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There’s a Little Pokémon and World of Warcraft In Forza 4
I love it when games are inspired by games that are nothing like them. Take sports games, and how they’re up to their eyeballs in RPG mechanics like character creation and levelling. Or driving games. Gran Turismo 5 is inspired by elevator music, for example, while it seems Forza 4 —according to Turn 10 creative…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 30, 2011 -
A History of Nintendo Handhelds On Beautiful Little Posters
Club Nintendo goodies, rewards offered by the company for serious and long-serving fans, aren’t usually that great (outside Japan, at least). But these Nintendo handheld cards, celebrating 31 years of portable goodness, they’re great Available for 300 coins, there are 12 in the set, each individual piece measuring around 6×4 inches. They even come with…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 30, 2011 -
This LEGO Gears of War Gun Actually Shoots. And Chainsaws.
LEGO builder extraordinare PLUM B has built this life-sized replica of a Gears of War Lancer rifle that doesn’t just look the part, it shoots the part as well. In the video above, you can see that you can slide magazines in. Then cock the rifle. Then actually shoot at stuff. And when the Locusts…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 30, 2011 -
Gabe Newell Likes Origin More Than I do
Valve boss Gabe Newell has, like many of us these past few months, taken EA’s new Origin service for a spin. Hearing his thoughts on the thing are interesting, though, because he runs the company that runs Origin’s dominant competitor. “I think it does some things well” Newell told PC Gamer. “I think there are…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 30, 2011 -
Here’s DotA 2’s Juggernaut
Freshly added to the game (well, its beta), here’s the Juggernaut from Valve’s upcoming DotA 2 He looks like one of the guys outta From Dust. If they grew a pair instead of just standing around begging for help all the time. What, you need me to do everything? Make a sword and do it…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 30, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThe Four Stages of Reboot Grief
Today’s Total Recall won’t be about video game history. It’s about dealing with what happens when video game history is dredged back to the present and coated in bright pink lipstick. EA’s Syndicate is but the latest in an ever-growing list of games that are reboots of old franchises. And they’re reboots in the strictest…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 30, 2011 -
BioWare’s Cruel, Accidental Tease For Star Wars Fans [Update]
A ton of people on the mailing list for BioWare’s Old Republic MMO received an email earlier today that basically said “hey, how’s that beta treating you?”. Even though they weren’t in the beta. Cue an instantaneous freak-out as millions of voices (well, thousands) cried out in terror (well, excitement) and were suddenly silenced, users…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
CultureThe Dark, Moody Metal Gear Art of Ashley Wood
If you like Metal Gear, chances are you’ve heard the name Ashley Wood before. While these days the Australian artist is kept busy with things like comics, art books, toys, TV and movies, he’s also had a long-running and very successful stint as an artist for Konami’s blockbuster stealth franchise. What’s cool about Wood’s Metal…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
Turns Out Sony Didn’t Break the Law When Somebody Else Hacked Them
The law can be a strange beast sometimes. Take Sony and Australia, for example: earlier this year, when the PlayStation Network was hacked into, an investigation was launched targeting Sony, to see whether the company had broken Australian law. Australia’s Privacy Act mandates that all bodies holding confidential information must take “reasonable steps” to ensure…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
The Most Beautiful Settlers of Catan Board you Will Ever see
There are plenty of ways to play classic board game Settlers of Catan. You can play it on Xbox 360, for example. Or the iPhone. Hell, you could even play the actual board game. If you’re leaning towards the more tangible option, and are going to go to the trouble of setting stuff up and…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
Is a Man not Entitled to a PC Casemod Based On BioShock?
Hungarian BioShock fan Gregory Mórocz wanted to build himself a new PC, so he built himself a new BioShock-flavoured PC. Look at it. Isn’t it wonderful? Having spent years working on the thing, it’s now finished, and he’s called it, what else, Welcome to Rapture. In addition to the authentic art deco styling, there’s a…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
Why the Next Game From Braid’s Creator is Skipping Consoles
The Witness, the next game from Braid creator Jonathan Blow, is coming out on PC, and it’s coming out on iOS. It’s not coming out on Xbox 360 or PS3. Why is that? Blow told Edge magazine, “We like 360 and PS3, but their specifications are over five years old now, and that’s a lot…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
Nintendo’s Cutest Game In a Long Time is This Little Puzzler
One reason why we haven’t had a new Wars game in a while is that Nintendo studio Intelligent Systems has been busy working on other projects. Like Hiku-osu, this adorable puzzle game for the 3DS. There’s not much to it: you push and pull giant blocks around to build steps and platforms so that you…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
Controlling Four Players at Once Looks Tricky (But Also fun)
This indie PC shooter is called Signal Ops. If you’ve ever played, say, Space Hulk, it may look slightly familiar, with the same mechanic of giving you control over four people at once. Only, it looks way more complex. While it obviously owes a lot visually to Team Fortress 2, notice what happens at the…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
Battlefield 3’s Beta On the 360 is EXPENSIVE
With the clock having just ticked over to September 29, eager users are reporting that a link to download the Battlefield 3 beta on the Xbox 360 is up. And looking a little worse for wear. Namely, that only executives, rap stars and professional athletes will be able to afford to download it. A glitch…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
Don’t Expect Blizzard’s New MMO at BlizzCon
As World of Warcraft begins its slow, inevitable decline, people will want to hear more about the company’s next big MMO. People might be hoping that this project, code-named Titan, will be spoken about at this year’s BlizzCon. Those people will be disappointed. A Blizzard representative has told IGN that the company’s “‘unannounced MMO’ will…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
Wizorb is out, Still Looks Brilliant
Hey, kids. Wizorb is out today on the Xbox Live Indie Games Channel. You should, uh, check it out. You can contact Luke Plunkett, the author of this post, at [email protected]. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
Heavy Rain’s Creator Doesn’t Sound Stupid at all
You’re right, David Cage, creator of games like Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy. You do sound stupid. But just the kind of stupid this industry needs more of. He’s right, turning down the chance to make a sequel to a successful PS3 exclusive is, from a business standpoint, bananas. But too many publishers and too…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallGoing to War Like Only Nintendo Can
Even though Zelda has killing and even Mario has head-stomping, when you think about it, nearly all of Nintendo’s first-party properties are harmless affairs. Bright colours, innocent storylines, big-eyed cartoon mascots and candy-coloured fantasy worlds where everything turns out just fine With one exception: the “Wars” series, Nintendo’s only foray into, well, war. In the…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 29, 2011
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