Game Masters: From Miyamoto to Molyneux, Gaming’s Greatest Minds Under One Roof

When it comes to paying credit to and demystifying games culture, Melbourne’s ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) has repeatedly put on world-class, even world-leading, gaming exhibitions. Aussies might recall the outstanding ‘Game On’ Exhibition in 2008 – itself one of the largest and most accomplished collections of vintage games hardware, rare and previously unreleased designs from the last 50 years (or more) of electronic entertainment.

In 2012, running from June to October, Game Masters goes one bold step further, celebrating master game designers as being on par with the greatest minds the arts – screen, stage, canvas or otherwise - have produced. This is all about getting personal with some of games development’s finest.

Seated in the large auditorium, we’re welcomed by the ACMI’s Head of Exhibitions, Conrad Bodman. ABC TV’s Good Game hosts, Stephanie Bendixsen and Steven O’Donnell keep the dialogue moving as key guests, Warren Spector (of Deus Ex and Epic Mickey fame), Rob Murray (Flight Control and SpyMouse) and Tim Schafer (Monkey Island and Brutal Legend), field questions. The mood is warm and relaxed. Spector, utterly casual and affable, raises a knowing eyebrow to his travelling partner, Tim Schafer, when proclaimed as ‘true auteurs’ by Bodman.

Whether you label them auteurs or not, these guys have crafted some killer experiences.

Bodman’s love of games culture – and unending desire for it to achieve the cultural recognition it deserves – led him to curate the original Game On exhibition. He misspeaks initially, saying Game Masters came together in two weeks before laughing, “Two weeks? Two years’ work! Gosh—I wish it had been two weeks!” When we’re finally led downstairs to the exhibition space, we understand why it took so long – and where that exasperated laugh came from: Game Masters is grand, intricately constructed and intimately detailed. In other words, a beautiful, worthwhile headache to curate.

Everything is a celebration of fun and artistry; turning the first corner, we’re greeted with walls lined with some of arcade gaming’s earliest machines – beautifully illustrated Tempest and Space Invaders, early Pac-Man machines and more. The neon lights, rainbow decals and fun-house distorted mirrors take us back to the 1980s-heyday of arcade gaming. “We sourced these machines from all over the United States and U.K. – from warehouses, bars, private collections – you name it,” Bodman explained earlier.

From the early mega-hits to SEGA's assault on the arcades, Game Masters has got it covered.

Continuing the stroll through gaming history, a privately donated collection of dozens and dozens of controllers and consoles are encased in plastic – spanning a gorgeous timeline of everything from ZX Spectrum controllers to Nintendo Virtual Boy headsets. The sheer array of hardware presents a drool-producing, face-slap-reminder of just how far we’ve come – and how many designers, engineers and artists we have to thank.

Drool-inducing, indeed.

Chief amongst them – and given the first major call-out, is Nintendo – a display of Zelda titles through the ages up to New Super Mario Bros. Wii on a gigantic display at the end. From here, zigzagging down the length of the hundreds of metres of floor space, are shrines to our most beloved game design deities.

Nintendo - one of the greatest innovators the industry has ever seen.

Every game and maker is treated with respect – and given ample space to showcase their work. Yuji Naka and Sonic Team have their Sonic games running; Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gears through the ages line another wall. Blizzard has its PC wunderkind on hand, while Fumito Ueda’s masterful ICO and Shadow of the Colossus are also playable – even accompanied by a reel of footage from The Last Guardian, teasing us with wonders to come. Still dozens of other fully playable games from major names are dotted around the hall.

SEGA - such a force to be reckoned with during Yu Suzuki and Yuji Naka's reign.

When we eventually reach Tim Schafer’s wall, adorned with original artwork from LucasArts-era Grim Fandango and Double-Fine-era Psychonauts, things become more intimate. Framed simply, and all too easy to miss, is Schafer’s original job application to LucasFilm Games – which would go on to become LucasArts, publishers of some of Schafer’s most notable gaming contributions: Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle. Both of those games, as well as the sublime Grim Fandango, are playable.

Tim Schafer, you're adorkable!

Art for Psychonauts, one of Schafer's finest.

Warren Spector’s gaming contributions, like Schafer’s, span decades. With more than 22 games under his belt across just about any genre you can think of, it might surprise you (or not, actually) that he also dabbles in authoring comic books and novels. One of his earlier books is framed alongside design documents for Deus Ex and stunning concept art for Epic Mickey. It’s another intimate glimpse into the mind of a master craftsman.

Warren Spector... is there anything he can't do?

Read it to me while I drift off to sleep, Warren.

Eventually, after meandering around sets of LCD screens featuring looping interviews with these and other developers, we wander to the back of the space. Past the Dance Central floor and prototype Rock Band guitars, Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Child of Eden is given a private, darkened room where you can dip your toes in his synesthesiac visions in 3D.

You got served. And so forth.

From modernist musical shooters, we move forward in time yet again to a whole wing devoted to the rise of indie gaming and iOS games. It’s here that Australian gaming mastermind Rob Murray, CEO of Firemint and creator of Flight Control, the Real Racing series and Spymouse, takes the spotlight.

Perhaps more than either Schafer or Spector, it is Murray’s contribution to portable gaming that is shaping the next decade of games development. His staggering successes join a new era of independent developers – Halfbrick’s Fruit Ninja, Marcus Persson’s Minecraft, Jakub Dvorsky’s Samarost II and Machinarium – in breaking through to the coveted mainstream.

It’s in the so-called ‘The Indies’ wing, the final area of the exhibition, that many journos ultimately settle. iPads are scattered around, showcasing Rob Murray’s trio of breakaway iOS hits, alongside PC screens and consoles running versions of Fez, Parappa the Rapper, Thatgamecompany’s flOw, Flower and Journey. The brighter lighting, blooming from gorgeous LED clouds above our heads, raises the mood considerably. The future is bright – and beyond the exhibition’s Old Guard, it’s these new faces that deserve just as much acclaim.

So many of modern gaming's most innovative designers represented in one room.

What really resonates is just how well researched and broad Game Masters is. Everything is laid bare for you to see – and most of it is entirely playable. It’s the sort of world-class showcase of career curios and mainstream hits that will satisfy hardened gamers with depth and please casual attendees - who perhaps only dig out their PS3s for a bit of SingStar or Rock Band – and that’s okay too. To that end, Game Masters succeeds in carefully bridging that audience gap and, at once, validating the powerful artistry of game design.

You can find out more about the exhibition here.



Source : ign[dot]com

E3 2012: Dust 514 hands-on

Upon my arrival to my meeting at CCP Studios to come check out Dust 514, I was asked whether I'm familiar at all with EVE Online. Sadly, I had to say no since the space exploration/mining/ship combat never really striked me as interesting. On the other hand I also know its largely successful thanks to its format, but it just isn't for everyone. Why was I asked whether I'm familiar with EVE? Dust 514 is a persistent online shooter that isn't just based off of the same universe as EVE Online, but is based in the same universe.

At first, I was of course confused by how this works; after all, one is an MMO with very little action, while the other is a straight up shooter. Dust 514 puts you in the role of a mercenary looking for any job that pays well, and these jobs take place in the same maps, on the same planets, that appear in the PC MMO.

The way it works is quite fascinating. There are essentially three tiers to Dust 514's style of gameplay. The first tier is essentially you hopping online, selecting a quick match and shooting up some enemies in various maps — a simple way to get online and rank up some credits, without really needing to delve into the politics of EVE Online.

The second tier then involves various battles to be mandated by EVE Online, depending on the status of various planets, mining outposts, etc. The game will systematically make matches based off of the political status of various systems, which players can then take part of.

The third tier, and arguably the most interesting and ambitious, is the fully user-based model, where players on EVE Online will put bounties on various planets. The bounties then get offered to the mercenaries playing Dust 514, and they can choose to fight for the player who is attacking that system, or choose to help the player who currently owns that system to defend it. The defending player can then counteroffer a higher reward for choosing to fight on his side, which makes this dynamic completely unpredictable. Talk about amazing! This essentially means that the game can be fully driven by the community, rather than the devs having to develop new content.

This user-driven system is what the devs behind Dust 514 hope that the game becomes. Being free-to-play will allow anyone to jump in and take part in the fight, though as any free-to-play game, you can bet that there is an in-game marketplace. Luckily, the marketplace supports both in-game money as well as real money, and will offer stat boosts, exp boosts, various vehicle drops, and a slew of weapons.

Dust 514 easily impressed me as the most ambitious title of E3, and willing that players will participate on both ends of the spectrum, one being EVE Online, and the other being Dust 514, this synergy of the two titles along with the planned community-driven missions will make one to watch out for.

Source : gamezone[dot]com

Will Arnett Answers the Call of Duty

Will Arnett is a busy man these days. The father of two is involved with a his NBC TV series, Up All Night, and a long-awaited new season of Arrested Development for Netflix. But a project that he’s been secretly involved with for the past few years is finally seeing the light of day. However, you won’t find it on network TV, or even on Netflix.

Arnett is a big gamer. There’s a reason his character plays, Chris Brinkley, Xbox Live in Up All Night. Arnett is often up all night on Xbox Live playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. He became such a fan of the game franchise that he developed friendships with the Los Angeles developer, Infinity Ward, and publisher, Activision. Arnett and his friend and fellow Arrested Development star Jason Bateman’s production company, DumbDumb, have been developing two original series that will live exclusively on Call of Duty Elite TV, the online service that has over 10 million registered users.

DumbDumb is producing Noob Tube and Cocked Hammers, a pair of short format shows that are made by gamers and catered to gamers. Noob Tube will select user-created videos featuring gameplay from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and provide comedic voice-over “smack talk” commentary from Arnett and Bateman. Cocked Hammers is an original computer animated series that combines Call of Duty game technology with original performances by Arnett, Bateman and some friends.

Arnett plays a lot of Call of Duty, so he understands the gaming culture. He also happens to be a funny, creative guy. He’s blending his two passions into shows that he hopes will make fellow gamers laugh. Arnett talks about entering the “Wild West” of online production in this exclusive interview.

IGN: We’ve seen an explosion of Call of Duty videos on YouTube. Where did your idea for Noob Tube come from?

Will Arnett: Noob Tube really came from one of the people that we work with, Rob Neder. We kept looking at different clips on YouTube and marveling or laughing at this stuff. We went to Activision and said we want to curate some of this stuff that’s out there because some of those videos had so many views. We created a show where every week users can send in their best kill, their best jump, their best frag grenade, their best whatever and we’ll decide what deserves to be seen and what doesn’t. We thought there’s such an appetite for this clearly just looking at the hard data, so that’s how that came about.

IGN: What’s Cocked Hammers all about?

Arnett: Tom Chambers was playing Call of Duty with us and the s**t we said to each other when we would play was so stupid that we thought maybe there’s a way that we can get with some of the guys that we play with and capture that. There are various examples out in the world of people who try to create original content with gameplay footage and we started working with the animators and with the guys over at Infinity Ward and Activision to try to do it in a new way, a little bit more refined, using better graphics, etc. And even since we’ve started the process, which was a couple of years ago, trying to get this thing off the ground, the ease with which we can use original animation, has just gotten better and better. So once we get going, we can really start cranking out episodes.

IGN: What are your thoughts on how far the visuals in the Call of Duty games have evolved?

Arnett: I’ll tell you what, they’ve come so far that, to be honest -- we’ve wanted the passes that we got back in working with Ant Farm and we get all sorts of facial recognition and in this performance capturing and all the other stuff over at Activision’s headquarters where they do all that sort of stuff -- some of the stuff that we got back was so good, it was so strikingly real, that it almost took away from what we were trying to do. It was creepily real, and it was distracting, it was so GOOD, they are so good at it, that I thought, I am going to spend most of my time marveling at that and not being able to get into it, because I certainly was.

IGN: What actors are you working with on Cocked Hammers?

Arnett: The main players, as of right now, who make up this rag-tag company of Cocked Hammers is myself, Jason Bateman, Justin Theroux and Peter Giles. I am sure you know Justin as an actor, writer, extraordinaire, all around hilarious dude. And Peter Giles is a fantastic actor, also voice actor, who is sort of becoming one of the “go to” guys in animation, especially for comedy. He’s an improv genius. It’s four fairly solid guys…well, three solid guys…and Bateman.

IGN: You’ve done voice work in the past for licensed games, but what’s it like being part of the creative process in doing this new form of entertainment?

Arnett: I think it’s really fun. I don’t think anybody’s really done this before, created a series like this of little shorts. It’s exciting. What’s funny is that we have to keep reminding ourselves what we are doing and not try to get too hung up on the convention that we’ve become accustomed to in other kinds of formats. Meaning that, we can do whatever the f**k we want. And we keep going, “No, we shouldn’t do that” and get hung up in the story and all that bulls**t..and it’s like “No, screw it, who cares? Let’s just go for it and have fun.” Honestly, that’s the biggest challenge to me, is to remember to not get stuck. I think with the pilot episode, of course we’re trying to capture what it is, but being totally honest, we probably fell victim to trying to stay within the boundaries of what we think an animated show is or whatever. And my hope is that going forward we can continue to push that out and really disregard what’s been done before and just allow ourselves to totally have fun and screw around.

IGN: As someone who has a hit TV show, and a wife with a hit TV show, also on NBC, what do you think of the explosion of viewers we’re seeing online with things like Call of Duty Elite TV?

Arnett: Look, it’s exciting to be a part of something that’s new and that you truly are reminded on a daily basis of how it is just the Wild West out there in the online world, whether it’s on Xbox or any platform. People are producing shows all over and we’re going to be doing the “Arrested Development” series exclusively on Netflix. There are new ways that people want to get entertainment and there are a million ways to serve it to them.



Source : ign[dot]com

Add More Ores, Biomes and RPG Gameplay to Minecraft

For many people, the idea of playing Minecraft without mods is like eating spaghetti without sauce – you just don’t do it. In the past we’ve highlighted other mods that make work easier or add in video-game themed worlds, but this time around we wanted to focus on those that add depth to Minecraft. From new quests to more ore types and biomes, here are a few inspired user-creations that might just make your Minecraft experience a bit more exciting.

First things first, though. If you're new to mods, we suggest you pick up Forge. Forge makes it so many Minecraft mods can work together at the same time, and also makes installing mods a bit easier. You can find Forge right here on a site dedicated to the tool.

Crazy Ores

The first mod you should check out is called Crazy Ores, created by Minecraft user Andy608. While normal Minecraft leaves you with relatively few treasures to dig out of the earth, Crazy Ores adds nine more materials to find, along with corresponding recipes to turn them into tools, glass panes, golems and more.

Video by YouTube user: GodzGamerz Check Crazy Ores out for yourself.

The Legend of Notch

If, like me, you've spent countless hours playing MInecraft and are tired of only having elaborate structures to show for it, you should check out The Legend of Notch. While it's still a work in progress, this mod adds a host of RPG elements to Minecraft, including new materials, a class-based leveling system, new mobs to fight, and a large number of special abilities. You can also play with a number of new weapons, each of which has its own stats, abilities and durability to worry about. Even cooler, it randomly generates towers throughout the world and has a dwarf village you can visit.

Video by YouTube user: Eifel Mods Check The Legend of Notch out for yourself.

Millenaire

While some people go through the hassle of creating a server so they can play with friends, many more of us just by ourselves. Such an existence can get a bit lonely, and while you'll run into the occasional NPC village in Minecraft, user Kinneken -- with help from a number of other users -- designed the Millenaire mod to further populate the world. Install Millenaire and you'll get access to more randomly generated villages, which, according to the creator have, "loose 11th-century Norman, North Indian and Mayans themes." You can trade with the villagers, helping them to grow and flourish so they can craft cool items and even build you a home in return.

Video by YouTube user: NeilZar Try Millenaire out for yourself.

TerraFirmaCraft

TFCraft is for the survivalists out there. Resources aren't scarce in Minecraft's Survival Mode, so user Bioxx designed this mod to make your miner's life a bit more brutal. On top of adding custom textures, TFCraft changes up the way recipes work, adds a bunch of new resource types, and ups "the number of biomes from 16 to over 130". For instance if you're in a swamp you might dig up peat instead of normal dirt, or gneiss stone instead of cobblestone. Both cobblestone and dirt also respond to gravity, and can cave in on you if you're not careful. Every task in TFCraft's survival is a challenge, with even the smallest of tasks like creating fire becoming a much more elaborate process that involves considerations such as the type of wood you're using and the heat level of the fire.

Video by YouTube user: DireWolf20 Try TerraFirmaCraft for yourself.

Better World Generation 3

While every world in Minecraft is randomly generated, it's not uncommon for many of them to look remarkably similar. To combat this, user ted80andmodderkip created Better World Generartion 3, a mod that allows you to create a more diverse range of starting worlds. You can create worlds based around the Minecraft Beta and Alpha terrain types, a deserted island, or even a series of floating land masses. It also adds additional biomes and NPC towns, and should shake things up for anyone bored with the standard Minecraft world generation.

Video by YouTube user: Gosyboy Try Better World Generation 3 for yourself.



Source : ign[dot]com

Modbook Pro to Be Announced Tomorrow?

Modbook, the company that turns MacBooks into tablet computers, may be set to reveal the Modbook Pro tomorrow. But what exactly is it?

Modbooks are extravagantly expensive, highly-niche, and technical miracles. The aftermarket procedure takes Apple's MacBooks and slaps a glass screen over the display, entirely remakes the chassis, and turns them into stylus-capable tablets that run Mac OS X with crazy form factors. In a word: unreasonable. In three: we want one.

The Los Angeles-based company first made waves with their 2007 Modbook, which won Macworld's Best in Show and went on to become comercially available shortly thereafter. While we're sure tomorrow's announcement will see a thinner, lighter Modbook there are a few unknowns, like whether it will be built around the Retina Display version or not, and whether we might see Modbook Airs sometime in the future.

Check back tomorrow for more Modbook news.



Source : ign[dot]com

Jeremy McGrath's Offroad Review

Those who've been gaming since the days when it meant being tethered to a console by a wired controller (crazy, right?) might remember Acclaim's Jeremy McGrath Supercross series. If you don't, consider yourself lucky—they were awful. Thankfully, McGrath's latest video game effort, Offroad, has nothing in common with it, save for the supercross star's name.

The desert can be hell on your paint job.

The first thing you'll notice about Offroad is its lack of knobby-tired motorcycles. Yep, despite Offroad starring the “King of Supercross,” it's all about McGrath's newest passion: racing dirt-kickin' four-wheelers such as Sportsman Buggies, Prolite Trucks, Pro Buggies, Rally Cars, and Trophy Trucks. The second thing you'll discover is that Offroad's a refreshingly accessible, arcade-y romp into a genre that often keeps rookie racers at arm's length.

The streamlined controls, trio of difficulty levels, varied vehicle set-ups, and manageable amount of modes and content welcome anyone to start their engines. Additionally, players aren't punished while learning the ropes; even those who consistently place last in events will see their careers progress and new challenges and vehicles unlocked. Despite being approachable to those whose racing experience is limited to tooling around the Mushroom Kingdom in a go-kart, though, Offroad still packs enough depth and nuance to keep seasoned speedsters engaged. Easy-to-learn, difficult-to-master mechanics make moves such as clutch boosts and powerslides a pleasure to pull off, while carefully maneuvering jumps offers its own brand of eat-my-dust thrills.

They're just a couple hood-mounted weapons away from being in Mad Max.

On top of putting players at the front of the pack, these moves rack up XP which can be spent between events to tweak each vehicle’s handling, brakes, acceleration, and top speed. Our most adrenaline-amping moments came not from winning races, but from successfully powersliding into hairpin turns seconds before clutch-boosting out of them to simultaneously pass opponents and collect triple-digit XP. So, while anyone can cross the finish line, only the best will be able to properly pimp their rides.

Visually, Offroad's a bit hit or miss. From snow-blanketed mountains to dusty deserts, the track environments are drenched in postcard-pretty detail. Vehicles, however, are a bit bland, and their occupants could pass for crash test dummies. We also could've done without most of the “dynamic obstacles”; turning a picket fence into a pile of matchsticks is a fun, XP-earning affair, but having a perfect run spoiled by a wayward, cartoony-looking snowball or bale of hay only serves to break the pedal-to-the-metal immersion.



Source : ign[dot]com

The Evil Eyes of Symphony

There’s no shortage of music games on the PC that allow you to experience your songs in a whole new way. Audiosurf immediately comes to mind. It’s that Steam game you've played for hours on end where you import a track from your catalog and slalom down a corridor while collecting blocks for points.

Symphony is another take on that genre, but it differentiates itself from other titles with some semblance of a story. While you’re rocking out to some sweet beats (if that’s the kind of music you listen to) you’ll be thrown into a classic side-scrolling shoot-em-up where you’ll fight to take back your music’s soul. After selecting a track you’ll quickly be thrown into a map where cubes, triangles, and tetrahedrons form enemies. Of course you have a set of beams that you can shatter them into musical notes with and then collect those same notes for points -- or to repair a damaged blaster after being hit. Evil eyes will also appear as your song plays to remind you that your favorite song is a prisoner They taunt you for a few moments and claim that they'll never be defeated. The only way to prove them wrong and free your music is by taking your vessel through this adventure where you’ll fight the mysterious foe's minions. This includes mini-bosses that’ll spawn from time to time that’ll give you a completely unique challenge.

This is Your Battlefield

That’s what makes it really special: the fact that there’s a story. It motivates you to continue firing four steady beams into anything that comes at you, and to continue collecting points and upgrades until you’ve freed your favorite tunes. After all, why should you let this mysterious bad guy mess around with your music?

Symphony doesn’t do anything revolutionary, but it does give you a fun interface to experience your music library. If you’re a fan of your favorite music and blowing stuff up, be sure to keep an eye on it.



Source : ign[dot]com

Developers Get Google Glass Explorer for $1500

It's no secret that Google has been working on making an augmented reality heads-up display (HUD) a reality, and that project took a big leap forward at this year's Google I/O event, where developers can fork over $1500 to be one of the first to try it out.

The 2012 Google I/O keynote wrapped up Wednesday morning with a spectacular skydiving demo incorporating Google Glass Explorer Edition, the search giant's latest big step toward making the augmented reality technology a reality at long last.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin took the stage to unveil Google Glass Explorer Edition, which will be made available via preorders only to developers in attendance at Google I/O this year at a cost of $1500.

The biggest catch? Developers won't be able to get their hands on one until early next year.

Brin was quick to note that Google Glass Explorer Edition is not a product aimed at consumers - the search giant is simply eager to get the technology in the hands (and faces, no doubt) of its Android developers in an effort to work out the kinks and prep the technology for the next level.

$1500 may sound like a lot of money for what seemed like vaporware only a year ago, but Google I/O attendees are already being rewarded with Android swag at the event, with a free Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7 tablet and Nexus Q media streamer for each of the 6,000 developers in attendance.



Source : ign[dot]com

Google I/O - Live on IGN!

From Android 4.1 - Key Lime Pie to a rumored Nexus Tablet, this year's Google I/O promises to be packed with exciting announcements and possibilities. But what will they show and what will be absent? Find out at 9:30AM PST where we'll be streaming the conference live!

Source : ign[dot]com

Pokemon Conquest Gets UK Release Date

Nintendo's innovative and exciting Pokemon Conquest will launch in the UK on July 27th.

The game, which released in the US earlier this month, takes the core Pokemon gameplay experience but merges it with aspects from the obscure Japanese strategy RPG series, Nobunga's Ambition.

Players start out the game as an young Warlord who is linked with a Pokemon, and together you set off to recruit warrior allies and strengthen your kingdom.  Along your journey, you'll not only encounter nearly 200 different Pokemon but also Warriors and Warlords inspired by the Japanese feudal era.

When we reviewed it, we said, "Pokémon Conquest not only works, it’s possibly the most cohesive, fully realized spinoff in Pokémon history."  Fans have been clamouring for a UK release date, and it's a huge relief to hear we don't have to wait much longer.

Pokemon Conquest will be available on both Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS (in 2D).

Source : ign[dot]com

Microsoft's ExpertZone Reveals Halo 4 Details

An educational slideshow hosted on Microsoft's ExpertZone - a site designed to bring retailers up-to-speed with its products - has revealed new information about Halo 4.

So what do we know now that we didn't already know? The quiz reveals that Halo 4 will have 10 new weapons. A couple of these - The Light rifle and Scattershot - were already revealed during Microsoft's E3 press conference. Interestingly, one of the slides reveals that  for "the first time, the Master Chief will have a true nemesis" and that players will fight against "a new race, unlike anything seen before in Halo".

There will also be "2 new vehicles plus many of your favorites from the past".

That's still a bit sketchy, admittedly. But there are some concrete details relating to Spartan Ops, which is Halo 4's TV series-style DLC experience. 50 missions will be released per 'season', with five missions dropping every week for 10 weeks. Each mission is said to be "introduced with a high-quality cinematic video so that you are well-briefed before you embark on your mission." And with series 1 of Spartan Ops is 100% free, it's being described as "like getting two campaigns with one game".

LittleEnglishHaloBlog has screens of the slides from the presentation.



Source : ign[dot]com

Joe Danger Touch Announced for iOS

Joe Danger will be coming iPhone and iPad later this year, says British developer Hello Games.

But the title isn't a lazy port: Joe Danger Touch is a brand new game built specifically with touchscreen controls in mind. To do a wheelie, for instance, players will swipe their finger across the touchscreen, while tapping will be used to make Joe jump.

The game boasts 50 new levels and some new playable characters as well.

First screenshot from Joe Danger Touch.

Joe Danger debuted on PlayStation back in 2010, with an special version of the game making it to XBLA last year. As well as Joe Danger Touch, Hello Games is also working on a full-blown console sequel titled Joe Danger: The Movie.



Source : ign[dot]com

Medal of Honor: The Game That Defined The Modern FPS

You’re huddled in a Higgins boat with seven other men. To your left and right, other boats carrying many more quivering soldiers cut through the tumultuous ocean. Behind you, over snarling engines and the roar of the sea, there is a shout:

“Clear the ramp. Thirty Seconds!”

A few moments later, artillery whistles overhead. Two shells splash harmlessly into the water, kicking spray into the air. The third strikes the boat next to you, and this time its fire and bodies that are blasted upward. Then the beach looms, the boat stops, a whistle blows, and the ramp lowers.

So begins the most influential half-hour of any shooter in the last decade.

“ So begins the most influential half-hour of any shooter in the last decade.

Strange, then, that the tenth anniversary of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault went almost completely unnoticed in January this year. Perhaps the lack of attention is due to another game you might have heard of – the one with an acronym that is also a kind of fish, quite popular in Britain battered and served with chips.

Yet the lead developers of that game were formerly members of 2015 Inc; the creators of Allied Assault. The intricately scripted sequences and distinct whiff of Spielberg inspired them to go on and found Infinity Ward. Allied Assault was one of the first games that could accurately be termed cinematic, and set the modern template for that most prevalent gaming trope of shooting bad people until they fall over.

So maybe Allied Assault deserves a little bit of our time to belatedly mark its tenth birthday. Sound good? Then grab your Thompson and let’s check out this house. Some boys from the 101st might be trapped inside.

In his review for IGN, Steve Butts described Medal of Honor as “like a really fantastic movie.” Nowadays that might be considered an insult, given the mixed opinions of games that attempt to imitate cinema. Back in 2002, however, creating an entire game with the same production values of a Hollywood film was a fairly radical idea. Cinema’s prior influence on games had been restricted to cut-scenes, FMV and the “interactive movies” of the Nineties, which were about as emotionally compelling as a rice-cake.

The objective was to make a game that played like a film, and the Medal of Honor franchise already had a strong movie heritage, having been created by Spielberg himself. Allied Assault took full advantage of that legacy, often recreating scenes from Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers ad verbatim. An enormous amount of those production values went into one particular sequence. It was the astonishing, exhilarating and harrowing Omaha beach landing that stood out ten years ago, but does it still stand up after a decade’s worth of bigger battles and prettier explosions?

Absolutely. The experience is largely held together by some incredible sound engineering: the screaming artillery, the cries of fallen squadmates, the bullets snapping past your ears and thumping into sand and water and bodies. This carefully orchestrated cacophony makes the couple of dozen men struggling up the beach alongside you feel like a couple of hundred. Some sturdy animation and watertight scripting also help to combat the game’s ageing visuals.

The care and craft that went into what is a very small part of a substantial game means Allied Assault’s beach landing holds its own against even the most spectacular sequences of today’s shooters. Unfortunately, the gap between the Overlord mission and the other levels – perceptible even upon release – has widened over time. A large portion of the game consists of robust but unremarkable corridor combat. The Norway levels in particular feel barren and dull.

That said, there are still some stand-out moments away from the Norman coastline. The opening level remains a stormer. A Trojan-Horse mission gone awry, it’s short, sharp and punchy, a perfect start. At other end of the game, fighting the in the forests along the Siegfried line is fittingly haunting. The war is a spectre of its former self, and the scattered and battered Wehrmacht ambush you from behind trees and loom suddenly out of the night mist.

Interestingly, one of my favourite parts of the game has become one of the most reviled – weeding out nests of snipers from an obliterated French town. It’s a sudden change of pace from the run-and-gun nature of the earlier missions, scrambling over rain-slicked rubble, hugging the few remaining walls to avoid the optics of deadly German marksmen. Brutal and unforgiving, the “Sniper Town” levels caused a lot of frustration among gamers, but they were also arguably truest to the conflict, bluntly portraying the desolation and desperation during its latter stages, the last breaths of the war before that ghostly final mission kicks in.

“ It’s quite striking how little military shooters have evolved since Allied Assault’s release.

It’s quite striking how little military shooters have evolved since Allied Assault’s release. The charred remnants of the Third Reich may have been left for more modern and ethically dubious battlegrounds, but we fight our contemporary conflicts in much the same way. There are some mechanical differences; health-packs are a constant, and there’s no limitation on the number of weapons you can carry, but it’s the overarching tone and style which has influenced shooters from Crysis to Homefront. Even non-FPS games like Dead Space and Uncharted owe a lot of their success to Allied Assault on a proof-of-concept basis.

Perhaps the most telling difference between Allied Assault and the modern FPS is that, even when duplicating films scene-for-scene, Allied Assault never wrenches control away from the player. It’s a competent shooter with some outstanding scripted moments, rather than being outstandingly scripted with competent shooting moments. That gradual shift in focus undoubtedly stemmed from the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Allied Assault’s beach landing, yet for all its filmic trappings, Allied Assault never forgot its status a game.

Crucially, Allied Assault wasn’t an homage to Hollywood. It was a direct challenge, a statement that games can be as grandiose and evocative as cinema. Parts of the game suffered for it, but the point was definitely proved. Ten years on, the FPS genre still cannot escape the need to prove that point, to create bigger and more bombastic scripted sequences. The question now is; how much longer must it continue before it is finally satisfied?

There have been better shooters, smarter shooters, more innovative and more interesting shooters, but the extent of Allied Assault’s influence – for better or worse – is second only to Doom.



Source : ign[dot]com