Short post, since I don't actually own this, and there's really not too much to say.
The Xbox 360 Slim, or technically just the Xbox 360, is sexy as hell.
It's not TERRIBLY smaller than it's predecessor, but it is still smaller, being thinner and a bit shorter, too. The system has five, yea, FIVE USB ports, two in front and three in back, as well as a standard video output, an HDMI port, an ethernet port, and a digital audio out port. It's been said that it has a port for the new Kinect, but it wasn't labeled as such. We'll see when Kinect launches.
The 250 GB Hard Drive is located in the bottom (vertically) of the system, and is easy to remove. The drive itself is small, surprisingly so, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, maybe. Definitely not compatible with the old Hard Drives.
This thing looks sexy, sleek black, pretty lines, and these sick vents on the side. Upright, it looks like an Alienware desktop, and this thing is quiet. I mean almost SILENT. Even when it was running a game, the system was barely audible. Add that to the smaller (and supposedly more energy-efficient) powerbrick, and this thing is a winner.
It comes with standard AVI cables, a wired headset, a wireless controller, and built-in Wi-Fi, which works pretty well, though I didn't exactly give it a stress test. For three hundred bucks, though, it's not really worth an upgrade, especially since most people already have all that stuff. If you're new to it, though, this is definitely worth it. And I have to say, even though I don't need one, I sure as hell want one.
Told you this was short. And now, I'mma go play Crackdown.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
E3 2010! Sony Media Briefing
Woo! Two posts in one day? Crazy!
Sony stole the show last year, so let's see if they can kick some ass this year, too!
Come on, Kevin Butler!
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11:58 - We are go. Starting things off with a montage trailer. Games, movies, online, 3D, the Move. Some KB in there! Here's hoping for a live appearance.
11:59 - Jack Tretton onstage. Here we go. Tretton warns of action, excitement, and spittle. He's mentioning how cool it would be if KB were here. But, he says the 50-foot mural is enough for now. Jealousy, much?
12:00 - Recapping their 10-year vision. Says that after only four years, they're doing it.
12:01 - Rattled off franchises. Heavy Rain was in there. But it's a single game, right? Ooh... the potential.
12:02 - Only a few minutes in and he's already mentioned 3D. Uh-oh.
12:02 - Kaz Hirai on the scene!
12:02 - He jumped straight into 3D. I am much less excited.
12:03 - He's pimping Sony's 3D program. Not just the PS3, but the TV's and camera's too. Monopoly, much?
12:04 - He keeps stumbling over his words. Managed to get out that we'll have 20+ 3D games by 2011. Might or might not inckude the few 3D games already on the PSN Store.
12:05 - Killzone 3......D. Ugh.
12:06 - New enemies, weapons, and locales, including an arctic bit.
12:06 - Apparently everyone in the audience has 3D Glasses. Those of us watching online don't. I am not impressed.
12:07 - Soldiers on a boat or summat fighting jetpack Helghast. Remind me of Psycho Mantis. Lot's of blood on the screen, makes it hard to see. The game looks good, but what doesn't these days? Shot a jetpacker's pack, it launched him up in the air, until it ran out of gas, and he went splat. Oh boy, not only does the screen get covered in blood, it also goes super-contrast black and white. I love bot being able to see stuff.
12:09 - Some kind of vehicle mech section. Not too cool. Sound is great, though.
12:10 - Sound goes squiffy when you get hurt, and it even effects the cutscenes. Not cool. Oh, and from the looks of it, that little SixAxis wiggle bit is still in the game.
12:11 Mounted gun section in an airship. Game flows smoothly, looks good, especially for pre-alpha code.
12:12 - February 2011. Good. Now I can know when to not care. Oh, and it works with Move. More reason to not care.
12:13 - Kaz is back, pimping for 3D gaming some more, mentioning how it was DEVELOPED, and not adapted for 3D.
12:14 - The Sly Collection? Gran Tourismo 5, Motorstorm, and Killzone 3 in 3D. Along with Crysis 2, Mortal Kombat, Shaun White Skateboarding, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, and NBA 2K11. Snore.
12:15 - Another 3D video. Something about the world cup. Nope, just a lead in. Montage of 3D gaming. Lame.
12:17 - Without glasses, this is just a montage video. At least it's not in that crap blue and red hue.
12:18 - Tretton is back, talking about lifecycles, and how they aren't relevant anymore.
12:20 - Time to talk about Move.
12:20 - I find it funny that everyone throws the word "realism" into motion-contrilled gaming talks. Like Yahtzee said, without tactile feedback, it's just flailing.
12:22 - New dude keeps talking without saying anything.
12:22 - Dev video of talking heads, interspersed with KB. KB is the only interesting bit.
12:24 - The Playstation Move has BUTTONS?! *gasp*
12:26 - Finally time for the games. First up; Sorcery.
12:26 - "Nightmarish fairy kingdoms"? Gay
12:27 - Demo time. It DOES look gay. He is flicking gay purple bots of gayness from his gay wand at ugly and annoying enemies. Radial spell menu. At least it looks pretty.
12:29 - Transformation spell. He is now a rat. Is the rat gay? I don't know.
12:30 - Okay, the game looks stupid, but the tech is good, and the gameplay works, and the crowd is loving it.
12:31 - The narrator sounds rastafarian.
12:32 - Presenter's mic died for a moment. Lol.
12:32 - EA Sports title. Tiger Woods. Don't care.
12:33 - At least Sony is demoing stuff, rather than showing trailers.
12:34 - Dude got up to demo a golf game three minutes ago. He has spent those three minutes standing in front of the tv talking.
12:35 - Swing and a miss.
12:35 - He managed to hit the ball. Game looks nice, but this is the PS3,and that is to be expected now.
12:38 - Oh, Move update via PSN for Tiger Woods game. Ok, let's move on to something cooler.
12:39 - Heroes on the Move?
12:39 - Ratchet, Jak, Clank, Daxter, Sly, and some turtle guy, in some kind of mismatched hack and slach adventure.
12:40 - Talking about ad campaigns. A partnership with Coca-Cola, and giveaways. I am now thirsty.
12:41 - Kevin Butler just showed up!!
12:41 - Dear god, I love that man...
12:41 - Kevin Butler is his usual awesome self. He's playing to the crowd, doing that shooting thing from the Move commercial.
12:42 - He just totally dissed the Cirque du Soleil Kinnect thingy on Sunday. Awesome.
12:43 - "I know everyone has their eye on this motion control thing like it was Olivia Munn in a Lara Croft outfit!"
12:43 - KB is pumping up the crowd, and he is damn good at it.
12:44 - KB is asking us hardcore gamers to not hate on casual gamers. "If you've got an awesome girlfriend, and your friend gets an awesome girlfriend, who wins? EVERYONE."
12:45 - Move has important features...like arms.
12:45 - And necks.
12:45 - Inspirational music, and photos of KB doing epic things with the Move. This is the most inspiring speech ever.
12:46 - "We all serve one master, one king. And his name is Gaming! FOREVER MAY HE REIGN!!"
12:46 - KB is out. His appearance may have been brief, but damn can that man give a speech.
12:47 - Move launches September 19th in North America. Move is $49.99 and Nunchuck is 29.99, or a bundle plus game for 99.99. OR a system bundle for 400. Launch titles are MSRP 40+.
12:48 - Move is being retrofitted into older games, including Heavy Rain!!! Awesome.
12:49 - Another montage to wrap up the Move segment. As always, Playstation has good commercials.
12:50 - As an aside, I hope this mash-up of Move It vs Bust A Move shows up in DJ Hero 2.
12:51 - Time Crisis for Move. Awesome. RE5, as well, but we've already seen that.
12:53 - New ad campaign for the PSP in that Dear Playstation style.
12:54 - It seems they're trying to make a KB for the PSP, and it's a 13-year old black guy.
12:55 - As strange as it seems, I like it. And he has good chemistry with KB.
12:55 - It seems this is now the Dear PSP stuff. It's kind of good.
12:55 - Talking about MGS; Peace Walker. And the PSP.
12:56 - Something called Invizimals. A PSP game with a camera and stuff. And the new God of War game. Trailer time!
12:57 - Looks good. Tretton keeps mixing up the titles for PSP GOW 1 & 2.
12:58 - PSP Lineup montage. I like that they're back to focusing on the PSP 300 and not the PSP Go.
12:59 - Patapon 3! WOO!
1:00 - Kingdom Hearts looks great. And something called The 3rd Birthday. Awesome. And Valkyria Chronicles PSP!
1:01 - "Step Your Game Up" appears to be the new catchphrase.
1:01 - PSP time over. PSN tiem is nao.
1:03 - Holy shit! Sony replicated their entire E3 Booth in Playstation Home! Free stuff and game info.
1:04 - LBP time! Oh boy. Talking about Play. Create. Share.
1:05 - Alex Evans from Media Molecule is onstage. Talking about new stuff to LBP 2.
1:06 - Giving a demo of how the game can create games inside the game. Pretty nifty.
1:07 - Bumper cars and button matching games. Control mapping, and stuff. This looks incredibly powerful.
1:08 - New footage time. They took the best creators, handed them LBP2 for 24 hours.
1:09 - Damn, this looks amazing. This looks absolutely ridiculous.
1:10 - Jack Tretton talking about PSN and the new subscription stuff. "Playstation Plus" features.....nothing concrete. Some pithy words about new content and advance stuff. Costs 50 bucks a year, after he bashed the competition for their 50 buck price tag.
1:13 - Tretton is still talking. Sounds like a wrap-up.
1:14 - Nope. Transition to a guy from EA.
1:15 - Two new titles, featuring exclusive PS3 content. First up; Medal of Honor.
1:20 - New Medal of Honor looks cool, but it all gets so boring. I'm sick of Modern Day stuff. Exclusive PS3 version includes remastered Frontline.
1:20 - Dead Space 2! Now I'm excited.
1:23 - DAMN that looked good. Graphics are beautiful, dismemberment is better than ever, and the exterior sections are still there. Limited edition comes with Dead Space Extraction with Move support.
1:24 - EA guy is still pimping EA stuff. Wrapping up, though.
1:25 -PORTAL 2!
1:25 - Deploying Surprise. It's....
1:25 - GABE NEWELL!!
1:25 - Gabe is acknowledging his previous comments against gaming. He just met KB, the VP of "sharpening things".
1:26 - Portal 2 on PS3! But we already knew that.
1:27 - The PS3 version will be the best on any console?! Wow.
1:27 - Gameplay footage! Much more organic, reclaimed look. GLAdoS is back, and still awesome. 2011.
1:28 - Final Fantasy time. Video of FF....XIV Online?!
1:29 - Meh. Looks pretentious, as always.
1:30 - Mafia II stuff, with Day-1 DLC only on PS3.
1:30 - Assassin's Creed Brotherhood announcement. With PS3 DLC. Multiplayer beta is PS3 exclusive. Trailer time.
1:31 - It's just two dudes running.
1:32 - Wait, shape shifting? I am confused.
1:33 - Another montage, this time of upcoming games.
1:34 - Marvel vs Capcom 3 and new Mortal Kombat are the only surprises so far.
1:36 - Everything else has already been shown.
1:37- That was disappointing. I dont watch E3 to see old stuff.
1:37 - Gran Tourismo 5? Snore.
1:38 - The Top Gear test track is in GT5? Awesome!
1:39 - That doesn't make me want it tho. I'll just build it in ModNation Racers.
1:39 - God damn, this conference is liong.
1:40 - I imagine that would have been cooler if I could have seen it in 3D.
1:40 - Infamous 2.
1:41 - It's a dude running through Not-New Orleans. Not-Cole's new voice is stupid. Electric batons, and a tornado. Plus Ice Powers?! Huh. NOt too visually impressive, though.
1:42 - Last surprise. If it's not The Last Guardian, I'm going to punch a baby.
1:42 - It's two cabbies talking about car combat games. Only on PS consoles, though.
1:42 - It's Twisted Metal, right?
1:44 - Yea, it is. Woo.
1:44 - Lots of clowns on fire.
1:44 - A clown just drove a messed-up ice cream truck onto the stage. This isn't The Last Guardian.
1:45 - Multiplayer gameplay. Motorcycles, cars, and a helicopter. I need to find a baby to punch.
1:46 - Weapons are cool, and it looks kind of fun, but not too visually impressive.
1:47 - New game mode called Nuke. Twisted capture the flag kind of thing.
1:51 - Tretton again. He seems to be wrapping up. But then again, he's seemed like that twice before.
1:52 - It's over. The clown in the ice cream truck is still there. No one seems to care.
Wow. A huge disappointment compared to last year's E3. And where was Uncharted 3?
Sony stole the show last year, so let's see if they can kick some ass this year, too!
Come on, Kevin Butler!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11:58 - We are go. Starting things off with a montage trailer. Games, movies, online, 3D, the Move. Some KB in there! Here's hoping for a live appearance.
11:59 - Jack Tretton onstage. Here we go. Tretton warns of action, excitement, and spittle. He's mentioning how cool it would be if KB were here. But, he says the 50-foot mural is enough for now. Jealousy, much?
12:00 - Recapping their 10-year vision. Says that after only four years, they're doing it.
12:01 - Rattled off franchises. Heavy Rain was in there. But it's a single game, right? Ooh... the potential.
12:02 - Only a few minutes in and he's already mentioned 3D. Uh-oh.
12:02 - Kaz Hirai on the scene!
12:02 - He jumped straight into 3D. I am much less excited.
12:03 - He's pimping Sony's 3D program. Not just the PS3, but the TV's and camera's too. Monopoly, much?
12:04 - He keeps stumbling over his words. Managed to get out that we'll have 20+ 3D games by 2011. Might or might not inckude the few 3D games already on the PSN Store.
12:05 - Killzone 3......D. Ugh.
12:06 - New enemies, weapons, and locales, including an arctic bit.
12:06 - Apparently everyone in the audience has 3D Glasses. Those of us watching online don't. I am not impressed.
12:07 - Soldiers on a boat or summat fighting jetpack Helghast. Remind me of Psycho Mantis. Lot's of blood on the screen, makes it hard to see. The game looks good, but what doesn't these days? Shot a jetpacker's pack, it launched him up in the air, until it ran out of gas, and he went splat. Oh boy, not only does the screen get covered in blood, it also goes super-contrast black and white. I love bot being able to see stuff.
12:09 - Some kind of vehicle mech section. Not too cool. Sound is great, though.
12:10 - Sound goes squiffy when you get hurt, and it even effects the cutscenes. Not cool. Oh, and from the looks of it, that little SixAxis wiggle bit is still in the game.
12:11 Mounted gun section in an airship. Game flows smoothly, looks good, especially for pre-alpha code.
12:12 - February 2011. Good. Now I can know when to not care. Oh, and it works with Move. More reason to not care.
12:13 - Kaz is back, pimping for 3D gaming some more, mentioning how it was DEVELOPED, and not adapted for 3D.
12:14 - The Sly Collection? Gran Tourismo 5, Motorstorm, and Killzone 3 in 3D. Along with Crysis 2, Mortal Kombat, Shaun White Skateboarding, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, and NBA 2K11. Snore.
12:15 - Another 3D video. Something about the world cup. Nope, just a lead in. Montage of 3D gaming. Lame.
12:17 - Without glasses, this is just a montage video. At least it's not in that crap blue and red hue.
12:18 - Tretton is back, talking about lifecycles, and how they aren't relevant anymore.
12:20 - Time to talk about Move.
12:20 - I find it funny that everyone throws the word "realism" into motion-contrilled gaming talks. Like Yahtzee said, without tactile feedback, it's just flailing.
12:22 - New dude keeps talking without saying anything.
12:22 - Dev video of talking heads, interspersed with KB. KB is the only interesting bit.
12:24 - The Playstation Move has BUTTONS?! *gasp*
12:26 - Finally time for the games. First up; Sorcery.
12:26 - "Nightmarish fairy kingdoms"? Gay
12:27 - Demo time. It DOES look gay. He is flicking gay purple bots of gayness from his gay wand at ugly and annoying enemies. Radial spell menu. At least it looks pretty.
12:29 - Transformation spell. He is now a rat. Is the rat gay? I don't know.
12:30 - Okay, the game looks stupid, but the tech is good, and the gameplay works, and the crowd is loving it.
12:31 - The narrator sounds rastafarian.
12:32 - Presenter's mic died for a moment. Lol.
12:32 - EA Sports title. Tiger Woods. Don't care.
12:33 - At least Sony is demoing stuff, rather than showing trailers.
12:34 - Dude got up to demo a golf game three minutes ago. He has spent those three minutes standing in front of the tv talking.
12:35 - Swing and a miss.
12:35 - He managed to hit the ball. Game looks nice, but this is the PS3,and that is to be expected now.
12:38 - Oh, Move update via PSN for Tiger Woods game. Ok, let's move on to something cooler.
12:39 - Heroes on the Move?
12:39 - Ratchet, Jak, Clank, Daxter, Sly, and some turtle guy, in some kind of mismatched hack and slach adventure.
12:40 - Talking about ad campaigns. A partnership with Coca-Cola, and giveaways. I am now thirsty.
12:41 - Kevin Butler just showed up!!
12:41 - Dear god, I love that man...
12:41 - Kevin Butler is his usual awesome self. He's playing to the crowd, doing that shooting thing from the Move commercial.
12:42 - He just totally dissed the Cirque du Soleil Kinnect thingy on Sunday. Awesome.
12:43 - "I know everyone has their eye on this motion control thing like it was Olivia Munn in a Lara Croft outfit!"
12:43 - KB is pumping up the crowd, and he is damn good at it.
12:44 - KB is asking us hardcore gamers to not hate on casual gamers. "If you've got an awesome girlfriend, and your friend gets an awesome girlfriend, who wins? EVERYONE."
12:45 - Move has important features...like arms.
12:45 - And necks.
12:45 - Inspirational music, and photos of KB doing epic things with the Move. This is the most inspiring speech ever.
12:46 - "We all serve one master, one king. And his name is Gaming! FOREVER MAY HE REIGN!!"
12:46 - KB is out. His appearance may have been brief, but damn can that man give a speech.
12:47 - Move launches September 19th in North America. Move is $49.99 and Nunchuck is 29.99, or a bundle plus game for 99.99. OR a system bundle for 400. Launch titles are MSRP 40+.
12:48 - Move is being retrofitted into older games, including Heavy Rain!!! Awesome.
12:49 - Another montage to wrap up the Move segment. As always, Playstation has good commercials.
12:50 - As an aside, I hope this mash-up of Move It vs Bust A Move shows up in DJ Hero 2.
12:51 - Time Crisis for Move. Awesome. RE5, as well, but we've already seen that.
12:53 - New ad campaign for the PSP in that Dear Playstation style.
12:54 - It seems they're trying to make a KB for the PSP, and it's a 13-year old black guy.
12:55 - As strange as it seems, I like it. And he has good chemistry with KB.
12:55 - It seems this is now the Dear PSP stuff. It's kind of good.
12:55 - Talking about MGS; Peace Walker. And the PSP.
12:56 - Something called Invizimals. A PSP game with a camera and stuff. And the new God of War game. Trailer time!
12:57 - Looks good. Tretton keeps mixing up the titles for PSP GOW 1 & 2.
12:58 - PSP Lineup montage. I like that they're back to focusing on the PSP 300 and not the PSP Go.
12:59 - Patapon 3! WOO!
1:00 - Kingdom Hearts looks great. And something called The 3rd Birthday. Awesome. And Valkyria Chronicles PSP!
1:01 - "Step Your Game Up" appears to be the new catchphrase.
1:01 - PSP time over. PSN tiem is nao.
1:03 - Holy shit! Sony replicated their entire E3 Booth in Playstation Home! Free stuff and game info.
1:04 - LBP time! Oh boy. Talking about Play. Create. Share.
1:05 - Alex Evans from Media Molecule is onstage. Talking about new stuff to LBP 2.
1:06 - Giving a demo of how the game can create games inside the game. Pretty nifty.
1:07 - Bumper cars and button matching games. Control mapping, and stuff. This looks incredibly powerful.
1:08 - New footage time. They took the best creators, handed them LBP2 for 24 hours.
1:09 - Damn, this looks amazing. This looks absolutely ridiculous.
1:10 - Jack Tretton talking about PSN and the new subscription stuff. "Playstation Plus" features.....nothing concrete. Some pithy words about new content and advance stuff. Costs 50 bucks a year, after he bashed the competition for their 50 buck price tag.
1:13 - Tretton is still talking. Sounds like a wrap-up.
1:14 - Nope. Transition to a guy from EA.
1:15 - Two new titles, featuring exclusive PS3 content. First up; Medal of Honor.
1:20 - New Medal of Honor looks cool, but it all gets so boring. I'm sick of Modern Day stuff. Exclusive PS3 version includes remastered Frontline.
1:20 - Dead Space 2! Now I'm excited.
1:23 - DAMN that looked good. Graphics are beautiful, dismemberment is better than ever, and the exterior sections are still there. Limited edition comes with Dead Space Extraction with Move support.
1:24 - EA guy is still pimping EA stuff. Wrapping up, though.
1:25 -PORTAL 2!
1:25 - Deploying Surprise. It's....
1:25 - GABE NEWELL!!
1:25 - Gabe is acknowledging his previous comments against gaming. He just met KB, the VP of "sharpening things".
1:26 - Portal 2 on PS3! But we already knew that.
1:27 - The PS3 version will be the best on any console?! Wow.
1:27 - Gameplay footage! Much more organic, reclaimed look. GLAdoS is back, and still awesome. 2011.
1:28 - Final Fantasy time. Video of FF....XIV Online?!
1:29 - Meh. Looks pretentious, as always.
1:30 - Mafia II stuff, with Day-1 DLC only on PS3.
1:30 - Assassin's Creed Brotherhood announcement. With PS3 DLC. Multiplayer beta is PS3 exclusive. Trailer time.
1:31 - It's just two dudes running.
1:32 - Wait, shape shifting? I am confused.
1:33 - Another montage, this time of upcoming games.
1:34 - Marvel vs Capcom 3 and new Mortal Kombat are the only surprises so far.
1:36 - Everything else has already been shown.
1:37- That was disappointing. I dont watch E3 to see old stuff.
1:37 - Gran Tourismo 5? Snore.
1:38 - The Top Gear test track is in GT5? Awesome!
1:39 - That doesn't make me want it tho. I'll just build it in ModNation Racers.
1:39 - God damn, this conference is liong.
1:40 - I imagine that would have been cooler if I could have seen it in 3D.
1:40 - Infamous 2.
1:41 - It's a dude running through Not-New Orleans. Not-Cole's new voice is stupid. Electric batons, and a tornado. Plus Ice Powers?! Huh. NOt too visually impressive, though.
1:42 - Last surprise. If it's not The Last Guardian, I'm going to punch a baby.
1:42 - It's two cabbies talking about car combat games. Only on PS consoles, though.
1:42 - It's Twisted Metal, right?
1:44 - Yea, it is. Woo.
1:44 - Lots of clowns on fire.
1:44 - A clown just drove a messed-up ice cream truck onto the stage. This isn't The Last Guardian.
1:45 - Multiplayer gameplay. Motorcycles, cars, and a helicopter. I need to find a baby to punch.
1:46 - Weapons are cool, and it looks kind of fun, but not too visually impressive.
1:47 - New game mode called Nuke. Twisted capture the flag kind of thing.
1:51 - Tretton again. He seems to be wrapping up. But then again, he's seemed like that twice before.
1:52 - It's over. The clown in the ice cream truck is still there. No one seems to care.
Wow. A huge disappointment compared to last year's E3. And where was Uncharted 3?
E3 2010! Nintendo Media Briefing
Hey, party people! I missed the Microsoft Media Briefing yesterday morning due to unforeseen circumstances (work). But I'm here today, so I'm bringing you my recap and unsolicited opinions about the Nintendo Press Conference, and the Sony briefing later today. I'll recap the Big M's as well, once it's up.
LET'S KICK THIS PIG!!
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Starting....NOW!!!
9:01 AM - Reggie Fils-Aimee has taken the stage and is giving a pep talk.
9:03 - NEW ZELDA TRAILER? WOOHOO!
9:04 - Link looks Cel-Shaded. Slightly. Skyward Sword? Cool
9:04 - Video Miyamoto is talking about stuff. He also has magik powers, turning a sword and shield into a Wiimote and Nunchuck. Seems Zelda needs WiiMotion Plus.
9:07 - HORY SHEET! Miyamoto has teleported off the video screen and onto the stage!
9:08 - Link's sword is controlled by the Wiimote at all times. And it seems the tracking tech is kind of...crap.
9:09 - It seems the visual style is reminiscent of Wind Waker. Very reminiscent.
9:11 - Gameplay by Miyamoto. Nothing to discuss; it's the same we've seen since the first 3D Zelda.
9:12 - Miyamoto hints at getting items out of pockets? Oh, never mind. It's just a radial menu. With an item equipped, the aiming reticule stuff from Twilight Princess is up on the screen.
9:14 - Miyamoto tried to throw a bomb. Five motions later, the bomb is thrown when he lowers his hand in disappointment. I laughed.
9:16 - Link has items like bombs and bows and slingshots....and a fat beetle that flies around? How odd. And some kind of extendo-staff? Huh.
9:19 - Trailer time. Scorpion boss! Beetle thing appears to be robotic. Also, Link goes cliff-diving?!
9:20 - New Mario Sports; Hockey, Volleyball, Dodgeball(?), Basketball. It's called Mario Sports Mix.
9:24 - The pictures of people in those pictures are having WAY too much fun.
9:25 - Regg seems to think that casual gamers will be sucked in and sell their souls and wallets to the Big N. Huh. "Bridge" titles.
9:26 - Wii Party? "An all new party game...redefines multiplayer fun for everyone" Board game that looks like Mario party with avatars...er, Miis.
9:27 - WiiParty garnered maybe two guys clapping. Woo. After Zelda, nothing seems interesting.
9:28 - Just Dance sequel? Yep. Just Dance 2. Trailer features lots of people dancing in the most homosexual ways possible. Surprisingly, Dance Central on Kinnect looked much more interesting.
9:29: -New Golden Sun! Subtitled; Dark Dawn. Trailer time!!
9:30 - Looks good. Colorful art style. Chibi-esque characters. Bits of gameplay coupled with dramatic text. 3D, but methinks the older 2D worked better. The DS just isn't powerful enough.
9:31 - "Golden has a new meaning?" DEAR GOD. Could they mean Goldeneye?
9:31 - YES IT IS
9:32 - WTF Wii exclusive with split-screen and online multiplayer. Looks like Daniel Craig is PC. Looks like a slightly better version of N64 graphics. Goldeneye 007.
9:33 - Original Goldeneye on Wii Store? Maybe? Not saying.
9:34 - Epic Mickey tiem? Yes, it is. Ha ha! Reggie mispronounced Disney Epic Mickey as Disney Epic Disney.
9:35 - Producer's talking about it. Something about old and forgotten Disney stuff populating a Wasteland. Ooh! Wasteland Smee! ...in ugly watercolor animation cutscenes?
9:36 - Looks like it combines everything from movie and art and theme parks too. Looks disappointingly happy. Too bright and colorful. What happened to the dark steampunk stuff?
9:37 - Talking about the new paint mechanic. So...it's Okami with Mickey. They're talking about moral choices now. "Playstyle matters." Nothing interesting.
9:39 - Everything suddenly went black and white and side-scrolly. "Travel zone" based off of Steamboat Willie. Producer dude won't stop talking, using pretentious words like "Heritage" and "Innovation".
9:40 - Epic Mickey has been nothing but disappointing since those first steampunk concept arts.
9:41 - Masahito Sakurai name-dropped. Talking about how Kirby is cuddly yet appeals to Hardcore gamers. No wonder; he's getting another game!
9:42 - "Spin a yarn in a way that yarn has never been spun before"? Oh. "Kirby's Epic Yarn" or summat. Weird stitched art style. Fabrics and yarn and stuff. It's cute. Too cute. Kirby uses yarn and his own outline to do stuff. Forms a car, a UFO. He has a buddy. They can stitch the scenery or go behind it. This game confuses me.
9:44 - Releases this fall? Huh. Cool.
9:44 - DragonQuest sales numbers. Must be a new game.
9:45 Man, Reggie really likes numbers.
9:47 - DragonQuest releases here in July. Meh.
9:47 - Metroid Other M! WOOHOO! Looks good for a Wii game. Samus looks too thin tho. The isometric sidescrolling works. Slick UI, too.Woah. Brief glimpse of RE4 style 3rd person.
9:49 - August 31st! Nintendo's cranking out stuff this year.
9:50 - No shit! Retro studios is retooling Donkey Kong! Big cheers from the crowd. Art style looks good. Loks like the classic sidescrolling adventures. DK and Diddy working in tandem.Classic music playing.Barrel blasting. This looks great. Definitely feeling the nostalgia. Donkey Kong Country Returns. Releases this Christmas?!
9:51 - Reggie is assuring us that they're not just about nostalgia. Mentions the future a bit.
9:52 - Jesus christ. The 3DS.
9:52 - Reggie is bashing living room 3D. Nothing to watch, nothing to play.
9:52 - Now he's bashing the glasses. BIG TIME.
9:53 - Trailer time. Brief recap of 3D. Well done trailer. Glasses-less 3D on 3DS. End of trailer.
9:54 - Satoru Iwata onstage. Holding the 3DS and talking about it in bad English. Looks slim and sexy. Smaller than the DSiXL, I think. 3.5in Widescreen. Full 3D without glasses.
9:55 - Pimping the fact that Nintendo did first 3D games in 15 years ago. Now he's just talking.
9:56 - Thought I saw a control stick! No word yet. 3D can be adjusted or turned off. Successor to the DS. Talking about how smudges and stuff ruin touchscreen's 3D. So...3D is only on the Top. Bottom screen is Touchsreen only.
9:57 - Graphics improvements. No proof yet. Ah. Not a control stick. A "slide pad". Also mentioned a motion sensor and "gyro-sensor".
9:58 - Fully compatible with all old DS versions. Has two cameras on the outside. Takes 3D photos. I say meh, but the crowd applauded.
9:59 - 3DS can play 3D movies? WTF Disney, WB and Dreamworks on board with this. Already running movies at the booth.
10:00 - Project Sora?
10:01 - A game specifically for 3DS. A character already familiar to us?
10:02 - Umm....HOLY SHIT
10:02 - It's Pit! From Kid Icarus!
10:02 - Kid Icarus; Uprising. Must be a flight game. With on ground combat too! Lot's of flying and lasers. Looks to be full 3D air and ground combat. Lots of arrow shooting. Pit sounds obnoxious, tho.
10:03 - Graphics are MUCH improved. Looks less like DS and more like early Wii titles.
10:05- Some spiel about auto seeking other 3DS, like the tag mode from Nintendogs.
10:05 - No new info, but the two-toned Teal and Onyx 3DS looks sexy as hell.
10:06 - 3DS communicates automatically no matter what, all the time. Sounds Skynet-esque.
10:06 - Finally, back to the games. Huge 3rd party support for 3DS apparently. And Iwata promises lots of 1st party stuff.
10:07 - New 3D Nintendogs. Now with cats.
10:08 - Level 5, THQ, EA, Capcom, Ubisoft, Namco/Bandai, and SquEnix on board, with Kingdom Hearts, 'SCreed Brotherhood and Resident Evil mentioned specifically.
10:10 - Iwata is done. Video of developers talking about the 3DS. Hideo Kojima hints at 3D handheld MGS.
10:11 - Resident Evil dev thinks 3D makes us think "What's behind the furniture?"
10:12 - Vid over, unceremoniously. Reggie is back, wrapping up and recapping.
10:14 - Regg se dice that they can't explain the 3D on stage. Cut to a video of...Iwata being sucked into his 3DS?
10:15 - Miyamoto is suddenly attacked by a dog that pops out of his 3DS,
10:15 - DEAR GOD THE 3DS IS VOMITING OBJECTS AT PEOPLE. No, Reggie! Don't touch that! IT'S A TRAP!
10:15 - Bowser just popped out of the screen and lit Reggie's face on fire.
10:16 - Brilliant! On-stage Reggie now has a smoldering and burnt suitcoat. Nice touch.
10:16 - Reggie's going to transport the theatre to the 3rd Dimension. OOH! he's bringing out Booth Babes with 3DS's. There's dozens of them!
10:17 - The booth babes are going to give the attendees a demo while they leave. Nicely done. Just a taste, with more promises of the booth holding more stuff.
10:18 - Game stations just rose out of the floor! Playable Zelda Skyward Sword demo for attendees.
10:19 - Briefing over. Good show, Nintendo. But where is Pikmin 3?!
10:19 - And for that matter, what the hell happened to the vitality sensor from last year's E3?!
LET'S KICK THIS PIG!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starting....NOW!!!
9:01 AM - Reggie Fils-Aimee has taken the stage and is giving a pep talk.
9:03 - NEW ZELDA TRAILER? WOOHOO!
9:04 - Link looks Cel-Shaded. Slightly. Skyward Sword? Cool
9:04 - Video Miyamoto is talking about stuff. He also has magik powers, turning a sword and shield into a Wiimote and Nunchuck. Seems Zelda needs WiiMotion Plus.
9:07 - HORY SHEET! Miyamoto has teleported off the video screen and onto the stage!
9:08 - Link's sword is controlled by the Wiimote at all times. And it seems the tracking tech is kind of...crap.
9:09 - It seems the visual style is reminiscent of Wind Waker. Very reminiscent.
9:11 - Gameplay by Miyamoto. Nothing to discuss; it's the same we've seen since the first 3D Zelda.
9:12 - Miyamoto hints at getting items out of pockets? Oh, never mind. It's just a radial menu. With an item equipped, the aiming reticule stuff from Twilight Princess is up on the screen.
9:14 - Miyamoto tried to throw a bomb. Five motions later, the bomb is thrown when he lowers his hand in disappointment. I laughed.
9:16 - Link has items like bombs and bows and slingshots....and a fat beetle that flies around? How odd. And some kind of extendo-staff? Huh.
9:19 - Trailer time. Scorpion boss! Beetle thing appears to be robotic. Also, Link goes cliff-diving?!
9:20 - New Mario Sports; Hockey, Volleyball, Dodgeball(?), Basketball. It's called Mario Sports Mix.
9:24 - The pictures of people in those pictures are having WAY too much fun.
9:25 - Regg seems to think that casual gamers will be sucked in and sell their souls and wallets to the Big N. Huh. "Bridge" titles.
9:26 - Wii Party? "An all new party game...redefines multiplayer fun for everyone" Board game that looks like Mario party with avatars...er, Miis.
9:27 - WiiParty garnered maybe two guys clapping. Woo. After Zelda, nothing seems interesting.
9:28 - Just Dance sequel? Yep. Just Dance 2. Trailer features lots of people dancing in the most homosexual ways possible. Surprisingly, Dance Central on Kinnect looked much more interesting.
9:29: -New Golden Sun! Subtitled; Dark Dawn. Trailer time!!
9:30 - Looks good. Colorful art style. Chibi-esque characters. Bits of gameplay coupled with dramatic text. 3D, but methinks the older 2D worked better. The DS just isn't powerful enough.
9:31 - "Golden has a new meaning?" DEAR GOD. Could they mean Goldeneye?
9:31 - YES IT IS
9:32 - WTF Wii exclusive with split-screen and online multiplayer. Looks like Daniel Craig is PC. Looks like a slightly better version of N64 graphics. Goldeneye 007.
9:33 - Original Goldeneye on Wii Store? Maybe? Not saying.
9:34 - Epic Mickey tiem? Yes, it is. Ha ha! Reggie mispronounced Disney Epic Mickey as Disney Epic Disney.
9:35 - Producer's talking about it. Something about old and forgotten Disney stuff populating a Wasteland. Ooh! Wasteland Smee! ...in ugly watercolor animation cutscenes?
9:36 - Looks like it combines everything from movie and art and theme parks too. Looks disappointingly happy. Too bright and colorful. What happened to the dark steampunk stuff?
9:37 - Talking about the new paint mechanic. So...it's Okami with Mickey. They're talking about moral choices now. "Playstyle matters." Nothing interesting.
9:39 - Everything suddenly went black and white and side-scrolly. "Travel zone" based off of Steamboat Willie. Producer dude won't stop talking, using pretentious words like "Heritage" and "Innovation".
9:40 - Epic Mickey has been nothing but disappointing since those first steampunk concept arts.
9:41 - Masahito Sakurai name-dropped. Talking about how Kirby is cuddly yet appeals to Hardcore gamers. No wonder; he's getting another game!
9:42 - "Spin a yarn in a way that yarn has never been spun before"? Oh. "Kirby's Epic Yarn" or summat. Weird stitched art style. Fabrics and yarn and stuff. It's cute. Too cute. Kirby uses yarn and his own outline to do stuff. Forms a car, a UFO. He has a buddy. They can stitch the scenery or go behind it. This game confuses me.
9:44 - Releases this fall? Huh. Cool.
9:44 - DragonQuest sales numbers. Must be a new game.
9:45 Man, Reggie really likes numbers.
9:47 - DragonQuest releases here in July. Meh.
9:47 - Metroid Other M! WOOHOO! Looks good for a Wii game. Samus looks too thin tho. The isometric sidescrolling works. Slick UI, too.Woah. Brief glimpse of RE4 style 3rd person.
9:49 - August 31st! Nintendo's cranking out stuff this year.
9:50 - No shit! Retro studios is retooling Donkey Kong! Big cheers from the crowd. Art style looks good. Loks like the classic sidescrolling adventures. DK and Diddy working in tandem.Classic music playing.Barrel blasting. This looks great. Definitely feeling the nostalgia. Donkey Kong Country Returns. Releases this Christmas?!
9:51 - Reggie is assuring us that they're not just about nostalgia. Mentions the future a bit.
9:52 - Jesus christ. The 3DS.
9:52 - Reggie is bashing living room 3D. Nothing to watch, nothing to play.
9:52 - Now he's bashing the glasses. BIG TIME.
9:53 - Trailer time. Brief recap of 3D. Well done trailer. Glasses-less 3D on 3DS. End of trailer.
9:54 - Satoru Iwata onstage. Holding the 3DS and talking about it in bad English. Looks slim and sexy. Smaller than the DSiXL, I think. 3.5in Widescreen. Full 3D without glasses.
9:55 - Pimping the fact that Nintendo did first 3D games in 15 years ago. Now he's just talking.
9:56 - Thought I saw a control stick! No word yet. 3D can be adjusted or turned off. Successor to the DS. Talking about how smudges and stuff ruin touchscreen's 3D. So...3D is only on the Top. Bottom screen is Touchsreen only.
9:57 - Graphics improvements. No proof yet. Ah. Not a control stick. A "slide pad". Also mentioned a motion sensor and "gyro-sensor".
9:58 - Fully compatible with all old DS versions. Has two cameras on the outside. Takes 3D photos. I say meh, but the crowd applauded.
9:59 - 3DS can play 3D movies? WTF Disney, WB and Dreamworks on board with this. Already running movies at the booth.
10:00 - Project Sora?
10:01 - A game specifically for 3DS. A character already familiar to us?
10:02 - Umm....HOLY SHIT
10:02 - It's Pit! From Kid Icarus!
10:02 - Kid Icarus; Uprising. Must be a flight game. With on ground combat too! Lot's of flying and lasers. Looks to be full 3D air and ground combat. Lots of arrow shooting. Pit sounds obnoxious, tho.
10:03 - Graphics are MUCH improved. Looks less like DS and more like early Wii titles.
10:05- Some spiel about auto seeking other 3DS, like the tag mode from Nintendogs.
10:05 - No new info, but the two-toned Teal and Onyx 3DS looks sexy as hell.
10:06 - 3DS communicates automatically no matter what, all the time. Sounds Skynet-esque.
10:06 - Finally, back to the games. Huge 3rd party support for 3DS apparently. And Iwata promises lots of 1st party stuff.
10:07 - New 3D Nintendogs. Now with cats.
10:08 - Level 5, THQ, EA, Capcom, Ubisoft, Namco/Bandai, and SquEnix on board, with Kingdom Hearts, 'SCreed Brotherhood and Resident Evil mentioned specifically.
10:10 - Iwata is done. Video of developers talking about the 3DS. Hideo Kojima hints at 3D handheld MGS.
10:11 - Resident Evil dev thinks 3D makes us think "What's behind the furniture?"
10:12 - Vid over, unceremoniously. Reggie is back, wrapping up and recapping.
10:14 - Regg se dice that they can't explain the 3D on stage. Cut to a video of...Iwata being sucked into his 3DS?
10:15 - Miyamoto is suddenly attacked by a dog that pops out of his 3DS,
10:15 - DEAR GOD THE 3DS IS VOMITING OBJECTS AT PEOPLE. No, Reggie! Don't touch that! IT'S A TRAP!
10:15 - Bowser just popped out of the screen and lit Reggie's face on fire.
10:16 - Brilliant! On-stage Reggie now has a smoldering and burnt suitcoat. Nice touch.
10:16 - Reggie's going to transport the theatre to the 3rd Dimension. OOH! he's bringing out Booth Babes with 3DS's. There's dozens of them!
10:17 - The booth babes are going to give the attendees a demo while they leave. Nicely done. Just a taste, with more promises of the booth holding more stuff.
10:18 - Game stations just rose out of the floor! Playable Zelda Skyward Sword demo for attendees.
10:19 - Briefing over. Good show, Nintendo. But where is Pikmin 3?!
10:19 - And for that matter, what the hell happened to the vitality sensor from last year's E3?!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
What Hath Science Wrought?
Project Natal is no more. Behold the unholy mass that is the new Microsoft Kinect.
See the terror in their faces?
Microsoft may have chosen the worst possible name for this device EVER. Yes, we all sniggered at the name Wii, and many of us raised an eyebrow at the Playstation Move. Even Project Dolphin, Nintendo's codename for the GameCube, wasn't as ridiculous as this. This new name simply drips with get-rich-quick schemes of gimmicky-gimmickness.
Natal was maybe not the coolest name, but it worked. Natal is a word meaning of or relating to birth, and like it or not, that's what this was, a new beginning in gaming, albeit one filled with spastic hand flailing. But "Kinect" sounds terrible, an obvious portmanteau of Kinetic and Connect. It's insulting. Also, what's with the purple in the name? As if that green wasn't obnoxious enough.
According to Kudo Tsunoda, creative director for Microsoft, "For lots of people, that controller is a barrier...We set out to make a new control paradigm where anybody can get in and play, without having to read the instructions or learn a complicated set of controls."
I don't know about you, but I still feel that tapping the D-pad and then the A Button is more intuitive than some horizontal arm flails and an awkwardly phrased voice command. IGN's string of gaming editorials (which are awesome, btw, and are totally worth your time) remind us that if you hand someone a controller, it is almost universal that the left stick controls movement, the right stick controls camera, A jumps, and R shoots. Hand them nothing and tell them to play, and people will end up flailing about until something happens. There's nothing intuitive about it at all.
Dear god, I hate you Microsoft. If I hadn't already hated Natal, I would surely be despising it now. I hope you burn in that special pit of hell reserved for retarded game executives, where they force you to play gimmicky, rushed 3rd-party motion control minigame collections for all eternity.
Microsoft may have chosen the worst possible name for this device EVER. Yes, we all sniggered at the name Wii, and many of us raised an eyebrow at the Playstation Move. Even Project Dolphin, Nintendo's codename for the GameCube, wasn't as ridiculous as this. This new name simply drips with get-rich-quick schemes of gimmicky-gimmickness.
Natal was maybe not the coolest name, but it worked. Natal is a word meaning of or relating to birth, and like it or not, that's what this was, a new beginning in gaming, albeit one filled with spastic hand flailing. But "Kinect" sounds terrible, an obvious portmanteau of Kinetic and Connect. It's insulting. Also, what's with the purple in the name? As if that green wasn't obnoxious enough.
According to Kudo Tsunoda, creative director for Microsoft, "For lots of people, that controller is a barrier...We set out to make a new control paradigm where anybody can get in and play, without having to read the instructions or learn a complicated set of controls."
I don't know about you, but I still feel that tapping the D-pad and then the A Button is more intuitive than some horizontal arm flails and an awkwardly phrased voice command. IGN's string of gaming editorials (which are awesome, btw, and are totally worth your time) remind us that if you hand someone a controller, it is almost universal that the left stick controls movement, the right stick controls camera, A jumps, and R shoots. Hand them nothing and tell them to play, and people will end up flailing about until something happens. There's nothing intuitive about it at all.
Dear god, I hate you Microsoft. If I hadn't already hated Natal, I would surely be despising it now. I hope you burn in that special pit of hell reserved for retarded game executives, where they force you to play gimmicky, rushed 3rd-party motion control minigame collections for all eternity.
The A-Team Review
If you have any interest whatsoever in action, humour, explosions, or Liam Neeson, go see this movie.
Still here? Okay. Let's get into the nitty-gritty.
The A-Team Theme (Guy Pratt Remix)- Spaced
THE A-TEAM
We've been looking forward to this movie from the moment we knew it existed, and man, was it good! This film is incredibly stupid, and therefore, incredibly fun.
Serving as a modern-day prequel of sorts, The A-Team (the movie) follows the A-Team (the A-Team) before they became The A-Team (the TV show). This film is perfectly cast, with Liam Neeson being brilliant as always in the role of the team's leader, Hannibal Smith. Bradley Cooper, aka "that dude from The Hangover" is Face, a suave womanizing son of a gun whose performance is simply delightful. Quinton Jackson, a UFC fighter plays B.A. Barracus, and his performance is excellent, but really, there's no replacing Mr. T. Despite this, Jackson's performance does stand out, and his character faces some interesting twists throughout, even if there is no real motivation for the impetus of these twists in the first place. Rounding out the team is Murdock, an insane soldier and pilot played, surprisingly, by Sharlto Copley, aka "that dude from District 9". Sharlto's performance is perhaps the best in the film, as everything his character does or says is screamingly funny.
If this is any indication, I hope to see him in many more roles. Jessica Biiel is also here, adding some sexiness to the cast as....some woman who is trying to track down the escaped A-Team. She has a name, but I can't remember it. I was too busy enjoying the explosions.
The film opens in Mexico, introducing each of the four members of the team and their quirks in a streamlined and awesome fashion. The film documents their meeting and subsequent escape from the predicament they find themselves in, and picks up again eight years later, where the four are serving together in Afghanistan as the best covert-ops team in-country. Following a tip from a CIA Agent, the team intercepts a convoy transporting engraving plates used to print money, but before they can deliver them their general is exploded, the plates are stolen, and the team is set up to be the bad guys. Stripped of their ranks and honor, and imprisoned in separate max-security facilities, the team must escape, recover the stolen plates, and clear their names.
This film is over the top in every possible sense of the term, and it's fantastic for it. Even the things you've seen in the trailer are every bit as awesome, if not more so, in the film itself. The scene, in my mind, that perfectly sums up the idea of this movie goes thus; Hannibal, Face, and B.A. have escaped from prison, and only Murdock remains in a mental hospital in Germany. He receives a package containing a DVD and a case of 3D glasses, so he and all the other patients settle in to watch a movie, under the watchful eye of Jessica Biel, who knows the team will be coming for Murdock eventually. As the movie starts, playing the classic A-Team theme, btw, the Hummer onscreen suddenly bursts through the wall and into the room, eliciting a cheer from the patients, thinking it's the 3D movie. Face then hops out of the vehicle, moving in tandem with the projected movie and quoting the lines, as Murdock jumps in and they make their escape. Not good enough? They fly a tank. 'Nuff said.
This film is uproarious fun, with plenty of action and explosions, and surprisingly good humour. Nothing in the film screams Blu-Ray (something I consider in any new movie) but the sound is superb, the explosions and gunshots sounding weighty and powerful, and the Alan Silvestri score perfectly suited for the film, containing several re-orchestrations of the classic theme. Despite the reports of Mr. T, this film is fantastic, and *I* pity the fool who does not see this movie.
Still here? Okay. Let's get into the nitty-gritty.
The A-Team Theme (Guy Pratt Remix)- Spaced
THE A-TEAM
Serving as a modern-day prequel of sorts, The A-Team (the movie) follows the A-Team (the A-Team) before they became The A-Team (the TV show). This film is perfectly cast, with Liam Neeson being brilliant as always in the role of the team's leader, Hannibal Smith. Bradley Cooper, aka "that dude from The Hangover" is Face, a suave womanizing son of a gun whose performance is simply delightful. Quinton Jackson, a UFC fighter plays B.A. Barracus, and his performance is excellent, but really, there's no replacing Mr. T. Despite this, Jackson's performance does stand out, and his character faces some interesting twists throughout, even if there is no real motivation for the impetus of these twists in the first place. Rounding out the team is Murdock, an insane soldier and pilot played, surprisingly, by Sharlto Copley, aka "that dude from District 9". Sharlto's performance is perhaps the best in the film, as everything his character does or says is screamingly funny.
The film opens in Mexico, introducing each of the four members of the team and their quirks in a streamlined and awesome fashion. The film documents their meeting and subsequent escape from the predicament they find themselves in, and picks up again eight years later, where the four are serving together in Afghanistan as the best covert-ops team in-country. Following a tip from a CIA Agent, the team intercepts a convoy transporting engraving plates used to print money, but before they can deliver them their general is exploded, the plates are stolen, and the team is set up to be the bad guys. Stripped of their ranks and honor, and imprisoned in separate max-security facilities, the team must escape, recover the stolen plates, and clear their names.
This film is uproarious fun, with plenty of action and explosions, and surprisingly good humour. Nothing in the film screams Blu-Ray (something I consider in any new movie) but the sound is superb, the explosions and gunshots sounding weighty and powerful, and the Alan Silvestri score perfectly suited for the film, containing several re-orchestrations of the classic theme. Despite the reports of Mr. T, this film is fantastic, and *I* pity the fool who does not see this movie.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Alan Wake Review
Another day, another blog post! Soon enough I'll run out of games to review, and I'll have to blog about original ideas instead! (Le' Gasp!)
ALAN WAKE
I feel weirdly torn about this one. Alan Wake is the much-hyped "Psychological Action Thriller" from Remedy, the Finnish developers of the Max Payne franchise. Alan Wake is an episodic thriller following the titular character, a struggling writer, searching for his wife, who has been kidnapped by a Dark Presence that is slowly taking over the idyllic town of Bright Falls. Meanwhile, events from his latest novel, which he has no memory of writing, are coming to life. Sounds hot, yeah?
Firstly, the story is excellent. Incredibly compelling, and tightly written, it draws the player in and demands their attention until the conclusion, which is admittedly a bit disappointing. Not all questions are answered once the credits roll, but with one DLC add-on coming next month, and with more already in development, it is likely that we will learn more about this
soon.
Manuscript pages from Wake's novel can be collected, and these pages give further insight to the story, or foreshadow upcoming events. They're also for the most part very well-written. There was obviously a lot of love for this project. Visuals are top notch, with sunlight filtering through the woods on the rare occasions you get to wander about in daylight, and with eerie fog rolling in around enemies wreathed in a swirling layer of shifting darkness during, well, the rest of the game. The game's art direction and set dec are top notch, with the small town of Bright Falls feeling distinctly lived-in, and each environment offering plenty to see. The town is fleshed out further by the superb voice acting and excellent dialogue of the townsfolk, as well as radio shows from the local late-night DJ, and episodes of a Twilight Zone-esque thriller called Night Springs. It does seem a little strange that Wake would take a time-out from escaping an ancient evil and finding his wife to check out what's on the boob tube, but, then again, it is a game.
The environments are vast and beautiful, when you can see them. And even when you can't, the forest still comes to life, the swaying trees and shifting shadows forming terrifying
silhouettes in the darkness and furthering the tense atmosphere. With light being your primary weapon against the darkness, it's no surprise that the lighting is excellent, with your flashlight beam and road flares in particular looking very nice.
But just as all is not well in Bright Falls, as is definitely not well in Alan Wake. While the atmosphere is masterfully foreboding and the story is chillingly gripping, the game....sucks. Seriously. I can't remember the last time I experienced TEDIUM playing a video game. Throughout the game (read; at every possible opportunity) Wake must fight off people and objects possessed by the darkness known as the Taken. He does this by shining a light at them until their +5 Armor of Darkness is burned away, and then he shoot
s them in the face. He does this the entire game, against all three enemy types, the normal enemy, the slightly bigger enemy, and the normal sized-enemy who can also move fast, but lacks the brainpower to realize that this newfound speed can be used to attack the writer. Along the way, Wake can find a whopping four guns, although it is technically three, since both shotgun variants do the same amount of damage. Wake can also use a flare gun as a rocket launcher of sorts, and toss flash grenades and pop road flares when things get a bit too hairy, which it will.
Here's the thing, though. I looked up road flares, and they can last anywhere from 10-60 minutes, which you would think would make them very useful in game. Not so. Wake's road flare's last from 3-5 seconds, since it's hard to tell with the swooping slow motion camera that kicks in anytime Wake does something more interesting than scratch his
nose.This makes them utterly useless, and since the game will continue to spawn enemies as long as you are not directly in a source of protective light, it becomes difficult to get away. Not only that, the enemies have no sense of proper decency, appearing out of nowhere directly in my line of sight (breaking the cardinal rule of game spawning) and wielding extraordinarily painful attacks that hit more than once per attack. They can also attack at the same time, and since Wake dodges like a drunken sailor attempting to tap dance, things don't usually end well.
In fact, Wake kind of sucks all around.
There is a sprint button, but after jogging for six seconds or so, after another drunken lunge to enter the sprint, Wakes becomes tired, and slows to a third of his normal walk speed. This man may be a writer, but even I can run longer than he can, and that's saying something. Also, Wake proves to be the exception to the superb voice acting I mentioned, with his constant narration coming across rather monotone and disinterested, and since he narrates everything in game as well as reads you off the manuscript pages you collect, it becomes tiring rather quickly. Oddly though, in game Wake's voice acting ranges from mediocre to good, despite it being the same actor. Obviously, narration is not this man's strong suit. To wrap up the griping, you can collect thermoses of coffee hidden in the world, but there's never an explanation for this. The manuscript pages make sense. But coffee? Wake doesn't drink it, no one ever mentions it, and it's simply out of place. Wake also has a real problem hanging onto items. At every possible opportunity, he'd lose all his weapons and his flashlight, leaving him defenseless. Perhaps he washed his hands with butter before embarking on his adventure,since he seems incapable of retaining any piece of equipment. As a caveat to the impressive visuals,
the lip-syncing is terrible, and the characters appear to have had a bit of a Botox overdose, their faces lumpy and strange. Wake's wife in particular looks terrible, and when Wake's voice-over mentioned her being a "natural beauty" I burst out laughing. The game also name-drops Stephen King like crazy, and features some rather blatant in-game advertising, from billboards to a completely out of place television advert. The fact that you get an achievable for watching said ad makes it all the worse.
The problem with Alan Wake is that it really shouldn't be a game. Several times during gameplay I wished I could just stop and pick up Alan Wake, the novel, or tune into the next episode of Alan Wake, the TV show. It becomes a chore to play through, but the tightly wound story kept me going, until suddenly I had beat it. I thoroughly enjoyed almost everything about the game, and I loved it's visuals, it's story, it's atmosphere, and it's characters, but the one thing I didn't like was it's gameplay, and that is the core of any videogame, for obvious reasons. Remedy claims this is the first title of a much bigger series, and I confess myself interested. I just hope that the next installment is more fun to play.
ALAN WAKE
I feel weirdly torn about this one. Alan Wake is the much-hyped "Psychological Action Thriller" from Remedy, the Finnish developers of the Max Payne franchise. Alan Wake is an episodic thriller following the titular character, a struggling writer, searching for his wife, who has been kidnapped by a Dark Presence that is slowly taking over the idyllic town of Bright Falls. Meanwhile, events from his latest novel, which he has no memory of writing, are coming to life. Sounds hot, yeah?
Firstly, the story is excellent. Incredibly compelling, and tightly written, it draws the player in and demands their attention until the conclusion, which is admittedly a bit disappointing. Not all questions are answered once the credits roll, but with one DLC add-on coming next month, and with more already in development, it is likely that we will learn more about this
soon.
The environments are vast and beautiful, when you can see them. And even when you can't, the forest still comes to life, the swaying trees and shifting shadows forming terrifying
But just as all is not well in Bright Falls, as is definitely not well in Alan Wake. While the atmosphere is masterfully foreboding and the story is chillingly gripping, the game....sucks. Seriously. I can't remember the last time I experienced TEDIUM playing a video game. Throughout the game (read; at every possible opportunity) Wake must fight off people and objects possessed by the darkness known as the Taken. He does this by shining a light at them until their +5 Armor of Darkness is burned away, and then he shoot
Here's the thing, though. I looked up road flares, and they can last anywhere from 10-60 minutes, which you would think would make them very useful in game. Not so. Wake's road flare's last from 3-5 seconds, since it's hard to tell with the swooping slow motion camera that kicks in anytime Wake does something more interesting than scratch his
In fact, Wake kind of sucks all around.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
ModNation Racers Impressions/Sort-Of Review
Well, since I still have to get through Alan Wake after this, and since I just picked up Super Street Fighter IV, we will try to keep this short. Here we go!
ModNation Racers
There's really not too much to say about the game itself, since so much of it is driven by the custom content, which we will get to in a minute. The game itself is simple. It's a kart racer, essentially Mario Kart crossed with LittleBigPlanet, and it's one of the best I've played recently. The controls take a race or two to warm up to, but once you have it down, you'll be boosting, spinning, sideswiping, and drifting like a pro. The racing controls are simply the tightest I've experienced on a console, and even allow for a bit of customizable leeway depending on how you find yourself racing. The game itself is fairly simple, featuring Online Racing with up to twelve players, including one local guest, as well as four player Split-Screen, a rarity in this day and age.
The single player campaign features your custom character and kart racing through a series of tournaments, and the races are interspersed with commentary from the two presenters of the races, as well as short cinematics and commercials for in-game stuff. The game's humour is light and funny, and the two commentators are a riot. Think what a great job John DiMaggio and Greg Proops did in MadWorld, but make it family friendly. And, you know, with different actors. The story is nifty, but is not particularly important, at least not so far. But while the racing is the real focus it's not just an afterthought, well written and with excellent voice acting. Each race features challenges to complete, so in addition to winning, players may also aim for a certain number of drift points, or taking out a specific opponent. They add a nice extra level of difficulty, and each challenge unlocks new items for the creation suites.
Speaking of which, the game features three excellent customization suites, allowing you to create custom characters, karts, and tracks. All three are ridiculously powerful, and thus far players have been creating everything from Iron Man to the Joker, and even Alan from The Hangover. Karts are also skyrocketing, with thousands of attempts at the Back To The Future DeLorean, to even a Waste Management Truck. The creators are simply amazing, and even without any experience, in five minutes you can have a mod and kart all your own. The track editor in particular is exceptional, with track being laid simply by driving a bulldozer around the fully customizable landscape. Once it is complete, the game can auto-fill everything from buildings, paths, weapons, and sheep! Despite this, everything is completely editable, so whether you are a creative genius or a complete noob, you can create something in this game.
Now that the good is out of the way, let's talk shittyness. Those challenges I mentioned? They can be ridiculously difficult, not helped by the particularly vengeful AI. This game never lets up, with opponents hurling weapon after weapon at you with terrifying tenacity. Several times I was in first, finish line in sight, when suddenly my racer was pummeled by a swarm of guided missiles, a lightning strike, and a sonic boom in rapid succession, grinding me to a halt two feet from the finish, where I watched helplessly as the six or so racers that had been a good ten seconds behind me zoom past me and into the finish. Some of the AI racers get particularly butthurt if you win their challenges, and they challenge you to a one-on-one race. Just you, and him, and ten of his goons. That's right, in the mano-a-mano duesl, you must contend with ten other racers. And you need to place first, not just ahead of your challenger. It can get pretty frustrating.
My last two gripes are rather minor, considering. The creations suites allow for an amazing amount of artistic expression, and the game's online hub showcases the top three mods and karts each day. However, since launch those have been the same three creations. Never once have I seen anything else up there, and while those six creations are excellent, I would like to see other people's work up there as well. It seems reproductions are rewarded with more attention than genuine creativity, but that is an argument for another day. Finally, load times. The game features some pretty lengthy load times, ranging from 15-45 seconds. The game requires two loads just to start. However, these loads are bearable, and once they are done, the game moves fluidly, nary a hitch or hiccup in sight, so it's a minor tradeoff, but a gripe nonetheless. As an aside, United Front Games has already promised to patch the game to shorten load times sometime soon.
So there you have it. ModNation Racers. If you like kart games, buy it. If you don't like kart games, play it. Anything you want, you can find or make in this game. That alone makes it worth the admission.
ModNation Racers
There's really not too much to say about the game itself, since so much of it is driven by the custom content, which we will get to in a minute. The game itself is simple. It's a kart racer, essentially Mario Kart crossed with LittleBigPlanet, and it's one of the best I've played recently. The controls take a race or two to warm up to, but once you have it down, you'll be boosting, spinning, sideswiping, and drifting like a pro. The racing controls are simply the tightest I've experienced on a console, and even allow for a bit of customizable leeway depending on how you find yourself racing. The game itself is fairly simple, featuring Online Racing with up to twelve players, including one local guest, as well as four player Split-Screen, a rarity in this day and age.
Speaking of which, the game features three excellent customization suites, allowing you to create custom characters, karts, and tracks. All three are ridiculously powerful, and thus far players have been creating everything from Iron Man to the Joker, and even Alan from The Hangover. Karts are also skyrocketing, with thousands of attempts at the Back To The Future DeLorean, to even a Waste Management Truck. The creators are simply amazing, and even without any experience, in five minutes you can have a mod and kart all your own. The track editor in particular is exceptional, with track being laid simply by driving a bulldozer around the fully customizable landscape. Once it is complete, the game can auto-fill everything from buildings, paths, weapons, and sheep! Despite this, everything is completely editable, so whether you are a creative genius or a complete noob, you can create something in this game.
Now that the good is out of the way, let's talk shittyness. Those challenges I mentioned? They can be ridiculously difficult, not helped by the particularly vengeful AI. This game never lets up, with opponents hurling weapon after weapon at you with terrifying tenacity. Several times I was in first, finish line in sight, when suddenly my racer was pummeled by a swarm of guided missiles, a lightning strike, and a sonic boom in rapid succession, grinding me to a halt two feet from the finish, where I watched helplessly as the six or so racers that had been a good ten seconds behind me zoom past me and into the finish. Some of the AI racers get particularly butthurt if you win their challenges, and they challenge you to a one-on-one race. Just you, and him, and ten of his goons. That's right, in the mano-a-mano duesl, you must contend with ten other racers. And you need to place first, not just ahead of your challenger. It can get pretty frustrating.
My last two gripes are rather minor, considering. The creations suites allow for an amazing amount of artistic expression, and the game's online hub showcases the top three mods and karts each day. However, since launch those have been the same three creations. Never once have I seen anything else up there, and while those six creations are excellent, I would like to see other people's work up there as well. It seems reproductions are rewarded with more attention than genuine creativity, but that is an argument for another day. Finally, load times. The game features some pretty lengthy load times, ranging from 15-45 seconds. The game requires two loads just to start. However, these loads are bearable, and once they are done, the game moves fluidly, nary a hitch or hiccup in sight, so it's a minor tradeoff, but a gripe nonetheless. As an aside, United Front Games has already promised to patch the game to shorten load times sometime soon.
So there you have it. ModNation Racers. If you like kart games, buy it. If you don't like kart games, play it. Anything you want, you can find or make in this game. That alone makes it worth the admission.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Red Dead Redemption Impressions
Well, it's long overdue, but I think I've finally played enough of both Red Dead Redemption and ModNation Racers to give, not a review, but at least an in-progress impression. I was going to do the same with Alan Wake, but it turns out that I beat it, so we'll just make that a review.
So! Let's kick this pig!
RED DEAD REDEMPTION
Red Dead Redemption, or Grand Theft Horse according to Yahtzee, is the latest game from Rockstar Studios, pioneers of, you guessed it, the GTA series. Set in 1911 during the fall of the Old West, the game follows John Marston as he tracks down some of his old gang buddies to bring them to justice. The game very literally is GTA in the Old West. Marston is free to mosey through the wilderness, picking flowers, hunting for treasure, murdering defenseless animals, and in town he can stop in for a drink at the local saloon, play Poker, Blackjack, Liar's Dice, and other games, and just generally do whatever. And while the usual Rockstar controversy is present, what with Marston being able to introduce a man's face to his Sawed-Off Shotgun before lassoing a hooker, dragging her through town, hogtying her and leaving her on the train tracks, Marston is unlike Rockstar's previous protagonists. He's nice.
Marston has morals and opinions, and says hello to little old ladies in town, before the player forces him to murder them. It's an interesting dynamic. Marston firmly believes in justice, and recognizes he is not a good person, hence his quest for redemption (O, I see wat u did thar, Rockstar). The game is certainly good, with a large amount of things to see and do, excellent graphics a great soundtrack, and fantastic voice acting on all counts, it is not without it's flaws.
Firstly, the game is enormous. It takes quite a long time to travel across the game map, and since the game likes placing your mission start and then mission objective on opposite sides of the map, you'll be doing quite a lot of riding. Thankfully, there is a fast travel system in place, but it's not particularly effective, being usable only at certain times, depositing you further than necessary from your destination, and somehow always taking up enough time that the mission I wanted is now not available until sometime later. Secondly, while the vast landscape is beautiful and interesting, it is not interesting for long. Rockstar has been touted as filling it's world with many things to see and do, and has received much praise for it's random encounters. But these encounters are not only random, they are sparse. Not only that, they tend to become predictable. (As an aside, if anyone flags you down by the side of the road, shoot them. They are horse thieves.) [And if anyone flags you down by a broken wagon, shoot them, and their friends hiding behind the wagon. They are wagon thieves]
Some encounters aren't even marked, which makes it more difficult. Several times in Mexico I would see a man being chased by two other men, taking potshots as they went. One side was clearly the law. The other had to be outlaws. But which Mexican was the bad Mexican? So I shot them all. The game did not approve. Another time I happened upon a hanging, and shot the rope and killed the men around it before realizing that instead of shooting the rope, I had shot the hanging woman's face instead. Her husband was most displeased. So I did the only thing I could. I shot him, too. Now they won't be alone.
The game also seems very set on you doing things it's own way. One mission tasked me with defending a train from rebels using a Gatling gun. I despise the Gatling gun. It is slow and inaccurate. So after two attempts, both ending in death and much raging, I jumped atop the engine and sniped each rebel with my Springfield. We made it safely, despite the General's screamed protests that, without me personally manning that gun, we were all doomed. Another mission had me hiding dynamite on a road to ambush a convoy. My plan was to lay them in a straight line, and once the convoy reached the furthest explosive, blow them all in sequence to ensure none survived. The game seemed to disagree. It seemed to think blowing the explosives in the exact center would do the most damage.
My plan;
---------------------------------------
x x x x x
---------------------------------------
The game's plan
---------------------------------------
xxxxx
---------------------------------------
Despite my companion's screams that I had blown them too soon, and was consequently an "Idiota" only one dazed soldier survived the blasts. Jared; 1 | Red Dead; 0
Now, hunting is certainly a fun and rewarding pastime, but even when you're not actively seeking to murder every last critter in the country side, the wildlife is still present. Annoyingly so. Wandering in the wilderness, I spotted a plant I needed to collect. The moment I grabbed it, a mountain lion came screaming in from nowhere, flew over me, and killed my horse. I turned and shot it, exacting sweet revenge for my now departed horse, whom I had named Phillip. My grim task completed, I turned around and was immediately decked by ANOTHER mountain lion, who proceeded to snack upon my face. Just recently I was wandering in the forest when suddenly a pack of wolves killed my new horse, Clyde, and then attempted to nom upon my kneecaps. My shotgun soon persuaded them that it was a bad idea. The wildlife simply can't leave you alone, no matter how much of it you introduce to your firearms. Apparently John Marston is delicious. As an aside, I have since stopped naming my horses.
My last gripe concerns the game not really teaching you much. Oh sure, they give you the basic idea, but only once. I have agreed to several duels during my time in the West, and the game taught me how to do it once. Since then, I have had no idea what I'm doing. Consequently, I tend to die a lot, especially since I am attempting to play the righteous path, and try to shoot their gun out of their hand rather than their face out of their head.
One duel in particular caused me to retry approximately 15 times, before I killed him by accident. His weird draw pattern moved his gun over his crotch, and, as it turned out, I hadn't shot his gun. But it brings up an interesting point. This game truly does make you responsible for the consequences of your actions. You feel personally vested in the goings on of the story, and, in instances like the one described above, genuine remorse. Sure he was an evil man, but I hadn't intended to kill him. I had planned to disarm him and bring him to the Sheriff, so that he may answer for his crimes. Instead, I shot him in the dick. For a moment, I was no better than he was.
Wow, this went on a while, didn't it? Methinks that I shall save the ModNation and Alan Wake impression/review for next time. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a train to catch. And then rob.
So! Let's kick this pig!
RED DEAD REDEMPTION
Red Dead Redemption, or Grand Theft Horse according to Yahtzee, is the latest game from Rockstar Studios, pioneers of, you guessed it, the GTA series. Set in 1911 during the fall of the Old West, the game follows John Marston as he tracks down some of his old gang buddies to bring them to justice. The game very literally is GTA in the Old West. Marston is free to mosey through the wilderness, picking flowers, hunting for treasure, murdering defenseless animals, and in town he can stop in for a drink at the local saloon, play Poker, Blackjack, Liar's Dice, and other games, and just generally do whatever. And while the usual Rockstar controversy is present, what with Marston being able to introduce a man's face to his Sawed-Off Shotgun before lassoing a hooker, dragging her through town, hogtying her and leaving her on the train tracks, Marston is unlike Rockstar's previous protagonists. He's nice.
Marston has morals and opinions, and says hello to little old ladies in town, before the player forces him to murder them. It's an interesting dynamic. Marston firmly believes in justice, and recognizes he is not a good person, hence his quest for redemption (O, I see wat u did thar, Rockstar). The game is certainly good, with a large amount of things to see and do, excellent graphics a great soundtrack, and fantastic voice acting on all counts, it is not without it's flaws.
Firstly, the game is enormous. It takes quite a long time to travel across the game map, and since the game likes placing your mission start and then mission objective on opposite sides of the map, you'll be doing quite a lot of riding. Thankfully, there is a fast travel system in place, but it's not particularly effective, being usable only at certain times, depositing you further than necessary from your destination, and somehow always taking up enough time that the mission I wanted is now not available until sometime later. Secondly, while the vast landscape is beautiful and interesting, it is not interesting for long. Rockstar has been touted as filling it's world with many things to see and do, and has received much praise for it's random encounters. But these encounters are not only random, they are sparse. Not only that, they tend to become predictable. (As an aside, if anyone flags you down by the side of the road, shoot them. They are horse thieves.) [And if anyone flags you down by a broken wagon, shoot them, and their friends hiding behind the wagon. They are wagon thieves]
Some encounters aren't even marked, which makes it more difficult. Several times in Mexico I would see a man being chased by two other men, taking potshots as they went. One side was clearly the law. The other had to be outlaws. But which Mexican was the bad Mexican? So I shot them all. The game did not approve. Another time I happened upon a hanging, and shot the rope and killed the men around it before realizing that instead of shooting the rope, I had shot the hanging woman's face instead. Her husband was most displeased. So I did the only thing I could. I shot him, too. Now they won't be alone.The game also seems very set on you doing things it's own way. One mission tasked me with defending a train from rebels using a Gatling gun. I despise the Gatling gun. It is slow and inaccurate. So after two attempts, both ending in death and much raging, I jumped atop the engine and sniped each rebel with my Springfield. We made it safely, despite the General's screamed protests that, without me personally manning that gun, we were all doomed. Another mission had me hiding dynamite on a road to ambush a convoy. My plan was to lay them in a straight line, and once the convoy reached the furthest explosive, blow them all in sequence to ensure none survived. The game seemed to disagree. It seemed to think blowing the explosives in the exact center would do the most damage.
My plan;
---------------------------------------
x x x x x
---------------------------------------
The game's plan
---------------------------------------
xxxxx
---------------------------------------
Despite my companion's screams that I had blown them too soon, and was consequently an "Idiota" only one dazed soldier survived the blasts. Jared; 1 | Red Dead; 0
My last gripe concerns the game not really teaching you much. Oh sure, they give you the basic idea, but only once. I have agreed to several duels during my time in the West, and the game taught me how to do it once. Since then, I have had no idea what I'm doing. Consequently, I tend to die a lot, especially since I am attempting to play the righteous path, and try to shoot their gun out of their hand rather than their face out of their head.
One duel in particular caused me to retry approximately 15 times, before I killed him by accident. His weird draw pattern moved his gun over his crotch, and, as it turned out, I hadn't shot his gun. But it brings up an interesting point. This game truly does make you responsible for the consequences of your actions. You feel personally vested in the goings on of the story, and, in instances like the one described above, genuine remorse. Sure he was an evil man, but I hadn't intended to kill him. I had planned to disarm him and bring him to the Sheriff, so that he may answer for his crimes. Instead, I shot him in the dick. For a moment, I was no better than he was.
Wow, this went on a while, didn't it? Methinks that I shall save the ModNation and Alan Wake impression/review for next time. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a train to catch. And then rob.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Dragon Age Anime Film Announcement
Gentlemen, I hope you enjoyed Dead Space; Downfall and Halo; Legends, because the same thing is happening again.
Bioware has partnered with FUNimation to produce a full-length anime film based on Dragon Age. It should be released to DVD in 2011. It seems that since major film studio plans for video game film adaptations continually fall through (despite the success of the new Prince of Persia adaption) many people have now turned to animation studios to complete their visions. FUNimation's Original Entertainment team, an initiative begun in November of 2009, will be handling the project, the first of many it has planned.
I wonder if Dragon Age is the best property for an anime film. Perhaps Bioware felt it was the more deserving, considering last month's announcement that the Mass Effect movie was officially green lit, to be helmed by former Marvel Studios head Avi Arad. And yet the mixed success of anime adaptions leaves thought that maybe this isn't such a hot idea. Halo; Legends was a success, a surprisingly excellent blend of animation styles and plots that further developed the already sprawling Halo universe. But Dead Space; Downfall was wholly unnecessary, and the more recent adaptation of the Dante's Inferno game was simply abysmal. Not to mention the stigma anime continues to carry in American society. It will certainly appeal to Bioware's fanbase, but beyond that, there may not be enough market penetration.
It is unknown how this project will turn out, but one thing is for sure. With anime gaining more and more support, more executive types are beginning to recognize it's potential, and that can only be a good thing.
Now, if only there was a Bioshock anime....
Bioware has partnered with FUNimation to produce a full-length anime film based on Dragon Age. It should be released to DVD in 2011. It seems that since major film studio plans for video game film adaptations continually fall through (despite the success of the new Prince of Persia adaption) many people have now turned to animation studios to complete their visions. FUNimation's Original Entertainment team, an initiative begun in November of 2009, will be handling the project, the first of many it has planned.
I wonder if Dragon Age is the best property for an anime film. Perhaps Bioware felt it was the more deserving, considering last month's announcement that the Mass Effect movie was officially green lit, to be helmed by former Marvel Studios head Avi Arad. And yet the mixed success of anime adaptions leaves thought that maybe this isn't such a hot idea. Halo; Legends was a success, a surprisingly excellent blend of animation styles and plots that further developed the already sprawling Halo universe. But Dead Space; Downfall was wholly unnecessary, and the more recent adaptation of the Dante's Inferno game was simply abysmal. Not to mention the stigma anime continues to carry in American society. It will certainly appeal to Bioware's fanbase, but beyond that, there may not be enough market penetration.It is unknown how this project will turn out, but one thing is for sure. With anime gaining more and more support, more executive types are beginning to recognize it's potential, and that can only be a good thing.
Now, if only there was a Bioshock anime....
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