SEGA has attached some screenshots to yesterday’s announcement off Full Auto 2 for the PS3. Why they weren’t there yesterday is anybody’s guess. Click the thumbnails below to see embiggened versions. I didn’t play Full Auto beyond the demo, but these shots don’t indicate a huge leap in visual fidelity. I fear any hopes of Full Auto 2 not being a port may be dashed. Click on the thumbnails below to see the embiggened versions.
There is a (somewhat lengthy) article over at Gamasutra about level design. The article focuses solely on the evolution of first person shooters, but is nevertheless a good read. It’s a pretty good chronicle of the progress that has been made in computer graphics over the years. Some of the key games mentioned include Doom, System Shock, Duke Nukiem 3D, and of course Half-Life. The article details how each successive game added new features and graphical/physical capabilities. Of all the great features that have been put into games over the last 15 years, it fails to mention the greatest feature of all: giving money to strippers in Duke Nukem 3D.
Be warned, this is an academic paper, citations and all. It has more than a few typos, too—do they not have editors at Gamasutra? You can find the article here:
SEGA keeps on rollin’ with the press releases. Today’s release announces Sonic Rivals for the PSP. 2D gameplay on 3D maps looks to bring Sonic back to his early days. Those who have picked up Sonic Rush on the DS know how refreshing that can be. Sonic Rivals offers both single player and multiplayer options. However, the press release doesn’t specify if the single player is based on racing or more traditional Sonic. Also not specified is whether the game offers online multiplayer or only ad hoc—the release merely refers to “wireless play”. It’s also interesting that Sonic Rivals is being developed by a studio called Backbone Entertainment. What, no Sonic Team?
Sometimes, I wish that I still had my PSP.
It looks like I left a rogue ad lurking inside my sidebar’s html. This was causing the page to look really weird if you were viewing single posts or leaving comments. It should be gone now and much prettier. And, I got my first spam comment today! I really must have hit the big time. So, hey, thank you and screw you spammer dude :)
I try not to pull too many stories from the Joystiq empire, but this one is a doozy. The headline says it all: the DS Lite is to be dated and priced on May 4th. Nintendo seems to be revealing a lot of E3-type info prior to E3. Kind of makes you wonder what they will say at E3.
As are most, I’m guessing a price right at $149.99 US. Maybe $10 cheaper. If it comes with a game, I’ll get it no questions asked. Without one, it becomes much harder to justify. It’s so hard to choose between games and paying for a wedding, you know?
In the latest Road to E3 press release, SEGA has announced Full Auto 2 exclusively for the PS3. Those of you with a 360 probably know that the first Full Auto was only okay, so PS3 exclusivity is interesting. After all, if it was successful on 360, why make it exclusive? Sounds like SEGA wants to start fresh with a new batch of PS3 owning gamers.
PR-speak to watch out for (emphasis mine):
Okay, it’s clear that SEGA wants this to be a hallmark series. Looking at the original website for Full Auto, the only actual award I can find is a silver from EGM and a Maxim game of the month. I don’t read Maxim, but if I did, it wouldn’t be for game reviews. Also telling is that the website says the Official Xbox Magazine gave Full Auto a 5 out of 5. That’s great, except OXM doesn’t grade on a scale of 5, opting instead for the 0-10 scale. All the rest of the “awards” were from last year’s E3, when we all still thought Full Auto was going to be Burnout with guns. Hmmm…
Anyway, the sequel will have new features and whatnot. You can read the release if you want details. Who knows, maybe they’ll get it right this time.
—image from Wrecked Exotics. Bonus points if you can name that car and its owner.
My fears have been confirmed. The game touted as the next gen answer to Dynasty Warriors, the game whose gripping story was inspired by Rashamon, the game so epic I would wet myself with glee has been reviewed. The score: a paltry 70 out of 100. There you have it folks, Nintey-Nine Nights is average at best and broken at worst.
The Game Brink review cites lackluster and glitchy boss fights as the biggest let down. Sloppy hit detection and no save points during levels mean that a lost fight with a boss will send you back to the beginning of the level every time. Bummer. The story is apparently non-existant, despite Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s insistence that it was the stuff of Kurosawa. I can only imagine it will be worse when it is translated and dubbed into English.
It’s not all bad, as the game’s meat and potatoes are in the massive combat. This is executed well according to the review. It’s nothing ground breaking and the reviewer notes that all battles can be won by simply mashing “X” if the player wishes. The half way decent combat, however, is overshadowed by the games faults. More depressing perhaps is the wasted potential that was there. Glutton for punishment that I am, I’ll still be renting it when it hits the states.
Here’s hoping the next Kingdom Under Fire delivers.
I finally laid my hands on Metroid Prime Hunters yesterday. My hands have yet to thank me for it. Everything you’ve read about the hand cramping controls is true. The DS is just a little too heavy to be held with one hand. Tilting it on its side for Brain Age is easy enough and works well, but here it’s pretty difficult. There is an option to use the buttons for aiming, but that sort of defeats the whole purpose of the game—that being to demonstrate PC-esque aiming in a handheld game. In and of itself, the aiming is damned good and rivals said PC. I’ve found myself getting headshots and what not on a somewhat frequent basis, which is cool. Landing those really nice shots is pretty satisfying, as it should be. It is a little disorienting to see “Headshot!” appear in the context of a Metroid game though. But that’s a whole ‘nother barrel of peanuts I’ll get into another time.
I’ve heard that this game is easier on the hands if you’re playing on the resplendent DS Lite. Anyone care to comment? (Given the history of comments so far, probably not.)
Okay, as all of you are no doubt aware, Nintendo announced the official name of the Revolution. If by some miracle you don’t know, the name…is Wii. Pronounced simply “we.” As in “wheeeeeee!” I really saw no point in posting this yesterday, thinking it was better to wait a little bit and let the concept settle in my brain. Some of you probably feel anger. Others feel hate. Still others feel fear. Of course, all of you should know that any one of these emotions eventually leads to suffering.
Whether or not it’s a good name I’m not sure. Discussing it with Thomas last night I made an observation that went something like this:
Real gamers will buy this thing no matter what it’s called. Nintendo knows this. Random and casual folk who don’t care about video games—or perhaps even dislike them—won’t be threatened by something called Wii.
Seriously, who could be threatened by Wii? Anybody? Thomas made the observation that Nintendo was trying to create something that would not be considered a game console, but rather something else entirely. In much the same way the iPod is not called the Apple MP3 Player, Nintendo doesn’t want the Wii referred to as the Nintendo Game Player. Wii suggests something altogether outside of the traditional console wars. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s a great name. I’m merely stating that I understand why Nintendo chose it. It’s not like I’m dying to tell my fiance that I’m up for some multiplayer Wii.
In the end it doesn’t really matter, as people will call it whatever they want. I don’t remember anybody calling the NES by its given name, it was just “Nintendo.” I wouldn’t be surpised if that exact phenomenon repeats itself with the…ahem…Wii.
…God it’s still hard to say.
A new gameplay trailer for 99 Nights has been posted. You can find it here. I’ve been pretty excited about this game. I love the one-against-thousands genre. It’s just cool. This trailer has me worried though. It’s several minutes in length, and the main character is not attacked once. No swords being swung out the elvish heroine. Hell, I didn’t even see a sword being drawn back to swing. The enemies surround her and stop. That’s it. Here’s hoping this is some kind of training level to get players used to the combat. Also of note is that the environment is pretty unremarkable. 99 Nights received a decent score from Famitsu, but this video makes me nervous.
—via Evil Avatar
