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Capcom’s Inafune Declares Japan Game Industry ‘Finished’
As reported by Destructoid, Capcom’s Keiji Inafune – a development fixture going back to the original Mega Man – was unimpressed by the games being shown on the TGS floor. Except for Capcom’s of course. At an event Friday, Inafune asked attendees what they thought of the show, asking them to be candid with their…
By Owen Good -
Survey, Web Site Indicate Planetside 2 is in the Works
Huge buzz going around the Planetside community today as a survey email said to come from Sony Online Entertainment reveals plans “to expand the Planet Side universe with another game.” Also, someone found SOE registered Planetside2.com on Sept. 21. The email sought help from “loyal player(s) and experienced shooter fan(s)” in designing this next game.…
By Owen Good -
Manual Instruction: Two Types of Learning in Game Tutorials
Who reads instruction manuals any more? These days even the most complex console game arrives with just a 16-page booklet. Increasingly, we rely on in-game tutorials, and the two modes of learning they promote both have their benefits – and drawbacks. Tutorials common to the early days of PC gaming followed an expository model of…
By Owen Good -
How Sony Motion Control Figures into LittleBigPlanet
In this five minute video, Sony’s new motion control wand is used in a cooperative mode of LittleBigPlanet. One player handles Sackboy with a Dualshock, while another manipulates objects to help him complete his tour through the level. This video comes from Sony’s Tokyo Game Show presentation during which motion control support was revealed for…
By Owen Good -
What Makes a “Real” Sport in an Unreal World?
Twenty years ago I learned how to rename the rosters for Accolade’s Hardball! and rig the players’ performances. Every player would be a 40-40 man, I boasted to Dad. “Not really interested,” he said, “It’s not real baseball.” I thought about that old Commodore 64 game a few weeks ago when a friend told me…
By Owen Good -
Weekend Coupons: Early Birds, the Worm and All That
Rise and shine, deal hunters. The full blown autumn retail season is here, and price drops for all consoles are in effect, so we’re not seeing the clearance discounts of late summer. But there still are values to be had. Hardware • You can get an Xbox 360 wireless controller for $29.99 and Viva Piñata:…
By Owen Good -
Kotaku Originals: No Show-Stopper
Tokyo Games Show dominated this week but it didn’t account for all the news. Just like this week won’t account for all our TGS coverage. We’ll have plenty more when the team returns to the States. Well, except for Bash. Please do hit that first link to peer at the voluminous report put together by…
By Owen Good -
Borderlands Introduces the Crimson Lance
Gearbox sent out a punchy update today assuring us that Borderlands is “pretty damn huge” and all that we’ve seen so far are “the noobie areas of the game. You haven’t even met the real bad guys yet.” OK, enlighten us. Well, first, Gearbox touts a 60-plus hour experience “in just the first play through,”…
By Owen Good -
Seven Japanese Developers Discuss Their Visions of Project Natal
Microsoft has released seven quick-take videos of top-flight Japanese developers discussing Project Natal and the opportunities they see in it for the next generation of game development. Keiji Inafune, of Capcom, sees Natal as a way to expand the means of control beyond the “limited interface,” a standard controller. Tecmo’s Keisuke Kikuchi sees Natal as…
By Owen Good -
EA Spokeswoman Hits Back at Australian Classification Board
Electronic Arts, the retail distributor for Left 4 Dead 2 weighed in against The Australian classification board‘s refusal of Left 4 Dead 2, and it’s not as mild as the “pretty bummed” Valve offered last week EA spokeswoman Tiffany Steckler, speaking to GameSpot Australia, implied Left 4 Dead 2’s violent content is not beyond the…
By Owen Good -
Rock Band 2 Patch Gets By With a Little Help from The Beatles
Improved chord hammer-on/pull off notes, taken from The Beatles: Rock Band’s better handling of the feature, have been patched into Rock Band 2 as part of an omnibus update that became available today. Additionally the update enables support for wireless microphones and lays down an “audition” feature you may use when the Rock Band Network…
By Owen Good -
Back to the Gallows with Assassin’s Creed II
The Tokyo Game Show trailer for Assassin’s Creed II divulges Ezio’s motivation – namely revenge – in a nicely edited homage to the original Assassin’s Creed trailer, before dissolving into an intense, bloody montage featuring some brief gameplay. It’s very well shot and builds to a nice climax with Da Vinci’s glider launching from the…
By Owen Good -
What Are You Playing this Weekend?
I’ll confess, one reason I’m glad I moved to Oregon is that the onset of damp weather and gloomy skies means I can game all day and not feel like a slug for not having set foot outside. Those days are soon upon us as the autumnal equinox hit this past week. And further, my…
By Owen Good -
Video of Resident Evil 5 Using PS3 Motion Controls
Sony Computer Entertainment Japan’s TGS presser revealed that the “Resident Evil 5: Director’s Cut” will employ the Sony motion controller now under development. Here is video of that announcement, and the controller being used with the game. The gameplay begins at 2:50 (unless you speak Japanese, skip to that part, it’s all presentation dialogue up…
By Owen Good -
Beatles Limited Edition Will Sell Out by November, says Viacom CEO
Anyone waiting to buy his boomer parents a showpiece gift for Christmas, listen up: The CEO of Viacom, parent company of MTV Games, says that the limited edition hardware bundle of Beatles: Rock Band should sell out by November. That’s the $249 version, with Ringo Starr’s drums and Paul McCartney’s bass (plus microphone and stand).…
By Owen Good -
Mac Users Will Get to Experience the Game of the Year — for 2007
Porting shop Feral Interactive has announced that they’re bringing BioShock to the Mac more than two years after its original release. Mac users’ immediate response was “What’s a BioShock?” I say that as a 23-year user and consumer of Mac products, too. It’s no fault of Feral, they can only buy the rights to games…
By Owen Good -
NBA 2K10 Features Rasheed Wallace Having a Fred Sanford Heart Attack
Boston’s Kevin Garnett finishes off the alley-oop in this latest gameplay trailer, and newly acquired Rasheed Wallace gets up to inform Elizabeth he’s coming to join her. Another solid minute of dunk animations and gameplay from NBA 2K10.
By Owen Good -
Valve Appeals Australia Ban of Left 4 Dead 2
Couched in an update of Left 4 Dead’s ratings status in 11 locations is news the publisher on Wednesday appealed Australia’s refusal to classify the game, effectively banning it for sale there. No other comment was given in the announcement. I’ve emailed Valve to ask for a little more detail on the case they’ve presented…
By Owen Good
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