Labels: media intersection

• Gaming -- Includes posts from my (this) gaming blog, and from my "I'm Playing" mini-review blog
• Emergent Game Technologies -- Posts from EGT employees (including me), and EGT press releases and news items -- including those from partners and licensees
• Game Releases -- For years, I've wanted a timeline of the games I care about; this is a down-and-dirty version of something I hope gets much, much bigger.

Labels: innovation, media intersection, Web 2.0

Labels: media intersection

Labels: indie development, innovation, licensing, media intersection, shopping deals

Labels: media intersection

• Halo 3 "Believe" diorama fly-through
• "Believe" campaign on Xbox.com
• "Museum" commercial
• "Diorama" commercial
• "Making of" video for the diorama

Labels: Halo, media intersection

1. I'm a toy fan.
2. I'm a fan of Todd McFarlane.
3. I like McFarlane's toys for their sculpts, and dislike them as action figures (as a generality, they're not pose-able).
4. I said I'm nervous about the articulation for the Halo 3 toys.
5. I call Todd McFarlane "Toddy", because no one else seems to. No word yet on whether he's OK with that, but I'm told someone is checking this out for me.

Anyway, as far as point #4 (from a prior post):

...at least Master Chief will have "more than 18 points of articulation" (would that be "19"?), which ups the Joyride Series One's 15 points. No articulation notes are given for the other figures, which makes me nervous.

Master Chief:

Master Chief does, indeed, look decent. The photos, unfortunately, are not good at showing how much range of articulation the figure has. A little of critical analysis yields encouraging stuff, though:

• Photo 1: Looks like the shoulder joint is pretty versatile
• Photo 2: (with Photo 1) showcase a range of motion for the knee joint, and similar jointing for the ankle (which would be good news)
• Photo 3: Looks like the elbow has great range of motion

What I can't tell from the photos is what the hip joints are like (Photo 2 is closest to giving a view, but it's too dark to see). To be fair, hip joints are hard -- you have to avoid the whole "adult diaper" look (epitomized by Hasbro's Marvel Legends White Queen). But I can't tell if the Chief can stand straight, or he's eternally ready to crap Brute spike grenades.

The deco looks spot-on, though, and I'm curious about the tenuously attached frag grenade -- Clever magnet gimmick? Pin and socket? Breakable and child snortable in waiting?

Cortana:

Cortana is a non-articulated statuette with a light up base. And honestly, Scott Fischer set the sexy bar for our favorite semi-corporeal Femme AI in The Halo Graphic Novel. That's the new Femme AI Sexy Bar, or FAISB(TM). And "Mother" from Alien is our favorite non-corporeal Femme AI. So I'm mheh on this sculpt until I see it in person.

Brute Chieftain:

The Brute Chieftain has probably the coolest deco scheme of the lot. The picts are also better about showing a range of motion the other product photos don't. The gravity hammer accessory is almost a character in itself (hmm, new weapon for the game?). My only concern is whether his "I'm compensating" loin cloth thingy gets in the way of posing the figure. I dig the sculpt, though.

Jackal Sniper:

Imagine if there was unholy wedlock between Pan (the goat dude, not the cross-dressing broadway dude/tte) and Skeksis (from The Dark Crystal). This would be their baby.

The sculpt and deco are complex and detailed, the picts again show a more varied range of motion, and I'm curious what the spiky things on the head and forearms are made of. I'm more curious as to the balance of the figure, given the goatish legs. This will either be amazingly done, or amazingly frustrating.

Grunt Two-Pack:

Speaking of balance, that could be the bugaboo with these cooly crafted little ... buggers. The Grunt Two-Pack has one each teal and burnt orange armoured Grunts (What? Specificity is good.) that look great, down to the nubby little feet that could make their back-heavy Notre Dame(ish) humpbacks a problem. But if the weighting is good (and the rock-like feet are cleverly sculpted to compensate for character tilt), these could be a couple of little winners.

I do hope the guns are removable. And I wonder if it's too late to have Jason Staten voice clips emanate randomly from the figure as they sit otherwise quietly on the shelf?

So, there's my unsolicited (but stunningly brilliant) deconstruction of the toys. If I get permission to post picks from McFarlane Toys, I'll update this post with those.

Labels: announcements, Halo, media intersection

Labels: Halo, media intersection

BlackSite: Area 51 -- BlackSite's being done by the local Midway Austin folks, and though they didn't hire me to do the voice work (they did let me audition), I want the game to do well. The typically snarky folks at Kotaku are a bit bullish on the title, which is saying something.

Borderlands -- Likewise, I want Plano, TX-based Gearbox Software (Brothers in Arms) to do well with their just-announced Borderlands. Sounds promising, and with a randomization feature that touts up to 500,000 different firearms (and is likewise applied to armor, vehicles, and so on) and randomized level layouts, this game doesn't sound like it's going to be boring at all.

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian -- The works and mythos created by C.S. Lewis are deep and rich, and given the movie is coming along nicely, the inevitable game from Disney Interactive is, too. Early build screens are already looking good, and I hope some gameplay videos pop up soon.

Dead Island -- Zombies am still new hotness, so this game from Techland (Call of Juarez, Loki, Warhound, and the Chrome Engine) looks promising. I love that the bar for now-gen zombie games has been set by Dead Rising. I'm hoping other devs rise to the challenge.

Fracture -- I'm hoping this new IP from LucasArts lives up to the hype of the terraforming gimmick. While the play mechanic is enticing, I haven't been struck by the character designs, and initial impressions from game press have said while the mechanic is cool, it was straight-up shooting that won matches.

Halo 3 -- So far, industry folks are liking Halo 3's campaign (same, but tweaked), multiplayer (tweaked way more), and in-game editor, "The Forge" ("This might be the coolest addition to Halo 3"). I think I may be going dark on this title soon, to avoid any (more) spoilers for me. Oh, and breaking from tradition, Halo 3 was the title used for the final Omegathon challenge (usually a retro game) at PAX. It was a new level, with new maps, with many lucky, lucky fans in attendance.

Haze -- I'm excited about this game, if for no other reason than it's from the Free Radical folks of TimeSplitters fame. There are unconfirmed rumors the game is not coming to Xbox 360, which would suck.

Heavenly Sword -- This PS3 brawler looks good, and reviews so far have been mixed on gameplay and depth. They certainly seem to be putting a lot of the right effort behind story telling, acting, character design, and audio, so I hope the game rocks as much as its potential.

Legendary: The Box -- Aside from Gamecock or Spark Unlimited needing to rename this title, I'm so looking forward to this take on a literal Pandora's box. More mythology for me, and dev chops from Spark partnered with the announcement of multiplayer have me grinning. And dodging griffins. Gamecock knows how to pick 'em; and they're in Austin.

Mass Effect -- Allegedly more polished, allegedly more pretty.

Metal Gear Solid 4 --Seriously, if you're not excited about MGS 4 for franchise love, pushing technical boundaries, innovative character design, or boundary-pushing story and thematic elements, you're probably reading the wrong blog. News at the show was a bit of "maybes", with possible support for customer soundtracks and online play. Themes and new boss characters were revealed, with a loose "Beauty and the Beast" theme, and boss characters based on real-life actresses / models Yumi Kikuchi, Scarlett Chorvat, Mieko Rye, and Lyndall Jarvis.

Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness -- I'm looking forward to this game, and the PAX announcement of the 4-5 hour Episode One available for download from Xbox Live this year is exciting for PA fans, and for folks (like me) wanting the Xbox 360 to catch up to episodic gaming. And the official Website opened.

Rock Band -- This game got rave pre/reviews at GC and PAX. I'm fascinated with this whole phenomenon that arguably allowed Activision to unseat Electronic Arts as top publisher (but let's see what the Madden '08 numbers do). Oh, and Rock Band is Harmonix / MTV Games. I was just, y'know, talking about the phenomenon.

Spore -- I so want this game, but I've put my interest on hold, repeatedly, to match its repeated delays. The devs at GC said the game is completely playable (yay!), but "still requires a lot of polish" (boo!), but there may be an open beta to help them do that (yay?). Oh, how they tease me.

Too Human -- While I'm tired of the soap-opera drama coverage of delays for this trilogy, I'm still excited for this game. GC announcements narrowed the 2008 release to early in the year, with a demo to hit this fall. And it's derivative of Norse mythology.

Totems --OK, this is a just-announced, PC/360 free-roaming / sandbox game from 10tacle Studios (best-named dev studio EVAR), and is inspired by the French sport Le Parkour, animism, super heroes, and Cirque de Soleil. Tell me your interest isn't piqued.

Viking: Battle for Asgard -- Long-time readers know I'm a fan of mythology, and Norse mythology in particular (my dog's name was Loki, and Thor and Loki action firgures are currently beating the crap out of each other on my office shelf). So I'm stoked about SEGA's announcement of Viking: Battle for Asgard, an Xbox 360 and PS3 hack-n-slasher where you'll also get to "order around mythical beasts and liberated troops in enormous battles" as Skarin, a warrior protecting Midgard (earth) from goddess Hel and her minions. Hey, even if it's just now-gen Rune with a few other mechanics, I'm on board.

Virtua Fighter 5 -- This is an improved version over the current cabinet arcade "Version C", and has upped the number of NPCs, the intensity of the AI in Quest Mode, and added more accessories with which players can customize their characters. The big show at GC was online play for Xbox 360 -- something the PS3 version doesn't have. VF5 hits this October, also from SEGA.

WET -- Is a new action shooter from Sierra, and game reviewers and sites have been a little jaded on it, marginalizing it as derivative of Tomb Raider, BloodRayne, Prince of Persia, and Covert Ops. "Jaded" being the operative word. The pre-rendered cinematics belie an attention to detail and love of Hong Kong / Rodriguez-style films that make for great target visuals and gameplay. Could be some potential here.

Sony -- Sony's booth evidently had toilets as seats, probably an allusion to some of their Euro advertising that had a model sitting on a toilette (no, it doesn't make sense to be either). But they did announce Play TV -- just for Europe -- which will sit between your PS3 and TV and let you record one channel and watch another (so it sounds like a dual tuner setup). Play TV not only supports high-def video but lets you stream live or recorded video from the PS3 to your PSP, letting you watch TV shows on the PSP from anywhere in the world. Not earth-shattering for those familiar with Slingbox tech, but still pretty cool. Sony says this isn't coming to the U.S., because the "U.S. doesn't have terrestrial digital television yet."

To me, not a good excuse, and I expect Microsoft to announce a leapfrog move that involves an extension of what they're already doing with their Media PCs, Xbox 360, and Zune players (now #2 in the MP3 marketplace, I'm told). If they don't make such an announcement, we can chalk it up to one of the bigger missed opportunities in media intersection.

• Kotaku.com
• Joystiq.com
• IGN.com

• Kotaku.com ("PAX 07" tagged posts)
• Joystiq.com ("PAX07" tagged posts)
• IGN.com ("PAX Central")

Labels: announcements, events, media intersection, ramblings

Labels: Halo, indie development, media intersection, Xbox 360

Labels: Halo, media intersection, ramblings

Labels: media intersection, PlayStation3, previews

Labels: announcements, companies, media intersection, MMO, RPG

Labels: events, media intersection

Labels: announcements, companies, DLC, media intersection, PlayStation3, shooters, XBLA, Xbox 360

Labels: Halo, media intersection

• Kotaku.com
• Joystiq.com
• Xbox.com (Bringing it Home, Comic-Con)
• MajorNelson.com (Comic-Con '07 - Day 1)
• MajorNelson.com (Comic-Con !)
• MajorNelson.com (Comic-Con Day 2)
• MajorNelson.com (Comic-Con Day 3)
• MajorNelson.com (Final Comic-Con content)
• IGN
• Newsarama

Labels: announcements, comic books, DLC, Halo, licensing, media intersection, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live

"At this year’s San Diego Comic Con, Wizkids will be unveiling something pretty incredible for Halo fans and ActionClix players alike. We’re not telling you what it is, though; you’ll just have to wait until the Comic Con which runs from July 26-29 this summer."

Labels: Halo, licensing, media intersection

"(I wonder if JoyRide Studios lost the Halo franchise to McFarlane Toys? That would be sad.)"

Labels: announcements, Halo, licensing, media intersection, shooters, Xbox 360

• Video game comics
• Tenchu Z
• Castlevania film update
• Gamecock's EIEIO
• Halo 3 "goodies"
• Soul Calibur IV (video)
  (Updated)
• Xbox 360 changes
  (Updated)
• David Jaffe
• Gears of War DLC
• 3D Realms announces announcements
• BioWare's 2009 MMO
• Carmack's game engine (video)
• Junction Point updates
• Steamed Capcom?
• Sony launches blog
• Dark Sector due 2008
• Episodic content expands
• Usability and Human Factors
• Peter Cullen (video)

• Heat sink / pipe combo (now)
• Quieter DVD drives (now; in new units and some repaired units)
• Smaller, cooler, cheaper CPUs (July-ish)
• Smaller, Cooler GPU (Fall 2007)

By this Christmas, we should see a quieter, more robust 360 -- a scant three years after the console's release.

UPDATED: From Microsoft (a la Kotaku.com):

"Regularly updating console components is commonplace within the industry
and is a standard aspect of the business for a variety of reasons including cost
reduction, improved manufacturability and improved performance."

David Jaffe:

The dude behind God of War and Calling All Cars might be making good on his "going independent" mutterings. Cell phone picts have surfaced on Jaffe's site, indicating an in-process build out, possibly of a development studio. Will he become a Sony "Second-party" Dev (playing it safe), or will he branch out and show some Wii, 360, PC, and other love? We'll see ...

Gears of War DLC:

A Gears of War free title update (with new achievements) hits late tonight (June 14th) / tomorrow. It'll add eight new achievements for the "Annex" game-play type and Hidden Front Maps. It also includes an improved version of the "Roadie Run" controls.

Also, according to Major Nelson:

'The "Annex" gametype is now available for free and the "Hidden Fronts" Multiplayer Map Pack is available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points. All four multiplayer maps will be available for free after Sept. 3, 2007.'

3D Realms announces announcements:

3D Realms, the developers of the forever-in-development Duke Nukem Forever, have two upcoming non-DNF announcements. Says creative director Raphael Van Lierop:

"I can say that we have a big announcement coming in the next four weeks, and I'm not sure, but I believe we have another major announcement coming in the next four to six months... while I can't say exactly what these are, are they about Duke Nukem Forever? No."

Demoing during a Steve Job's keynote address, id Software's John Carmack showed off the new "id Tech 5" game engine -- designed for Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and ... Macintosh. Looks slick, promises to make amazing development easy, blah blah blah.

It is cool that it seems to decouple the game play from the asset reworking, so, after finalizing game play, you can still "put artists on it to go ahead and make it look as good as we have time and resources to do."



Junction Point updates:

Another on the Austin gaming connection, over at the recently reworked junctionpoint.com, new concept art for unnamed game(s) is showing up throughout the pages. And there's a new, bare-bones WordPress blog for Warren Spector and other Junction Point devs to use as a pipe through which to share their brilliance with the rest of us.

Steamed Capcom?:

Capcom's jumping on Valve's Steam distribution / download service, which is huge. Microsoft, Sony, GameTap, RealNetworks, Valve -- there are a ton big (and a plethora of small) players in this space. As broadband speeds increase, ultra-wideband wireless becomes a reality, and fiber becomes the norm, the winners are going to win big.

Sony launches blog:

Joining the now-gen, Sony has launched an official Playstation blog, with the inaugural post by none other than President & CEO Jack Tretton. Some good, reasonably transparent stuff here.

Dark Sector due 2008:

For gamers, this holiday is going to rock. For those (like me) waiting for Digital Extremes' Dark Sector, you're going to need to wait until after the holiday. According to D3Publishing:

"We've decided to pull Dark Sector out of a very crowded holiday season and it is now slated for release in Q1 2008."

Episodic content expands:

Telltale Games got a $6 million influx. What they're using it for is more of their successful multi-platform episodic content.

Honestly, "Episodic Content" and "Digital Distribution" are two of the two New Hotnesses of gaming, so Telltale is on the forefront, and playing this wicked smart.

Usability and Human Factors:

Usability is not a choice. Good usability is. So I like this apropos Penny Arcade strip. Devs, take note.

Peter Cullen:

Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime in the 80s cartoon, upcoming Michael Bay Movie, and video game tie-in, gives a brief video explanation of his role and the voice of Optimus. As a voice actor, I'm inspired. As a fanboy, I have goosebumps.

Labels: announcements, companies, console updates, DLC, Epic Games, events, Gears of War, Halo, media intersection, shooters, Unreal Engine 3, XBLA, Xbox 360, Xbox Live

Labels: announcements, media intersection, Xbox Live

"What you'll see more of is a less purist game business model and more of an overall broadcast model. Like our ad-supported games service."

1. Subscription (the current GameTap model, and likened to "video-on-demand"


2. Digital Retail Business (new on Thursday, and likened to "box office premiere")


3. Free service (new on Thursday, and analogous to "free broadcast television")

1. Additional distribution pipe (and revenue stream) for GameTap.


2. Additional content partner (and, therefore, content) for Microsoft -- for Xbox Live Marketplace (via GameTap TV) and Xbox Live Arcade (via GameTap games)


3. Additional revenue for Microsoft (depending on how they structure their "consignment" take on XBL Marketplace content).


4. Additional way for me to play the games I want, on the platform I want.

I envision something like a "My Subscriptions" Xbox Dashboard blade, where I can get to my value-added subscriptions (which would also be embedded in appropriate existing blades). These would be services (GameTap, DirecTV, Zune Marketplace (detest that site), etc.) that I pay for on top of the Xbox Live subscription cost, or I'm already paying for outside of Xbox Live.

If I'm subscribed, GameTap could also show up under Xbox Live Arcade. It and DirecTV could also show up under XBL Marketplace blade, "Media and Entertainment" category.

I can't figure out why this isn't happening already. I mean, Turner's parent company is Warner Bros., who's already a strategic XBL Marketplace content provider (and see here for more, and here for music). And Adult Swim is already dumping a ton of content onto XBL Marketplace, so this seems like a logical extension.

Either that, or I'm missing something big. And probably obvious.

I think I'll get a hold of the GameTap and Microsoft folks and find out.

Thoughts?

Labels: announcements, media intersection, PC, Xbox 360

"What happened with 'Ninja Gold' was very different and, to my mind, much cooler. I know that my thought from the start was to develop something that would work just as well in games as in movies, and I know John was thinking along the same lines. This was an attempt to create a concept that would work in, and be developed for, a variety of media simultaneously. That's something new for games -- and for movies."

Labels: announcements, media intersection

"GameTap have announced Re\Visioned, a new and quite frankly fantastic-sounding animated series for GameTap TV. The deal is that a whole bunch of quality and/or popular writers and artists are going to get together and make short cartoon series based on video game characters and their settings."

Labels: media intersection

First Person Shooter takes us inside 'JetPack Games', a start-up video game
company, where the hottest, most violent game on the market has brought instant
success to its twenty-something tech geniuses. Their celebration fizzles when
their game is blamed for a schoolyard shooting. As the young CEO of Jet Pack
deals with an impending lawsuit and the father of one of the victims, he must
confront whether he has any responsibilities in the world beyond his computer
screen.

"[Loeb] wanted to write a play about the people caught in the echo chamber of the
debate. What must it be like for the people actually accused of making a game
that turns kids into killers? What about the parents of the victims? Their
children are dead and the news is jam packed with talk of something so trivial
as videogames!"

Labels: events, media intersection, video game violence