Duke Nukem Forever gameplay
Just when we had all forgotten about 3D-Realms long awaited project, late last year they sprung a teaser trailer re-igniting interest in Duke Nukem Forever, and subsequently decade old forum jokes. Now though, adding fuel to the fire of a prospective 2008 release, gameplay footage has surfaced.
Unexpectedly the thanks goes to Jace Hall, CEO of Monolith, and his new online show for showcasing the footage. After a brief tongue in cheek interview with George Broussard and Scott Miller of 3D Realms, Jace is allowed to play the current build of Duke Nukem Forever, with 30 seconds of over the shoulder camera footage, starting at 4 mins 20 secs.
Looking very much like Prey in the graphics department, the game is looking close to finished. The graphics are what’s important right? An Oscar worthy storyline and serious dialog are the last thing I expect from this game. Gameplay is looking very smooth as well and hopefully 3D Realms can pull out some variation with the gameplay. In ten years they must have had some sort of innovative idea?
SoulCalibur on XBLA gets ever closer…
My excitement levels for this game literally exploded (gah, there goes my favorite jeans) when it was announced that the Dreamcast version of SoulCalibur was coming to XBox LIVE Arcade. In between then and now, my unadulterated fanboyism waned a bit when it was discovered that there would be no online play, however, I was still very interested in being able to get a high-def remake of the Dreamcast’s defining title. Fast forward to now, and videos have started to make their way out showing off the improved graphics of the XBLA port of the game, and I must say that I am impressed! The jaggies that are so obvious and out of control on the Dreamcast version (let’s face it, we didn’t notice back then) have been completely smoothed out, and the game is running in a ridiculously high resolution! I can has happy again?
No, ‘fraid not. Sadly, this video also confirms that the game will NOT have the widescreen support I was hoping for. Am I getting too picky here? A graphically enhanced version of one of the greatest games of all time should be enough shouldn’t it? I guess it all depends on how many MS Points this puppy sells for when it gets released alongside SoulCalibur IV this summer.
Only Steve Weibe can save the future.
It’s no great secret that I am a giant video game nerd. The majority of my childhood memories are tied to various video game titles. I collect, analyze, and read everything I can about games. I actually setup a television in my garage and spent a three-day weekend playing retro games! So it should come as no shock that I love, nay, worship the movie King of Kong. When I was watching it, I was glued to the screen, marveling at every single frame of the film. Steve Weibe’s struggle for the Donkey Kong high-score was a classic tale of David vs. Goliath, and just about brought tears to my eyes.
Ok, not just about… I did cry. Like a little girl with a scraped knee.
On to the point of this post! G4TV wondered what the sequel to the movie King of Kong would look like. Would it come down to a battle between Billy Mitchell and Steve Weibe, tied together at their wrists in a knife fight, while ‘Beat It’ played on a nearby boom-box? That’s what I pictured. G4TV had a different idea, and while not as full of face-bending 80s retro hotness, it’s still pretty funny.
Guitar Hero: Metallica announced
Looking for a proper plastic fretboard workout now that you’ve completed Guitar Hero III on Expert, and don’t fancy the look of “that other band” Guitar Hero, or the carpal tunnel inducing Guitar Hour: On Tour for DS? Well look no further, as it seems inflated bank accounts are drawn to each other in the case of Activision’s big hitter Guitar Hero and over 95 million album sales, behemoth of metal Metallica.
Via ultimate-guitar, the game is set to launch fiscal year 2009 (some point before March 31st 2009), and with Metallica’s still untitled ninth studio effort set for release in September, the game is likely to include tracks from the album, either on the disk or as downloadable content. How much of Metallica’s back catalog is to be included is still under wraps, but here’s hoping there’s a leaning towards recordings pre-1994 for the optimum Guitar Hero experience. Better start growing that hair out now 
How this affects Metallica songs contained in future Rock Band DLC is still unknown, but some kind of exclusivity deal is likely, seeing as Aerosmith’s back catalog is exclusive to Guitar Hero games for “an unspecified period of time.” Expect a similar deal to have been struck with Metallica…. And thus the licensing war begins.
Team Fortress 2 Update: Pyro achievements coming down the pipe
Team Fortress 2 has been building momentum since their newest update. To add more fuel to the fire (pun greatly intended), Valve has announced their follow up achievement and weapons pack. This time around everyone’s favorite incendiary class, the Pyro, is getting the upgrade.
Though we have yet to receive word on what acts the achievements entail or what super-secret weapons are in store, we can only hope they will be just as, if not more awesome than the new Medic weapons. The pyro has been in need of some good lovin’ since he’s one of the untouched classes who’s received little or no changes. Here’s hoping the new weapons are kick-ass.
In related news, Valve also revealed that their next video in the series of character class trailers will be the Sniper. This is one I’m fairly eager to see because I don’t know what kind of sketch they can pull off with the Aussie sharpshooter. No word yet on when either the trailer or the update is coming out.
Via CVG
Like a Polaroid picture: “Wario Land Shake” for Wii
Hold on to your hats. Nintendo of Japan has announced the release of a new Wii iteration of the classic Wario Land games entitled “Wario Land Shake.” While not much has been revealed, a fact sheet has been leaked with some info and screenshots.
From what we can see, this new game will be in the vein of the original games with Wario in his original getup with classic side-scrolling puzzle action. Also, as the title implies, there will be a shaking feature which uses Wii motion control to have Wario shake things for various functions such as switches or fighting. While the original leaked fact sheet was written in moonspeak, some information gleaned indicates 20 stages with vehicles such as rockets or submarines.
While his latest adventures have been popular, I’m glad to see Wario back as the star of his own game and not some ancillary character with biker gear… I’m looking at you WarioWare.
Via WiiFanboy
Fact Sheet via Destructoid.
You kids and your darn video games: Olympic president condemns digital entertainment
In a manner reminiscent of my parents’ pleas for me to “put down the controller and go outside”, Olympic president Jacques Rogge condemned digital entertainment in an interview with The Times, as part of an attempt to reach out to the next generation of Olympic viewers, participants, and administrators. Correct me if I’m wrong in this assumption, but when attempting to reach a demographic isn’t it a bad idea to blatantly express your dislike for what you’ve already considered to be a central part of their culture?
XBLA games to be discontinued
Do not fear fellow gamers, by the headline I am not referring to the best and brightest of the XBLA catalog, only those which Microsoft deem have run there course. By what merits would they be able to identify the good from the bad though? Reported earlier this week on NextGen in an interview with Marc Whitten, the general manager of Xbox Live, he announced that titles likely to be delisted will:
- Have been on XBLA for more than 6 months
- Have a Meta-Critic score of less than 65%
- Have a conversion rate of less than 6%
On first look this seems quite fair, and will cut down on the glut of poorly made games and ports on the system, ensuring a certain standard of quality across the catalog. But look at it from this point of view: Games are a subjective media, as are books, music and art, and everyone has their own tastes as to what makes a good game. Of course many opinions are similar, and it’s easy to base the quality of a game on such standards as graphics, story, length of campaign, multiplayer features, downloadable content etc. At the end of the day, though, what is fun to one person may not ring true for another, and to deny someone with a minority opinion access to games they may very well enjoy, and also be willing to pay for seems quite ridiculous, especially when we are referring to games stored on an Xbox Live server, without cost of packaging and transit involved.
Scratch on your DS with ProteinDS
Perhaps the next best music making application for the Nintendo DS since the guitar sim Jam Sessions and the quirky Electroplankton is a homebrew by the name of ProteinDS. It turns the user’s DS into a functional turntable. While it doesn’t exactly imitate the appearance of a physical turntable, it displays the audio clip scrolling across the bottom screen which the user can, using the stylus, scratch and loop. The visualization gives the user more accuracy when attempting to play specific portions of the song. At the beginning of a session, one has the opportunity to lay down a bass/rhythm track. There also appear to be a variety of effects at one’s disposal by using the grid-like interface of the bottom screen. I do not currently know if the app allows the user to upload their own music files, but I suppose that might be asking too much of a brand new piece of homebrew.
Wii-vival: Sam and Max Season One coming to the Wii
I promise to never make a Wii pun in a news title ever again. Now on to the actual news.
Coming this August to a Wii near you, hopefully yours, it’s Sam and Max: Season One. What makes this news so special? Well for one thing, Sam and Max are finally coming to consoles. This classic duo of adventure games now has a chance to shine for domestic audiences. The last time we got to see these two on the TV was the Saturday morning cartoon “The Adventures of Sam and Max: Freelance Police.”
This release for the Wii marks a substantial step for the future of adventure games. Once popular, adventure games have steadily declined as action-oriented PC games have become the front runners in popularity. However, with the Wii’s point-and-click interface, we have seen adventure titles given a slight rebirth with games like “Zak and Wiki.” While “Zak and Wiki” was an enjoyable attempt, old pros Sam and Max are here to show us how it’s done.
This is just the beginning, however. Homebrew developers are working on making a ScummVM emulator for the Wii to play classic adventure games such as “Day of the Tentacle” or “Sam and Max: Hit the Road.” One can only hope that classic games such as these can make a comeback so the newer generations can enjoy the classic style of adventure games.
Source: Sam and Max Season One
Via ShackNews
