General gaming

General gaming

DOTA 2: How Valve Turned From Fanboys Into Developers For This Game

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 06:15 PM PDT

From Warcraft III mod to Valve-developed sequel: Defense Of The Ancients is now standing on its own two feet. This new installment (simply "DOTA 2") made its public debut at Cologne's 2011 Gamescom with a huge tournment -- where historical DOTA teams that have been together for years competed for a $1.6 million prize. During the event, we asked project director Erik Johnson and Valve co-founder Gabe Newell a few questions about the game.

Valve -- explains Newell -- got into this project because several staff members were playing the original DOTA and got obsessed with it to the point that people such as Robin Walker (Team Fortress 2 guru), Adrian Finol (software developer), and Johnson actually formed a team and got into a league -- ending up badly stomped, he confesses. At some point, they decided to contact DOTA developer IceFrog under the pretense that they were game developers, but in fact it was just an excuse to send him fan mail.

Review: Bodycount is Not a Complete Game

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 05:35 PM PDT

Bodycount is not a good game, but I'm not sure it's trying to be. I think it?s a prototype that somehow ended up on a retail shelf. The game seems like it's trying to prove that a few key gameplay systems could be used in a complete game down the road. That's really the only explanation for the game's existence that makes any sense to me, because it's missing several elements that we expect to have in a modern shooter. These elements include:

Story: You are an operative of an agency known as "The Network." You enter into an African warzone to make peace for some reason. The most efficient way to make peace is of course to shoot everyone. You soon stumble upon a mysterious base and find that a rival agency known as "Target" is doing stuff. I'm not sure what, but it may be evil so it's OK to shoot those guys too. Regardless, the story is as bare bones as any in recent memory. Shooters traditionally have shallow stories, but even by the standards of the genre this is anemic.

Review: No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise Will Make You Think Your PS3 Is Broken

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 05:07 PM PDT

I'm not going to lie: I really liked the first No More Heroes -- and anyway, that would be a pretty dumb thing to lie about. I've always been a cautiously optimistic fan of Suda 51; in fact, it's become a cliche to remark that he makes bizarre games that aren't necessarily the most playable things in the world. Well, clichés become clichés for a reason, and Suda mostly deserves his shaky reputation. Like Silent Hill 2 before it, Suda's Killer 7 struck me as a wholly original and genuinely disturbing experience untouched by corporate overseers. For most, it was more memorable as an experience rather than a game

While each of his titles following 7 have been a bit more approachable, there's still a streak of gleeful absurdity in everything the man touches. So, when the chance came along to play through No More Heroes again -- in a fancy new HD shell, no less -- I couldn't help but be a little jazzed about the chance to dip back into Travis Touchdown's world of sexy lunatics. Little did I know, this sloppy port would make me question my love for the original.

Players Will Decide How Star Wars Galaxies Comes to an End

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 04:41 PM PDT

Star Wars Galaxies

In December, the servers for Star Wars Galaxies will be permanently turned off. With Star Wars: The Old Republic coming in a matter of months (depending upon how things go in the beta), the old MMO will be killed by Sony Online Entertainment, but not before players decide how its story concludes.

SOE promised a "galaxy-ending in-game event" would take place before Galaxies goes offline on December 15. It's now provided some details on what that entails; namely, the Rebel Alliance and the Empire will compete to decide which side will emerge victorious. The Galactic Civil War that's been taking place will continue with new activities, events, and contests. Participating will earn your side Galactic Civil War points and other advantages.

At some point before December 15, each side's points will be totaled on a server-by-server basis. Whichever side has more will "win the game, and the galaxy, for each server, as well as change the way the game will end and what happens in the final moments." There will be celebrations for the winners and the losers will "be going out with a bang."

Review: Tropico 4 is Really Just an Expansion Pack And You Should Still Buy it

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 04:35 PM PDT

Tropico 4 is more of a giant expansion pack than a true sequel. It features very few new art assets, the music is ripped from the last game, and the core gameplay is almost exactly the same with a few interface tweaks. That said, I have a hard time faulting the game for it. It's a polished version of an already great game with 80-plus hours of content for $40. That sounds pretty good to me.

If you've never played Tropico, here's the quick rundown (if you played the previous games in the series feel free to skip the following two paragraphs): It's a city simulator that puts you in charge of an island country. You, as El Presidente, have to build up the country's economy and infrastructure from 1950 to the end of the Cold War. You can turn your island into a socialist democratic paradise with universal healthcare, free housing, and social liberty for all. Or you can create your own despotic dictatorship with a populace kept in check by fear of reprisal from the secret police. Certain governments are more stable than others, and they each come with trade-offs. Socialists will be hard pressed to provide for their people early in the game because a robust economy is necessary to pay for social security, food programs, housing, education, and healthcare. Environmentalists will find their economies pinched, and their citizens will chafe at the loss of liberty from anti-litter ordinances. Libertarians can create their objectivist utopia, but may find that they have to rough up underpaid workers to prevent them from striking. This doesn't even begin to address the issues of military size/spending, religious satisfaction, entertainment, or the attitudes of hardline nationalists.

The Persona 4 Fighting Game Sure Does Look Pretty

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 03:07 PM PDT

Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena

Following the reveal of Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena in its latest issue, Famitsu has now published several screenshots online from both the new Persona fighting game and the Vita remake of Persona 4.

The Ultimate is a fighting game being created for arcades that will be brought to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in Japan next summer. The Persona team at Atlus is co-developing it with the developers of BlazBlue at Arc System Works.

"We're developing the story and dialogue, as well as supervising the graphic and animation work the BlazBlue team is handling," explained Atlus boss Katsura Hashino. "As for the gameplay system, the thing which defines the overall quality of any 2D fighter, we're entrusting the BlazBlue team with that."

Free Year of Elite Included with Modern Warfare 3 Hardened Edition - Report

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 01:57 PM PDT

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Hardened Edition leak

As is customary for each Call of Duty release, a more expensive version will be available at launch for Modern Warfare 3. At the very least a Hardened Edition is planned, and its contents may have been leaked today.

The photo above, purportedly showing an advertisement for a European version of MW3's Hardened Edition, was sent to Wired, revealing that buyers will get a free year-long subscription to Call of Duty Elite. Additionally, it includes a special version of the disc with art that's different from the regular version; a special founder status on Elite that grants an exclusive in-game emblem, playercard, and XP boost for clans, plus extra weapon camo and more; a SteelBook case; and a limited edition "field journal" that sounds like it recaps the Modern Warfare series. There is also one of two bonuses depending upon which platform you buy the game for: an animated timeline theme for PlayStation 3 or a special ops juggernaut costume for your Xbox Live Avatar.

The only thing that's been made official about the Hardened Edition, aside from the name, is what the box itself looks like. The picture below was tweeted by Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling last month.

You Can't Shoot Civilians in Battlefield 3, and Here's Why

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 01:14 PM PDT

Battlefield 3

Battlefield 3 falls on the more realistic end of the spectrum when it comes to depicting what it's like to be a in war. Of course, it's not going to be anywhere near an exact simulation of what that experience is like, and one thing that is physically possible in real life but won't be an option in BF3 is the ability to shoot innocent civilians.

Speaking with Rock, Paper, Shotgun, executive producer Patrick Bach said he thinks games are "on the verge" of being able to be political or make a point about the moral aspects of war, comparing it to "where movies were in the 30s or 40s."

At the same time, he's concerned about giving players the freedom to do absolutely anything, as he thinks "if you put the player in front of a choice where they can do good things or bad things, they will do bad things, go dark side -- because people think it's cool to be naughty, they won't be caught...

OneChanbara Returns to 360

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 12:44 PM PDT


Onechanbara, the goofy Japanese game series that features scantily-clad ladies showing hordes of monsters what-for with their ample assets, is making a comeback. This week's issue of Famitsu brings the first word on Onechanbara Z Kagura, a brand-new game that so far appears to be exclusive to the Xbox 360.

Like the previous games, you have a choice of heroines in this Onechanbara: Kagura and Saya, both members of a vampiric race. They're traveling from Romania to Japan in order to put down a sudden zombie apocalypse -- as well as killing Aya and Saki, heroes of previous Onechanbara games and the alleged perpetrators of this undead horde.

Gameplay details are still scant, but if you're familiar with D3 Publisher's previous US titles in the series -- Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad and Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers -- you already know what's going on here. Expect lots of blood, zombie body parts, and cutscenes that attempt to tell a story involving warrior girls in midriffs without a whiff of irony.

Fatal Frame Team Reveals Shinrei Camera

Posted: 31 Aug 2011 12:14 PM PDT


Keisuke Kikuchi, producer and chief mind behind the Fatal Frame series of Japanese-style horror adventures, is back with a new project. Titled Shinrei Camera, the game -- a co-production involving both Nintendo and Kikuchi's studio at Tecmo -- will use the Nintendo 3DS's augmented-reality abilities to enhance the horror experience.

The 3DS title will come backed with an "AR notebook," a book which seems normal and harmless enough to the naked eye. Point your 3DS's camera at it in-game, though, and it'll reveal all sorts of things lurking in the pages -- hidden messages, clues to your past, even a hungry demon or two.

"I wasn't all that interested in AR to start with," Kikuchi told Famitsu magazine in this week's issue, "but as I explored the possibilities, I really started to get into it. I thought we could really do something with it if we combined our traditional strengths in horror and adventure with the AR technology. It was a big challenge, but we went through with it, and the result is this style of horror that does away with the boundaries between the natural and the supernatural."

Posted by Shri Krishna

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