An epic tale has ended. The vile Archdemon has been defeated. The Blight is over. Ferelden has been saved. One would think now would be the time to kick back with a wench, a frosty mug of ale and just relax, right? Oh, silly Grey Warden – a hero’s job is never done! But is Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening worth strapping on the chainmail and taking up the longsword again? That all depends; what’s your tolerance for floating teeth and phantom models?
It seems like each time they release a successful football simulator, professional or college, they always feel the sting of the legal paddle.
To commemorate the release of Madden NFL 11, a class action lawsuit by almost 6,000 retired NFL players has been filed against EA for the use of player likenesses in Madden 09’s historic teams.
Let’s face it, folks: BioWare does not have the most stellar track record when it comes to downloadable content for their games. The DLC for the first Mass Effect was poorly implemented and questionably priced, and Dragon Age: Origins‘ day-one paid DLC sent gamers into a mild uproar. The first paid DLC for Mass Effect 2 fared better (we liked it, anyway), but people want to get decent mileage when they pay a premium for additional content, and Kasumi’s Stolen Memory mission was over all too quickly. BioWare has claimed that the Overlord DLC pack is a more substantial offering, but is it really worth your $7 (or the equivalent in Microsoft/BioWare Space Bucks, anyway)?
(You may recall a story we posted a couple of months ago concerning the DRM in EA’s Command & Conquer 4, where a constant internet connection is required in order to play the game. In what will likely become a regular segment until EA, and others, come up with a solution to pirating that doesn’t hinder the consumer, I present to you with a harrowing tale straight from my own life, centered this time around EA’s ever popular Sims franchise. Enjoy.)
My girlfriend loves The Sims. Though it’s a statement that certainly ranks somewhere in the “Top 10 Most Commonly Stated Sentences of All Time,” the truth and validity of it remains unwavering. Most anytime we are parked on the sofa watching TV, she is simulating God on her laptop. If she is not, you can almost sense her desire to be doing so. And since her game of choice doesn’t hog the TV or require her to use the high-end PC in the bedroom, she gets to spend a lot of time playing it. There are many nights where she is only half-there on the couch watching a movie with me; her consciousness somewhere else, watching over numerous little lives.
This was all well, until one morning when we awoke to find her laptop refusing to power on. It was probably time for an upgrade anyway, so we drove to our nearest corporate megastore in order to pick out a young new laptop to take home. We found one that she liked and that was well-priced, but it didn’t include a DVD drive of any kind. Though I had prepared my speech on “Cloud” theory and how owning physical media would be dead as soon as we entered our species’ Enlightened Years, I instead assured her that we would have no problem getting The Sims 3 on her new laptop.
It’s hard to keep a secret in the video game industry these days. We’ve known for months that a Dragon Age sequel was forthcoming, though any sane gamer could easily have guessed as much, considering the success of Origins. Still, we’d yet to receive any actual information surrounding the rather informally announced game – until now.
Yesterday, Game Informer revealed Dragon Age II on the cover of its August 2010 issue and offered the first concrete details on the sequel. On top of that, BioWare has also launched an official website for Dragon Age II. The new website doesn’t have much content on it at the moment (just some concept art and a brief description of the game), but it does promise that a debut trailer is coming on July 17th. For more information on Dragon Age II, check out Game Informer‘s really goofy-lookingDragon Age II hub page. Seriously, I think I used that same script-y font and parchment background for the invitations to my birthday party when I was in middle school.
Skateboarding video games have a storied history. Reaching critical mass with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in 1999, the genre has experienced twists and turns that include the likes of Thrasher: Skate and Destroy to ESPN X Games Skateboarding on the PlayStation 2. EA Black Box’s Skate opened a new chapter for tired skateboarding-flavored games by introducing an innovative, mind-bending analog stick-based trick system and realistic physics that complimented the believable environments, bucking the ever-intensifying wild and ridiculous style trending in the Tony Hawk titles.
So EA just revealed a new gameplay video for Dead Space 2. The short version: it looks fucking phenomenal.
Isaac gets attacked by necromorphs (*spoiler alert*), then proceeds to turn them into little chunks suitable for stew or perhaps a borscht. It all looks fantastic and showcases many new features such as the Javelin, some actually different environments, the fact that Kinesis doesn’t suck anymore (pinning a Slasher to the wall with its own severed arm, FTW!!!) and plenty more of that crazy awesome presentation we’ve come to expect from the franchise.
But hands-down the best part of the video is the fact that it showcases exactly the kind of gameplay, scares and gruesomeness fans of the original game have been clamoring for. So all that worrying about Dead Space 2 turning into another Resident Evil 5 (i.e. not scary, too much ammo and shooting, etc…) appears to have been for nothing. Of course it’s still too soon to tell as the game isn’t slated for release until January 25th, 2011, but I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say it’s probably going to become my new most favoritest game ever. Just a hunch.
One pre-E3 presser down, two more to go. Well, today, at least. If we add in tomorrow, we’re looking at four more. Five if you count Konami’s after E3 starts proper. But enough number countery – time for the next one!
Next up is Electronic Arts. The event kicks off at 2pm Pacific/5pm Eastern. We’ll once again be firing up the liveblog about 15 minutes early to give everybody a chance to get settled in. The last one was a blast. This will hopefully be just as blast-y.
Another Summer is upon us and along with the customary triple shot of shorts, suntan lotion and stifling heat comes yet another alliterative hat-trick in the form of the video game industry’s biggest trade show: the Electronic Entertainment Expo – E3 2010 is here.
And even though CFD! can’t be in Los Angeles this year, we’re going to do our best again to cover things from afar (while silently assembling our master plan to dominate the show floor next year). What does that mean to all of you, our loyal readers? We’re going to run down all of the details just under the jump. See you there.
UPDATE: So it seems that Ars Technica has a deep-cover mole reporting that the keyboards in question will actually be a – brace for it – keytar! Yep, no keyboard stand for you, buddy. throw a guitar strap on and you too can be diving off the couch and duck-walking across the stage as you tickle the virtual ivories.
Also, more information was mentioned regarding the rumors of a new “Pro” mode that would teach actual instrument skills.
Lastly, it looks like Mad Catz, in a continuing bid to shake their former image as purveyors of shoddy hardware, will be handling all of the peripheral duties for Rock Band 3, leaving EA and MTV Games to focus on the software side of the game alone. Multiple bundle configurations, independent of software, are rumored.
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A two-song demo ( “Welcome to Paradise” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” to be specific) for the upcoming Green Day: Rock Band hit the Xbox Live Marketplace for Gold members yesterday and Harmonix seems to have tacked-on a small, but significant tease for Rock Band 3.
You see, upon exiting the demo, the familiar Rock Band line-up of circular instrument icons next to a very large number “3.” However, rather than the standard four (bass, drums, guitar and vocals), there are now five icons. What’s the fifth? Why, those look like piano keys to us! Also, the vocal icon now shows three mics, apparently confirming rumors that the three-part harmonies from The Beatles: Rock Band will be entering the main game.
Substance? What’s that? The first trailer of People Can Fly and Epic’s upcoming shooter, Bulletstorm, is pure style. Want to fill a guy with lead before tossing him against a giant cactus? Sure! How about yanking him toward you with an electro-leash before kicking him into the maw of a hungry plant monster? Why not! And on top of it all, points! Points for everything!
And what better soundtrack for an over-the-top crazy shooter than some good old-fashioned (read: circa 1992) industrial metal? If I could go back in time to ’92 and show my 16 year old self this video with Nine Inch Nails’ “Wish” blasting in the background, I think my head would have exploded, showering current-day me in chunks of skull and gore.
…and then a descriptive score bonus would appear over my gushing neck-stump. Yep. Bulletstorm.
That VideoGame Blog reports that, according to the recently released fiscal statement/release schedule from EA, Dead Space 2 will be slated for a release sometime in early 2011. Cue the violins.
Now, I loved the original game. It’s the first (and is so far my only) game where I’ve achieved a full Gamerscore. I even purchased the PS3 version just so I could play it again and get a Platinum trophy. I’ve completed Impossible Mode while simultaneously getting the One Gun achievement. I’ve watched the animated comics and the movie. The only thing keeping me from outright purchasing the DVD or the graphic novel is an extreme lack of money. I think it’s safe to say I’m a fan.
But as much as I adore all things Dead Space, I’m okay with this news. Sure it means I won’t get to play Dead Space 2 this year, but there are a lot of other top-tier games between now and December. I’ll have a lot to keep me busy. Besides the longer they work on it, the more polished (i.e. better) it should become. And I’d rather play a game that rivals the original in terms of production values, visuals, atmosphere and so on than one that falls just short of the mark.
You know, I had planned to start this whole thing off with some manner of Ren & Stimpy reference but you kids today – with your Halos and your Duty Callings – probably wouldn’t care. Those of you who do know understand where I’d be going with this, however.
Regardless, as anyone who played the first Dead Space/watched the animated film/read the comics/bought the Happy Meal/peeled the game piece off of the 44oz Slurpee cup would know, contact with The Marker is a bad idea. In fact, what is it about these ominous, enigmatic space monuments that always causes problems? One minute everything’s fine, the next – “My God! It’s full of stars!”
Well, it seems that poor ol’ Isaac Clarke didn’t make it off the Ishimura without some kind of permanent mental health issues, as evidenced by this first teaser for Dead Space 2. Also, we get our first look at his unmasked face. Not exactly an exciting revelation, but I’m sure it just invalidated somebody’s Dead Space slashfics and fan art, so who am I to say?
I’m always looking for any and all excuses to put Mass Effect 2 back in my 360′s disc tray. So it’s no surprise that I was more than happy to give the new DLC involving the enigmatic Kasumi Goto a try. As the download began I was struck with all of the prerequisite concerns: How long will it be? Will it be as good and memorable as the other squad missions? Will I actually give a crap about Kasumi?
Like any good tease I’m going to make you wait for the answers to these questions, but I can tell you right now they aren’t a bunch of “Noes”. Or “Yeses” for that matter.
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