Max Payne 3 - Review

Some guys just don't have any luck, and Max Payne's ran out quite a while ago if the events of Max Payne 3 are anything to go by.

It's 9 years since the events of Max Payne 2 and Max, still haunted by the death of his Wife and Child, has moved to Sao Paulo to work personal security for the wealthy and influential Branco family. Apparently Max's luck rubs off pretty easily though, as soon enough his Boss's wife has been kidnapped, several attempts are made on the rest of the Branco family, and Max has to work out what the hell is going on.

The story in Max Payne 3 is undoubtedly in the true traditions of Neo-Noir. Max is the typical Anti-hero in a modern setting, and while Sao Paulo doesn't fit the 1940's American archetype of traditional Film Noir, it's the tone of the story as well as the presentation that give it the unmistakable feel that was also present in previous Max Payne titles.

The first thing you'll notice about Max Payne 3 is the style of presentation. The camera effects are similar to those found in portions of Manhunt, flickering and discolouration on screen leave you with the impression that you're watching these events unfurl on CCTV, while words from the on going conversations appear on screen to punctuate what's being said. In a way Rockstar are ensuring that you pay attention to the right thing by highlighting them on screen, and it's a natural and fluid style that works well with the setting. The whole effect is very strange at first, but it makes for an extremely memorable experience and certainly sets MP3 apart from the likes of Red Dead Redemption and GTA4.



Something that makes a welcome return to the series is the voice over by Max himself, it's audio cues like this that help tie this game to its predecessors even though they are strikingly different to look at. It also helps guide you through the level if you get a little lost and again lends the feel of a neo-noir detective story to the game.

Another welcome return is that of the comic strip style plot points, although Rockstar have done something a little different from Remedy Entertainment's games. While Remedy used them during cut scenes to get plot points over to the player, Rockstar use the comic strip to show the player where they are in the story while the saved game loads up, easing you back into the experience while also giving you something to look at as you wait. Cut scenes themselves are full motion, in game animations. This is something that has, understandably, become the modern day standard and I'm happy to say that the voice acting and animation is superb throughout. Perhaps in tribute to Remedy the first in-game cut scene is presented in "24" style panels.

While we talk about audio it would be a great time to mention the soundtrack for this game. The music doesn't ever really take your attention away from what happens on screen, much like Red Dead's soundtrack. In the traditions of great film and Game making, the music helps frame the action without distracting you from it. It's a fantastic soundtrack all told, it has the flavour of Brazil, thumping club land tunes and of course variations on the original Max Payne theme, that I've had in my head all week. The Audio design is well thought out and employed throughout, a big thumbs up to everyone responsible for it.

Level design for Max Payne 3 follow the franchise tradition of fairly linear level design, but that shouldn't be looked upon as a bad thing. By keeping Max Payne focused on the task at hand and not allowing him to wander off track, the games narrative which is easily the best part of this title is much better served. Sandbox games are all well and good but when you a well scripted story, like Heavy Rain, level design can and should be used to keep the player on point.

Gameplay will feel extremely familiar to anyone who has played the previous entries in the Max Payne series, but also for those who have played Red Dead and GTA4 thanks to the inclusion of the new, much vaunted cover system. In fact this is probably the biggest change to the franchise and I have to admit that at first, I didn't quite get it. If you approach this game like you did the previous entries you'll get your arse handed to you (unless you're extremely good at shoot dodging). Bullet time is a useful tool, and can help you pop a few rounds in your opponents head, but enemies in this game are tougher and more numerous than in either of the previous games. If you are to have any hope you'll need to use all the cover you can find.

Don't stick to one spot for too long though, because Rockstar have programmed different types of cover to have different damage tolerances. So for example, an office divider will take a few rounds of handgun fire before it splinters and leaves you exposed, while a filing cabinet will take all the flying lead you can throw at it.

Destructible cover works both ways in Max Payne 3

 
Enemies are fairly intelligent in this game too, they'll take advantage of cover just as you do so it's vital not to get pinned down as more opponents file in to the room. Luckily there's not a magical spawning point for enemies though, so once you take them all down that's your lot until the next area, and you'll know when you've cleared the room thanks to a gruesome slow motion camera shot of the last enemy going down after a well placed slug to the face.

Beautiful.

The improved damage that both you and your opponents take is thanks to the "Euphoria" dynamic animation engine which featured in Red Dead and GTA4, allowing for more detailed and unique gunfire damage to character models. It really is impressive seeing bullets rip through your enemies as you pull the trigger.
 

The Euphoria engine in all its gory splendor

Another useful new feature, and certainly one that I've needed a few times is the "Last man standing" mechanic. If you have a spare painkiller in your inventory and are taken down by the enemy AI you have a short window of black and white bullet time during which if you take out the guy who shot you, you'll get some health back and live to blow another blokes face off. It's Useful and adds to gameplay without gimping the game, the perfect addition to Max Payne.

It would be very easy to say that Max Payne 3 is Red Dead re-skinned, and in part I suppose that this could be true, but it's more than just the engine that makes a game, and frankly Red Dead was such a great game that I don't care if it is. There's more than enough difference in how they play to differentiate the titles. Dead eye might be a bullet time mechanic, but it's not the same as the one we get to play with here, and that's important.

Conclusion

Max Payne 3 successfully integrates the old with the new, and re-invigorates a franchise in doing so. Non regenerative health is a rare thing these days in a shooters whether they be 1st or 3rd person but Rockstar have managed to retain it without making the game feel infuriatingly difficult or like it belongs in the last decade. New mechanics like last man standing and the inclusion of the Rockstar standard cover system allow for more enemy AI's and therefore a greater degree of challenge but ultimately the game is designed in a way that you can play it as you see fit.

Fans of the series should find this enjoyable and refreshing while those who have played it's stable mates, Red Dead and GTA4, will find the controls familiar enough to jump in and have some fun.

Journey - Review

The characters don't speak, there is no narration, the story is told almost entirely through pictures and tapestrys, there is no violence to speak of and there is no online PVP experience. With so many staples of the current crop of blockbuster games missing, you would be forgiven for asking what all the fuss is about. Surely this is just a cheap downloadable game that couldn't afford voice actors?

Journey is the latest in the Sony exclusive trilogy of downloadable games from "That Game Company", and while it would probably be a good idea to take some time to think over my time with Journey, i won't be. The reason for this is simple, I absolutely loved the experience.

In the same way that Ico and Shadow of the Colossus told amazing stories without words, so too does Journey. The game has a simple premise, get to the top of the mountain and enjoy the trip on the way.

With gorgeous graphics, fantastic gameplay and a superb, haunting soundtrack, you'll find it difficult not to.

Much has been made of the interaction between players in Journey, there are no loading times, little to no lag on the evidence of my play through, and the game is designed in such a way that, even with two random players inhabiting the same environment, there's no competition. This is a game that rewards co-operation and creates an environment in which it is nurtured and encouraged, which is just as well since pairings are completely random.

Your traveller can fly and he can sing, although the sound of your voice is more flute like than human in sound). These two abilities are represented on your controller by the X and O buttons respectively, and despite these being the only two actions available to you during your time in the desert, the gameplay is both deep and rewarding.

Singing while your partner is in range of your voice (a visible white sound wave that radiates from your position) will re-charge his ability to fly, which is elegantly represented by a tapestry that hangs from the back of every travellers robes. When charged the tapestry, and later the robe of your character, will glow with an ornate white light pattern.

The power to fly can likewise be restored in an array of other ways, including coming into contact with swirling pieces of cloth, Manta Rays and Jelly Fish that share the same light pattern as your robes.

One tiny problem that i had with the online co-op of Journey was that it doesn't list the user names of players you meet along the way in the "players met" section of the XMB. They do at least show you a list of all the players you interacted with at the end of the game, So if you liked the experience of playing with a sensible adult instead of a screaming 12 year old you may want to write those names down...

From a graphical point of view this is a game that needs to be experienced first hand, no amount of waxing lyrical will quite cover how stunning it really is. The desert stages of the game are some of the best looking that I've seen in a video game, you can almost feel the heat on the back of your neck as the traveller traipses up one side of a dune and then expertly slides down the other.

The animation of the Traveller is also excellent. There are fluid transitions between walking and flying, as well as several different types of walking animation depending on surface and angle of incline. It really is hard to believe that this is a £10 downloadable title. When compared to some full retail releases it comes away looking like the more polished product

One of the most influential aspects of this game is the Music. The Macedonia Radio Symphonic Orchestra were responsible for the hauntingly powerful soundtrack to Journey, and with such affecting music as this you have to ask why more games developers don't go the orchestral route when scoring their work.



I've said in many a review, that good music can improve a game ten fold, while bad music can rip you right out of the experience. The beauty of Journey's soundtrack is that it syncs perfectly with the singing mechanic of the gameplay, the notes you sing often changing to better complement the music in the background.

The overall feeling i took away from playing Journey was that this is a phenomenal game. The story is emotionally affecting thanks to brilliant use of music and a narrative that relies on actions rather than words, the gameplay is deep and varied despite the two button control scheme and the level of polish is staggering for a game that retails for so little.

This game marks the end of the contract between Sony and "That Game Company", a relationship that saw  Flow, Flower and now Journey released exclusively on the PS3 platform. If i was Kazuo Hirai i would tie them down to a nice long deal, because on the strength of this release, they're the best studio in the business right now.

Why games can't vanish from the high street

On episode 24 of the Killer Keyboard podcast Nick and i talked about the financial difficulties that GAME currently find themselves in. The reports, which detail plans to close as many as 60 shop fronts by 2013, make for depressing reading for employees and gamers alike. 

Since May of 2007, when Gamestation was purchased by GAME for approximately £74 million, there has been no other dedicated games retailer in the UK, nowhere else where you can get the same dedicated advice and assistance. Shops such as HMV and WH Smith, along with Supermarket chains like Sainsbury's and Tesco all sell video games, but unlike GAME they don't have dedicated staff with knowledge specific to the field, and certainly don't have the floorspace to stock the same variety of software.

Without a dedicated Video Games retailer out there on the street we would see a massive reduction in the one thing that is the life blood of Video games. Choice.

If there was no GAME on the high street would we even see new and interesting games like Catherine or the niche Ace Combat series on the shelves? or would the big supermarkets and retailers stock the things they knew would sell? There would be a whole shelf full of CoD and FIFA, while lesser games would be buried on the bottom shelf, unseen and unloved.

Go into your local supermarket and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. With little room to spare you'll see every PS3 or Xbox game they have to offer on a rack that measures, at best, 6ft x 10ft. You won't see Catherine, you won't see Ace Combat, but you'll see a shed load of games that the managers think will sell the best. You can't blame them for doing it, but it would kill smaller game developers if these were the only places you could buy your games.

While i applaud HMV's efforts in the expansion of their games business, both in range and the addition of a pre-owned section, their financial position is even worse than GAME's is purported to be. The only other retailer that could possibly do justice to games may be about to vanish down the plug hole.

You could, of course buy your games online through a website such as Play or Amazon, but some of my fondest memories of games growing up come from seeing a random game on the shelf and buying it on a whim. Loaded and its sequel Re-loaded were two games that i had for the original Playstation, but I only played them because i had seen the first game sitting on a shelf in GAME. If I'd seen it on a list of games on Amazon, i would very likely have skimmed straight past it. Would I have played the hilarious and completely addictive Football game " All-Star Soccer" if I hadn't have picked it up in GAME? probably not, since it was neither FIFA or ISS (Pro Evolution Soccer's predecessor) very few played it, but it had a charm that made me want to play it, and i never regretted buying it.

 

Sure, it wasn't "sexy football" but it was fun

Then of course there's downloadable titles. True, it looks as though the days of the physical game disc are numbered, certainly as the dominant delivery system, but it would be a shame for physical copies of games to disappear completely. Even if downloadable titles were cheaper, as they appear to be looking at Japan's Vita game sales on the PSN, a great number of gamers, myself among them, resist this trend and would always prefer to own the disc than have a downloadable version of the game. You don't get the same "just opened" smell from an online game manual...

No, if GAME were to cease to exist, gaming would be a worse experience for it. Limited Choice, reduced interaction with the product and the loss of a tradition are what we face if they can't turn it around. I just hope that they can.

The VGA Round-Up

Despite the fact that Spike TV couldn't seemingly be bothered to screen all the award winners at this years Video Game Awards, and while acknowledging my own personal abhorrence for their treatment of living legends such as Mark Hamill, it wouldn't be right to completely ignore an awards ceremony that had as many trailers for new upcoming games as E3.

On a side note, It's worrying that Kojima tweeted yesterday that perhaps he would abandon E3 and make all subsequent announcements at the VGA ceremony from now on, although i think perhaps his tongue was placed firmly in his cheek.

So here's a quick list of the categories and victors at this years Spike TV VGA's

Game of the Year - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Studio of the Year - Bethesda Game Studios

Character of the year - The Joker – Batman: Arkham City

Video Game Hall of Fame Award - The Legend of Zelda

Gamer God Award - Blizzard Entertainment

Best XBox 360 Game - Batman: Arkham City

Best PS3 Game - Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Best Wii Game - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Best PC Game - Portal 2

Best Handheld or Mobile Game - Super Mario 3D Land

Best Shooter - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Best Action Adventure Game - Batman: Arkham City

Best RPG - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Best Multiplayer - Portal 2

Best Individual Sports Game - Fight Night Champion

Best Team Sports Game - NBA 2K12

Best Driving Game - Forza Motorsport 4

Best Fighting Game - Mortal Kombat

Best Motion Game - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Best Indy Game - Minecraft

Best Adapted Video Game - Batman: Arkham City

Best Song in a Game - "Build that Wall (Zia's Theme)" by Darren Korb – Bastion

Best Original Score - Bastion

Best Graphics - Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Best Performance by a Human Male - Stephen Merchant as Wheatley – Portal 2

Best Performance by a Human Female - Ellen McLain as GLaDOS – Portal 2

Best Downloadable Game - Bastion

Best DLC - Portal 2

Most Anticipated Game - Mass Effect 3

Gametrailers.Com Trailer of the Year - Assassin's Creed: Revelations – E3 2011 Trailer

EA Sports NFL Blitz Digital Cover Athlete - Ray Rice


We gave a quick breakdown on our thoughts on the winners in episode 17 of the Killer Keyboard podcast if you haven't already, have a listen for our discussion on topics such as, who really should have won the best Human Male award, and why i was disappointed that Fight Night got a gong.

Also, of equal interest to many watching the VGA's were the many trailers that were interspersed throughout the evening. Games such as Metal Gear Rising were re-packaged and duly put back on our radars, while newer titles such as "The Last of Us" and the somewhat controversial Rainbow Six: Patriots were given their débuts.

For the benefit of those of you who didn't or couldn't watch the awards on TV, here's a few of the trailers that ran that night.


Hitman: Absolution

The Last of Us

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD

Command & Conquer: Generals 2

Mass Effect 3

Rainbow 6: Patriots

The Amazing Spider-Man

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

Fortnite

BioShock Infinite

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance

Darksiders 2


Metal Gear Rising - Revengeance


That'll do for the VGA Round-up, the regular round-up will return soon to cover the rest of what's happened in the last seven days, along with further details on Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, The Last of Us and news on the most played game of 2011

Until then, happy trails.

TGS - Sony spring a surprise or two

The HD remake business is expanding rapidly on PS3, and Vita, with todays announcements of both Final Fantsay X and the Metal Gear HD collection.

In my opinion Final Fantasy suffered a sharp downturn after the tenth instalment of their hallmark RPG series, even today it's a great looking game, so it's nice to see that a new generation of gamers will be able to experience a good looking RPG with HD graphics that actually holds up during extended play.

Metal Gear HD Collection will contain the two Metal Gear Solid games to have appeared on PS2, Sons of Liberty and Snake Eater. Again, on a personal note, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was one of the best looking games on PS2 so to see it remastered in HD will be great, i'm interested to see how well MGS2 scrubs up too, since it was much earlier in the PS2's life cycle and so obviously didn't have the same level of polish that Snake Eater benefited from.

With the twin stick set up, and sheer power of the Vita it only makes sense that the HD versions of PS2 classics find their way onto the hardware, and it gives consumers one more reason to buy the console. I'm interested to see how, or even if they use the extra control options that the Vita has to offer, especially in the case of Final Fantasy, where the touch screen could let you interact with the in game menus in a whole new way.

While we're on the subject of Playstation classics heading to the Vita, you may have heard us mention Z.O.E. on a recent episode of the Killer Keyboard podcast. The HD version will be heading to PS3 and Vita in 2012 and will be transfer enabled (or "transfarring" as Kojima likes to say), meaning that if you have both consoles you can transfer your saves and play the same game on the move or at home. Just in case there are any ZOE enthusiasts out there, here's a little nugget from TGS.




Playstation Vita will be released in Japan on December 17th although no official date for America or Europe was forthcoming at today's Sony press conference.

Fight Night Chump-ion - Spoilerific Review

Oh dear EA, how could you create such a great story mode and botch it so badly at the end?

Fight Night Champion is the first in the franchise to feature a custom built story mode to supplement what has now become the standard Legacy and Fight Now modes from last year. You play as Andre Bishop a former amateur boxing champion turned pro who was framed by a corrupt boxing promoter and sent to prison for assaulting a police officer and carrying an unlicensed weapon.

The problem I have with this game isn't anything to do with character development or scripting, all of which is top notch and a real credit to the guys at EA Canada. The reason that the story mode falls down is that the path it forces you to take makes no sense whatsoever.

EA Canada are at great pains to develop a bond between the player and Andre Bishop. His back story is classic underdog stuff. Framed for assaulting a police officer he's locked away in prison only four years into a promising career, through flashbacks you play through Andre's rise to prominence and learn all the techniques needed to succeed in professional boxing. you face the nine time amateur boxing champion and defeat him in what is presented as a real upset, you learn how to take down a man quickly in sparring sessions, you witness the relationship between Gus, your trainer and adoptive father, and the Bishop brothers.

When Andre is framed and sent to prison you're right there with him. After several vicious fights you both emerge from the state prison more ruthless and hungry than ever. Andre, having put on several extra pounds of muscle in order to survive in jail, is now a legit heavyweight but is left mopping floors after brother Raymond gets him a job at the gym. Embarking on Andre's comeback you're faced with new challenges. In one match Andre breaks his right hand, meaning that you have to box the majority of the match one handed and still win. This raises the stakes but is also a great way for the game to teach you how to box behind a jab rather than swing for the fences in the vain hope that you catch the opponent with a lucky shot.

Eventually, through hard work you reach the top and a possible face off with current Heavyweight champion Isaac Frost, and unfortunately this is where things take a turn for EA Canada's story mode.

I have no trouble with the idea that the Bishop brothers would fight each other for a shot at the title, and while i can also understand why Andre would take a fall to let his brother have a shot at the title, it makes no sense for me as a gamer to play a game just to lose on purpose.

Worse still, when Raymond gets his shot at the champion you find that you're in control of the Champ and not your brother! Why on earth would i want to control the champion at this stage? Surely if the idea is to impress on the player just how strong Frost is it would be better that you play as Raymond and get obliterated?

Never the less Raymond loses and is brutally knocked out, setting up the fight that everyone wanted. And now it's personal.

Having set all of this up it would make sense to let me go hell for leather against this guy wouldn't it? Surely i can swing for the fences and get sweet revenge for my fallen brother?

nope.

For the first three rounds of the title fight you're instructed by your corner to run away. Yes, that's right, in the grudge match of the century, a blood feud where the older brother is gunning for vengeance in his brothers name, you have to spend the first three rounds RUNNING AWAY from your opponent! at least when you complete this ridiculous task the corner then tell you to start putting in body shots, unfortunately this is ruined by a counter which is placed in the corner of the screen to tell you when you've hit him 75 times. I thought this was a game about realism? oh well.

At least after another three rounds of body punching I could look forward to being able to let loose on the bastard that brutalised my brother, oh wait, I have to run away for another two rounds?

great.

Finally, in round 8, you can fight Frost like he's a regular human being and not some kind of Omnipotent Greek God carved out of granite.

It would have been so much nicer if i could ignore the corner and box my own match, but they've overpowered Frost so much that it is literally impossible to beat him until round 8 when they normalise his stamina and punching power. If you even attempt to stand your ground before then you're toast. I didn't buy a Superman game, why am I fighting him?

Why spend all that time building up a great story only to completely gimp it at the end with totally nonsensical game play choices and almost impossible endgame fights? EA had a gem of a game here for 90% of the play through, it's such a shame they blew it with the last three fights...

/Rant

E3 feature - Catherine

Catherine is the latest release from the creators of the Persona series, Atlus games. It's best described as an Erotic Horror Platform Adventure Puzzle Game which may sound like a mouthful but honestly it's too varied to pigeon hole with one genre.

Vincent has been in a relationship with his girlfriend Katherine for five years but is scared by the idea of marriage. He's been hearing about the deaths of young men in the area, all were found in bed with a look of anguish cast across their faces. One night he meets a woman named Catherine in the Stray Sheep bar, instantly falling for the charms of his ideal woman he spends the night with her and is immediately plagued by strange nightmares. In these dreams Vincent as well as other men who appear to him as sheep must escape from different horrifying deaths by climbing a mountain of boxes. Can Vincent figure out what's happening? Which Katherine/Catherine will he choose? Will he even survive the night?

The game is split into two discernible parts when you play the Golden Theatre mode (story mode for those of us who like things made obvious). During the day time you juggle your relationship with two women, talk to friends and other patrons of the Stray Sheep, order a drink, listen to music on the jukebox (which happens to feature a multitude of songs from previous Atlus titles including Persona), and send and receive text messages on your phone (Catherine is fond of sending the odd saucy photo).

The main meat of the game though, is the nightmare world which is set out like a puzzle. You climb a slowly collapsing staircase made of movable blocks, you can push, pull and slide the blocks to navigate your way to the top, and safety. Score multipliers are gained for climbing the boxes quickly but there are multiple traps and sheep in the way to block your progress. You can collect items along the way such as pillows which represent extra lives. Falling off the bottom of the staircase costs you a pillow and when you run out of pillows it's game over. I between stages you can talk to the sheep or learn new techniques that should help you on your way through the nightmare you're enduring.

It's a really smart puzzle design that does what all the best ones do, it keeps the basic concept simple but allows it to become infinitely complicated at the same time.



The game itself is stunning and gives us a fair indication of how the next Persona will look. Animated cut scenes blend seamlessly with the cell shaded graphics of the in game engine while the character animations are smooth and realistic, well, as realistic as they get when you're a Boxer shorts wearing guy with a pair of sheep horns climbing up a pile of boxes to escape a giant fork.

Based on your Decisions Vincent will take a differing route through the story, you can affect small things like the way you compose a text, or how you talk to somebody. Catherine uses a subtle kind of morality system whereby small choices in conversation are taken into account as well as larger choices to give a more rounded summation of your characters personality. The end of the game is also affected by your choices, with multiple endings possible, it's very much like Heavy Rain with it's branching story lines.

Catherine also features two player Babel Mode and a PVP mode called Vs Colosseum.

Catherine is a game unlike anything els you've played on Xbox 360 or PS3, it has intense gameplay, slick presentation and huge potential for multiple replays. The only downside is that unfortunately there's no release scheduled for the UK, although Germany is due to get the game on December 31st. Having said that of course most PS3 games are region free, so you can pick up an imported copy of the US version from July 16th if you so wish.

I'm definitely getting my hands on a copy.

E3 delivers

So that's very nearly it for another E3, there's been some terrible new names for consoles on the horizon, a slew of great games demo's and even an apology from a certain Japanese electronics firm. With all that went on in LA this year it's difficult to know where to start or who came out on top. here's a run-down of each of the big three's conferences, there are links in the titles to each press conference.



Microsoft Press Conference - E3 2011

Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 3
Tomb Raider
EA Sports announce Kinect support
Mass Effect Kinect support Demo
Ghost Recon - Future Soldier Kinect support Demo
New Xbox Experience with integrated Kinect support
UFC partnership announced
Gears of War 3 Demo
Ryse Trailer
Halo Anniversary Trailer
Forza 4 Trailer
Fable Journey Trailer and Demo
Disneyland Adventures (plus annoying child actors)
Star Wars Kinect Trailer
Sesame Street Once Upon a Monster Demo
Kinect Tech Demo (including full body scan and creepy Avatar creation)
Kinect Fun Labs
Kinect Sports Season 2 Trailer
Minecraft coming to Xbox
Dance Central 2 Demo
Halo 4



Sony Press Conference - E3 2011

Apology for PSN debacle
Uncharted 3 Demo
Resistance 3 Demo
Resistance 3 Sharpshooter bundle priced at $150 due on Sept 6
God of War Origins 3D announced
Team ICO Remastered 3D collection announced
Playstation branded 24" 3D display bundle announced at $499
Playstation 3D glasses announced at $69.99 each
NBA 2K12 Move support Demo
Medieval Moves Demo
inFAMOUS 2 Trailer
Starhawk Demo
PS Move update announced for LBP in Sept
New Sly Cooper Trailer
Dust 514 Trailer
Bioshock Infinite Trailer
Move support announced for Bioshock Infinite
Bioshock to be bundled with Infinite
Exclusive mode available for Saints Row III
Star Trek Trailer
SSX - exclusive Mount Fuji track
NFS The Run - 7 exclusive Supercars
Battlefield 3 will include Battlefield 1943
Playstation Suite presentation
NGP officially named PlayStation Vita
Partnership with AT&T announced
Vita features discussed
Uncharted: Golden Abyss Demo
Ruin Vita to PS3 save share Demo
ModNation Racers Vita Demo
LBP Vita Trailer
SF x Tekken Vita Demo and Trailer
Cole from inFAMOUS will be in the Vita version of SF x Tekken
Vita Show reel
Vita priced at $249.99/$299.99



Nintendo Press Conference - E3 2011

Celebration of Zelda 25th anniversary
Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening available to download now on 3DS store
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D available from 11th June
Legend of Zelda: Four Swords free to download on DSi from September
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword released this Holiday Season
Gold Wii Remote available on game release
Ocarina OST CD is a free gift with Club Nintendo registration
Mario Kart 3DS Trailer
Starfox 3DS Trailer
Super Mario 3DS Trailer
Kid Icarus 3DS Trailer
Luigi's Mansion 2 3DS Trailer
3DS Show reel
Virtual Console 3DS announced
Pokedex 3D announced as free downloadable game for 3DS
New Console is Officially named Wii U
Wii U Controller revealed
"Wii U in action" presentation video
Smash Brothers in development for Wii U and 3DS
Tech Demo of Wii U's graphical power
Lego City Stories Announced for Wii U and 3DS
Showreel of games coming to Wii U
EA pledges support to ne Wii U System



That's what the three major players in the Video Games industry had to offer this year, and it's left me surprised on two fronts. First I would never have believed that Kinect would appeal to me in any way shape or form, but honestly this voice recognition stuff they implemented in Mass Effect 3 has me interested. One game isn't enough to make me part with the best part of £100 but it's a promising start. Perhaps when Kinect Fun Lab has had some time to work it's magic I'll re-evaluate my position on that.

My second surprise was with the name of Nintendo's new home console. I was honestly convinced they would leave Wii behind them since it has such name recognition as the console that catered for the casual market. With the Wii name attatched to it I think the console may struggle to find the hardcore market it craves, unless they release some heavy hitting software at launch it'll be seen as another casual games machine. Having said that, the controller tech looks very interesting, especially when used as an extension for golf games etc as seen in the Nintendo press conference. I'll be interested to get my hands on it to see what it feels like to hold. It might just be me but it looks a little cumbersome.

Sony, while packing their conference with lots of great games have been slightly hamstrung this year by the fact that most of the software they rolled out was already known about and had been see already. The main appeal this year was the unveiling of the PSVita and seeing games running on the system in real time, it's impressive tech and very reasonably priced given the amount of kit that's been crammed into that tiny hand held machine. Overall the conference was a strong showing, but it failed to surprise or particularly excite me.

Microsoft really pushed Kinect hard this year, and if they can find more inventive ways of making it a worthwhile augmentation to the gaming experience then they may have hit the right balance between the hardcore and casual market. Minecraft is an excellent pick up for the company while Halo 4 is easy money for them. Once again being first to hold their conference has paid dividends with the premier looks at multi platform games like MW3, Tomb Raider and Mass Effect. 360 may not have many exclusive titles this year, but looking at the ones they do have makes you excited. As if Forza 4 didn't look great already I learned today that the Top Gear Test Track is going to feature in the upcoming Turn 10 racer. Gears of War 3 was impressive and as mentioned before there's the console debut of Minecraft too. I just wish they could have found some child actors that didn't make me want to punch my face in, or for that matter someone who could operate the Bing feature of Xbox dashboard without looking like she'd just performed some kind of miracle that no-one else was capable of. I hate that self satisfied look on peoples faces when they've done something that anyone could have. but i digress...

Now I'm not the type of person to claim that one company won E3, and i won't be doing so here. It's clear that from the conferences held this week that all three companies have a strong year ahead (despite the share price drop that Nintendo appear to have suffered since their presentation). I honestly couldn't say that one has the edge over the others. Nintendo and Sony both have great new Hardware to come while 360 looks like it will continue to improve it's Kinect peripheral and has built the entire new Xbox experience around the motion sensor while supporting it with several of it's top titles this year. Best of all, this Kinect support hasn't completely gimped the games in question

If E3 has showed us anything it's that 2011 is going to be a great year for games.

Check back on Saturday for my first feature on the games of E3, the Japanese Puzzle Thriller "Catherine"

PSN - The Fallout

Twenty four days since hackers found their way into the PSN servers, bringing the network crashing down around them, the Japanese electronics giant has finally restored it's online services to a majority of users. The big question though, is whether Sony's image has suffered to the point that they may never recover (in the games market at least).

It's not the first time that a major console has had it's online features suspended. Microsoft had to take Xbox Live offline for 24 hours in 2008 in preparation for the "New Xbox Experience" and also suffered outages just prior to Christmas 2007. The big difference between these outages and the one recently suffered by the PSN however is, in the case of Microsoft, the problem was quickly remedied and didn't come off the back of a bunch of hackers getting hold of users personal information.

The damage to Sony and the Playstation's reputation should not be underestimated. Although the PSN is free for all to use, those who use it expect their details to be secure. If you can't put your trust in a consoles security how can you bring yourself to own it? Worse still is that people's credit card information may have been compromised and while all this news came out, Sony appeared to be dilly dallying over what to do.

The Welcome Back program that Sony announced on their blog is commendable. A free month of Playstation Plus will be an interesting experience for those of us who are yet to subscribe to it, While those who have will get two months gratis. A free film weekend is planned at some point, and although you question what they have to lose in terms of revenue when you see the 5 games available to users in the UK, the fact remains that you will get two of these for free.

Infamous
Little Big Planet
Ratchet and Clank Future:Quest for Booty (Super Stardust HD in Germany and United States)
Wipeout HD Fury
Dead Nation.

Whether or not these games appeal to the people that have been so inconvenienced by the PSN outage remains to be seen. Infamous and LBP are likely already owned by a majority of PS3 owners, so that effectively takes the selection down to two of three games. But hey, they're free!

Putting this Welcome Back program to one side for the time being though, This could hardly have come at a worse time for Sony. Nintendo recently announced the existence of a new console under development which appears to be aimed at regaining the hardcore audience they effectively lost when they released the Wii in 2006. Xbox 360 held a free online weekend just as the PSN outages bit, showing that they had a secure and reliable network and giving everyone a free taste of it just at the right time. It's my belief that Microsoft's console has had the premiere online gaming network for some time now due to the level of investment they can afford it. Sony may have sat back to begin with since the PSN was until recently free for all. They can hardly afford to do so now. At this point any perceived complacency from Sony by the gaming community could completely kill off the Playstation brand with the hardcore community.

There's one other question that this raises. Has this all caused so much trouble for Sony that they would consider burying the Playstation name altogether and start anew with their next console? I doubt it somehow. Even with all the negative mainstream news stories circulating about their machine, i think Sony realise they have a brand in the Playstation that will sell purely on name recognition alone.

Given all of the bad publicity Sony has had for the past three weeks it seems unlikely, perhaps even perverse that the number of PS3's sold during the PSN debacle should have increased rather than fallen. All publicity is good publicity it seems. Maybe the world doesn't care about online gaming, but they should still care about who can get hold of their details...

Can the last waggler please turn off the console on their way out...

When the rumours of Nintendo's new console began to circulate, it was interesting to note that the one thing missing from the list of design concepts and technical details was the mention of any form of movement control. In fact the only details released about the next gen Nintendo's controller was that it would include a touch screen that could stream game content in real time.

Bearing in mind that the actual technical details of Project Cafe are all rumours at this point, and that the company have only gone so far as to confirm the existence of a new machine, it has to be made clear that this is mostly guess work on my part, but that notwithstanding here's my take on what this all means.

Movement based control is dead in the water.

Bye bye waggle, Don't let the door hit you on the arse on the way out...

Okay, it's true that Xbox and Playstation are still supporting the concept, but look at how many games out there for the Sony and Microsoft machines actually need either Kinect or PS Move in order to be played. Now compare that to the number or titles where move control is just a fancy extra thrown in because the developer could.

The move away from move based game control isn't really surprising when you think about it either. Nintendo stopped making a big thing out of the Wii Motion controller a long time ago, most of their major releases use very little of the Wii Motion controller's potential in their game play, instead relying on the old button and d-pad combo. Eurocom's version of Goldeneye, released last year, eschewed motion control altogether and actually came packaged with a Gamecube controller for better all round game play.

It's clear that Xbox and Playstation developed their take on move control as a direct response to Wii's domination of the family console market. That domination was originally because of the innovative controller that came with Nintendo's souped up Gamecube 2.0 along with some clever marketing towards families on the Japanese company's part. Now that Nintendo seem to be abandoning the move market in favour of something a little more current generation the big question must be asked - Why should Sony or Microsoft try to compete in the move market any more?

I'll be honest, i can't think of a decent reason.

A purchase that will live in inFAMY

It's just a quick one today, and the title practically says it all. After work on Thursday i decided to go into town and have a look around the shops. I hadn't intended on buying anything, with 4 days to go until payday i was feeling decidedly brassic anyway. HMV seems to be a regular haunt for me at the moment, so i started there looking through the DVD's and Albums on offer in their sale.

The problem with most of HMV's stock is that even at sale prices they are often more expensive than the same product on Play.com or Amazon. Having decided to leave HMV and go home i walked past Game, for some reason i was drawn in, probably just idle curiosity at what their prices were like at the moment.

Browsing the isles i picked up a couple of pre-owned Xbox 360 games that were good value for their age. World Championship Snooker: Real 2009 (I really enjoy a good snooker game) and 2K Sports The Bigs 2 were both £8. My next find was the most surprising of all. inFAMOUS is the critically acclaimed super hero sand box game where you choose the moral choices of the main character. Released May 29th last year it sold like hotcakes and was given a 9.2/10 rating by IGN's Greg Miller. This background information is important because i can't think of another game that sold so well and was released so little time ago being available for the price I'm about to drop on you.

£10 for a brand new, sealed box copy of inFAMOUS. Jealous? no need, the offer is still on at Game.

Long live great deals!

Robinho