Boss Talk 6: Why are we wearing costumes?

The new Boss Talk is up, but you'll notice the lack of skits for this episode. Expect some extra special skit stuff sometime soon. "The Bossing" will come, I swear!

Quick Update on Boss Talk

I know I'm a little behind schedule. Actually, I'm really behind schedule. Boss Talk is usually up around sunrise or so. Today it is not. I figure I should throw an update on here on the off chance that anyone questions it. I didn't forget, if that's your first assumption. I'm rendering out the newest Boss Talk as I type. We did a lot more skit stuff than usual for this special episode. There was a lot of stuff to crawl through, but it should be up by the end of the day.

I made a personal Twitter account for myself, where I'll post updates on my editing progress, new ideas, teasers for content I'm working on, and just generally cool stuff. I'm planning on previewing the new Boss Talk on my Livestream channel before I upload it to YouTube. I'll announce that on the Twitter account before I do it, but if you miss it Livestream keeps a backlog of old stuff I've done.

The Boss VG Twitter will still be used for bigger update news, just like it always has been. I've always kinda wanted a twitter account for myself, that's really what this boils down to. We'll figure out some more stuff to do with the main one, I promise. For now, sit tight. Oh, and follow me on Twitter. :)

EDIT: It is now 8:37 PM and I'm still having render issues. I think I found the problem, but to make everyone's lives easier, I'm uploading Boss Talk separately from the skit just so it's up.

New Call of Duty going to be revealed tonight

The new Call of Duty game was scheduled to be announced tonight with the release of the game's trailer. But the game's name and release date were released ahead of time. The game will be called Call of Duty: Black Ops, to be released on November 6th. There are rumors that the game will take place in Vietnam, which is a war that I think needs more lovin' from game developers. So fingers crossed that the trailer will be awesome when it is released tonight!!!!

APB gets a release date!!!!

I have been pretty excited about APB in the past. That excitement quickly faded away when it seemed like the game would not be released this year since the developers were giving almost no information on the game aside from how customizable it is.

But today EA has made a statement talking about the release date and the payment method. The game will be released in the US on June 29 and July 2nd for the UK. And the following is a quote from EA's statement regarding the payment method.

"Gamers can purchase a retail version of APB either in-store or via digital download at standard retail price of $49.99. The game includes 50 hours of action gameplay out of the box plus unlimited time in APB’s social districts customizing, socializing and trading in the marketplace. Once the 50-hours are up, players have flexibility: top up their game time from as little as $6.99 for an additional 20 hours, or opt to purchase a 30-day unlimited package for only $9.99 with discounts available for 90 and 180 days. In addition to this flexible payment model, players can also earn game time by actually playing the game. APB provides avenues for accomplished gamers or creators to earn rewards for their creativity and subsidize their ongoing costs with their in-game efforts."

Bungie signs a 10 year contract with Activision

Everyone is going crazy over this news, and I don't blame them. I was not expecting this in the least bit. Halo developer Bungie has announced that it just signed a ten-year contract with Activision. This is their first long-term engagement since they split with Microsoft in 2007.

Its important to note that even though Activision is publishing their games, Bungie still owns full rights to their IPs. So while Activision is still pretty dirty, its highly doubted Bungie will have its own fiasco like Infinity Ward. Activision has money and they will market their game like crazy, so it doesn't seem like too bad of a business move as long as they make sure to keep all the rights.

In some other related news, Sony is all excited because since Bungie won't be making exclusive games for Microsoft anymore, they are under the impression that Bungie will give them games like a "Halo on steroids", lol that's cute. I'm pretty sure Bungie said they were going to make multi-platform games, which means your system will still get the shaft like always Sony.

PlayStation Move video

For my last update in this chunk of updates, let me show you a neat video from Stuff.tv.


I guess all the hype got to me, but now the Move doesn't really seem that much different than the Wii. I mean, yes, it is a LOT more responsive and sensitive. And yes, the graphics on the system in question are a billion times better...

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that the Move looks like what the Wii should have been. I mean, I haven't touched my Wii for a year at least (hahaha). If you're really keen on motion controllers, I could see getting one. Me? I think I'm going to be much more interested in Project Natal.

Cub Scouts Game for Upgrades

The Cub Scouts are sounding a lot more cool now that its possible to get a Video Gaming belt loop and pin. The criteria for both items highlights parental involvement and choosing the right games for your age group. The pin especially requires making appropriate choices and learning how to set up a video game system.

I think this is an excellent idea and it touches upon a lot of important topics. For one, kids are required to learn about what is and is not appropriate for them to play. The ESRB exists for a reason, after all. Most parents are shocked to see the levels of violence in games today, especially when they themselves bought their twelve-year-old an M-rated game. The Cub Scouts are raising awareness about video game ratings, and teaching the kids other important lessons while they're at it. Check out number seven on the pin criteria list, for example:

"7. Play a video game that will help you practice your math, spelling, or another skill that helps you in your schoolwork"

That sort of teaching is the way of the future, I think. If we could integrate teaching with technology, maybe we could focus on other more important things. People are gradually realizing that video games are a staple of our culture. Maybe if they embrace them, we could get some really cool stuff done in the classroom.

Good job, Cub Scouts! You just earned yourselves an "Impressing Jervan" badge!

World of Warcraft movie update

Kotaku has posted an update on the World of Warcraft movie status. Turns out, there's still a while to go before the script is even finalized. As Joe said when I mentioned this, "I could have told you that!." Blizzard has been saying they've wanted to do a WoW movie for what feels like forever.

If you don't feel like checking the link, the gist of the story is this. Chris Metzen says they're working on it and they aren't sure that the canon of the games will be maintained in the movie's universe. This is a statement I question highly. Why would you have to change any of the backstory? To make the movie more appealing to general (aka non-nerd) audiences? I don't think that's going to be an issue at all. Blizzard knows who their audience is and that pretty much everyone who has ever played WoW will go see the movie. I'm pretty sure that Blizz could just put together a highlight reel of clips from Warcraft 3 cinematics and people would flock to the theaters to see it.

I feel so cheated, since I've been looking forward to this movie since it was still only mentioned in whispers. At least Sam Raimi is directing it, that's my glimmer of hope.

Red Faction film going to be on the SyFy channel

Earlier this month THQ mentioned that a Red Faction movie was in the works, but they didn't give specifics. But yesterday THQ and the SyFy channel officially announced that the Martian revolution will be televised, and turned into a feature-length television special.

When I first read the news I thought that THQ fucked up and that this movie would blow balls. But my source mentioned Battlestar Galactica, and that shit was really popular. I never watched it, but people wouldn't like it if it sucked right?

Capcom thinks we love Frank West

Capcom has been putting Dead Rising's Frank West in just about all of their games it seems like. Tatsunoko Vs Capcom, Lost Planet 2, and most likely Marvel vs Capcom 3. And the reason for this is because Capcom for some reason believes that westerners love the character.

Capcom of America's Seth Killian had this to say about Campcom Japan and Frank West. "For better or for worse, (Capcom of) Japan has understood that 'the West' likes Frank. So maybe that's why he's called Frank West? I don't know... Rightly or wrongly (Capcom of) Japan is convinced that Joe Six pack here in America love God damn Frank West. He will be making appearances in as many games as they can get him into."

I have yet to meet anyone who has even talked about this character, let alone say that he is one of their favorites, The L4D 2 thing was cute because the guy is in a fucking zombie game. I doubt anyone at Valve actually likes the guy. I actually didn't even play Dead Rising because it was a pretty early launch tittle and I got a 360 late.

Square Enix creates M-rated label

Today Square Enix has announced that they are creating a new umbrella that will be publishing their violent games that get released in the west, called Extreme Edge. Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada explained that this is a way to provide an easy form of identification for titles like Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days.

I'm thinking of it like comic books, if you want something really adult and violent you would look for a Vertigo published comic instead of a DC comic.

Honestly I don't really get it. I thought we used the ESRB as a way to determine if the game was good enough for me to play. I guess Square Enix just doesn't want western audiences thinking there was going to be retarded haired girlyboys in Kane& Lynch 2: Dog Days.

Get 13 Rockstar games for under 50 bones

Games are a pretty pricey, but now when Steam throws them in your face for dirt cheap prices. This week Steam is selling 13 Rockstar games for $42.49. That means that each game is a little more than 3 bucks, BARGAINS!!!

These are the 13 games included with the package:
Bully: Scholarship Edition, Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto 2, Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto Episodes From Liberty City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Manhunt, Max Payne, Max Payne 2, Midnight Club 2, and Wild Metal.

I have always wanted to play Bully, and I would mind playing the old GTA games for nostalgia purposes, I will have to think about it.

Minority Report.

You want it? Too bad! You got it! The rumors about the black Nintendo Wii may or may not be true if it drops in may. See what I did right there? Excitement for me... is pretty low since the Nintendo Wii is well.... the sharpie smeller of the video game class room. Hopefully with the new skins they give birth to better video games, and less "Petz: Asian kid box edition" titles.

Stickam is now go!

Our friend Omega, in his infinite wisdom, has decided to create a Stickam channel for us. You can watch him play games on it.

Perhaps down the line we can do some Q & A sessions or a live show, but for right now enjoy his skills.

Halo: Reach live action ad premieres tomorrow

Halo fans have been screaming for a movie as long as I can remember. It will never happen, but at least Microsoft is making more live action TV spots. The latest is called "Birth of a Spartan" and it will be shown tomorrow on television and online.

I hated on Halo 3 and ODST, but I did think the live action ads were crazy awesome especially the one for ODST. Check it out below. I am looking forward to seeing how this new one turns out. There will also be an extended trailer for Xbox Live Gold members.

Protofail = jail

The images and shots, about the new prototype iphone have caused a lot of buzz on the internet. It seems that Kotaku has stated that there might be criminal charges pressed against the person who sold the iPhone. Sucks for him but... shouldn't both parties be at fault? Is it the fault of the person or the company offering the money for the guy to sell it to them?

It says that the guy who sold it may be facing felony charges.

Can Video Games Be Art?

If you haven't heard anything about what movie critic Roger Ebert said about the status of video games in the art world, take a gander. This statement has hit a mark in the gaming world and pissed off plenty of people. So really, I'm late to the party when it comes to posting an opinion.

In my opinion, video games can be art. However you must carefully study the operative word in the previous sentence: can. Some games, I think, can be considered art. How can games not be considered an art form when they have artists working on them? Check and mate, Mr. Ebert.

Seriously though, some game developers spend plenty of time working on polishing the living hell out of their graphics so that they look better than whatever everyone else is churning out. (On the opposite side of the spectrum, some games coming out for the Wii still look like they're on the Gamecube.) Why would they worry so much about a graphic portion of their work if they didn't consider it "art?" It seems ridiculous to me that video games have come so far and some people still can't see their potential.

Video games are a medium with infinite possibilities, and its time that we realize this. Computers and the internet especially have changed the way humanity developed as a species and will continue to shape our culture. There is no going back. In California, a politician runs on an MMO-inspired platform. In Texas, a video game-centric academy promises to prepare students for work in the industry. A DS game boasts being able to boost self-esteem in young girls. The effect of video games upon us is profound, yet they are still not considered "art?"

In closing, Ebert should be ignored and left to his critiquing of films. How seriously should we take a man who enjoys Miley Cyrus films, after all? That's like the goddamned litmus test for if people should listen to you.

By the way, the gaming industry made $1.52 billion dollars last month. With or without the blessing of critics, the industry marches on.

Nekkid Women

Lost Planet 2 drops pretty soon. Capcom has been releasing trailer after trailer with new announcements and information. The newest addition is the half naked women that will be featured as the females in Lost Planet 2. For anyone who has played the last Lost Planet, the men have one up on Muslim women... even their eyes don't show. Yet it looks like their females are afraid to slay monsters and show half tits as they do it. To be honest they aren't short of Cammy from SSF4.

The Passed.

The Passing: is it worth it?

Gladly, the PC users got The Passing for free. Don't read into my words too much, Valve is my favorite video game studio of all time, the creator of immersion. The Passing was supposed to tell us the story of how the first survivors we are acquainted with become intertwined with the survivors of the sequel. Does Valve achieve this? No. Why? The way to say it simply is to tell a story you actually have to make one.

Randomly when you start the level a random character from the first game will tell you they can't lower the bridge because the generator is not fueled and to go fill it up on the other side of the map. As you venture through the level you have zero contact with the survivor. (Sounds like real immersion right?) At the end you finally meet up with the old crew with the exception of Bill. If you haven't heard already... he is dead, from seemingly unknown causes. Then the game gives a scavenge mode in which you race to fill the generator except it takes literally zero skill. Louis mans a 50 cal, while Francis and Zoey are sniping with amazing skull exploding accuracy.

You fill up and you're on your way. Sound bland and short? It is. Disappointed? Hell yes I am. I expected a whole thought out story and a full release of L4D and L4D2 content. Maybe even a cinema. No. Valve, whom I consider the heroes of the game industry, have put out a hot steaming pile of shit that gave 10 minutes of fleeting joy.

At this point I have the bitter taste of copper and dirt in my mouth about the next installation of the Half Life series. The next up to bat is the rest of the DLC showing how Bill gets ninja owned, whereas the new survivors say nothing of it other than "We are tired of the military." You're a top tier gaming studio Valve, start acting like it.

-

TOR developers discuss combat mechanics

The months leading up to the Launch of Warhammer Online were really hard, because there was so much hype surrounding the game that it was crazy. I remember when all of us would talk about it and mention shit that was not even in the game, and never will. We had already decided that this game we had never played was going to be the most amazing thing on the planet. Well it wasn't.

After all that I swore I would never get that hyped for an MMO ever again, and I'm proud to say I haven't, but I am having a hard time with TOR. This game looks fucking tight. Check it out. Its a video about the game's combat.

Video Games | Star Wars: The Old Republic | Exclusive Combat Developer Diary

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Age of Conan expansion coming out retarded soon.

Funcom has announced the launch date of the Age of Conan prequel expansion, Rise of the Godslayer, it will be dropping on May 11th which is really fucking soon. Dont most developers announce release dates earlier than a month before the game drops? Or is my source hell of slow? Probably the latter.

Halo: Reach is making me feel dirty

Ever since the first game was released in 2001 I have hated on the Halo franchise. And I never EVER understood why people were always so hyped for a series that in my opinion is extremely overrated. Whether it be its lame cliche story that's been told again and again with its boring ass characters, or its horrible voice acting, or the fact that it played no differently than other games that I thought were better. The multiplayer was fun, but I didn't find it competitive in the least bit, and it pissed me off that people played it professionally.

But the game was important because it brought a genre that was mostly PC dominant to consoles. And maybe that's why I hated it the most. The thought that console FPS's would make PC gaming obsolete.

So year after year as soon as a new Halo game would be announced I would instantly drink my hateorade and shrug it off. I did the same thing with Halo: Reach when they announced it at last years E3. "Oh another lame halo game for the 13 year olds who don't know better to get excited about."

But the other day Foe said something in vent(know that he also doesn't like Halo), "Dude Halo: Reach looks pretty fucking tight." I responded with a "cool" and quickly went back to what I was doing.

Later that night I stumbled upon the video and thought what the hell. So I watched it...

Fuck my life.

This game actually looks good, The video is about the multiplayer beta coming soon. They added so much shit to it that it kinda looks like a different game. You can roll and dodge, use jet packs, pull off sick stealth kills. The guns actually have recoil now. Its blowing my mind. The games graphics even look better.

Know that I still have no love for Halos single player, it can still lick my balls, but I will definitely be trying out this game for its multiplayer, it looks like a blast.

Ubisofts DRM gets hacked

It was only a matter of time. A group known as Skid Row has finally Cracked Ubisofts DRM.

In the hack's readme file, there is a little message for Ubisoft:

"Thank you Ubisoft, this was quiet [sic] a challenge for us, but nothing stops the leading force from doing what we do. Next time focus on the game and not on the DRM. It was probably horrible for all legit users. We just make their life's [sic] easier."

Bravo boys, and very well said.

Ubisoft should have thought this shit through, Its ok not to want people to steal your shit. But the world hates you now, and you have hackers fucking with your shit. Just admit you fucked up and say sorry.

Super Thumb Fighter 4

A Gamestop employee sent an image of a weird little shipment his store got, They are these condoms with Street Fighter characters on them you use to have thumb wars. He said you get them when you pick up your pre order copy for Super Street Fighter 4.

While Foe and George play the real game, Jervan and I are going to be playing with these!!!!!!

Boss Talk: April 22, 2010

More Boss Talk for your viewing pleasure. Give us some feedback so we know what you like and what you don't. Telling us what you like makes us want to put more of that in the show!

Rumors R fun: Silent Hill FPS

I haven't played a Silent Hill game since the first one, but most people agree that the franchise could use a change. And that change might be coming.

The Rumors got started by new Silent Hill developer Vatra Games. Who has revealed that it is working on a first-person-shooter for Q1 2011. It is the only project listed by Vatra, which seems to indicate that the "unnamed" FPS and Silent Hill's latest chapter are one and the same thing.

I wouldn't mind a Silent Hill FPS game, but that's probably because I love FPS games, but a lot of people are butt hurt because they feel the developers are trying to change a game by turning it into a genre that well, needs a change.

But just because the game is from the first person doesn't mean it has to play like an FPS, if they give you guns with tons of bullets, then yes that's dumb. But if its a survival horror game from first person, then that's tight.

Ubisoft GOIN GREEN!

STARTING NOW, Ubisoft is going to save the environment!!! They are going to start having in game manuals in all of their games instead of paper manuals. This is cool because now I will have a game option to ignore instead of a paper game manual to ignore.

They say that one ton of manual paper comes from two tons of wood from 13 trees and puts out the equivalent of over 6,000 lbs of CO2.

I guess every bit helps, and those manuals really were a waste, I don't remember the last time I read one of those things.

Marvel Vs Capcom 3

So Capcom just released a trailer for Marvel vs Capcom 3. It didn't show much other than a few characters which have been in the series before. All the characters were fully rendered in 3d, although being a pre-rendered cg cinematic, it could still be in full 2d. I watched it from my iPhone on YouTube, so the quality wasn't the best, but the trailer was pretty tight. Tentative release date is 2011, and I'm sure we'll hear more about it in the coming months.

Oh, and did I mention that it had Chris Redfield from resident evil 5 fighting the incredible hulk?


-Submitted via iPhone

Roll for loot: iPhone "4G"

It's been a while since I've posted, what with being out of state for a week, but I digress. This story is outrageous.

I couldn't believe it when I heard that the newest iPhone was lost and found in a Redwood City bar. My first reaction wasn't "how is that possible", it was "maybe we should start hitting up bars in Silicon Valley so we can find prototypes on bar stools." This would be a big deal to any company, but this is Apple. The iPhone is a pretty big deal.

The full story is of course in the last link, and the pictures can be found on Gizmodo as well. It blows my mind that this kind of thing could even happen.

The iPhone itself is different, as you would expect. There is a new camera on the front, most likely for video chat. The old camera has been upgraded to a better quality model and there's now a flash function. There are new buttons on the side for volume control, making listening to music that much more simple. The display has been improved with a higher display resolution (most likely 960 x 640), even though the screen size has been reduced slightly. The battery life has been improved dramatically with the addition of a larger battery. The appearance of the iPhone is more squared off around the edges, and the back is flat.

The only thing I can consider as a downside (other than the smaller screen) is the weight of the new unit. It weighs 3g more than the previous iPhone, but I doubt most people will even notice. Besides, people will buy anything that Apple makes, as evidenced by the iPad.

All I know is that someone is getting fired over this. Perhaps a lot of someones.

PS. Check out the newest episode of Boss Talk, if you haven't yet. If you have, can you do us a favor and share it with someone special? Thanks.

Microsoft puts kids to work!

Microsoft is under fire right now with allegations that one of their suppliers is using child labor. The kids are said to be making mice, keyboards and Xbox 360 controllers for $0.65 an hour.

Although Microsoft didn't officially sanction the dirty Chinese sweatshop, the National Labor Committee is still holding them accountable. The real enemy is the supplier KYE.

But maybe if Microsoft weren't a bunch of jews and didn't outsource jobs this wouldn't happen. Fucking assholes.

R.I.P Infinity Ward

Everyone saw this coming about two weeks ago. But if all the law suits and the mob of long term developers quitting wasn't enough evidence, Kotaku spoke to an "insider" about the situation and he basically agrees with everyone who is saying that the studio has no chance. Infinity Ward as we know it is dead.

"IW as you know it is dead...and it will continue to crumble. There are a lot more veterans who are definitely going to leave."

"They fired the two most amazing leaders we've ever seen, and then shafted us all out of a lot of money that was promised to us...there is nothing they can do to gain our trust or respect. And I'm pretty sure they know it now."

He also mentioned that Activision is bat shit scared and offered the Infinity ward employees pay raises. Thats right, be scared fuckers, next time pay the developer who made the biggest money maker for you ever.

four year old finds weed in his used game

The Sun has reported that a four year old found a little something extra in the used game his father bought him from Blockbuster: A little baggy of weed tucked behind the manual.

Of course the father was upset, saying shit like "what if the child thought it was candy and ate it!?"

Cmon guy I would be upset too, but that quote is retarded. Now I don't know much about kids, or weed for that matter. But I do know that weed smells like shit and what kind of kid would put that nasty smelling shit in its mouth thinking its candy.

OMG..this is horrifiying

A fourteen year old Russian boy killed his dad with a sledgehammer, after the dad took away the kids keyboard.

After playing games all week the unnamed boy had his keyboard takin away. So he decided to wait til the father was asleep and hit him twice in the head. The fucked up part was that the mother gave him back the keyboard because she was so fucking scared and the kid went back and played videogames!!!! Fucking psycho status guys.

Man kids gotta learn that you have to keep extra keyboards and power plugs hidden so that when they get taken away you can pull them out when parents are sleeping. Cmon Russian kid, your fucking it up for the rest of us!

New Boss Talk

My triumphant return to California has reached its peak with this week's episode of Boss Talk! We've got more skits in this episode, like last week's. I personally love the skits, but tell me what you think about them.

MORE infinity Ward members leave.

At this point there really isn't even a reason to post shit like this, because everyone saw this shit coming. But Activision has seriously fucked up. Infinity Ward just lost three more developers. all of these developers who have been jumping ship the past week are 10 year + vets, not some fucking interns. Whew I wonder what Activision is going to do with Modern Warfare 3. Maybe Treyarch, they did a good job with World at War. But at the moment I can really care less what happens to the Call of Duty franchise. If it died, a game would pop up just as good, if not better.

Get your friends Pregnant in Fable III, I call dibs on George

Us here at Bossvg have massacred waves of zombies, ran instances, shit what haven't we done together? Oh that's right, we haven't FUCKED EACH OTHER! This news comes from the recent issue of Official Xbox Magazine.

"The team seems committed to ensuring the [co-op] experience is in no way compromised. You’ll be able to enjoy, ahem, intimate moments with your co-op friend and eventually produce offspring together."

Holy shit.... THIS IS BLOWING MY MIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Think of the possibility's. I am going to make a baby with George, but its going to be hell of ugly so I'm going to fuck Armand and make a cute baby. And when they are grown up Armand's baby will pick on Georges baby! Yessssssss.

Gears of War 3 trailer

Everyone knew it was coming, but its still awesome. The teaser trailer is very teaserish. Shit looks fucked up and the quote "Brothers til the End" makes it seem like they are going to a more personal approach this time around.

Is that Dom with a beard????? Nice.

Respawn and the Land Down Under

So some of you may remember an earlier post I made regarding the Australian Attorney-General resigning, and how this would provide Australia with hope of seeing a rating similar to the ESRB's M-rating for America. Well, the new Attorney-General has now assumed his post, and according to kotaku.com, he is taking a decidedly neutral stance on the issue. He had the following to say on the topic:

"I have no preconceptions about this issue and intend to listen to the arguments. I can neither support nor wisely argue against a position if I am not aware of the relevant factors," he said. "It is worth noting that ultimately, the decision does not rest with me alone. Any change would require the support of each jurisdiction's attorney-general."

Personally I think Australia needs to become a little more open to the idea of more mature games, especially if it's fairly heavily enforced on the vendor's end of things. I also find it extremely funny that a country that's original purpose was that of a prison have such an issue with violence in a media form.



In other news, the former studio-heads of Infinity Ward discussed their future with G4TV.com. While they couldn't discuss much in regards to the upcoming lawsuit (they had an EA publicist on hand to keep them from talking about anything that could endanger their status legally), they did mention that they're hiring. And with more people leaving the Infinity Ward studios every day, it looks like they'll fill up the roster rather quickly.

Look forward to more on these stories in the coming weeks.

Zampella and West side with EA make a new studio

Between all the lawsuits and finger pointing between Zampella, West, and their old Nazi bosses something has happened that everyone saw coming.

Zampella and West have created a new studio called Respawn Entertainment and have established an exclusive publishing partnership with chief Activision rival, Electronic Arts.

"Respawn Entertainment marks a fresh start for Jason and me," said Vince Zampella in the release, followed by the traditionally positive statements which publicly accompany all new relationships.

Maybe this time they wont fuck up and give the rights to the games they work on to money hungry publishers. Its also going to be interesting to see how many developers they steal from Infinity Ward. Hmmmmmm Veeeery Interesting.

South Korea bans MMOs after Midnight.

South Koreans take their games seriously. But for some reason the South Korean government doesn't like under aged citizens staying up til midnight playing MMOS. So the governmant banned it. Under aged users who play early in the morning will have their connection severed for 6 hours.

Also, extended play online will result in a throttling of the user's connection speed. There is no talk about how "extended" the game session has to be before this happens, but thats still pretty crazy.

I guess this is a pretty cool idea, but we here in America have PARENTS to tell us to get off our computer, and if we don't our PARENTS punish us.. Fucking Korea

Epics new fps will be revealed in the next Game Informer

This week was a prety big bummer for me. I was excited about Epic revealing a new game this week and it turned out to just be Gears of War 3. I love Gears of War but I was really hopping it would be their new FPS rumored to be called BulletStorm.

But I just turned my frown upside down! Epics new PFS is indeed called bullet storm and will be revealed in the next issue of Game Informer. There was a little paragraph shown with the cover of the next Game Informer saying that the game would be a shooter and players will rack up awesome combos through a variety of different kill types.

I know its just a cover but I'm still hell of excited about it, I love how the cover reminds me of the box art for DOOM.

Gears of War 3 dropping April 2011

So the game Cliff Bleszinski was going to reveal on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon was Gears of War 3. Even though Cliffy B's interview was pushed back to Monday, somebody at Microsoft fucked up and posted an ad for the game on Xbox Live. Have fun being unemployed.

I guess everyone saw this coming except me. I was just hoping they would announce something new and fresh. Everyone knew Gears of War 3 was coming so announcing that the game is coming out in a FUCKING YEAR does nothing for me.

Woah, hype lvl for Crysis 2 back at 0%

So I just watched the Trailer for crysis 2 and that shit got me super HYPED, but no more than two minutes later I stumbled upon this video and my hype meter is back to 0%.

The video is about the tech they are using for the game, and it starts off real good when they show all the environmental stuff. But as soon as you get to the gameplay parts around the 1:00 mark, fuuuuck. The game looks UGLY AS FUCK.

They are just showing off stuff like A.I and shit and its prob an early build but still, I think I may have thrown up in my mouth a little bit. They are trying to push the game to consoles so its no surprise that the game doesn't match the 1st game when talking about graphics. Hopefully the PC version will be much nicer.

Wow, Crysis 2 trailer actually looks awesome

When Crysis came out a couple years ago it was a big deal, the game is still regarded as one of the best looking games on the market. And thats about all people know it for. I didnt play it for a number of reasons, but the fact that my computer would explode if I even tried is the #1 reason.

So when I saw that the trailer was released for the 2nd game I wasnt very interested, but for some reason I clicked on it anyway, and damn. This shit is tight, check it out.

Third Person Driving Experiment

The guy over at Rooster Teeth Productions were wondering what it would be like to drive a car from a third person perspective like most games do, so they attached $2,500 worth of camera equipment to a truck to see what would happen. The video was actually real fucking funny so I suggest you guys watch it.

StarCraft II collectors edition!!!

Out of all the collectors editions, Blizzard seems to do them the best. And their StarCraft II Special Edition is no exception. This shit sounds tight. The WoW pet alone is going to make people go out and buy this, oh and the fact that people have been waiting years for this game!

Retailing for $99.99, the collector's edition comes packed with goodies, including:

* The Art of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, a 176-page book featuring artwork from the game

* An exclusive 2GB USB flash drive replica of Jim Raynor's dog tag, which comes preloaded with the original StarCraft and the StarCraft: Brood War expansion set

* A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, cinematics with director's commentary, and more

* The official StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty soundtrack CD, containing 14 epic tracks from the game along with exclusive bonus tracks

* StarCraft comic book issue #0, a prequel to the comic series

* A World of Warcraft mini Thor in-game pet that can be applied to all World of Warcraft characters on a single Battle.net account

* Exclusive Battle.net downloadable content, including special portraits for your Battle.net profile, decals to customize your units in-game, and a visually unique version of the terran Thor unit

I have played the beta a total of 0 hours. But Foe and my brother Krinkor are in the beta so all I have been hearing from my brother is StarCraft II this, StarCraft II that, Protoss are OP. So I am looking forward to the game. And this CE looks cool. So I will have to put my thinking cap on.

New Call of Duty info in May

There is a teaser on the latest cover of Official PlayStation Magazine, saying that the magazine will have exclusive info on Activision's new Call of Duty game in its May 17th issue.

A lot of people talked shit about COD: World at War, including me. but when I actually sat down to play it, I loved it. So I have full faith that Treyarch will make this game a winner.

Epic games new game reveal pushed back to Monday

Cliff Bleszinski was supposed to go on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight to reveal a new game, which I hoped would be their new FPS ip. But that's not going to happen tonight.

The interview was pushed back to Monday due to scheduling conflicts, and Justin Bieber is taking his place tonight, That little fuck.. I swear to god, Now I have to wait four more days. Fuck all of them.

JUST BLAZE!

Capcom released A Super Street Fighter 4 TV spot. TIME TO GET HYPE.

The spot is pretty tight, its got some urban art with in game animations as well as some hand drawn ones. It all comes together very well and of course everyone is freaking out about the song which is like 30 seconds long. I don't think people realize that songs actually pretty old, I guess there is a chance they will use it in the game, doubted though. But if they did, I would jizz my pants.

For some reason I feel like I want to play juri.

Mass Effect 2 DLC gets delayed

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Fuck, I woke up this morning in a real good mood. I booted up my computer and watched a trailer of the new ME2 DLC "Kasumi's Stolen Memory" and planned to download it today after work. And I come home to find out that its been delayed...

There is no word on when the DLC will be released. An EA rep said the DLC is being hindered by "server troubles" and that's why it is unavailable. So it shouldn't be to long. Hopefully.

Infinity Ward, R3

Bit of a slow news day, but our favorite source of controversy around here, Infinity Ward, has just lost more staff.

According to IGN, Lead Designer Todd Alderman and Lead Software Engineer Francesco Gigliotti have both designed. As the article states, Alderman's main focus was on the multiplayer aspect of the games that Infinity Ward worked on.

Anyone have any confidence that Treyarch will be able to pull through and make the game any good? I don't think so. Expect to see some heavy cash loss on Activision's side in the next few years. And to think, if they had only paid the royalties to IW, none of this would be happening.

I'm guessing that with the firing of the previous studio heads from IW, we're going to see a new company emerge, and it will be on the EA side of the fence. Better battlefield anyone? I think so!

Seriously though, I wonder what the hell Activision and Infinity Ward are thinking at this time?

On Motion Controls and 3D

So there has been a lot of speculation and rage in regards to both the motion controls and the 3D gaming that is coming up within the next year. Although I agree with some of the points that Joe makes, I have a few points of my own that I have thought hard about.

Tackling 3DTV first...

3DTV is square peg round hole retarded. Why the hell should I have to wear glasses to watch TV or play a video game? I already have enough peripherals, between the headset and the controller, and soon to be the motion controllers. As cool as the 3D in movies is, it can stay there for all I care. And if I have friends over to play a game with me? I need more pairs of glasses for everyone who wants to watch and not view some weird flashing image. There are only two types of 3D I'm currently excited for: Nintendo's headgear-free approach with the 3DS, and holographic 3D, neither of which are being offered as an alternative for the home theater system (the second one is pretty much a dream at this point).

As for motion controls...

I'm actually pretty excited in regards to the motion controllers that are coming out for the PS3 and the X360. Personally I think that the PS3 has nailed the motion control down without a doubt, but Microsoft has a pretty decent idea as well.

The reason I feel that the PS3 has a better lock down on the feature than the 360 is because of the integration of both the camera and the controller. With Natal, Microsoft does offer true 100% 1-1 motion controls using your whole body. Sadly though, there is no feedback or interfacing with the device. Will it really feel like you're in a game when you're unable to feel the impact from the ping pong ball you just hit back to your opponent?

As for the Wii and where it is going wrong:
The Wii controller is widely inaccurate, even with the addition of the Motion Plus device. I have a feeling it has to do with the controller not having a good reference point, due to the motion bar that has to sit on top of the TV. Also the Wii has a terrible graphical capability, which is one factor which majorly contributes to how bad most of the games are for it. It has some great games, but sadly they're limited by the capabilities of the Wii.

With the Sony Move, however, they have all of the devices working in synchronization. There is the camera which not only will provide accuracy for the controller, but will also provide the option to place yourself in the game.

On top of that, you have the motion controller, which will provide the feedback and the interface necessary to provide the best immersion in the game. Although the demos for the peripheral are rudimentary at best at this point, we're still two seasons away from the release window for the Move, and they only showed a few things that were thrown together for GDC. It was surprising that Sony announced anything at GDC, let alone had functioning tech demos to work with. And so far, from the general opinions I've heard of people who were actually at the convention, the Move will be much, much better than the Wii.


A big concern that I've heard communicated so far is that the PS3 will get nothing but minigames, much like the treatment that the Wii was subjugated to. The way I look at it is that the Wii games take very little time, money, and effort to make, whereas PS3 and X360 games seem to (for the most part) have huge budgets attached to them, with major game studios developing for them. And at $100 for a controller and the PS3ye, I'm greatly anticipating the release of the Move.

Look for more news regarding the motion controls over the course of the next few months.

Ninja Theory says 3D on PS3 will be shitty

Last week Sony was skeptical of the 3DS and said that they were going to bring 3D to their PS3 console. But developer Ninja Theory has come out and said that the PS3 lacks the processing power to do 3D properly.

"The problem is that to do 3D properly you need to render 60 frames per second, per eye. And at least a 720p resolution [per eye]," states Ninja Theory co-founder Tameem Antoniades. "So in essence that's 1080p rendering at 120 frames per second, and the current generation can only process very rudimentary graphics at that spec.

Well, at least I have one more reason not to be excited for Sony's 3D plans.

Sony: "Hardcore gamers have looked down their nose at motion gaming."

I'm already sick of talking about the Playstation move, but news is slow and I must resort to this. Sony did an interview with the finiancial times basically stating how much better the move is than the Wii and how they have stuff in the works for hardcore gamers.

"The Wii has been wildly successful but at the end of the day it’s not a very precise experience and it relies on the wand," says Dille, aiming the bullsh*t cannon and firing with abandon."Microsoft’s approach appears to be no wand, no controller, just a camera, which means that your body’s the user interface. Our solution and point of differentiation is around precision, because we’ve got the camera -- the Playstation Eye -- and the motion controller which has the light at the tip, and the camera tracks the light very precisely in 3D space.

"Hardcore gamers have looked down their nose at motion gaming: it’s not particularly satisfying for them because it’s not terribly precise or challenging, it’s more social. So we’ll have games that the whole family can play that are very social, but we’ll also be able to do hardcore gamer games via a motion device that has never been done before. It’s too early to say what the killer app or signature game is but we’ll continue through the spring and late summer before we make a decision on which game is the poster child or the best one to move the Move."

Regardless of how I feel about the move, its straight up bullshit for Sony to talk shit about the Wii as they are about to try and cash in on what made Nintendo's system so popular. Its embarrassing watching Sony and Microsoft playing catch up with Nintendo like this. Why don't they just start developing something better for their next systems instead of tacking on motion bullshit half way through their consoles lifespan.

The BVG April 1st Video!

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Team Ico's previous games might get ported to the PS3

Last week over at Kotaku, developer Fumito Ueda discussed his upcoming PlayStation 3 game, but also talked about a possible port of Team Ico's PS2 classics.

I do have an interest in that," Ueda said during our Friday chat. "Next week, I'll have a meeting [about the possibility] ... But it might not be so easy, because, with both titles we really stretched the limits of the PS2. It's complex. So it's not such an easy transfer to the PS3. But I want to discuss it."

If this is true then I just came EVERYWHERE! Shadow of the Colossus was my favorite PS2 game hands down. The game had some frame rate problems so using the power of the PS3 would make it amazing looking. so if they released these around the launch of The Last Guardian I would buy it. And sleep with it at night.