General gaming

General gaming


Suda51 and Others Talk About the Evangelion Music Game

Posted: 15 Jun 2011 04:30 AM PDT


When you think of Goichi "Suda51" Suda's Grasshopper Manufacture, the out-there developer behind hip titles like No More Heroes, you probably wouldn't expect them to announce a video game based off the Evangelion anime series. Not without a very good reason, anyway.

"Eva and Rebirth of Eva games up to now have largely put you in the role of someone in the series, letting you be Shinji or pilot Unit 01," said Rebirth of Evangelion Sound Impact producer Kei Hirono in an interview published in this week's Famitsu magazine. "I thought a different approach might be possible. We started talking about taking the visuals and music that make up Rebirth and putting them into a game somehow, and it eventually melded into a rhythm action game."

"I think the sound element of Eva is really impressive," Suda added. "The soundtrack has such a major impact. That's why we suggested a rhythm game."

Grasshopper Producing Evangelion Video Game

Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:54 PM PDT


Proving once again that you can never predict what kind of game Grasshopper Manufacture will make next, the Tokyo-based outfit announced today that it's developing a music/rhythm release based on Gainax's Evangelion anime series.

Titled Rebuild of Evangelion Sound Impact: 3rd Impact, the PSP game is a sort of compilation or retelling of the three most recent Rebuild of Evangelion animated feature films. You'll play six different rhythm-themed games along with the music, most of which is remixed from the movie soundtracks.

Famitsu magazine called it a "new type of rhythm action game," and while that remains to be seen, the staff behind Sound Impact certainly have the chops for it. Grasshopper head Goichi Suda is creative producer on the title, with veteran musican Akira Yamaoka handling sound duties and Kazutoshi Iida, the eccentric designer behind games like Doshin the Giant, taking the director's chair.

Why isn't a Twisted Metal Game Coming to Vita?

Posted: 14 Jun 2011 06:28 PM PDT

Twisted Metal

The Twisted Metal franchise is being revived later this year with the first original title in the series since Twisted Metal: Head-On in 2005. Despite being a PlayStation 3 exclusive, it hasn't been pushed on the same level as a game like Uncharted 3, and director David Jaffe isn't certain the game will sell as well as franchise fans' enthusiasm would indicate. He also says the reason a Vita version isn't in the works is because Sony simply hasn't asked for it.

"They haven't asked us," he said last week when asked about the prospect of Twisted Metal on Vita by 1UP. "I think right now, people have been asking that all week and I think it would be a fun fit but to be honest with you... every game we've worked on we've been able to read the tea leaves better on 'Do we have a hit or not?' And with Twisted Metal it's been really, really hard because we know we have a huge fanbase that loved the earlier Twisted Metals, they seem to be loving what they're playing on this one. It's a game that we're super-proud of and it's the best Twisted Metal we've ever made. But what we don't know is, when we go out, does it have a home like it used to have a home?

"And so I don't think any of us are being presumptuous and saying, 'Oh yeah, this is the starter. We're gonna make one and two and a Vita version and a Facebook version.' We have no clue. This could go out and be the last Twisted Metal we ever make or it could go out and be the start of a franchise. But unlike a lot of other games we make in this industry where you kind of know by now, we really don't know. We don't have any clue yet."

Child Of Eden Review

Posted: 14 Jun 2011 06:10 PM PDT

You can't experience Child of Eden and hold it to the same expectations you would a contemporary video game. The same could be said of Rez, the game which this spiritual successor is based on. Similar to Q Entertainment's last notorious music game, you're staring down a unique experience, but this one is ultimately familiar if you played its predecessor. Still, it's best to step back and appreciate Child of Eden for what it genuinely is: a remarkable audio-visual first person shooter that builds competently on the core ideas of the original. This is a game that is best experienced with the sound system turned up, and on some levels, with a Kinect.

Five minutes into the game, it's easy to feel lost and not understand what's going on -- especially after the long-winded opening cut-scene finally wraps and you're staring at the main menu. But now that the story is out of the way, you get to experience how Child of Eden is an extension of all the ideas born in Rez -- a game many considered ahead of its time. Rez took the then-familiar concept of an on-rails shooter and added a unique visual angle; inserted a pulsing trance soundtrack; and allowed players to weave audio samples into the game's music through simple mechanics. The result wasn't a typical shooter or a traditional "game" by any means, but rather an exceptional experience that wasn't forced to follow conventional video game norms of the time.

The People Believe in Nintendo's Wii U

Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:51 PM PDT

1UP Community Poll Result - June 14, 2011

During E3 2011 last week, Nintendo officially announced their new system as the Wii U. At Nintendo's press conference, the system didn't receive as flashy an introduction as the new controller did. Nintendo was very tight-lipped about any additional details surrounding the Wii U aside from confirming that it would be capable of HD and technically on par with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. We took to the 1UP Community to gauge their interest.

1UP's Green Lantern Limited Edition Xbox Giveaway

Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:42 PM PDT

1UP's Green Lantern Limited Edition Xbox Giveaway
How To Play

Green Lantern movie poster

Green Lantern is set to hit like an emerald whirlwind when it hits theaters for special midnight screenings Thursday, June 16 and rverywhere Friday June 17. We celebrating by giving you a chance to win your own green glow with a Limited Edition Green Lantern Xbox 360!

On top of that, we've got plenty of other great prizes we'll be giving away all day, including:

EA Sports Opening a Retail Store in an Airport

Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:10 PM PDT

EA Sports retail store rendering

Electronic Arts has been more and more focused on the digital aspects of the industry over the past five years, having just recently relaunched the EA Store as Origin. So it comes as incredibly strange news that an EA Sports retail store is being opened in, of all places, a North Carolina airport.

EA Sports brand marketing VP Chris Erb revealed the news in a Forbes interview. The first store will be opened this fall in the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport located in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"As pervasive as digital is, there's still an offline component to acquiring new customers that remains important," Erb explained. "Our approach is to be creative and innovative with whatever we're doing offline, and ensure that it connects with our digital strategies."

Duke Nukem Forever Review

Posted: 14 Jun 2011 04:02 PM PDT

You've met Duke Nukem, or at least people like him. You may run into him when you go back home to the town where you went to high school. While the rest of his cohort has moved on with their lives, going to new and interesting places, Duke Nukem is puttering around his home town, drinking at dive bars, and yet through some magic (or meth) still seems to be filled with a particular pride at his lack of accomplishment. Duke is, as he himself would say, a douche.

Duke Nukems Forever's biggest problem is Duke Nukem. As romanticized as the character has become, Duke in Duke Nukem 3D was little more than a stand-in to spout lines from '80s action flicks. Duke in his most recent incarnation is a caricature of his former self. He's crossed the line from charmingly foul-mouthed to obnoxious and embarrassing. Handing pixelated strippers cash for a quick flash was funny in 1996. DNF takes that three-second scene that in its day was worth just a slight chuckle, and turns it into an unbelievably boring 30-minute scavenger-hunt through a strip club.

Psychonauts Rights Revert to Tim Schafer's Double Fine

Posted: 14 Jun 2011 03:55 PM PDT

Psychonauts

Buying a new copy of Psychonauts will now see the proceeds go directly to developer Double Fine. The company's publishing arrangement with Majesco has expired, according to programmer Anna Kipnis. She revealed the news on Twitter earlier today, although she has since said it wasn't meant to be treated as an official announcement.

Double Fine has owned the IP all along, and this new development has no effect on that. Psychonauts was originally released in 2005 on PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC. It has since been released on both Steam and the Xbox Live Marketplace's Xbox Originals service, both of which are two ways you can now buy the game and see Double Fine directly benefit from your purchase.

The game wasn't a huge seller at launch but was well received by critics and has grown to develop a cult following. Despite that, it looked for a long time as if a sequel would never happen because designer Tim Schafer has so many ideas for new games. "I would love to go back and spend time with the characters from any game I've worked on, and I would love to make a sequel to any of them. But I also want to make something new," he said in a 2007 interview with Playboy. "If there were five of me I might make sequels, but there's always some new idea I want to explore." He did say last year that he's ready to do a sequel, provided he can find the right publisher.

Devil's Third Not Expected Until 2013, Wii U Version Possible

Posted: 14 Jun 2011 03:09 PM PDT


The first game from Valhalla Game Studios, the new outfit of former Team Ninja boss Tomonobu Itagaki, is still a long way off. Although the debut trailer above was first shown over a year ago, the game is still not expected out for quite a while.

Speaking with Impress Watch, Itagaki revealed that Devil's Third won't be available until early 2013. Last September, he was warning fans that a long wait lied ahead, saying, "It's still a while ahead. We want to make this really excellent, so you're just going to have to hang on for a bit. What I can say for now is that a release next year probably isn't going to happen -- we're definitely going to make the experience worth the wait, though."

THQ had previously indicated the game would be out in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013. A release as soon as April 2012 would have fit that window, but clearly Valhalla needs more time to complete the game, which Itagaki estimates is only 20-30% complete (but is 100% complete in its "mechanical" aspects).

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