Datura: SCEA and Plastic Group Want You To Get Move-ing.

Posted on April 28, 2012 by geelw

While I’m really loving what I see here and want the game to do fantastically well over PSN, I really wish that SCEA would get this game plus Plastic’s great Linger In Shadows along with some other PSN-only titles (even demo versions would be fine) onto a retail disc at a nice price so that the rather large amount of PS3 owners who still can’t (or don’t yet) use PSN can get to experience what they’re missing. As I keep saying, shutting out any gaming dollars by enforcing evolution before everyone can come along for the ride just makes you less profit if you expect everyone to be aboard at the same time. Hell, the Move needs more positive support, right? I’m keeping the flame going for Sorcery, which looks amazing from what I’ve seen, but I want Sony to acknowledge that as successful as PSN is, it (and any other download content service) isn’t doing much for those gamers who may want to try some of these titles but currently don’t have a decent online connection.

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

Posted on April 28, 2012 by geelw

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)…

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale: It’ll Be A Super Smash, Brother!

Posted on April 27, 2012 by geelw

Hmmm. I guess you can file this one under “OK, now I’ve seen everything (again)”. Yes, it’s a blatant Super Smash Bros. clone with a ton of popular Sony franchise characters and maps in place of Mario and company (in lovely HD, unlike Nintendo’s mega-hit). And yes, it’ll probably be the same addictive and competitive party game fun, provided you’re not some fanboy rolling on the ground laughing ’til you pee yourself and drown in it or get so pissed off that you can’t see straight (and that usually misspelled weekly online rant/petition you’re re-drafting to Sony instead of Nintendo or whatever other game company you hated last week is actually spelled correctly because of it). I say deal with it by playing or not playing the game and move on. If it’s fun, it’ll be fun. If it stinks, well, see you at the discount bin. One big saving grace here is Sony can one-up Nintendo by making a Vita version that’s either a standalone experience with online multiplayer (good!) or connects with the PS3 version in some way (better!).

My take? Well, I’m not sure I completely approve of SCEA trying to be “family hip” and “fan hip” in the same product (it always turns out forced and stale when game companies do this wrong), but I really need to pipe down and HOPE someone at SCEA’s PR division doesn’t forget to invite me to another press event so I can play this upcoming game. C’mon guys, Help me do my job here!

Max Payne 3 PC System Specs: There Goes The Rent Money!

Posted on April 27, 2012 by geelw

Oops. These specs were revealed on Monday, but thanks to a few too many articles I’m in the process of writing, I’m still a bit behind on my email reading. Anyway, if you’re not playing this on console because you can afford to spend some decent money upgrading your gaming rig, here’s what you’ll need to get Max up and running smoothly (minus any overclocking and settings tweaking you’ll probably to to boost the already outstanding visuals even further)

Max Payne 3 PC System Specifications

Operating System: Windows 7 32/64 Service Pack 1, Windows Vista 32/64 Service Pack 2, Windows XP 32/64 Service Pack 3

Processor: Intel Dual Core 2.4 GHZ – i7 3930K 6 Core x 3.06 GHZ / AMD Dual Core 2.6 GHZ – FX8150 8 Core x 3.6 GHZ

RAM: 2GB – 16GB

Video Card: NVIDIA® 8600 GT 512MB VRAM – NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680 2GB VRAM / Radeon HD 3400 512MB VRAM – Radeon HD 7970 3GB VRAM

Sound Card: 100% Direct X 9.0 compatible – Direct X 9.0 compatible supporting Dolby Digital Live

HDD Space: 35 GB

DVD Drive

Please refer to your hardware manufacturer and http://www.rockstargames.com/support for current compatibility information. Some system components such as mobile chipsets, integrated, and AGP graphics cards may be incompatible. Unlisted specifications may not be supported by publisher.

Additionally, Rockstar has also spilled the beans on the cool digital bonuses available for those who want a box-less game experience, but I’ll let you check out the official site for those details.

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

Posted on April 26, 2012 by geelw

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…

Sorcery Story Trailer: I Did Say It Takes Time To Make A Good Game, Didn’t I?

Posted on April 24, 2012 by geelw

When Sorcery dropped off the radar for a bit too long, I initially thought it was canned or worse, being changed around into a standard Dual Shock game. However, it looks as if the game just went into the shop for some nice tuning and based on this gorgeous trailer, it’s going to be worth dusting off that Move wand and Navigation controller for. I’m also betting it’s going to be a lot more intuitive than Kinect Star Wars (sorry, Terminal Reality! I love you guys, but…). Anyway, I’m psyched for this just because I won’t mind flailing away at my TV for once and at least the 1:1 controls the Move brings to the table means a lot less actual flailing. Nice…

Prototype 2 Covent Garden Live Ad: Anarchy In The UK. Or Something Like That.

Posted on April 24, 2012 by geelw

OK, this made me crack up quite a bit, as I can see some unsuspecting non-gamers strolling through Covent Garden, coming across this bizarre live advertisement for Radical Entertainment’s sequel and wondering what the hell is going on. Well, it’s certainly an attention grabber, that’s for sure. The game should be rolling into stores all over the place at some point today, but here in the US, we’ll just have to settle for bigger-budgeted live action and CG TV commercials and no faux real-life rumbles in a big case in a public place. Here in NYC, this would just be performance art, anyway…

The Military Shooter Resurgence: It’s Nice To See The Genre Getting A Kick In The Ass…

Posted on April 22, 2012 by geelw

Despite all the money raked in over the past few years by certain well-known multimillion selling franchises, I see the military shooter genre as a bloated, rotting corpse with limited appeal outside of whatever multiplayer shenanigans keep the masses bunny-hopping and camping online endlessly. Granted, there have been many great advances in MP that have kept things fresh and exciting for fans, but those of us who crave deeper single player experiences have been, save for a few bright spots, left out in the cold. Granted, the story modes in the last few shooters I’ve played have been decent and well-written overall and I don’t give a hoot about how long a campaign is as long as it’s memorable. Thankfully, 505 Games and 2K Games are coming to the rescue with two fine titles that take the shooter into two different and very intriguing directions. And neither of them is a FPS…

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Max Payne 3 TV Spot: Probably The Only Bit of The Game They CAN Show On TV…

Posted on April 21, 2012 by geelw

Rockstar Studios’ long awaited beautiful bullet ballet is almost upon us (and yup, I can’t wait to see how it’s turned out) and here’s the first big TV ad for the upcoming game. Ever since I saw the live demo last year at NYCC, this one has been tickling a few buttons in my head. The art direction, visuals and gameplay all looked solid and that new animation system is brilliant when you see it in motion. While I’m not big on multiplayer these days, I know the story and characters will be what I like to call “Rockstar memorable”. As in there will be quite a few quotable lines sinking into skulls like some of the bullets Max fires off during the game. May is certainly going to be a busy month around these parts, that’s for sure…

Dragon’s Dogma Digital Comic Parts 1 & 2: Hardcore Pawn Video!

Posted on April 21, 2012 by geelw

Oh, I’m SUCH a card, aren’t I? Anyway, here are the first two of four parts from this prequel story that sets up some of the behind the scenes story for you. I’m kind of hoping all four parts will be on the game disc, but if not, it’s not a huge deal. Or deal-breaker, for that matter. I’m just excited that development on Dragon’s Dogma is probably all done and the game is getting ready to roll into retail in the next few months…