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| Fanning the Flames- Sony King of the Casuals? |
| Sunday 31 August 2008 |
 Whilst Nintendo revel in their paradigm shifts and Microsoft desperately try to pander to the casual, are Sony secretly the real kings of the casual of market? We take a little look at the evidence.
Much has been made of the so called Casual Market and how new it is to gaming. The truth is they have existed for a long time and it is not a wonderful new phenomenon. Granted there are new people playing games that may not have bothered previously but there is nothing new about this, it happens every generation brings as something new is offered that appeals to different types of consumers.
Nintendo may offer the likes of Wii Fit and Wii Sports but in terms of real casual gaming experiences there is very little else and the motivation for buying both of these games is more "hey let's get fit without leaving the house" rather than for primarily playing games. They have also seemingly abandoned the hardcore gamers that have been their customers through the years. Microsoft meanwhile have tried desperately to get the casual interested in their previously hardcore console. Their efforts almost smack of desperation however as they borrow ideas from everyone else in an effort to pander to a new market they want a part of. Who can forget their top executives prancing around on stage at E3 demonstrating At the Movies, Lips and Scene It. Sony however almost seem to capture the casual with very little effort. Their E3 conference showed plenty of hardcore offering but very little in the casual arena. However Leipzig showed Sony's duality in catering to both markets. This is what truly makes Sony the King of the Casuals as they do not do so whilst dismissing and jeopardizing the other customers.
Sony's love affair with the casual is not a new thing and became particularly prevalent during the PS2 era. First the decision to launch with a DVD player as standard and integral part of the console. DVD players at the time had not hit the mass market and were not apart of everyone's TV set up like they are now. This coupled with the already popular branding of both Sony and Playstation plus a competitive price compared to other DVD players on the market. Sony have boldly followed on from this strategy with the Blu Ray drive being at the forefront of their PS3 plans. But most importantly it was in the software and the games they offered.
Casual Gamers can be many things, not just the typical image that companies like Ubisoft keep making countless Imagine games for. Casual can mean somebody who typically plays games casually, this is something Sony realized when they wrapped up timed exclusivity on titles such as Pro Evolution Soccer and Grand Theft Auto. These are titles that captured the imagination of a wealth of different types of people, Pro Evo overtook FIFA as the premier football title and GTA has become a cultural focal point of its own thanks to its huge sales and violent gameplay.
However lets not under estimate the importance of their more casual games, that did appear to the more traditional games as well as this new breed of casual games. Singstar and Buzz were two such titles which appeal to both sets. Buzz in particular succeeds as this, in particular new PS3 iteration Buzz Quiz TV which has everything you expect from a TV quiz show with its slick TV style presentation and quick fire questions format.
The new version has included online play where some very hardcore high level play can be found as well as the possibility of an infinite number of questions as MyBuzz allows users to create their own questions. The game offers plenty for the casual whilst also including enough for the more advanced user to sink their teeth into. Singstar is another such example (my PSN friends list is full of people playing it. I am far to reserved to sing) with each version offering a great variety of songs and a wealth of features. Something crucial to both of these games is they come bundled with attractive looking peripherals that are more than just attachable pieces of plastic, Nintendo take note.
However Sony are not prepared to rest of their laurels. First we have Little Big Planet a title that is going to enrapture everyone who witnesses its creative genius. There have been many column inches devoted to it already and it is eagerly anticipated by press and public alike. However let us instead talk about the delightful looking Eye Pet. Eye Toy is another of the PS2's triumphs with a a number of titles available that proved to be successful. It's younger brother Playstation Eye for the PS3 has not seen quite as many titles so far, but that is all set to change with Eye Pet. This newly unveiled title allows you to interact with a cute adorable animal friend by using the camera. This can be as simple as reaching out your hand to give him a stroke to far more complex actions. The game features image recognition software so you can draw 2D objects on a piece of paper point them at the camera which will take a snap shot and then render that object in 3D for the pet to play with. The demo shows a simple car outline transformed into a fully render wooden toy car that can race around with you pet when controlled by the Sixaxis/DualShock 3. What really impresses is the way Sony do not make is seem like the only part of their conferences but offer it as an alternative this is something the other platform holders seem to fail to notice. Yes Microsoft did devote plenty of time to hardcore games at E3 but in unveiled new titles they failed, preferring to pretend to run around wearing clown trousers than show off what Bungie are working on. The less said about Nintendo and hardcore gamers the better at this stage.
Home deserves a little mention as its avatar and environment based system makes actions such as connecting to online games simpler and more enjoyable than your usual menu driven mechanics. It also draws heavily on social gaming which is a rapidly expanding and wide branching genre. It is clear that Sony have a clear idea about where they want to be with PS3 (and PSP to a certain extent, although that's another blog post all together) and that they intend to include all types of games along for the ride with them.Labels: Fanning The Flames
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posted by flameboy @ 10:33  |
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| NWTD: Mario in "not Italian" shocker |
| Friday 29 August 2008 |
  The people of Italy have finally received copies of the NES game Mario and they are furious. Due to an administrative error, the entire country have been without the legendary computer game and all it sequels. The Italian government spokesman Giovanni Italioni issued called a press conferance to express its disgust.
"We are-a furious with-a the game in-a question. We-a feel that it is-a an offensive stereotype of-a the Italian people. Furthermore, we are-a also furious that-a he is-a a plumber. We-a Italians would-a never resort to-a plumbing. We-a have no plumbers in-a Italy. The fact that-a he is-a a plumber means-a that he is-a not Italian"
We approached Shigeru Miyamoto and asked him about his error in making an Italian plumber:
"In hindsight, its obvious that there is no such thing as a plumber in Italy, I mean just look at Venice. Any city where you have to take a canoe to work clearly has no plumbers. I'll admit that I had never been to Italy before I made Mario but I had a rough idea of what the Italians were like due to seeing a few Italian people on the television. I apologise to the Italian people unreservedly and hope that there is no hard feelings."
The Italian government has yet to issue a response.Labels: Mario, NWTD
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| posted by goaferboy @ 11:00 |
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| Lowdown on the Download- PSN Update 29/08/08 |
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This week on the Playstation store has the Last Guy roaming the streets rescuing hostages as well as seeing Buzz getting a fun update for kids.
PS3 Games:
-The Last Guy (GBP 4.99)
-The Last Guy Demo (Free)
-NHL 09 Demo (Free)
Add-ons:
-Buzz! Junior Jungle Party (GBP 3.49)
-Warhawk Operation Fall Star (GBP 3.99)
Videos:
-Far Cry 2 trailers
-HAWX trailer
-The Last Guy launch trailer
-PS3 Platinum trailer
Misc:
-The Last Guy wallpaper
-Graffiti theme
This weeks biggest release is The Last Guy. This is game is played from a top down view with the games levels being created using satellite images of the worlds' major cities. Your mission is to run around avoiding various enemies and picking up hostages to lead them to the safe haven of the escape zones.
This week also gives us the release of Buzz Junior Jungle Party, a more kiddy mini game orientated version of the popular quiz game. Another Warhawk pack comes that adds to the trophy laden 1.5 patch update that recently hit.
Oddly the store has the Graffiti theme as new content, when it has in fact been on the store before. Finally those in the know will realise that eagerly anticipated Linger in the Shadows will have to wait as it has been delayed till next week.
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| posted by flameboy @ 10:58 |
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| Retro Column - Multiplayer |
| Thursday 28 August 2008 |
  As a lot of the multiplayer gaming is taken up these days by playing online, I was missing the experience of simply getting a group of friends around and playing a game all in the same room for hours at a time. You see I am not a big fan of online gaming, I do not like talking on the mic and I feel the experience is extremely lacking without the other people there with you. A lot of the time I feel like I may aswell just be playing against bots.
To that end I thought I would go through some of my personal favourite multiplaying experiences I had growing up. I'll go through these by the consoles I owned at the time.
NES
Super Mario Bros 1+3 - These two I didnt really play multiplayer as such, but they were always a joint effort. I dont really remember playing them on my own as I always had someone over my shoulder watching. This would be a recurring theme on the NES as you will see.
A Boy and His Blob - Hopefully if you read my feature of this game you'll know how much I liked it. What I didnt mention was that my mum and I were the ones who kept trying to complete it. I would play through the game and she would list all the effects of various jelly beans and try and help me through the levels.
McDonaldland - This was another game where my mum seemed to love it just as much as me. We would play for hours trying to get the 'M' cards and working our way through the levels. This time though we did play 2 player. Being able to take turns after each level.
MegaDrive
Streets of Rage 2 - This for me has got to be the best beat'em up I have ever played. I always played as Skate and my friend has Axel (bastard never let me try him!). We'd fight our way through to Mr X having a great time doing it. Then within a few weeks of completing it, we'd be right back to playing through again. We never seemed to get bored of it.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie - Yes, I realise this is basically just a copy of Streets Of Rage which I mentioned directly above, but its part of my multiplaying history so I am adding it damn it! Being a big Power Rangers fan this was a no brainer to be honest, I was pretty much always going to love it but I think it actually stood out quite well on its own by adding the normal fights then using megazords at the end of some levels to mix things up a bit.
Street Racer - While other people played Super Mario Kart on their Super Nintendo's I was playing Street Racer with my friends. I may be in a minority here but I still prefer it to Nintendo's giant to this day.
PlaystationVigilante 8 - Such a brilliant driving game, my favourite of the car combat games. Got very frustrating though for one member of my group of friends....I think thats just because he wasnt very good at it though! WWF Smackdown 2 - Before Smackdown 2 most of my wrestling games were on the N64 but this one just seemed to get everything write. The controls, graphics, storymode, create a wrestler and multiplayer seemed perfect at the time. Final Fantasy VII - Before you all start yelling at me, I know FFVII didnt have a multiplayer mode but it was another one of those games we played as if it was both of us controlling Cloud. We had rules that we would not play the game unless the other person was present and thats how it actually went, to my amazement. Nintendo 64Perfect Dark - For a lot of people, Goldeneye was their multiplayer choice for the N64. Not for me, infact I didnt like the multiplayer in it much at all. Perfect Dark however managed to keep my interest, probably because the weapons were so interesting. I would love to set up the laptop gun or sit camping somewhere with the amazingly over-powered farsight gun and just shoot people through the walls!
Im sorry to say I didnt play the N64 when it was originally out as I would have liked to so I cant really add anymore to this list from that console. Except of course a Track and Field game but thinking about it now I cannot remember what its name was.
I'll stop here as from what I remember, my multiplaying started to lessen after I took more of an interest in single player games.
Dont forget, this is just a list of my own personal multiplaying history so the reason I left out some obvious games and even consoles was that I just didnt play them until later on.
Labels: Features, Multiplayer, Retro
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| posted by Happenstance @ 09:00 |
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| Top 10 - What were they thinking? |
| Wednesday 27 August 2008 |
Some games start off as a good idea and are let down somewhere between the initial idea and the final product. This can be down to a number of things: gameplay, controls, graphics etc. But some games however, were always doomed to failure due to clearly having someone drunk at the helm in the design process. Here are the top 10 ideas that should never have left the drawing board.
10. Gunstar Heroes: The board game level
I can imagine the scene now at the board room. "What would be a really good idea for an action packed run and gun game?" "Erm.....a board game level?" "Yeah that'll do, lets get some coffee." Why would anyone break up the otherwise action packed game with a slow, boring board game? If we wanted to play a board game we would raid the cupboard for Monopoly. Or at least buy one of the many Monopoly computer games.
9. Sonic Riders: Sonic on a board
Sonic is the fastest thing alive. It says so in the Sonic SATAM cartoon. Why would he need an airboard thing to win a race? Why would he even enter an airboard thing race? He can run faster than he airboards for Christ sake. Stupid.
8. Burnout Paradise: No restart
This one is kind of a double barrel stupid idea. First the creators decided to omit the option of restarting a race. There was a reason for it. The creators felt that it would interrupt the flow of the game. Which was fair I suppose. But what if you really wanted to come first in a specific race? Surely it would be best to allow the player the option of restarting the race and let them decide how the flow of the game should work? People complained a lot after playing the beta demo. Enter their second crap idea. Tell everyone who had played the demo and complained that they were, in fact, wrong. Good marketing idea there. Tell everyone that their opinions are wrong and that the game is actually awesome.
7. Fahrenheit: Dead guy sex scene
After commenting on how the main character doesn't seem to be breathing, the lovely lead female character proceeds to have sex with him. JUST. PLAIN. WRONG.
6. Phantasy Star Universe: Early Grinding
The weapons in the game were upgradeable by a process known as "grinding". The upgrade process is down to luck and during the early days if the grinding failed you lose your weapon. No second chance, no booby prize, just gone. This was eventually fixed but imagine spending ages finding enough money for a certain weapon only to lost it instantly. Many new swear words were invented due to that game.
5. Soul Calibur 4: Yoda
The creators decided not to allow players to change their custom characters height due to the possibility of creating characters short enough to duck under normal attacks. Yoda on the other hand cannot be hit by normal height attacks at all. The player has to crouch to hit the green git. This leads to massively unbalanced online and offline fights.
4. Army of Two: Suicide bombers
Suicide bombers are a touchy subject at the best of times. Some people can get a bit wound up with the thought of someone blowing themselves up. But that's not what makes the inclusion of suicide bombers stupid. What does make this a ridiculous idea is at least 10 people packing dynamite running at 2 guys. Surely even the most lacking of terrorist isn't stupid enough to sacrifice 10 men to kill 2?
3. GTA:IV: Liberty City minute achievement
GTA:IV has always been known as a game to enjoy at your own pace. Exploring the giant cities and making your own events have always been the highlight of the series. So for some reason Rockstar decided to include an achievement encouraging the player to rush through the game in 30 hours. This leaves little time to do any side missions during the main story, meaning you have to play the game in a linear fashion in order to get the achievement.
2. Mario: The Princess is in the other castle
If I were venturing forth through monster infested areas to rescue a fair maiden from the clutches of a giant evil dinosaur thing deep within a castle, I would sure as hell make sure I got the right castle. I'd hate to break into Warwick castle only to discover that she was actually being held in Edinborough castle. I would be livid. I would be even more suspicious if my nemesis was also in the castle. If he was also in the wrong castle, I would have had a clear shot at the princess if I had gone to the right one first. And why didn't that smug mushroom bastard find a way of letting me know sooner?
Ready for number 1? It's positively offensive.
1. Super Columbine Massacre RPG
Now this is a homebrew game, but it is such a stupid idea that I had to feature it. Take the most notorious example of the most notorious type of killings and make a game where you play the role of the killers! Genius! Some people should never have been allowed to leave the birthing shed.
Agree/disagree? Feel free to stop off at the discussion forum to add your own opinions.Labels: Features, Top 10
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| posted by goaferboy @ 11:00 |
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| Fight the Hype - Resistance: Fall of Man |
| Tuesday 26 August 2008 |
 In this feature we will take another look at the games of yesteryear as we attempt to smash those rose tinted glasses and cast off the shackles of hype. For our first feature, Resistance: Fall of Man will be under the spotlight.
With Resistance 2 racing towards us I decided to dip back into the first iteration of the series. First off, I’ll give you a bit of background. Not about the game but how the game and I crossed paths.
The Playstation 3 launched and with it came Resistance. I can’t really remember what I thought of it, needless to say, that fact alone shows just how much an impression it had on me. However fate insisted I get to grips with the game.
And so it was, 3402 miles and a couple of awful in-flight movies later, I find myself more than slightly bored in Dubai airport. I hadn’t slept for a good 20 hours by this point so I did what any sane person would do - I looked for a Starbucks. Having struck insomniac gold I wondered through duty free half dazed, definitely confused and more than a little jacked up on caffeine. I stumble across a PS3 demo booth with none other than Resistance: Fall of Man on show. As my hyperactive twitching abates, I proceed to play.
Now, my first impression of the game has stuck with me. It is brown. Very brown. I can’t escape this fact. Even now I keep expecting a honky-tonk piano to start playing with the occasional intertitle displaying a boot-eating objective to stave off starvation.
The next impression that I remember was that the enemy design was pretty bland, pretty generic. Having played it again recently, I’ve come to appreciate the Chimera a bit more. Okay, they're thick and predictable and if you just add a bit more muscle to their spindly legs, put the forgotten love child of an assault rifle and a chainsaw in their hands, they would look like them lot from Gears of War… except with more eyes... and traffic cones on their backs. That is a bit unfair though as there are other enemies that spice up the mix, my personal favorite being the little worker aliens that shuffle towards with a view to a chunk of your neck. They make crazy grumbling noises when you hit them for that added incentive.
 Brown. Very Brown.
Another thing that sticks out is the ability to strafe faster than a speeding bullet. It’s almost like playing Space Invaders at times. It’s bizarre.
It sounds like I have major problems with this game but really these are quite minor when it comes down to it. I know it should all bug me but it doesn’t because at its core the game is solid fun. I even found that posh woman who narrates the pretty involving, yet uneventful and obvious, story perfect in keeping with the whole “chosen one” complex.
The level design is varied but the outdoor environments are definitely more enjoyable than the indoor corridor-fests. The graphics, although brown, are clean but they lack detail in some parts and so the game feels dated. The controls… well you can reassign them like I did, more games should do this. Finally the inclusion of co-op is great, I’ve always felt it can make any game a lot more enjoyable and Resistance is no exception.
Resistance, as a whole, has aged pretty well but maybe that’s because there is nothing new about it, it is the most vanilla sci-fi shooter around. A solid and fun game, but stuck in the past.
6/10
Labels: Daft, Features, Fight the Hype, Playstation 3, Resistance: Fall of Man
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| posted by Daft @ 12:30 |
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| Playstation Home Is Where The Heart Is |
| Monday 25 August 2008 |
I'll be stepping in this week while Fanning the Flames takes a week off. I’m going to talk about something Sony love reminding us of in regards to the Playstation 3, potential. Home’s potential is massive. Some wonder what benefit it might hold for gaming, others might think it is a novelty. We’ll only really find out what Home will do when it is finally released but for the moment, we can speculate.
What Home does provide is a platform for games to seamlessly integrate themselves into the Playstation experience. We’ve already seen early indications of how Motorstorm: Pacific Rift will work in tandem with Home and it’s nothing mind blowing. It is basically used as a virtual lobby. More potential was seen with Warhawk, with the use of pre-match war rooms for discussing stratagem. Yet again, not amazing but it does appear to at least compliment the game. Overall it lacks imagination on Sony’s part but I doubt that is really the limit of their vision when it comes to Home. I would be surprised if Sony weren't keeping more functionality under wraps, but again, only time will tell.
Another way games work with Home is through offering extra content, from turning Resistance’s levels into 'The Alternate Imperial War Museum' to being able to play a specially made arcade game, for example in the Uncharted hub. We can see the ability to effortlessly offer extra content through this platform. Considering how interactive the medium of games is it is a shame to see bonus content relegated to promotional 'limited edition' packs and the like, which is something Home could rectify.
I’ve mentioned a few known examples so lets casts our minds over to more mainstream casual games. What might we expect from Sony’s fairly diverse and undeniably popular casual titles? These could provide an opportunity to hook the less avid gamers and tune them into Home. Imagine it…
Deep breath,
Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good time…
As the song kicks off the crowd start cheering. With their applause, a real time ratings system, the player grows in confidence. No longer is the faithful SingStar community restricted to 30-second highlights, live performances, live open mic nights become a reality. If you don’t like the idea of singing in front of a bunch of strangers just book a private room and invite your friends. You could be standing at the front of a crowded room, maybe with the Playstation Eye streaming a live feed of you onto a wall behind your avatar, belting Queen out – Maybe this is what Sony want Home to be.
Don't stop me now I'm having such a good time, I'm having a ball.
Another potentially very exciting area is the part smaller applications could play in Home. Take the newly shown EyePet. Personally I think its implementation of the Playstation Eye is very impressive, but when it comes down to it, EyePet is just a virtual pet and not even a portable one at that. This is where a problem arises, when exactly are you going to decide to play with your EyePet over a PSN game or what ever game you have in the machine? Home integration with the EyePet could help with this problem. You load up Home, preparing to cause some online carnage in Burnout, but just before you leave the house your EyePet, yes wearing a fez and a little red waistcoat, runs up to you begging for attention. Suddenly your interaction through the Playstation Eye with the tiny creature takes on another level; there is now more incentive to play EyePet. Through EyePet the player enters the monkey-cat-thing’s space, Home allows the pet to interact with you on an equal spacing. How far this level of integration goes is up to Sony to decide. Could I take my pet for a walk or have him perch on my shoulder like I captain my own pirate ship? Would it interact with other pets it came across, maybe even having its own pet friends list? If not, why not?
The key for Home is its integration. If games become an invisible gateway to this central hub, so that players simply find themselves flying between Home and a game without hesitation, then Sony will be onto something. If it becomes that easy then what is not to say that the SingStar and Buzz players of the world won't get pulled into Home? It is inevitable that comparisons are going to be made with Second Life but Home already has a massive advantage over it. First of all, as Home comes as a free download for the PS3 the user base will easily outstrip that of Second Life which, as of March 2008, has approximately 13 million accounts – as to how many are active accounts is anyone’s guess, but I doubt it is anything close to that number. Second, Home has a fairly defined infrastructure. There is no need to build a house or get a virtual job of any kind but the customisation is there for those who want it, from what your avatar looks like to the interior to your house. Finally, Home has a purpose; it is there predominantly for games but also for other media. Depending on how far Sony pushes the integration of Home everyone could be using it to varying degrees, either dipping in to pre-game lobbies, or exploring the different game hubs to swinging by the theater with friends to catch the latest movie.
The ball is on Sony’s side of the court. Home could become essential or it could fade away into some kind of sideshow. There is a lot of potential, not to mention a myriad of 'if's, and although we don't have long to wait, Home will take time to develop. This could be living.
Labels: Daft, Features, Home, Playstation 3, PS3, PSN
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| posted by Daft @ 11:30 |
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| Lowdown on the Download- Wii Shop Update 22/08/08 |
| Saturday 23 August 2008 |
This week sees Mario making one very unlikely appearance on these shores! It's that time again, here's our preview of the weeks Virtual Console and Wiiware releases.
Virtual Console
-Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES) (900 points)
-Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (NES) (600 points)
WiiWare
Nothing!
European based Nintendo fans will be jumping for joy this weekend as they finally get the chance to sit down and play the SNES classic Super Mario RPG. The game was released 12 years ago in America and Japan but never made it to any other territories. This game was co-developed by Nintendo and Square and was Mario's last appearance on the SNES. The game was a light hearted RPG that is just as refreshing now as it was the day it was released and comes highly recommended as one of the best SNES games ever. If you have ever played the Paper Mario or Mario & Luigi games then this is a must buy as many of the ideas in both originated from this game, including the wicked sense of humour.
This week also sees the re-release of Super Mario: The Lost Levels which was previously only available for a limited period during the Virtual Console Hanabi Festival, but now is here to stay. If you want to play Super Mario Bros 2 the way it was intended rather than the westernized version now here is your chance.
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| posted by flameboy @ 09:03 |
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| Gaming Corner NEEDS YOU! |
| Friday 22 August 2008 |
As part of our continuing commitment to evolving and expanding as a gaming blog, that is dedicated to top quality content we are currently recruiting. We are looking for both reviewers and previewers to join our team.
If you wish to let your interest known to us, pop into the forums, more specifically the reader submissions section found here;
http://z4.invisionfree.com/Gaming_Corner/index.php?showforum=2
Once in here just introduce yourself and write a quick sample of you work this can be anything from a brief preview to a full blown review. We look forward to hearing from you!
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| posted by flameboy @ 14:33 |
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| Preview - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed |
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Star Wars games have been very much a hit and miss affair of late. But with a new title in the franchise comes a New Hope. We look at the latest Star Wars spin off where the force is well and truly unleashed.
Games based on licenses are usually rushed jobs in order to fit in with the movie or DVD release of the said franchise. However there is certainly a good amount of sense in letting a game have a usual development cycle and releasing it as and when it is ready. Star Wars Force Unleashed is one such example. It could have been rushed out to hit this summer to tie in with Star Wars Clone Wars but instead it will hit worldwide in mid-September.
The demo of this game recently hit on Playstation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace and gives gamers the chance to let rip. Players take the role of Starkiller (interestingly the original name of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars film) fresh from his advertising orientated cameo in Soul Calibur IV, who is also the secret apprentice of Sith Lord Darth Vader. The game takes place between Episodes III and IV and follows the story of Starkiller as he aides Darth Vader in eradicating all the remaining Jedi, whilst remaining unknown to the tyrannic Emperor.
The game is a third person action game, a genre explored before by Lucasarts but very rarely one they have succeeded in. Force Unleashed seems about to change all of that. First lets discuss what really matters to everyone; the lightsaber play. Force Unleashed takes a style that has become typical to the genre since God of War was released. With a simple move set that can be used by the more casual gamer and still be enjoyable on the easier difficulty settings as well as having enough depth to create a wealth of combos for the more seasoned gamer. Each of the lightsaber moves can also be used in combination with a mixture of jumps and force powers. In the demo only Push, Grip and Lightning are made available, however the trailer at the end of the 15 minutes of gameplay reveal many more powers. One that is certain about this Starkiller is a Sith at the peak of his use of the Force and whoever is stupid enough to stand in your way is in for a beating. Both Lightsaber and Force mechanics work well alone and in tandem and there is immense satisfaction to be had in the use of both.
The demo level takes place on board an Imperial Shipyard. This environment provides a surprising wealth of locations and ways in which to use the Force mechanics. There is little better experience than flinging around Stormtroopers or even better realising the Force Push can be charged and send hangar doors flying open rather than just the edging it open with a quick press. The demo ends with a great boss battle (that we won't wreck for you) which helps show the depth of the combat system as well as reveals some Quick Time Events thrown in for good measure. As long as the game keeps up this variety of play and does not rely on the same environmental gimmicks but instead throws up new ones, it will prove to an entertaining action adventure romp. Finally lets give the graphics a quick mention, they look as really good with the bigger areas in the ship yard looking fantastic, this game will not disappoint when it comes to looks.
Star Wars Force Unleashed is released 16th September in North America, 17th September in Asia and the Pacific with Europe seeing the game hit its shore on 19th September. Be sure to check back for our full review of the game upon its release.
Daft's Opinion:
I was looking forward to this and I was disappointed. For starters the character model of Starkiller is pretty dire compared to his appearance in Soul Calibur IV. Yes, it is a pretty minor gripe and is only really noticeable in the opening cutscene of the demo but it's a bit strange that Namco have a better looking character model considering he is the central character in Unleashed.
Next up, the controls. Altogether they are solid and accessible but I felt slightly disjointed with the Force. Aiming objects with force grip tends to rely fairly heavily on auto-targeting, which itself isn't great, meaning throwing things isn't always as useful as you want it to be.
Finally, the fighting. Why exactly a sith, who throws TIE fighters about like matchsticks and can levitate in mid-air while charging up a force push with the view of quite literally wiping the floor with a squad of stormtroopers, is unable to move while blocking is beyond me. Similarly when swinging your lightsaber you are pretty much rooted to the spot which, in my humble opinion, leads to some stuttered fighting. Also the sudden occurrence of a quick time event, and I'm usually a fan of these, when facing off against the AT-ST wasn't particularly welcome since it's appearance seemed slightly random, but that could just be my unfamiliarity with the game.
However, some of these issues are probably symptomatic of the fact that this is a demo. Force powers get leveled up, hopefully improving their effect and efficiency. The level on offer was relatively barren, especially when held up against the other levels seen in Unleashed, but the interactivity shown in it was promising. The demo never manages to reach a high, it seems to stutter along. With all this in mind I still think The Force Unleashed has a lot of promise – I'm just hoping the demo is only hinting at what we can expect from the full game.Labels: Previews, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
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| posted by flameboy @ 12:03 |
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| NWTD: Geldof blasts Nintendo |
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Sir Bob Geldof has gone off on a sweary, crazed rant again. Although this time it isn't about third world poverty, it's about a brutal underground animal fighting syndicate held by Nintendo employees. Geldof, 56, held a conference today at his bungalow in Slough.
Geldof was visibly angry as he described how Nintendo employees went out into the wild to search for animals for their sick game. "The animals normally hide in long grass to avoid detection by humans" said Sir Bob. "Once the employee has found an appropriate animal, he captures it in a small red and white trap." He then goes on to describe the trap. "It's the size of your fockin fist!" Said Geldof, holding up one of the traps "Some of these animals are as big as a car! That's just fockin cruel, not to mention physically ludicrous." yelled Geldof
Geldof then went on to describe what happens once the poor animals are brought back to the Nintendo offices. "The poor things are then only released to fight each other until one faints. At which point it is returned to its trap and taken to the vets. The little fockers aren't even allowed out of their traps when they're being treated, the doctors just heal them while they're in there and send them out to fight again" Sir Bob described how brutal the fights can be, including lightning and fire attacks leaving many animals permanently scarred and traumatised.
And the worst part is the people responsible aren't even content with capturing a few animals. The motto for the group is "gotta catch 'em all", implying that they won't stop until they have every breed of animal captured in their tiny cages. Geldof named the person responsible for researching the creatures as "Professor Oak". "The worst part is, only this Oak chap really knows about the creatures. Most people don't even know they fockin exist!"
Gamingcorner approached Nintendo bosses but they have been advised not to talk to the press by their lawyers. More on this story as we get it. Labels: Nintendo, Now watch this drive, NWTD, Pokemon
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| posted by goaferboy @ 11:00 |
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| Retro Column: A Boy and His Blob |
| Thursday 21 August 2008 |
Now then, onto the basic premise of the game. You play as the boy and you travel with your blob friend (Real name Blobert, no....really!). The game is split into two sections, Earth and Blobert's home planet, Blobonia. On Earth you have to travel around some catacombs that are conveniently located right below the boys house. You go through these collecting treasure until you can make your way back out to set off to Blobonia. Once there its then a case of making it through to defeat the evil emperor.
For a game with basically only two sections, I found A Boy and His Blob suprisingly deep when I went back to it. It wasnt just collecting the treasure that I remembered from my childhood but actually quite a puzzle game. As the boy you have to feed the blob jellybeans to get him changing into different items. For example the Strawberry bean will turn him into a bridge. With this you had to choose the correct beans for each situation. Sometimes you may have to make it past a cliff, survive rocks falling at you etc.
The graphics are a bit of a mixed bag. The backgrounds seem good enough for a NES game but the characters themselves are a bit weak. The boy himself is very pixelated. The soundtrack brings back a lot of memories for me. Id say thats a sign that its done its job.
In 1990 there was a sequel released on the GameBoy titled "The Rescue of Princess Blobette", unfortunately I never played this. Only actually realising it existed after doing research for this very feature! There was another title announced for the Nintendo DS but unfortunately nothing ever came from it.
The game certainly hasnt aged well in some areas rather than others but as a whole I still see "A Boy and His Blob" as a nice game to sit with for a while and work your way through. Yes its not the greatest graphics but as you get to know me more you'll realise I place very little on how good graphics are in a game. I found with the game as long as you have patients its not too difficult. When I was a kid however I would just run off cliffs without thinking or get bored waiting for the correct time to pass a monster.
I dont think A Boy and His Blob will be for everyone but if you are a fan of old NES games and have some spare time then I definately recommend giving it a play.
Second Opinion - goaferboyI certainly agree that a boy and his blob isn't for everyone. I personally don't get the appeal at all. A lot of it is just trial and error, especially when moving to the next screen. One example is where there is weird bouncing enemies. Run onto that screen too fast and you can't stop the boy from running into them for love nor money. Also I know the NES was limited graphically, but there are certain screens of the level which feature no enemies or obstacles, just a flat walkway. All in all there are far worse games out there and its certainly a good idea for a game, but I really can't see the appeal. Sorry Happenstance!
The next game we plan to feature on the retro column will be Toy Commander on the DC. Please comment on this article or join up to the forums so we can get some good conversations on these games!
 Labels: Features, Retro
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| posted by Happenstance @ 08:45 |
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| Site News: Twitter Feed Now Live! |
| Wednesday 20 August 2008 |
| I am pleased to announce that Gaming Corner is now a part of the social networking wonder that is Twitter, look to your left and you will see our new feed which we will be using for random musings as well as providing news content. If you see a news headline that interests why not pop into the forums sign up and discuss it in there?
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| posted by flameboy @ 21:06 |
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| Top 10 - Games to keep you sane... |
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I've taken the liberty of kicking off the 'Top 10' feature with games to take your frustration out on, and generally keep you sane after being stamped on by the boot of life every day. Please feel free to add in the comments any game think deserves to be added to the list.
1. Crackdown
We've all got to the point where we just want to go all Incredible Hulk after being pushed a bit too far. You just want to pick up the desk you're at, hurl it through the wall. Let rip an epic roar, dousing the offending antagonist with saliva, and jump through the ceiling landing a mile or so away on an unsuspecting car with the intention of throwing the closest pedestrian into the rapidly approaching police vehicles.
Okay, that might just be me but Crackdown allows you to do things to this effect – while, I might add, allowing the player to keep the moral high ground. Crackdown is the ultimate in stress relief. None of this 'story' rubbish, no invisible walls or need to reserve ammo.You do what you want and your reward is that you get better at... whatever it is you were doing. If along the way you want to takeout a few mobsters, that's your choice. As long as things are burning, or are about to burn, you're playing the game right. It's more fun than working in a trampoline factory, getting paid by the bounce.
2. Project Gotham Racing
I've been with the PGR series ever since Metropolis Street Racer. "It's not how fast you drive, it's how you drive fast." That's one of the joys of the game; the controls are tight letting you swing your fantastically expensive cars round the narrowest bends with the perfect balance of ease and necessary technique. Also, in the same way X-Box 360 gamers have a Pavlovian response to the sound of an achievement popping up, the sound of 'Kudos' racking up is a heavenly sound, especially when accompanied by tire squealing. If you're lucky enough, or unlucky depending on whether you like these places, to live in one of the in-game cities you'll appreciate the deserted roads...something you'll never see in London. For the ultimate in stress relief, I recommend playing Cat'n'Mouse online. As a racing game, you're meant to race, not collide or put you opponent off in any way. Cat'n'Mouse, however, is about crashing into the other team, and not just that, you are actually meant to bully their weakest car. It sounds brutal... and it is.
3. Burnout: Paradise
You've had a long day at work, you're stuck in traffic on the bus or in your car, you're probably going to get angry, rattled, frustrated - not too unlike a caged animal. It isn't how anyone should end his or her day really, step forward Burnout: Paradise. If PGR was about how you drive fast Burnout:Paradise is basically about how much rampant destruction you can cause while driving fast.
Opponent getting on your nerves? Introduce them to a wall. It's the kind of instantly satisfying justice that you wish you could deal out in real life when say, babies are crying on public transport, or when someone sends you grammatically incorrect texts to save time. Burning rubber, high speeds, twisted metal, solid walls; it's the ingredients for one hell of a time. Remember kids, speed doesn't kill you, it's the sudden lack of it, that's the real killer.
4. Eledees
No one likes living in a messy house but it is undeniably fun making a mess. Eledees gives you a gravity gun and doesn't care much for the whole cleaning up thing. With the use of the WiiMote your job is to smash things around the place looking for little critters to trap and enslave, giving you more power to throw around bigger things. It's a wonderful cycle of destruction and mayhem. Combine that with the little screams of fear that the Eledees emit while you hunt them down, and you can be your own little family friendly dictator.
5. SingStar
Not much to point out here. Scream as loud as you can and pretend you can actually sing, don't worry, you can't. Then get rated on how you did by the most generous and easy to trick scoring ever conceived. Might not sound like much fun but it is. If that still doesn't sound appealing, something you can apply to life as a whole to vastly improve it, just as alcohol.
6. Earth Defence Force 2017
"EDF!! EDF!!", music to my ears. Earth Defence Force is a thing of beauty. It knows it is rubbish, you know it is rubbish - I know it is absolute rubbish. However unlike most games, that is half of the fun. In the same kind of way as Crackdown, mass killing equals bigger mass killing. The more you play, the more health you get, the bigger weapons you are rewarded with. You'll be pretty pleased when you get the Tortoise, a slow moving, homing tactical nuke. You'll be even more pleased when you find out that later on you'll get weapons that make the Tortoise look like a pea-shooter.
There really is nothing like seeing the horizon of a ruined Tokyo city at sun down fill up with giant ants as you fire off your Prominence MA. As you turn to face the next wave, and your missile crashes into the alien hordes, you won't fail to smile at the ants' death screams and their lifeless corpses as they blot out the sun. Play this in co-op and prepare to lose hours to it. I dare you not to smile.
7. Tori-Emaki
Okay, so a theme that might be emerging here is that violence means stress relief (Yes, I'm including the abuse of music in SingStar) so I thought I would have a bit of variation and that comes in the form of Tori-Emaki. Tori-Emaki isn't really a game though. It's more of a Playstation Eye based flash game. By imitating a Thunderbird puppet on an LSD induced trip you can manoeuvre a flock of crows around a traditional Japanese wood block print style landscape, accompanied with suitably breezy and relaxing music. It sounds stupid but don't underestimate the power of acting like at total inbred moron.
8. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
A game where you can suplex a zombie, making it's head explode. Where you can cap someone in the knees and then round-house kick them in the face. A game where one of the bad guys is an evil midget. It has everything.
9. Assassin's Creed
Love it or hate it - I don't care. There's no better way to utilise your pent up frustration than becoming a 12th century parkour enabled assassin stalking the holy land. One of the key reasons there is so much enjoyment to get out of the game is because Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, or Altaïr for short, has a real physical presence within the game world. If a beggar woman is annoying you, "Please sir, can I have some money?", don't settle for what you'd do in most other games and just kill her, do the humane thing, chuck her down some stairs and watch her roll. If that sound bite, "No you don't understand, I have nothing!", is really getting on your nerves and you have a brick wall at hand, smack her into it before she can shriek her last syllable. Just before people get up in arms about me being sexist, you can apply exactly the same method to the lepers - it's just they don't annoy me as much by repeating the same ear shattering sound bite at me for the nth time.
Swords and hordes are also on the menu as the enemy guards will actively stand by as you slaughter them one by one. It's a pretty rhythmic fighting system which I think suits the game. You can't beat the feeling when your sword connects perfectly and are rewarded with a bloody neck exploding execution.
Now picking the final game has caused me a few problems. Do I go with Portal and the energy contained within its gameplay, Mario Galaxy where I can bound planets or a thousand other different games that should really get a mention? Like I said earlier, feel free to tell me in the comments of games you would add to the list.
Finally, my number 10 goes to...
10. Super Stardust HD
I love this game. I loved it when it first came up and I loved it even more when trophy support was added. A game that fits in that wonderful bracket of easy to learn, difficult to master. I'll try and get my lyrical waxing out of the way quickly. The game looks phenomenal in all its 1080p glory. There is so much going on that certain tasks, like surviving for 7 minutes without dying in Endless Mode, are incredibly daunting but the game is so easy to get into, and so inviting to learn, that most will find it a joy to attempt such challenges.
There were two things that convinced me to put SSHD in my list. First, setting off nukes, sending a shock wave around the planet ripping to pieces anything in it comes into contact with, is awesome. Second, my experience of trying to get the 'Late Boomer' trophy. For this trophy you try and recoup 15 bombs on a rapidly busier planet where your only form of defense is swift dodging and bombs, the latter of which you really need to hold onto if you want the trophy. I managed to get 14 bombs and then those masochistic red triangles of death started to land and I though I was about to be annihilated again. I manage to swerve out the way for about 10 seconds missing rocks by only a pixel's width. Desperation sets in, my heart is pumping. Suddenly I see the supply ship carrying two bombs halfway across the planet. I boost. I detonate. As two magic bomb tokens hover in infinity, so close yet so far, the universe is coming for me. The massive gold asteroids want me, the myriad of rocky debris want me and the red triangles of death are coming for me, building in number. In blind hope I swoop. 13. 14. 15.
I've done it.
Shock, joy, relief. I've f*cking done it.
As the Trophy message acknowledges my achievement, I am blinked out of existence by the force of the universe. And that, dear readers, is the last time I will ever play the 'Bomber' mode on SSHD.
There we have it, 10 games to keep you sane.Labels: Console, Daft, Playstation 3, Top 10, Wii, Xbox 360
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| posted by Daft @ 09:30 |
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| Best and Worst of Steam |
| Tuesday 19 August 2008 |
Following on from yesterday's Fanning the Flames, we take a look at the best and worst of Steam. Eternity's Child has hit Steam and you can now decide for yourself whether it deserved that infamous 1/10. In the meantime we look at the rest of the indie and casual games out.
BEST
Steam has proved itself to be the premier digital distribution for PC and has been littered with a wealth of great titles. Below are our top picks.
Audiosurf
Audiosurf was a revalation back when it was released back in February this year. In Audiosurf players control an anti gravity ship similar to those found in the likes of Wipeout, F-Zero and Fatal Inertia. The aim of the game however is unlike the aforementioned games, instead you navigate the game's tracks collecting coloured blocks known as cars. The innovative part is where the blocks are generated from. Any DRM free music can be imported into the game and played along to, along with this are some tracks that come included in the package notably the Orange Box soundtrack and songs by independent artists. The game has an almost mesmerising feel to it and playing it can make listening to your prized music collection even more of a joy. This game truly has to be played to be believed.
Everyday Shooter
Created in just a few months by Jonathon Mak, this game is a twin stick shooter with a difference. Like Audiosurf it is inventive in it's use of music, each level has its unique own song playing in the background. Each song is created specifically for the game and as a whole they all feel a part of the same package. Mak himself has compared his work to an album and the common traits and themes they seem to share help back up this view. Everyday Shooter also has a gorgeous hand drawn look to it, with each level having a truly special look to it.
Sam and Max
Before Sam and Max came along the point and click adventure genre was as good as on its knees. However Telltale Games revived the genre with their episodic Sam and Max games. Now on its 3rd Season the franchise has proven to be a hit with its wicked sense of humour, cheap cost per episode/season along with a cracking plot and interesting and varied gameplay.
WORST
Every "platform" has its fair share of awful games not worth your time, Steam is no different.
Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?
An unimaginative TV cash in that has little in the way of redeeming features. It's based on the TV show of the same name that has been sold in various formats across the world. Is not in the least bit fun and suffers even further in comparison when compared to the likes of Buzz and Scene It. When you also consider where both of these franchises are heading with Buzz Quiz TV and the sequel to the original Scene It this game falls even further off the grade.
Ninja Reflex
Also released on Wii this PC port suffers by comparison as much of the appear of the game is in the motion controls. The game is somewhat limited with just 6 different modes of play repeated over and over again and it is hard to justify purchasing when there are far more comprehensive mini game collections out there.
So does Eternity's Child deserve a place on this list? At this point with the final version of the game having been launched and the general consensus seeming to be that it does deserve the poor scores it recieved means it will indeed appear on countless worst games ever lists. Look out for our upcoming review to see what what we thinkLabels: Best and Worst, Features
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| posted by flameboy @ 19:13 |
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