Tag Archives: Microsoft

Star Trek: The Video Game: Making of (4): That’s A REALLY Big Canon You’ve Got There…

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Hey, now… by law I’m allowed one absolutely horrific pun on a Sunday… and I don’t think that title counts, either. Anyway, developer Digital Extremes is doing it up right here, as this game actually takes place between the last Star Trek film and the upcoming sequel, Star Trek: Into Darkness. This more than makes perfect sense, as too many licensed games try to expand their stories after a film or worse, try to add elements into a film that don’t quite work out continuity-wise. As for how it all plays, let’s see what happens in a few days when the game hits stores on April 23, 2013. As long as the AI in solo play is solid, this one should be one Trek fans should be snapping up as soon as it teleports into stores.

Ride to Hell: Retribution: “No Rules” Means You’re Always The Man…

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Deep Silver’s awesome, violent “grindhouse” biker action game looks like one of those interesting Mature-rated sleepers that really doesn’t give a dead rat’s ass about some jerky politicians and parents groups whining about video games being the modern scourge of the earth, but that’s a good thing. Anyone with half a brain and no Sunday soapbox to stand on who’s actually HELD a controller knows that games don’t CAUSE violence at all and hell, if this were some TV movie or rolling up into a theater near you, you wouldn’t hear much about it save for whatever some overpaid film “critic” says. For those concerned adults running around with their hair aflame, I say just keep little Johnny and his soft, easily molded brain away from it and the world is a safer place. Anyway, June 25, 2013 seems to be the day this one hits the road with all engines burning. I’m liking what I see, so yup – I’ll be playing this for sure…

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon: Michael Biehn Gets Back To Work…

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It’s actually pretty darn cool that Ubisoft has tapped Michael Biehn to voice lead character Rex “Power” Colt in its intentionally campy send-up of way too many dopey (but awesome in their dopiness) 80’s action flicks, but I’ve had a burning question I’ve wanted to ask the actor ever since I saw The Terminator at the movies back when it was initially released. It’s bugged the HELL out of me that fresh through that time portal, a naked Kyle Reese gets his only pair of pants off a drunken homeless guy in an alley (Yuk!) and wears them throughout the entire film (Blech!), doesn’t go near a shower like he should (Ick!) but STILL gets it on with Sarah Conner (Nooooo!). That’s always made my skin crawl more than Arnold (well, his mechanical dummy head) doing “surgery” on himself by poking his own eyeball out with an X-Acto knife in that hotel scene. I guess Sarah had some pretty low standards and no sense of smell. Then again, SHE got to bathe when they got to the Tiki Motel – all Kyle did was buy stuff to make explosives.

Hey, I’m a continuity junkie, folks… I notice stuff like this in every movie I see. Hmmm… then again, maybe I’ll take this issue up with James Cameron. What’s his number again?

New Earth Defense Force 4 Trailer: “The Exterminators Are Back In Town…”

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“… and there goes the neighborhood!” Well, that’s probably what the booming-voiced announcer would say if this were some “B” movie popping up at a theater near you or on cable. Circa 1988 and complete with a too-loud theme borrowed from another film (probably that climactic tune from James Horner’s ALIENS soundtrack that ended up in way too many trailers after the film hit it big). Hey, it’s cicada time this year, so I bet people in areas affected by that 17-year frenzy would want to get decked out in some military gear and grab a space age weapon to take down a pack of noisy crickets. Yeah, yeah… they’re not crickets, silly. I know that! It’s just a REALLY bad Men in Black joke I just made (from the OK original, not the “what were they thinking?” sequels. Wait a minute, now… good (or bad) comedy doesn’t NEED an explanation if the person telling the joke gets it, so don’t read that last sentence. Er, anyway… Japanese PS3 and Xbox 360 owners get EDF 4 on July 3, 2013 – North American gamers get it sometime later this year. I’ll let you know when I know, as usual…

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen Enemies (2): Dying Just Got A Lot More Painfully Interesting…

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Just watching this latest Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen gameplay trailer makes me say “Ouch!” because I know some of these new creatures will be a pain to take down quickly. But as with the first game, it’s a learning experience when you encounter a new enemy in this game world. Check out its weaknesses, go at it with your best skills and make sure your pawns are up to speed. Hmmm… Now I’m feeling the need to play through the first game again… but with all the work I need to get done, that’s not going to happen at all. Unless someone creates time travel before Dark Arisen hits retail for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on April 23, 2013… which isn’t so far away at all. Yaaaah! The pain of having too darn many games to play, think of playing (or replaying). Well, there are far worse things to be worried about in the real world, of course…

GRID 2 Customization: My Fairlady (And Yours, Too!)

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The brilliant car customization in Codemasters’ upcoming racer GRID 2 is one more really awesome feature that will get and keep this racer on many play lists for a while. I didn’t get to tinker with it during my two hands-on sessions, but that’s probably a darn good thing. I tend to take ages to trick out a ride and usually end up with something that’s understated yet a monster on the road. Of course, with the amount of online competition this will no doubt have way too many great racers breaking records every few minutes or less, but I’m going to hit solo mode and break in every car I can on as many tracks in the game as possible. May 28, 2013 will be one of those “flu” days for some folks, I’m betting…

Four Minutes of Next Week’s Defiance Episode: Hey, Time Travel WORKS!

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Well, not in this clip from the upcoming episode, “Down In The Ground Where The Dead Men Go” mind you, but in the fact that you’re able to (*gasp!*) actually SEE into the future here and catch the first four minutes of the show before it airs ( that footage is below the jump – we’re building suspense here!) PLUS two teasers for the show. Hey, now you can roll home four minutes late and not feel as if you missed anything!

Er, of course, given that the show gets repeated right afterward (and at least twice), you just might get called really goofy by your friends and relatives for pretending that time travel DOES exist. Oh well… dreaming is fine, but reality works much better when you’re in the right groove… “OK, get to the good stuff!”, right? Alright, alright… Continue reading →

DARK Skills Trailer: Vampires Do Make Some Pretty Good Sneaky Characters…

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This newest slice of gameplay from DARK, developed by Realmforge and set to be published by Kalypso Media, is looking like quite a surprise sleeper in my book. Vampire-themed games aren’t exactly a dime a dozen these days, so it’s great to see a dev team tackle one and make it look and based on the trailers I’ve seen, play so well. As I noted previously, I’m REALLY hoping it does well enough on PC and Xbox live that it can also appear on other platforms, as this is just the sort of indie game that deserves a wider and more appreciative audience. As always, we shall see…

Bethesda Reveals The Evil Within (Well, A Live-Action Trailer, At Least)…

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In case you were wondering just what Shinji Mikami has been up to… well, here you go. Bethesda Softworks has revealed a live-action trailer to his and Tango Gameworks’ upcoming single player psychological/survival horror game, The Evil Within. Nothing has been revealed yet about the characters, story or gameplay, but IGN (hey, why not me?) has a big first look popping up on Monday that’s sure to get them traffic and attention. The game is set to come out in 2014 for PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and “next generation consoles”. Hmmmm… My take on that last part is I personally think they’re spreading this new SKU a wee bit too thin, as I think it would be best on ONE generation of systems and PC. If this gets over-hyped and expected to meet a certain target, but fails to do do, it will hit Bethsoft a bit hard on a few fronts. Granted, they could have another Dishonored here in the form of a hit that turns a genre on its ear-hole, so I’m at least optimistic on that front. Now, it’s all about some hands-on time to see what’s what… Bethsoft, you know how to reach me…

Star Trek: The Video Game – Making of (3): Voice Acting Is Not About Good Looks…

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OK, OK, so Chris Pine isn’t exactly Bummy McBumenstein with that 45 o’clock shadow he’s got stuck to his face, but this video shows that you can completely be in character and NOT need to dress the part nor call in the makeup team. The upcoming game is getting star power with what looking like quality work from some core cast members as well as music from the film. Oddly enough, this wasn’t show at Namco Bandai’s recent press event, but I’m not worried at all, as the bulk of games shown (save for some indie downlables and the fun surprise that was Young Justice Legacy) there were from Japanese developers. In any event, Star Trek hits stores on April 23, 2013 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. I’ll be diving in solo, as I’m a lonely guy with no friends (waah!), but I guess I can take a trip to a friend’s to see how the co-op plays…