before, Ezio is out to recruit new assassins to plot his revenge. This is where the idea of “brotherhood” comes into play, a new mechanic called “BAM” is being introduced into the game to manage recruits. Now this may not seem very “stealth” like, but it makes for an interesting concept to have aids in assassinating people. The strategic side this adds to the game gives the impression that the scope of the gameplay, as well as the new cities is larger than the last instalment. Whether this is positive for the game remains to be seen, but the idea of leaving students behind to pursue another target is a good idea.
Playing as Ezio you can mark targets for your minions to kill in various ways, a cool addition to these students is that they level up and learn skills. Ezio as a character is about 40 years old in the story; therefore it makes sense for this to come into play. These additional characters come in varying forms, such as size, shape and gender. Also if they die you have to recruit again and start over, which means you, might actually care about your students. There is a limit to how many students you can recruit, and the exact number hasn’t been confirmed.
Another Major element in single player is toppling Borgia Towers, the obviously corrupt Borgia family has taken over Rome and it’s your job to give the city back to the people by burning the guard towers keeping watch. Once you’ve done that merchants will come in and set up shop. Another search and destroy factor comes into play with Borgia flags across the city, they’re often in hard to reach places and for every flag you find and remove you’ll reduce Borgia’s hold on the city. You’ll also be able to use a mini-hand glider to break falls from high up, which seems pretty cool. I’m guessing Leonardo has something do with it, as he’ll be making another appearance in this game.
MULTI-PLAYER
Finally the major innovation to the new Assassin’s Creed is the multi-player aspect, which if you play the BETA you’ll find is pretty darn fun. It could be described as “death from above”, the most fun of all Assassination’s. Ubisoft has learned from multi-player with Splinter Cell and we’re better off for it. If you’re a fan of the kill animations in Assassins Creed, then the multi-player is your forte, because that’s where the satisfaction comes into play. It’s one button assassinations, no real melee combat, and the variety in death styles is vast and fulfilling. The only modes available are wanted and alliance, but this has proved enough fun. The rank system and game mechanics are addictive and compelling enough to keep you busy.
Wanted is basically hunting targets and being pursued by someone else at the same time. You spawn and the player you’re targeting pops up in the right hand corner of the screen. A blue indicator points towards the target helping you find the player, but running directly for the indicator sometimes ends in death as you’re giving yourself away. Stealth becomes key in some situations; however it all depends on the quality of the people you’re playing with. Many times I’ve just run around like a clown popping people off, it only gets hard once you’re in the lead and the game automatically sets more people after the leader. That’s when paranoia sets in and being careful comes into play. It’s a nicely balanced system and makes for some close call matches.
It’s also possible to counter someone who is pursuing you with the circle button, however you can’t kill them. This makes escaping your pursuer all the more satisfying, timing the counter move will result in the assassin being stunned, giving you ample opportunity to bolt. This excitement escalates when you’re close to your own target but are running from someone else. The game basically becomes like a frantic train of people chasing each other to the death, you can escape by either losing your pursuer or hiding in some leafs etc. Stealing other people’s targets is possible as well. While countering can be fun if timed right, this is one mechanic where your latency can become an issue, resulting in lag rage.
Alliance is the other mode available for now, which is basically coop by setting three teams of two assassins against each other. This mode requires coordination between team-mates in order to win, watching your mates back and working together to kill targets is always fun.
As you level through the ranking system you’re rewarded with more abilities (level cap will be 50), such a smoke bombs, disguises and turbo sprints. This levelling system is similar to something like Modern Warfare, but this game is vastly different to other online games on the market, which makes for a very unique experience. Characters and classes are customisable and I’m looking forward to what the full game will offer.
All positive things aside, this is a BETA so obviously there were some issues and hopefully they’ll be fixed by the time of release. Depending on when I was playing, sometimes it was quite difficult to find a game, sometimes up to 15 mins. However it’s possible to stick with people once you find them by rematching. Another issue I ran into was random freezing of my PS3; I haven’t heard anything of this by other people. It may be I’m the only player with the problem, but it was still frustrating. Other issues included clipping problems with animation during kills, some strange behaviour with models floating in the air and issues with countering my pursuer. Yes, this is the BETA, but they’re worth mentioning.
If you have a PS3, I suggest you pay the dollars to become a PlayStation plus member and get access to this BETA. Even if it’s just for the BETA, you’ll enjoy levelling up before the game comes out. Especially if you’ve become jaded by FPS online games and are looking for something different, then this is the game. Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is set to release in November 2010 on PS3/Xbox 360, watch out for the review right here before release.
Game Name: Zenonia Platforms: Nintendo DSiWare Publisher(s):GAMEVIL USA, Inc. Developer(s):GAMEVIL USA, Inc. Genre(s): Action RPG Release Date: September 27th, 2010 Price: 800 Points ($8.00 US)
Developer Gamevil bring Zenonia to the DSiWare after the title’s huge success on the mobile market. Zenonia is a top-down action RPG with nearly 40 hours of gameplay and attempts to recreate the classic RPG as we know it. How did Zenonia fare? Here is my review.
Story
Zenonia starts off much like other RPG titles, with a nice long cutscene to get you acquainted with the characters and story. You then take control of a 17 year-old by the name of Regret, the game’s main protagonist who after his father’s demise, is looking for answers. There is a world full of supporting non-playable characters as well that really are all easily likable and make the world come alive with depth.
The overall story may sound a bit typical, but it is all intended. Zenonia feels like it knows that it is an RPG with a rather generic story, and that is the charm of it all. While the story stayed interesting the whole way through for me and there were many serious moments, Zenonia was also was full of pop culture and video game references bringing the somewhat aged setting into modern times and even cracking the fourth wall. The humor in the game is literally the icing on the cake and not only made Regret and all of the other characters within likable, but highly memorable.
You start with three classes to choose from being Paladin, Warrior, or Assassin. Each class has it’s own strengths and weaknesses which effect the way you fare against certain enemies. On top of the different classes is the Good/Evil meter which measures your in-game decision making. Depending on choice, the storyline can shift and you can go down a different path which makes for more incentive later to go back through and try different choices and see how each story ends up when you are finished.
As well as the story mode there is always side-quests for Regret to complete for various characters within the game. Most of these consisted of fetch quests or simply beating a set number of enemies but the way these worked into the story actually helped me keep balanced within level for the next boss as you get experience for each enemy defeated.
Gameplay
Zenonia is an action RPG and it plays the part with near perfection. Control is simple to use with the standard D-Pad to move Regret and the “A” button for standard attacks. Other buttons are used for different techniques which can be learned as you level up. The menu system can be activated at anytime. The menu is simple to use and is great for on the go access to upgrading your stats, using items, or saving the game at any point. The bottom screen serves no real purpose except for the option to display your map and menu from time to time.
If you are not a fan of grinding, this game might annoy you a bit on that front as a lot of grinding is needed to get prepared for the many challenging enemies ahead on your main quest. Each enemy you defeat gives you experience and money which you can use to gain new techniques, better equipment, ect. The enemies are always different though and with the side-quest missions, grinding was actually fun in this title. Each enemy or encounter usually felt completely different than the next and if the challenge was too great, a simple strategy change worked wonders to get the job done. If your main character dies you have the choice of taking a hit to Regret’s stats and restarting the battle or you can simply give 3000 gold (or whatever gold you may have left if less than 3000) to jump right back in the game without having to restart at all.
Attacking is also easy and never a chore, but you must be lined up quite accurately to use attacks to their full potential. With practice I got better at this method but there was a slight hiccup from time to time with fighing multiple enemies at once as I felt gravitated towards an enemy that was closer rather than to the original target. Besides that one mishap, the gameplay engine is solid and extremely nostalgic and has a lot of the same qualities that made the older Zelda titles and classic rpgs of the past so great.
Graphics/Audio
The graphics in Zenonia looked a bit like a SNES title, but that is not a bad thing at all. Each sprite is detailed and the character model’s anime appearance worked well with fitting in to the overall world. As far as the land of Zenonia goes, each location is different and made me want to explore every crevice. I never once got bored of looking at the sheer beauty of the 16-bit locations once. To top off the graphics is a soundtrack that could easily be a contender for some of the best video game tunes in years. The combination of both really brought the whole game to life for me and kept me playing for hours on end.
Overall
Zenonia more than lived up to my expectations and then some for a DSiWare title. As I was playing through I felt like I was playing a cartridge as the game is so jammed pack full of content and hours and hours of gameplay that was simple yet addictive. The charming cast of characters and engaging story shatter any of the minor flaws in the game and set this title apart from your typical RPG to a fresh yet nostalgic experience. At only 800 points, this title not only puts out one of the best portable RPGs in recent years, but sets a bar for all future DSiWare titles which is a feat all to it’s own.
In an interesting story on ESPN, it was revealed that NBA Jam will feature President Obama, Hilary Clinton and other Democrats as unlockable characters. A Republican team will also be available. If politics is not your style, you will be happy to know that an unlockable Beastie Boys team will be included. It is currently unknown how these caricatures will be unlocked. Read the full story here. I’m kinda looking forward to dunking on any one of these politicians when NBA Jam releases on Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 this holiday.
Story “A dark tower looms over a wasted world. Infected by the Diablosis, the living battlefields within shift and twist while a lone warrior, Syd, fights his way to the top.
Immerse yourself in an organic world as you make Syd climb on living platforms and throw his partner Filena in powerful melee attacks against colossal enemies. Merging intense combat with fast-paced action, experience a rich unique journey like you have never seen in Quantum Theory™. Only from Tecmo. Are you ready for the tower?” [via Xbox.com]
A menacing tower looms overhead, and it is up to Syd to destroy it. The Diablosis infects everything it touches, and in turn mutates people into enemies and shifts the land all around you. It is a slow and ceaseless fight to the top, and with your partner Filena you must reach the top to destroy the tower.
(Side Note: I just want to point out, how the Xbox.com description contradicts itself. The first paragraph has Syd as a “lone warrior” and then the second paragraph mentions your partner “Filena”. Quite humorous if you ask me. There is also the fact, that the combat isn’t really fast paced at all, but I’ll cover that in the gameplay section)
Gameplay The gameplay is extremely similar to that of another famous game. I wouldn’t normally mark down a game on this factor, but in this case it is a clone of all the worst elements and picks up on almost nothing that made the other game enjoyable. There are a few “unique” additions that attempt to make this game fun, and while a few of them succeed, and majority of them fail. Other than the unique additions; a majority of the game consists of taking cover, picking up guns, and clumsily trying to shoot enemies. Sadly, due to the clumsy cover system and the low quality graphics, killing people is a slow ordeal.
Instead of grenades, you have the ability to throw your female partner. She uses a sword, and by throwing her right at the enemy you can easily dispatch almost any non boss creature in one throw. This is sadly, [pretty much] the strongest attack in the game; and that ruins the game slightly. There are also a few parts, that are actually fast paced; where you shoot people while your character runs and does things on his own. These parts seem like they would be fun, the hard aiming system and incredibly accurate enemies cause you die; a lot.
There is multiplayer in this game, but it is dead. I couldn’t even get into a game; and when I did manage to get in one or two, I lost connection instantly. I’m not going to say anything bad about the multiplayer, because it might actually be good (maybe…). On the other hand, I tried for a very long time just to get in a few games; but a series of connection issues and blatant lack of players halted me from experiencing it at all.
Audio & Graphics The audio is terrible. The explosions are dull, gun fire seems muffled, and the voice acting is probably the worst. Constantly, you will have NPCs and your own player shouting out lame one liners, and most of the time it isn’t even enthusiastic. Monotone voices and repetitive one liners create an annoying atmosphere while you are actually trying to kill things.
The graphics are poor as well. The game is dark, gloomy, and quite blurry. Trying to shoot anything at a distance while behind cover is incredibly hard for many reasons. First it is difficult to tell where the enemies are since they blend in extremely well; and secondly, they teleport. Teleporting isn’t part of their design, they are actually glitching and the their cover system is causing them to be in plain sight and then suddenly teleporting into some random cover. The entire game was like that, and it simply got really annoying.
Achievements
The achievement list has an incredible amount of secret achievements, but these are all story based. The rest of the achievements either require you to kill an increasingly larger amount of enemies, find certain things within the game, or reach a certain rank online. The online ranks will take forever, and that is if you could even find a game. The kills don’t require much work, and should be able to be attained in one playthrough based on your skill. Finding the watchers, is annoying on the other hand. Many of them are located in secluded areas of the maps, or hidden in small locations that require you to snipe them from a distance. A few are even located in areas that you can never actually reach, and you must take them out from a distance or miss them completely. I have to admit that the achievement list isn’t actually bad, but the large amount of story based achievements, and online achievements take away from the value of the list itself.
Overview Quantum Theory, by name alone, would sound like a extremely cool game. Sadly, the actual game falls far from cool and borders on just being really annoying. There are the few good moments within the game, but the bad far out weigh the good and suck all life that could have ever been in the game. Being able to throw a girl instead of grenades is fun, but it being the only actually good form of attack ruins everything. The game has a decent concept, but blurry and gloomy graphics ruins the atmosphere and all the levels. If you simply can’t wait for Gears of War 3 (I said it! It was hard but I couldn’t hold it in anymore), you might want to rent this title to get some sort of “fix”; but I can guarantee that you would enjoy yourself more just playing through the first two Gears of War games again. A game with a good premise was simply ruined by attempting to be too much like every other game out there, and failing at it.
I give Quantum Theory
What would you do if you had to live in your little sister’s shadow? Everything she did was better than you, your family pays full attention to her, and she barely recognizes your existence? Well if you have that life then you may relate with Kyousuke and the fact that his little sister Kirino rules the house and his life.
The series begins with Kyousuke having a dream about what he wishes his little sister would be like, but when his dreams become too far separated from reality he realizes that there is no way that his sister could be this cute (the translated series name) and he wakes from his dream. Beyond his sudden jolt back to reality he goes to breakfast only to listen to his parents go on and on about his little sister’s accomplishments, and school turns out to be no better for poor Kyousuke.
Then, the entire series starts to do a complete 180. When Kyousuke returns home he finds his sister talking on the phone, and she blatantly ignores him while talking on the phone with her friend. After forgetting something in the kitchen, Kyousuke returns to the dining room and bumps into his sister and causes an 18+ game to fall out of her bag and under a table and out of sight until after Kirino leaves.
Knowing that it could not be his game, Kyousuke slyly questions his family about their feelings on such a game only to see that his parents care little about Otaku like games such as those, and think that they are useless people who should focus their energy into something productive. Little do they know that their daughter is sweating bullets on the other side of the table.
After catching Kirino searching his room for something, Kyousuke quickly comes to the conclusion that the game is hers, but does not force the conclusion on his sister. Instead simply telling her to throw it away from him he lets the problem drop. Kirino on the other hand has other ideas.
With a situation straight out of one of her games, Kirino smacks Kyousuke awake and informs him she needs life counseling and tells him to go to her room. Once there she reveals the fact that not only is she posing for a fashion magazine, she is also a closet Otaku with a distinct love for 18+ games that involve sister complexes. She reveals an entire hidden closet full of countless editions of various games in a hope to be understood by Kyousuke and to finally share her secret.
Not only does this place Kyousuke in the tough situation of dealing with his little sister’s constant requests, but he has now been thrown into the Otaku world at the behest of her. Not only that but the fact that each game his sister makes him play involves sister complexes which could create tons of hilarity later on in the series. Kirino herself shows many tsundere elements throughout the episode, first by ignoring Kyousuke entirely to slapping him awake, and then calling him an idiot while depending on his advice.
AIC does not disappoint this time around as the character designs are very cute and well done, and the animation is superb. The jokes that are made are top notch and easy to enjoy without there being much knowledge about the subject matter. There was no opening or ending this episode, as it was treated primarily as an introduction to the series as a whole I am not worried. Rather I am excited as Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai looks to be one of the top series this Fall, short of Index II.
Nascar The Game 2011 has been confirmed for a Febuary 2011 release date for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. Gamers can play as themselves or as a pro driver. One feature to look out for is that each pro driver will have a unique AI that will replicate their real counterparts. 16 player online multiplayer will be included. Also included is a recent trend towards combining offline and online experiences. For example, credits earned offline AND online can be spent on unlockables. 22 real world tracks, multi car wrecks and full car damage may make this the most exciting NASCAR game yet.
“While NASCAR has enjoyed a rich history in video games, we really wanted to take the next generation of NASCAR games to a new level,” said Blake Davidson, Managing Director of Licensed Products at NASCAR. “By partnering directly with Eutechnyx, the leading driving game developer in the business, to create NASCAR The Game 2011, we are convinced NASCAR fans and gamers alike will be blown away by the result. With Activision as the publishing partner, we have the perfect combination to set the bar for all future NASCAR titles.”
“The NASCAR videogame fanbase has been underserved for a long time and we’re bringing them something very special,” says David Oxford, Activision Publishing. Ed Martin, Executive Vice President at Eutechnyx, adds, “It was crucial to take a fresh look at what makes the sport so popular. We’re working very closely with NASCAR, the drivers, the teams, the tracks and the sponsors to get all the minute details right, and give this game the polish and push the fans deserve.”
