Category Archives: News

We won: On The Last Story and American release

Written by Tom Auxier on February 22, 2012 at 11:17 am

A scant two days before its European release, us Western RPG players got the best news we could hope for: The Last Story is getting an American release. The forces of good have prevailed.

We’ve now gone full circle on the saga of Xenoblade and The Last Story, having moved from full on depression at the idea that Nintendo of America would throw away the most critically acclaimed JRPGs of this generation to cautious, restrained optimism at the idea that Xenoblade would release as a Gamestop exclusive to now, finally, acceptance thanks to Nintendo and XSeed coming together to bring The Last Story to America.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that the JRPG has been at best mediocre across the board, at worst utterly decrepit on modern consoles. Sure, it’s experienced a renaissance on handhelds, with brilliant, top five JRPG of all time caliber games like Radiant Historia, but these games did nothing but reinforce the trope that the JRPG was a relic of the past. The “best” console JRPG of the generation, Mistwalker’s Lost Odyssey, felt like a good title lost at sea trying to find relevance in a market that didn’t desire it. By …

Mechwarrior: Tactics announced, internet goes into shock from ‘mech overdose

Written by Dylan Holmes on February 21, 2012 at 10:29 pm

At 11:00 AM PST, the timer on the Mechwarrior: Tactics Teaser Site hit zero, revealing a press release detailing exactly what the mysterious title would be all about.

“MechWarrior Tactics is a brand-new MechWarrior game set in the BattleTech® universe and includes everything you love about MechWarrior,” the announcement began. “MechWarrior Tactics is the latest evolution of turn-based strategy and blends tactical gameplay, deep collectability, and unique online features, and is set against visually stunning environments for the supreme MechWarrior battle experience. Players earn, collect, and purchase combat and aesthetic resources to outfit each Mech and prepare for the next online battle.”

A short features list confirmed that each player would have access to a full “‘Mech bay” of customizable BattleMechs, and that the game would feature a leveling progression system that allows the player to unlock more ‘mechs, parts, and (unconfirmed) hats. The game will be Free to Play, meaning that players will presumably be able to buy enhancements rather than earning them through gameplay. No word yet on how developers Roadhouse Interactive and A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games plan on addressing the usual “play to win” concerns.

This marks the fourth upcoming free-to-play ‘Mech title, joining co-licensee Mechwarrior Online along with spiritual …

Should Games Reexamine the “Super Soldier?”

Written by Dylan Holmes on February 18, 2012 at 7:25 pm

Few tropes are as prevalent in the action game as the super-soldier. While early shooters didn’t even bother to explain why the player character could absorb a dozen bullets, the last decade has seen more and more games try to justify the protagonist’s apparent superpowers. From the nano-augmented hero of Deus Ex to Halo’s cyborg protagonist, we’ve seen more and more games use emerging technologies to shape the player’s abilities.

This week, The Atlantic published “More Than Human? The Ethics of Biologically Enhancing Soldiers,” an article on the many sticky questions raised by the creation of more-than-human warriors. The Atlantic only skims the surface of these issues, but the article still contains more depth than pretty much any video game that tackles the subject, save perhaps the aforementioned Deus Ex series.

Not every game should be an in-depth exploration of technological ethics, of course, but the fact that such games are practically nonexistent seems curious. Perhaps game developers are afraid that engaging with the politics of warfare will create sales-damaging controversy, as happened with Six Days in Fallujah. The brisk sales of Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the Metal Gear Solid series show that games can engage with real-world political issues and …

Assassin’s Creed 3 is true, speculation is permitted

Written by Jordan Hedges on February 17, 2012 at 10:19 am

It’s hard to decide whether to praise or berate Ubisoft for putting out an announcement for AC3 with nothing more than a release date (October 30th) and the news that it’s been in development for three years. The fact that game announcements can even happen like this especially coming from a company that could afford twenty seven marketing departments if they were needed is truly surprising. Whether you’re Half Life 3 or Primal Rage 2, it doesn’t make sense to announce a new product without at least something for people to look at or some news to get excited about even if it’s teaser trailer with some simple motion graphics of the game’s title or juicy details like, “Assassin’s Creed 3 will feature a third hidden blade hidden in the new protagonist’s boot!” Everyone already knew AC3 was coming out this year, but it just seems like the inevitable kickass trailer we’re going to get at E3 this year has been soiled by this squeezed-out fart of an announcement.

That said, it’s a few days later and we’ve had time to calm down.

You are the main character in Fire Emblem Awakening

Written by Daryl Heard on February 10, 2012 at 12:49 pm

Details on the new Fire Emblem for the 3DS have been scarce after Nintendo revealed it during their 3DS conference last year, but Jump finally gives us a clue as to what the game is about. Fire Emblem: Kakusei, or Fire Emblem: Awakening, like many Fire Emblem games before it puts a huge emphasis on dragons in it’s synopsis.

“Two sleeping dragons — one a sacred ally of mankind, the other its sworn destroyer. Two heroes marked with symbols of the dragons. Their meeting heralds the dragons’ awakening — and the world’s ending.”

The two dragons are a mystery, but I assume the two heroes are the two main characters of the game. The first main character is Krom, the prince of the Kingdom of Iris. Like all the main characters in the series he is a Lord with a fitting patch of blue hair like many other before him. The other main character is the player’s nameless, customizable warrior. New to the series, Awakening lets you create your own unit who’s gender, face, and other features are decided by the player.

Some thoughts about Double Fine’s Kickstarter campaign

Written by Tom Auxier on February 8, 2012 at 10:24 pm

Here’s my first little conundrum about Double Fine’s recently announced Kickstarter campaign to fund a new retro adventure game: should journalists support it?

It’s an interesting ethical question. Lots of folk got upset when Jessica Chobot was announced as a character in Mass Effect 3 mere weeks after she previewed the game for IGN. So the question is: is it ethical for journalists to financially back a project that they might one day be covering for their news site of choice?

While at first I was kind of horrified by the idea, it doesn’t seem so bad after I gave it a minute. There’s a difference between becoming physically involved in the development process of a game, benefiting if the game succeeds, and paying money to play a game. Sure, they say they’ll listen to feedback in the private discussion community, but I’ve heard stories about similar things happening all the time: people go to play previews of certain games, tell the developer something wasn’t working right, and the developer fixes it. It’s the same sort of idea.

But it opens up an even more interesting question: should developers be listening to their fans?

It’s generally accepted, least round these parts, that video games …

Persona 4: The Golden has lots and lots of bikes

Written by Daryl Heard on February 1, 2012 at 6:40 pm

Persona 4: The Golden seems to be adding a lot of new things that weren’t included in the original Persona 4, one of them being bikes. That’s right, bikes. At some point in the game you can obtain a bike license which can be used to travel to more places and trigger new events. You can even use the bikes to beat down Shadows, but I’m not sure how the party will sneak them into the TV at Junes. To be honest, I think the bikes are silly. Of all the things you could add to Persona 4: The Golden you add bikes? They don’t take anything away from the game though, so I probably shouldn’t complain.

Aside from that, animation studio Madhouse is creating a new opening for The Golden which includes more bikes, rainbows, and kaleidoscopes so far. From my experience, Madhouse’s animation in anime is usually pretty decent. They’re no SHAFT, but I trust they’ll get the job done with Persona 4: The Golden.

Zynga responds to Nimblebit’s copycat call out

Written by Jordan Hedges on February 1, 2012 at 5:04 pm

The drama continues between indie dev NimbleBit and Zynga. Infographics have been sent and accusations have been made. In an interview with VentureBeat, CEO of Zynga Mark Pincus has stated that his company is not simply copying other developers’ games, but improving upon them.

Bungie ends Halo stat tracking March 31st

Written by Jordan Hedges on January 31, 2012 at 11:34 pm

Bungie is ready to hand off the last of its connection to the Halo series to 343 Industries, who will be handling development of future games. As of March 31st 343 will be tracking Halo multiplayer stats on Halo Waypoint.

1916: World War I with dinosaurs and demons

Written by Jordan Hedges on January 30, 2012 at 12:01 pm

It may surprise you that 1916: Der Unbekannte Krieg (‘The War You Never Knew’) is not the first game to add dinosaurs into a game about one of the world wars. As the second game I’ve seen in the dinosaurs+world wars genre (which I hope one day is a real thing), 1916 is taking a significantly less silly approach than Dino D-Day. As a ‘first person avoider’ game, 1916 places you in the shoes of a terrified soldier trying desperately to locate the nearest ladder out of the trenches. Why is our protagonist’s goal to find what would normally be the quickest way to get shot during WWI?

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