Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Johnny Depp gives Ricky Gervais a piece of his mind (Life's Too Short)
know one makes fun of tim allen on my watch...nobody
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The Avengers (2012) watch the Official Teaser Trailer | HD
thor, cap, hawkeye, the hulk and trent reznor ?!?!!? i am no longer sad.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Ni No Kuni: The Queen of White Sacred Ash Official PS3 Trailer HD
comes out next year in the US!!!!!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
The Strange, Sad Case of the North American Super Nintendo
This week is the, believe it or not, 20th anniversary of the release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America.
It's a cause for celebration, of course, but also makes me wonder why Nintendo decided to bless America with its own "unique" version of the console.
When Nintendo released the Famicom in Japan in 1983, it was a...special design. All maroon and gills. I won't say ugly, just unique. So when it released (and renamed) the machine in the West two years later, a redesign made sense. Different sensibilities for a console with a different name in different markets!
But when it came time for the release of the Super Nintendo years later, this idea went out the window. The Japanese design was also used for the European and Australasian markets, while North America got its own version of the console (pictured above).
While the JAP/PAL edition featured a smoothly-curved exterior and elegant use of primary colours both a seconday logo and controller, the NA SNES was angular, its box-like appearance harking back to the original NES. It also dropped the red, yellow, blue and green of the JAP/PAL units and controllers in favour of...purple. Even the bright secondary logo of the JAP/PAL unit was changed, reduced in North America to a drab grey line of text.
It's not like this was a one-off event, either. When the Super Nintendo "Slim" was released in 1997 (usually called the SNES 2, SNES Mini, SNES Jnr. or SNS-101), this difference remained: the JAP/PAL version had coloured buttons and the bright logo, while the North American edition retained its purple highlights and dour logo.
Full size
There are two things that made this such a strange decision on Nintendo's part. One was the fact that, unlike the NES, it changed the design of the console for one Western market (North America) but not another (PAL). The other is that the NES design was, and I'm sorry any nostalgic Americans or Canadians reading this, terrible.
Where the "original" SNES still to this day looks compact and cute, its bright colours mirroring those found in the system's hallmark games (and its bright official box art), the North American version does nothing to evoke the spirit of the company of the time, or its games. And while aesthetics are a case of to each their own, I never liked the NA console, finding it boring, blocky and too similar to the outdated NES it had replaced.
The JAP/PAL console, on the other hand, still looks great today, as evidence by the rush on the re-released controllers that worked on the Wii a few years back.
The North American console was even more susceptible to "yellowing", the curse that afflicts many old SNES consoles as their plastic oxidises on contact with air. Why?http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Because the NA console used more light grey plastic than the JAP/PAL unit (whose top was covered in a dark grey surface).
Not that any of this ever affected your experience with the most important thing about the SNES - its games - but it's still interesting to look back on, especially since it's the last time Nintendo ever made drastic changes between its regional hardware (subsequent consoles being almost identical across markets).
via kotaku
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Kenny Hotz Triumph of the Will S01E01 Part 1
i am blown away by this. it gives me so many ideas. man is fucking clever.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Born this Way - Lady Gaga (Comic-Con 2011 Cosplay Lipdub)
lame but the costume at 3:08 is worth checking out.
Monday, July 25, 2011
the walking dead gane
Telltale Games, the creators of the episodic video game series based on Robert Kirkman's comic book The Walking Dead, have but one screen shot to spare of their upcoming PC and console title. But one screen shot will do perfectly fine.
The folks at Telltale are bringing an ink and watercolor aesthetic to the The Walking Dead game that they say strives to match the visual style of comic artist Charlie Adlard. The 3D adventure game will feature a distinctively loose concept art approach, with textures designed with ink lines and watercolor streaks in mind.
The above screen from The Walking Dead gives us a peek at the game's main character, Lee, an Atlanta man who is en route to a Georgia prison when the zombie apocalypse begins to spread. Things obviously don't go as planned during his prison transport and eventually he teams up with a young girl who has lost her family to the undead.
Telltale says The Walking Dead episodic game series will be unlike most zombie video game fare, a game that is a more personal story built on narrative, but not moral, choices. They talked about an adventure game stuffed with moment-to-moment micro-choices, a game more experiential than your typical horror game.
Players will be forced to make hard decisions over the course of the game, whether to save the life of one person over that of another's, for example, but that The Walking Dead may be the "easiest" zombie game you've ever played. (Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giftale still stressed that the game would require some thought and skill, but that the game's slow-moving zombies wouldn't require expert virtual marksmanship and undead survival skills to complete.)
Telltale Games expects to have more to show of The Walking Dead by this year's New York Comic Con.
via kotaku
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
thorin!
As a young Dwarf prince, Thorin witnessed the destruction and terror wrought when a great fire-breathing Dragon attacked the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor. After slaughtering many of Thorin’s kin, the great serpent, Smaug, entered The Lonely Mountain and took possession of its vast store of gold and jewels. No-one came to the aid of the surviving Dwarves, and thus, a once proud and noble race was forced into exile. Through long years of hardship, Thorin grew to be a strong and fearless fighter and revered leader. In his heart a fierce desire grew; a desire to reclaim his homeland and destroy the beast that had brought such misery upon his people. So when fate offers him an unusual ally, he seizes the chance for revenge.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Balin and Dwalin
Dwarf Lords in their own right, Balin and Dwalin are close relatives of Thorin. Beyond this, these brothers are two of his most loyal and trusted friends. An old warrior, Balin has lived through hard times and fought many battles, yet he harbors doubts about the wisdom of the Quest to retake the Lonely Mountain. Dwalin has no such forebodings – his belief in Thorin’s leadership is unshakeable. A powerful and bruising fighter, with a natural tendency to distrust anyone who is not a Dwarf, particularly anyone who might be an Elf, Dwalin is not someone to cross lightly.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
While most of the Company of Thorin Oakensheild is related to the royal and noble line of Durin, Bofur, his brother Bombur and their cousin Bifur most definitely are … not. Born and bred in the West, descendants of coal miners and iron workers, they have joined the Quest for the Lonely Mountain partly to seek their fortune and partly because they were told the beer was free.
Dark Souls Is Only Kind To Be Cruel
For a guy who can't seem to survive two minutes in the foreboding, swords-and-dungeons world of Dark Souls, I must seem unnecessarily worried about how difficult the game will be.
Demon's Souls, Dark Souls' predecessor, was as much known for its brutal level design and lack of save points as it was its unique approach to cooperative and competitive play. It was a game that created genuine fear in players not through plot devices and monster design, but by the threat of stripping a player of everything they accomplished between levels if they died.
But in Dark Souls players can find safety as they wind their way through dungeons, working their way from one behemoth to the next, simply by camping out at a bonfire.
z
"Don't you worry you've made the game too easy," I ask Namco senior brand manager Brian Hong as my character dies for perhaps the fifth time?
Hong isn't worried at all, nor is developer From Software, he tells me, because the bonfires were simply a way for the developers to make the game harder.
"The best way to explain bonfires is that the developers wanted to make the game harder," Hong said. "Which they did, but they were also very concerned with game balance. With the increased difficulty of play it is much harder, but harder to the point of not being fun."
So essentially the bonfires, which can replenish health and refill life-giving flasks, are a way for the developers to make a hard game even more difficult without creating something that only the most devoted of fans would want to play.
It's worth noting too that unlike Demon's Souls, Dark Souls is not a linear game that leads players along a narrow channel of adventure through a series of dungeons. Instead Dark Souls is conceived as an open world that allows gamers to explore, and die, at their own leisure. So in a way, the bonfires serve the same purpose that the breaks between levels served in the previous game.
And the bonfire isn't always a player's friend.
"If you're one of those players who get to the checkpoint and then fight ahead for 45 minutes to clear a level and then decide to go back to a bonfire to replenish your health and flasks everything will respawn," Namco brand manager Brandon Zien said.
And when those creatures repopulate the dungeon you just made safe, they will come back tougher, angrier.
The bonfires are also pretty spread out. Zien tells me they are "strategically placed throughout an area."
"Just when a game is kicking your ass you can find a bonfire," he said. "It balances the frustration, because they've toned up the difficulty in other areas: The bosses, the hit points, the spawning of mobs.
"That makes this the hardest game. Harder than Demon's Souls."
From Software's decision to not just include save points, but to give them some teeth reminds me of some of the clever design decisions the team made when creating Demon's Souls.
When you died in that game you were sent back to the beginning of a level, but if you paid attention as you fought your way through a level you may have opened back doors and short cuts. These new paths inevitably made getting back to where you died a much quicker journey. It was a clever way of getting around save points, something I'll miss if it doesn't find its way into this game.
Hong declined to tell me if this sort of shifting level design was going to appear in Dark Souls, but said that From Software wants to "maintain all of the good parts that people remember" from the previous game.
"That feature you're talking about was a pretty important first for them," he said.
There's a lot that Namco and From Software are keeping to themselves about Dark Souls. That's not just because they want to dribble out new details of the game going into its fall launch, it's also because they're trying desperately to recapture everything about Demon's Souls launch and its surprising success.
A big part of the game's success, both Hong and Zien say, was that it was such a surprise to everyone who played it. The game sort of appeared out of nowhere with very little interest leading into its launch. It went on to sell nearly a million copies, they said.
Because of that relative obscurity, the game was able to deliver not only a bit of tough, throw-back gaming, but also a lot of design surprises.
That's why the developer and publisher are still hesitant to talk about Dark Souls' story, some of the new mechanics, like the character's ebbing humanity and how it can be fed into a bonfire to strengthen it.
We don't even know all of the game's characters yet. So far the developer has said there will be a soldier, knight, witch and pyromancer. They also discuss a black knight and the Solaire of Astora.
While much of the Demon's Souls experience was single player it had some interesting ways to interact with other players online beyond online cooperative play. You could, for instance, leave messages scrawled on dungeon walls and floors for others playing the game. These messages, shared automatically across the Playstation Network, would warn away from or sometimes trick players into ambushes and falling deaths.
This ability returns in Dark Souls, which will now be coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360. Players will also still be able to "invade" another player's world, taking on the form of a Dark Knight to stalk and try to kill another player online.
In Dark Souls there will be other ways to harass online players. The pyromancer, for instance, will be able to summon a gravelord to another players game. The gravelord's appearance in the other game brings with it a slew of new haranguing monsters. The only way to stop the flood of new enemies is to destroy the gravelord. While the pyromancer can summon this creature, he or she can't decide in who's game they appear or directly control them.
When a player decides to invade another world as a playable character, there are also new and interesting ways to scare and attack the other player.
"We're trying to put in as many surprises as possible," Hong said.
So players will sometimes be able to hide in coffins and ambush other players when they walk by. They will also be able to temporarily become inanimate statues, blending in with the statues that already dot the game's landscape, and then break http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giffree of this form to attack another player.
Namco wasn't able to show me any of the online aspects of Dark Souls in action, but the promise of endlessly helping and harassing other players in creative new ways sounds as inviting as the game's challenging level design.
I think I dread Dark Souls release nearly as much as I anticipate it.
via kotaku
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
fili and kili
Two of the youngest Dwarves, Fili and Kili have been born into the royal line of Durin and raised under the stern guardianship of their uncle, Thorin Oakensheild. Neither has ever travelled far, nor ever seen the fabled Dwarf City of Erebor. For both, the journey to the Lonely Mountain represents adventure and excitement. Skilled fighters, both brothers set off on their adventure armed with the invincible courage of youth, neither being able to imagine the fate which lies before them.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
oin and gloin
Distant cousins of Thorin Oakenshield, these two doughty Northern Dwarves join the Company out of a sense of loyalty to their kin, and also because they have a substantial sum of money invested in the venture. Along with Bombur, Gloin is the only other married Dwarf in the Company (there being a shortage of female dwarves in general). His wife is an acclaimed beauty with a particularly fine beard. Gloin is the proud father of a young son, Gimli, who will go on to become part of the famous Fellowship of the Ring.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Dori, Nori and Ori (holy shit!!!!!!!!)
These three brothers, all sons of the same mother, could not be more different from each other. Dori, the oldest, spends much of his time watching out for Ori, the youngest; making sure he’s not caught a chill or got himself killed by Wargs or Goblins. Nobody quite knows what Nori gets up to most of the time, except that it’s guaranteed to be dodgy and quite probably, illegal. Dori, Nori and Ori are intensely loyal to each other – and whilst they are perfectly happy fighting amongst themselves, woe-betide any anyone who means harm to one of these brothers.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
SONOIO
SONOIO - Enough from Alessandro Cortini on Vimeo.
enough
Ready for another remedy
Maybe not as good as used to be
I will be back tomorrow
Moments stalling for my destiny
Ready for another remedy
I'm not myself today
Making a scene in the pouring rain
Doesn't make a difference cause I've had enough
And all the things I need to say
Never make it out cause I've had enough
And everything I do today
Nothing gets done cause it's not enough
And I've had enough of everything
Tried to make it right and I'm wrong again
I'm afraid of everything
Everything's out cause I've had enough
And I don't believe in anything
Doesn't really matter cause I've had enough
And everything I do today
Fades away
Going nowhere with your strategy
Sit down, relapse, relax you got nowhere to be
I'm running from another
Running from another side of me
Maybe not as good as it used to be
I'm not myself today
Making a scene in the pouring rain
Doesn't make a difference cause I've had enough
And all the things I need to say
Never make it out cause I've had enough
And everything I do today
Nothing gets done cause it's not enough
And I've had enough of everything
Tried to make it right and I'm wrong again
I'm afraid of everything
Everything's out cause I've had enough
And I don't believe in anything
Doesn't really matter cause I've had enough
And everything I do today
Everything I do, it fades away
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
good piece, seriously
Most of us knew this was coming, but for many that knowledge didn’t make Ned’s death any easier. For fans of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, this was the seminal moment. The death of Eddard Stark was a wakeup call to every person holding that book in their hands—no matter what you were used to, no matter what came before, no matter how certain you were in the tropes and the traditions of fantasy writing—this was when you sat up, eyes wide. This was when those safe little Belgariad stories suddenly looked harmless and trite. This put fear into you. If this guy could die…
They did it again. They did it on your TV set. You’ve read and heard the various reactions. Shock. Disbelief. Anger. Sadness. And more than a few calls to boycott the series because of it.
What greater compliment can be paid to the man that played Ned Stark?
The impact Sean Bean had on this show is almost too large to be expressed. For us here at Winter Is Coming he is especially significant, because Phil broke the story of his casting days before anyone else had it. You could say Sean Bean helped put us on the map. We were excited because, prior to that, we had almost assumed the soon-to-be sprawling cast would be filled with no-names, new actors, and character actors, plus or minus Peter Dinklage. Sean Bean taking the role was monumental.
He brought with him his own loyal and passionate fanbase, of course, and he brought some peripheral nerd cred, having carved himself a nice period / fantasy niche playing roles like Richard Sharpe, and Boromir of Gondor. And he brought real acting chops too; he was the sort of actor who didn’t mind getting his hands filthy, outspokenly preferring gritty, physical, sweaty horse-and-sword epics. Sean famously hiked miles up the side of a mountain during filming of The Fellowship of the Ring in full costume, armor and all, rather than take a helicopter to the elevated shoot (dude apparently hates helicopters).
I liked that his female fanbase was especially impressive, and he seems to appeal to a wide array of age groups (Lady Chatterly may have had something to do with that). Which is sort of funny, since Sean isn’t a Hugh Grant smoothie; he’s a Sheffield guy (“Blades for Life!”) at heart, a dude’s dude, and a man of few words who apparently doesn’t mind getting into it and throwing down every so often. (Sean “got into it” just a few days ago, in fact.)
(Is that normal in the UK? If a fight erupts in a bar here in the US, police are everywhere and lawyers are hungrily rubbing their hands together, looking for lawsuits.)
But I have to say this too: while the other Winter Is Coming writers celebrated the casting, I was personally doubtful, and expressed it a few times.
Sean Bean, to me, was the antithesis of a Ned Stark; Sean was known for playing angst-ridden, conflicted and outwardly emotional men. I was accustomed to seeing him with his heart on his sleeve, and Ned Stark was stoic and impenetrable. I saw this role as a monumental challenge for him.
But boy did he step up. So much so that I can’t picture anyone else in the role; his mark was indelible. It’s not a coincidence that he’s been submitted for an Emmy. This could very well have been his greatest, most nuanced performance to date. Whether squinting irritably at Jaime Lannister, or speaking tenderly with Arya, Sean showed us how deeply a stoic man could feel. If there’s anything more triumphant in acting than completely changing someone’s idea of who you should be, I don’t know of it.
Sean was the backbone of this story. Now the challenge will be seeing it without him.
Finally, we can’t talk about Sean’s portrayal of Ned without talking about the death scene. His performance in “Baelor”—an episode named not for the great sept, in my view, but for the single word he uttered to save Arya’s life—was riveting. You can put it down as one of the most tragic deaths in film or television. Top five, assuredly, and that list for me includes what he did with Boromir of Gondor.
What else can compare? Something from The Sopranos? Serenity? Grave of the Fireflies? The English Patient? In The Bedroom? Old Yeller? Maybe.
It comes down to the fact that we, the fans of A Song of Ice and Fire, got more than we ever expected from Ned Stark. And thanks to Sean Bean, the new fans of Game of Thrones got the exact same punch in the gut George R.R. Martin gave us. If not more.
Sean brought greatness to the most important role in this, the television series we always hoped we would see. It’s perhaps shallow to say this is something we “live and die” for—strange, really, in these tough times—but it’s certainly one of our primary passions. We worried at times that they wouldn’t be able to do our beloved story justice. How could they? This momentous scene at the feet of Baelor, in particular.
I wondered if Sean could show me the things I saw in my mind’s eye. I wanted to see Ned.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Well he did better than that. I saw Ned all season, and at the end I saw one of the greatest exits in television history.
What else can you say to that, other than … Take your bow, Sean. This one is the most deserved.
via winteriscoming.net
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Has Transforming Moogles, Recruitable Monsters and Rap
I've always thought that Final Fantasy XIII didn't get a fair shake. Admittedly, it was an overwhelmingly linear journey—player agency wasn't topmost among the priorities incorporated into its development. But it was an extraordinarily intentional game; nothing about it ever felt accidental or unplanned. It did a few things, but it did them exceedingly well: excellent combat, well-produced cut scenes, a surprisingly mature narrative, and quality voice-acting. But all of that deliberateness—of which I was a fan—came at the expense of a certain amount of freedom that many fans expect from the series. XIII-2 is looking to change much of that.
The Final Fantasy XIII-2 E3 demo gave the impression of a game that is a much looser experience than its predecessor. The environments were larger and more meandering, the gameplay systems more varied, and the character models and plot elements especially flamboyant (and often obscure). It's clear that the developers are prepared to emphasize gameplay this time around, even if it comes at the expense of consistent world-building and narrative plausibility. This isn't necessarily a bad thing—but those expecting a direct continuation of XIII might find the sequel jarring.
The demo was set in a sprawling complex identified as the Bresha Ruins. It was raining, and large droplets of water periodically splashed on the screen. The soundtrack was familiar, but very vocal-heavy; at one point it slipped into rap. I controlled Noel, a young man dressed in a blue garb that was very suggestive of Fang's costume in the previous title. In tow was Serah, Lightning's younger sister, and—surprise!—a moogle.
Aside from being a throw-back to the franchise's older days, this moogle appears to serve multiple functions, For one, he (or she—it's terribly hard to tell) can transform into Serah's weapon, either a bow or sword. Outside of combat, pressing the gamepad's left trigger will make him to perform a scan of the area, occasionally revealing hidden treasure orbs. He's sort of goofy; it would be hard to imagine a comparable character alongside the high-drama of the the last installment. But there's something charming about having him tag along. Like many of the new elements I saw in this demo, I struggled to see how the moogle would fit into the title's larger framework.
The Ruins were populated with non-playable-characters, something we didn't see too much of in Final Fantasy XIII. Now you can talk to many of them by using the confirmation button. No more strangers yammering-off whenever you walk in front of them. It had more in common with the way the series has handled NPCs in the past. They were still fully voiced, but their dialogue could be scrolled, and would even change depending on how many times they were engaged. The alleyways, plazas and staircases—full of people wandering and going about their business—reminded me of the cities of Final Fantasy XII. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a return to a more traditional, hub-like structure in XIII-2, with shops and side missions.
Square Enix is being tight-lipped about the title's narrative. The story is quite confusing, and despite my being a seasoned (and enthusiastic) player of XIII, threw me for a loop. Apparently, the game is set in an alternate reality situated sometime after the events of the first title. Lightning is missing. Or simply doesn't exist. It was difficult to get a straight answer. At any rate, Serah is the only person who believes that Lightning is still out there somewhere, and sets off to discover her older sister's condition and whereabouts. There was a lot of dialogue about time traveling, and alternate dimensions, leading me to believe that the plot will incorporate some form of cross-dimensional adventuring.
Combat plays out much the same as did in the previous game: there are paradigms, auto-battle, and a three-character party. But this time, the action is broken up by quick-time-events called "Live Triggers", the conditions for which appeared to be random. Of major interest is the inclusion of monster-type allies in battle. In the course of the demo, I linked up with a flan, a behemoth and some sort of rock-based beast that had particular combat specialties. Switching paradigms would automatically reassign the appropriate monster ally to my party; a defensive paradigm might feature the rock monster as a sentinel, for example, or a ravager-intensive paradigm would bring in the flan. According to Square Enix, these monsters can be permanently recruited by collecting crystals at the end of battles and will experience some form of level-up as the game progresses.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Has Transforming Moogles, Recruitable Monsters and RapCombat also received an overhaul. The demo was a lot more generous in dolling out preemptive attacks, thanks to yet another moogle-involved subsystem referred to as "Mog Clock." Whenever Noel entered within the radius of an enemy or group of enemies (who had a tendency to spawn out of the ground, rather than be visible far into the distance), a color-coded count-down timer appeared at the bottom of the UI. Engage the enemy while the timer is still green, and you'll receive a preemptive attack and all the bonuses therein. If the timer is yellow, you'll enter battle with neither any special advantages nor penalties. And a red timer, as you could probably guess, is bad news.
There's more. Puzzles, actually. Entering into a "Temporal Rift" (whatever that is) toward the end of the demo brought Noel and co. into a abstract space, with a tile floor plotted down the center. The tiles formed a puzzle: each time Noel stepped on one, it would disappear. The challenge consisted of having to collect tokens arranged at intervals along the tiles, all the while making it from point A to point Z without backtracking. The puzzle wasn't particularly difficult or riveting, but it was an inoffensive way to break up the action. It was yet another way in which the game felt like a grab-bag of ideas and systems.
My 25 minutes with Final Fantasy XIII-2 ended in an unexpected way. It gave me a choice. A big choice. Would I attempt to attack big ol' colossus head-on or take the scenic route and try lowering its defenses via some ancient machinery? The game was proud of this decision-point moment: the prompt expanded to fill the entire screen. Fun demo, but I couldn't help but worry—is this title attempting to do too much at once?
via kotaku
Monday, June 6, 2011
Assassin's Creed Revelations E3 Trailer [North America]
god these game get better and better. its unheard of!
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - E3 2011 Trailer
god this game looks better and better everytime i see it. the story has to amazing with r a salvatore involved.
Star Wars: The Old Republic E3 2011 Cinematic Intro Trailer (HD 720p): T...
insanely awesome... i may just have to play.
Tomb Raider "Turning Point" Debut Trailer [US Version]
woah. tomb raider looks fun interesting again. i remember loving the second one.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES: E3 2011 Teaser Trailer [HD]
pretty bad ass, goes back to the ship from aliens
Metal Gear, Zone of the Enders Return With HD Collections
Konami announced today that two of its most popular franchises, Metal Gear Solid and Zone of the Enders, will be getting HD compilation re-releases on the PlayStation 3 and, for the first time, will also see action on the Xbox 360.
The Metal Gear pack, due in November, will include Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3 and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. These games will now feature HD graphics, new art, remastered audio and achievements.
The Zone of the Enders collection, meanwhile, includes Zone of the Enders and Zone of the Enders 2 (and will boast the same improved/added features as the MGS pack). It'll be out in 2012.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Both packs will also boast a similar feature to the recently-unveiled PSP Remaster series, which Konami is calling "Transfarring". This will allow users to, when playing a game like Peace Walker that will be available on both handheld and console, transfer their saves between the two.
The company also unveiled plans for a Silent Hill HD collection. More on that to come.
via kotaku
wise man
I'd never done a crazy thing in my life before that night. Why is it that if a man kills another man in battle it's called heroic, yet if he kills a man in the heat of passion it's called murder?
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
fincher's girl with the dragon tattoo teaser
looks like it will be a shot for shot remake. which is good. casting seems perfect too.. plus trent doing the score? COME ON!!!
Monday, May 30, 2011
white council in the hobbit muahaha
I’m not going to say just what and when, but I will confirm that both the White Council and Dol Guldur will feature in the movies. And not just in one scene either. Just how to visualise it has been a challenge, but fortunately Alan Lee and John Howe went crazy with ideas, and it should look pretty cool.
In fact to celebrate the start of these 20 questions, I’ll show you an exclusive photo of the White Council planning the attack on Dol Guldur! Even if you don’t want to be hit with spoilers, you should still take a look. For the first image of Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel brandishing an array of fearsome Elvish weapons, click here.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning Could Be 2012’s Sleeper Hit
Everything about Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning seems designed to lose my interest. There's the title, the high fantasy setting, the silly race names. The entire game seems like a pastiche of all of the action role-playing titles that came before it.
But then I played it and suddenly I was enthralled.
I suppose it stands to reason that a game developed by Big Huge Games with the help of Ken Rolston (The Elder Scrolls III and IV), R.A. Salvatore (famed sci-fi and fantasy novelist) and Todd McFarlane (creator of Spawn) would be anything but forgettable.
It's odd then that at first glance, second glance, long demo, it's still easy to dismiss it.
That's how I felt as I set through a demo of the game last week at Electronic Arts LA studio. Sean Dunn, studio manager at Big Huge Games, walked us through the backstory of the game, rolling out place settings and race names like Amalur, Almain, Varani, Ljosalfar, Dokkalfar. There were even a few I recognized like gnomes.
As he spoke the television filled with gameplay and video showing off a detailed, colorful world, but one not easily separated from its action role-playing game predecessors. He showed us some neat twists additions in his game, like the ability to sneak up on anyone and try to pickpocket, that getting caught can mean in-game jail time which can result in a fine or lost experience points.
That you can create weapons from crappier other weapons and then tweak five basic components of your creations resulting in something special, unique.
You can, while running up to folks in the city for quests, skip their conversation and skip straight to a text summary of your quest. When you loot a treasure chest you can go straight into an option to compare your existing weapons and even switch out what you're using straight from that menu.
There were a lot of tiny touches that perhaps only hardcore action RPG fans would notice. There were also some bigger ideas, like the notion that you are classless, that your abilities and the sort of character you are is drawn entirely from your choices of skills allowing you to create odd new classes like Shadow Master.
The game's underlying story draws in part on the notion that you are in a world where everyone lives according to pre-ordained fates but that you are fateless. You can, though, find these fates and use them to create special talents in your character.
It's something new, but wasn't enough to get me interested. In fact, I sort of put off trying the game during the nearly half-day event at EA. Fortunately, I finally settled down into a couch in a backroom and played.
While combat isn't anything entirely new it was instantly satisfying. It sort of felt like an amalgam of what I love about God of War and Diablo. There's that clicky-button mashing need to obliterate your enemies backed with gratifying, graphics and clever take downs and abilities.
My character, for instance, could teleport through people, leaving in his wake a poison trail, a trail that was absorbed by enemies as he passed through them. Armed with a chakram and knives, my character was able to toss out waves of damaging attacks. I could also sneak up on enemies and deliver devastating, visceral sneak attacks.
The game, designed as a solid PC role-playing title, worked so well on the Xbox 360 controller, that I wondered aloud how they would make it work as well on a computer. "We're working on that," I was told.
The graphics and backstory may not have a lot of instant appeal, but the fantastic combat system and colorful attacks and specials are sure to get gamers to stick around long enough to start caring and understanding about those things. And with a promised 60 hours of gameplay, it probably makes sense to slowly ramp thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhat up over the course of the game.
There are four playable races, three class trees, each with 22 abilities to sort through. I played around with a few, like planting ice land mines or that venomous teleport, but there were many, many more I didn't get a chance to experience. That alone feels like it will make the game worthwhile.
via kotaku
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Five New Mass Effect 3 Details You Might Want to Hear
Mass Effect 3 executive producer Casey Hudson spoke with UK magazine Xbox World, divulging some mid-production intel about Shepard and company. The info is scattershot; little pieces of unconnected details about many different aspects of the game. Still, they help to create a larger picture of BioWare's vision for the game.
For those of you who want stay spoiler-free, here's a broad over-arching synopsis. If all goes according to plan, Mass Effect 3 is going to be bigger than its predecessors: It's also going to be more detailed than ever before. BioWare's goal is to create a realistic physical world worthy of holding the epic universe they created and that their fans love.
Warning: Spoilers below. This is the point of no-return. Reading past this point will reveal information vital to the plot of Mass Effect 3
1. Mass Effect 3 will have fewer party characters than Mass Effect 2
Don't expect to have nearly as many characters in Mass Effect 3 as you did in ME2. ME2's large crew—12 playable characters—was necessary for the game's posse-building storyline, but was a little large for BioWare's taste.
"Twelve was a big number in Mass Effect 2 - almost too big", says Hudson. "We're focused on a smaller squad with deeper relationships and more interesting interplay in Mass Effect 3' he explains. "We're not going to have twelve again but we are going to do more with the characters on your squad including Liara, and Kaidan or Ashley. And we're bringing everyone back - every main character is in Mass Effect 3 somewhere."
So yes, it is very possible that you might not get to control your favorite ME2 character. That said, every character from the game has a role to play in the story, provided they survived your trip through the Omega-4 relay.
2. You will travel to new worlds.
This one's kind of a no-brainer. Many of the planets you'll visit in ME3 are places you've only heard about in previous games. Hudson mentions that you'll see Palaven (the Turian homeworld) and Rannoch (the Quarian homeworld) in the game. It's also confirmed that you will return to Krogan homeworld Tunchaka.
As you might have already guessed, Shepard will also be going to Earth in this game. Hudson said that players will get to see "a Seattle/Vancouver megacity" both before and after the Reapers destroy it. Connecting the world of Mass Effect to our own, the city is designed to look just like Vancouver. "If you Google Map Vancouver the layout is pretty much the exact same as our map," according to level artist Don Arceta.
3. Those worlds are going to be big.
Reapers are big. In order to have accommodate fights with them, or even having them nearby means designing levels much larger than the usual spaceship corridors that make up a large portion of Mass Effect's locales. Many of levels will include more open spaces. BioWare plans to make the shift in a way a dramatic way, claiming that some levels that are not only larger than anything ever seen in a Mass Effect game, but larger than any game built with the Unreal Engine.
Think of it this way. At least one level has to be big enough for Shepard to fight using a 50-foot tall Cerberus mech.
4. In combat, you'll need to think on your feet
The gunplay in Mass Effect 2 is mostly standard cover-based shooter fare. It was often OK to hide behind cover, picking off enemies at the back of a room while directing your teammates. The ME3 team plans to change that. They want you to be forced to scramble. To do that, BioWare is putting enemy tactics at the forefront. Different types of enemies will not only have varying abilities, they'll use those skills in tandem against you. "Some will provide covering fire for snipers, some will deploy smoke to hide advancing comrades, others will coordinate subordinate units, and one will stomp around consuming its fallen friends to fuel itself," according to the feature.
5. Weapons are going to be much more customizable and detailed
In keeping up with their pledge to create a "deeper RPG experience" this time around, you'll be able to fine-tune your weapons in Mass Effect 3 much more than the last two games. "Every weapon is modular and can be customised with up to five modifications; scopes increase a rifle's zoom factor, new barrels increase accuracy or damage," Says Hudson. "Sling your gun on a workbench and it can be customised for http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifa job at hand." Based on that last part, it sounds like it may be important to not only upgrade your weapons, but adjust them to suit different situations.
Hudson also mentioned that the team has been mixing it up with members of the DICE team, getting advice on how to make the guns sound realistic in varying environments.
Now that you've read all that, you're probably not happy that you'll have to wait until 2012 to finally get your hands on it.
via kotaku
Friday, May 13, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
dark knight rises tid bits(haha)
Speculation about the plot of Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight Rises has been running wild ever since the credits rolled on The Dark Knight, and we have for you today a few bits that may offer hints as to what we can expect to see. Although nothing’s been officially confirmed, some photos and an on-set report suggest that Ra’s al Ghul (Josh Pence) and Bane (Tom Hardy) may be spending time around the Lazarus Pit. And while we still don’t know exactly how Marion Cotillard‘s Miranda Tate will fit into the film, a soundbite from the actress suggests her part won’t be a big deal. Hit the jump for more.
A couple of new images from the Indian set of The Dark Knight Rises have shown a large, oval-ish structure with a greenscreen that fans have been speculating may be the Lazarus Pit. To refresh your memory, here’s an explanation of the Lazarus Pit as seen in the comics:
The Lazarus Pit is mythical vats of arcane chemicals in the DC comics universe. The most common user of the pit is Ra’s al Ghul. Ra’s al Ghul accidentally discovered the first Lazarus Pit as a cure for the dying son of a sultan he worked for. The Pit had a terrible side effect, however; it turned the Prince temporarily insane, leading to him killing the doctor’s wife. After being blamed for the murder, the man who would become Ra’s Al Ghul was buried in the desert. He was rescued by a tribe and a boy named Huew. After this he used the Lazarus Pit to save himself, and vowed to avenge his wife. The doctor gave himself the title Ra’s al Ghul – The Demon’s Head. (picture at top!)
All we have to go by at this point are these photos, so the presence of the Lazarus Pit is far from certain. However, an unconfirmed report on the The Dark Knight Rises Community (via Screen Rant) seems to back up the notion that the structure is indeed a Lazarus Pit — or some similar magical vat capable of producing a monster:
Eyewitnesses and crew members told us of a particular scene being filmed,” the site reports, “where a bald-headed child wearing ragged clothes emerges from the well and pulls his hood over his head. From the conversations, we reckon this is a young Bane, emerging from a vat of Venom, trained by Pence’s Ra’s al Ghul. The years of addiction to Venom builds him to be a massive monster with amped up senses, intelligence and physical prowess.
Once again, the eyewitness report should be treated as pure conjecture at this point. Keep in mind that the above quote is just the word of someone posting on a Facebook company, rather than a confirmed statement from someone officially associated with the film. So yes, this is more “shameless rumor-mongering” than “fact-based reporting” — but would you really want us to keep a rumor from you when it’s this juicy? I didn’t think so. [Comic Book Movie and Screen Rant]
In other TDKR news/speculation bait: Cotillard recently sat down with French publication Madame Figaro. When asked whether it was difficult to step away from her career temporarily in order to have a child, the actress gave this answer:
No, because the need for a child at some point is stronger then anything and afterwards I start up again with the shooting of Christopher Nolan’s Batman, to go back to it nicely, it’s a small role and a very comfortable one for a new mother.
(For the record, I’m sure it’s just a bad translation that’s making her sound grammatically challenged — I’m sure the quote sounds just fine in French.)
So we now have confirmation that her role in Dark Knight Rises is… small. Okay. As previously reported, Cotillard’s part is that of “Miranda Tate, a Wayne Enterprises board member eager to help a still-grieving Bruce Wayne resume his father’s philanthropic endeavors for Gotham” — but confirmation of her character’s name hasn’t stopped fans from speculating that she might still turn out to be Talia al Ghul. Her quote about her TDKR role suggests that her character, whether or not she’s secretly Talia al Ghul, isn’t central to the main plot.
via /film
awesome wedding gift
Jim Lee gave this illustration to Wildstorm art director, Larry Berry, as a wedding present.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
new conan looks so good
it captures everything the way Robert E. Howard wrote it. is is how it should be! fuck!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Saturday, April 30, 2011
casting news [the hobbit]
"I'm very pleased to be welcoming two new cast members to our team.
Dean O'Gorman will be playing Fili. Dean's a terrific Kiwi actor, who I am thrilled to be working with. He's recently been in an excellent TV series down here called "The Almighty Johnsons", and I should let fans of that show know that our shooting schedule allows Dean to continue with a second series next year. Dean will be joining us next week.
I'm also pleased to announce that Lee Pace will be playing the Elven King Thrandruil. Casting these Tolkien stories is very difficult, especially the Elven characters, and Lee has always been our first choice for Thrandruil. He's going to be great. We loved his performance in a movie called "The Fall" a few years ago, and have been hoping to work with him since. When we were first discussing who would be right for Thrandruil, Lee came into mind almost immediately.
It's been a great week, and I'm looking forward to the next few. It's going to be interesting ...
More soon.
Cheers,
Peter J"
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Sony Reveals More Details On PlayStation Network Hack and Its Plans To Fix What Went Wrong
Sony Computer Entertainment has issued an update on last week's "external intrusion" on its PlayStation Network, an attack that forced the network offline and may have exposed the personal information of millions of members.
On the company's PlayStation.blog, senior director of corporate communications Patrick Seybold writes that the PlayStation maker will be "taking steps to make our services safer and more secure than ever before."
That includes "a new system software update that will require all users to change their password once PlayStation Network is restored." Presumably, that software update will come to both the PSP and PlayStation 3 within the week. Currently, PSN accounts are locked out of the system, making a change to personal information and passwords impossible.
Furthermore, Sony says it is "initiating several measures that will significantly enhance all aspects of PlayStation Network's security and your personal data, including moving our network infrastructure and data center to a new, more secure location, which is already underway."
Sony writes that it still plans to have its PlayStation Network back online by next week, offering the caveat "we want to be very clear that we will only restore operations when we are confident that the network is secure."
For PSN account holders who may be concerned about the damage already done to their personal information or credit cards, Sony offers the following updates.
On the safety of your personal and financial information...
The entire credit card table was encrypted and we have no evidence that credit card data was taken. The personal data table, which is a separate data set, was not encrypted, but was, of course, behind a very sophisticated security system that was breached in a malicious attack.
On the credit card details that PlayStation Network and Qriocity do and do not store...
While all credit card information stored in our systems is encrypted and there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained. Keep in mind, however that your credit card security code (sometimes called a CVC or CSC number) has not been obtained because we never requested it from anyone who has joined the PlayStation Network or Qriocity, and is therefore not stored anywhere in our system.
Additional details (and what appears to be bordering on an apology) can be found at the PlayStation.blog.
Q&A #1 for PlayStation Network and Qriocity Services [PlayStation.blog]
via kotaku
On the company's PlayStation.blog, senior director of corporate communications Patrick Seybold writes that the PlayStation maker will be "taking steps to make our services safer and more secure than ever before."
That includes "a new system software update that will require all users to change their password once PlayStation Network is restored." Presumably, that software update will come to both the PSP and PlayStation 3 within the week. Currently, PSN accounts are locked out of the system, making a change to personal information and passwords impossible.
Furthermore, Sony says it is "initiating several measures that will significantly enhance all aspects of PlayStation Network's security and your personal data, including moving our network infrastructure and data center to a new, more secure location, which is already underway."
Sony writes that it still plans to have its PlayStation Network back online by next week, offering the caveat "we want to be very clear that we will only restore operations when we are confident that the network is secure."
For PSN account holders who may be concerned about the damage already done to their personal information or credit cards, Sony offers the following updates.
On the safety of your personal and financial information...
The entire credit card table was encrypted and we have no evidence that credit card data was taken. The personal data table, which is a separate data set, was not encrypted, but was, of course, behind a very sophisticated security system that was breached in a malicious attack.
On the credit card details that PlayStation Network and Qriocity do and do not store...
While all credit card information stored in our systems is encrypted and there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained. Keep in mind, however that your credit card security code (sometimes called a CVC or CSC number) has not been obtained because we never requested it from anyone who has joined the PlayStation Network or Qriocity, and is therefore not stored anywhere in our system.
Additional details (and what appears to be bordering on an apology) can be found at the PlayStation.blog.
Q&A #1 for PlayStation Network and Qriocity Services [PlayStation.blog]
via kotaku
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)