This week I’m giving you a quick break down of Ubisoft’s new Assasin’s Creed 2 for ps3. Not only is this a much better outing from the first go round, it’s also a game you actually want to keep playing. I rented it for 5 days and will probably end up buying it when it hits the used section.

Graphically, it’s gorgeous. The detail they’ve put into old Italy is unreal. Costume design is top notch and the voice acting is superb. Combat has vastly improved over the first one and I found it to be smooth. It could get a bit wonky at times, but overall it wasn’t too hard to get into it. The thing I found to be most fun was the parkour element. Much like webswinging in Spiderman, I found myself just running rooftop to rooftop for an hour here and there enjoying the scenery.

If you’ve never played the first one, you’re not lost diving into the sequel. You’ll unlock backstory and pieces of your past as you move village to village. Gone are the boring pickpocket, and pointless wander missions, as they’ve gone to a more streamlined open format. You can take as much time as you’d like exploring and will be rewarded accordingly.

In the end, I say buy it.

***Click ‘News’ or ‘Home’ button in side bar for current news

~VIDEO GAME NEWS~

Spike VGA rundown
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Spike VGA trailers
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Europe getting Dante’s Inferno Death Edition
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BlazBlue coming to DSiWare
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Game retailers confident about 2010
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Final Fantasy XIII OST
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Mega Man 10 release date and new bosses
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God of War 3 is complete
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PS3 design cost nearing break-even
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Gamestop sales up 15%
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OverClocked remix turns 10
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Atari Appoints Jeff Lapin to CEO
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EEDAR: US November sales not healthy start for holidays
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Grand Turismo 5 target release Summer 2010
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Dante’s Inferno to get PS3 exclusive Divine Edition
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Just Cause 2 pre-order bonus
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November NPD
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Dead space 2 multiplayer confirmed
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Tony Hawk: Ride sells 114k
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Team Fortress 2 War teaser
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Borderlands 2nd DLC pack, Med Moxxi’s Unerdome Riot announced
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Microsoft: Halo Reach biggest game of 2010
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Splinter Cell demo confirmed for early January
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Aliens vs Predator dated for Feb 19
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Bioware reveals celebrity cast for Mass Effect 2
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John Riccitiello on Morale at EA
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EA: Wii can inherit PS2 business with price drop
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Playstation 3 motion control named
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TIME: Best Video Games 2009
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Top games played on XBL for November
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Nintendopower announces Mega Man 10 for wiiware
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Nintendo: frustrating GTA: Chinatown Wars sales due to marketing
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New Resident Evil movie delayed till 2011
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Battlefield: Bad Company 2 won’t block party chat
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Microsoft: Twitter, Facebook, Last FM update to have parental control
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Analyst: 3d gaming to reach 40 million by 2014
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Square Enix: Final Fantasy XIII xbox 360 version to have compressed audio, visuals
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Square Enix CEO: Japan needs Modern Warfare 2
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Analyst: Modern Warfare 2 over 22% game sales November
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Yakuza 4 in Japan March 2010
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Assassin’s creed II patch come Friday
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Dragon Age: Origins patch
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American idol Simon Cowell has sights on VG industry
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Famitsu scores Final Fantasy XIII 39/40
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Jun Takeuchi (Lost planet, RE5) interview
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Sony motion control to have secondary control attachment
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Valve teases Team Fortress 2 Friend and Mercenaries update
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Viewtiful Joe makes his return
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Game Informer next cover story: Dead Space 2
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Yakuza 3 being localized
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Playstation 3 software update 3.15
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Take Two not fan of OnLive
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Modern Warfare 2 hack breaks PS3 leaderboards
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Portal team lead joins Dark Void dev
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Tekken 6 OST now on itunes
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Havok unveils independent developer program
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Assassin’s Creed 2 devs on game’s launch
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New Super Mario Bros Wii sells 900k first week in JP
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Modern Warfare 2 hold UK top charts
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Tony Hawk does not agree with critics on Tony Hawk Ride
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Quantum theory no longer ps3 exclusive
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Mass Effect 2 new loading screen transition system
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Conan O’ Brien on Avatar Game
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Crystal Dynamics (Tomb Raider) Hiring
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Child’s Play reaches $1 million in donations
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PSN downloadable game, Record of Agarest War to be 8-10GB
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Metal Gear: Peace Walker Screens
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Iwata Asks: Zelda
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Dear J-

I got the 200th issue of Game Informer in my mailbox over the weekend; they list the 200 greatest games of all time, which are of course like any other game review completely subjective and subject to scrutiny by fans objecting to their favorites’ ranking.  Unusually, instead of counting down, it starts from number one, which leads you to start flipping the pages, musing that surely this game — ah, there it is.  For the most part, the scope is limited to NES games and newer, with the odd arcade title (Donkey Kong, #103; Pong, #158) and early computer titles as well (Zork makes it (#66), but over another Z-Machine game like Planetfall? And no Archon?).  For my part, I have sampled more of the games than I care to admit, especially in the shmup and RPG genres.

GI went through a magazine makeover a few issues back; I wish I’d saved some of my ten-year-old titles just for comparison, but it’s almost as though they poached the design team from play — content has become heavy on graphics and screenshots, lighter on content.  Perhaps that’s indicative of the industry as a whole; instead of innovation, franchises and sequels (hello, Madden and Rock Band/Guitar Hero iterations) are the money-makers:  each year brings much of the same, only in a different wrapper (to be honest, you could say the same thing about most jRPGs:  lone hero gathers companions to fight evil hoping to destroy the world; rinse and repeat).  As the rag with probably the highest circulation (due in no small part to their position as the party voice of the ubiquitous GameStop), they could probably afford to experiment with their look at will.

Thing is, I remember when they were called Funcoland, a Minneapolis-based chain of stores offering pretty much only what you saw on the shelves; the industry was smaller and more diverse then — multiple publishers, niche genres, and no great eBay equalizer driving prices.  Maybe I’m just getting too old for this; you spend too much time thinking about the way things were, you start to cherry-pick the good (man, you had so many compelling stories to choose from) from the bad (games weren’t any less expensive then, and you had to perform ritual cleansing of cartridges on a regular basis) without realizing it.  Life is good — downloadable content, multiple sources of help — and the annoyances are just that:  nothing heart-stopping.

Mike

I’m going to attempt to actually write here.  See what jumpstartin’ the ole noggin’ in this venue of cyberspace does for mental health, and seein’ what transpires in my personal life as a result.

I used to blog all the time in ye olde myspace days.  Nostalgia hit me a couple nights ago, rooting through blog after blog of my early college days [450 or so in the course of 3 years...!?!]– and I noticed that I used to have a bit of flair with my writing style that appears to have dissipated a bit in recent years.

Goal part 2:  Review video games for Game Informer.  This’ll take quite a bit of mental self-flagellation, and while there’s no time like the present- I feel time in question for teeth grittin’ ought to have been many months ago.  *assert*

-H’ANYWAY-, expect to see an eclectic mix of any number of topics– generally related to gaming, gaying, or life direction fostering/waxing, all with varying degrees of reverentry.  Hopefully with a steady acclimation of literary sparks remniscent of ye olde anonytonomous.

*nod*

Additionally…

Packing:  frightful.  Nary a delightful.  Be wary;  formates cussin’.  [a mouthful]

KITZ%

Got my Game Informer mag yesterday. In celebration of their 200th issue, they put together their list of the 200 greatest video games of all time. Here are the top 20 and my commentary. Those in bold are the ones that I have played:

So I arrived home from work today and checked my post, and sure enough sitting there, in my mailbox, was the latest issue of Game Informer – the 200th issue no less.  In honour of their 200th issue, the team over at Game Informer decided to publish their list of the top 200 games of all time, so I thought I’d share some of the results with you.

Don’t panic, I’m not going to list all 200 with their reasoning, you’ll need to buy the magazine if you want that, but I thought I’d pull out a couple of highlights…

So, let’s begin at the beginning…  The top game of all time, the ultimate in gaming, the best there ever was?  Read on to find out…

Taking the top spot and pushing out all the rest was, from 1987, arguably unsurprisingly, The Legend of Zelda.

I realise there may be many cries of “Oh but we’ve come so far since then!  What about X, Y or Z?!” but they make some pretty good points in their justification.  As they stated, the Legend of Zelda is responsible for the creation of many lifelong gamers, not to mention future game developers.  This blast from the past may seem primitive in its style now, but it provided the starting point for many future developments, and for the 80’s it was pretty impressive! Shigeru Miyamoto can rest easy knowing that he did indeed create a level of greatness in the gaming industry that others could at that time barely aspire to, and that many have since credited this game as their inspiration.

So what else made it?  In their top 5 are others such as Super Mario Bros (#2), Tetris (#3), GTA III (#4), and Half Life 2(#5) – all very well known and pretty well respected games – it’s almost enough for me to have another bash at Half Life 2, which if I’m honest, never really grabbed me.  “But,” I hear you wail, “where is Mass Effect?!?!”  I know, I know, that was my response too!  So I scoured the lists, I turned page after page until I found it, and they do indeed bill it as “one of the greatest interactive tales we’ve ever experienced” but sadly, and clearly in an horrendous misprint, it only comes in at number 58!!  Despite my now clear disagreement with their positions, I read on anyway to see what else they had come up with…

Perhaps somewhat oddly, given their reasoning for Zelda winning overall, Ms Pac-Man made it into the top 10, whereas Pac-Man itself was held back at a mere 52nd place.  The various Final Fantasies pretty much all made it in, with FFIII the best of the bunch apparently at #8.  The various Mario games all seemed to rank pretty high, with good ol’ Sonic not getting a look in til #34.  Otherwise there are very few surprises, though one or two did make me raise an eyebrow…

Perhaps the biggest shocker personally (other than ME’s clearly incorrect placement) was Batman: Arkham Asylum.  Yes, I know it’s Batman, and yes, I realise to those who are not very discerning that automatically makes it super cool, and yes, the graphics were fantastic, but dear lord the gameplay is shocking.  One button takes out 5 enemies, and to me, that’s just not what this sort of game should be about, so seeing it at #104, above the much loved (by some) Borderlands for instance was a bit of a surprise.  Modern Warfare 2, for all the hype, only made it in at #181, and Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! was in the top 20!?!

So there you have it, a very brief summary of a very lengthy article.  I have no doubt that others will have their opinions on where things should or should not have been included, and which games should have been higher than others, so buy the magazine, read the full article and feel free to let me know what congratulations or exclamations I’ve overlooked, but don’t think you’ll change my mind on poor old Shepard…

A couple words off of this recent write-up on the subject.  Comments welcome.

Is recruiting for the military through video games the right way to go?

Well, video games unrealistically portray warfare to be a glorious and passionate exercise.  Though there may be much of both, the central directive is far from “kill the most bad guys,” and instead is fight for your God and country.

The theme of honor and the moral decision involved in fighting is rarely seen in video games.  Especially with being able to have “infinite continues” and just restart a level video games don’t do the realy military justice.

Though, we’re not sending kids into combat fresh from their Xboxes, so video games garner interest; that’s all.  That’s all they should do also, training is needed and the army is in need of interest and the training will happen after.

The logo for the U.S. Army's offical Video Game

Tonight is the last night the video game world will be without Dragon Age: Origins. Either this game will rattle the walls for RPG gamers, or it will go unnoticed and underappreciated. I hope that the game lives up to the hype and serves us all a plate of awesome.

Here’s what people are saying so far about the game:

PC Gamer UK = 94

This is the most enormously detailed game world I’ve experienced, its history stretching back thousands of years, its cultures vivid, beautiful and flawed, the battles enormous, the humour superb. Roleplaying games now have a great deal to live up to. [Dec 2009, p.74]

IGN UK = 9.2

Simply expect one of the best RPGs you have yet played.

Game Informer = 9/10

The number of titles that can foster this level of dedication and obsession are few, and Dragon Age: Origins is among the best of them.

Meristation = 9.5

Overall, it’s a really special RPG, which truly deserves to be called “epic”.

Keep on gaming people!

“Το Xbox 360 θα ξεπεράσει το PS3 φέτος” – Gameover.gr

Άκρως καυστικός ήταν ο Aaron Greenberg -Director of Product Management της Microsoft- μιλώντας στο Game Informer σχετικά με την μάχη των δύο κονσολών και δήλωσε πεπεισμένος πως το Xbox 360 θα υπερέχει φέτος στις πωλήσεις έναντι του PS3. “Ήμασταν σίγουροι πως το Playstation 3 θα έμπαινε δυνατά στην μάχη των πωλήσεων με την κυκλοφορία ενός νέου Slim μοντέλου.[next]

Φήμη: Υπό ανάπτυξη το inFamous 2 – Gameover.gr

Σύμφωνα με τον ηθοποιό David Sullivan, η Sucker Punch έχει ξεκινήσει ακροάσεις για την εύρεση της φωνής που θα χρησιμοποιηθεί στον κεντρικό χαρακτήρα του Infamous, Cole, για το το sequel του παιχνιδιού.[next]

To φθινόπωρο του 2010 η κυκλοφορία του Epic Mickey, αποκλειστικά για Wii | Game 2.0

To περιοδικό Game Informer αποκάλυψε ότι το Epic Mickey, το νέο πόνημα του Warren Spector και της ομάδας του, θα κυκλοφορήσει το φθινόπωρο του 2010, αποκλειστικά για Wii.

To Epic Mickey είναι ένα σκοτεινό puzzle-adventure, στο οποίο ο Mickey πρέπει να αντιμετωπίσει τον Oswald the Rabbit, τον Phantom Blot και άλλους εχθρούς που θέλουν να καταστρέψουν αυτόν και τον κόσμο του.[next]

Mickey getting dark and gritty

Although the November issue of Game Informer led many to believe that a Kingdom Hearts console sequel was finally on it’s way, it’s been revealed that this is not the case. This is not necessarily a bad thing though. It seems that the game being flaunted about in the magazines pages (and many pages of the internet as well) is a fresh IP from Disney called Epic Mickey.

So who is behind the promising new project? Warren Spector, the developer and mind behind many acclaimed games, such as Deus Ex (and it’s sequel), Thief, and Wing Commander. Teamed up with Disney and Nintendo, Spector is looking to take the franchise in a bold new direction, in Epic Mickey exclusively for the Wii. The game is said to take the bright and cheery demeanor of the world of Disney we know and love and contrast it with surreal and gritty reimaginations of many forgotten Disney characters. Equipped with a paintbrush, and the ability to paint and erase levels, Mickey will be facing up against hordes of obscure characters. So far o names have been confirmed except Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and the Phantom Blot. Check some designs and the plot (thanks from Wikipedia) below.

PLOT

“The antagonists of Epic Mickey are the largely old and obscure Disney elements, including theme park rides and older cartoons. Having been forgotten, they are now trapped in a “forgotten world of broken machines and bitter personalities.” Running this world is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, one of Walt Disney’s first creations, who has become jealous of Mickey Mouse and is seeking revenge. Oswald sends the Phantom Blot to the Disney universe, and it soon covers the world with black ink, causing the colors to run. Using a variety of artist tools, Mickey must return the Disney world to its former glory.^[10] It is hinted by an article from GameInformer that the Disney character The Mad Doctor might appear in the game.”

Some concept art

I Love the use of EPCOT here

Adam Biessener is an Associate Editor for Game Informer Magazine. Quite the fan of MMOs he discusses his gaming background, what life as a video game journalist is like and offers some helpful advice to the aspiring journalists out there.

*   *   *

Could you explain what your involvement with Game Informer is and how you came to be working there?

I’ve been full-time editorial staff at GI since I started in September of ‘03. I had just finished my associate degree at a local community college as part of my second shot at the whole college thing when I saw the letter from the editor begging for someone, anyone, to come cover PC games for him. So I applied with a resumé and writing samples, got an interview, and got hired just like for any other job.

Since then, I’ve been covering PC games as best I can. The tasks of making a magazine — writing, researching editing, proofreading, etc. — are divided among the whole staff, so I’ve done a bit of pretty much everything in my time at GI. Previews, reviews, news, features, cover stories, we all kind of do it all. Things are moving in a good direction for us (c.f. the new website and the new hires, who are all fantastic), but until a few months ago I was the only person doing anything PC-related at GI. Obviously, there were some things that slipped through the cracks, and that’s always hard — I know it’s a video game magazine and all, but I take my job seriously and I hate it when I miss something, which is just about the worst way that you can fail as a journalist. At the same time, it’s really gratifying when I can take a smaller lower-profile title that I think is cool and interesting, like Majesty 2, and get it a little more exposure and coverage than it otherwise might get. Finding something new and cool and introducing readers to it is the best part of the job.

What would a typical work day for you look like?

First, it’s the news grind. Catching up on email, going through my RSS feed, trolling through news sites and all that gets me caught up to what’s going on in the morning. Depending on how interesting the morning’s news is and whether I have any other fires to put out, this takes anywhere from a half-hour to until lunch.

After that, it’s prioritizing tasks and jumping on them. I write a lot of emails and make a ton of phone calls to line up coverage for various things. Writing itself takes up a variable amount of time depending on…well, depending on whether it’s going quickly that day or not. Playing games for review. Playing preview builds if I can’t avoid it. Researching stories. If we’re in the last week before we send the book off to the printer, my day is pretty much wall-to-wall editing and proofreading.

Everybody thinks that the job is 90% playing games and 10% talking about them. It’s not; it’s a for-real job like anything else. A cool one, to be sure. But the vast majority of my time is spent making the magazine, not playing games.

Still, how many other professions get to have a bitchin’ SLI-enabled Alienware sitting at their desk so that they can make sure Aion can run at 1680×1050 with all the settings cranked?

How much interaction is there between the writers of the magazine?

Quite a lot, actually. We don’t use any freelancers or off-site staff, so we’re all in the office every day. We bounce ideas and copy off each other all the time before anything goes into editing. Everybody chats about what’s new and exciting in the worlds of gaming, sports, politics, and whatever else. It’s a fun place to work, and a great staff to work with.

Are you much of an MMO enthusiast?

Oh yeah, both personally and professionally. My job has moved more and more in an MMO-centric direction in the last few years, so I spend a ton of time reading, playing, and writing about MMOs. At home, no other MMO has taken me away from WoW for more than a few months at a time — I’ve got a great guild there, and we all know how hard it is to want to move away from your friends.

What was your introduction to MMOs and what was that experience like?

Sheesh, I guess it’d be Sierra On-Line at a friend’s house in elementary school years and years ago. It was obviously on his machine, though, so I didn’t get a ton of time with whatever that ancient MUD was. Also, I was into Star Control 2 at the time, which took all my attention by being TOTALLY AMAZING.

In college, I played a Wheel of Time MUD for a while. That was…interesting. Most of the users were more into RPing than playing the actual game, though, and that’s not my thing. I didn’t get well and truly sucked into an MMO until the WoW beta, which is kind of embarrassing when you think about it. Then again, my gaming resources were *extremely* limited prior to coming to work at GI in 2003, so the idea of paying a monthly subscription was a non-starter.

At your peak, how much time would you say you spent gaming? How about now?

My peak was probably high school, actually, pounding through every RPG I could get my hands on. Maybe when I was in one of my hardcore raiding phases in WoW, though. I’d say I spent at least 40 hours a week in-game during either of those.

Today I’ve got a lot more adult responsibilities, which cut into game time. If I can count time at the office, though, I’m probably still at at least 20 hours a week gaming.

Considering how many games you must play for review, are you still able to find enjoyment in gaming?

Absolutely. If I didn’t, I’d respec to a job with better income potential But no, I still find games to lose myself in on a regular basis. I just spent nearly all of last weekend immersed in Final Fantasy XII (no internet at the new house yet), and it was an absolute blast. I’ve spent big stints in WoW, Aion, Champions, Majesty 2, Half-Life 2 Ep 2, Plants Vs. Zombies, and Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri recently. There are way too many great games out there to be bored.

Would you say there is grind in your profession? If so, please explain.

Not in the sense of grinding out a repetitive task day after day, no. One of the great things about this line of work is that you’re always moving on to something new and shiny.

Two things sort of tangentially qualify, though. At times, learning new game systems does get tiresome, especially in MMOs and strategy games. You don’t realize how much work it is to grok all of the interrelations between all the numbers behind the scenes until you have to do it twice a week. It can get mentally exhausting. It’s easy enough to pick up the next Call of Duty and know which end of the gun to point at the bad guy. Figuring out how to keep your economy running in Tropico or your downtime low in Aion is a different beast. Under normal circumstances, decoding systems is very much part of the fun of any complex game. When a run of strategy, simulation, or MMOs comes out and I have to do a ton of it in a relatively short timeframe, though, it can be rough.

Second, watching developers make the same mistakes (or just stupid decisions) over and over again and having to play through them can be pretty brutal. One major offender here is UI. For god’s sake, don’t make me redo keybindings for every damn character I make (I’m looking at you, Aion).

On the other side, what do you find to be most rewarding about your job?

Definitely finding an underappreciated or low-profile game and introducing my audience to it. No question. I love being able to shine a light on some developer’s good work and help them find an audience and get the credit they deserve.

Sure, there are some geek-gasm moments like interviewing Gabe Newell or Rob Pardo or Chris Taylor or whatever, but that’s just personal “squeeee!” stuff. Professional pride is a lot longer-lasting.

Are you pleased with how your contribution to the magazine has been received?

I guess I’m not really sure what this means. Do I feel that my audience is generally happy with the job I do? Based on the feedback I get from readers, yeah, folks seem to have a positive opinion on my work. Like anyone else in a consumer-facing role, I’ve had both very complementary things said about my work as well as some terribly bitchy things. Everybody loves to take shots at GI; it’s just the nature of the beast. When you are in the criticism business, though, you have to develop a thick skin for your sanity’s sake. If I took every mean thing anyone has said about my writing to heart, I’d be a wreck. Most of the negative feedback I get is of the “lol game informer is owned by gamestop ur just tryin to sell games” type, though, which is easy enough to ignore.

If you had a chance to do it all over again, would you do anything different?

That’s a tough question. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t some moments here and there where I wanted out, but who doesn’t have those? Come on, though. I’ve got a pretty cool job that pays the bills and lets me be immersed in something I love. How many people get to say that?

What advice would you have for someone wanting to get into game journalism?

You have no idea how often I get this question. The answer is the same every time: Do it in your spare time, and go to school. Like any other profession, a college degree is a huge help in getting your resumé out of the pile and under someone’s eyes. And go start a blog or freelance and write about stuff. For one thing, it’ll make you better at writing. For another, you’ll have a body of work to show editors a) how well you write and b) that you love the subject matter enough to do it in your free time.

You wake up to a world where you are the head of a company developing an MMO. You have unlimited funds and resources available to you. Please describe the kind of game you would make.

Everyone should have it so easy! I’d stick to fantasy, since that’s what I love. I’d make the end-user interface and good netcode my absolute first priority, since EVERYONE BUT BLIZZARD DOES IT WRONG and it pisses me off (Aion is close, but still has some stupidities in there). I’d make art and “feel” my next priority, because your players are going to be spending a lot of time in your world and so you’d better make it somewhere that they want to be (WAR utterly failed at this, and it really hurt that game). I’d ignore PvP altogether, because I don’t love it and therefore wouldn’t make a good PvP game. I’d focus the vast majority of my design on creating small-group cooperative play (2-5 players) that feeds into a larger goal that guilds or alliances or factions or whatever are racing to complete (think opening the gates of Ahn’Qiraj, but not TERRIBLE IN EVERY WAY like that was. The concept is interesting though). I’d make dynamic invasion events that groups of players would have to band together to fight off (think the battle at Minas Tirith), which those previous goals feed into and help in the eventual battle. These battles would be the closest thing to raiding in my omega MMO.

Basically, I want a game where players compete indirectly instead of directly — think of it like European-style boardgames like Puerto Rico instead of American-style boardgames like Risk. At the same time, I want the playerbase to not be so segregated from each other that they may as well not be playing a large-scale MMO (This is my biggest beef with WoW-style raiding). I want there to be scheduled events that players can look forward to, and work toward preparing for — like raiding, but more inclusive. I want an evolving — not necessarily dynamic in the style of EVE, but definitely not static — world that I want to spend time in. Above all, I want a game that has meaningful small-group cooperative content that feels like it progresses some larger goal. That way I get the Pavlovian achievement satisfaction that WoW is so good at, I get to hang out with my friends and have some fun, and I get the sense of being part of a grand fantasy plot.

Is that too much to ask?

Por Claudio Prandoni

Botei fé nos boatos e ilustrações fantásticas que pipocaram aí por um tempo e dei sorte: a Game Informer confirmou oficialmente a produção do tentador Epic Mickey.

As informações são poucas, a não ser que realmente será exclusivo para Wii, produzido pela Junction Point e tal. Todo aquele estilo steampunk não está garantido, mas a aterradora capa da revista parece confirmar. Aliás, que arte fabulosa,não?

Por sinal, será que se confirma o coelho Oswald na trama? Eu diria que sim, tendo em vista o orelhudo coelhinho ali escondido atrás de um portão – e destacado aqui ao lado. Ou seria o Max, como apontou o assíduo leitor desenhista Platy?

La revista Game Informer confirmó lo que se venía rumoreando: Disney Epic Mickey está en desarrollo, y lo hizo poniendo en su portada de noviembre arte de este título.

Por el momento no se sabe más sobre este juego, pero el sitio web de dicha revista -que sale a la venta el 12 de octubre- anunció que hoy se revelará el primer video, además de muchas imágenes e información.

Lo que sí se sabe por ahora es que será exclusivo para Wii.

]]> http://nostalgeek.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/game-informers-epic-mickey-cover/ Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:03:02 +0000 nostalgeek http://nostalgeek.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/game-informers-epic-mickey-cover/

This is the last issue before the big makeover (issue 200) that GI is about to go under but the font already looks pretty different. What’s really awesome here is obviously the amazing art for Epic Mickey.

In case you missed it Epic Mickey sort of came out of the blue just a few months ago and is supposed to be a darker, more adult game for the Wii created by Warren Spector.

In case you’re not familiar with Warren Spector, he worked on the Ultima and Wing Commander series, as well as Cult favorites Thief and Deus Ex. So as you can see this is a pretty exciting prospect and the cover just makes it even more epic…(Mickey).

You’re asking for skewed data when polling a group of hardcore gamers who use their hardware religiously about their experiences with failed Xbox 360 hardware, as Game Informer recently did, but when the numbers suggest more than 50% of Game Informer’s 5,000 polled readers — 54.2%, to be exact — have seen their hardware fail, it’s alarming. Tech website TG Daily recent contacted Microsoft for a response to the numbers, but the company avoided commenting on specifics.

“Microsoft stands behind the Xbox 360 as a superior entertainment console with one of the best warranties in the industry,” said a Mirosoft spokesperson. “We are constantly improving the design, manufacture and performance of the console through extensive testing of potential sources of any problems. Xbox 360 is pleased to maintain the title of ‘most played console’ and the vast majority of Xbox 360 customers have enjoyed a terrific gaming and entertainment experience since their first day, and continue to, day in and day out.”

There isn’t much reason for Microsoft to dispute the numbers. Any admission of an abnormally high failure rate would be jumped on. In this case, it made sense for Microsoft to stay quiet, even if their timid response essentially acknowledged the numbers had some real-world truth to them.

I’m still on my second Xbox 360, knock on wood. What about you?

PS3

The rumors are true. The Sony PS3 will receive a $100 price drop beginning on September 1st. The new incarnation of the PS3 will also be considerably slimmer.

Xbox 360

It happens

The infamous “Red Ring of Death” happens… a lot.

I’ve been hit with it twice. I’m fairly certain my brother had to deal with it at least twice. The reports were that somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of Xbox 360 owners had to ship their console back to Microsoft, after it perished in a not so spectacular red glow.

A new reader survey by dying gaming magazine, Game Informer claims that 54.2 percent of Xbox 360s have failed. That’s a pretty staggering difference.

However, it doesn’t seem to matter because…

“Only 3.8 percent of 360 owners surveyed said they’d never buy an Xbox 360 again.”

(TG Daily)

Brand Loyalty

I’ve read a lot of posts that attribute this to brand loyalty (I had links before this nasty storm killed my power).

When my 360s failed, dealing with Microsoft was slow and painful.  So, why I am one of the 96.2 percent of 360 owners who would buy another 360.

It's the games stupid!

Most of the Xbox 360 owners I know really like video games. They didn’t buy their console to exercise, and they didn’t get it to watch Blu -ray.

They bought it to game.

With the exception of a few titles, the Xbox 360 has the best game library available. It might not be as family friendly or gimmicky like the Wii, and it certainly isn’t as slick as the PS3, but my noisy, ugly, prone to failure 360 “has it where it counts kid…” just like the Millenium Falcon.

It has good games.

What better reason could you think of to buy a gaming console? No my friends, it’s not brand loyalty, it’s a brand that is currently meeting the needs of it’s user-base. That’s how Microsoft continues to dodge bullets with Red Ring of Death. It sure as hell isn’t great service or PR.

When God of War III comes out, the PS3 should call me. Until then, it doesn’t have the games to make me want to play it.