SimCity Creator July 31, 2008

Budding dictators get ready for the exciting looking new SimCity for the Wii. SimCity Creator lets you build, play and destroy cities to your heart’s content. You’ll be able to create huge cities in a range of interesting styles, from congested European, stylish Asian to American Metropolis’ and even Futuristic (full of flying cars and aliens? Maybe…), no doubt they’re keeping more styles under wraps too.

If after all that hard work you then fancy destroying your city and testing out your emergency services, why not start natural disasters? Will you stick with a trusty old destructive earthquake, a meteor storm or perhaps a Cloverfield type giant monster, the choice is entirely yours. What’s exciting me most (apart from giant monsters) is the ability to jump into a helicopter and fly around your chosen city getting up close to your creation, viewing it in all its detail. I’ve never been a real Sim City fan before but the helicopter mode (as well the giant monster) and simple Wii Remote building interface is seriously getting me interested. If this is interesting you then you’ll have to wait for the SimCity Creator release date; 19th September.

 

 

 

 

 

Soul Calibur 4 July 23, 2008

You can finally plan your return trip to the stage of history, as Namco Bandai has officially laid claim on July 29 for Soul Calibur IV’s long-awaited launch. We’re still waiting to get our hands on a copy of the game that offers more than four selectable characters, but at least we finally had a chance to test drive SC4’s version of Cassandra (as lightning-quick and supercutesy as always) and armor-clad newcomer Hilde (she’s a bit like Siegfried, but with fewer stances and an even longer range) at a recent press event.

Considering the game is only three months away, we’re a bit perplexed by all the unanswered questions still lingering around this project, so we took the opportunity to assault SC4 director Katsutoshi Sasaki with a barrage of queries…

1UP: In Japan, you recently revealed two guest characters, Scheherazade and Angol Fear, each designed by a famous manga artist. But those characters haven’t been promoted in the U.S. and aren’t in the playable demo here today…will they still be in the U.S. game?

Katsutoshi Sasaki: Yes, they will definitely both be in the U.S. version as well.

SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Soul Calibur IV screens.

1UP: Will we see even more guest characters from other manga artists in the game?

KS: Yes, there are a few more characters from manga artists and other famous illustrators, too.

1UP: Will these guest characters have their own stages? The Star Wars guys have some pretty nifty arenas…

KS: No, there won’t be a stage for each character. In the past we’ve always made a “home” stage for each fighter, but this time around we’re not taking that approach.

1UP: So far, you’ve only revealed one all-new character who’s actually part of the Soul Calibur world, Hilde. We have to wonder, are there any more real Calibur characters in this game?

KS: Yes, we do definitely have more…we still have many things to reveal, actually.

SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Soul Calibur IV screens.

1UP: We also haven’t seen anything about a new single-player mode like SC3’s Chronicles of the Sword or SC2’s Weapon Master Mode…will SC4 have something comparable?

KS: For SC4’s single-player game, we’re introducing a new mode called Active Matching Battle. This is a team battle mode where you have a pool of characters to choose from who must face a steady stream of opponents in one arena.

1UP: SC4 will also be the first game in the series to offer online play…how’s that going? Is everything running OK so far?

KS: We’re currently going through lots of trial and error getting the online up and running, and we’re testing connectivity between Japan and the U.S. to make sure that everyone can play together with minimal stress or frustration. Another big component of this online experience that I need to mention is the Create-A-Soul mode. This time around, you can create a custom character and introduce it into the online versus mode. What’s different is that this time you’re not only changing your fighter’s appearance, but also their attributes. For example, a certain piece of armor might raise your defense or give you special properties, and a new weapon may give you a stronger attack. It really adds a lot of depth to the online combat.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts July 18, 2008

 

Everybody seems to love Banjo Kazooie, otherwise Rare’s franchise wouldn’t get a third installment this November. They do risk a bit with the game’s mechanics

and the “build whatever vehicle you want” thing, according to some of the more traditional gamers, but we all know that, in the end, any change is good and you can’t hit the jackpot unless you try. And, as far as we can see, Rare is trying very hard with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.

Among the E3 features, we find out that over 100 items will be available to us and our 100% customizable vehicles and the developers promise that no two vehicles in the game should look the same (unless, of course, you decide to use the ones already created by the producers).

Also, for the first time in the series, both competitive and co-op play will be included via Xbox Live. And since the game “understands” Microsoft’s service, this means that players will also be able to share vehicle blueprints in order to further improve their game playing experience.

One more thing that got our attention is the fact that, whenever you accomplish something in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, you will automatically unlock some extra features in the XBLA classic, the original Banjo Kazooie game. Pretty cool marketing, right?

However, you should know that in the new title, throughout their adventure, players create their own abilities by building vehicles for Banjo to pilot over land, sea and in air and, as I’ve said, this is a decision contested by some fans of the series. Anyway, vehicle parts, which range from simple devices to more unusual equipment (like springs and egg guns), are earned and collected throughout the game. Players use their imagination to combine parts in any order to create whatever vehicle they choose (a kind of vehicle-Spore at a different level). Then, by exploring worlds and solving puzzles, players both young and old will be rewarded with more advanced and diverse vehicle parts in their quest to defeat Grunty once and for all and lay claim to Spiral Mountain. It’s all about the cars, baby!

God of War 3 July 15, 2008

If you believe the rumors, we’ll be getting our first glimpse at something God of War 3-related at today’s Sony E3 press conference. It’s been fun passing the time waiting with the Chains of Olympus on PSP, PS3 ads that kind of look like God of War, and fan-created Lego trailers, but I’m ready for something real. I’ll update this story from the event with any news, but I figured now would be a good time to round up everything we know about the game in one convenient place.

First Things First

While rumors had been flying about a third God of War ever since Sony announced God of War 2, the first public comments came at the God of War 2 launch party/press conference held by Sony in March 2007. At the end of a presentation, then-director Cory Barlog joked that “if” God of War would head to PS3, it would feature Sixaxis, rumble, and 1080p features. There has been some debate over how to interpret what he said, but given that his comments weren’t in response to a question, it seems clear he wanted to get the word out on the franchise’s future.

What never seemed to get much publicity at the time was Sony’s official press release put out that day, which offered information about the game similar to what Barlog said on stage, suggesting that this was not an off-the-cuff remark but something that had been coordinated by Sony.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we should assume those features are a confirmed part of the game. Shortly after that event, SCEA Santa Monica director of technology Tim Moss said in an interview, “Cory got a little carried away at the press conference/launch event…I imagine we could make a game that worked at 60fps and 1080p but we might have to make some decisions about the gameplay that we wouldn’t really want to live with in order to achieve it.”

Confirming the Name

Though there wasn’t much doubt about the game’s existence following the above comments, when Cory Barlog resigned from Sony in November, Sony’s corporate comment made it official and named God of War PS3 as “God of War 3,” squashing any (likely nonexistent) speculation that it would be a side story or something other than a traditional sequel.

You probably know the names David Jaffe and Cory Barlog, given their highly publicized careers at — and then departures from — SCEA Santa Monica, where they directed the first two games in the series. They both had varying degrees of involvement with God of War 3 early in its creation, but have since left the company. So who’s left? We don’t have a comprehensive list; we know certain staffers such as combat designers Eric Williams and Derek Daniels, level designer Mike Cheng, and artist Charlie Wen, have moved on. However, according to a post on Tim Moss’ blog, as of late 2007, the complete programming team and 30-plus members of the overall team (who worked on God of War and God of War 2) remained intact.

It’s difficult to draw any direct conclusions about what this means for the game itself. If anything, it suggests that the tech side of the game is in good shape, and that we might see a slightly different approach to what we’ve seen in the past with the story and overall design ideas.

The Release Date

The first God of War spent about three years in development and shipped in March 2005. God of War 2 took two years and shipped in March 2007. Going by that timeline, it would make sense to see God of War 3 ship any time between March 2009 and March 2010. But of course, things aren’t that simple. We know that the programming team was looking into the PS3 hardware as early as March 2006, when Tim Moss mentioned it in a Game Developers Conference speech, and that Cory Barlog was working on the story and overall design of the game before God of War 2 shipped, but as to how all this adds up to deliver a finished game, we don’t have a clue.

Online Gameplay Speculation

In March 2008, Sony posted a series of job listings for the God of War 3 team: one for a graphics programmer, one for a tools programmer, and one for an “online gameplay programmer.” Naturally, it was this last one that stood out as unusual, since to date we haven’t seen any multiplayer or online features in a God of War game.

When you combine this listing with recent comments from Sony executives about the importance of online features in their games, it seems likely that online features will play a role in the game in some form. In a recent Develop magazine interview, Sony’s new Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said, “One focus that has been and will be key is how we use the online technology and PlaySation Network to involve more consumers in participating…that’s the major common theme that we are trying to enforce with all our projects.”

Notably, the idea of a multiplayer God of War game is nothing new. At the God of War 2 launch press event, when still employed by Sony, Cory Barlog told us he was looking at it as a possibility for a future God of War game. “Does co-op have a place in God of War? If we can do something unique with it, yeah, but it is really an early exploration of that in my head…I’m thinking ‘how can we incorporate this without damaging what happens in the game — without having it feel silly — where it’s just like we threw two Kratoses in there and now you can run around through the world.’ It’s gotta be something more than that.”

Chains of Olympus director Ru Weerasuriya also mentioned looking into multiplayer features in a past interview with 1UP, but ultimately came to the conclusion that adding something along those lines would take away from what would make the game feel like a God of War title.

Street Fighter IV July 4, 2008

 

SAN FRANCISCO–The first public unveiling of Street Fighter IV was only a few days ago in Japan, but Capcom’s rushed some full arcade units all the way to the United States this week to show off the newest entry in the venerable fighting franchise at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. We wasted no time in jumping on the game to pull off some fast hadoukens, and it’s immediately clear that Street Fighter IV sticks closely to the tried-and-true mechanics of previous entries in the series and is particularly reminiscent of Street Fighter II.

The units Capcom had playable at GDC seems to be exactly the same as those displayed at Japan’s Arcade Operator’s Union (AOU) show last week–only 10 characters were selectable (the original eight world warriors plus newbies Abel and Crimson Viper) and all of the text and audio snippets in-game were in Japanese. The Capcom rep manning our arcade machine assured us more characters were definitely on the way, although he wouldn’t be drawn on giving any hints whatsoever.

As we mentioned in our earlier preview, those worried that this game treads into Street Fighter EX territory need not fret–Street Fighter IV is well and truly a 2D brawler, even though the characters and environments are presented in highly-detailed 3D. The only time the game ever breaks out into a 3D view is for small cinematic animations when characters perform their specific ultra combos. The characters themselves all move extremely fluidly even at this stage. All of them sport plenty of fine details in their costumes, and there are lots of cool details in their animations and facial expressions. Blanka, for example, wears an extremely convincing worried look every time he backs away from an opponent, while Chun Li strikes an awesomely cool defensive-looking pose every time she blocks an attack. As for the weird (in an interesting way, of course), inklike effect shown in the very first trailer for the game, all that seems to remain of it are some graphical flourishes which pop up occasionally, such as when Ryu performs some specific special attacks.

Speaking of special attacks, the eight original cast members all feature what is now probably considered their “traditional” move sets which have evolved through Street Fighter’s many various versions. For Ryu and Ken, that means the good ‘ol hadoukens, shoryukens, and hurricane kicks are back. Chun Li has her spinning bird kick, kikonen fireball, and lightning leg kick (she also retains her double jump off the edge of screens, as well as the head stomp). Blanka has both his vertical and horizontal rolling attacks, as well as his trademark electric shock, while E Honda also has his flying head-butt and hundred-hand slap (although you can’t move forward while performing this). Zangief still has his variety of throws, such as the spinning pile driver, as well as the double lariat. As for Guile, his sonic boom and somersault kick make returns. The timing and technique required to pull off most of these moves are all familiar, although performing Chun Li’s spinning bird kick seemed to take an awfully long time to charge up. All of these characters’ super combos will also be familiar to fans of the series, such as Ryu’s super-fireball, Blanka’s chargeable rolling attack, and Zangief’s extremely damaging super pile driver.

If you’ve played a Street Fighter game before, then chances are you’ll be able to play IV with little to no hassle whatsoever. Thanks to the inclusion of all eight original characters and with no major new special attacks introduced, the game feels instantly familiar on first touch. Fireballs seem to fly at the same speeds, attack distances are the same, and the same weaknesses can be exploited in each of the eight original characters. This can be seen as both a blessing and a drawback–if you’re a Street Fighter purist, then you’ll more than welcome these characters back with open arms.

The two newbies to this game–and we hope more new characters are unveiled soon–are Crimson Viper and Abel. Crimson Viper is a new female who’s supposedly a secret agent, hence her use of modern technology while fighting. This technology is made apparent in her electric-based attacks, such as a dashing punch performed by doing a forward-quarter circle on the joystick. The strength of the punch (fierce, strong, or jab) determines the direction–fierce makes it an upward punch, strong sends her straight ahead, while jab is low. Viper also has a fiery spinning kick and ground tremor attack which can knock opponents off their feet from across the screen. Abel is more a power/grappler type in the vein of Zangief. One of his more interesting moves was a devastating combo which begins with a dashing punch and ends with a throw, pulled off by performing three consecutive quarter circles on the joystick. Abel also has a rolling dodge that places him behind an opponent, as well as an attack which grabs airborne opponents and slams them to the ground.

Another major new addition to the series is focus attacks (sometimes known as saving attacks). Taking the place of the parry system from Street Fighter III, focus attacks are performed by pressing the two strong buttons. Performing a focus attack cancels out one of your opponent’s strikes, and retaliates with a hit of your own. There are three levels of focus attacks depending on how long you leave the strong buttons pressed–at level three, the focus attack becomes unblockable. During our game time, we found focus attacks somewhat easier to pull off than parries, and we can see it becoming an essential part of an experienced player’s armory once the game ships. Since focus attacks can be used to start combo strikes as well as being able to be canceled halfway through to “fake out” opponents, its use will become quite strategic.

The other new gameplay tweak comes in the form of a revenge meter that sits at the end of the character’s life bar. The revenge meter fills when your character takes damage–have a full revenge meter and perform a super combo with two buttons pressed and your character will pull out a flashy ultra combo. Some of the animations for these ultra combos are quite impressive. Honda, for example, performs an ultra-powerful flying head-butt that pins his opponent to a wall, which he then follows up with a hundred-hand slap. Guile does a double-somersault kick, lashes out a leg while his opponent is still in midair, and then performs a third somersault. Interestingly, in the build we played, performing an ultra combo would deplete the revenge meter, but would leave the super combo meter still filled. We’re not sure if this will stay the same when the game finally ships–if it does, expect some truly damaging strings of ultra combos followed by super combos.

We’re still keen to hear more about Street Fighter IV, including exactly what the storyline is and how many more new characters we can expect. Stay tuned to GameSpot for more information.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith June 30, 2008

Fire up the fret board, crank the amp to 11 and get ready to rock this way with Activision, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero®: Aerosmith®, the first game built around the legendary music of America’s Greatest Rock ‘N Roll Band: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer. Slated for release this June, this latest installment from the franchise with the #1 best-selling video game in 2007, puts players in the shoes of Perry (guitar), Whitford (guitar) and Hamilton (bass), as they rock out alongside frontman Tyler and drummer Kramer. Gamers will experience Aerosmith’s GRAMMY® winning career, from their first gig to becoming rock royalty, in a way that no other entertainment vehicle offers.

To celebrate this historic, ground-breaking collaboration, Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock fans will have the opportunity to download and jam to Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” The song will be available for free from February 16-18 on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®Store for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. For more information, please visit www.guitarhero.com.

“Having a game built around Aerosmith has been a huge honor and really a great experience for us,” says Joe Perry. “We’ve put a lot of ideas into the game so that fans can have fun interacting with our music, getting inside our body of work and learning about the band’s history.”

Steven Tyler says, “Any band that can go from ‘Don’t Want to Miss A Thing’ (Aerosmith’s #1 smash hit) to the ass-kicking ‘Sweet Emotion’ to the cheekiness of ‘Love in an Elevator,’ to the classic ballad ‘Dream On’ shows why Activision chose us to headline this game based on the diversity of the Aerosmith catalog. Not only is songwriting a bitch, but then it goes and has puppies.”

Perry adds, “On a larger scale, it’s cool for us to be pioneers helping to rebuild the music industry through a format like video games. It’s great for rock since the record companies are struggling to make sense of how things are changing. Fans want to get and experience music in new formats–and there are going to be some of them who will play the game, then pick up the guitar for real and start bands. It’s what’s happening now, and it’s only going to build more momentum in the future. It’s a massive change for the music business.”

“We are extremely excited that Aerosmith chose to team up with Guitar Hero, bringing one of the world’s all-time best-selling artists together with one of the biggest video game brands, to deliver a new and unique interactive way for our customers to connect with artists and their music,” said Dusty Welch, head of publishing for Activision/RedOctane. “This partnership will give Aerosmith, a band that has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide, a powerful and innovative platform to reach their fans and new audiences.”

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith brings these quintessential rock legends to the interactive realm to create the ultimate gaming experience. As fans progress through their careers in the game, they can rock out to scores of Aerosmith’s greatest hits, as well as songs from celebrated artists that the band has either performed with or has been inspired by in some way. Venues from historical moments during the band’s illustrious career offer the experience of “sweet emotion” and further capture the essence of the band’s rise to fame.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. The Wii™ version is being developed by Vicarious Visions. The PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system version is being developed by Budcat. The game is not yet rated by the ESRB.

The Sims™ 2 IKEA Home Stuff June 26, 2008

Give your Sims’ home a makeover with new furniture and décor items based on stylish designs by IKEA!

Whether you want to create a trendy, spacious office, a chic living room, or a cozy and inviting bedroom, you can make your Sims’ dream house into something even better-a home. Design your Sims’ rooms to fit their personalities with all-new sofas, beds, tables, TV units, shelving, and more, in a variety of colors and patterns for a truly unique look. Add the finishing touches with popular IKEA wall art, mirrors, lighting, and vases. Be your Sims’ personal interior designer with inspiring, contemporary styles from IKEA! *Requires The Sims 2, The Sims 2 Special DVD Edition, The Sims 2 Holiday Edition, or The Sims 2 Deluxe to play.

Alone in the Dark (video game) June 24, 2008

 

It’s been a long time coming – not least for fans of the last instalment, which came out seven years ago – but Eden Studios’ larks-in-the-park reimagining of the Alone in the Dark series finally hits later this month.

A steady stream of spectacular trailers has ramped up interest very nicely in this Central Park-set adventure. And Eurogamer TV even blundered around in the real park after dark in pursuit of the game’s secrets.

Originally a moustachioed detective, series hero Edward Carnby has been treated to a hunky Hollywood makeover in preparation for his grand return. And that’s in keeping with the slick TV-style feel of an adventure so obviously in thrall to present-day entertainment colossi like Lost and 24; so much so that the story unfolds in episodic format to suit the structured tastes of today’s discerning telly addict.

Game-wise, most positive chatter has been reserved for the inventory system, which enables creative combining of items as both a means of outside-the-box thinking your way through puzzles, and just tearing strips out of enemies and the environment in freshly satisfying ways.

With the game out on 20th June, you don’t have much longer to wait before Eurogamer delivers its verdict on one of the biggest single-player games of 2008 – which, if you believe Phil Harrison, are a dying breed. And, as former PlayStation dev boss, he should know.