Kinect (how many times have I used a similar title?)

So it's no secret that us at BossVG are no big fans of the Kinect. The above video was done by web-comedians/gamers Mega64. I have to say, they make good points, while delivering them in a hilarious manner. My favorite part is when Rocco (the man with a beard and glasses) says, "Yeah, but you look like a fucking idiot!"

Paired with that video is this article from IGN talking about their most recent experience with Kinect at a London gallery by the name of Saatchi Gallery.

In it, they pretty much trash it the whole way through, much like I've speculated will be done once the peripheral is released. They mention pretty much all of the games that Microsoft has touted as its big launch games for the Kinect, calling Joy Ride (a Modnation Racers-type game in which you steer with your arms and hands),

"surprisingly difficult to control, and most of the seasoned gaming journos spent half the time spinning off the track. Waving your limbs around in front of a screen, regardless of how simplified the game is, isn't an intuitive control system."

Doesn't sound very fun. Even the Wii is slightly more responsive than that (of course unless you're playing a hack and slash where you're just wiggling the controller the whole time).

They also go on about the infamous "Balls in Your Face" demo (not what it's actually called, mind you),

"Most of the time trying the ball-dodging mini-game in Adventures was spent flailing around at random. Whether this was caused by the infamous 'lag' that seemed to plague early demos was difficult to tell, but when you have to resort to waving your arms like a semaphore enthusiast at a rave whilst you're trying to do something as simple as bat a ball back at the screen it can get frustrating."

Just what I expected from the Kinect.

There is one, only ONE game which I would POSSIBLY even CONSIDER purchasing a Kinect for, and that's the one in the following video:




Children of Eden is the spiritual successor to Rez. In it, you control the cursor and then target enemies / objects on screen. When your character shoots them, they let off a sound effect, which oddly works great with the background music, no matter the timing. It's made by the same brilliant mind behind both Lumines and the aforementioned Rez, though it doesn't look like it has even half of the difficulty of Rez (which was pretty goddamn tough).


We can expect to see the Kinect in November. Whether or not the BVG crew will be picking one up is yet to be seen though.

Street Fighter x Tekken

So loving Street Fighter like we do, I thought I'd post this video that was released from Comic-con today. Your eyes do not deceive you, the characters are from both Street Fighter and from Tekken. It's been announced that there will be two games, one from Capcom, and the other from Namco-Bandai. It will be called Street Fighter x Tekken, and Tekken X Street Fighter. They will both be made with the companies fighting engines, but with the both universe's characters.

Personally, I haven't had fun on a Tekken game since the first two games for the PS1, but I still am excited to see these two titans go head to head for the first time.


What do I want to see next? Street Fighter x Guilty Gear. You know that would be amazing.

Vader Robs a Bank

So I know this generally isn't our "thing" but there's something about this story that made me want to post it. I know what you're thinking, "that picture's got to be a hoax, or someone's got to have photoshopped that!"

Nope, someone dressed as Darth Vader invaded a bank on Thursday, and robbed an unknown amount of money. The only thing he loses points for in my book is the fact that he was wearing green pants. I mean, that would have been that much more amazing had he been wearing the full costume. Most people would just use the Darth Vader Helmet. This fucker threw on a cape and the shirt as well! After he ripped off the bank, he took off on a speeder---I mean motorcycle. The police say they're looking for a person who is roughly 6ft tall. I think this man may have pulled off the perfect crime.

In other GAMING related news, it's been announced who the voice cast for the Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions are going to be. Well, they've announced who will be playing Spiderman at least. Each different universe will get a different voice actor, all from VA's who have done the Spiderman role before. Sadly no Toby McGuire.

Stan Lee will of course provide narration for the game (is that man awesome or what?).

The Spider cast will be as follows:
Neil Patrick Harris - Amazing Spider-man Universe
Josh Keaton - Ultimate Spider-man
Christopher Daniel Barnes - Spider-man Noir
Dan Gilvezan - Spider-man 2099

Neil Patrick Harris was the voice Actor for one of the more recent series of Spider-man (made back in 2003 for MTV), "Spider-man: the New Animated Series". This video is an episode from the series. I would recommend skipping all the way to 17 minutes into the episode, where the villain throws a box containing a telescope at someone in the the crowd and hits them. In the words of Jervan "That girl is probably dead."

Josh Keaton voiced Spider-man in the most recent series, "Spectacular Spider-man" which ran on Kids WB and Disney XD between 2008-2009.

Christopher Daniel Barnes voiced the web-slinger in "Spider-Man: The Animated Series" from the 90's, which I grew up watching (and for the record has been my favorite to date).

Dan Gilvezan voiced the web-head in "Spiderman and his Amazing Friends", the old series from the 80's.

Definately stoked for this game, which will be coming out September 7th (barring any push-backs).

Boss Talk: July 22, 2010

You like it.

Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions

So Activisun...I mean Activision has officially revealed the fourth universe out of Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions. They've revealed that it will be none other than the Ultimate universe, and you will, in fact, be Symbiote Spidey. Sure, I know on last week's Bosstalk I said that there was no other universe in which Spiderman had acquired the Symbiote costume, but I was wrong. Sorry comic book fans, as I don't really follow the Ultimates universe, I had no way of knowing (well, other than Jervan pointing it out to me prior to the episode, and me forgetting while I was on camera). The interesting thing about this universe is that it will be entirely cel-shaded. It's interesting that we're getting a blend of multiple graphical styles, although the orignal universe isn't that much of a stretch from the cel-shaded look:



I guess the major difference between the first screenshot and that one is that the first one looks a little more lucid and kind of inky, whereas the one right about this looks very "Color between the lines," as the Amazing Spiderman universe is prone to have.


Either way, I'm pumped for this game.

Motion Control Fiasco

So over the past few days, the two newcomers to the motion controller business have been spreading around numbers and facts. Personally, I find one of them to be completely retarded (can you guess whose?). That's right, Microsoft!!!! They had the stupidest one so far, regarding the pricing of the kinect vs. both the Wii and the PS3 and Move.

Here's the charts, the first one is for new system owners, the second is for current system owners:





Both are pretty bullshit. First off, this is considering that you will be playing with multiple people in the same room. Motion control games are not fun in small rooms with multiple people, and they frequently result in either injury or property damage. Also, is the Wii Balance Board 100% necessary to the scenario? They might as well have added in the Wii Zapper as well to push the price as high as they can.

As I've stated before, it's costing me $129.99 to get the whole Move experience, and that's including a game, the primary controller, the camera, and the sub-controller. You also can use a DualShock 3 controller instead of a navigation controller, if you don't want to fork out that extra $29.99.

Then I read this article over at Destructoid. They talk about corporate bullshitting, etc and so forth. I honestly looked at that whole list, and I don't see any bullshitting. Bullshitting would be if they talked shit about the other systems. A little slanted, but at the same time, how can it not be, when they're comparing all of their features? It's not like they put a category on there that said "Usable whether standing or sitting" to cast Microsoft in a bad light.




Also, people are getting up in arms about the fact that Sony put on there "rechargeable batteries." Um, last I checked, rechargeable batteries ARE a FEATURE of a device. I mean, I guess it shouldn't quite apply to the Kinect, which is tethered to the Xbox 360, but I have a feeling people's controllers (aka arms and legs) are going to get tired pretty quickly, and the only thing I do to recharge is to sleep it off.

Only thing they didn't take into account is the fact that the Nintendo DOES have a camera, albiet it isn't very well integrated with the system, and is fairly obscure. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't even know about it if it wasn't for the fact that I remember Ubisoft blabbing about it at E3 2009. Guess what? It was only ever implemented in two Ubisoft games, Racquet Sports and Your Shape: Featuring Jenny McCarthy. And the camera doesn't actually have motion controls.

Do those two games justify inclusion in the ad? NO, I don't think so. I mean, two shitty games, versus a library of games that are going to form another core product for people who play PS3? I mean, I'm not expecting to play EVERY game with the Move, but I think having 10+ games that are compatible with it is a lot more justifiable than a library of 2.



Credit of course goes to Kotaku for the images.

Starcraft 2

So Blizzard finally unveiled what will (most likely) be the last trailer for Starcraft II before the game is released next Tuesday. I must say, the trailer looks pretty fucking awesome. I'm excited that I have the Collector's Edition locked down for me to pick up next week when it gets released on the 27th. There's plenty of action. For those who aren't familiar with the story thus far (taken directly from the Wikipedia page):

The game is split into three episodes, one for the player to command each race. In the first segment of the game, the player and Jim Raynor are attempting to control the colony of Mar Sara in the wake of the Protoss attack on other Terran worlds. After the Confederacy arrests Raynor for destroying Confederate property, despite the fact that it had been infested by the Zerg, the player joins Arcturus Mengsk and the Sons of Korhal. Raynor, who is freed by Mengsk's troops, also joins and frequently accompanies the player on missions. Mengsk then begins to use Confederate technology captured on Mar Sara to lure the Zerg to Confederate installations and further his own goals. After forcing Confederate general Edmund Duke to join him, Mengsk sacrifices his own second-in-command, Sarah Kerrigan, to ensure the destruction of the Confederacy by luring the Zerg to the Confederate capital Tarsonis. Raynor is outraged by Mengsk's true aims of obtaining power at any cost and deserts, taking with him a small army of the former colonial militia of Mar Sara. Mengsk reorganizes what remains of the Terran population into the Terran Dominion, crowning himself as emperor.

The second campaign reveals that Kerrigan was not killed by the Zerg, but rather is captured and infested in an effort to incorporate her psionic traits into the Zerg gene pool. She emerges with far more psionic powers and physical strength, her DNA completely altered. Meanwhile, the Protoss commander Tassadar discovers that the Zerg's cerebrates cannot be killed by conventional means, but that they can be harmed by the powers wielded by the heretical dark templar. Tassadar allies himself with the dark templar prelate Zeratul, who assassinates one of the Zerg's cerebrates in their hive clusters on Char. The cerebrate's death results in its forces running amok through the Zerg hives, but briefly links the minds of Zeratul and the Zerg Overmind, allowing the Overmind to learn the location of the Protoss homeworld Aiur, which it has been seeking for millennia. The Zerg promptly invade and despite heavy Protoss resistance, the Overmind is able to embed itself into the crust of the planet.

The final episode of the game sees Aldaris and the Protoss government branding Tassadar a traitor and a heretic for conspiring with the dark templar. The player initially serves Aldaris in defending Aiur from the Zerg invasion, but while on a mission to arrest Tassadar, the player joins him instead.A Protoss civil war erupts, pitting Tassadar, Zeratul, and their allies against the Protoss establishment. The dark templar prove their worth when they use their energies to slay two more of the Zerg cerebrates on Aiur, and the Conclave reconciles with them. Aided by Raynor's forces—who sided with Tassadar back on Char—the Protoss break through the Overmind's weakened defenses and destroy the Overmind's outer shell, but take heavy casualties in the process. Tassadar channels his own psionic energies in combination with those of the dark templar through the hull of his command ship and crashes it into the Overmind, sacrificing himself in order to destroy it.


Whew. Wall of text (or is it win?). So that is just the first game, if you want to read about Brood War, feel free to visit it's wikipedia page. I think what I'm going to do this weekend in preparation for the game is to actually go back and play all of the old games. Not that I'm going to be any better at them (protip: Strategy games are not the games I'm best at), but it will be interesting to go through the story mode again.


Look for Starcraft II on July 27th.

Ninja theory doesnt expect a sequel for Enslaved

Wow, I feel really fucking bad for Ninja theory. Even though they make awesome games their lack of success has mind fucked them.

Ninja Theory is being realistic about its chances of success. The game is being developed without plans for a sequel, and saying that there wont be a cliffhanger or a huge story arch.

For this game this is the one story, we focus everything on that one story and pretend there won't be a sequel," says studio head Tameem Antoniades. "So no, we don't have a big arc.

"We did Kung-Fu Chaos and there was no sequel for that. Heavenly Sword, there was no sequel for that. So we're now in the mindset that there's not going to be a sequel for this unless it's miraculously successful. Well not miraculously, but we don't assume it's going to be successful."

Well all signs point to this game being fucking amazing so I hope that this game is a success for Ninja Theory's, they deserve it.

Vote to keep Carmine alive, OR MURDER HIM!

It has been announced that in Gears of War 3, the fans are going to be able to choose if this Carmine brother dies or lives! And by voting you also donate to child's play.

If you don't know who the Carmine brothers are, each of them is present in the last two Gears of War games, and they both died hell of fast. Anthony Carmine was mouth fucked in Gears of War while Benjamin Carmine got ass fucked in Gears of War 2.

The way you vote is by purchasing an Avatar shirt, one saying "SAVE CARMINE" the other saying "CARMINE MUST DIE". But they are also selling real life shirts, but I am not sure if you can buy them online or not. I just know they are selling them at Comic-Con.

But This is a really good idea, I'm a sucker for stuff that goes towards Childs Play. And seeing how many of those panda pets sold in WOW, I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Four new Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 characters get revealed

So Capcom has released four new fighters for the upcoming Marvel Vs Capcom 3. First two are pretty obvious, Dr doom and Chun Li. But The last two are a bit of a suprise, Super Skrull and Devil May Cry's Trish.

If you like fighting, comic books, Or Chun-li's thighs you should prob watch the video.

Namco vs Capcom will be two seperate games

Last week during Evo 2010 rumors where being thrown around regarding a Namco vs Capcom game because of appearances by Katsuhiro Harada from Namco Bandai and Capcom's Yoshinori Ono.

Everyone here was pretty confused since they are two different games with totally different play styles and deemed the idea bullshit and impossible. For example taking Tekken characters and making it play like Street Fighter would piss off the Tekken fans.

But now it seems that the two different companies will both make the crossover game but developed separately and made to reflect their different approaches.

Sounds pretty cool, They are trying to make everyone happy. We might see something at Comic-Con hopefully no one gets shot.

Epic's Fail

Last weekend was the Develop conference over in the UK, which featured many keynotes from people such as Tim Schaufer, as well as presentations from many different spectrums of the gaming community, including indie developers. Of course when you get a lot of creative people in a room together, there's bound to be some people that butt heads.

Of course, you don't expect people to be complete douchebags at something like this, do you?

Apparently Epic's Mark Rein felt the need to open his fat mouth and talk shit to a panel of indie developers DURING THEIR OWN PRESENTATION.

The panel was made up of the UK indie developers (read: they run their own game development studios, and don't have a "bigger boss" to answer to other than maybe their investors)Cliff Harris (Positech Games), Robin Lacey(Beatnik), Sean Murray(Hello Games) and Mark Morris(Introversion). They were discussing the topic of how Indie studios get a lot more of the ability to have a one-on-one conversation with their consumers, thus creating a more positive experience for those who buy their games, when a snort (which probably sounded like this) arose from the audience. It was none other than Epic's Mark Rein, and he had something to say. Taken directly from Cliff Harris's blog post on the subject:

"At this point, there was this derisive snort from this guy in the front row, who said something to the effect of ‘one guy? who cares, that’s a waste of time’. He then started to lecture us on how that’s a silly way to do it. I’m 95% sure that all four of us on the panel thought ‘what the fuck?’ as well as ‘who is this guy’? compounded by Robin asking him if he worked in marketing.

Anyway… it turned out this guy was Mark Rein from Epic, although he seemed to assume everyone within earshot knew exactly who he was, and why he must obviously be right. I got the impression he was there to laugh at the little guys, or to just inform us how we are all wrong."


Yeah, it seems like a pretty douchebag thing to do. Even Cliff Bleszinski [Epic Studios] (via twitter) didn't really approve of what was said, though he said he was sure that he had a reason for acting in that fashion, though he hadn't spoken with him yet.

Well, this week he's apologized for his statement, saying in the email that:

"It was completely rude of me to interrupt your panel with my opinion no matter how well intentioned. I'm supremely passionate about the plight of indie developers, and game developers in general, and I heard something I thought was incorrect advice and I just couldn't keep my big mouth shut."

Now, that doesn't really seem like that much of an apology. He still sounds like he's saying that the indie developers were up there and what they were saying was wrong. I don't personally know Mark Rein, but a lot of other blog sites have said that he isn't much of a douchebag, only that he seems to speak his mind, and is very excitable. Either way, I don't think that (by any stretch) excuses the fact that he interrupted another developers panel (not even raising his hand to comment or anything) in front of a lot of people, and then rattled on about how wrong they were.

It makes sense to me that indie studios get more one-on-one time with their fans. A smaller-scaled operation is always going to be better at communication than something as big as Epic. I mean, think of it this way: You have more of a chance of getting to know the people who run the shop of a family owned and run grocery store than you would to know the staff of a large chain of grocery stores.

Simply put: because there's less of a target market, you have a little more availability to talk to everyone.

Modern Gear Solid

So I was just over browsing some news at Destructoid and I came across this video.



As a huge fan of Metal Gear Solid, and a documented Modern Warfare hater, this video made me laugh quite a bit. It combines the comedy+action of Metal Gear Solid with the seriousness+generic FPS feel of Modern Warfare 2. In short, it's AMAZING. Even if you're not a fan of either series, I'd recommend checking it out. It's actually pretty well done, with a lot of professional-grade camera angles.

And you can't go wrong making Activision the evil organization pulling the strings.

Kinect Road Trip

In an odd attempt to make people care about their motion controller, Microsoft has decided to take the Kinect across the country. Here's a list of the venues, if you're at all interested.

East Coast

* July 17–18 Manhattan, NY Macy's
* July 20–22 East Falmouth, MA Barnstable County Fair
* July 24–25 Manhattan, NY Seaport-Lower Manhattan Entertainment Area
* July 28–Aug. 1 Washington, DC Six Flags America
* Aug. 4–6 Canton, OH Football Hall of Fame – Rib Burnoff
* Aug. 7–8 Canton, OH Football Hall of Fame Festival Weekend
* Aug. 11–15 Chicago, IL Air Show/Navy Pier
* Aug. 19–21 Detroit, MI Woodward Dream Cruise – Auto Festival
* Aug. 26–30 St. Paul, MN Minnesota State Fair
* Aug. 30–Oct. 24 Tampa, FL Westfield Citrus Park Shopping Mall
* Sept. 3–6 Indianapolis, IN Rib America Festival
* Sept. 10–13 Nashville, TN Tennessee State Fair
* Sept. 15–16 Atlanta, GA Atlantic Station – Entertainment Plaza
* Sept. 18–19 Atlanta, GA Atlanta Arts Festival
* Sept. 23–26 Charlotte, NC Festival in the Park
* Oct. 1–2 Orlando, FL Disney Wine and Dine Marathon
* Oct. 8–10 Valdosta, GA Wild Adventures Theme Park
* Oct. 14–17 Dallas, TX Texas State Fair
* Oct. 21–24 Shreveport, LA Louisiana State Fair

West Coast

* July 15–Aug. 22 Minneapolis, MN Mall of America
* July 25–26 San Diego, CA Youth Surf Cup – Soccer
* July 28–Aug. 1 Sacramento, CA California State Fair
* Aug. 6–8 Portland, OR Bite of Oregon Food Festival
* Aug.10–11 Seattle, WA Woodland Park Zoo
* Aug. 13–15 Seattle, WA Taste of Edmonds – Food Festival
* Aug. 19–22 Vancouver, BC Summerfest
* Aug. 27–Sept. 1 Pueblo, CO Colorado State Fair
* Sept. 3–6 Denver, CO Elitch Gardens
* Sept. 9–12 Albuquerque, NM New Mexico State Fair
* Sept. 16–19 Salt Lake City, UT Utah State Fair
* Sept. 24–26 Los Angeles, CA Universal City Walk
* Oct. 1–3 San Diego, CA Miramar Air Fest
* Oct. 7–11 San Francisco, CA Fleet Week – Military Ship and Air Festival
* Oct. 15–17 Phoenix, AZ Arizona State Fair
* Oct. 20–24 Las Vegas, NV PBR World Finals

Games on hand for the events will be Kinect Sports, Kinectimals, Kinect Joy Ride, Kinect Adventures, Dance Central, and perhaps a few more.

We've spewed record amounts of hate at Microsoft so far, so let me preface the rest of this post by saying that none of us are fans of the Kinect, period. The concept is what bothers me the most about it. Its not by any definition "innovative". I remember being excited about getting an Eyetoy back in 2005, and when I saw the limitations on that sort of peripheral, I stopped caring about gaming with it. Ensnaring casual gamers with motion control is a popular business strategy, but I don't think it will work as well with the Kinect due to a few issues.

The Wii sold like hotcakes because of its low price. The Kinect is $150, not even counting the 360, games, or Xbox Live subscription fee (not necessary for casual use, I suppose, but if you want to get the most out of it, you'll want the sub). The new black Wii comes with a Wii Motion Plus, controller, nunchuck, Wii Sports, and Wii Sports Resort for $200. I'll let you put these two statements together.

I've got to end this here before full-on Kinect rant mode kicks in. All I can hope is that the peripheral ends up being a lot better than we all think it will. I certainly hope so, since I know plenty of other people are excited about it.

James Bond: Blood Stone

The new James Bond game unveiled on Friday by Activision has people talking, for sure. The game features the polarizing Daniel Craig as James Bond and British singer Joss Stone as the token "Bond Girl". Interestingly enough, the story was written by Bruce Feirstein, who wrote Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and The World is Not Enough. No, not the games, the actual movies. Will that actually be enough to make a good game? I certainly hope so, especially since the next Bond movie is on indefinite hold.

What I'd like to see with this is a continuation of the Bond franchise through games, honestly. If you can get funding and support for games, but not movies, doesn't it make sense that you would try to push the games a lot more? I feel like the possibility is there to make James Bond a more successful franchise and maybe drum up some funding for another movie, but I honestly don't have that much hope in Activision. Maybe some short films could be made especially for the game, like Ubisoft did with Assassin's Creed: Lineage. If you don't recall, Ubisoft made a series of short films for Assassin's Creed 2 as a sort of prequel to the game, and to get their feet wet in the movie industry. This sort of move is interesting to me, and I'm honestly wanting to see where else they can go with that sort of game-movie combination. I wish Activision could do something that cool with Bond, seeing as we probably won't be seeing a new one anytime soon.

Guy is selling his NES for 35k on Ebay

So some guy going by the username "ronald3868" on Ebay is trying to sell his NES and about 40 games for 35K. And there are no rare games to justify the cost. The guy is just in SUPER debt and is hoping someone will cut him a break by buying the system he is selling for the same price as a fucking car.

Well someone actually did buy it, for 50K... It might be a joke but if not, this guy got a lot of money. Excuse me while I got look through all my useless shit.

Boss Talk, July 16

It's Friday, so you know what that means!

Fuck Yeah.

Interview with a Vampire

So I just got finished reading Kotaku's interview with Bobby Kotick, regarding his rise to power as well as his personal feelings on everything. Of course, they strayed away from discussing anything with Infinity Ward, but it's still an interesting read, one that almost kept me from posting the title to this. But the thing is, the Inifinty Ward fiasco already happened. There's no going back from the demonizing shadow it casts on the CEO of Activision after what they did to the studio that made perhaps one of the biggest selling games of all time.

That's not to say they haven't done other things to the gaming community that have cast Activision in a demonizing light. I mean, they basically fucked around with Tim Schafer, on of the men responsible for some of the wittiest games in recent memory (including, but not limited to: Tales of Monkey Island, Psychonauts, Brutal Legends). Of course he has something to say about Kotick as well:

"We can approach it like we approach bars of soap, where you're just trying to make the cheapest bar of soap. He definitely has that that kind of widget-maker attitude. I don't think he's great for the industry, overall. You can't just latch onto something when it's popular and then squeeze the life out of it and then move on to the next one. You have to at some point create something, build something."

He's referring to the fact that Kotick has gone on record many times saying how he wants to make games almost like an assembly line: very little creativity, low cost (to make), and that will see the maximum profit possible (see: the Call of Duty franchise). He later goes on to say:

"Hopefully he'll go back to another industry scene. He could go to an industry that makes more money. Ball bearings… something that suits his passions more. Weapons manufacturing?"

Gotta love Tim Schafer. As much as I loved the writing of Brutal Legends, and the visuals, I wish the mechanics had have worked a little better. Here's to hoping their next project is fucking AMAZING.

And here's hoping that Activision will see the error of their ways pretty soon, and become a stellar publisher that doesn't only care about making money, but also will give more creative projects a chance to thrive, much like EA does with their "EA PARTNER" program.

A brief history of EA Partners

Credit to www.kotaku.com for the interview story, and www.gameinformer.com for the history lesson.

Ubisoft Waiting for 3D to be more affordable

More Ubisoft news in this cloud of posts. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is quoted as saying

"I think we will see lots of values in 3D TVs this year, but it will be very strong at the end of next year. November and December of next year is when we will see strong sales of 3D hardware."

This touches on a subject that seems a little strange, considering the current state of the economy in the US. At E3, all of these developers showcased their new games utilizing 3D televisions, but you must also consider the prices of upgrading to 3D technology. For example, Sony Bravia 3D HDTVs start at $1,889.99. That doesn't even include the 3D Sync transmitter ($49.99) and however many 3D Glasses you need ($149.99 each). 3D is expensive right now, as all new tech is when it is first released. Therefore, it makes sense to wait to push it on consumers until it is more affordable.

I hope that time is soon, because despite my initial apprehension towards 3D gaming, I'm a little excited for 3D television.

Games at Comic Con

Now, hopefully no one gets shot because of this, but Kotaku has posted a list of some games that will be shown at Comic Con this year. I agree with George to some extent about how odd it is that game companies want to show off games at Comic Con, but considering how influential Comic Con is now toward the general public, I get it. E3 is a big deal, but its confined to gamers only. Comic Con is a bigger event since the whole damn country decides they're geeks too for a few days.

Anyway, the list includes Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (based off of a comic, might I add), Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and Just Dance 2. Shit tons of Ubisoft, I know.

Google Games

We all knew it was going to happen eventually, just not how. According to some very likely rumors, Google has invested somewhere between $100 and $200 million dollars in Zynga, the creator of Mafia Wars and Farmville. These two gigantic games will serve as the foundation for Google Games (or whatever they choose to call it) later this year.

Just as we expect from Google, this is an intelligent decision. Farmville alone is supposed to have around a hundred million users already. Laying out that sort of groundwork is good for them, but what does this mean for hardcore gamers? Nothing yet. We'll have to see when Google Games becomes a reality, but I expect they'll stick with social media based games.

Boss Talk: July 8, 2010

Dragon Effect 2?

So Bioware broke the announcement about Dragon Age II. This is no new news to anyone who purchased DA:Awakening at retail, as they got a card with the projected release date of february 2011. What is news is the things that Bioware is announcing about the game. The thing that surprises me the most? They're going the route of Mass Effect and only letting you customize the look and gender of your character, not the race, nor the origin.

According to Kotaku, they decided to go the route to, "allow for a deeper story, while allowing characters to refer to the main character by name."

Sounds kind of like bullshit to me. Now, I didn't play the original game, and I've been hesitant to get into it because I've heard it's so long, but at the same time, wasn't the main purpose of Dragon Age to have your own completely created character (ala Neverwinter Nights) be the center of the story? While it's fine from the point where you now get voiced dialogue that refers to the main character by last name, it's NOT ok to strip that form of RPG away from fans of the series.

In my opinion, it would have worked if they just stuck you with a last name, then allowed you to choose races. The story already says that, "the legend around Hawke's rise to power is shrouded in myth and rumor," so why couldn't they work in the fact that the details of the hero were shrouded in mystery in the category of their race as well?

Sounds like lazy storytelling to me, but I've long since put all of my faith into Bioware, and I'm sure they'll make another surprise blockbuster.

Dragon Age 2 gets officially anounced

So Dragon Age 2 got officially announced via the new GameInformer cover, and thats basically it so far. I cant find much on the game besides it features a brand new main character, and a fresh story in a "different part" of Ferelden. Also promised is a "ton of surprising improvements" over the last game. Which was basically a give in.

Hopefully we will get some info we didn't already know about soon.

Red Dead Redepemtion getting a shit ton of DLC

This August Rockstar is releasing "Legends and Killers" which will include nine new multiplayer maps, eight new multiplayer characters, and a new projectile weapon called "The Tomahawk."

Then next fall they will release a zombie DLC called "Undead Nightmare", this DLC will be a single-player adventure where "ghost towns and cemeteries come alive in a West gone horribly wrong", the pack will also feature eight new multiplayer zombie characters.

Both of these will cost 10 bucks, but they are releaseing DLC in between these, here is the copy paste version straight from Rockstar themselves.

Legends and Killers Pack
New active map locations, characters and more:

• Release date: beginning of August 2010;
• 9 new multiplayer map locations — more than doubling the amount of territories in the multiplayer competitive modes;
• 8 new multiplayer characters — play as characters from Red Dead Revolver;
• Introducing a new projectile weapon: the Tomahawk, with corresponding challenges for single-player and multiplayer gameplay;
• New achievements and trophies;
• Pricing: $9.99 (PlayStation Network), 800 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE).

Liars and Cheats Pack
New competitive modes, multiplayer mini-games in Free Roam, and more:

• Release date: TBC;
• Attack and Defend multiplayer competitive mode and challenges;
• New multiplayer horse races, complete with mounted combat;
• Play as the heroes and villains of Red Dead Redemption, as well as 8 additional multiplayer characters;
• Multiplayer versions of Liars Dice and Poker from the single-player game;
• Introducing a new weapon: the Explosive Rifle, with associated challenges available in single-player and multiplayer gameplay;
• New achievements and trophies;
• Pricing: $9.99 (PlayStation Network), 800 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE).

Free Roam Pack
Delve deeper into the world of Red Dead Redemption with new modes, challenges and gang hideouts to discover:

• Release date: TBC;
• Additional Free Roam challenges;
• New action areas and defensive placements;
• Posse scoring and leaderboards;
• New anti-griefing measures in Free Roam;
• Pricing: TBC.

Undead Nightmare Pack
Ghost towns and cemeteries come alive in a West gone horribly wrong:

• Release date: TBC;
• Brand new single-player adventure, challenges and quests;
• 8 new multiplayer zombie characters;
• Additional animals unleashed in the world;
• New dynamic events and more;
• Pricing: $9.99 (PlayStation Network), 800 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE).


God its so much DLC its blowing my mind. I really have to go back and play more of that games Multiplayer. I feel dirty for not spending more time with it.

Crackdown 2 Review

Hey guys, Reporting in that me and Foe did a video review of Crackdown 2 today. Hope you enjoy! Also look forward to BossTalk coming out on Friday!

RE: RE: Blizzard Using Real Names

So remember how I said a lot can be found out about a person, based only on their name? I've been reading up all day on the different opinions of different people, and have read at least one big one that I really, really don't like and didn't think about. Someone brought up the fact that if people are applying for a job with a resume, someone can google their name and pull up the posts. While gaming is more accepted, a lot of people don't understand that while the act of playing an MMO is generally considered to be one of isolation, there is a lot of socialization and teamwork that takes place.

Oh yeah, and there's this article that I found over at WoW Riot. This explains about how one of the employees tried to alleviate concerns about using their real name, and posted his.


The employee's user name is Bashiok, and his real name is Micah Whipple. From this, the WoW Riot pulled up his address, phone number, people living in his house (it's odd, because as the article comments, it seems like he's still living with his mother...how much does Blizzard pay their employees?). Some people even pulled up a google streetview map of the house he lives in.



So yeah, scary stuff. I mean, the more common your name is the lesser chance that you'll have of someone being able to track you down.

In the defense of Blizzard, after all of the complaint threads they got Blizzard issued a statement saying it would be voluntary, and that you would have the ability (and a lot of notifications) advising you that you were posting with your real name first.


I still think it's fucking stupid. I mean, what do they think they're going to accomplish? I really can't see a drop in trolls, or anything about that friendship bs. I mean, I know some people only by their game tag, and even after I find out their real name I'll still call them by their user name.

When I play online, I'm a PSN ID, a Gamertag, and a Username. Of course when I write articles and star in Bosstalk, I am George, but when it comes to online gameplay, I do not intend to play as George.

RE: Blizzard Using Real Names

So as Jervan posted a little while ago, Blizzard will soon be implementing the "RealID system" on their forums, and displaying everyone's real names to the internet, both first and last. This change will not take place until the launch of Starcraft II (which is set for the end of this month).

Personally, I couldn't think of a stupider idea.

The real question I ask myself in regards to this is, "What's in a name?"

I've revised this several times in regards to why I think this is so wrong. My main concern is for the security of the person who is using the account. First of all, Blizzard definitely has a problem with hackers grabbing accounts, and that's just a little more information that's being shared. Hell, it completely invalidates a method of password-making, considering that some people use passwords that are a combination of their name with a buncha random numbers.

Also, unlike everyone else's stance on this, I actually like the idea of internet anonymity. It's one of the best things about the internet. Everyone wants to pretend to be someone they want to. Anonymity allows the geek to be the star, it allows the princess (and I don't mean like Princess Peach :D) to be a geek.

I mean, a bunch of people argue that anonymity allows people to be trolls. While the trolls do suck, they are occasionally funny, and I don't think that having a real name on the forums is going to matter. Hell, I'm sure that people are just going to try changing the names on their accounts anyways if they wanna troll. I'm sure we're going to see an influx of "Mike Hawks" on the Blizzard forums when this change goes live.


Personally, I say let the anonymity stay. Even though I star in Bosstalk every week, I'm even still hesitant to use my real name when it comes to ANYTHING online, let alone posting on a forum which millions of people visit.


So give me Anonymity, or give me e-death.

The Engineer Update!

Finally, Valve is rolling out their final class update to Team Fortress 2. Every other class has gotten their time to shine, and now everyone's favorite Texan gets his turn. I'm super excited, despite not playing TF2 at all since APB was released. Engineer has always had a special place in my heart, and my hope is that Valve gives him some more mobile options making the "battle engie" playstyle more viable.

The first page is up, and soon after I make this post, the next one will probably be up as well. His first unlock, the "Frontier Justice", is the shotgun we saw in the "Mac Update" video. It has 3 shots per clip and can't get random crits. However, it stores 2 crits for every kill your sentry gets and one for every assist. When your sentry is destroyed (through self-destruct or enemy action) you can unload those stored crits into to some enemy faces.

Another feature of this update is the Golden Wrench. These collector's items are obtained through random crafting. Only 100 will exist though the whole world, so get crafting if you want one!

I can't wait for the next item, and I hope its not something anti-spy. Being a spy nowadays is difficult enough with the unlocks that already exist.

Blizzard Forums will use your real name

When I read this information over at Kotaku, I was more than a little surprised. Apparently, along with the new Real ID system, Blizz plans to display your real name instead of your in-game handle when you post on the forums.

According to Nethaera, "Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment, promote constructive conversations, and connect the Blizzard community in ways they haven't been connected before."

I've always wondered what would happen if people couldn't hide behind a wall of anonymity. Would they be nicer and more positive? I guess we'll get to see. As our society becomes more engrossed with the Internet, I think its inevitable that the line between virtual and real worlds blurs. I'm not bothered at all, since my handle "Jervan" is already linked to my real name in plenty of places. Then again, most people don't write a gaming blog and make weekly videos on YouTube.

Speaking of which, at the time of this writing, our APB review is at 2,313 views and Boss Talk is at 301 views. We're certainly improving! :D

Vanquish

If you're like me, then you'll like what you see in the trailer. If you're not, then FUCK YOU.

Just kidding. But still, I'd say that this is going to be the next big third person shooter title. It looks fast paced, frantic, and fun. The slow-mo seems to be tastefully implemented, and the character looks ridiculously mobile, which is definitely a plus in my book. The game looks like it handles and feels like a futuristic shooter.

Look forward to this game, which has no official release date, but is expected to drop in October.

Boss Talk: Joe gets arrested

APB skit this episode. You like it.