Blog Posts from "Hellforge"

Polish Newspaper Expresses Outrage at Bioshock 2’s “Anti-Christian Values”

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:23:00 -0500

"Scandal. In the game Bioshock 2, children are used and murdered. Little girls are used like dogs looking for drugs for their masters."

Aforementioned is the wordy headline used by major regional Polish newspaper Gazeta Lubuska, which expressed its outrage at Bioshock 2 in an editorial today.

Bemoaning the game’s lack of Christian (or Catholic) values, the newspaper describes Bioshock 2’s core gameplay as the Big Daddy’s use of little girls, trapped into inhumane lives and forced to seek out drugs for their masters in a “world without rules, in a country without God, faith and no moral principles”.

The story came to the attention of the writer after one “terrified internet user” contacted them to express his disgust and disapproval of the game as his son wished to play it upon its release. “My son asked me about it (the game), but as I learned what it contained, it scared me,” he wrote in.

He had learned that in Bioshock 2, some small children extract the drugs from the bodies of dead men, and that the vast majority of the characters consisted of drug addicts (splicers) who attack the Little Sisters to attain what they want. The protagonist is the Big Daddy, who can, as he expresses his disgust, “reportedly use children.” He described the game as consisting of little more than “Drug addicts, lunatics, whose sole purpose is to acquire ‘territory’”.

Further research by the author revealed that the game was also promoting what he calls “Anti-Catholic values”, as the game is set in the city of Rapture, one devoid of rules and principles. Clearly missing the whole point of the story and its critique of Ayn Rand’s Objectivist movement, the writer asks if the game promotes Satanism and “extreme liberalism”.

Though the writer finally lauds the game for having good graphics, he can’t help but express his ‘shock’ with the game’s supposed ‘message’ and asks why such provocative content should be in the realm of video games. Clearly, video games are all made for children and thus deserve no artistic merit.

The newspaper has since asked Cenega Poland, which distributes and sells the game in the country, for a comment on the allegations.

Source: polygamia.pl

Fallout: New Vegas Set For Fall 2010, Teaser Trailer Revealed

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:27:14 -0500

Development of Fallout: New Vegas over at Obsidian Entertainment (which will hereby be known as "Bethesda Jr.") has been kept under wraps for quite some time since its announcement by Bethesda early last year. What we do know of the game is that it'll be set in the post-apocalyptic wreckage of Las Vegas, and judging from the trailer, it looks like the New California Republic plans to wage a war of conquest against its inhabitants.

War, indeed, never changes.

Happily, what we do know is that the game is set for a Fall 2010 release on the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 platforms, and that it's going to be something of a marked improvement over the original Fallout 3 experience.

Here's a trailer to whet your appetite.

Revealed: Project Needlemouse is Sonic the Hedgehog 4

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:30:12 -0500

SEGA has just announced that “Project Needlemouse”, long rumored to be a new Sonic the Hedgehog title is indeed Sonic 4: Episode 1. Being the first Sonic the Hedgehog game to return the series to its 2D roots, Sonic 4: Episode 1 is the first of several episodic titles planned for release.

Sonic 4 will deliver a new story arc to the Sonic franchise, picking up where Sonic & Knuckles left off.

Asked what they meant by “episodic”, Sega’s Ken Balough told GameSpot, "As mentioned, I think the best way to view it is as a first part in a much larger adventure. When Sega released Sonic 3, ultimately it was the part 1 of a story that saw its conclusion in Sonic & Knuckles. In that same spirit, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is a bigger story, and this is that first chapter. I think it's also safe to say that by the end of the episode one, fans will be very excited to see what's in store for episode two!"

The new sonic is expected to feature traditional 2D sonic mechanics like spin dash, power sneakers with added moves like a homing attack. Perhaps Sonic doesn't have to die, after all.

The game will be heading towards the PSN, Xbox Live Arcade and WiiWare this coming summer, but no plans have been revealed for any PC or Steam-based release. Pity, that.

Dante's Inferno Producer Expresses Interest in Macbeth Game

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:54:12 -0500

Not content with simply reinterpreting Dante’s Inferno as a blood-filled action game (our verdict on the game is still pending), Visceral chief Jonathan Knight told Industry Gamers that the team would like to make a video game adaptation of another famous literary classic.

"Macbeth the game is something I've been thinking about for years," said Knight, expressing his interest in the work. "But now, I think the emotional quality that games are achieving and the value level of the acting and the sound work makes it possible."

Taken out of context, Knight may seem to express a somewhat shallow understanding of the classic as he explains: "Dante's is more of a violent interpretation of the poem for example. Macbeth would be great, though; there are witches and a supernatural experience along with plenty of intrigue and murder."

With that in mind, I'd be doing him a disservice if I didn't mention Knight's strong grasp of what makes an action game. "The thing is, the unique quality of games is being interactive; it's about action and killing things and pursuing those mechanics is tricky when bringing in classic media," he said. Truly, the last thing that any self-respecting gamer wants is to sit through a series of cutscenes and quick time events which masquerade as a video game.

That being said, I’d like to see him disprove all doubts and craft something masterful out of his idea. To be frank, I wouldn’t mind seeing a creative take on The Tempest, or Hamlet, either.

Why not think of it as gaming’s exploration of the ‘Unknown Country’.

Bioshock 2's Liquifying Launch Trailer

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:30:40 -0500

The launch reel for the Bioshock 2 has hit the intertubes revealing a score of new details about the upcoming game. Set ten years after the events of the first Bioshock, players take on the role of "Subject Delta", a prototype for the Big Daddies seen in the original story.

Check out the trailer below.

Mass Effect 2: Free Dr. Pepper Promo DLC Codes

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:49:18 -0500

EA/Bioware and Dr. Pepper recently teamed up for a Mass Effect 2 promotion that provides drinkers of the soda the chance to win three DLC items for use in the new game. Those living outside the United States are sadly ineligible for the promotion, and players who just don’t drink the stuff may simply be out of luck.

As it turns out, I have good news. The keys provided in the promotion are completely static and reusable.

The codes are as follows:

Umbra Visor

A next-generation night-vision device that assists targeting. By detecting the focal point of the wearer's eyes and enhancing the image at that location, the visor helps direct a biotic power or a shot from an omni-tool exactly where the wearer is looking.

Effect: Increases power damage by 5%

Recon Hood

A hood issued to covert action teams, this model's optic display interfaces with most small arms' auto-targeting software, linking hand and eye for improved accuracy and increased weapon damage. Ballistic-mesh fabric and composite ceramic plating provide necessary armor, and the integral air filter helps in hostile environments.

Effect: Increases weapon damage by 5%

Sentry Interface

This visor works with the Sentry system, a software application that optimizes an armor suit's microframe computer. When the Sentry system is running, more power can be devoted to shield management.

Effect: Increases shield strength by 5%

Activision Heads to GOG.com with Classic Games Arcanum and Gabriel Knight

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:12:25 -0500

Activision and Good Old Games (GOG.com) announced a new partnership today that would bring Activision’s classic games, originally published by Sierra and later absorbed in the Activision-Blizzard merger, to the DRM-free digital download platform with two good old games at the fore.

First of the two releases is Troika’s Steampunk-themed RPG, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura, originally published by Sierra and considered by many to be a cult classic for its original setting, artwork and writing.

The game was headed up by Fallout creators Leonard Boyarsky, Timothy Cain and Jason Anderson, and written by Edward R.G. Mortimer, the author of classic Pen and Paper RPGs like “Glory Hole Dwarven Mine”, whose description reads: “Brave the Deception, the Despair, and the Death Within the Glory Hole Mine, and Capture a Fortune in Precious Jewels!”

Arcanum was the first of Troika’s three games, the other two being Temple of Elemental Evil (Atari) and Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines (Activision). Despite bugs and numerous issues, the game was relatively well received by the RPG audience and garnered a metacritic score of 81.

Also released this week is the Sierra classic point and click RPG, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. Written and designed by the acclaimed Jane Jensen, Gabriel Knight puts players into the role of a writer investigating a series of ritualistic murders in New Orleans. The game features the voice acting talents of Tim Curry, Mark Hamill and Michael Dorn.

Both games are expected to carry a price tag of $5.99, updated with full support for Windows XP, Vista and 7.

Red 5 Studios Strikes Employees, 'Reorganizes'

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:29:28 -0500

When Hellgate: London was all the rage and Flagship Studios seemed like the next big thing on the horizon, a studio by the name of Red 5 Studios, founded by former Blizzard and World of Warcraft team members showed up on my radar. It, too, seemed like the next big thing.

While little was known about what they were working on, their marketing campaign to recruit the ‘best and brightest’ in the game industry was huge, as they sent out dozens of specially made iPods to various individuals throughout the industry, inviting them to work for the company.

The game they were making was shrouded in secrecy, but they were said to have been working on a military-themed MMOFPS built with “web 2.0 and social networking capabilities”.

I can’t find the original quote, but Kotaku’s recent report about the company confirms that the game they were making was built upon an Offset Software-developed engine, part of an 18.5 million dollar deal with Korean publisher Webzen, known for their work on the MMOFPS Huxley (still in development), Soul of the Ultimate Nation and the multiplayer Diablo clone, MU Online. MU Online is, sadly, their only successful title to date.

In any case, the sad news (if you cared about the company at all) to report is that most of the ‘best and brightest’ it picked up years ago were fired today, as the company plans to ‘reorganize’ itself around developing a game for the Chinese market. Red 5 Studios, which had offices in both Irvine, CA and Shanghai closed its Chinese offices and is currently operating with a ‘skeleton crew’ back at home.

A press release of the company’s ‘reorganization’ plans can be read at the company’s official website.

Fallout Extreme: The Fallout That Wasn’t

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:58:20 -0500

Ausir, administrator of The Vault, told me about a cancelled game in the Fallout series called Fallout Extreme. Originally developed for the Xbox by defunct studio 14 Degrees East, which was responsible for the marginally successful Fallout Tactics, Fallout Extreme was planned as a cross between Fallout Tactics and a squad-based third person shooter somewhat akin to Full Spectrum Warrior, Freedom Fighters and Valkyria Chronicles with bits of Jagged Alliance 2 thrown into the mix.

According to The Vault, which received design documents of the game, most of the developers at Black Isle Studios had no knowledge of the game’s development. The game itself would have taken place in the Pacific Northwest, with most of the game being set in and around Oregon, Washington and various parts of western Canada. Players would have to make their way through various locations, cross the Bering strait, go through Siberia and finally arrive in China, where they would have had to destroy a Doom’s Day Missile aimed at what was left of the United States.

Just one big missile to end it all. I suppose that’s why they named it Fallout Extreme.

It’s fun to note that the first part of the game would have taken place in Seattle, as players made their way through the Seattle Underground, Capitol Hill and a vault located in Mount St. Helens (Vault 6).

Apart from its third-person squad-based combat, the game’s campaign would have progressed very similarly to the one in Jagged Alliance 2, as players in control of a squad of characters known as The Cause would have to reclaim each town in their path and earn resources and equipment to bolster the player’s cause.

More details of the cancelled game can be found at The Vault.

Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hide – The Psychology Behind Alter-Egos

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:30:52 -0500

Super Street Fighter IV Release Date, Box Artwork and Anime Trailer Revealed

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:33:23 -0500

Capcom revealed today that Super Street Fighter 4 will be hitting North American stores on the 27^th of April, followed by a release on the 28^th in Japan and on the 30^th in Europe.

The follow-up to the critically acclaimed Street Fighter IV will further redefine the 2-D fighting genre with a host of new features including new characters, new ultra combos, new online modes, the return of the famed bonus stages and retuned online and offline gameplay.

Super Street Fighter IV’s new characters include Street Fighter’s first Tae Kwon Do-styled fighter - the deadly female fighter Juri - classic Street Fighters such as Cody, Guy, T. Hawk, Dee Jay, Adon and more to complement the full roster of returning fighters from Street Fighter IV. Featuring all new user-selectable Ultra Combos and advancements to the online gameplay and matchmaking, Super Street Fighter IV is the ultimate vision of Street Fighter.

Accompanying the press release is cover art for the game on both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, which you can see below:

According to Capcom’s official Japanese blog, the game is expected to sell in Japan at a price of 4,990 Yen, or $55. In addition to the standard release, the game will also be sold in the form of a Collector’s Edition at 5,990 Yen ($66) which includes a soundtrack album, a DVD full of promotional videos and trailers, character art, and a “mini story”.

The game will be playable at the national Street Fighter tournament in Japan on April 4^th, with all characters available.

Like so many other games these days, customers who buy the game before July 1^st will receive a pack of ‘classic’ or alternate costumes for Guile, Blanka, Dhalsim, Gen and Fei Long, all free of charge. Those who opt to purchase the game after this date will have to pay for these costumes in the form of a DLC.

The Xbox 360 version of the game will include special content in the form of an animated short produced by GONZO! Studio and the director of Afro Samurai.

Pro-Gaming Alive and Well: Flash Sweeps Starcraft OSL Tournament

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:52:02 -0500

Two men enter, one man leaves… forty million won ($35,200 US) richer. Korea’s EVER Starleague 2009 (OSL) tournament came to a close just a few days ago, with Flash (Lee Young Ho) of team KT Rolster taking the first place prize after beating his opponent 3-1 at the championship’s finale, which was broadcasted live over Korean national TV and streamed over the internet.

I had the pleasure of watching the two combatants duke it out live, as the Terran player Flash managed to best his Protoss rival Movie (Jin Young Hwa) of team CJ Entus in a series of bouts that will certainly be talked about by Starcraft players for years to come.

Don’t fret if you missed the show. Check it out below:

Flash is currently the #1 power ranked player in the world, according to the ratings board on Team Liquid, and he has also made it into the MBCgame Starleague (MSL) finals, where he will be battling against Zerg specialist Lee Jae-Dong aka “Jaedong” for the championship.

It should be noted that no player has ever taken the title of champion for both the MSL and OSL, so Flash may yet be the first to accomplish the feat.

Bethesda Files for Redactions to Hide Development of Unannounced MMO

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:54:55 -0500

Maryland-based publisher Bethesda filed to redact court statements relating to their parent company Zenimax’s investments into an unannounced MMO. The statements were made in their recent legal battles with Interplay and its development of a Fallout MMO (dubbed Project V13).

According to discoveries by reputable Fallout resources Duck & Cover and The Vault, the publisher filed for redactions so that the company’s competitors can’t find out information about the game in development.

It’s public knowledge that Bethesda’s parent company Zenimax created an MMO division called Zenimax Online, headed up by Dark Age of Camelot developer Matt Firor to work on an unannounced title.

According to the site’s source (an Interplay investor), the redacted testimony states that are “tens and tens of millions of dollars and close to a hundred people working on a secret World of Warcraft-type MMO,” which is said to have been in development since 2007 after the team was initially put together in 2006. Bethesda’s testimony goes on to further state that the timetable for developing such a game is four years, meaning that the game will be expected to ship next year.

A number of transcripts of the testimony can be read at Duck & Cover.

Part 1
Part 2

All of these transcripts are, at present, publically available in unredacted form at the Maryland courts. If you’re in the area, don’t hesitate to pick them up and share them on reddit.

Thanks for the tip, Ausir. I know Bethesda hates you.

Update: VG247 reports that it has received reliable confirmation that the MMO in development takes place in the Elder Scrolls universe, and is set 200 years after Oblivion. The game was supposed to be revealed last year.

Virtual Reality: The Hidden Breakthrough

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:59:02 -0500

Since time immemorial, society has long been consumed with the search for the ultimate entertainment. From the festivals of ancient Greece to the “talkies” that astonished the world to the unveiling of television, the world has always been on its toes waiting for the next big advance in relaxation. The late 80’s and early 90’s promised us the ultimate recreational advance, possibly the last ever needed: virtual reality. The possibilities were endless: users were to have the ability to explore vast uncharted lands with no fear of injury, play golf without worrying about the weather, or visit areas lost to time centuries ago. Unfortunately, as it often happens, the advertising was significantly more impressive than the actual technology. Where science fiction had once promised us endless possibilities there was left a useless pile of firehouse red headache inducers, bulky gloves, and collectively shattered dreams.

Virtual reality seemed to have all the trappings of the perfect technology. It was an experience specifically tailored to its user’s desire, created suspense without actual danger, and before the internet created a global society, enabled users to create vast communities to interact with. Why would developers leave such a wonderful concept to fade with the Macarena and rest of the offal of the 90’s? Idea men are often smarter than we give them credit for, and virtual reality is certainly not a relic of the 90’s. In fact, virtual reality may be even closer than one might realize.

The next step in virtual reality is here, encompassed in your friendly neighborhood MMO. The change in technology and focus was so gradual that many people who play, and even some people who develop, didn’t notice the shift. The spark was the migration from small single player text games to Multi User Dungeons (MUD) with the advent of home internet.

As these text based games became popular, companies began to see the possibilities and began to invest resources to create larger game worlds for players to explore. The medium grew more popular and investors were more willing to set aside funds for the development of better netcode, better graphical interfaces to make the worlds more immersive, and teams of writers to give the games a cohesive backstory. No longer would the end user need prohibitively expensive peripherals as a prerequisite for the environments that had been created, most middle grade graphics cards found factory installed in personal computers would suffice.

Once broadband internet became a staple the groundwork had been laid and machinations were already in place to make MMOs the best virtual reality the world had ever imagined. With the droves of people flocking towards entertainment in the comfort of their own living room, MMOs were ready and waiting to offer any home away from home a customer could desire. Some worlds were predicated on player cooperation such as World of Warcraft or Dungeons and Dragons Online; others were based on a harsh every man for himself philosophy as seen in Eve Online or Dark Age of Camelot.

The market is specialized to the point that there is an MMO waiting to be found for any personality or play style. The challenges inherent to these games can range from trivial to edge-of-your-seat-frustratingly hard, providing much needed adrenaline rushes with few of the downsides often found in the real world.

The demise of the 56K limiter servers has allowed servers to swell to gargantuan sizes rivaling small cities in some instances. Instead of being separated by physical space as in the past, we are limited only by our imagination. A group of friends in a rural town might be limited to a scant few choices of activities, but in the realm of MMOs they can pirate trade lanes in enemy space, battle towering neigh-invincible dragons, or simply craft intricate wares to sell to other characters along their journey.

The Greeks had to wait months for their festivals, and we all know the disappointment a poor movie can sometimes convey. However, if for a small fee we have the ability to step into an arena with our preferences catered to from the ground up, I am inclined to believe that the future is now, and it looks pleasantly bright.

Valve: No New Half-Life in 2010

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:32:36 -0500

The latest issue of GameInformer is reporting that fans of Half Life will be disappointed if they were looking forwards to seeing a new episode of the long-lived series.

The issue explicitly states that in speaking to Valve, they were told that the company has no plans whatsoever to release the third chapter of Half-Life this year, and that development of the game is still on-going.

At this point, it remains to be seen what Gabe Newell and the rest of the team have in store for PC and console gamers. We can only hope (and pray) that the company makes a showing at this year’s E3 convention to unveil a new title, or two.

In the meantime, Valve has announced its plans to release a new DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 called "The Passing", which includes an all new multiplayer gametype with multiple maps, and a return of the four original Left 4 Dead survivors in a new campaign. Like so many other things in development at Valve, the pricing and release details of the new content are presently unknown.

Video Game Addict Stabs Mother To Death, Plays More Counter-Strike

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:06:14 -0500

A 15-year old boy by the name of Ionut Silviu Savin (pictured) killed his adoptive mother by stabbing her 17 times with a knife before leaving his home to play Counter-Strike at a local internet café for four hours.

The murder, which occurred this past Wednesday, was headline news in Romania.

Ionut was said to be ‘dependant’ to video games, which caused his mother to terminate his access to the internet, a decision which lead to her murder.

The woman’s body was discovered by her husband, Ionut’s adoptive father, as he returned home from work. Although the man contacted the police, Ionut turned himself in to police custody, taking full responsibility for his actions.

According to his father and witness accounts in the Romanian news, Ionut is reported to have given up his studies and social life for the violent game, and missed over 200 classes in the past year.

When interviewed, the supervisor of the Internet café that Ionut frequented stated that the boy would spend most of his time alone playing Counter-Strike, wearing a hood over his head. She also noted that the boy had a calm demeanor, never swearing when he lost matches, or displaying an ounce of anger. He rarely interacted with the café’s other patrons.

His high school teacher, who was shocked by the boy’s actions, said that he had a “quiet and introverted” personality.

Ionut is currently hospitalized under guard at a psychiatric clinic, and awaits examinations to determine whether he was in full control of his actions at the time of the crime. If tried and found guilty of first degree murder, Ionut may face up to 12 years in prison.

Hellgate: London Arises From The Dead

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:20:29 -0500

After a year of bargaining and legal wrangling, Korean publisher HanbitSoft announced today that it has managed to acquire the publishing rights for the Hellgate franchise in North America, Europe and Japan from its former owners, Namco Bandai for a paltry sum of $40,000.

The game suspended its operations in North America, South East Asia and Europe after its developers, Flagship Studios, closed their doors in 2008 after a series of mishaps and poor business decisions with the game’s payment structure.

Now revived from the dead, the game, dubbed Hellgate: Resurrection, is expected to roll out this year in territories like China, Taiwan and South East Asia, followed by North America, Europe and Japan.

"We would like to thank NAMCO BANDAI Games America for allowing us to acquire the Hellgate publishing rights and are thrilled to have eager gamers worldwide return and enjoy the franchise," said Kee-Young Kim, CEO of HanbitSoft, and added "Hellgate: Resurrection is heading towards success in Korea such that we decided to push ahead with launching the game overseas next year. We will do our best to get the game to the fans as soon as possible."

"We are pleased to participate in the revitalization of Hellgate through this agreement and are deeply gratified to allow Hanbitsoft to take the lead on this franchise and bring this game to the people who seek it," said Zack Karlsson, senior director of business development at NAMCO BANDAI Games America.

The press release, published by HanbitSoft and its owner T3 Entertainment goes on to state that the game is ‘in good hands’ based on the number of users that the updated version of the game is seeing in Korea.

Hellgate: Resurrection is currently in development at T3 Entertainment’s San Francisco-based studio which is apparently staffed by a number of former Ping-0 and Flagship Studios employees, is an updated version of Hellgate: London, containing a number of minor enhancements that were in development at Flagship Studios prior to their closure. Also in development at the studio is Hellgate: Tokyo.

Like the original Hellgate, the revived game operates on two tiers by granting free online access to those who purchase the game, and additional features and content for those who pay a monthly subscription.

Community Gets Shafted with Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Server Policy

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:48:28 -0500

Gamers have been up in arms over the issue of dedicated server support in the wake of Infinity Ward’s startling decision to strip Modern Warfare 2 of the much-needed capability.

Since then, EA DICE has sought to clarify its policy for the studio’s upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which is due on the PC and 360 on 5th March.

The company explained that players interested in playing the game online would have to rent dedicated servers provided by the company instead of building their own. This is a major detour from the policy established by the company in its previous games, one which DICE claims that it will not be profiting from.

Speaking to EuroGamer, DICE producer Gordon Van Dyke stated that the reason for this policy is to “protect the game’s integrity on PC” and to presumably prevent hackers from breaching the game’s security, echoing similar words spoken by Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling prior to the launch of Modern Warfare 2, a game that suffers from an abundance of unresolved exploits and countless glitches.

Van Dyke added that private dedicated servers have been picked in “all major regions of the world” and that the contracts with these hosting providers “does not earn DICE a profit”.

It’s DICE’s business if they want to make a little extra profit by giving out contracts to select hosting providers, but they shouldn’t pretend like they aren’t in it for the money.

While it's true that it’s a business, depriving independent providers of their revenue and hurting the dedicated server community for the sake of making a few extra dollars isn’t the right way to go about it.

Dante's Inferno Anime in the Works, Looks Hellish and Visceral

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:58:22 -0500

Featuring talent from the creators of Blood the Last Vampire and Ergo Proxy, Dante's Inferno: The Animated Epic promises to be one of the most visceral anime adaptations to date. The film is a compilation of animated shorts by six notable directors with six individual visions of Dante's Inferno, and promises to be one of the most visceral video game to anime adaptations to date.

Into The Darkness, Torchlight Walkthrough Part I

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 14:12:57 -0500

[page]

Armed with all the knowledge you need from my previous post, you should be ready to begin your grand adventure in Torchlight, right? I sure hope so, because we're going to get our teeth into it today.

So let's waste no more time! Fire it up!

NOTE: I'm going to play the Walkthrough using an Alchemist as it's the class I'm least experienced with so far. The way the game is laid out is such that I don't really need to make too many class specific observations, so feel free to use whatever character you wish.

NOTE: I'm also going to play the game on Hard. You heard me, Hard. On Normal, the game is pretty much a nuke-fest until you get a fair bit into the game when the enemies begin doing significant damage. I also find I have multiple stacks of Potions that I just never use before I'm acquiring the next tier of Potions.
I recommend Normal if you wish to test the water, Hard if you like a challenge or are familiar with this genre of RPG and Very Hard if you want some meat on the challenge (really, chewy... tough meat...).

Suffering from Ember Blight corruption, join us as we battle on to put an end to Alric's crazed-schemes and hope to discover a way to cleanse the taint from our bodies before we meet the same fate as Brink.
With new side-quests, new enemies and new areas to explore, the journey is only just beginning!

Mass Effect 2: Inventory Hassles Addressed, Day One DLC Rumored

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:03:06 -0500

Besides the monotonous ‘dungeons’ scattered throughout the game and the headache-inducing Mako controls, equipping your party members with new arms and armor was a tedious and time-consuming process. Needless to say, managing your equipment was one of the biggest problems with Mass Effect’s user interface.

Speaking on the official Bioware blog, game designer Christina Norman reveals that at least one of these issues has been addressed in the new game, explaining how the new equipment system will work.

Clarification: I believe what Bioware means to say is that the Day One DLC will be included in the game for free for anyone who purchases it on the first day. This is no different from how The Stone Prisoner DLC was released for free for anyone who pre-ordered or purchased Dragon Age: Origins on its first day.

Mass Effect 2: Commander Shepard Trailer Revealed

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:31:57 -0500

Voiced by Mark Meer and bearing the likeness of Dutch model Mark Vanderloo, Commander Shepard returns to the Mass Effect universe to stage a campaign against the mysterious "Collectors" with a squad of renegades loyal to his cause.

Whether you love him or hate him and prefer a Shepard of your own creation, the crew-cropped spaceman is here to stay.

Feelin' Lucky? Seattle Geekly Gives Away Torchlight

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:04:41 -0500

You need Torchlight in your life because as a gamer, there are times in your life where you have some time to kill, not a lot... but not too little either. These moments in your life will come to be known as "Torchlight Time".

It can be a stress-reliever. Fire it up, put the difficulty low and unleash the days woes onto the unsuspecting inhabitants of the catacombs beneath Torchlight.

It can be an exciting challenge. Crank it up to Very Hard, check that Hardcore box and fear what evil lurks in the darkness, for if your character dies, it truly dies.

It can be an adventure. The way Torchlight has been developed, those of you who enjoy exploration will love the way Torchlight's randomised floor-layouts work. Sure, it's not the first game to utilise this concept, but it does pull it off rather well.

It can be your putty. The TorchED editor is a free download enabling you to customise literally everything and anything. Create new levels, floors, quests, items, NPCs, enemies, characters, spells, skills, traps, ANYTHING!

It's essentially, whatever you want it to be.

Dragon Age: Return to Ostagar DLC Removed from Xbox Live

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:18:02 -0500

Gamers aching to see more of Ferelden will have to wait a little longer, as the Dragon Age: Origins Return to Ostagar DLC has been pulled from Xbox Live due to a bug that prevents specialized classes from working.

Originally planned for a January 5 release, the DLC suffered a delay for reasons unknown, making this recall the second hitch with its impending release.

BioWare’s Chris Priestly posted the following update on Bioware’s social networking website.

The DLC is carried at a price of $4.99, or 400 BioWare points on the PC or 400 MS points on the 360.

New Assassin's Creed Title Before April 2011, Features Multiplayer Mode

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:11:50 -0500

A new financial report from Ubisoft reveals that the publishing giant is planning for the release of an entirely new Assassin’s Creed that’s due before April 2011.

The new game, which may or may not be the final title in the Assassin’s Creed trilogy is said to feature an online multiplayer mode. The report stops short of calling it “Assassin’s Creed 3”, implying that the title may be a spin-off of the series.

The financial report states that the second game in the series moved six million units since its release late last year, solidifying Ubisoft’s plans to focus on competitive, big-budget titles.

Other games planned for release within the 2010-2011 fiscal year include other AAA titles like Splinter Cell: Conviction, due for an April 2010 release, a Ghost Recon title, and the recently-announced Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. The aforementioned games are expected to hit the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Note: A number of other blogs are erroneously reporting that Assassin's Creed 2 will be getting a DLC featuring a multiplayer mode. This is untrue.

Sinking Your Teeth Into Torchlight

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:51:27 -0500

[page]Hello there, my name is RedMajesty and it is my aim to lead you into the world of Torchlight, guide you in it's deep-dark secrets whilst also casting some illumination on news relating to the upcoming MMO title based on its world.

When you first obtain your copy of Torchlight, you will get pulled right into the fray. The urge to keep playing the game is so great that you might completely overlook the fact that Torchlight comes with a pretty meaty manual (57 pages) which can greatly aid your journey through the depths below Torchlight.

In this first post, I shall go through the general basics of the game, giving you all the information you'll need to be able to get playing without finding yourself wondering how things work.

DISCLAIMER: I’ll not claim to be a master at Torchlight, and there may be some erroneous information that may need correction. However, the information contained within this guide is a combination of both factual information and observations I’ve made in my travels through Torchlight.

Join us as we tackle The Orden Mines and the Dank Chamber [Floors 1 - 4], fending off the dangers and culminating in our first boss fight!

EA and Random House Team up for Dante's Inferno Novelization

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:01:15 -0500

It's mind-boggling. I know.

Not content with simply pissing all over Dante’s epic poem with its vulgar reinterpretation of heaven and hell with swords and nudity, EA has revealed that publishing giant Random House and EA will be teaming up to release a paperback edition of Dante Alighieri’s Inferno under the Del Rey Books label.

This version of Inferno, translated by the great American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, will be featuring the Visceral Games’ produced cover art, an introduction by the game’s executive producer (whose opinion about the original book matters quite a bit, one must be assured) and 16 pages of full-color art showcasing characters scenes from the game under the influence of the classic poem.

“We are so grateful to have the opportunity to work with Random House on this project. Through the creative process of developing this game, we have grown quite close to the literary works of Dante Alighieri. It is his vision that we are adapting for this new media, and new audience,” said Jonathan Knight, Executive Producer at Visceral Games. “The game is a celebration of Dante, and we hope gamers will be encouraged to go beyond the game and explore the classic text that has inspired us so deeply.”

“Visceral Games and EA have provided us with an amazing opportunity to bring one of the great works of classical fiction to a new group of fans,” said Michael Braff of Del Rey editorial. “Their stunning and inventive take on Dante’s Inferno will be sure to wow players around the world and we are extremely proud to be able to provide those individuals with insight into the creative processes involved in adapting Dante to a new medium.”

Gamers unaware of the book’s background will no doubt be persuaded to pick up the classical work thinking to find scenes of extreme violence and titillation. An optimistic person would say that reading the poem might give the average gamer pause to appreciate a classical work of literature, but I’m not counting on it.

Though, I'd like to point out that it's a Del Rey book with content worth more than the paper it's printed on, for once.

Is Being a PC-Exclusive Gamer Really Worth It?

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 10:41:57 -0500

I was reading a post on DiabloFans today that caught my eye. Titled “Cheer up console fans, your day may come”, the post concerned Blizzard’s lack of enthusiasm for the various console platforms, with a good number of replies echoing the initial sentiment about how lucky PC gamers were to have Blizzard on their side, and that console gamers ought to cheer up because their day in the sun may yet come with some eventual Blizzard release for the console.

Perhaps Starcraft: Ghost will remain indefinitely on hold and never see the light of day, and perhaps Diablo III may never be ported to the 360 or the Playstation 3, but Blizzard’s Production Director J. Allen Brack said something to the measure that Blizzard’s goal has always been to “make the right game for the right platform,” a concept that more developers would do well to follow instead of releasing half-baked ports in a bid to claim a larger share of the gaming market, but I digress.

Brack had the following words to share in his recent interview with Gamasutra:

"We just want to make the right game for the right platform."

"Think about StarCraft II. Some real-time strategy games have tried to happen on the console. Some of those have been successful, but overall, our experience is that it's going to be a better game on the PC, ergo it's developed on the PC."

"But we're a company of gamers. I have two consoles at home. Sam has consoles. We're a culture of gamers. We will definitely work on a console game at some point. I have no doubt about that. It's just [a matter of] what game. What makes the most sense?"

“Poor console gamers aren’t getting any Blizzard love” seems to be the only thing that a good number of people gleamed from Brack’s interview. The question I would like to pose to anyone who thinks this way, therefore, is this: what of the PC gamers who are often scorned by game developers who desert the PC platform because they know they can make more money by bringing their games to the console? What of all the franchises that have become “streamlined”, as it were, by the process of consolization, to be more playable on those platforms? What about all those games that PC-exclusive gamers never had a chance to play?

Surely the Zeldas, Metroids and Castlevanias are every bit as worth playing as anything exclusive to the PC. Needless to say, unless you own a console, you’re going to miss out on a large chunk of games.

When you really think about it, having Blizzard’s titles alone don’t make up for missing out on everything else. Casual games notwithstanding, the only PC-exclusive games I can even think of at this point – worth mentioning, at least – are Diablo III, Starcraft II, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Deus Ex 3. It’s a short list. For a platform so ‘lucky’ to have Blizzard catering to it, is being a PC-exclusive gamer really worth it?

Brutal Legend Figurine is Totally Metal

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 11:46:59 -0500

Bad poetry and horribly drawn pictures of anime characters are dime a dozen on DeviantART. It’s literally the go-to place for emotional teenagers with too much time to express themselves, not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s also home to a kick-ass sculpture of Brütal Legend’s Eddie Riggs by a talented artist who goes by the name hugohugo.

It might be made of clay, but the figure is totally metal.

Fallout: New Vegas Confirmed as Xbox Magazine Cover Story, Retailers Post Release Dates

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:18:32 -0500

Just when you thought there wasn’t going to be any more Fallout: New Vegas news in light of the recent hoax that the game would be appearing as the cover story in the upcoming issue of GameInformer, the Official Xbox Magazine (OXM) reports that the cover story for Issue #57 will be featuring none other than the game.

They’ve posted the magazine cover, and a series of screenshots of Vault Boy’s new careers. Judging from the screenshots, which aren’t from Obsidian’s upcoming RPG, Vault Boy looks like he’ll be making appearances in various Xbox Live Arcade games as a playable avatar.

In related news, a June 2010 release date for Fallout: New Vegas is being listed on GameStop and Play-Asia, with both sites accepting pre-orders. While retailers are notorious for putting up early release dates, it’s worth mentioning that the release of New Vegas can’t be too far off.