General gaming

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• Quake Turns 15 Today
• The Evolution of Duke Nukem Forever
• 1UP's City of Heroes Steampunk Giveaway
• Fists Up, Quarters Down: The Next Wave of Fighting Games
• Crysis 2 Will Look Much Better on Monday
• Beyond Good & Evil HD Finally Hits PSN Next Week
• Bejeweled Maker PopCap to be Acquired for Over $1 Billion - Report
• Wii U and Valve Games Could be a Match
• Dragon Quest X on Wii May Feature Wii U Compatibility
• F.E.A.R. 3 Review

Quake Turns 15 Today Posted: 22 Jun 2011 09:29 PM PDT Fifteen years ago today, the first game in the Quake series was released on PC by id Software. It wasn't the company's first foray into the world of first-person shooters, having already debuted the Wolfenstein and Doom series earlier in the decade. Quake set itself apart with its 3D engine and online multiplayer. It would lead to the creation of three direct sequels and a great number of ports, as well as several spin-offs, including Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. It was worked on by the likes of John Carmack (who is still at id and is at work on Rage and Doom 4), John Romero (perhaps best known for the Daikatana advertisement that used his name), American McGee (who just released a sequel to American McGee's Alice, Alice: Madness Returns), and Michael Abrash (who joined Valve this year). Carmack offered up some thoughts on the anniversary today, talking about how difficult the development process was. He also highlights the concern id had at the time with free-look mouse control, something that's been taken for granted for more than a decade now, and how online support "was almost an accident."

The Evolution of Duke Nukem Forever Posted: 22 Jun 2011 09:28 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet The Evolution of Duke Nukem Forever We chronicle Duke's journey from the beginning. By: Ryan Winterhalter June 22, 2011 Duke Nukem Forever earned an F on 1UP, but that doesn't mean it's not a historically significant game. In fact, its fourteen year stint as vaporware dwarfs its nearest competitors: Prey at ten years, Too Human at nine, and Battlecruiser 3000AD at eight. To put these fourteen years into perspective, three console generations have come and gone in the time it took to produce DNF. Odysseus took less time to get home from the Trojan War. Duke's development cycle is longer than any war in American history, and longer than The Great Depression. Obviously, the game conceived of in 1997 bears little resemblance to the DNF we got in 2011 -- or does it? We've combed through all of the game's available footage and found certain key sections and ideas that survived through the years. We boiled our findings down to the following video, and you can find large versions of the trailers we used along with our detailed observations below. A word of advice -- the video uses a picture-in-picture format so you might want to watch it in full-screen on HD if you can.

1UP's City of Heroes Steampunk Giveaway Posted: 22 Jun 2011 04:57 PM PDT 1UP's City of Heroes Steampunk Giveaway How To Play Sometimes, two awesome things can come together to form a new thing entirely, one greater than the sum of its parts. The first person to combine peanut butter and jelly? That guy knew both elements were good, but man was he onto something when he smushed them together. Today's giveaway takes two distinct styles of awesome to make a whole new gaming experience. Superheroes rule, and so does steampunk. Now they have formed like some kind of clockwork Voltron to become City of Heroes Steampunk Booster Pack!

Fists Up, Quarters Down: The Next Wave of Fighting Games Posted: 22 Jun 2011 04:53 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet Fists Up, Quarters Down: The Next Wave of Fighting Games Our quick guide to the next year of kickpunch games. By: Jose Otero June 22, 2011 The fighting game genre has seen it all: The highest of highs and in some cases, the lowest of lows (do you remember Fighter's History from Data East?). But the genre continues to thrive. There's a bunch of fighting games currently in development for consoles right now -- each bringing their own set of distinct mechanics and visual flair to the age old stage of the head-to-head match. Here's an impromptu list of the ones to watch out for throughout the next year. Dragon Ball Game Project Age 2011 With each installment the Dragon Ball games from Namco Bandai closes in on fulfilling the promise of properly emulating the stylish look of the popular manga and anime fighting series. While the look continues to get closer and closer, up until this point the concept of maintaining a balanced Dragon Ball fighter has been a difficult task. The TGS 2010 trailer showed another impressive looking game, but revealed few details outside of a confirmation that the game is coming to the U.S. King of Fighters XIII Originally published and developed for Japanese arcades by SNK Playmore, Atlus has stepped in as the publishing partner for the home console port. The new publisher hopes to reignite interest in the online portion of KOF, and redeem the franchise after the terrible reception to King of Fighters XII's performance online. The home console port is being based on the latest revision of the game in Japan (ver 1.1), and Atlus and SNK are taking a serious look at providing console extras and a dozen play modes as well. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generation Cyberconnect2's next Naruto game, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generation (or Naruto Shippuden Narutimate Storm Generation in Japan) was recently announced so specific details are scarce. According to Andriasang, producer Yusuke Sasaki has said to expect a greater focus on combat compared to the last title. The new game crosses over characters spanning the entire Naruto generational timeline. Skullgirls A downloadable tag team-based six-button fighter from Autumn Games and Verge Labs, Skullgirls aims to be both a tournament-caliber fighting experience and an accessible game for amateur players at the same time -- an ambitious goal, considering the range between those skill levels. However daunting the task may seem, the developers have embraced this challenge and are introducing gameplay systems built around limiting the types of issues that novices experience in most fighting games -- think easier to perform controller motions and counters for infinite combos. Using unique 2D animation techniques that are hand-drawn, and music by Castlevania series composer Michiru Yamane, Skullgirls can potentially be one of the bigger surprises in the genre if the team's ambitious goals are met. Soul Calibur V Taking place 17 years after the events of the previous game, the announcement of Soul Calibur V was met with both enthusiasm and skepticism. Aside from the confirmation of Mitsurugi, Siegfried, Pyrrha (inheritor of Sophita's moveset) and Patroklos (Cassandra's moveset) as featured characters, few details on the game have escaped Namco Japan. A recent EGM cover story has managed to shed some light, and points out that the team at Project Soul is focused on crafting a more "elegant" fighting game than previous installments. As one of the few fighting games left that uses a full three-dimensional plane as part of the game's core mechanics, the team is currently examining several aspects of their new Soul Calibur game. The controversial Critical Finish move (a one-hit kill mechanic that could be used against foes whose Soul Gauge was depleted) has been tweaked; it's now a "Special Move" that inflicts a lot of damage, but not enough to be an "I Win" move. The team is still working out the exact balance, but the basic idea is to have a move that is still powerful from skilled players, but not match-ending. Director Daishi Odashima said that feedback after SCIII and IV points to controls feeling a little heavy, and that the team wants to make them feel swift and responsive again (one tweak is shortening the input window). Series producer Hisaharu Tago adds that the story of the new game will expand beyond the usual hunt for Nightmare and the Soul Edge, hinting at a parallel-world aspect. Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition The release and positive reception for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix two years ago opened the door for more classic fighting game re-releases in high definition, and an iteration of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike that could be played online was the one most requested by the community. Considered the most hardcore title in the franchise, 3rd Strike Online incorporates online play through GGPO (the efficient netcode that powers SSSF2HD Remix), new visual filters for modern televisions, optional in-game mini-goals with credits that can be used to buy unlockable art, and the inclusion of instant sharing to YouTube have primed Street Fighter III to be another strong arcade game contender this year. Street Fighter X Tekken Originally revealed at San Diego Comic-Con 2010 to a cheering room of fighting game enthusiasts, Street Fighter X Tekken (pronounced "Street Fighter Cross Tekken") is a dream matchup between two highly respected brands of the genre. A tag-team affair in the heart of the Versus series, Capcom's stable of world warriors clash with Tekken's fighters through the distinct, inky visual art style of SFIV and its six-button attack layout. But don't get confused; while SFXT looks similar to SFIV, what we've seen of the gameplay indicates a fighting experience that blends mechanics of both franchises. Fourteen characters are confirmed for the game (fifteen if you count the inclusion of InFamous series protagonist Cole MacGrath -- but which side is he really on?), and weak to heavy attack combinations lead into launchers which set up larger, more advanced combos. Although the project is currently in development at Capcom, Tekken characters are being crafted with the utmost regard to their source material -- right down to the movesets.

Crysis 2 Will Look Much Better on Monday Posted: 22 Jun 2011 04:50 PM PDT Crytek will be releasing a patch for the PC version of Crysis 2 next Monday, June 27. The most attractive aspect of patch v1.9 will be DirectX 11 support, which brings with it a wide variety of features that will result in the game looking much nicer than it already does. The patch will allow users to install a high resolution texture pack. An optional DirectX 11 pack adds tessellation and displacement mapping, high quality HDR motion blur, particles motion blur, shadows and art updates, water rendering improvements, realtime local reflections, and more, according to the patch notes. The update was briefly made available by mistake. The files have since been removed from the MyCrysis website and will be brought back up on Monday. Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli told Gamasutra this update is intended to "please everybody," but those it's likely to please are the hardcore PC gamers who were disappointed with the lack of super-high-end options in the game at launch. The original Crysis required quite the extravagant computer to run on very high graphic settings. Since Crysis 2 has already been available for three months now, Yerli isn't expecting DX11 support to provide much of a sales boots.

Beyond Good & Evil HD Finally Hits PSN Next Week Posted: 22 Jun 2011 04:23 PM PDT PlayStation 3 owners will finally have a chance to experience the updated version of Beyond Good & Evil next week. After being released on Xbox Live Arcade back in early March, the PlayStation Network release of Beyond Good & Evil HD was pushed back, likely as a result of the PlayStation Store downtime. A post on the PlayStation Blog reports the game will be made available in less than a week's time, on Tuesday, June 28. It had been scheduled to come out in May. The XBLA version received an A- in 1UP's review, so the game has held up well since it was first released in 2003. A sequel was announced several years ago, but designer Michel Ancel recently indicated it will be coming for the next generation of consoles, rather than current platforms.

Bejeweled Maker PopCap to be Acquired for Over $1 Billion - Report Posted: 22 Jun 2011 03:18 PM PDT There had been talk that PopCap Games would become a public company this year -- CEO David Roberts even said back in January, "We are ready to be public this year if we think it makes sense." It now looks as if the company may end up being acquired before that can happen -- for a hefty sum, of course. TechCrunch reports PopCap is on the road to being acquired at a price in excess of $1 billion. That's a huge amount of money, but with the massively popular Bejeweled under its belt and other recent successes like Plants vs. Zombies and Peggle in its stable of franchises, it might be a fair price. Its financial results aren't public knowledge, though TechCrunch believes its revenues to be in the neighborhood of $100-$150 million. As for what company may do the acquiring, Zynga has been ruled out by sources. Electronic Arts is another name that's come up, and while $1 billion would be a lot for the company to spend, it's noted that it acquired social gaming studio Playfish in 2009 for what could have ended up being $400 million, including earnouts. EA previously acquired BioWare and Pandemic in a deal that would see it pay "up to" $620 million in cash, as well as an additional $155 million in equity.

Wii U and Valve Games Could be a Match Posted: 22 Jun 2011 01:06 PM PDT Valve has always been focused on computer games. Its support for consoles has been growing in recent years, exemplified by the PlayStation 3 version of Portal 2 including Steam support. Team Fortress 2, on the other hand, continues to see a great deal of post-launch support on PC -- a big update was announced just this week -- while the console versions have been left to survive on what content the game shipped with. That's still a better situation than what's available if you only own Nintendo systems; Valve has never released a game on any of Nintendo's platforms. That might change with Wii U. Gabe Newell declined the opportunity to announce when Half-Life 2: Episode 3 will be coming earlier today, though he was willing to offer up some thoughts on Nintendo's latest console. "Wii U seems to be a lot more powerful than the previous generation," the Valve co-founder told Joystiq. "It sort of fits better into the scalability in terms of graphics performance and CPU performance, so I think it'll be a lot easier for us to fit it into our scalability model."

Dragon Quest X on Wii May Feature Wii U Compatibility Posted: 22 Jun 2011 11:59 AM PDT With the Wii U coming out sometime next year and Wii sales declining, it seems like a curious decision to have a high profile game like Dragon Quest X coming to Wii. (To be fair, at the time it was announced back in 2008, it made sense.) A release date still hasn't been set, but Square Enix said in March it's working on the "last parts of the game" and that more information will likely be shared "by the end of this year." Wii games are playable on Wii U, so anyone who picks up the new system will be able to play DQX. For those who do, Square Enix may end up having something special in store. During a shareholder meeting, Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada addressed a question about releasing DQX on Wii at this point in the system's life cycle. According to an Andriasang translation of the transcript, Wada said Square is in the process of "technical investigations" for what sounds like the addition of Wii U-specific content or features. It might also be that support for the Wii U controller is added so that players don't have to use the Wii remote to play on Wii U, but Wada wasn't specific enough to know for sure. It's currently unknown if a Wii game could include something like that. Certain DS games featured exclusive, DSi-enhanced content while still allowing for the game to be playable on older DS models.

F.E.A.R. 3 Review Posted: 22 Jun 2011 11:05 AM PDT The F.E.A.R. series has unintentionally become "that video game series I don't have time to play," for myself. Approaching this as a new fan, F.E.A.R. 3 is a terrible jumping on point to figure out things like, "who (or what) Alma is," "what's a F.E.A.R. agent," and "why is everyone attacking me?" These questions never get fully answered through the game's campaign, and if I were to judge this title solely on the merits of its single-player, it wouldn't be worth recommending. The strides it makes with co-op however -- along with its point accumulation system as well as some very tense and unique multiplayer modes -- makes this a great game to play with a giant bucket of buttered popcorn, a large Coca-cola, and some friends. This is your video game summer blockbuster. As I mentioned before, this installment isn't the best area to start getting acclimated with Alma's saga. The narrative seems hell-bent on wrapping up various existing plot strings rather than doing enough to bring new players up to speed. This would be a moot point if I didn't care about narrative structure in my shooters, but I do -- I'm a stickler for this sort of thing. The campaign is poorly paced and does a meager job of giving me a reason why the character of Point Man exists. Some levels are also rudimentary in scope and gameplay -- insisting you find that one unlocked door in order to continue to the next area, or taking on high-level boss encounters with simple circle-strafing tactics. The A.I. makes up for these deficiencies somewhat -- it is quite remarkable to see enemies constantly try to flank my position or duck into cover when appropriate. But if it wasn't for the scoring system, the campaign would be unremarkable to play alone.

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