Archive for March 1st, 2008
March 1, 2008
The venerable Bomberman series has long been a staple in video games, providing players with frenetic, friendship-ending multiplayer sessions. The Bomberman Land spin-off franchise, on the other hand, boasts a distinctive single-player experience that emphasizes minigames, exploration, and scavenger hunts. Hudson has brought Bomberman Land and its adventuring ways to the PlayStation Portable, but if anything, it’s the tacked-on traditional multiplayer battle mode, rather than the lackluster single-player mode, that makes the title worth even a passing glance.
Bomberman should stick to what it does best.
Bomberman Land’s single-player story mode thrusts you into the shoes of the game’s protagonist, White. Occasionally referred to as the “Piece King,” White has apparently saved the Bomberman Land amusement park from danger in the past. Now, almost all of the park’s real estate has mysteriously disappeared–and the attractions with it–and White is called upon once again by the park’s director to save the day. Upon crash-landing in the park, White meets the diminutive yet loudmouthed Mini Bomber, and sets off to bring the park back to its former glory.
Restoring the land and attractions to the amusement park is a matter of meeting the conditions set forth by the several “area gates” scattered about the map. Most commonly, you’ll just need to match a certain colored “zone piece” to the gate. You obtain these pieces by beating the high score on minigame attractions, completing requests made by park inhabitants, and using clues to scavenger hunt for hidden pieces. Sometimes you’ll need to meet other requirements, such as paying a toll, having a minimum number of total zone pieces, and wearing certain costumes that can be bought at shops or won at parlor games.
On paper, this mix of minigames and adventuring sounds like a well-rounded experience. Yet no single aspect of the quest is consistently interesting. There’s a healthy variety of minigames, but many will fail to engage you. With the tedium of a jump rope minigame, overly long rounds of the Frogger-like “Log Logic,” and the frustrating tank controls of “Parking II” (in which you have to park a clumsy semitruck in an exact parking spot from the top-down perspective), you’ll find that around half of the minigames you encounter are just no fun. It’s not a total waste, as there are a few games that require just the right level of dexterity, intuition, and observational skills–such as “Bomb Factory,” for instance, which plays like a simplified version of Chu Chu Rocket. The casino games you play to earn money are also mildly amusing diversions. Overall, though, the whole minigame experience just isn’t interesting for long.
Ideally, the scavenger hunting would provide some balance to the experience, but it often feels contrived and even a little ridiculous. Each map location clearly marks where a piece is expected to be found, but sometimes you’ll enter a location only to then be told that there’s nothing there after all. Other times, you have to correctly guess the answer to a series of yes/no questions to obtain pieces. It becomes even more nonsensical when you get pieces just for talking to a park inhabitant, no effort required. On a few occasions, White’s friend Cool Black will offer tips on how to find some of the pieces, which keeps the scavenger hunting from being completely obtuse.
It’s upsetting that the single-player adventure contains no incarnation of traditional Bomberman gameplay whatsoever. That’s where the multiplayer battle mode comes in, though, and it’s easily the best part of the package by a long shot. It consists entirely of old-school Bomberman mechanics, with four available modes to choose from (and one mode that mashes up the rules from every mode randomly with each match). There are also more than 40 different maps to choose from, with the more intriguing ones featuring such gimmicks as seesaws, conveyer belts, and a complete lack of blocks to hide behind. You can play along with three CPU opponents or match up against your friends locally for ad hoc play. Game sharing is supported if your friends don’t have their own copies of the game. Unfortunately, online play is nowhere to be found. Furthermore, those who have grown fond of the new mechanics added to 2006’s Bomberman for the PSP might find this version somewhat outdated.
Many of the story mode’s minigames are disappointing.
There’s certainly not much that’s new about the game’s presentation, either. It’s plenty colorful, and there’s nothing inherently bad about the visuals, but there’s barely anything inspired–or even just wacky–about the world or its character designs (except maybe for Cool Black’s nervous, twitching left foot). The music consists of short, looping, happy melodies that at best are nonintrusive but at worst will get on your nerves. The dialogue in the game stands out as the shining star in Bomberman Land’s presentation, with quite a few characters providing a healthy dose of attitude. And, while there’s admittedly a bit too much unnecessary reading in Bomberman Land for its own good, you almost get the sense that Mini Bomber is aware of this and is intentionally self-indulgent with his rambling as a result–should you choose not to skip it.
It’s quite telling that what would normally be a nice bonus–the battle mode–ends up being significantly better than Bomberman Land’s main quest, which might take you anywhere from 15 to 20 hours to fully complete. The story mode’s focus on minigames makes it a somewhat passable time waster, but the lack of actual Bomberman-style gameplay within the main mode is definitely disappointing. Unless you’re really itching for a PSP version of traditional Bomberman and have no interest in Hudson’s earlier offering, this title is a hard sell.
March 1, 2008
Capcom’s first forays into the world of downloadable gaming have been oft-belated, as evidenced by missed launch windows for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Talisman, and Commando 3, but another of the publisher’s postponed offerings is finally on its way. The publisher today confirmed that Rocketmen: Axis of Evil is set for launch this coming Wednesday on Xbox Live Arcade, with the PlayStation 3 version arriving on the PlayStation Network the next day.
Developed by A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games, Rocketmen is an arcade-style overhead shooter based on the WizKids cartoon and constructible strategy game of the same name. In keeping with the theme of the license, Rocketmen lets players customize their characters’ appearance and race, which impacts attributes during gameplay.
Rocketmen will sell for 800 Microsoft points ($10) on Live Arcade, and $10 on the PlayStation Network.
March 1, 2008
It wasn’t so long ago that Eidos was on its way up. The publisher successfully resuscitated the moribund Tomb Raider franchise with Tomb Raider: Legend, saw its CEO Jane Cavanagh receive an OBE from the Queen, and entered preliminary discussions to be acquired.
The publisher’s fortunes have turned again, as the acquisition talks dried up, Cavanagh resigned under shareholder pressure, and now the company’s prepping for a round of layoffs. New CEO Phil Rogers today unveiled a restructuring plan that will trim a quarter of the company’s staff–some 200 people–with 14 unspecified games canceled because they were “unlikely to generate an acceptable return on investment or are not of appropriate quality.” The company plans to reduce its annual operating costs by £14 million (approx $28 million) by the end of June, resulting in a one-off cost of £7 million ($14 million).
Roger’s turnaround plan is threefold; to change the structure from a “centrally controlled development and publishing model to a studio-led business focused around cornerstone products, such as Tomb Raider, Hitman, Championship Manager, and Deus Ex”; to create a new brand, Eidos Play, focusing on casual gaming; and to make its distribution processes more flexible and efficient.
“To get SCi on track we have to act rapidly and effect change quickly,” said Rogers. “We must allow the world-class people that we have within the Group to focus on strong, profitable titles which will create the value our shareholders deserve… I am confident our staff share this vision and excitement for the future, and determination to build a working environment where our innovation and creativity can be commercially realised.”
SCi also indirectly addressed the recent rash of mergers and acquisitions in the industry, saying that the board of directors isn’t “encouraging offers” for the company. However, given the consolidating industry around it, SCi will consider any “sensible offer… or proposal for crystallising value for some of the group’s IP…”
Along with the restructuring plan, SCi laid out its financial results for the six months ended December 31, 2007. The numbers back up Rogers’ call for immediate change. Despite a record-setting holiday season for the industry, revenues for the period were down about 2 percent to £73 million ($146 million). And thanks to £79.6 million ($159 million) in development costs, SCi posted mounting operating losses of £81.4 million ($162 million), up 350 percent from £17.9 million ($36 million) posted over the same period the year before.
March 1, 2008
Reuters - Vivendi on Friday posted an 8.3 percent rise in adjusted full-year net profit, pulled by Maroc Telecom, its pay-TV group and its video games unit behind the popular World of Warcraft game.
March 1, 2008
PC World - The publisher of the popular Grand Theft Auto video game series has received more takeover interest after its US$2 billion offer from Electronic Arts (EA), the company said Thursday.
March 1, 2008
Reuters - Bizarre little creatures that look like walking eyeballs and a puzzle-cracking professor may not seem to have much in common at first glance.
March 1, 2008
Speaking to Wired, a Capcom exec stated that as Street Fighter IV stands now, it is well suited to higher level platforms, although the decent graphics dont have to make the game fun. He remarked that the game could eventually head over to the Wii, which rules out any kind of immediate release.
March 1, 2008
Though it’s widely known for its acclaimed Battlefield games, the Swedish studio DICE does have a proud history of developing for a wide variety of genres. DICE has made racing games, pinball games, and even an equestrian game called Legacy of Rosemond Hill. With that said, Mirror’s Edge is unlike anything DICE has made before. Indeed, it’s almost unlike anything that we’ve ever seen before, but it nevertheless looks cool. If you had to describe it in a sentence, it’s almost like a first-person parkour game. And if you haven’t heard of parkour, then do a search for it on YouTube.
Hope you’re not afraid of heights.
Begun in France, parkour is the practice of maneuvering fluidly around an urban environment, moving almost like a gymnast at times. That’s at the heart of Mirror’s Edge. You’ll play as Faith, a courier in a city where the police state eavesdrops on all electronic communications. This dystopia is utopian in appearance, full of gleaming skyscrapers and roads so clean that you might be able to conduct surgery on them. The price for this orderly world is high, though, and noncomformists are shunned. That’s where Faith steps in. She and other couriers navigate around the rooftops of this pristine, sun-drenched metropolis, delivering messages and other items that need to remain secret.
Mirror’s Edge is a game about running for your life when the police, security guards, and even news helicopters are shadowing you. In the demonstration that DICE gave, the action included leaping from one rooftop to another, vaulting over fences and other obstacles, sliding under pipes and overhangs, and even engaging in some martial arts combat. (Faith reportedly will not use a firearm, so you won’t be shooting in this game.)
Momentum is a key idea in the game. It’s not enough that you’re jumping around this environment. To perform some moves, you’ll need to string together a bunch of maneuvers to build up speed. For instance, you can climb over a fence, which takes a few seconds. But what happens if you jump off a neighboring rooftop, do a parachute roll upon landing (so you don’t lose precious momentum), and use the ensuing momentum to vault over the fence in a heartbeat?
If you’ve played games such as Tomb Raider, you know that you can stop after you maneuver around an obstacle, take a minute to figure out what you have to do next, and then go for it. Judging from the demo of Mirror’s Edge, you’ll have only seconds to analyze your terrain, partly because of the guys chasing you, but more because of the bullets they’ll be sending your way. So the game is meant to be played at full speed, and to help, there’s a special “Faith vision” that color-codes the environment, giving you clues about what you need to do. If you’re atop a tall skyscraper and seem trapped, look across the street and you might see that the fire escape on the neighboring building is red. Run for it and jump, and hope you grab it on the other side.
Think you can outrun a bullet?
The graphics engine for Mirror’s Edge looks sharp, and the game really captures the feeling of a built-up urban area. But even more impressive is the drenching sunlight that almost bleaches out the omnipresent concrete in the city. It’s so bright and warm that it seems as though you’re in Los Angeles at the height of summer, and there’s not a single cloud or smog bank in the sky. It’s also a contrast to the current fad in gaming, which is to create gritty, run-down urban settings. The fictional city at the heart of Mirror’s Edge has a distinctive look and feel, even while it tries to capture the soullessness of a city and a society. It all looks very cool, and also very fresh. Mirror’s Edge is planned for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 for sometime this year.
-If Its Games
March 1, 2008
The official site for Biohazard 0 Wii is up and it has revealed the first screens. A Capcom spokesman said yesterday that the game is likely to only be released in Japan.
March 1, 2008
Capcom have said that Okami for Wii will be full 16:9 widescreen. Capcom said \”You might have noticed the aspect ratio was a little off. We did too, and the build you’re receiving will display in full 16:9 (no black bars on the sides). Now you’ll get to experience the game the way it was intended to be seen.\”
March 1, 2008
The Wasabi team has announced their new mod for the Wii which is the first ever mod to work on all Wii revision from DMS to the latest D2C drives. It claims an easier install than any other chip for the D2C drive as it is only 9 wires, with three of them connected to a pin/via. It is also claimed it is as clean as DMS/D2b chips giving full control ove the drive\’s firmware with no dynamic pathcing needed.
March 1, 2008
Kelly\’s, Rent-A-Center, has angered some consumers with its rent-to-own (lease-purchase) arrangement for a Nintendo Wii. The advert says you can \”make it yours\” by paying only $79 a month for the console, and after 12 months and $948 its yours. In comparison the consumerist say if you charged it to a credit card with 18% interest, you could pay $23 a month and have it paid off after 12 months. Which would save $673.
March 1, 2008
Robyn from Xgen emailed in to let us know that they have recently launched the product page for WiiWare title Defend Your Castle. The game is coming to the Wii on May 12th and has been re-created from the ground up to utilize the unique capabilities of the Nintendo Wii and Wii Remote. Check out some fresh screens below.
March 1, 2008
Open Warfare
Take a look at DICE’s upcoming free-to-play Battlefield game in this trailer.
Watch | Download
EA caused a bit of a stir recently when it announced that the next PC game in its popular Battlefield franchise is going to be a free-to-play Web-based title. We were curious, too; thankfully we finally got our first look at Battlefield Heroes at the recent Game Developers Conference. Here’s what we learned: While it has and will undoubtedly continue to draw comparisons to last year’s Team Fortress 2 for its cartoon look, the developers at DICE say that it’s also the deepest Battlefield game that they’ve ever made.
To hammer in the point that this is supposed to be fun and crazy, the demonstration started with a somber trailer full of World War II images. Just when you might think that you’re watching another video for another World War II game, the trailer busts open with a zany montage of cartoon violence, with soldiers running around a colorful battlefield, riding on the wings of fighter planes, zipping around in tanks as if they were sports cars, and the like.
Though the game has vehicles and weapons and uniforms that are obviously inspired by World War II counterparts, this is not set in World War II. It’s not even really set on Earth as we know it. The guys in grey and black aren’t Nazis or Germans, but rather members of the National Army. The fellows in green and tan aren’t British or Americans. Instead, they’re members of the Royal Army. Even the conflict itself is a bit silly to fit into the game’s humor: The Royals and the Nationals are battling over a quarrel regarding the Olympic games. This isn’t about a titanic clash of totalitarianism versus democracy.
So here’s the deal. The game is indeed free to play. All you’ll have to do is go to the game’s Web site and click on the brightly colored play button, and that will launch the installer. The system requirements are low enough to support most integrated graphics chipsets found in budget computers. (The other requirements right now are a 1GHz CPU and 512MB of RAM.) When you install the game, you also create a login and a password for your profile. It will not ask for you a credit card number. Once the game is installed, you just go back to the Web site, hit play, log in, and the game launches. The entire process is designed to very similar to registering for an Internet forum or social site such as MySpace.
Not only is Heroes free, but it’s said to run on a very low-end PC.
Free sounds like a great deal to the consumer, but not for businesses. EA plans to make money mainly through advertising. For instance, whenever the game is loading, you’ll see ads. We saw two big banner ads for EA games that were released last year (keep in mind we saw the in-development version of Battlefield Heroes, so those were placeholders). EA says that there will not be any in-game advertising in the game itself, so you will not see any billboards or posters for the latest Hollywood movie or Detroit car while dodging bullets. A secondary source of income is microtransactions that are entirely optional, though EA didn’t really go into depth about what types of things you’ll be able to purchase.
Heroes will distill the Battlefield experience into a more intimate package online. Like with other Battlefield games, there’s just one mode in Heroes, and it is sort of a mix of team deathmatch and the classic Battlefield conquest mode. Each team has 50 tickets, or respawns, at its disposal. When a player dies, he uses up a ticket to respawn back into the game. The goal is to be the last team standing. There will be control points that can be captured, and they will confer a modifier to whichever team controls them. For instance, controlling all flags might result in your team being awarded two kills for every one that you make. The maximum player limit per match is 16; in comparison, Battlefield 2 tops out at 64.
There are three classes that you can play as: soldier, gunner, and commando. You select a class at the beginning of the match and you can’t switch in midmatch. The commando is the light class; capable of being completely invisible at a distance and semitransparent up close. He’s armed with a knife and a sniper rifle, each of which takes a couple of whacks to kill with. That is to soften the frustration felt in other Battlefield games, where you’re suddenly killed with a single shot of a sniper rifle. In Battlefield Heroes, the first hit you receive is a warning and a chance for you to do something to survive. Next up is the soldier, which is a medium class, a good mix of speed and firepower. The gunner is the heaviest class, but also the slowest. He’s armed with a machine gun and a bazooka. It’s key to keep in mind that while the bazooka might be ideal for killing vehicles, all classes will be equipped with sticky mines so that they have an antivehicle weapon.
Unlike past Battlefield games, Heroes will be played entirely in third-person perspective.
The action takes place entirely in third-person, save for one moment, which we suspect is probably when you zoom through the scopes of a sniper rifle. Part of the reason is because DICE wants the game to be as friendly as possible to people who have never, ever played a Battlefield game before, and third-person is apparently more accessible and less intimidating and more casual than first-person. The other reason for third-person is so you can see your custom character and all the cool stuff that you’ll unlock. Character creation is a bit like an online role-playing game in that you can select different hairstyles, colors, and other physical features. Since the game is played entirely online, it’ll also keep a permanent record of your performance. As you advance through the rank system, you’ll access new items that you can equip, such as clothing and accessories. The buttoned-up uniform shirt might make way to the unbuttoned-at-the-top shirt, goggles might appear on the helmet, and so on.
Like with all Battlefield games, the action is a mix of infantry and vehicle combat. The difference in Heroes is that everything is meant to be as user-friendly and colorful as possible. Hit a guy with a rifle and you’ll see numbers flash above his head indicating how much damage he’s taking, just like in a role-playing game. The respawn timer is set to five seconds, so if you’re killed, you’ll get back in the action quickly. The physics and violence are somewhat cartoonish, from the tanks that can scream through a street and run someone over to the way a pilot can jump out of a plane right before it hits the ground and land on his feet safely.
The developer also says that Battlefield Heroes is the deepest Battlefield game yet. That’s because there are special abilities that you can equip before a match that let you do all sorts of things. For instance, you can equip incendiary bullets so you cause burning damage on someone. Another ability is a wall hack that lets you detect enemy soldiers behind solid objects. A health burst will heal not only you, but those around you.
You’ll be able to extensively customize your character with all manner of add-ons.
Battlefield Heroes is going to be a very interesting experiment, because this is a game that is designed to appeal not only to Battlefield fans, but also to the vast, untapped masses out there who don’t play games because they’re too expensive or their computers aren’t powerful enough. It’s basically Battlefield for the people. Fans of Battlefield 2, though, should also keep note that while no future Battlefield games have been announced, the developer did insist that DICE is working on projects that it can’t talk about quite yet. Battlefield Heroes will go live later this year.
-If Its Games
March 1, 2008
According to the television show Lost, in 2004, Oceanic Airlines flight 815 crashed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Whether you think the survivors are stranded on an island or bottled up in a different location, Ubisoft has added one more survivor to the mix in its latest adventure game. Lost: Via Domus tells a good story, but it’s far too short to justify the game’s price of admission.
In Lost: Via Domus, you take control of an amnesiac photojournalist who was also aboard the fateful transpacific flight. During the game you must slowly regain your identity through completing quests, talking with the other survivors, and correctly identifying clues during flashbacks. Early on you find out you had a camera on the plane with you. Evidently one of your photographs made another survivor mad enough to want to destroy the photograph and kill you. The events in the story unfold in a great parallel to the TV series. Most of the game’s storyline occurs during the first two seasons of the show, but characters appearing in season three of the show are also included in encounters and exposition. The core characters are all there: Jack, Locke, Kate, Sawyer, Charlie, Claire, Sun, Jin, Hurley, and Sayid. Tom, Ben, and Juliet–of the Others–appear as well to ensure that the hostile, we-were-here-before-you storyline is kept alive and well.
Fans of the show will recognize plenty of characters and locations.
The environments are hands down the best-looking part of the game, particularly on the PlayStation 3. The as-seen-on-Lost locations and the few new environments are beautifully and accurately rendered. The lighting, feel, and sounds of the environment are all spot-on. Frequently, we found ourselves walking out to precipices just to take in the sights or zooming in with our camera to see how detailed the hatch’s bookshelves were. The crash site looks true to the show’s pilot episode, even if the chaotic initial few minutes don’t play out exactly as they do in the TV series. The areas look great, and their diversity keeps you from feeling like you’re spending too much time in one place.
The biggest problem is that there is not enough gameplay to fill more than seven hours, even if you go out of your way to find all of the Easter eggs, take in all of the sights, and unlock all of the achievements available on the Xbox 360. The bartering, exploring, hot-wiring, and occasional pistol-firing sequences are all a clear part of the Lost milieu. You’ll spend so much time in the fuse-plugging minigames, though, that you’ll feel like an electrician by the end of your adventure. That’s because the same minigame is played when you need to access everything from old hatches on the island to the crashed jetliner’s fuselage.
One standout portion of the gameplay is the way photography is used in the playable flashback sequences. At the outset of each trip down memory lane, you get a glimpse of a torn-up photograph. From that flash, you have to use your camera to take a picture to match the broken image as the sequence of events plays out. The same sequence will loop repeatedly for you as you try to zoom, focus, and position the framing to match what the image was. Upon successfully capturing the required image, you are then treated to a cutscene with a portion of the main character’s backstory. The whole premise makes flashbacks interesting, immersive, and enjoyable. The fact that flashbacks fit so well within the main character’s photojournalist vocation also makes the functionality feel natural and engaging.
Interacting with the cast should be enjoyable, but that isn’t always the case. Your character’s dialogue isn’t always voiced, but when it is, his comments are often natural and believable. At other times, however, his remarks get repetitious. The voice acting in Lost: Via Domus is generally decent, but the lip-synching leaves a lot to be desired. Aside from the occasionally great delivery by Hurley or the infrequent encounters with the Others, most of the exchanges look and feel flat. Even the nicknames delivered by Sawyer crash and burn most of the time. The characters are instantly recognizable but generally fail to do their real-life counterparts justice. Also, the 360 version has some instances of inconsistent shading on the characters’ faces.
You’ll get the same Lost: Via Domus experience regardless of which platform you choose to play on.
All three versions of Lost: Via Domus look and perform in a similar manner. The PlayStation 3 version looks a little cleaner and brighter than the others, but it can be played only after a seven-minute, onetime install. The PC version allows for seamless mouse-and-keyboard controls. The Xbox 360 version looks a little darker than the others. Still, you’ll get the same story and a pretty similar experience on every platform.
For the most diehard of Lost followers, the time spent with the game will be enjoyable. Unfortunately, it is over way too fast. Via Domus is full of little hang-ups, and it requires some knowledge of the show that could potentially isolate outside players and keep them from becoming immersed in the gameworld. Ultimately, this game can be recommended for purchase only to the most diehard of Lost fans.