posts by matt
matt

GT5: Prologue adds car damage, finally becomes a real driving simulator

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Reported by Kotaku, Gran Turismo’s father, Kazunori Yamauchi, has stated that a few key features are being implemented into the teaser version of Gran Turismo 5, dubbed Prologue. Things like realistic car damage and a “Professional” physics option are getting added as per fan request, and all I can say is: holy shit, took you long enough!

The Gran Turismo series has always been labeled as the most realistic driving simulator ever created, but that doesn’t say much when you can ram your Sprinter Trueno into a wall head-on at 120 mph and see no damage.

Apparently Polyphony Digital has realized that cars, in fact, do not bounce off of walls, and has added damage to their physics model, much like what Forza Motorsport did on Msoft’s Xbox 360. Also included is the integration of this truly innovative feature in your opponent’s AI, which proves how un-simulator-like all GT’s have been up to this point. →  Read the rest

Retrospectives – Metroid Prime

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I don’t know about you guys, but with all these Metroid videos popping up all over the place, coupled with the release of three Metroid titles in a three week span (Metroid, Super Metroid on the VC, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on the Wii), I have developed full-blown Metroid-fever. GameTrailers has an awesome video retrospective on the entire Metroid series, while Nintendo has been so kind as to relay eight preview videos for the soon-to-be Wii masterpiece, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, right to our very own Wiis.

But then I became a little sad. Corruption is going to end the Prime trilogy as we know it. What happens next, no one knows. Would the series return to 2D adventure like SNES’s opus, Super Metroid? Would it continue the First-Person-Adventure legacy? →  Read the rest

Super Metroid lands on VC, slaps your face

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…and makes you its bitch. Super Metroid, regarded as one of the best games of all time, has become available for a meager eight dollars through the all-mighty Virtual Console service. EIGHT DOLLARS! If you don’t take the smallest of steps to secure this game on your Wii, then may God herself have mercy on your soul.

But seriously, get Super Metroid. You’ll be surprised how accurate all those crazy fanboys on the net really were. It really is one of the greatest games of all time. I myself would say that it is the best 2D adventure ever made, and any gamer should play it at least once. You owe it to yourself to part with that $8 you stole from ol’ Granny.

Trust me, if she played Super Metroid, she would have done the same thing.

Metroid == Aliens

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Many people may not know this, but the Metroid franchise is basically the video game version of the Alien movies. There are many subtle similarities between the two that only the trained eye would notice. I’ve seen a few tidbits of info on the Internets, but most are incomplete, or haven’t been updated since Super Metroid. So, in order to right this wrong, I’ve compiled a short list of all the major ties between the two franchises. This is some real investigative journalism here people. This kind of stuff doesn’t come around too often, so pay attention.

1. The names of the alien creatures’ homes. In Metroid, the home world is SR-388. In Aliens, it’s LV-426. Two letters followed by 3 numbers.

2. Main character is a female lead. Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley character is one of the first strong female characters in action movie history. →  Read the rest

The Month of Metroid has begun with new preview channel

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Starting off the Month of Metroid, Nintendo has sent us Wii owners a little gift this past Friday in the form of a Metroid Prime 3:Corruption Preview Channel. It’s a free downloadable WiiWare channel that gives users a sneak peek into Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for the Wii, which is due August 27th. After watching the two supplied videos (with two more being released the 13th), I have gone into Metroid overdrive, frothing at the mouth for any and all things Metroid.

The first video is a graphically-impressive look into what’s going to happen to Aran on her newest adventure. At the beginning, you see Aran in a skyscraper, with a voice-over telling you that she’s been infected with the infamous Phazon, the same radioactive material that has plagued the universe since the first Metroid Prime game. →  Read the rest

Matt recommends: Final Fantasy X OST

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In a new column that I just randomly created 7 seconds ago (and one that I’ll probably never return to), I am going to recommend a video game OST that you should listen to, either by purchasing said OST or… you know, “buying it on the Internet,” whatever that means.

So, for my first one evar, I’m going to suggest Squeenix’s Final Fantasy X. Most of you probably had your toes curl the moment you read that last sentence, but hear me out. I know it can’t come close to either Final Fantasy VI or VII’s soundtrack (which is debatable, I might add), but the musical selections that are found in the FFX OST are still some of the best songs you can find in the gaming industry.

The funny thing about FFX’s album is that it may be Nobuo Uematsu’s worst collection, depending on who you talk to. →  Read the rest

Hey, did you hear!? GTA IV got delayed!

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Take-Two is not having a good 2007, let me tell you. First, Manhunt 2 is officially banned from Planet Earth, and now Grand Theft Auto IV, the remaining jewel in TT’s crown, has been delayed until Q2 2008 (which means some unknown date between February and April of next year).

Wait, did you hear that? Shhhhh. Omigod, my wallet just breathed! He’s alive! Oh thank goodness! I thought he was a goner, what with Assassin’s Creed, Halo 3, and Haze all coming out at the same time this holiday season. There there, little buddy, everything’s gonna be alright…

Asked on why GTA IV was delayed, thereby destroying what little stock Take-Two has left in its shattered and curly-tailed piggy bank, Take-Two’s Chairman Strauss Zelnick stated “certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected.” →  Read the rest

Message to Ebert: You and me, flagpole, afterschool

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I used to be a pretty big fan of Roger Ebert, especially when he had that show with Gene Siskel (yeah, the bald guy). But now, after hearing his second rant on how video games can’t be art, I think I’m gonna have to take him off of my “cool motha fuckas” list. Sucks to be him, I guess:)

Anyway, on his personal blog, Roger Ebert came out and explained what he meant earlier on how games can’t be art. Amazingly, he corrects himself on the issue by saying:

“Anything can be art. Even a can of Campbell’s soup. What I should have said is that games could not be high art, as I understand it.”

So, video games can be art, but not the good kind. A few people in the comments sections of other sites are starting to realize that, no matter how many credentials someone has, anyone can say stupid shit. →  Read the rest

PSP 1.1 – Worst. Update. Ever.

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If there was one thing that I wanted to see at this year’s E3, it was the new PSP. I was dying to see what Sony had up their sleeves. I was especially looking forward to the much-requested hard-drive that was rumored to be included. But what did Sony do? Crushed my frail little dreams, that’s what. And they didn’t even apologize! Totally inconsiderate.

So, instead of an 8GB hard-drive, we get a faster UMD drive, a more efficient battery, a thinner and lighter casing, and a video-out connection. Yup, that’s it. And even worse, the damn thing looks exactly the same!

Now, I will say the ability to display the feed on a TV is a pretty cool feature, but when compared to how insignificant everything else is, having a video-out option isn’t a good enough reason to upgrade from the old PSP. →  Read the rest

ZOMG Moment – Altair has only 9 fingers

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I talked a little bit about my anticipation for Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed in my recent Game Designer article, but my frothing demand for this game has just gone to 11 this weekend after catching a glimpse of their developer diaries on Ubi’s official site for the game.

You can check it out here, with a whole slew of info on one of the most anticipated games of 2007.

And one of the coolest bits of info that I found in the Developer Diary video on the game’s storyline is the fact that Altair, the game’s main character, has only 9 fingers. Altair is a member of the original group of assassin’s, or Hashshashins, that committed political assassinations in the Middle East from 1090 to 1272 AD. Assassin’s Creed takes place during this time-period, in the year 1191 AD. →  Read the rest

matt’s E3 Predictions

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I’m sure you’re probably bored to death of reading the blogosphere’s predictions for the cleverly-named “Min-E3” event that’s going to take place next week, but I haven’t stated mine yet, so you’re gonna sit there and listen, whether you like it or not. I’ll try to make it short, so you only have to use 3% of your brain power. Fucking babies.

Microsoft

-Gears of War for PC. Why? Because it’s already true.

-No portable (Jesus people, forget about it).

-$50 price drop for each 360 SKU (Core, Premium, Elite).

-No MGS4. It will happen eventually, but it’s not going to be for awhile.

-Zune will be integrated more with the Fall Update. Songs and video bought off Marketplace, then transfered to your Zune.

-Some crazy XBLA game shown off, with a million crappy ones. →  Read the rest

Battle to the OST Death: Morrowind vs. Oblivion

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I’m not gonna lie. I love listening to video game music. It’s my favorite genre of music, and it takes a long time for me to switch off and listen to anything else. I have amassed a huge collection of video game OST’s over the years, which I may or may not be proud of. It’s hard to tell.

For this week, I’ve put a lot of time into the Elder Scrolls series, most notably Morrowind and Oblivion, and I thought it would be nice to give my impressions on the two OST’s.

I first started with Morrowind, as it is the third installment of the Elder Scrolls series, first released on the original Xbox. Both soundtracks are based in the classical genre, much like what you would hear from the Lord of the Rings movies. →  Read the rest

EDGE lists Top 100 Games, Internet explodes

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God I hate these Top 100 Lists. Not because they number the games wrong, or omit key games, but of the inevitable backlash they endure from our happy and always intelligent flock, the Internet. Some were so mad that they got pissed off at the site they read the list on, even when it wasn’t originally written by that specific site.

If you’re man enough to go through every single game and not have some derogative comment after, then I will let you view the winners, courtesy of Next-Gen.biz.

As I went through the list, I started to see what they were trying to do. You’ll see that EDGE included Super Mario World as the sole 2D Mario platformer. Surprisingly, Super Mario Bros 1. and 3 did not make the list. →  Read the rest

Nintendo confirms WiiWare: Indie Gaming on Wii

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This week Nintendo sent the word out that they are indeed working on a Wii channel where users can download original games, titled WiiWare. This is basically Nintendo’s version of Xbox Live Arcade.

Nintendo is working on getting indie devs to take advantage of the WiiWare channel, but it’s still unknown how developers can actually make a game on the system without open source API’s for the Wii’s architecture. It seems that indie devs may need to pony up the cash for a real dev kit. Thankfully, Wii dev kits are pretty damn cheap right now, estimated at a paltry $2000.

Now I’m sure most of you are thinking, “Yeah, Nintendo said this when they first announced the Wii and it’s online services.” You’d be right, but you must remember Nintendo rarely comes through with some of their really inventive ideas. →  Read the rest

Lumines sells like hotcakes. No, the original one. Yeah.

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See, I told you guys the PSP wasn’t dead. This week, Lumines, the damn-near-perfect musical puzzler for the PSP, saw a 5900% rise in sales on Amazon. And all because of a bug. Yes, Lumines is probably the first game in history to become more sought-after because of a minor bug that not even QA’ers can find. Yes, you’ve entered Bizarro World. Welcome.

Over the weekend, PSP homebrew programmers/hackers found an exploit in Q! Entertainment’s puzzler in the form of a buffer overflow. Basically, this allows anyone to run unsigned code on the PSP, which Sony’s been desperately trying to stop. Ya know, so they can actually make money on the thing.

And of course, the underground homebrew scene has already released a downgrader app to bring the PSP’s firmware version back to the coveted 1.50 release. →  Read the rest

Which controller has/had the best D-Pad?

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I would try to answer this question, but there’s no way in Hell I’d do it justice. I’ve used a lot of different controllers in my life, but as I’ve learned in the past, there are still a lot of them, on home consoles and handheld, that I’ve never even heard of, hiding in the shadows of gaming history. I mean, wtf is a Nuon?

So if I tried to answer the question of “Which controller has/had the best D-Pad?” I’m sure I’d skip over one of them that may deserve the coveted award more.

So I leave this up to you, my fellow readers. In your gaming trails, which console was/is home to the greatest D-Pad ever?

For me, and I know I’m gonna get burned for this one, I gotta give it up for the PSP’s d-pad. →  Read the rest

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition – Mini-Review

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ZOMG, I love Resident Evil 4. It’s damn-near my most favirotest game evar. If I could, I would cuddle with it:) And after putting in over 10 hours of delicious zombie(?)-filled action with the Wii Edition last weekend, I decided to write a review for it, to show you guys how much I like you.

But then I realized that the only thing Capcom really changed with the Wii version is the controls, so there would be no point in writing a full review for a two year-old game that’s only marginally different.

If you know nothing about RE4, first, shoot yourself in the foot with a rubber bullet, and then go read the GC or PS2 reviews. You really should be ashamed of yourself.

But anyway, how does the Wii version control, you ask? →  Read the rest

Geometry Wars (PC) Thoughts

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Earlier this week, the premier downloadable-content service, Steam, released Bizarre Creations’ Xbox Live Arcade darling, Geometry Wars for all of its PC users. If you’ve never had the chance to play this old-school romp, then I suggest you go now and click the Buy button. For $2.50 (until Friday), you can’t afford NOT to buy it.

Being a fan of the Xbox 360 original, I wanted to give my short impressions. Basically, you get what’s already on the 360 platform. An extremely hard old-school shooter that has an amazing style. Just make sure to bring your extra large balls to this affair, my dear readers. Geo Wars is not for the faint of heart.

But I wanted to focus on something else for this post. In the PC version, the online Leaderboards are not included. →  Read the rest

Rumor-ium: Wii killed the hardcore gamer… star.

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There’s a new rumor running around the neighbor-net (which I sincerely hope is false) that says Nintendo’s Project H.A.M.M.E.R., the action title for the Wii, has been canceled.

And if that’s not bad enough, the main reason it was supposedly canceled was because Nintendo wants NST (Nintendo Software Technology) to develop “expanded audience” titles instead. And by that I’m sure they mean casual games geared towards non-gamers.

Dear God no.

In recent months, many people were worried that, with games like Nintendogs and Brain Age becoming amazingly huge hits, that the hardcore gaming sector would take a huge hit. I never thought it was ever really going to happen, as there are still a lot of games geared towards true gamers coming out in the next year or so, but this rumor has me worried. →  Read the rest

Some thoughts on “presentation”

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I don’t want to brag, but when I’m not writing fantastic and thought-provoking articles on vl, I spend the rest of my time as a game designer at a video game company (which is awesome, btw). And as such, I try to expand my knowledge on the subject of game design as much as I can. And today, a surge of information flooded my cerebrum after giving the Assassin’s Creed Sampler OST a listen.

Composed by Jesper Kyd, Assassin’s Creed is steeped in Persian aural stylings. If anyone has ever listened to or played Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, you can understand what Assassin’s Creed will sound like. It’s a little more orchestrated, and keeps the hummable melodies to a minimum, but it’s essentially the same thing.

The music really got me in the mood to play the game, to experience what Ubisoft is going to do with expressing the Middle East during the Crusades. →  Read the rest