General gaming

General gaming

Level-5 Holding Private Expo in October

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 07:12 AM PDT


Akihiro Hino, head of Japanese developer Level-5, announced in this week's issue of Famitsu magazine that they'll be holding another exclusive press event later on this year. Unlike previous shows, though, this one will be open and free to the public. The "Level-5 World" event, held by the developer of game series like Professor Layton and Inazuma Eleven, will be held October 15 and 16 at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center. More details on events and such will be announced next month.

"I think the game industry is in transition right now, from new platforms to change in user tastes to the effects of the [March] earthquake," Hino told Famitsu. I think we've been somewhat slow to respond to this. We've been working on a number of projects in parallel, and earlier this year we realized we'd be too late on much of it for the Tokyo Game Show. That's why we thought it best to hold our own event a month later to better appeal to gamers."

Level-5 will still have a presence at TGS (which starts September 15), but it will likely be limited to a simple meeting room instead of the large booth displays of previous years.

Goichi Suda's Rock 'n Roll Game Studio

Posted: 18 Aug 2011 06:53 AM PDT


Grasshopper Manufacture is a name that looms large in the game industry -- its games aren't sales juggernauts, but its "video game/band"-style approach has made it a creative oasis for many Japanese developers tired of the corporate game scene.

The "video game/band" term was coined by Goichi Suda, GHM's head and founder. "The first game I was involved with at Human was Super Fire Pro Wrestling III: Final Bout, and outside of sound that was made with four people," he said in this week's Famitsu magazine. "Putting it that way, you could say the designer was the vocalist, the programmers the dummer who controls the whole thing, and the sound guys are the bassist that puts the ensemble together. The first game Grasshopper did was also with four people at first, although it went up to seven in the end. The way we try to give something to people with everything we make is very band-like, so that's the name I gave to it."

GHM is no garage band nowadays, though. It's a full-on studio consisting of 144 developers, fresh off Shadows of the Damned and nowadays working on Lollipop Chainsaw, among other things. Where does GHM's strength lie? "The first impression our games give," Suda responded. "One of our games might be the first one a person ever plays, and if so, I'd like them to think that games are awesome afterward. To do that, we need the strength to overcome any other kind of entertainment media -- movies, music, novels. I think GHM games have that strength to really floor people who are getting into games for the first time."

UFC Undisputed 3's Novice Friendly Controls Help You Look Like a Pro

Posted: 17 Aug 2011 05:05 PM PDT

The growing popularity of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Mixed Martial Arts has driven droves of people to appreciate the sport. Unfortunately I'm still not one of those people, and UFC related media like the Ultimate Fighter and UFC Undisputed game series continue to slip under my notice. Or at least that was the case until last week, when representatives from THQ stopped by to show me UFC Undisputed 3 -- the highly anticipated third sequel of their popular video game brand. I receive a quick crash course in UFC fundamentals as I sit down for a three fight slugfest with senior designer Wes Bunn while producer Neven Dravinski provides commentary.

Round 1: Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone (THQ) vs. Jim Miller (1UP)

The first thing I see after the new ring entrances during my demo is something Dravinski calls a, "heavy handed approach to in-game education." A skippable tutorial acclimates me to the basic control scheme, and gives me a quick breakdown of how to takedown an opponent and fight for position on the ground. The developers realize that they needed to make a better attempt at teaching players how to play the game, and Bunn seems to be taking it pretty easy on me at this point.

Valve Boss Gabe Newell Wants EA Games on Steam

Posted: 17 Aug 2011 04:09 PM PDT

Battlefield 3

Over the past several months, there have been issues with a number of EA games and Steam. Battlefield 3, EA's biggest game this year, has never been available for pre-order through the digital games distributor, and several EA games have been pulled from the store. EA blames this on restrictive terms of service, while Valve has remained quiet. Valve boss Gabe Newell has finally spoken out on the situation, explaining that he wants EA's games on the service and is hoping to convince EA to bring them back.

"I don't think Valve can pick just one thing and think the issue would go away if we fixed that," he told Develop. "We have to show EA it's a smart decision to have EA games on Steam, and we're going to try to show them that."

EA has tried to position things as if the games' absence is entirely the fault of Valve, which operates Steam. Prior to stating that Battlefield isn't on Steam because of the ToS, EA pointed out that Steam was preventing it from staying in touch with customers in the way it wants to. It has also highlighted the fact that the game is available elsewhere as evidence that it offers its games to all distributors.

Top 10 Trailers of Gamescom 2011

Posted: 17 Aug 2011 03:28 PM PDT


Coming off E3 just two-and-a-half months ago, it seems like there shouldn't be an abundance of awesome new trailers ready in time for Gamescom. That notion is entirely wrong, as there's no shortage of top-notch videos promoting the latest and greatest games on display in Germany.

For many, trailers are the best part of industry events like this. Without being able to go hands-on with the games themselves, trailers give us a visual demonstration of what to expect. Other times, the game itself is nowhere to be seen in the trailer, but that sort can serve its purpose, too.

We've compiled a list of the ten best trailers (well, eleven, if you count the Dark Souls one above) from this year's show and embedded them below for your viewing pleasure. They're listed in no particular order but feel free to let us know which are your favorites and which we missed in the comments below.

Steel Battalion Heavy Armor is the Most Ambitious Kinect Title to Date

Posted: 17 Aug 2011 03:03 PM PDT

Click the image above to check out all Steel Batalion: Heavy Armor screens.

At this year's Microsoft press event at Gamescom, I didn't know what to expect from Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor. But then I saw the trailer that declared, "War. Inside and Out." And that's basically the game in a nutshell. Not only are you at war with the enemy, but with your pansy colleagues as well. Trust me, I'll explain later.

DmC Combines Ninja Theory's Visual Flair With Capcom's Combat

Posted: 17 Aug 2011 02:43 PM PDT

When Capcom announced that fan-favourite Devil May Cry's next chapter (now simply contracted into DmC) would be outsourced to developer Ninja Theory, reactions were mixed and equally dramatic. It didn't help that teaser images, hinting at a reboot of the series, showed a very different Dante: an angsty, Twilight-esque teenager had replaced the badass white haired hero.

After seeing a behind-closed-doors demo at Gamescom 2011, I can say: Those worried about Ninja Theory's penchant for direction and visuals at the expense of gameplay can rest assured. Capcom's producer immediately clarified that they're following the development of the game very closely; visiting Ninja Theory's offices on a regular -- almost montly -- basis and providing continuous feedback in order to get the best from this collaboration. The two companies aim at achieving a perfectly optimized blend of Ninja Theory's knowhow about storytelling with Capcom's deep and addictive combat mechanics.

Watch Every Sunday NFL Game This Season on Your PS3

Posted: 17 Aug 2011 01:31 PM PDT

NFL Sunday Ticket

Depending upon where you live, you might not get to see your favorite NFL team play each Sunday, if at all. Other times, the games that are being aired on CBS and Fox are uninteresting matchups between awful teams you couldn't care less about. NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers don't have that problem, and soon, PS3 owners will be able to subscribe to the service and get every out-of-market Sunday game during the upcoming season.

With the lockout resolved, the NFL season fully kicks off on Sunday, September 11, after the opening game between New Orleans and Green Bay on Thursday, September 8. Beginning then, you can watch every Sunday game (with the exception of those in your local TV market) by subscribing to NFL Sunday Ticket, which is being brought to the PlayStation 3.

DirecTV subscribers can pay a mere $50 to get every Sunday game and the ability to use the PS3 as an extra receiver, while those with other cable providers will have to pay a hefty $339.95. That's a lot to spend for non-DirecTV customers, but if you need some rationale for taking the plunge, it amounts to a fraction under $20 per week over the course of a 17-week season. The fee entitles you to as many as 14 games each week, all of them in HD.

Postcard from GamesCom 2011: German Soldiers And Modern Warfare 3

Posted: 17 Aug 2011 01:23 PM PDT

Today marked the first day for GamesCom, an event that takes up more space than the Los Angeles Convention Center for E3. When I finally found the Modern Warfare 3 booth, I ran into some German soldiers. Now, I don't understand German, so I couldn't tell you what they were talking about.

This image helped me strike a conversation with IGN's Anthony Gallegos about some of the rules that Germany enforces for violent games. For instance, you can't shoot dead bodies; the dead have to disappear after you kill them. But that doesn't apply to demos at GamesCom, I guess. I know because I played Modern Warfare 3 today and I have a habit of killing and teabagging people, while I shoot them in the face. You can look forward to my preview later today.

Notch Wants to Settle Bethesda's 'Scrolls' Lawsuit by Playing Quake 3

Posted: 17 Aug 2011 11:50 AM PDT

Quake 3 Arena

Bethesda, the developer of the Elder Scrolls series (better known to many as Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, etc.), doesn't like the idea of Scrolls being used as the name for the new game from Minecraft maker Mojang. It likes it so little, in fact, that it's gone ahead and threatened litigation if the name isn't swapped out for something else. Bethesda is obviously a much bigger company with more resources to fight a legal battle, but Mojang doesn't think it needs to come to that. It's got a simple idea for how to solve the dispute.

Quake.

Specifically, Quake 3. Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson authored a new blog post today, having spent some time away to celebrate his new marriage. Seeing that Bethesda hasn't decided to drop the lawsuit in light of the negative publicity it's brought itself, Persson recalled a scene from Game of Thrones (I won't spoil it; it's too great a show to risk doing that to anyone) and suggested that Bethesda and Mojang have a fight to the death in Quake 3.

Posted by Shri Krishna

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