Kotaku: Smack Talk

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Calls Out Starcraft

Owen Good — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:00:00 MDT

You know, I'm not gonna try to guess the viral marketing policies or in-house/contractor authorizations of Electronic Arts to determine if this really does constitute EA taking potshots at Blizzard. But that is undeniably the actors J.K. Simmons (President Ackerman) and Jonathan Pryce (Field Marshall Bingham, on the jump) and they're calling out other RTSes, specifically ones set in space, so, sounds to me like Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 is talking shit to StarCraft players, perhaps Star Trek: Online.

These are part of a series of videos (one above, two more on the jump that have been posted as replies to other videos on YouTube, in some cases unrelated, so there's your viral aspect. The uploaders, RedWhiteBlueAlert and ThrowingStarz both joined in the past week, so, likely viral. And remember that Battlefield: Bad Company, also an EA title, took a few swings at its competition too.

And here's another one from Suki (Kelly Hu), posted as a response to a Star Trek vid. Actually, she's got others up in which she hates horror (Left 4 Dead) and expansion packs (you name it). She also likes "impressive creatures" which is probably carrying water for Spore.

Red Alert 3 Disses SC2 [sc2Pod]

John Romero Dishes on "Bitch Ad"

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 06:40:38 MST

Doom co-creator John Romero and Gamecock's Mike Wilson go way back. Before he founded Gamecock, Mike Wilson was the CEO of Ion Storm, a company Romero founded. In less than a year, he was pushed out. (The company churned out the acclaimed Deus Ex and the not-so acclaimed Daikatana.) But Wilson's gone on to set up Gamecock, which he describes as an "independent film company for small developers." After reading the Gamecock's release schedule right here on Kotaku, Romero blogged this about his former colleague:

I got a chuckle out of reading the reader's comments on the article. People are now starting to get a clue about how Mr. Wilson operates. Hey everyone, he hasn't changed in over 10 years — these are the kinds of jackass stunts he pulled at Ion Storm with Daikatana. Remember the bitch ad? Yeah. He also ran ads ("image ads") that just had pictures of Ion Storm founders, himself and our COO. That was just the beginning of his madness.
It got much worse at Godgames where he pretty much just partied all the time and after the whole thing got reined in by Take 2 he went underground for a while, waiting for his next victim/investor so he could go hogwild all over again. And thus was born Gamecock.

Bitter, John? Perhaps you have every right to be...
Gamecock Release Schedule [planet rome.ro Thanks, Witz!]

The Outsider is Next Gen, Halo 3 and Bioshock Aren't

Mark Wilson — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:40:48 MDT

Frontier Developments' boss David Braben is feeling really confident about his upcoming game, The Outsider (for PS3 and Xbox 360). Players take control of an ex-CIA agent framed for the assassination of the President in what looks to be a good, "high octane" time. But like we said, he's feeling really confident about it.

I loved the 1930s-1950s atmosphere of BioShock...but the gameplay itself was not 'next-gen'...I found Halo 3 great fun, too, but also a little disappointing - as although there were a few nice touches and improved graphical fidelity, it hadn't really moved on much from Halo 2 in terms of the gameplay.

His game on the other hand, is going to be fantastic:

...if anything I am reassured; I think Outsider more than stands up to them, and I still think Outsider will be one of the first 'next-gen' games.

Braben's point is that gameplay has failed to evolve with this generation, and player choice is a letdown (as with Bioshock, you can only "choose" to be good or bad, not much in between).

Here's hoping The Outsider is everything Braben claims it to be, offering us a robust world of possibilities while making two critically acclaimed AAA releases look like Atari 2600 titles. But until then, it seems like a lot of talk, and not a lot of...

BioShock, Halo 3 not "next-gen" [eurogamer]

Crytek: Bioshock Pwns Halo 3, But Both Drool and PCs Rule

Mark Wilson — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:20:38 MDT

Crytek head Cevat Yerli must be feeling pretty good about Crysis. Because even though he's trying not to talk smack, it's pouring from his mouth anyway.

I don't want to talk bad about [Halo 3]. The trailer looked great. I know there are millions of people who love it.

C'mon, let the poison out. You're amongst friends.

I tried to play Halo 1, I tried to play Halo 2. (laughs) I really didn't get it. It didn't get me, well I bought copies though Again, conversely the Bioshock demo got me. It's not that it's not possible, but console shooters are at the level of PC shooters 5-6 years ago.

Later in the interview Yerli goes on to explain just how Crysis could make its way to consoles—by altering level design. And then even later, Yerli discovered that wedgies can break skin and even require surgery.

Shooting For Perfection: The Cevat Yerli Interview [gameinformer]

Eggebrecht: Wii Games Should Look Better

Mark Wilson — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:20:30 MDT

Factor Five's Julian Eggebrecht may have taken some knocks on the chin for Lair's gameplay, but not many were complaining about the unquestionably stellar graphics of the title. And that's pretty much enough for me to name him an unquestionable authority on every platform's individual graphical nuances (and anything else necessary for this article to be extremely important). Right now, Eggebrecht's questioning an industry that's all but given up on the Wii ever making pretty games:

If you connect you can get a lot of shader effects which would've been on the 360 or the PS3...it's got so much more power compared to the GameCube. If even with the extremely similar shader hardware, the system clockrate is so much higher, you can do so much more advanced things.

So why does he think games aren't looking better?

Hmmm I don't know, the hardware is very, very easy to understand. Now the problem might be -and it just might be- is that some studios -or some publishers specifically- are discarding the graphical capabilities automatically simply because it is a Wii title and they're basically telling the developers "look, we won't pay for any advanced graphics."

He admits that the Wii will have difficulty achieving photorealism, but I have a feeling that his conspiracy theory isn't so far off...if you look at certain titles.

Factor 5's Julian Eggebrecht on Wii Graphics [flamewaradvance]

Space Giraffe is Rubbish, The Shirt

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 06:40:21 MDT

I'll be honest. I haven't played Space Giraffe, because my Xbox 360 is still in the intense care unit. (Have you? You like it?) Paper mag Official Xbox Magazine didn't dig the game much at all, giving it a 2/10. Over at Something Awful, Space Giraffe creator and head yak Jeff Minter called the review "the most extraordinary example of egregious fuckwittery" he's ever seen. Right or wrong, the magazine is certainly entitled to its opinion! Just as Minter is entitled to make t-shirts lampooning that review. They're available for purchase, too. Buy one if you like. Wear it, too.

Fuckwittery. Gotta remember that one. Funny.
Minter Makes Shirt [YakYak]

Splinter Cell Producer Trashes PS3's AI Capabilities

Mark Wilson — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:40:20 MDT

In a recent interview with Gameplayer, one Splinter Cell: Conviction producer "Danny" adamantly declared:

It's NEVER gonna come out on the PS3 or the Wii.

Why? The Wii is self-explanatory, but he also said the Xbox 360 handles AI better than the PS3. That seems to be a bit overreaching, and maybe the real answer is that Splinter Cell's software architecture would make it difficult to bring to the PS3. But what do I know? Any real devs in the audience want to clarify for the group?

Splinter Cell: Conviction [via maxconsole]

"Hardware With Pokemon Wins"

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 MDT

The console wars decided by Final Fantasy? Pffft, what-ever! Tsunekazu Ishihara, CEO of Nintendo affiliate The Pokémon Company, says the hardware with Poké will win. Yes, that's almost EXACTLY what he says. Here's the direct quote:

The hardware which has Pokémon on it will be the winner.

There ya go. So, does that mean Pokémon would ever go multi-platform? Fat chance! Ishihara weighs in:

When you look at multi-platform games, because they are multi-platform you have to consider what is universal to all of the platforms when you're making it and therefore that limits the actual creativity.

In summary: Multi-plat not original, buy the Wii, Pokémon FTW. Brian Ashcraft

Poké Pride [GameSpot via VGB]

Clip: Smash Talk vs. Trash Talk

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 02:00:43 MDT

CheapyD from CheapAssGamer is back, in need of a shave and reviewing the Trash Talk for the Xbox 360. We featured the Smack Talk a while back, but Cheapy gives a quick run done on how the Trash Talk works and offers his two cents on which is a better buy. The peripheral seems pretty annoying, actually. Then again, that is the point! Brian Ashcraft

Microsoft Blogger Says PS3 Online "Likely Underwelming"

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 07:22:49 MDT

With PLAYSTATION 3 Online getting propped up by Xfire, Microsoft blogger Ozymandias weighs in for the requisite thunder stealing. Sony mentioned that Xfire is not replacing SCE's PlayStation Network Platform, but simply be "complementary" in that it will provide additional features and connectivity with the Xfire network. Cool, huh?

Not so, says Ozymandias:

What we end up with is a bit of a mishmash of online accounts, logins, and services. For example, now when I play a PS3 title I simply can't depend on having a single Friends list. Sony will manage the 'master' list, which should have presence in every PS3 title, and Xfire will be a plugin that some publishers integrate into some games. This means gamers can't depend on finding their friends in one place (if the game even supports Xfire)...
Another challenge is that Xfire is now effectively middleware—and that's not free. Had Sony purchased and integrated Xfire into their SDK I could see the effective cost of integration being 'free' to publishers. Now, unfortunately, each and every publisher has to look at their budget and decide whether adding a second online service/friends list/presence is worth it. I have no idea what Xfire's licensing costs are, but whatever it is, it's not free—Sony lost that opportunity. And that means publishers have to decide whether to spend extra dollars, effort, and time in an era when game costs are already spiraling higher and higher.

Sadly, this appears to be an artifact of Sony's online service being late to the game and likely underwhelming.

We're a little less than a month away from when the console launches in Japan, and we're still largely in the dark. Or rather, feel in the dark. Obviously, Sony will illuminate more on its online service for the PS3 at its San Francisco presser later this month. My concern: The PS3's online functions have been lost in a Blu-ray haze. Yours? Brian Ashcraft

Not So Cool, Dudes [Ozymandias]

Improve Your Smack Talk

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 07:21:44 MDT

Meet smack talk Version 2.0. With the GameDR Smack Talk, press one of five buttons to taunt your Xbox Live foe with a movie one-liner ("Go ahead, make my day"), a music clip ("We Are the Champions") and any other customized sound bite. Here's how it works: Plug the pint-sized accessory into the Xbox 360 controller's bottom and the headset jack. There are five preset sounds that run the gamut of evil laugh to crowd applause, which can be replaced. The clips can run up to five seconds in length, stored on Flash memory. Drops this October for US $29.99 and will hopefully lead to more creative smack talk. Until then continue with the "I pwn noobs" and the f-bombs. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [CNET]

Xbox Australia Slams Sony Delay

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 01:23:29 MDT

Kicking a dog when its down, Xbox Australia's honcho David McLean added his two cents to the PLAYSTATION 3 PAL region delay, which has pushed back the console from November 2006 to March 2007. Before going on to flatter the Wii, McLean said:

[The PS3 delay] doesn't surprise me—and it further wouldn't surprise me if this product wasn't seen in March next year either. We have always been comfortable with our strategy for Christmas irrespective of Sony. We are completely unsurprised by this situation. We have actually been a little surprised at how surprised other people have been.

And we were surprised how surprised Microsoft Australia was at how surprised others have been. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [GameSpot UK]

VoIP Headset for the DS

brownlee — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 10:40:41 MDT

Well, this is rather nifty. At a recent retail product fair in Japan, Nintendo announced a VoIP headset for the DS and DS Lite. It's set to go on sale in Japan around September 14th. Price? Only about $10, surprisingly. It's designed to allow you to engage in more comfortable, lower volume smack talk with your Metroid Prime: Hunters or Pokemon buddies.

Something occurred to me looking at this, though. We're now getting Opera for the DS. Where the hell is Skype for the DS? I will never, ever browse the Internet on the DS, but make long-distance phone calls far cheaper than I could make on my mobile phone? That's just fills my sack with sunshine. Thanks, Bernard! Florian Eckhardt

Nintendo announces headphone VoIP set for DS [Video Games Blogger]

A Tutorial in Xbox Live Smack Talk

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 13:24:43 MDT

A nine point guide to learning how to talk like a foul-mouthed thirteen year-old. This is why "mute" was invented, you friggin' noob punk. Brian Ashcraft

Posted Here [VideoGamesBlogger]

How To Become A Frag Doll

brownlee — Tue, 02 May 2006 14:40:53 MDT

A pinch of jiggle, a loving spoonful of silicon, a cursory talent in playing games and a complete lack of self-respect. Sure, those are some of the ingredients, but what else is necessary to be a Frag Doll — that elite group of "gaming grrls" marketed by Ubisoft straight to your crotch?

Well, for one, a puerile penchant for embarrassing smack talk...

As we waited, Valkyrie, one of the existing Frag Dolls, yelled out rhetorically, "Can I ask each of them to give me an example of their (smack) talk?"
"OK, girls," she shouted after the eight entered. "We've seen that you can talk the talk. Now we're going to see if you can walk the walk. Stand up and give me an example of your (smack) talk."

"Say my name," shouted Monica Inderlied, a 21-year-old from Norman, Okla.

"You shoot like a boy," 27-year-old Jennifer King of Seattle said to huge laughter.

"I want all of you to eat it," shouted Rennelly Morel, 19, from Brooklyn, N.Y.

News.com's article on the April Frag Doll auditions ends just short of the most important stage of the try-outs: an interview on the casting couch with an Ubisoft director and the six original Frag Dolls. Which is too bad... that would have been an excellent opportunity for some real gonzo style journalism.

Frag Dolls tryouts: More than mashing buttons [News.com] (Thanks, Jane!)