Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster Preview

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s an educational game based on a popular kids’ property that doesn’t really bring anything to the table. It’s one thing to try and teach kids something they don’t know about, but how you do it is just as important as getting the lesson across. For years, so many games have failed to do this, starting with the Sesame Street games on the NES (“I don’t think that’s a word!”). It continued on with Barney’s Hide-and-Seek, a Genesis game that was so practically bad that it played itself, which I believe would discourage kids worse than letting them discover the solution for themselves.

I’m going off on a tangent here. Kids’ games aren’t really that bad anymore, though there are still a number of releases that are aimed at younger players (mostly on Wii, like Sesame Street and – gag – Smurfs Dance Party) while shutting out older players from having any fun. However, Tim Schafer and his team at Double Fine could very well change how this formula works with its upcoming release for Xbox 360/Kinect, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster. This isn’t your typical foray down the familiar license – Tim and his team are actually doing something genuinely new, and something that…wait for it…all ages can seemingly enjoy.

The game is presented in a storybook format, telling a tale that involves a series of monsters that just want to have fun with their days. The two main stars are familiar characters from the Sesame Street lexicon – the sweet-eating Cookie Monster and the high-pitched, red-furred Elmo. They appear in this monstrous world and guide the player through the actions of a newly created monster character named Marco. You’ll start out coming upon this creature, as he’s the only attendee at his birthday party (insert sad face here), but rather than discouraging him, Elmo and Cookie Monster engage in a number of mini-games to help perk him up, eventually getting to a birthday party he truly deserves. This is just the first part of the game; other chapters in the story tell different monster tales.

So how does this manage to involve adults along the same lines as kids? Well, keep in mind that this production is the work of Double Fine, the same savvy studio that produced Brutal Legend, Stacked, and the recently released mech game, Trenched. It’s got his style of humor in it, but never to the point that it’s raunchy or questionable for younger gamers. Tim worked very carefully to make sure that the tone stayed in the Sesame Street realm, but by the same token, also made sure that entertainment went hand in hand with education, without the latter overshadowing the former.

   

As a result, a number of Once Upon a Monster’s mini games are quite entertaining. One, for instance, has Marco taking part in a tandem race while Elmo playfully rides on his shoulders. Utilizing the Kinect, players must move left and right to avoid colliding with objects that could slow Marco’s momentum, while also ducking so that Elmo doesn’t hit his head on a passing tree branch. It’s never to the point that the activities are impossible, and young and old players alike will actually get into them more than you would’ve expected. Other activities include dancing (not hardcore Dance Central style either – we’re talking playful jumping around) and blowing out candles on a birthday cake. The game is packed with all kinds of enjoyable music, so kids can dance along to it, while parents won’t be worn out by it being loaded with thematic messages. Double Fine is making sure it’s fun all around, and not for a certain kind of audience. That’s where Once Upon a Monster’s main appeal lies.

To assure that the game had the same likable tone as the popular public television show, Double Fine worked closely with the teams at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Sesame Workshop to assure that the new monsters fit in with the classic ones, while the stories reflected the kind of proper tone that would be expected from the world of Sesame Street. Considering that many Double Fine staffers were fans of the show when they were growing up definitely helps, as their memories help fuel the events that occur in the game. We still have yet to see what later stages have to offer, but you can bet there will be some sort of fun motion activities that everyone can easily get into. Maybe we’ll even have a cookie-eating mini-game for good measure. I mean, Cookie Monster IS in the game, after all…

As far as presentation goes, the game features the authentic voicework of both Cookie Monster and Elmo, and the new creatures sound great as well. What’s more, the small monster universe that they dwell in is never to the point of being threatening. In fact, it’s quite comfortable, with its relaxed design and its fun, little atmospheric touches, like the mini swamps and the forests. Being able to check it out through the eyes of the Kinect is definitely a smart move, as it simply wouldn’t be the same experience by using a routine controller.

Okay, so maybe we’re a little bonkers previewing a Sesame Street game right after the release of the ultra-violent Gears of War 3. But what can we say? This isn’t typical licensed fare where the point of education is hammered into skulls. This is a delightful take on a classic franchise, going in an unexpected direction thanks to a devoted studio. We’re actually interested to see how ends up when it hits stores on October 11. We’ll be back with a full verdict then, along with a desire to eat a bunch of cookies. Actually, we feel that now. OM NOM NOM!!

Oh, and there will be a demo available next Tuesday on Xbox Live. Check it out if you can.

Source : gamezone[dot]com

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Preview

I think most gamers were surprised that Mario and Sonic's first major interaction was destined to take place in an Olympic brand title, yet it seems the colorful take on the classic events was worthy of a sequel. So now we have Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, which should prove to be another thrill geared toward the younger crowd. We went to an exclusive event showing off the new title and saw how the game has evolved since its last inception. The main focus is on the new party mode, a four-player romp through a Mario Party series of events--rampaging through the gameboard streets of London and collecting stars stickers, for example. All of the characters from the original return; in other words, there are no new characters. Given the wealth of options from the first game, it will be hard for fans not to find a favorite in the roster. 

One exclusive event we got to see behind closed doors was the new Rhythmic Ribbon event. In it, Princess Peach took to the athletic mat for what resembled a simplified version of Elite Beat Agents, with the player performing various moves with the Wiimote as the shrinking target circles demanded. While it was entertaining to watch a middle-aged Japanese game developer show off his twirling skills, I was disturbed to see Princess Peach in such a high-cut leotard. More exciting were the dream events, designed to involve all four players without the use of split-screen. First was a break-neck obstacle course, with Mario and friends dodging buses and traffic signs. Another was a simple race through the streets of London, with characters gobbling up coins like Pac-Man. And then finally, we watched a giant scripted chase sequence, with all the players working to maneuver a cart around obstacles and away from enemies to keep a cache of Yoshi eggs intact. 

Again, this is obviously a game made for a younger audience, but there's a lot to like. All the familiar characters are perfectly rendered. With events like the Ribbon and Equestrian events, there's definitely a nod to bringing in some young female gamers, too. Overall, Mario & Sonic at the London 2013 Olympic Games looks like a great party game for the Wii crowd.

Source : gamezone[dot]com

Expendables 2 Video Game Outed by Australian Classification Board

The Australian Classification Board appears to have inadvertently revealed an unannounced video game adaptation of The Expendables 2 is on the cards.

"The Expendables 2 Videogame" was added to the Board's list of most recent decisions this morning. The game is rated MA15+, with the consumer advice noting strong violence.

Ubisoft is listed as the author, publisher and applicant but local representatives have declined comment. No further information on platforms or genre is available.

Source : ign[dot]com

Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster Preview

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s an educational game based on a popular kids’ property that doesn’t really bring anything to the table. It’s one thing to try and teach kids something they don’t know about, but how you do it is just as important as getting the lesson across. For years, so many games have failed to do this, starting with the Sesame Street games on the NES (“I don’t think that’s a word!”). It continued on with Barney’s Hide-and-Seek, a Genesis game that was so practically bad that it played itself, which I believe would discourage kids worse than letting them discover the solution for themselves.

I’m going off on a tangent here. Kids’ games aren’t really that bad anymore, though there are still a number of releases that are aimed at younger players (mostly on Wii, like Sesame Street and – gag – Smurfs Dance Party) while shutting out older players from having any fun. However, Tim Schafer and his team at Double Fine could very well change how this formula works with its upcoming release for Xbox 360/Kinect, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster. This isn’t your typical foray down the familiar license – Tim and his team are actually doing something genuinely new, and something that…wait for it…all ages can seemingly enjoy.

The game is presented in a storybook format, telling a tale that involves a series of monsters that just want to have fun with their days. The two main stars are familiar characters from the Sesame Street lexicon – the sweet-eating Cookie Monster and the high-pitched, red-furred Elmo. They appear in this monstrous world and guide the player through the actions of a newly created monster character named Marco. You’ll start out coming upon this creature, as he’s the only attendee at his birthday party (insert sad face here), but rather than discouraging him, Elmo and Cookie Monster engage in a number of mini-games to help perk him up, eventually getting to a birthday party he truly deserves. This is just the first part of the game; other chapters in the story tell different monster tales.

So how does this manage to involve adults along the same lines as kids? Well, keep in mind that this production is the work of Double Fine, the same savvy studio that produced Brutal Legend, Stacked, and the recently released mech game, Trenched. It’s got his style of humor in it, but never to the point that it’s raunchy or questionable for younger gamers. Tim worked very carefully to make sure that the tone stayed in the Sesame Street realm, but by the same token, also made sure that entertainment went hand in hand with education, without the latter overshadowing the former.

   

As a result, a number of Once Upon a Monster’s mini games are quite entertaining. One, for instance, has Marco taking part in a tandem race while Elmo playfully rides on his shoulders. Utilizing the Kinect, players must move left and right to avoid colliding with objects that could slow Marco’s momentum, while also ducking so that Elmo doesn’t hit his head on a passing tree branch. It’s never to the point that the activities are impossible, and young and old players alike will actually get into them more than you would’ve expected. Other activities include dancing (not hardcore Dance Central style either – we’re talking playful jumping around) and blowing out candles on a birthday cake. The game is packed with all kinds of enjoyable music, so kids can dance along to it, while parents won’t be worn out by it being loaded with thematic messages. Double Fine is making sure it’s fun all around, and not for a certain kind of audience. That’s where Once Upon a Monster’s main appeal lies.

To assure that the game had the same likable tone as the popular public television show, Double Fine worked closely with the teams at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Sesame Workshop to assure that the new monsters fit in with the classic ones, while the stories reflected the kind of proper tone that would be expected from the world of Sesame Street. Considering that many Double Fine staffers were fans of the show when they were growing up definitely helps, as their memories help fuel the events that occur in the game. We still have yet to see what later stages have to offer, but you can bet there will be some sort of fun motion activities that everyone can easily get into. Maybe we’ll even have a cookie-eating mini-game for good measure. I mean, Cookie Monster IS in the game, after all…

As far as presentation goes, the game features the authentic voicework of both Cookie Monster and Elmo, and the new creatures sound great as well. What’s more, the small monster universe that they dwell in is never to the point of being threatening. In fact, it’s quite comfortable, with its relaxed design and its fun, little atmospheric touches, like the mini swamps and the forests. Being able to check it out through the eyes of the Kinect is definitely a smart move, as it simply wouldn’t be the same experience by using a routine controller.

Okay, so maybe we’re a little bonkers previewing a Sesame Street game right after the release of the ultra-violent Gears of War 3. But what can we say? This isn’t typical licensed fare where the point of education is hammered into skulls. This is a delightful take on a classic franchise, going in an unexpected direction thanks to a devoted studio. We’re actually interested to see how ends up when it hits stores on October 11. We’ll be back with a full verdict then, along with a desire to eat a bunch of cookies. Actually, we feel that now. OM NOM NOM!!

Oh, and there will be a demo available next Tuesday on Xbox Live. Check it out if you can.

Source : gamezone[dot]com

Gaikai Vs. Onlive: The Battle for the Gaming Cloud

Cloud gaming is growing at a steady pace. Not at an aggressive pace single-mindedly targeted at overtaking console gaming, or eliminating dedicated hardware at home like so many foretold when services like OnLive and Gaikai were first announced, but it is growing.

In recent months, the direction for both of these major cloud gaming providers has become less about the games themselves and more about providing streaming services and infrastructure to major hardware manufacturers, which is both a good and bad thing.

It may quickly lead to being less about console wars and more about a war to provide the dominant cloud game services. Or worse, of cloud gaming brands, or even of TV makers against console manufacturers.

The New Kings of Cloud

At E3 both OnLive and Gaikai announced that their companies had signed contracts to begin working with major TV manufacturers: LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics. Samsung is currently the largest manufacturer of HDTVs in the world, and LG is the second largest, so both announcements are major wins for the growing cloud companies.

Gaikai, the smaller of the two companies, also revealed major partnering wins, including teaming up with Best Buy, Walmart, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft to allow for streaming games right on the company’s websites. In fact, the platform is already available on EA’s website; users can play game demos of titles like Mass Effect 3, streaming through the browser. Currently only EA.com features Gaikai game streaming.

The benefit of Gaikai’s service is that the company isn’t limited to gaming. The company is actively soliciting streaming partners to utilize Gaikai’s infrastructure, servers, and platform. Samsung will officially release their own branded streaming game service on their Smart TV line (television sets that can run applications) by summer next year. During my E3 demo of the service, Gaikai executives showed the service running from a beta application on one of Samsung’s latest TV sets. Gaikai’s partners are particularly pleased with the company because they can create their own branded application instead of relying on another company’s marketing or brand name.

Gaikai’s platform also allows for full streaming from any webpage. The company will be working not only with the aforementioned retailers and game publishers, but it also has an exclusive contract with YouTube. Gaikai also functions on Facebook, giving it a big head start over OnLive in customer reach.

Combatting Cloud Competitors

To combat the smaller company’s rapid growth, OnLive has also adapted its service to work in-browser. In the past, OnLive required a special plug-in to operate; now, users with the plug-in can stream games sans browser, but without the plug-in games will still work through OnLive’s website.

The Marathon for Mobile

Late last year OnLive released an app for Android which allows players to stream games both over Wi-Fi and cellular networks. OnLive also has an end-to-end service, in which customers can play up to 200 games from the service instantly on any computer or purchase a microconsole and controller for $100 to play on a TV. OnLive has also recently worked to woo new companies who want to use the streaming service for their own white label application.

OnLive is still mum regarding an iPad or iOS app for gaming. Last E3 OnLive announced their service was coming to the iPad, but it still hasn’t appeared in the App Store (it was likely declined for granting users the ability to purchase games from within the app). OnLive executives declined to comment on the status of the iPad application.

OnLive does, however, work on nearly all Android smartphones and tablets. Gaikai has no mobile app yet, but is working with WikiPad to create a 3D-ready Android based gaming tablet with physical controls. I briefly tested the WikiPad and it works remarkably well, notable for its ability to stream Bulletstorm over a sketchy Wi-Fi network at E3. Trade shows are notorious for terrible wireless connections and transfer rates.

Because part of OnLive’s business is to sell games as well as act as a cloud-based demo service, OnLive is putting significant effort into first-day releases for upcoming games. The company is working with developers and publishers like THQ, Sega, 2K Games, and others to match console and PC versions release dates. It will also begin offering pre-order bonuses akin to GameStop or Amazon, offering free in-game items or bonuses for the pre-order.

Both companies offer a similar service but for seemingly very different markets. OnLive provides an end-user experience for gamers, offering multiple different ways for consumers to use the service, while Gaikai is for corporations to promote their own games or services. Both cloud providers offer identical services, but their focuses are geared in opposite directions. The one benefit for game developers using Gaikai is that games don’t need to be ported for the service; all Gaikai needs is the game code and it will stream instantly.

The War of Attrition

NVidia provides the graphics processing that makes cloud gaming possible for both OnLive and Gaikai. Gaikai is preparing to completely retrofit their game servers to new GPUs based on the latest GTX 680 videocards, which is NVidia’s highest-performance and most power-conservative card on the market today. The server units are also being upgraded to handle not just one GPU per unit, but four, which will significantly save on power and units necessary. According to one NVidia spokesperson, AMD isn’t even in the cloud gaming market, so “there isn’t any competition in the cloud space.”  At least not for NVidia, we might add.

Could Samsung be the winner of the console wars? It's more likely than you think.

It may be too early to say right now, but the big win might not come from creating the best streaming service for consumers, but rather who can attract the most hardware manufacturers, major retailers, and even game publishers. It may not be long now before Samsung and LG begin offering their own pre-order incentives for major game releases, or where Walmart and Best Buy begin offering full game streaming directly from their sites.

It will take time for these services to be fully realized, and by the time new consoles release, we may start seeing TV makers and smartphone manufacturers become the major push for streaming, while consoles veer into different entertainment territory. And frankly, as technology and bandwidth issues improve in the future, Smart TV’s could completely win gaming.

That may be an extreme view, but if Samsung decided it wants to seriously compete with the big three, it’ll have a userbase to match. The company is expecting 25 million Smart TV sales this year – all of which will be capable of playing console-quality games straight from the box. We all need TVs…but do we need a separate console to play games?



Source : ign[dot]com