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Cold Pizza and… DOA5, CoD:G, Xbox One

- Dead or Alive 5 is getting a new edition called DOA5 Ultimate and, among several additions, will add Ein and Jackie Bryant(another Virtua Fighter) to the roster. Sounds like a Capcom move to me [Link]

- The Penny Arcade Report interviewed the devs behind the new Call of Duty and they confirmed the gameplay will be the same as before, just with better graphics. Unfortunately, I fear it will sell just as well as it always does. [Link]

- Since it was a rather slow day for news, here are some hilarious videos about the X1 conference.

A nice, quick recap highlighting all of the key topics discussed at the event.

A hilarious abridged version that has been dubbed with what was really being said.

Finally, this was Francis’ reaction to the event. While this is most likely just an internet personality, he still makes me laugh. Also, NSFW.

The New Xbox Is Revealed: Details and Disappointments

XBOX New

The Xbox conference started off with a ton of key phrases that should excite the general masses, and it worked. The audience applauded as the speaker describe the next Xbox as “next-gen”, saying it would create “new and exciting experiences”, and would “unify our entertainment experiences”. He spoke for 10 minutes using vague phrases like this to incite hype. Every moment during the intro reminded me of Chris Hecker’s silent GDC rant. Read More »

Microsoft’s New System: What They Need to Announce

With the new Xbox reveal airing later tonight, many gamers are waiting patiently to hear about the big topics. Is internet going to be required? What is the cost? What does it look like? Will it be better than the PS4 reveal? But I believe that the little questions, the little details, are what are most important about a new console. Read More »

Cold Pizza and… Lo Wang, Arc System Works, Simcity Hacks

  • The Consumerist has made a nice graph of what kind of privacy concerns are addressed by which big name companies. Surprisingly Twitter will fight for users’ privacy in almost any situation while Verizon will happily give away any information. [Link]
  • BlazBlue is getting an anime. While it is not the team that did Persona 4, the team does have quite a pedigree. Especially seeing as the director of Full Metal Alchemist will be present for this one. [Link]
  • In more Arc System Works news, Guilty Gear is finally getting a 3rd game(yes all of those others were revamps of existing GG games). Guilty Gear Xrd is going the 3D model route that Street Fighter 4 took. Fortunately I could barely tell it wasn’t hand drawn. Lets just hope the gameplay doesn’t suffer due to the engine shift to Unreal 3. [Link]
  • Simcity has had a ton of additions to it in the form of higher population counts, indefinite offline play, and offline saves….if you have the pirated version. Skidrow has release the patch that officially makes the pirated version of Simcity the definitive version. [Link]
  • A couple of days ago we heard about the Shadow Warrior HD rerelease. Today a trailer dropped for the sequel. Devolver Digital, the guys behind the acclaimed Hotline Miami, have released details that Lo Wang will have awesome one liners, over the top gore, and no weapon count limit. We can only hope that the next Duke Nukem game takes cues from this. [Link]
  • Big news for fans of Zeboyd Games or just the Penny Arcade RPGs, Zeboyd announced the release date of Rainslick 4…July 7th! That will be a day one purchase for me. [Link]

Cold Pizza and… OZombies, Kevin Conroy, Parking Lot E3 Demos

Cold Pizza and… is a new segment where I briefly talk about news articles from the previous day that resonated with me. I don’t really have any guidelines as to what I will post other than that I find it interesting. While this is by no means a comprehensive look at video game news, it will cover big topics from both the AAA and indie scenes, from all platforms of gaming. Since this is planned to be a frequent, possible daily column, feel free to leave comments or suggestions.

  • Spicy Horse has decided that if it cannot get the IP licencing back from EA for Alice that they will make an Oz game…about Zombies. The Scarecrow will be the villain(since he wants a brain) and it will be up to Dorothy and her trusty pistol to make things right. [Link]
  • A new company, called The Fun Pimps Entertainment, create a new zombie survival game called 7 Days to Die. It features real physics for buildings(although in a voxel game engine) which will force players to create truly stable buildings or deal with a structure that will fall apart at the first strike. Other features include skill leveling up and a unique story that can be uncovered about the Zombie Outbreak. [Link]
  • ArenaNet has announced that it has incorporated a SkyNet like  automated system to keep Guild Wars 1 updated and functional while the human live team works on Guild Wars 2. Yes, that’s right, a computer will now keep Guild Wars 1 updated. [Link]
  • The Ouya will be at E3 and available to play…for everyone! While E3 is not for the public the team behind Ouya want feedback from all types of gamers(and non-gamers) and will be demoing the unit in the LA parking lot of E3. [Link]
  • Dead Island: Riptide already has some mod support on the PC. The modder known as Adeno has released the latest version of his George Romero mod that makes zombies only die with head trauma/decapitation, larger zombie density, and increased the damage of zombie bites. Also, zombies will never give up pursuit. [Link]
  • Terry Cavanagh, known for Super Hexagon, has released details on his latest game idea. Not much is known about it but it will be a top down puzzle game with block pushing elements. [Link]
  • Kevin Conroy will voice Batman in the next Arkham game, Arkham Origins. Kevin Conroy will be a voice actor, but he will not be voicing Batman this time around. Also, Deathstroke will be a playable character in the form of DLC. At this moment the DLC is a pre-order exclusive at Amazon, though other retailers may pick it up between now and launch. [Link]

Nintendo Is Its Own Worst Enemy: The Failure of the Wii U

Wii U

With the success of the Nintendo 3DS its a wonder why the Wii U has had pretty lackluster sales. It started out pretty strong but sales dropped of pretty quickly. I’m pretty sure most of the issues hearken back to the developer. Nintendo is the main reason the Wii U didn’t catch wind like its predecessor. Read More »

Star Wars Games Will Be Exclusively Made by EA

Star Wars x EA

 

Yup, you heard it correctly. Disney has given given EA exclusive rights to the Star Wars IP for game making. While Star Wars games haven’t been the greatest lately(*cough* Star Wars Kinect *cough*) I fear they can’t be much better in EA’s hands. EA does have some really competent developers under its rule that might be able to give Star Wars a breath of fresh air though. Bioware could make a true sequel to Knights of the Old Republic(I’m not counting Obsidian’s bug ridden sequel) and DICE could pick up on Battlefront 3, which is pretty much a SW skin for Battlefield, but with how mediocre BF3 was(compared to the success of BF2 and Bad Company 2) I fear Battlefront 3 would become another generic online shooter. There are thoughts going around the internet suggesting that EA might give it to Visceral. This could create the new Star Wars experience that the franchise needs. 1313 aimed for a much more mature take on the SW universe and making a horror game would be quite interesting, hopefully with microtransactions withheld. In the end, though, I just don’t want to see any of this from EA.

Yeah, Star Wars themed games of existing IP's would not be cool

Yeah, Star Wars themed games of existing IP’s would not be cool

Free-to-Play: Not As Evil As Everyone Thinks

microtransaction

Free to play. Those three words make a lot of gamers cringe. Free to play(F2P) games have an incredibly negative reaction tied to it when, in fact, it is an extremely viable business model for both the company and the consumer. A lot of the negative aspects stem from the initial inception of F2P but there are games that still utilize F2P to take advantage of the consumer. Read More »

(Update) Gaming Hardware

I just found this video and this seems to be another logical step towards total immersion in video games. From what I’ve heard, one of the huge issues with the Oculus Rift is the brains disconnect between the body and the game. Basically, because your limbs are still moving, but you cannot see them moving in the game, you brain freaks out a little and you experience a strange disconnected feeling with your body. This guy fixed this using the Razer Hydra controller(basically a Wii Remote/Move controller for the PC). Now if this were combined with the 8 way treadmill we would have some seriously interesting games.

A Shift in Gaming Immersion: Gaming’s Future — Part 2

There have been several inventions in the last decade that help increase immersion levels in video games. Motion controls, 3D, Augmented Reality, touch inputs, and gyroscope have all changed the way we game. Some are preference and others never took off with the mainstream or were too expensive to become a widespread phenomenon but its impossible to say they don’t change anything.

Every since the arcades we have created controllers built for specific genres

Every since the arcades we have created controllers built for specific genres

Read More »