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Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 7, 2014 in Videogames 
Here’s something I never thought I’d be writing about: a sequel to Shaq Fu. The infamous SNES/Genesis game is returning, thanks to the man himself, Shaquille O’Neal. They’re crowdfunding it on IndieGoGo, and in addition to soliciting money from fans, Shaq is pouring much of his own money into it too. It looks suitably crazy in the promotional video, but given that it’s all CGI, I’m not sure if you can use it to predict how the final game will look (and there’s only 2 screenshots). At least the concept art is neat! Still, I’m a little hesitant about it, despite its hilarious nature, mainly because we don’t know any of the devs behind it. The best part is definitely Shaq in a mocap outfit, though. Check out the videos below and the IndieGoGo page here. Read more…
Tags: Kickstarter, shaq fu
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 6, 2014 in Videogames 
True Detective is my new Breaking Bad, in that it’s an intense, thoughtful, well-written, deliberately-paced show with outstanding production values that I can’t stop thinking about all week. Even now, I’m mulling stuff over for this Sunday’s final episode. (Each season will have its own characters and story arc, so everything is wrapping up in episode eight.) The guys at Dorkly had some different detectives on their mind, however, and decided to mash up True Detective‘s distinctive, amazing opening sequence with LucasArts’ classic adventure game Sam & Max Hit the Road. The game, which stars an anthropomorphic dog and rabbit (er, lagomorph) as freelance detectives, fits surprisingly well with the creepy opening. They only do about half, but they make up for it by mocking up one of Rust’s more notable diatribes using the in-game graphics. I love the interaction between Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, so I’d totally be down for a game featuring the two of them. Read more…
Tags: HBO, LucasArts
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 5, 2014 in Comic Books, Videogames 
Reviews of Batman: Arkham Origins were mixed. Some liked the familiar gameplay, while others saw it as a buggy rehash of Batman: Arkham City by Warner Brothers’ b-team. Regardless of your opinion, I think we can all agree that the series belongs in the hands of developer Rocksteady, which is just what is happening. Batman: Arkham Knight will be the final game in Rocksteady’s trilogy and feature the Scarecrow as the main villain (as hinted in Arkham City). Two-Face, the Penguin, and Harley Quinn will be in the mix, with the latter playable if you preorder, though it’s unclear if they’ll be story sections or challenge maps. Batman can also freely ride in the Batmobile, newly redesigned for this game, though reminiscent of the Tumbler from Nolan’s Batman films. Read more…
Tags: Batman, Batman: Arkham Knight, DC Comics
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 4, 2014 in Videogames 
People complain every time Capcom releases DLC, as they should. But the one series they’ve been really good about DLC with is Street Fighter, specifically Street Fighter IV. After releasing the inevitable Super Street Fighter IV at retail, they’ve had an almost yearly stream of updates to satisfy the demands of competitive fans. Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition was available at retail and as a paid update, then followed that with a free balance patch called Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition Version 2012. With the end of the last console generation, Capcom has one more update: Ultra Street Fighter IV, available at retail and as a paid update, meaning you still don’t have to buy a new game if you have the old one. And it’s got a nice bonus too! Read more…
Tags: Capcom, Street Fighter
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 4, 2014 in Fandom, Videogames 
To answer the question above, no, it’s not. But when you think about it, little about Sonic the Hedgehog makes sense. Hedgehogs aren’t known for being fast (or blue), the game world — while creative and distinctive — couldn’t possibly exist in reality, and putting animals in robots is a pretty poor evil scheme. Even though Yuji Naka, Naoto Oshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara created Sonic to become Sega’s new mascot, this sketch by BEASTS, in which a group of underlings at Sega create Sonic after a particularly unproductive brainstorming session, seems somewhat plausible. After all, it’s not like Mario made much more sense either. Read more…
Tags: Sonic the Hedgehog
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 3, 2014 in Videogames 
Back in September, Valve had start up the Family Sharing beta, which allowed users to share their games with other Steam accounts that they had designated as “family.” Obviously, you can share with anyone you trust, but if they’re using a game from your library, you’ll have to kick them off if you want to play a game. It’s essentially a safer way to share your account and games with friends. We all have that one friend who would love a certain game, but won’t take the plunge and buy it — now you can let them try it easily. Check out the Family Sharing page here. Read more…
Tags: Steam
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 2, 2014 in Fandom, Videogames 
Twitch Plays Pokemon has been one of the biggest internet and IRL phenomenon going on right now. If you haven’t been following, thousands upon thousands of internet denizens have been inputting commands via chat into a computer streaming a copy of Pokemon Red. That means that all the commands go through, resulting in mistaken button presses, the player running into walls or backtracking, and various other setbacks. Every user had to contribute to make it to the end of the game. And after much consternation, difficulty, perseverance, and the creation of several memes and faux religious factions, Twitch Plays Pokemon has beat Red version. Now they’re going to tackle Gold or Silver. How will that go?! Read more…
Tags: Pokémon
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 28, 2014 in Cinema, Videogames 
It was bound to happen sooner or later — the Minecraft movie rights have been picked up by Warner Bros. They’ve only attached one name at the moment: Roy Lee, the producer of The LEGO Movie. I would imagine that The LEGO Movie’s success had much to do with this announcement as well. They have a lot of crossover appeal, and can definitely hit the same demographic. I’d love if the same team behind The LEGO Movie did Minecraft, but I’m not sure they’d take it up. The news also mentions that the film will be live-action… which is an odd choice, but we’ll see how it turns out! I have high hopes for this. Read more…
Tags: Minecraft
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 27, 2014 in Videogames 
Remember last week, when we got our first post-E3-2013 look at The Order: 1886? The Ready at Dawn-developed PS4 game showed off more cinematic stuff, but actual gameplay was quite limited, or at least seemed to be. Even if it was rendered in-engine, it mostly looked like cutscenes, so it wasn’t easy to tell what the game would play like. Sony has posted more footage on their PlayStation YouTube channel, and now things are coming together. As promised, the gameplay is unsegmented for a cinematic feel, with cutscenes and quick-time events flowing directly into regular gameplay, which is of the third-person shooter variety. What strikes me isn’t the usual “cinematic” elements like a wider aspect ratio or camera framing, but the willingness to use more filmic editing, switching from shot to shot seamlessly, which is normally reserved for a game’s standard cutscenes. It’s still too early to tell if the game will rely too heavily on quick-time events, but I’m interested to see how things turn out. Read more…
Tags: PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 26, 2014 in Fandom, Videogames 
I wish more games got musical versions in the vein of rock operas, sort of like what The Protomen did with Mega Man. Brentalfloss, known for writing lyrics to videogame music, has used some Metroid themes to write a short rock opera of Samus going on a mission. What’s unique here, however, is Samus having a boyfriend, hence “Metroid: Fight for Love,” as though she was Batman on ABC Family. I’m not against Samus having a boyfriend, because a woman can be in love and still be bad-ass. But Samus has never struck me as someone who would “fight for love.” Still, the animation looks great for a fan-video, and Brentalfloss is talented as always (though he obviously doesn’t sing this one). And just to reiterate: more rock opera versions of videogames, no matter how campy they might be! Read more…
Tags: Metroid
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 25, 2014 in Cinema, Videogames 
Audiences were very receptive to The Social Network and Moneyball, so it makes sense to make more films that dramatize how companies operate. In that spirit, Seth Rogen and frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg will be writing and directing Console Wars, a dramatization of how Sega challenged Nintendo’s industry dominance with the help of Tom Kalinske. (Scott Rudin will produce.) With console wars still raging today, this will be a good way for today’s kids to get some perspective on what a real console war was like. But for everyone else, they’re in for a treat, because the story of Sega’s rise to power with the Genesis is actually interesting. I’ll admit that I don’t think Rogen is that funny, but he seems like a great guy who is talented, and he seems to work well with Goldberg, so it’ll be worth looking forward to whatever is done with this. Read more…
Tags: Nintendo, Sega
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 20, 2014 in Videogames 
Dark Souls II is going to be hard. Even if it’s a bit easier than the first Dark Souls, that’s still really, really tough. Past trailers for the series have played this up (with slogans like “Prepare to Die”), highlighting the insurmountable odds and oppressive atmosphere that saps the hope from players eager to progress. But this latest trailer is a reprieve, trying to restore some hope that you might finish the game, that your deaths along the way won’t be in vein. It’s a nice idea, but any Souls players know the truth: this is but a trap, meant to lure in fresh blood to be spilled either by the game or by other players invading the newbie’s game. God help them. Read more…
Tags: Dark Souls, Namco Bandai, PS3, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 19, 2014 in Videogames 
After a troubled development time, Irrational Games released BioShock Infinite in March 2013 to great sales and great reviews, cementing its place on many Game of the Year lists. The additional DLC story, Burial at Sea, is just about finished. So what’s next? Apparently nothing, as Ken Levine is closing Irrational Games so he can move on to “narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable,” likely smaller and released digitally. He’s staying with publisher 2K Games and making a new team with the mere 15 Irrational employees that aren’t getting let go. Read more…
Tags: BioShock, BioShock: Infinite
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 19, 2014 in Videogames 
Ready at Dawn is prepping The Order: 1886 for release on PS4 sometime in the future. It involves knights dedicated to fighting an enemy of humanity, battling in London with futuristic weapons. Sounds awesome, but how’s that gameplay? Two official trailers released today, and while some of the footage is apparently in-engine (and looks beautiful), there’s not really any gameplay. There’s some footage in this gameplay debut from VG24/7 (the first video below), and it seems very focused on cutscenes with quicktime events. From what reporters are saying, the game is very good at transitioning between cover-based shooting gameplay, quicktime events, and regular cutscenes. Hopefully this doesn’t turn out to be the PS4’s version of the Xbox One’s Ryse (a very pretty game with little actual gameplay), because I love the steampunk-ish setting. Read more…
Tags: PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 18, 2014 in Videogames 
Harmonix is a studio that makes videogames focused on music. They’ve made some of my favorite games, like FreQuency/Amplitude, Guitar Hero (the first two), Rock Band, Rock Band Blitz, and Dance Central. Now they’re making their first PC game, a free-to-play FPS. But it’s not your standard arena shooter, of course; everything flows according to the music. Shooting and reloading on the pulsating beat of the music will help propel your team to victory. As the music shifts, the arenas can change, like sniper towers shooting up from the ground. Of course, you can just shoot whenever you want, but it seems like trying to time things with the music will produce better results. The game is still in an early alpha state, but you can sign up to test it here. I love the concept, but I hope Harmonix considers bringing it to PS4 or Xbox One, or even Mac, because right now only PC users will be able to play it. Read more…
Tags: Harmonix, Music
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 17, 2014 in Videogames 
If you’re an early adopter of the Xbox One, it’s about to pay off: the beta of Titanfall has opened up to all users. You can hop into the Xbox Live store and download it now and start falling… for Titans… or something like that. Reportedly, the PC version of the beta will open up very soon as well, although it hasn’t yet at time of this writing (but check out the front page of Origin to see it when it does!). I’ve been playing the PC beta for a day or so now, and it’s been a ton of fun, and has definitely convinced me to pick up the game when it comes out. When you first ride a Titan and take it down, you’ll be hooked too. Read more…
Tags: beta, Titanfall
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 15, 2014 in Videogames 
Mario Kart 8 is (sadly) the next big Nintendo game after Donkey Kong Country Returns: Tropical Freeze. Nintendo finally decided to slap a release date on it, and we’ll be seeing it on US shores on May 30th. They released a new trailer packed full of gameplay, but also some new faces to the Mario Kart world: the Koopalings. All seven of them! That definitely pads out the character count a bit, and adds some variety to the cast. I imagine after they returned in New Super Mario Bros. U, they were a bit more popular. Check out the trailer below. Read more…
Tags: Mario Kart, Wii U
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 15, 2014 in Videogames 
Yup, at the Nintendo Direct yesterday, Nintendo announced another new character for the next Smash Bros. installment on Wii U and 3DS: Little Mac! The boxer from Punch Out! will be a newcomer to the series, but it definitely looks like he’ll still pack a wallop. He’s a bit on the short side, though. His introduction trailer is actually really cool, and I’m glad Sakurai and the team are taking the time to do these elaborate videos for each new character. Watch the video below, check out some images, or head over to the official site for more. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Super Smash Bros., Wii U
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 13, 2014 in Videogames 
Look at that jacket to the right. That thing is what you’ll keep your copy of Infamous: Second Son in if you pick up the Collector’s Edition. Yes, one of the features is an adorable, tiny jacket for your serious grown-up superhero game. If that jacket doesn’t entice you, maybe some of the other goodies will. The CE comes with a cool bottle opener, pins (“badges”), a collectible coin (Who is collecting these coins?), the main character’s beanie, and some exclusive DLC called “Cole’s Legacy” that deals with the character from the previous three games. It’s not the worst CE I’ve ever seen, but I think you’d certainly need to be a fan to appreciate most of that stuff. Read more…
Tags: Infamous, PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 13, 2014 in Videogames 
One of the many reasons I love Nintendo games is their attention to detail. It’s not enough for Nintendo that things just work properly; they want to put little bonuses in there too. GameXplain created a YouTube video highlighting the idle animation for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, the new Wii U game that is just about to come out. (Idle animations are what game characters do if you don’t move them for a while.) Not only do three of the four playable characters have two idle animations, not only do they have additional tweaks depending on which characters are paired up with DK, but Donkey Kong has an amazingly detailed idle animation. One of his animations involves him pulling out his 3DS and playing for five seconds. That would be cool enough, but if you listen closely, you can hear him playing one of four real 3DS games, including Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, his previous game. That’s the kind of attention to detail that more developers need to implement. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Donkey Kong, Nintendo, Wii U
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 12, 2014 in Anime, Videogames 
Pokemon X & Y have been out for a few months, and the only free pokemon giveaway was a Torchic with a special evolutionary item. That means it’s about time for Nintendo to start giving out event legendaries — rare pokemon you can’t get through normal play, like the famous Mew. CoroCoro magazine reveals that the first event legendary is Diancie, a rock/fairy type pokemon that will star in the 17th (!) Pokemon movie, Cocoon of Destruction & Diancie. Nintendo hasn’t revealed how it’s giving it out yet, but hopefully players will be able to just connect their 3DS to the internet for the download, instead of having to go to Gamestop, the movie, or some other event like cavemen did. Diancie confirms a leak (spoilers!) from a few months back about pokemon hidden in the game’s code, so perhaps all those other pokemon will be made available in the next year or two. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Nintendo, Pokémon
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 11, 2014 in Tech, Videogames 
It may have few must-play games, but the PlayStation Vita is one sexy handheld. Part of that is thanks to its OLED screen, which provides a vibrancy rarely seen on handhelds. I’m a diehard Nintendo handheld fan, but even I admit that the Vita’s screen blows the 3DS out of the water. Of course, screen makers are still working the kinks out of OLED technology, and they take up lots of energy. It’s not entirely surprising that Sony would consider replacing the OLED screen with a cheaper, more energy-efficient LCD screen. That’s what they’ve done with the new PlayStation Vita slim model, which is so far only available in Japan. But sometime in Spring 2014, the new LCD model will be made available in the US. It will retail for $200, coming bundled with an 8GB memory card and a Vita port of Borderlands 2. Read more…
Tags: Playstation Vita, Sony
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 11, 2014 in Tech, Videogames 
You can make some crazy stuff in Minecraft, like ridiculously complicated calculators and clocks. One such clock, however, was intended by its creator to be the most “useless” creation possible, one that serves no other purpose and probably won’t even finish its processes. YouTube user spumwack’s clock is set to the approximate death of the universe, 1 googol (or 10^100) years from now. It has multiple stations that keep track of 320 times the amount of the previous station. For example, the stations roughly count out 4 minutes from the start, then 23 hours, then 303 days, then 266 years, and so on until everything that ever existed in the universe has come to an end. Obviously there’s almost no way this thing could still be running as the last black hole dies, leaving a barren universe, but the video does a great job of explaining what would happen along the way. So watch it and maybe think about it from time to time. Or just be one of the many people who will have forgotten about this perpetual clock 23 hours later. Read more…
Tags: Minecraft
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 10, 2014 in Videogames 
Here’s a snappy and addictive new title for you iOS devices: Threes! It’s a surprisingly simple game by Asher Vollmer that requires you to match numbers together. Two “3” cards make a “6” card, two “6” cards make a “12” card, and it keeps building from there. Soon you’re sliding “96” together and swiping around the board in a hypnotic state. Each card is adorned by adorable faces (illustrated by Ridiculous Fishing and Hundreds artist Greg Wohlwend) to some insanely catchy music (by Jimmy Hinson). Just wait until you get the pirate card with an eyepatch. It’s worth it. Check it out here! Read more…
Tags: Apps, Indie Games, iOS
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