Blog Report

Just playing Some Alan Wake, when all this news happened. Enjoy!

Is It Legal to Jailbreak and Unlock Your Cellphone? Copyright Office Officially Says, "Yes" [IPhone]
Take A Visual Tour Of Tron: Legacy's New 'Flynn's Arcade' [Comic-Con 2010]
Darth Vader and Boba Fett class up the joint [Cosplay]
Street Fighter X Tekken, Tekken X Street Fighter Revealed At Comic-Con [Comic-Con 2010]
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition Announced At Comic-Con [Comic-Con 2010]
LittleBigPlanet 2 Takes November With Adorable Collectors Edition [Release Date]
About The Time Darth Vader Robbed A Bank [Screengrab]
Konami Launching Retail Shop [Japan]
Meet The Guys Who Make Gaming's Fancy Editions [Packaging]
Kevin Butler and New Zealand
What Is Daigo's Day Job? [The Beast]
Rumor: Microsoft Killed Plans For "PC vs Xbox 360" Online Play [Microsoft]
PlayStation 3's 3D Games Could Get 3DS-Style Slider [3D]
Blizzard Does 180 on Real Names
Google Invests $100+ Million In FarmVille Company, Prepares Google Games [Rumor]
Dead Space 2's Miner Upgrades, Including A Solution To A Lack Of Bullets [Preview]
Six New Games Unveiled By EA Today [Electronic Arts]
Fight Night Champion Announced for 2011
Microsoft's Take On The Cost of Motion Gaming [Kinect]

Blog Report

Here is some news!

The Man Who Will Bring Us To The Fourth Dimension [Feature]
Dragon Age II's New Look, Now In Screen Shots [Bioware]
This Chun-Li Has Tiny Thighs [Gameface]
Which Version Of Deus Ex: Human Revolution Should You Buy? [Deus Ex: Human Revolution]
The Dumb Reasons Publishers Passed On PS3 Hit Joe Danger [PS3]
Large Kinect Kiosk Sets Up Shop In Mall [Xbox 360]
Does The Gears Of Warring Of Harry Potter Go Too Far? [Ea]
Help Defend Gaming: Sign the Gamer Petition
God Of War Movie Trailer Is...Unexpectedly Brilliant [Clips]
Amazon As Market Research (For The Lonely Gamer) [Nsfw]
How to Hack Your Nintendo DS for Easy Backups and Single-Cartridge Playback [Gaming]
Questions And Answers About Blizzard's Real ID Plans [Blizzard]
A Guide To Building The 'Perfect Arcade' From Scratch [D.i.y.]
Kmart's Peer Game Reviews Gives Power To the People [Well Played]
Sony Explores Alternative to Split-Screen Multiplayer [Patent]
Scandal May Have 'Permanently Damaged' Tiger Woods PGA Tour [Golf]
Rumor: Namco vs Capcom, Capcom vs Namco In Development [Rumor]
Sony Commercial Ripped Off [Top]
Infants Found Wandering Streets While Father Plays PC Puzzler [Crime]
Learn The StarCraft Storyline In A Hurry [Blizzard]

blog report

Trying to burn through Dante's Inferno before the weekend, because then I am going camping!!! In the mean time, here is all the news you have been pining over.

GameStop's One-Hour Red Dead Redemption Sale Falls Flat [Doh]
Zangief Vs. The Universe [Clip]
Dragon Age II Seems Like It Will Be Very Different [UPDATE] [Bioware]
Here's What Inspired Vanquish [Shinji Mikami]
May NPD: Free Is Not Free
Summer of Arcade Titles Dated
Blizzard's Real Name Forum Policy Has Fans In An Uproar [Blizzard]
The 25 Least-Loved Wii Games, Maybe [Wii]
When Arcades Die [Arcade]
Hulu Plus For PS3 Doesn't Require PlayStation Plus After All [Hulu]
Microsoft Takes Third Stab At Showcasing Xbox Live Arcade [Xbox 360]
Bobby Kotick: Frustrated by Xbox Live Biz Model
Street Fighter High Enrolls Some New Students [Humor]
Average Reviews Mean No Second Helping Of Alpha Protocol [Sega]
Report: Here Are Kinect's Technical Specs [Xbox 360]
Square Enix Honcho Calls World Cup Interview "Deplorable" [Yoichi Wada]
Weighing Morality in Gaming [Morality]
When Britney Spears Meets Japanese Hack-And-Slash [From Software]
Hey Ebert, Play This Game [Art]
It's Better To Deathspank With A Friend [Clips]
After Nearly Four Years, The PS3 Finally Turns A Profit [Sony]

Geeking Out in NYC - Part 1

Seeing Rockstar advertise Red Dead Redemption on one of the largest billboards in Times Square it became clear how much video games have integrated with modern culture. Most would think that video games would be last on one's mind in New York, surrounded by an incredible mix of culture, food, and spirits. Should that be the case, you might miss a couple of gaming gems hidden throughout the big apple.

E3 Wrap Up

Click the jump for my impressions of E3 and what the "big three" had to offer.

Play it NOW! - Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Run, jump, and climb your way through Ubisoft’s latest iteration in the Prince of Persia franchise: The Forgotten Sands. Anyone familiar with the franchise and its recent reboot will immediately notice this is not the Nolan North prince. Instead, we return to the Sands of Time era, as Ubisoft attempts to bridge the gap between the first game and its sequel, The Warrior Within. Why the departure? In my opinion, this was done to act as a companion to the recent live action summer movie, which is set in the same universe. After the first hour of play, it will be clear this is the Prince of Persia we all remember, but the game quickly evolves into a unique experience.

Blog Report

How about the Microsoft "Wave"?

No, then maybe Playstation "Move"?

Alright Mr. Pickey, try the Nintendo "Waggle"?

Yeah, that'll do. Check out the rest of the news from this week.

New Promotions for PSP this June!
Remote Control Mario Kart Has Shells, Bananas [Nintendo]
It's Ghostbusters, Like You've Never Seen Them Before [Pachinko]
Tropical storm Agatha opens up massive, horrifying sinkholes in Guatemala City [Disaster]
Coming Soon to PSN Store: Joe Danger for PS3
Whose Car Is This? [Yours]
Man Spends Six Months Plotting Murder Of Counter-Strike Rival [Crime]
Left 4 Dead 2 Mutates Into Single-player Game [Valve]
Teen Werewolves Do Not Like The Xbox 360 [Nsfw]
Dear Apple, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft [Open Letter]
PAX Surveys Alternatives to Its Booth Babe Ban [Pax]
Should You Be a Gamer if You’re Marketing a Video Game?
Marvel vs Capcom 3 Screenshots Will Kick Your Canon In The Face [MvC3]
Don't Cheat In Guild Wars, You Will Be Killed [Mmo]
Red Dead Redemption "Short Film" Looks A Lot Like A "Trailer" [Clips]
THQ Announces Partners Division
Sonic Colors Streaks To The Wii And DS [Game On]
Kung-Fu Live for PS3: You Are the Controller
The Real Halo Rifle That Shoots Nerf Darts [Halo]
J Allard's Parting Advice To Microsoft [Microsoft]
Insomniac's Next Franchise Will Be Multiplatform
Father of the Xbox, Head of Gadgets and Fun Leave Microsoft [Update] [Xbox Shakeup 2010]
Do We Need Fair Trade Games? [Republished]

Blog Report

Went on a video game bender since the girlfriend was out of town this weekend. Played for about 36 hours and put a major dent in FF13. Also hit up Red Dead for some good times online, but the world didn't stop for my gaming addiction, so here is the news!

Mass Effect: The Movie Is Really Happening [Hollywood]
Here's Your Special Launch-Day Halo: Reach Hat [Microsoft]
First Killzone 3 Screens, Official Details [Playstation 3]
Little Girls Writes A Letter To Nintendo, Gets A Free DS? [Ds]
Ubisoft Ruins Prince Of Persia Box Art [Ubisoft]
Maybe The Greatest Baseball Pitch You'll See Today [Japan]
Dead Skate: Code Unlocks Isaac and Board [Unlockable]
I'm your huckleberry
The Sony Situation: SCEA's Rob Dyer Speaks
Blur Punches Mario Kart In The Balls [Clips]
Watch the Dallas Cowboys football stadium implode - from inside [Explosions]
From The Wayback Machine
Walmart Unveils Shiny New Online Gamecenter [Retail]
No More Heroes 2 Inspires The First Video Game Lingerie Collection [No More Clothing]
World Of Warcraft Remote Auction House Is Free To Browse, Pay To Bid [Blizzard]
Code Required for UFC Undisputed Online Play [Dlc]
Unlockable Celebs Will Return to NBA Jam [Wii]
Exclusive Showdown Reveals...Pointlessness Of Exclusives [Xbox 360]
Beware This Ruinous Prince of Persia Glitch [Spoilers] [Glitches]
PixelJunk Shooter 2 in Full Production!

Blog Report

I am doing my best to keep my head low and work on this final paper. Then Bungie had to go a release the Halo Reach Beta... Anyway, here is the news.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta Announced for PSP!
Spider-Man, Jedi Thwart Real-Life Comic Book Villain [Update] [Comics]
This Could Be The Best Street Fighter Film Ever Created [Movies]
Free Comics Eveywhere!
Well, No Wonder Game Crazy Went Out of Business [Screengrab]
Sony Registers 'Infamous2TheGame.com' Whatever Could That Mean? [Infamous 2 The Game Dot Com]
Real Life Modern Warfare: Soldiers vs Pirates, With Helmet Cameras [Clips]
Fallout: New Vegas Adds Hardcore Mode, Weapon Mods & More [Obsidian Entertainment]
Rumor: Castlevania HD Whips Up Six Player Vampire Slaying [Konami]
BlazBlue Gets Its Own Tournament Edition Joysticks [Accessorizing]
New Treyarch Developed Call of Duty Hits Nov. 9 With Likely Modern Setting [Call Of Duty: Black Ops]
We Have A Hostage Situation [Screengrab]
Video Games and the Philosophy of Art [Guest Editorial]
Halo Developer Joins Forces With Activision [Breaking]
Miyamoto On Wii Star Controller Prototype: "No one liked that one." [Wii]
The Perils Of Localisation [Screengrab]
The Cub Scouts Get Video Game Badges [Scouts]
Red Faction's Made For TV Movie May Spawn A Series [Syfy]
The Kuril Islands dispute
This Guy Is A Fighting Game Superstar [Super Street Fighter IV]
Kotaku Japan Confronted by Famitsu and Konami [Top]

Blog Report

As the world turns, I am getting slammed with homework trying to finish out the semester. Hopefully I can finish Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Dragon Age: Origins - Awakenings. In the mean time, NEWS!

Tony Hawk's Tony Hawk: Shred Outed By Tony Hawk [Activision]
Star Fox Dog Needs To Do A Barrel Roll [Screengrab]
Nolan Bushnell Rejoins the Atari Force [Atari]
The Best (Kotaku) WarioWare Games You'll Ever Play [Nintendo]
Do Video Games Shape Who We Are? [Well Played]
Call of Duty Series to "Broaden" Its Audience [Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2]
This Is A Nice, Nice Xbox 360 [Microsoft]
No Star Fox? Nintendo, You Have A Volunteer [Hideki Kamiya]
What Gets You Banned From Xbox Live Until The Year 9999? [Uno]
Why Is Japan So Behind? [Japan]
Splinter Cell Stunt Almost Gets Someone Shot [Ruh Roh]
Roger Ebert Asks a Good Question [Debate]
Brit Woman Needs Sex Constantly After Mishap on Balance Board [Oh Boy]
You Got Lost Planet 2 all over my city
FIFA Promotion Doesn't Get More Bizarre Than This [Japan]
Final Fantasy XIII PS3 'Nearly Doubles' Xbox 360 Version In U.S. Sales [Square Enix]
The Modern Warfare Fight: Your Guide to Activision Vs. Infinity Ward [Explainer]
Teenage Boy Charged With Killing His Father With Sledgehammer [PC]
Microsoft Supplier Factory Treats Workers Like "Prisoners" [China]
Game Changers: Sequels That Scared The True Fans [Genre Benders]
A Place To Drink Coffee With Gundam [Gundam]
Super Mario and Japan's National Pride [Japan]
The Winner Of The Tester Explains Why He Wanted To Win Work [Playstation Network]
Modern Warfare Developer Sees More Key Departures Today [Modern Warfare]
The Life of Game: Why I Live In Japan [Column]

Blog Report

Games Games Games Games Games Games Games!

ModNation Racers Artist Spotlights: Ratchet & Clank Get Girlfriends!
Shooter Shooter Shooter Shooter
Rush’N Attack: Ex-Patriot Preview: The 80s Strikes Back [Preview]
Let's Round Up Gears of War 3 Stuff [Xbox 360]
There's A Ghost Recon Prize In Every Box Of Splinter Cell: Conviction [Ubisoft]
Well this iPhone game doesn’t in any way relate to the...
The Biggest Break Up In Video Game History [News]
A Japanese Game With Goddesses About...The Game Industry? [Japan]
Grand Theft Auto Used To Steer Children Away From Violence? That's New [Video Game Violence]
What's With The Nuns, Japan? [Religion Week]
Giant Bomb Has A Rat Problem
Rumor: Gears Of War 3 Adds Underwater Combat, Mech Suits & More [Xbox 360]
12-Year-Old Runs Up $1,300 FarmVille Debt [A Cautionary Tale]
They Grow Up So Fast: EA's Website, Circa 1997 [Internet]
Why We Call Him Dude Huge [Explainer]
Modern Warfare 2 Map Pack Pricing Doesn't Bother 2.5 Million Xbox 360 Owners [Xbox 360]
Good Advice From One Nintendo Creator To Another [Blockquote]
iPad Wizardry: Jim Lee Sketches Wonder Woman [Comics]
The Thoughts Behind Miranda's Behind in Mass Effect 2 [Republished]
White Stripes Guitarist's Recommendation: "Quit Video Games" [Music]
EA Forms Real-World Racing Team [Ea]
Metal Gear Solid? More Like Metal Gear Solid Advertising, Your Billboard Here [Konami]
Rumor: Grand Theft Auto Developers Pressure Magazine, Writer Sacked [Journalism]

Blog Report

Now that I am through with GOW 3, time to keep pounding away at Final Fantasy. Also have Dragon Age Origins: Awakenings on the way. And hopefully some Just Cause 2. Take it away News!

BioWare's Secret Countdown Ends On A Bazaar Note [Bioware]
Xbox Live Director's Account Hacked! (Are You Next?) [Breaking]
PS3 Loses Linux Support [Sony]
Charlie Murder Is A Great Name
They Brought The Gamers To Boston [Pax]
Kotaku Census 2010: The Results (In Full) [Research]
The iPad Launch Games, Now More Expensive [Apple]
The Possibilities, Surprises And Limits of Playstation's Move According to The Inventor [PS3]
DSi XL Passes The Pants Test [Dsi Xl]
The Continuing Evolution of Gabe and Tycho [Republished]
GameStop Hit With Class Action Suit Over "Deceptive" Used Game Sales [Legal]
Th3 Dumb3st G4me N4me 3ver
Delicacies From The Mushroom Kingdom [Screengrab]
Gorgeous Espresso Machines
Left 4 Dead 2's "The Passing" Adds New Game Modes. Plural. [Valve]
Is This How 3D Will Work On The Nintendo 3DS? [3ds]
Would You Pay Women To Play Xbox Games With You? [GameCrush]
Growing Up Geek: The Past, Present and Future of Penny Arcade [Well Played]
FFXIII Achieves 1 Million-Unit Five-Day Sales
FFXIII Director Wants To Remake Final Fantasy VII [Square Enix]
A New Darkstalkers Would Be Street Fighter Producer's Dream Project [Capcom]
Meet Yakuza 3's Real Life Tattoo Artist [Yakuza]
Spider-Man's Spectacular Game Series Soldiers On With Shattered Dimensions [Activision]
Hey Japan, Welcome To Western Gaming [Oddities]
Mass Effect 2 DLC Adds 90 Minutes, More Earth Teases [Gdc]

Blog Report

Wrapped of the Bayonetta Review and finishing off some Bioshock 2. Cannot wait for Heavy Rain to come in the mail. Lauren and I will be playing through that one togetgher, so expect another hitting it off in the future. But while you wait...

Justified Excitement: Just Cause 2 Extended Hands-On
Scientists Have Discovered Booze That Won't Give You A Hangover [Mad Science]
Sony out(r)age and PR blunders
Collateral Damage In The War On Piracy [Well Played]
Itagaki And Tecmo Settle Legal Brouhaha [Legal]
How Many Gigabytes Is FFXIII's Xbox 360 Install? [Xbox 360]
Why We Play Games, And Why We Grumble About Them [Column]
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc
The Borrower Arrietty - New Studio Ghibli movie
Metroid: Other M: A Change of Perspective [Impressions]
What Your $60 Really Buys [Bidness]
What Ever Happened to That Other Prince of Persia? [Prince Of Peria]
Appreciate The Fine Art of Naughty Dog At The "Unleashed" Exhibit [Naughty Dog]
Check out this collection of awesome old arcade marquees. Such...
American Science Fiction Icons Just Look Better In France [Cosplay]
When A Spartan Loves A Stormtrooper [Clips]
Warner Buys Batman: Arkham Asylum Devs [Business]
Why Apple Declared War on Titilation (For The Women and Children) [ITunes]
Best of FingerGaming: From Plants vs. Zombies to Noby Noby Boy
Are We Gonna Be Together?
How To Do A Red Carpet Right: Add Video Games [Dice2010]
Motion Control in Gaming: Rationalizing a New Dissonance [Well Played]
Inside Grasshopper with Silent Hill and Doshin the Giant Developers [Top]
OnLive Resurfaces: Crysis On An iPhone, Data Centers Located [Dice 2010]
The Latest Prince of Persia Plays With Solid Water and Flexible Time [Prince Of Persia: Forgotten Sands]

Across the Sea: Getting the "Black Box" Treatment

A new post where we take a look at how video game culture is changing overseas and what it means for North America.

Reading a recent Joystiq article here, has me re-thinking Nintendo's dedication to the Wii. For a number of third party developers, the Wii has not been the most successful platform for attracting hardcore gamers. Some games, despite their overall quality and appeal, have been unable to find a market for themselves on the Wii. This is an issue that is being addressed in a number of ways, with a few developers stating they might pull out of the market altogether.

Nintendo is responding to this issue in Japan, by making a second redesign to their game cases (if you remember, New Super Mario Brothers Wii was the first, implementing a red case and selling millions). Now, through a new program, all games designated Mature for the Wii will be released in a black case. I hope that it works and makes those games, like New Super Mario Brothers Wii, gain more attention when a consumer looks up at a wall of white mini game collections. If you look at the weekly sales trends for the best Mature Wii games available (in my humble opinion: Dead Space Extraction, House of the Dead: Overkill and MadWorld) here, you can see why a serious changed needs to take place. It is difficult to imagine why any developer would put as much money into a game like Dead Space Extraction and see so little on return, to continue doing so. And this is hard for the Wii, who has struggled appealing to its core followers. If Nintendo Japan begins to see a change in the number of mature titles being sold, directly correlating, the certainly should consider bringing it to the U.S. Think about No More Heroes 2, who after 3 weeks of sale has only managed to sell a whopping 70,000 in North America.

*note: image courtesy of google image search

State of the Industry: Dimps is the New, New

Alright people,

Anyone who has read this blog knows from time to time I like to poke fun at our old friend Sonic. But it would appear that his name is about to be redeemed, as shown in the clip below.

That's right! Everyone's favorite hedgehog is getting a proper sequel with the release of Sonic 4.

But, is it too late?! Has years and years of punishment inflicted on the gaming populous supposed to be forgotten? Probably not, although Sonic Team appears to be taking a back seat to this project and leaving it in the capable hands of Dimps. A studio responsible for the last 2 good sonic franchises (Sonic Rush series, Sonic Advance series) and not the recent horrors released by Sonic Team (Sonic Unleashed, Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic the Hedgehog 2006).

So should I be excited? I am hot and cold on this one as well. Having been burned by some of these previous titles myself there is not a really good answer. Sure, 2D Sonic has always been the best Sonic, so logically a 2.5D version is the version most consumers had been waiting for. But something in me feels like maybe too much time has passed. Maybe that sense of speed that I loved was somehow attached to nostalgia and not gameplay. Platforming has never been Sonic's strong suit, despite the game being considered a platformer.

Who is Dimps? Well, if you have played pretty much any Dragonball game for PS2, PS3, or Xbox360, then you know who Dimps is. Still not following me? How about Street Fighter 4, have you played that game? Thought so. So, these guys make good games, some would say great games. This studio was founded in Osaka, Japan by former SNK lead designer Takashi Nishiyama on March 6, 2000. This gentleman could be considered the father of the various 2D fighting franchises, of which SNK was made famous by (Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, & King of Fighters).

A moment of concern comes with the tagline following Sonic 4, "Episode 1".... Why oh why Sega would this game be episodic? It just does not seem like Sonic 4 would benefit from this distribution model. Sure, download only is the way to go, following the success of titles like Shadow Complex or S'plosion Man, but Episodic? Really? Only time will tell whether or not this franchise has officially gone bust; but while we wait, there is still room to make fun of Sonic after the jump.

Marketing 101: "Tatsunoko VS. Capcom" Commercial

I absolutely love the new American "Tatsunoko VS. Capcom" commercial. It is marketing like this that I feel does service, to not necessarily always showing gameplay footage. Whereas some past Capcom commercials felt uninspired (like the Resident Evil 5 campaign) for not showing gameplay footage, this on the other hand substitutes a "Robot Chicken" - esque live action segment. Which so perfect because they know exactly what kind of TV the major demographic for a game such as this would appeal. While doing a good job of capturing the kind of high energy, wackness the Capcom "Versus" series are known for. I had some time to play the Japanese arcade release while at Arcade UFO in Austin and that is exactly what consumers should expect if the pick up this Wii exclusive.

The fighting engine is reminiscent to past installments and the graphics look quite good on the Wii. It is rare for the Wii to be launch such a fantastic fighting franchise exclusively. Along with the usual banner ads, magazine prints, and commercial; Capcom has partnered with Madcatz to make an exclusive fight stick for the Wii as well. Essentially it is a re-skinned version of the stick developed for Street Fighter 4 and should feed the need for most of the "hardcore" wanting an arcade feel. Although, many would note the lack of the stick containing any authentic "Sanwa" parts. The picture was courtesy of 1up.com. I hope that the efforts being made by Capcom are enough to succeed, as the sales of this game may influence the future of a new Capcom Versus property. In a recent interview with Kotaku (here), Tatsunoko vs. Capcom producer Ryota Niitsuma was quoted as saying:

"If sales are really good (for Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars) then you can see an announcement within this year,"

Hopefully, this will lead to a new Versus titled being developed in their 2.5D engine which was used for Street Fighter 4. Please bring me a Darkstalkers Versus title or even Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. And if you are at all unfamiliar with the Versus franchise, please consider getting your hands on some of the following games below.

Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000

Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter

Marvel vs. Capcom

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes

X-Men vs. Street Fighter

You can also pickup a copy of  Tatsunoko VS. Capcom on 01/26/10

State of the Industry: The Landscape of 2010 part 3

Really quick, to wrap up the expectations for the rest of the year, I feel I have to mention the advent of motion control. Much like online connectivity, hard drives and now Netflix; Motion Control seems destined to become the next industry standard for video game consoles, for better or worse... Let's take a really quick look at all the different offerings we should expect.

Wii & "The Motion Plus"- Wii Motion Plus has been available since 2009. It is essentially supported by only a hand full of titles and 2010 would seem like the year that would change, but Nintendo has been pretty quiet about it. Red Steel 2 is coming and hopefully a Zelda which supports the motion plus, but why has the focus shifted to the vitality sensor so quickly? It would seem prudent that their hardware be accompanied by comparable software.

PS3 & "The Arc" - Not much changing here, as Sony delays it's release of the new motion sensing peripherals, no rumored to be called "the arc". The delay is apparently for software reasons and that at least puts my mind at ease, knowing if I buy it, there will be things for me to do with it. Expect it to ship early next holiday season.

Xbox360 & "Project Natal" - Microsoft too  has found some issue with their new motion sensing device, and apparently the cost was too high for 'Natal' to have its own processor. Now games will have to give up 30% of the 360's core and games will be limited in scope. Apparently this will not be affecting the release schedule though and consumers should expect to see it early next holiday season as well.

*Note: All images are a result of Google Image search

State of the Industry: The Landscape of 2010 part 2

And the beat goes on as we look at the second half of 2010 and what the future holds. I would of course take any release dates you may have heard with a grain of salt. Many of these triple-A titles will hit a snag before going gold, so these are the top ten titles I would like to tentatively see drop in the later half of the year. 

1. The Last Gaurdian - Fumito Ueda and Team Ico make art as games and their narrative is prolific. Should be a must own PS3 title.

2. Dead Rising 2 - Capcom is bringing back the horde and the ability to create weapons, means all new ways to kill zombies.
3. Fable 3 - Peter Monyluex and Lionhead have a vision for the Fable universe that involves a level of immersion unseen in most games. I felt the last one fell short, but was getting very close.

4. Brink - Interesting theories on traversing the enviroment and combat, with a fresh art style. All good things.

5. Metal Gear Solid Rising - Just watch Raiden fight the Geckos in MGS4 and tell me you don't want to play that scene.

6. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Kojima does Castlevania???!!!

7. Halo Reach - Bungie's swan song?

8. Final Fantasy Versus 13 - I have no idea what to expect...please don't be Dirge of Cerberus, please don't be Dirge of Cerberus...

9. Deadspace 2 - Isaac is back and he has a zero gravity suit that doesn't suck

10. Crackdown 2 - Blow shit up with me!

Check back in for the final post on how "motion control" may try to become a standard of practice in 2010 and on.

*Note: all images are the result of a google image search and amazon.com

Marketing 101: Nintendo Information Center

Ah Nintendo, your ability to reach the common man and cause them to purchase copious amounts of useless peripherals, mini-game collections and arguably the best kart racer of all time knows no bound. With the Christmas Holiday vastly approaching and consumers pouring into malls, Nintendo has brought its Holiday line-up to consumers. You can read more about the campaign here, but I just wanted to say that this is why Nintendo is winning, because everything about their business model screams "accessibility". Do the hardcore enjoy that? Not so much. Many hardcore gamers play games because they like to feel challenged, but the Wii is all about feeling like you having fun without having to worry about “which of the 15 buttons do I push to make this damn game work”?! Its about interacting with friends and family around a TV (because lets face it, this friend code bullshit has got to go) and having a good time. New Super Mario Brothers Wii is following that, although I am not to sure what Nintendo's definition is of a good time, while my friends continue to grief me. Regardless, here is the information booth at Grapevine Mills - Grapevine, TX where Nintendo had games like Mario Kart, Guitar Hero 5, Wii Fit Plus, Wii Sports resort, Professor Layton, and Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Also, throw in some attractive young ladies to answer all your questions and you have sales. In fact, watch the Wii pull out ahead of the pack this December in hardware sales stateside and I would argue this is the reason. Now can I please have a "real" Zelda for Wii???

State of the Industry: “Snack-Sized” Gaming

Listening to a recent episode of Rebel FM podcast, a listener posed the question regarding a saturation in game development and whether or not it is hindering innovation. While the debate for whether or not the video games industry is beginning to reach a point of saturation is just starting to brew, I think it is important to see how the landscape of game development is expanding. Due to this generation’s hardware becoming more externalized thanks to the internet, video games have truly become a part of main stream culture more than ever (much of this is also do to the Nintendo Wii). Moms are becoming the target of many publishers, your grandparents may soon be proud owners of the latest Nintendo portable and our pets can even have their own gamertag. While that last one may be a myopic point, game development is becoming more and more competitive, because there are so many markets to produce for. Publishers and Studios have undergone a lot of changes over the past year, due mostly to the state of the economy and frankly some bad decisions, changing the landscape indefinitely. Looking into how games are being published and developed today, as compared to say 5 years ago and we are starting to see a few emerging trends.


Small Developers, Big Ideas 

Indie Games have seen their share of failure over the past couple of years, but some have found great success on the platforms available to them. If you look at the metrics provided by Simon Carless at this years Independent Games Festival, PSN and Xbox Live have allotted 20% of independent games published the critical acclaim they deserved. Some examples of these include Castle Crashers, Shatter, Flow, Braid, Splosion Man, and Noby Noby Boy. The other 80% leaves a 50/50 chance to either succeed or fall flat. The Wii does not carry as much strength in this scene and once you carry over into the iPhone and PC market, it becomes highly competitive due to the developer base.

Looking at the studio behind the hit Castle Crashers, The Behemoth, it started out as two guys (Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin) making a flash game, Alien Hominid. Less than a year after the games stellar reception on PC, they were approached with an offer to port Alien Hominid to consoles. This would create the studio, bring in 2 more people and lead to the creation of Castle Crashers, one of the highest downloaded Xbox Live titles of all time. Braid is another fantastic example of a small studio, with big ideas. A brain child of Programmer Jonathan Blow, who without any art design, won the "Innovation in Game Design" award at the 2006 Independent Games Festival based on mechanics alone. Then he would contact David Hellman to bring a sense of style to Braid, where it would go on to find critical success on Xbox Live, PC and very soon the PS3. All of this might have been possible on PC 5 years ago, but for consoles, getting games like these pressed onto disc would have been a very expensive process. Some of the hallmarks of this genre are deserving of such a thing, but before their grand reception, it would have been a much more difficult process without digital distribution. This cannot always be a good thing, because with freedom from publishing costs, with each good idea there is comparable number of bad idea, but with respect to opportunity, it is ultimately good for the industry in my opinion.

“Snack-Sized” Gaming

As an adult gamer (I use this term loosely when describing myself), time is scarce to game. Work, school, and personal responsibility; all eat into my free time for gaming and sometimes I can't find enough time in the day to play a Dragon Age or Final Fantasy. Developers recognize this and with platforms like the iPhone, DSi and PSP, they are trying to develop games that are less immersive. A game where you could pick it up for 15 minutes, kill a few bad guys and go back to reality, doing whatever it is you do. John Davison, back on an old episode of the 1up podcasts referred to this style of games as "Snack-Sized", implying that it keeps that hunger we have to game at bay, while we are too busy for a 3 hour grind. It is a small snack for our insatiable appetite to game. The genius behind this is the way portable gaming is pushing the industry in new directions. The iPhone especially has started to affect the common price point of a downloadable title. At first, $10 doesn't seem like alot of money for a few hours of content. Going to a movie costs the same amount of money and 9 times out of 10 the most you will get is 120 minutes, including the commercials. (WTF is up with movie theaters and all the commercials now? Nevermind, not going to rant on that). With so much competition, price is being driven lower and lower. Some games will even hold specials on the iTunes store, dropping the price to $.99 for a limited time. You better believe people flock to that. Steam on PC does the same thing and has also found results.

Now, PSP has begun selling "Minis", "Snack-Sized" games which are targeting the exact same market as the iPhone. In fact, some of the games are direct ports of iPhone games and Sony has received some harsh feedback for selling them at prices much higher than a person can currently get on the iPhone. Casual gamers tend to be the main audience, since immersion is not the reason many of these people game. Instead, it is more of a time suck, a way to make the space between personal events or activities seem shorter. With the iPhone, Apple has the advantage. Most people will already have the phone on them for various reasons and whether your hoping on a quick flight or riding the train to work, "Snack-Sized" gaming will be there to help the time fly. But, as time goes on, the PSPgo is a much better piece of hardware for developing games, so in the right hands, Sony should be able to find a place with that audience. They just have to drop the price of the hardware.

Digital Distribution for Every Console

I have talked about this many times in previous posts, but I think that digital distribution is finally getting full support across all platforms. PSPgo is the latest piece of hardware to utilize it and Sony has decided that this platform will be exclusively digital distribution. Truly, for gaming this is a first for our generation. iPhone may have been the catalyst, but lets face it, that piece of hardware is a phone first and everything else second. But the PSPgo is all about the games. Although its launch was floundered by a poor price point and other issues, it will pioneer a future where digital distribution may become the primary method of delivering video games. I would go into how the Internet and Flash started the entire idea of video gaming in snack size, but my primary concentration was on consoles and how they have changed. Certainly, all games have roots in the personal computer.

*all pictures are a result of Google Image Search