Tag Archives: Developer Diaries

Dragon’s Dogma Developer Diary #2: Pawn Stars (Wait, Did I Use That Pun Already?)

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OK, I’ve been a bit scattered lately, so forgive me if there’s a sense of deja vu going on here. Anyway, here’s the latest DD dev diary, this time tackling the interesting Pawn system and how it works in the game. Capcom is definitely generating a great deal of interest in this game as it heads for gold status and eventually retail release, so pay attention and get your money (and a decent controller) ready, I say.

Papo & Yo Developer Diary #1: Fantastic Realities, Favelas And Happy Monsters…

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Minority Media’s PS3 exclusive is coming soon and it’s absolutely one of those games that needs to be played (despite only being available over PSN, grrr!). Here’s a look at the first dev diary as well as a brief post over at the PlayStation Blog from one of the nicest people in this industry you’ll ever meet, Minority’s Creative Director, Vander Cabellero. Hey, Sony!  Here’s a suggestion (again): Slap this game and Journey onto a disc with Outland and maybe some demos (Starhawk, GOW: Ascension, et cetera), get it out at a decent price point and make a small mint from those who don’t yet have/want/use PSN accounts!

Dragon’s Dogma Developer Diary #2: Four “D’s” In A Row, But The Game Looks Triple “A”

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That said, I do wish the collective internet fan yapppers would hush it with the “Skyrim killer” talk. This game, like every other big RPG, should be seen and judged on its own merits, not point by point with some other game that’s not taking place in the same game world. That way, if it IS better than Skyrim (or at least less buggy that that game was), it will have actually earned that praise. And if it isn’t, well, those folks who kind of keep saying that but haven’t played Skyrim at all (but sure, reading negative posts about a game counts as “playing” it these days) won’t have to go into turtle mode and defend themselves from people who actually know what they’re talking about. Of course, this latest dev diary goes a long way in keeping both camps happy that they’re getting another solid RPG to take for a spin…

XCOM: Enemy Unknown Update: Art Direction, Directed Artistically…

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Here’s a look at another “making of” featurette for Firaxis’ upcoming reboot of the classics tactical sci-fi RPG. I have to hand it to the team for not jumping on the retro bandwagon in terms of the visual style. As much of a fan of the original X-COM and a few of its spin-offs and sequels, the fact is going too old school would have been a bad idea unless the team was doing a portable version that implemented a rotating camera like Rifts: Promise of Power on the N-Gage (one of those games that needs to be redone for handhelds or consoles just so gamers could see that, yes, there were some great games on the much-berated device). I don’t think 2K has anything to worry about other than a few cranky fans who never even plan to buy the final version still going ape about stuff they don’t like (even if it’s well implemented and make the game more enjoyable)…

Dragon’s Dogma Developer Diary 1: Capcom Spills The Beans (And Some Blood)…

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With Dragon’s Dogma a mere few weeks away from going gold, here’s a look at some cool “making of” videos that spell out what it takes to bring the game to life on your PS3 or Xbox 360. IT certainly looks as if anyone expecting to have an easy go at it will be in for a royal surprise when they find out that these beasties in the game all bite back hard. As to all the “better than Skyrim” stuff I’m reading about from the usual suspects, I just snicker and smile, as that’s a totally different beast, particularly if you’re a PC gamer with a solid rig and some of the better mods for that game. Still, Capcom does have the makings of a hardcore hit here with their baby…

XCOM: Enemy Unknown Update: Classic To Current, Not Lost In Translation

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Hey 2K! While this very cool progress update on the tactical version of XCOM is fantastic, let’s also hear about the other game as well. I’m actually one of those fans of the PC classic that’s NOT going bat crap crazy against the first-person origin story at all as I want to see how it turns out. Besides, it’s time that developers and publishers stood up a bit more steadfastly to the constant whining about every damn thing getting in the way of otherwise interesting design decisions.

Sure, keeping fans happy is ONE key to success, but it’s also important to have the freedom to take any IP in a different direction even if there’s some resistance. I think it’s time for some of these angry kids to shut it and eat their broccoli – hell, they may just find that it’s not as bad as they’ve been hearing…

XCOM: Enemy Unknown Deep Dive #1 – The Best Stuff Always Comes From The Bottom…

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Firaxis and 2K Games present an excellent look at the upcoming reboot of the classic sci-fi turn-based squad strategy game. I’m a huge fan of the original (as well as Gerry Anderson’s UFO TV series, the source material for that original XCOM), so I’m liking what I see here quite a lot. Of course, I’m also really intrigued by the upcoming XCOM shooter just to see how it deals with the beginnings of the franchise when the UFO threat was somewhat smaller (but no less deadly to humanity). Now, if ONLY those rabid haters of all things FPS in their XCOM could just get a nice brain wipe so they’d at LEAST accept the other game for what it gets right, we’d all be happier campers (the “we” in this case being me, 2K and the dev team busting their asses on both projects). It’s all about respect, people…

Making Halo 4: First Look Documentary: 343 Takes It To A New Beginning

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With the latest entry in Microsoft’s seminal console FPS franchise headed to the Xbox 360 later this year from a “new” dev team, it’s nice NOT to see so much secrecy now that things are well under way. Then again, it’s pretty obvious that 343 has a great deal to live up to and wants to show that they KNOW what they’re doing now that Bungie’s no longer at the helm. From what I can see, I’d say even the most diehard fan has nothing pressing to worry about, but that won’t convince the non-Halo fans or others who should know better. Me, I just want a longer yet supremely written and paced campaign so that running around shooting other live players in the requisite multiplayer modes isn’t the ONLY thing the game gets noticed for (*yawn*).  Let’s hope we see MORE of these “making of” videos for the game as Halo 4 gets further along in development…

Journey Developer Diary: thatgamecompany WIll Make You A Believer

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Not only are the folks at thatgamecompany some of the nicest you’ll ever meet, they really know how to make some truly engaging games. While you’re waiting for Journey to drop onto PSN later this month (early reviews are out and yes, the game is a must-buy), take a look behind the curtain and check out what members of the dev team have to say about their baby and the games industry in general. I still think they need to slap all of their games on a Blu-Ray with an art gallery (maybe an actual art book) a soundtrack CD or download with selections from their games and some behind the scenes videos like this one just to get a few more folks who might want to get hooked onto their work up to speed.

Jak & Daxter Collection Behind The Scenes Shows There’s Defintely A Storm In Every Port…

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Some folks out there think it’s “easy” to get an HD version of an older console game out, but it’s far, far from just porting the graphics and adding a shiny layer of high def texture maps and too much depth of field. Especially when the games you’re looking at giving the glossy graphics treatment broke all the rules on the console they were created for. If you were wondering why it’s taken so long for Sony to get the Jak games onto the PS3, this video will give you a good idea of just how well Naughty Dog did their job with the original games. Mass Media has their work cut out for them, but it seems that they’re going to be knocking this collection out of the park and making a LOT of fans happy (like yours truly)…