Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Capcom has announced Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City!



The title of the game itself brought a feeling of nostalgia: Raccoon City is where all of the devouring of human flesh was established, so why not go back as a team? RE:ORC is a third-person team based shooter that takes players back to the good ol' days of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 from the perspective of the Umbrella Security Forces.

A super special awesome team of men and women, sent to clean up the mess that their shitty employer caused in the first place. This includes eradicating any evidence of the T-Virus outbreak and killing ALL survivors! :) SOMEHOW the U.S government catches wind of this and dispatches their own team to ruin the fun and expose Umbrella for the pandemonium inflicted on Raccoon citizens.

Truly a dream come true.

So not only will I have the opportunity to kill the zombies and Bio-Organic Weapons that I grew up reluctantly facing cause they scared the shit out of me. But I get to enact my revenge while dealing with another squad trying to sabotage my mission?  Beautiful.

I am loving Capcom's new direction. With the help of Slant Six Games (former producer of SOCOM), I am sure we can expect something a little unique. Just thinking about this madness gets me all giddy inside. There are already mentions of Leon Kennedy being a target as well. I can kill Leon. Do you know what this means? We will have the ability to change the course of Resident Evil history. Leon never even gets the chance to reach the police station. Your outfit of deadly Umbrella super secret special awesome soldiers (Friends sitting around a 58 inch HD LED 3D Ultra Dimensional Television) put a slug through his dome piece when he walked out the gun shop.

Co-op, multiplayer, online. Stickskills.com has a post on RE:ORC with a ton of details, including; character details, game play features ,release, multiplayer elements and other miscellaneous info.
It's safe to say we have quite a plethora of information already. If you really need to know more to buy this game, you can pick up a copy of the May 2011 issue of the Official Xbox Magazine when it hits your nearby friendly neighborhood gas station.



A freaking teaser? Win.



So what do you guys think? Do we have a goodie?

Duke Nukem Forever...Delayed...AGAIN?!

So...


...

Yeah.


Um...

I don't even really know how to react to this.

I think a WTF works fine. Yeah? Yeah.


So Duke has been delayed again. I've waited so long for the game, an extra month doesn't really bother me so much. But you know what does? The fact that the International version is coming out 4 days before the US version. I mean, WTF Gearbox/2K Games? Duke is an American hero. It's shit like this that causes people to pirate games.

Cue flames from both sides of the wall.

Anyways, Duke being the American hero, and us not getting our hands on it first? It's some real bullshit.



But...what if...this is an April Fool's joke? That's my last shred of hope.



Also, sorry that we haven't updated much recently. We do owe a few videos to our YouTube channel, and we have some things from GDC to post. We've just kinda been in a post-GDC stupor. We'll be updating soon (read: hopefully this week!)!

Unless that gets pushed back to June too. *grumble*

Summer Wars

I'm sorry I have no pictures at this time, I'm kinda bootleg posting this from my phone at the moment (computer is awaiting it's graphics card to come back from the "shop") and I wanted to get this review up pronto, while the film is still fresh in my mind.

"But George!" you may be saying, "This is a site for game news/reviews! Surely you can't deviate!"

Well you're wrong, and I will. Mostly when I post it's something that draws me strong enough that it inspires me to put keystrokes to a pseudo-word processor and write, and this is definitely no exception.

Before I launch completely into this, be forewarned. This is an anime, but I believe it stands up to any modern live-action movie made in any of the recent years. As far as animated features, this movie stirred me more than Toy Story 3, but more on that in a minute.

Where to start...I guess with a synopsis.

The movie takes place during what is either intended as an alternate version of the present, or a relatively close future. The Internet (and computer technology) is so important and integrated into everything that there is a whole virtual world dedicated to hosting a few billion user accounts worldwide. This world handles everything from phone calls and text messages, to online gaming, it even handles online transactions. It's a mainframe built on top of the original internet, that utilizes it much like an MMO does, and it's security is supposedly unbreakable.

As the movie starts, a teen girl offers a teen boy a summer job. She says it will be simple, and after a little convicing he agrees to go along with it, without even knowing what he's in for. She asks him to come with her for her grandmother's 90th birthday celebration. When they arrive she introduces him as her fiancée, which--of course--he plays along with despite much protesting. On the first night of his stay, he receives an email with nothing but numbers. He's a math whiz, so he stays up the whole night and cracks the code. What he doesn't realize is that he starts a chain of events that endanger the very world.

To avoid spoiling any more (basically the first 15 minutes of the movie, which I believe are included in the actual description of the movie), I'll cut right down to it. This movie is amazing. Whether or not you like anime, this is something that anyone can enjoy. I know for a fact that it won at least one Sundance award.

With Internet culture the way it is today, with everyone being plugged in via cellphones and computers, the movie is very easy to identify with. The message that it sends about the Internet culture is shockingly chilling as well, yet it doesn't smash you over the head with it a dozen times; it merely whispers the message every so often, to the point where you barely grasp it.

But this film isn't only about the internet. It also features family as a strong centralized theme throughout the movie. The main family that is introduced is full of quirky characters, all of which help to tie the story together closer.
The movie reminds me a lot of the game/anime series .hack//, which is probably why it resonates so much with me, that being a game series that I obsessed over for a bit. It uses elements such as the Internet going so haywire that it wrecks society, even for a little bit of time. It--very chillingly might I add again--cautions us on our dependence on the web.

I'm going to go one step further and reveal something that will make me hand over my Man Card to the authorities. This movie is one of the very few movies that has ever made me cry. The last one was Toy Story 3, and I can't really remember any prior to that. I'm the type of person who forced himself not to cry during his grandmother's funeral, and would rather do almost anything other than admit that I cried. This movie was so powerful near the end that I literally couldn't hold anything in. My eyes started stinging, and then it was game over.

But you know what? I don't take that as a sign of weakness. Rather, I see this as the movie being so powerful that it actually broke a boundary that normally isn't crossed. Now--I'm easy to entertain, just not to emotionally engage. This movie did both for me, and for that I'm grateful.

The animation style was great. It switched between what I believe is traditional animated style (with very limited computer assistance) to full CG/Cel-shaded 2.5/3D models and environments. The blending of both work extremely well with the two separate worlds that are in coexistence in the movie. On top of looking nice in the "Game world" of "Oz", the "real world" looks stunning. I haven't seen such attention to detail since the last Hayo Miyazaki movie I saw (Ponyo, for the record).

I'll repeat it again: if you're a gamer--no, ANYONE who uses the internet--NO, anyone who can appreciate a good movie, I recommend watching Summer Wars. I'd imagine it's especially a great movie to pull out on movie night with the significant other, as there's a dash of romance thrown in as well (and drama, I hear chicks dig drama).

I will actually be purchasing this ASAP when I wake up tomorrow, and I recommend you do the same.

On the "Casualfication" of PC Gaming

Whether or not this picture is appropriate for the post is debatable, all I can say is COMPUTER! ATTACK FORMATION ALPHA!!!

As with most things that go on the internet, I have to counteract most of the potential questions/comments out of the gate. I'm an amateur game journalist here at bossvg.com. I haven't gone to school for journalism, but in the year that I've started collaborating on this site, I've become far more in-tune with the gaming industry than I was prior to it, whereas I was just completely immersed in gaming culture, but still on the outside of the industry. I grew up on a healthy mix of NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis, and have continually owned/played just about every console that has been around (still haven't physically played a Jaguar...).

When I was growing up, I wasn't as big on computer gaming as I was on consoles. I worked with the resources that I had available, and at the time, a high-end computer was simply something I didn't have access to. One of the earliest PC games I can remember playing was King's Quest IV, though I played Duke Nukem, and a little bit of Half-Life. Most of my time during those days was spent playing games on the SNES/Genesis, and later my N64.

But in the last 7 years, I've been steadily on top of PC gaming. I was converted by a mixture of Battlefield 2 and Half-Life 2, and WoW only helped it along. Since then, I've pooled my resources, kept an impressive custom gaming rig (if I do say so myself), yet still paid homage to my console roots.

But at the same time, I've grown into the PC market, being a tech-minded individual.


Whew, that's a decent chunk out of the way.


After reading the article that Brian Crecente posted today (on Kotaku) about how he didn't want to be a part of the new PC gaming world, I first misunderstood his claim. So much of the gaming press over the past year and a half consists of the claim that PC gaming is biting the dust. Then, us PC gamers argue back "Look at Steam!" and it's a never-ending cycle.

As I was preparing to write this, I went back and carefully read it again. I walked away from it with a different understanding. I understand now that it was more of a lamentation of his favorite developers from the years past making the move to less "ambitious" titles.

Everybody's waiting with baited breath at the bedside of PC gaming, pacing back and forth waiting for the telltale signs that PC gaming is going the way of the Atari. Every time a console gets a game demo first, or a former developer from some legendary game leaves to pursue other opportunities, people start calling the mortician.

PC gaming has mutated, and there's a very good reason why nobody should be alarmed. Computers are everywhere. Right? Right.

Not to discredit (or disrespect) Mr. Romero (as I have a sea of respect and appreciation for him), but he hasn't quite released anything notable since 2005. As with most creative types, sometimes certain creative branches get tapped out and there may be the need to pursue a different format. Obviously he's found great success doing to social games what he did to First-person PC gaming with Doom.

That doesn't mean it's the destiny of the PC to become a casual POS. You can keep pointing at Farmville all you want, and I'll keep pointing at Starcraft, Crysis, Half-Life (Steam as a whole), and other games on the PC, and say: "Look, it's still alive and kicking" and I don't think it's ever going to go away.

The difference with gaming nowadays is that everything is shared across all platforms. There has been a loss of exclusivity in general. Before, consoles and computers had very little in common, aside from the fact that both ran on circuitboards, chipsets, and processors. This created an elitist class of computer gamers (I'd happily raise my hand and nod if someone accused me of being one), much like the increase in console gamers created an elitist class of hardcore console gamer (see previous parentheses).

The consoles have suddenly morphed into computers that are dedicated to gaming. The games that would be unheard of on household consoles during the 90's and early 2000's, but unique to PC's, have begun to reach a much broader audience thanks to the PS3 and 360.

To put it simply, consoles have caught up to the PC. In turn, society has also caught up to the PC. While there's still a distance between them and us, the gap is now much closer than it ever has been. PC's are now as common as cars. During the 80's/90's (and earlier), it took a lot more effort to be a computer person. I'm sure most people remember running DoS.

It just seems now that casual gaming is the new future of the PC (and possibly even consoles in general).

I'm struggling with an analogy to end this. I want to point at cars, but I don't (personally) know enough about cars to be able to coherently form the analogy.

I basically want to say that casual gaming is nothing to be alarmed about, it's merely a byproduct of the popularization of computers, and that Hardcore gaming (as a whole, both PC and console) is here to stay. So what if some of our favorite creators have jumped on the social bandwagon? If they're finding success, be happy for them, as they obviously are enjoying themselves.

It only leaves a space for a new generation to take up the mantle. I (for one) hope to some day be my generation's Warren Specter, Shigeru Miyamoto, or Will Wright. Am I claiming that I will? No. Hell no, that would be as good as committing internet suicide.

But it all starts with a hope, a dream and the willpower to get there. Only time will tell.

And casual gaming is only another face on the Wheel of Gaming, one that will be around as long as entertainment is.

Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights

So today Konami announced a new title in their 3DS launch. Normally this wouldn't exactly be that remarkable, except for the fact that it's a direct ripoff of the Professor Layton series of games made by Level-5. The facts about it are as follows:

-Doctor Lautrec is a French Archaeologist
-Has a young (female) assistant named Sophie
-Setting is 19th Century Paris
-Will be a Puzzle game
-Doctor Lautrec is shown in several pictures (including the above) with a large hat (similar to Layton's) and overcoat (which is Layton's signature appearance).

That alone really isn't that much of a ripoff, though fans of the Layton series are probably already up in arms about this.

Here's a picture of Layton and his apprentice for reference:



Professor Layton facts:
-English Archaeology Professor
-Lives in contemporary London (Although the world that is crafted usually feels closer to 20th century London)
-Has a young (male) apprentice
-Puzzle Game

And as you can see from the picture, he's sporting a nice hat and overcoat, sporting an orange shirt underneath, though is sometimes pictured with a red vest.

In my opinion, it's similar to what Capcom did to Twisted Pixel games with MaxSplosion for the iPhone. Except Level-5 is a big enough company that they can actually do something about it.

Personally, I don't think I'll be buying this game when it releases. It's a complete rip off of Level-5's design, and Konami should be punished for it.

Expect it out this Summer. No word yet on when the next two Professor Layton games (and Prof. Layton vs. Phoenix Wright) will be released.

Dead Island Trailer

It's not often that a zombie trailer evokes any emotion other than "God, not another zombie game," but Dead Island is the rare exception. It's a very melancholic trailer played in reverse of the events that actually happen in the story. Not much is shown from the sad trailer, but from previous trailers that have been released, it will be a first-person survival-horror game in which you can only use melee weapons. Looks neat, and the story looks pretty interesting as well. I can't wait to get my hands on it, despite how over-saturated the zombie market is these days.

Other game devs take note: Make a sad trailer, pique many gamers' interest.

UPDATE: After reading the following article over at IGN, there is quite a bit more to the game than just "Zombie-styled survival-horror with melee combat" Apparently there are VERY few guns that exist, and all of the weapons degrade over time.



Based on this video, there's a lot of in-depth model deformation that will be able to take place as you hack-and-slash zombies. The game is slated for "Sometime in 2011" for the usual trio of devices (PC/360/PS3). Also, there is supposed to be an RPG system where your character gets stronger as you progress through the game, which is an interesting system that is (as of yet) unimplemented in a serious Survival-horror game (Dead Rising is campy/comedic more than serious) As a fan of games like Silent Hill 2, I'm definitely looking forward to this new title in the genre.

Dead Island is being developed in collaboration by Techland and Deepsilver Games.

Red Faction Guerilla

I've bought every Red Faction game since they made the first one for the computer in 2001. What can I say? The game has mined itself into my heart. No pun intended. This THQ franchise has had its ups and downs but Red Faction: Guerrilla was a fresh new start. The game brought me countless hours of destruction, but lacked on story and re-playability. The multiplayer was fun but yet very lack-luster, but to my surprise seemed to have a MLG (Major League Gaming) map list. Yet through all of that - I still managed to complete the story and all of its side missions.(Which became like pulling teeth after the 70th one.)

With their new game Red Faction: Armageddon, they promise to wield a new immersible story and more 'think shooter' game play. Regardless of the cosmic internet nay, it will find itself included my very prejudiced Xbox game collection. I'm just fucking happy the character doesn't look like Nico Bellic.