Archive for February 8th, 2008
February 8, 2008
Music and warfare: together at last, according to THQ. In Band Mashups, gamers can play against a friend, battling not only to win, but to stop hearing songs in marching-band style, and switch to rock instead.
To start playing, gamers will select from one of five musical styles to play: rock, funk/hip-hop, country, marching band, and Latin. In the background, 30 chart hits from the last four decades will play–in the musical style chosen by whichever player is currently winning.
Alongside the two-player versus mode will be a single-player mode, where gamers will play as one of 11 bands battling to seize control of New Cadenza city away from the evil Mr Hong.
The 70 weapons available will be musically themed too, including sniper violins and flamethrowing guitars. Band Mashups is due out in April exclusively for the Wii, and we have a full hands-on preview complete with screenshots and movies.
February 8, 2008
Gameplay Footage
A Cypress Hill favorite as you’ve never heard it before.
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Conspicuously absent in games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero III, weaponized musical instruments are going to take “Battle of the Bands” to a whole new level later this year if THQ and Planet Moon Studios get their way. Officially announced for the Wii today, Band Mashups is a competitive rhythm game that will see fictional bands going head-to-head in musical battles played out with sniper violins, flamethrower guitars, trombone missile launchers, and other instruments of mass destruction. We had an opportunity to spend some time with a work-in-progress version of Band Mashups recently, and we’re pleased to report that it’s looking very promising.
Band Mashups’ story-driven single-player campaign is set in the fictional city of New Cadenza, where disputes are settled with band battles and everyone looks like a character from an animated Tim Burton movie. The city is ruled by an evil guy known simply as Mr. Hong, who sees off anyone daring to challenge his authority with the aid of his powerful Violent Orchestra. You can choose to play as any of 11 bands determined to put a stop to Hong’s reign of terror, and each purportedly has a different storyline. Each of the playable bands has a unique appearance and unique weapons at its disposal, but falls into one of five genres that determines which version of a song they actually play during battles. The genres are rock, marching band, Latin, country, and funk/hip-hop.
Look out for flamethrower guitars, coming soon to a gig near you.
Playing a song in Band Mashups works in much the same way as it does in the aforementioned music games, but in the absence of a plastic guitar you’ll be hitting notes by making gestures with the Wii Remote. There are five different types of notes to hit as they travel up toward the middle of the screen, and the gestures to play them include moving left, moving right, moving up, thrusting, and shaking. Assuming that the two battling bands are representing different genres of music, the version you’ll hear is always the one being played by whichever band is currently winning, and it’s not uncommon for that to change quite frequently once the weapons start coming into play. Before we talk about the weapons, though, here’s a list of 15 of the 30 songs that will be appearing in the game to give you some idea of the eclectic selection. None of these songs are performed by the original artists, but all have been recorded in the styles of all five genres, with language translation where necessary. That’s a total of 150 playable recordings for those of you keeping score.
“Adios Mexico” - Texas Tornados
“Blitzkrieg Bop” - The Ramones
“Brick House” - The Commodores
“Dum Diddly” - Black Eyed Peas
“Master Exploder” - Tenacious D
“Feel Good Inc.” - Gorillaz
“Insane in the Brain” - Cypress Hill
“Jungle Boogie” - Kool & The Gang
“That’s The Way (I Like It)” - KC & The Sunshine Band
“Mama Said Knock You Out” - LL Cool J
“One Thing Leads to Another” - The Fixx
“Photograph” - Def Leppard
“Man of Constant Sorrow” - The Soggy Bottom Boys
“Spoonman” - Soundgarden
“Whoomp! (There It Is)” - Tag Team
At the start of each battle, you’ll get to equip your band with three weapons chosen from a selection that’s determined by your band of choice, as well as by how far into the game you are and what extras you’ve unlocked. You get a light weapon, a heavy weapon, and a special weapon, and while playing through a song you’ll hit the A button to switch between them. After selecting a weapon, you’ll need to hit a certain number of notes in sequence to fire it. You’ll need to hit just three consecutive notes to pull the trigger of a gun with the firepower of a peashooter, but you’ll need as many as 20 to activate some of the stuff in Band Mashups’ endgame arsenal. It’s worth noting that most of the weapons have a cooldown timer as well, so you can’t just settle on a favorite and spam it over and over again.
Some of the instruments in Band Mashups wouldn’t look out of place in a military shooter.
Light weapons and heavy weapons hit the opposing band where it hurts and score you points in the process. Incoming attacks can be blocked with a well-timed press of the B button, but that’s not always an easy thing to do when you’re waving the Wii Remote around in time to music. On the other hand, special attacks are designed to hamper your opponent’s ability to play by messing with his or her controls or the area of the screen where his or her notes appear. Special weapons we put to good use (or were victims of) during our session had effects such as obscuring note tracks with smoke, reversing the left/right controls, setting the onscreen cursor on fire so it can only be put out by shaking the Remote, and charging the sides of the note track with electricity so that any overly energetic left/right gestures are punished with a shock as the cursor hits them. There are plenty more, and we can tell you that a favorite during our session was one that simply made the opponent’s notes come at them much faster.
Regardless of whether you’re playing the single-player story mode or a two-player versus match, Band Mashups offers three difficulty levels that appear to cater to genre newcomers and experienced guitar heroes alike. In versus mode, each player can choose a different difficulty level. As we learned while playing against a Planet Moon representative who was on a harder difficulty level than us, it’s an adequate handicapping system that will let players of varying abilities enjoy some closely contested battles.
Band Mashups is currently scheduled for release in April. We’ll bring you more information on the game as soon as it becomes available.
-If Its Games
February 8, 2008
LAS VEGAS–While the D.I.C.E. summit isn’t necessarily known for breaking brand-new game news, sometimes surprises happen. Take today’s conference featuring Namco Bandai’s Roger Hector, who capped off his session talk–which focused on the creation of successful game characters–with the first extended footage of Namco’s upcoming videogame based on the popular Japanese manga-turned anime series starring Samuel L. Jackson. The game was announced back in 2007 (where we got a total of about three seconds of gameplay) and, based on today’s footage, it’s looking absolutely brutal (in a good way).
Because Hector’s discussion revolved around the creation of characters, he spent a few minutes talking about a few of the main characters that have been part of the manga series and will be making an appearance in the game. Characters shown included Ninja Ninja, the imaginary alter-ego of Afro who will also act as the game’s narrator, and Afro’s nemesis Kuma, a swordsman who, for reasons that will undoubtedly be explained to players, wears a giant teddy bear mask when he fights.
Then, of course, there is Afro himself. Hector showed a couple of different iterations of the transformation of Afro from the line drawing version in the manga to the final game character that will be playable in the game. While the big notes of the character are all in place–big afro, baggy hip hop clothes, and, as Hector put it, “exaggerated ethnicity”–the character shown in the footage has a look and feel all its own. The art style used to render Afro has a definite line-art feel to it, with the pencil-like shadings moving dynamically as the character moves in relationship to the light.
The minute or so of gameplay footage shown during the conference focused almost completely on Afro’s combat moves that look to be impressive indeed. Multiple shots showed Afro running across bridges and over walkways with his sword drawn, and his other hand wielding the scabbard. The footage also showed Afro jumping between buildings and he’ll apparently take that same agility to combat; plenty of the footage showed Afro leaping and flipping over his opponents in highly stylized combat that fit very well with the hip-hop soundtrack that was playing as accompaniment. While the music being played was merely representative of the kind of tunes that will be present in the game, it got our hopes up for a great game soundtrack to go with those cool moves.
Make no mistake, Afro Samurai is going to be bloody. Sure his combat moves are stylish, but they’re also deadly. We saw bodies getting hacked in half, and foes getting decapitated left and right. In addition we got a sneak peek at a couple of different enemy types, from typical sword-fodder, to what looked to be magical creatures appearing from thin air, and one especially menacing looking giant boss enemy who wielded a massive bo staff.
In all, Hector’s unveiling of new Afro Samurai footage was a pleasant cap to an already enjoyable conference session. The hip hop/swordplay thing is a bit reminiscent of Samurai Champloo albeit with a darker, and certainly bloodier edge. There’s no official release date for Afro Samurai yet but we look forward to seeing how this game develops over the coming months.
-If Its Games
February 8, 2008
Ringo Starr clearly isn’t on the same page as Chair Entertainment. Whereas The Beatles’ drummer famously fantasized about withdrawing from the world for a quiet existence with friendly crustaceans and octopi, the developer’s Undertow depicts an H2O that’s anything but peaceful. But though this frantic multiplayer-oriented Xbox Live Arcade shooter offers a lot of excitement, a number of design quirks and a short, frustrating single-player story mode dampen the experience.
Undertow’s gameplay is a 2D-platform take on the Battlefield franchise’s focus on team tactics, albeit with hints of Geometry Wars, given that you maneuver frantically with the left stick and shoot in all directions with the right stick. However, the setting is entirely different and takes you to a flooded future Earth where humankind has moved under the sea. As usual with these sorts of apocalyptic gaming scenarios, factions are fighting for control of the ruins. Here, you’ve got the Iron Marines, Nemoidians (followers of Captain Nemo), and Atlantians scrapping it out for domination. Each group is represented by four classes evenly divided between light and heavy unit types. Two are speedy swimmers akin to fast-shooting scuba divers, and two are hard-hitting yet slower minisubs or underwater creatures. You can swap between classes during matches to keep the action flowing quickly. Each unit can also be upgraded three times to provide heavier defenses, faster firing rates, and the like.
Battles are fast and intense, and set in front of beautiful seascapes dotted with ruins and reefs.
Games play out like matches in online shooters. The only difference is that you’re playing on a 2D plane in front of hauntingly beautiful 3D backdrops that make it seem as if you’re watching a battle raging in your aquarium. Unreal Engine 3 looks phenomenal here, although the 2D playing plane and 3D scenery (ruined cities, reefs) are blended so well that you can lose track of the fairly tiny units. Sound effects and explosions sound like they’re taking place underwater as well, with a booming resonance that practically envelops your ears. Game styles aren’t as unique as the glub-glub setting, though. You take part in traditional team-conquest matches with up to 16 players on Xbox Live or on consoles hooked up to a local network. Each side starts with a set number of ticket points, and your goal is to drain the enemy to zero by killing troops and conquering bases. In addition to this mode of play, you can hook up with friends online and go through the solo campaign cooperatively.
Conquest is the main selling point, though. Maps are smartly designed with loads of choke points, hidden or out-of-the-way caches of power-ups that provide the usual buffs (shields, depth charges, that sort of thing), and other terrain features that make these undersea battles awfully intense. Teamwork is critical to reducing an enemy’s tickets, and you need to split your squad between offense and defense. Bases can be conquered lickety-split by simply floating near them for a handful of seconds, so blitzing ahead with everybody generally just lets the enemy sneak past you and do the same thing. In this scenario, you lose the bases you’ve already taken behind you and wind up caught in a crossfire while trying to defend new conquests. It’s best to skip trying to win matches outright by conquering all bases on the map, in favor of just seizing a slim majority of them and settling into defense. If you take this conservative approach, you’ve got a good chance to kill enough enemies to drain your opponent’s ticket cache, although it can take time to reach this happy conclusion because you inevitably wind up in a war of attrition.
Winning is never easy. Matches are so fast-paced that it’s tough to coordinate your team unless the players all know what they’re doing and are giving orders via Live headsets. Speed and design quirks also make it hard to properly use the different classes. Speedy light units such as Marines and Dragoons can be surprised and killed with single shots by heavier sorts such as Corsairs and Dragoons. There is no radar screen to check up on the location of offscreen enemies, either. This forces you to move forward blindly, which leads to frequent nasty surprises. Heavy units have issues as well, in that they move slowly and can be taken out in short order by the rapid firing of a few swift swimmers. And though these ships can be devastating when defending a choke point (due to powerhouse missiles with killer splash damage), they’re so big and slow to maneuver that it can be tough to situate them properly without getting blown up. The classes are well balanced, but design limitations can make the gameplay uncomfortably chaotic. In other words, you randomly get killed a whole lot.
Solo modes of play seem tacked on. The storyline in the brief, 15-mission solo campaign involves a retro-Atlantis tale in which aliens cause a global flood in the future and force humankind to live under the sea. Cutscenes are talky and hard to follow, but everything revolves around you working to reestablish civilization against evil forces like pirate gangs. The single-player campaign is short and so repetitive that it gets dull long before you finish it. Even worse, the artificial intelligence of your ally bots is so awful that it makes playing the game alone almost unbearable. In campaign missions, as well as one-off versus and co-op games with computer comrades, your supposed friends wander off, never defend bases that you control, and don’t assist when attacking enemy bases.
Heavy units pack a real punch when compared to their wimpier light swimming counterparts, but they’re also a lot slower and tougher to maneuver.
Such poor AI makes levels spectacularly frustrating because your pals often simply abandon you. For example, in the second level of the campaign after the tutorial, you’re tasked with destroying an enemy base hidden at the very bottom of the map behind a metal door. Sound simple? Well, it isn’t for your erstwhile allies, who generally float around the top of the map like vacationing scuba divers while you’re getting demolished over and over again by a good two dozen powerhouse baddies. There are often gimmicks for getting through these tough spots, such as a storehouse of power-ups (that you have a 50/50 shot of reaching before getting blown to bits) in the preceding example. Nevertheless, it’s annoying to deal with brain-dead buddies even when there are ways to single-handedly tackle the most grueling parts of the game.
If you can get into an online match with good people, Undertow can be an engaging experience. Battles are fast, tactics and teamwork are crucial, and the unique look and sound of the game provide great eye and ear candy. Co-op can also be an absolute blast with the right buddy. But some of the design problems and the nearly worthless nature of the solo mode make the game something of a disappointment for the full 800 points that it costs (although it’s a real bargain if you got it free during Microsoft’s promotion at the end of January), even with its many positive qualities.
February 8, 2008
The game formerly known as Pandora, then renamed Legendary: The Box, and now apparently simply called Legendary, has been confirmed for a release date window during this summer.
The first-person shooter puts gamers in the shoes of art thief Charles Deckard, who accidentally opens Pandora’s Box and sets loose the assorted nasties lurking inside. He must then rid the world of the terrifying creatures, including werewolves, minotaurs, and gryphons, he has unwittingly unleashed.
Legendary is being developed by Spark Unlimited and published by Gamecock and will be released simultaneously on the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. For more info on the game, check out If Its Games’s hands-on preview.
February 8, 2008
With Lost Planet: Extreme Condition for the PlayStation 3 just weeks out from release, Capcom has released a multiplayer demo for those wanting to try out the game’s online mayhem.
The demo is available now on the US PlayStation Network, and clocks in as a 231MB download. While the demo only supports eight player matches, the full retail game will ship with support for 16 players.
Downloading the Lost Planet PS3 demo will allow gamers to try out two of the game’s multiplayer modes: Elimination (standard deathmatch mode) and Team Elimination. The full version of the game will feature four modes altogether.
Check out If Its Games’s recent preview of the PS3 version of Lost Planet by clicking here.
February 8, 2008
Official Trailer
Check out the latest trailer for Kane’s Wrath.
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In Command & Conquer 3, last year’s real-time strategy game from EA, three factions battled for control of Earth. There were the “good guys” in the form of the Global Defense Initiative, the chaotic forces under the Brotherhood of Nod, and an alien race that was introduced to the franchise known as the Scrin. In Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath, the expansion, the story and the war will continue. Only this time, the action will focus on the two new subfactions for each of the three main factions. In an earlier preview, we introduced you to the two new Scrin subfactions in Kane’s Wrath. First, there was Reaper-17, a hard-hitting and powerful offensive faction. Then, there was Traveler-59, a much more devious faction that relies on mind control to win battles. Each of these factions will have its own unique units, and we’ll go over those below. Kane’s Wrath ships in March.
Reaper Tripod
The Reaper tripod is an extremely mutated version of the standard Scrin assault pod. This mutation is a result of Reaper-17’s dangerous and excessive Tiberium consumption. The tripod is equipped with the powerful conversion beam, a weapon that can shred opponents. And the bad news keeps on coming if you’re facing the tripod in battle because an upgrade allows the conversion beam to fire for long stretches. As such, this towering war machine is a formidable unit in battle.
Just try to stop the new Reaper-17 units; they’re going to be tough to take down.
Shard Walker
Like a number of Reaper units, the shard walker is a mutated version of an existing Scrin unit; in this case, the gun walker. Transformed by Tiberium infusions, the shard walker is much faster and tougher than a gun walker, packing a bigger punch. In fact, it hurls pure Tiberium at devastating speeds. This makes the shard walker an ideal unit to deal with enemy infantry, as well as aircraft. There are a couple of upgrades that give the shard walker an even more powerful weapon, as well as tougher protective force fields.
Prodigy
One of Traveler-59’s tactics is to enlist the enemy’s forces to its own side thanks to mind control. This means that a single Traveler unit can recruit an army instantly. That unit is the prodigy, another genetic mutant, but one blessed with the power to not only take over the minds of its foes, but also teleport around the battlefield. That’s a potent combination because the prodigy can jump around the map, seize control of enemy regiments, and raise havoc in the rear areas of an opponent. The downside is that controlling the prodigy in battle will require a lot of micromanagement.
Cultist
Another mind-control unit at Traveler-59’s disposal is the cultist, which has limited mind-control abilities but is more of a frontline fighter. The cultist is a human abductee who is transformed by the implantation of the insectlike spawn of a prodigy into the brain. Each cultist can mind control a single squad at a time. Its captives can also surround and accompany it in battle. Aside from their mind-control abilities, the cultists are unarmed. They can be upgraded to increase their movement speed, which helps them close the gap with an enemy squad and subvert it.
Here’s a tip: Build defenses around your bases or else this will happen.
Ravager
The ravager isn’t so much a new infantry unit as it is a lightning-fast creature that is perfect for hit-and-run raids. A valid ravager tactic is to exploit its speed and use it to go after the enemy’s harvesters, thus crippling an economy. Or, you could use ravagers to swarm into a base. Ravagers are the fastest of all the new units in the expansion, capable of even outrunning vehicles when upgraded with the “advanced articulators” upgrade, which is only available to ravagers that belong to the Traveler-59 sect. Those that belong to Reaper-17 can be upgraded with more powerful weapons.
Mechapede
Just like it sounds like, the mechapede is an insectlike Scrin unit that has a body consisting of many segments. The mechapede is very tough to take down because it can spawn new segments to replace those that have been destroyed. These segments can have different weapons on them, giving the mechapede a large amount of versatility on the battlefield. With up to eight weapon turrets total, this is one of the most potent Scrin units in the game.
-If Its Games
February 8, 2008
At the beginning of December, Vivendi and Activision announced the biggest union in gaming history as the two became one with the snappy moniker Activison Blizzard. The deal, which was valued at some $18.9 billion, created the world’s biggest third-party game publisher.
At the end of January, Vivendi reported what will likely be its last set of separate financials for subsidiary Blizzard, which saw the World of Warcraft developer pulling in its first billion-dollar year for sales.
Now it’s Activision’s turn, and the other half of the newly formed alliance wasn’t about to be beaten–the company’s financial third quarter ended December 31 has borne net revenues of more than $1.48 billion. This is a massive 80 percent jump from the same period in the company’s previous financial year of $824.3 million. Net income was almost double the amount made in the same period in 2006, this year punching in at $272.2 million, compared to $142.8 million.
For the total nine months in the company’s financial year so far, the numbers are currently crunching at $2.3 billion (compared to $1.2 billion in the previous nine month period), and net income more than tripled to $300.7 million, compared to $100.2 million.
Activision named six games as being big hits and driving sales: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Spider-Man, Shrek the Third, and Transformers: The Game. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was the best-selling title in terms of units sold in Europe, North America, and PAL regions for Activision in 2007, when it shifted over 7 million copies. Guitar Hero III, on the other hand, was number one in terms of dollars made.
In general, the future is looking bright for video games, Activison CEO Bobby Kotick commented in a statement. He said, “Broader audiences are responding to products like Guitar Hero, and we expect that the demographics for video games will continue to expand.” He also added that this was now the 16th consecutive year that sales were up for the company.
Console sales provided the lion’s share of Activision’s sales, bringing in $1.1 billion this quarter, compared to $96 million for handhelds, and $88 million for PC game sales. The Xbox 360 bought in the highest percentage of sales at 33 percent, followed by stalwart the PlayStation 2 with 25 percent, then the PlayStation 3 with 14 percent, and the Wii with 12 percent.
The merger between Activision and Vivendi is still on track, the company reports, with the deal expected to be finalized before the end of the June.
Activision amended its projections for a third time on the back of this report–the company now expects full fiscal 2008 net revenues of $2.65 billion, and earnings per diluted share of 97 cents.
February 8, 2008
Reuters - Prediction markets have been used to forecast election outcomes, football games and even the capture of Osama bin Laden.
February 8, 2008
The Club is shipping to stores across Europe and Australia as we write this, but Bizarre Creations’ fast-paced third-person shooter won’t be arriving in North America for a couple of weeks yet. In previous character spotlights, we’ve introduced you to Kuro, Seager, Dragov, Renwick, Finn, and Adjo–an unsavory bunch to say the least. The remaining two characters are perhaps the nastiest of the lot. Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to Killen and Nemo:
Killen by name, killer by nature.
Official Movie
It’s Killen time.
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Killen
Tough, grizzled, and middle-aged, Killen has a real down-and-dirty outlaw look about him. Killen is The Club’s favorite son, one of the game’s rare survivors and the holder of what’s still the competition’s highest kill score. He’s a legend in the secret world of The Club, and now the money men want him back. Killen knows that and has been on the run for years, moving from continent to continent, changing from one identity to another, and running with other outlaw groups. He’s been living way below the radar of the police and government authorities, which The Club uses to track and control its targets.
They’ve finally caught him now, and it only took one whispered word to bring the most fearsome killer in the history of The Club to heel. “Rebecca” is Killen’s daughter, fathered years ago, and even though he hasn’t seen her since she was a baby, she’s just about the only worthwhile thing left in his life. He thought she was safe; he thought no one knew about her. He was wrong. The Club knows about her. The Club can reach out any time and do what it wants to her. For her sake, Killen has to go back and play the game again, but can anyone survive The Club a second time?
He’s a mystery, but we’re guessing he’s British.
Official Movie
Nemo is every bit as odd as this movie’s thumbnail image suggests.
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Nemo
Nemo is damaged goods. His mind is gone; only the urge or need to kill remains. Kept in solitary confinement by The Club, Nemo’s identity is even a mystery because his face is concealed by a mask at all times. There seems to be a great deal of controversy within The Club about Nemo; even the members are unsure of what to do with him. Although just about everything about Nemo remains a mystery, he seems to remain significant to the inner circle of The Club, representing some kind of dirty secret it doesn’t want anyone to know about. There are those within that circle who think that Nemo should be quietly disposed of, but in true Club style, it is decided that this would be a waste and that the issue should be decided in the arenas of the tournament.
For more information on The Club, check out our recent solo and multiplayer previews of the game. A full review is coming soon.
-If Its Games
February 8, 2008
Reuters - Media conglomerate Viacom Inc (VIAb.N) is not in talks to buy video game maker Take-Two Interactive Software Inc , a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday, disputing reports of an offer.
February 8, 2008
AFP - California-based video game publisher Mastiff said Wednesday it has a deal with organizers of the famed Coney Island hot dog eating contest to cook-up a video game for gluttons.
February 8, 2008
Reuters - Activision Inc on Thursday posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and gave a bullish revenue forecast, citing strong sales of its hit “Call of Duty 4″ and “Guitar Hero 3″ video games.
February 8, 2008
The Chintendo Vii finally gets reviewed, the following gamer guides us as to how well it lives up to its bigger more original and real life brother - the Wii.
February 8, 2008
Toy and amusement arcade firm Namco Bandai Holdings has said it is to close one fifth of its arcades in Japan. A company spokesman said that many Japanese kids got a Wii last year and it seems they are saving their pocket money to buy more hardware and accessories for the console.