Continue reading Impressions: Civilization V or 'I Wanna Hex You Up'

Impressions: Civilization V or 'I Wanna Hex You Up' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Social games on sites like Facebook are gaming’s newest success story. But a panel at GDC argued that veteran designers, whose experience dates back to the birth of personal computers, are some of the most qualified people to design them – and they appreciate the challenge, even though hits like Farmville offer little of the depth they’re used to.

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It seems like almost a year ago that I first saw Mafia II. That's probably because it was almost a year ago that 2K Czech (formerly Illusion Softworks) demoed live gameplay from the title (which had been announced nearly a year and a half before that.) Today, it was time to finally get my hands dirty as a virtual wiseguy, but first I had to put some clothes on.



In all seriousness, protagonist (I guess he's that, right?) Vito Scaletta had just woken up after a pretty wild night (judging by the various undergarments strewn around his bachelor pad) when my demo kicked off, so I of course jogged around turning on faucets and flicking light switches before actually doing what the game was instructing me to do: Get dressed. Leaving Vito's apartment, I stepped out into a world as pitch-perfect in its depiction of the 1950s -- the cars, the clothing, the architecture, the music -- as I can imagine. So what if the car that I hopped into and the place I was driving around -- Empire City -- never existed in any real era?



I spent the first few minutes of the demo causing all sorts of mayhem. Heck, the very first thing I did was get into a fender bender (putting it mildly) from which I fled, only to learn that the punishment for a hit-and-run in the '50s was, evidently, only a few dollar fine. But my trouble with the fuzz didn't end there.

Continue reading Hands-on: Mafia II

Hands-on: Mafia II originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Three delays later, Mafia II looks like it's finally (finally!) getting ready to launch. It's been a long journey, and we spoke with 2K senior producer Denby Grace during GDC about the development time and what we can expect from the ambitious crime saga:



We've been waiting a very long time for this game haven't we?



Denby Grace, senior producer: The reason for the delay is polish. You'll see the game looks great as you play today. It's just not quite perfect, which is what we at 2K generally strive for. It's what we want to be known for, the quality of our games. Just having come so long, it would be foolish to release it too early.



Are there any specific reasons for the delay? What needed to be polished?



Technically there are a few things: the framerate isn't quite on the money yet. It's just the whole experience. One of the things we're spending a lot of time doing is focus testing. We're testing about twenty people a week. And it's getting that difficulty curve right. We want it to be hard, but we don't want it to be impossible like Mafia I. I don't know if you played the first game, but there was one mission when we shipped the game. Literally everyone failed until we released a patch. So we're really, really conscious about delivering a really balanced, proper difficulty curve. And then it's just bugs. It's an open world: ten square miles, fifty vehicles, a hundred environments. There were quite a lot of bugs in it!

Continue reading Interview: Mafia II producer Denby Grace

Interview: Mafia II producer Denby Grace originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sorry, it's not a sequel to King of Kong, the documentary that showed the battle between ruthless Billy Mitchell and nice guy Steve Wiebe to become the world's best Donkey Kong player. This is a new guy on the scene, 35-year-old plastic surgeon Hank Chien, who's just taken the world record in the game according to Twin Galaxies with 1,061,700 points after a two-and-a-half-hour session.



Chien says he expects that the honor will keep him "pelvis-deep in cocaine and highly desirable to sexual partners for all of my days." Or at least we bet he was thinking that.

There is a new King of Kong originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here's a bit of backstory for those of you who don't follow the hot Baltimore news scoops: Sheila Dixon, once mayor of Baltimore, became the former mayor Baltimore after being indicted for embezzlement earlier this year. One of the main pieces of evidence in her trial was an Xbox 360 prosecutors claimed she purchased with gift cards given to her by local developers, which were supposed to be given to various charities.



The telltale 360 recently appeared in an eBay listing, attracting a number of prospective buyers hoping to get their hands on the game console/slice of Baltimore history. If you're interested in owning a device which is capable of single-handedly ending someone's mayoral career, the auction is still running. Its price is significantly higher than a standard console, but you've got to pay a premium for all that history.



[Via Baltimore Sun]

Former Baltimore mayor's telltale Xbox 360 now on eBay originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Speaking to IndustryGamers in a pre-GDC interview, industry veteran Will Wright shared his thoughts on the Wii and where it fits in the current video game market. According to Wright, the Wii offers an experience that is "clearly different than the Xbox or the PlayStation." Specifically, he stated that the Wii differs from its console brothers in that it doesn't generally cater to long, in depth experiences. Rather, said Wright, the Wii offers "fun toys to pick up and start playing in five minutes." He added, "It really is more into what I would call the toy market."



Elaborating, Wright said that all consoles will have a "specifically defined niche" and that Nintendo actively decided to approach the Wii in a different way. He stated that Nintendo opted not to directly compete with the hardcore sensibilities of FPS-heavy consoles like the Xbox 360. "I think it's kind of cool that they decided to go off and find a different sandbox to play in," said Wright, "I think it's been very good for the industry."



Hit the source link for more excerpts from the interview.

Will Wright on the Wii's toy-like sensibilities originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After a five-year hiatus, free-roaming felony franchise True Crime is set to return (sans subtitle) in Fall 2010. United Front, which is also working on the upcoming ModNation Racers and houses veterans from games such as Bully, Prototype and Scarface, is developing the new entry for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Lead producer Jeff O'Connell describes it as a "more serious" reboot -- and a story that's more closely modeled after cop films. "It's an opportunity to be an innately good guy," he said of the undercover, under-pressure role you'll assume. "That's good drama."



Inspired by films like "The Departed" (see: "Infernal Affairs"), True Crime follows undercover lawman Wei Shen as he infiltrates the triad, slow-mo kicks enemies in the chin, and completes objectives across the game's new city playground. "Is it an accurate representation of Hong Kong?" O'Connell asked. "It's not." Despite referencing over 27,000 photographs, the city has been "tuned for gameplay," eschewing a realistic, street-for-street recreation in favor of a more cinematic and moody Hong Kong.

Continue reading Impressions: True Crime

Impressions: True Crime originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=1/3, Sex=0/3, Mature Content=0/3. All the word games you could want wrapped into one exciting adventure. Take the role of a student at Morphemial University - the premiere school for language - where students progress by defeating each other at word games. Word Duelist features over 15 different word game challenges and nearly 20 students to talk to across nine different locations.

R.U.S.E. is quite a crafty game. It turns out that the recently revealed June 3 release date was nothing but a smoke screen for the real date. The fully legitimate, actual release date is June 8. The game's PC beta began today and, according to Big Download, Ubisoft also announced the change in launch schedule. Normally, this kind of thing would be upsetting but, given the title, it just seems appropriate.



The beta, incidentally, is available now to all Steam users. It allows both single-player and multiplayer action with six different factions on seven multiplayer maps.

RUSE date a trick after all, release moved to June 8 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know, we always thought GLaDOS ran the Portal simulation just so she could discover the true value of friendship, but it may really have been in the name of public service. In the video after the break -- created by Freddie Wong, who you probably recognize from his ridiculous (and hilarious) Guitar Hero video -- we get a glimpse at the likely ramifications of improper Portal gun training and how a few apathetic "friends" can ruin one of the most exciting experiences ever. And here, all this time, we thought GLaDOS was the bad guy!



Note: For those of you who spot that weird frame at the end of the video -- yep, with all that gibberish -- don't bother to decipher it. It's apparently just another gag from Freddie and "friends." Yuk-yuk-yuk.

Continue reading PSA: Portal guns are for trained professionals only

PSA: Portal guns are for trained professionals only originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA Sports' "Season Opener" event at GDC contained one major announcement for the developer's bevy of franchises: EA Sports Active will receive the sequel treatment this Fall with EA Sports Active 2.0 (working title), an updated version of the exergame for the PS3, Wii, iPhone and iPod Touch platforms. The console versions of the game will come equipped with two motion sensors and a heart rate monitor the player can strap to their arms and legs.



User information in this new game can be shared over an online social network, allowing fellow players to keep track of how frequently you've been skipping out on your demanding workout regimen. EA Vancouver is reprising its role as developer for the title. We'll let you know when we hear more about 2.0 -- like, for instance, why the game is apparently skipping out on launching on the 360.

EA Sports Active 2.0 coming this fall to Wii, PS3 and iPhone originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flip's Twisted World is a rare third party game that sets to do something original for the Wii. Yet strangely, it's gone almost completely unnoticed. While platformers are a dime a dozen, Flip's gravity-twisting gameplay offers a unique spin (get it?) that deserves a look. The "gimmick" at the heart of Flip's Twisted World is the player's ability to "flip" the world at whim, turning floors into walls, ceilings into floors, and more.



Majesco has released a dev diary for Flip's Twisted World that better explains its gameplay. It's easy to make comparisons to Super Mario Galaxy, but that's not really a bad thing, is it? Flip's Twisted World comes out on Wii this April.

Flip's Twisted World team spins a dev diary originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Finally, your morbid curiosity about what it would be like to play Street Fighter on an iPhone can be satiated. At a Capcom Fight Club event, Capcom launched Street Fighter IV for iPhone as fans watched -- which made for probably the most exciting iPhone game launch of all time.



It's not showing up on the App Store just yet -- Capcom said it may take a couple of hours for the Apple servers to catch up -- but sometime tonight, you'll be able to swipe, swipe, swipe until you finally pull off a Hadouken.

Street Fighter IV available on iPhone tonight originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Capcom has revealed the final new character for Super Street Fighter IV, and he's ... well, he's a giant dude covered in oil. Like, Hakan actually oils himself up before each round. This has the aesthetic effect of being extraordinarily off-putting, and the functional effect of allowing him to slide across the stage as if it were the Crocodile Mile. And since he's a grappling-type character, you get these really great squishing noises whenever he grabs another character.



See Hakan in action after the break, courtesy of IGN, and just try to imagine the design process behind this guy. Suddenly a green guy who can generate electricity sounds pretty low-key.



[Via PS3Attitude, thanks, Vallanthaz!]

Continue reading Final, glistening Super Street Fighter IV character revealed

Final, glistening Super Street Fighter IV character revealed originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ready to frustrate yourself forever? Learn the game of Go. It's an ancient Chinese game that's over four thousand years old, and games can last up to 16 hours in tournaments. Sounds just perfect for an adaptation into the frenetic world of video games, right?! Well, your wish is granted. The Path of Go or How We Came Up With A Proprietary Name For The Public Domain Game of Go is being developed in-house by Microsoft at the likewise excitingly named Microsoft Research Cambridge division.



We played the game briefly at GDC, and it's actually very robust. It includes a tutorial where your avatar has some faux back and forth dialogue with an ancient Go master, in which he really does teach you the game. I tried reading an old instruction manual for a set of Go I found at a thrift shop once, and was so confused by terms like "ko" and proper stone placement that I just re-thrifted the set. Now, I'm ready to take on Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind and kick his ass.



Additionally, the game features single player or two player both locally and through Xbox Live, multiple backgrounds, and full 3D environments where you can control the camera. There's also an actual story mode in here, where you learn the nuances of the game in "beat the situation" scenarios while heading down a path. The ... wait for it ... Path of Go.

Hands-on: The Path of Go (XBLA) originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Naughty Dog artists go Unleashed originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Promethium Marketing -- formerly the Gamerscore Blog crew -- has released Tweet Defense on the iPhone, a tower defense title that rewards players with bonuses for linking up and using their Twitter account. The title features ten different levels, five different enemy types and six different towers to choose from.



Currently, it's available for $.99, though this is only a "limited sale price." The nightmares you'll have about a pregnant zombie giving birth to little zombies are free of charge, of course.



Tweet Defense ($.99)

Tweet Defense shambles to iPhone originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Better late than ever, it's The 7th Annual Cheapy Awards, the only awards that recognize the best (and worst) in video game retail, nominate and voted on by the Cheap Ass Gamers, the most knowledgeable video game shoppers in the world!



The CAGs nominated and voted over 50,000 times in 13 different retail related categories and 5 CAG community categories.



Congratulations to BannedEpisode and MajorGamerGeek both of whom have won a $500 Amazon Gift Certificate for participating in the Cheapy Awards voting.



Read on for the results!

Some of my friends, formerly of the Microsoft Gamerscore Blog team made the best of a bad situation and founded their own company, Promethium Marketing, a social media and community marketing agency. After working on high profile titles such as Madden NFL 10, Tekken 6, Shadow Complex and Windows 7, they have just released their first iPhone game called Tweet Defense. Tweet Defense is a tower defense game that allows you to leverage the strength of your Twitter account to increase the range of your towers. Your Friends, followers, and tweet statistics will translate into more range for your towers. Additionally, if you follow the Featured Booster Twitter account, you can use the Booster Tower to power up your towers further.



I provided some "voice work" (read: groans) for a zombie and also happen to be the current Featured Booster. And so ends this unpaid solicitation of my friends' game.



Tweet Defense $0.99 on iTunes - TweetDefense.com

This is the type of news that just hurts to report: Battlestar Galactica is becoming -- wait for it -- a browser-based MMO. We know! It's painful, right? The "game" is being developed by Bigpoint, which operates several titles in the genre. Battlestar Galactica Online will infect your internets like a Cylon-based virus sometime this autumn on the Syfy(lis) website for an exclusive 30 day period.



Battlestar Galactica, and its fans, deserve better. We're not saying they deserve a BioWare RPG version of Wing Commander but ... actually, that's exactly what we're saying.



[Via Big Download]

Battlestar Galactica MMO announced (don't get too frakkin' excited) originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Civilization and Spore designer Soren Johnson explores the separation between the rules of a game and the skin that's applied to them, and argues that a game's meaning always lies in the rules.

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Attendees of Tokyo Game Show 2010 will have more to see and do -- or, perhaps, more to wish they could see and do while they're in line for a Final Fantasy demo. CESA announced several new additions to the show, which takes place September 16-19.



New segments of the show floor will be devoted to PC hardware, gadgets, and mobile. An International Career Pavilion will help companies recruit foreign talent, and a PC Online Game Business area will "provide opportunities to present and discuss licensing, sales, and partnership regarding PC online games." Also toward the goal of boosting business, TGS will host an Asian Game Business Summit.



Publishers will now be able to sell games in the Merchandise Sales Area, in addition to swag. The Kids' Area will be expanded into a Family Area, with no restrictions on the number of games on display. Some of the additions seem to be focused on promoting Japan in general: tours will now be available for foreign visitors, along with an Asian Culture Hub.

TGS organizers announce plan to expand for 2010 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This year's Game Developers Conference has two new tracks for the new kids in town: the Social & Online Games Summit and the iPhone Games Summit. Facebook's Gareth Davis delivered the keynote for the former this morning, titled "How Friends Change Everything." With 400 million users, 200 million of whom are playing games on the service, it's pretty hard to argue with Facebook's bona fides as a seriously huge gaming platform. With components like Facebook Connect, we're even seeing Facebook functionality penetrate the historically isolated game consoles, like Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and even DSi.



While Microsoft trumpets the largely dubious distinction of being the "largest social network on television," it doesn't compare favorably to what most of us consider to be a real "social network." Outside of the Facebook integration, adding friends on Xbox Live is a largely manual process; one obfuscated by aliases instead of real names, the basic litmus test of a social network. Indeed, Davis thinks "real identities" are a major component to Facebook's gaming magic. Playing against real people is "much more compelling than playing against SharkBoy69," says Davis. When it comes to real identity in games, Davis says we're just "scratching the surface."

Continue reading GDC 2010: Facebook hasn't found its Mario

GDC 2010: Facebook hasn't found its Mario originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There's no bigger sport in March than College Basketball and CBS is once again stepping up its coverage of March Madness by covering the last three games in 3D. With some help from Cinedigm Digital Cineman Corp, 100 movie theaters throughout the nation will present the games in 3D for your viewing pleasure, but If you don't live near a theater -- or just want to find content for your new 3DTV -- you might be in luck as CBS is also reaching out to cable and satellite providers about sharing the love. This is yet another live 3D broadcast to add to the others this year, which will hopefully be just the beginning of live 3D sports for years to come.

CBS Sports to present the Final Four in 100 3D theaters originally appeared on Engadget HD on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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