Episode 32: Morgan Freeman and Comic Book Movies

Morgan Freeman! Comic book movies! Games! Kibosh!

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Help Decide Female Shepard's New Look for Mass Effect 3

Bioware is planning on changing Female Shepard's default look for Mass Effect 3 and they are letting you, the fans, help decide what that look will be.

Bioware posted six images of possible Female Shepard designs on facebook and asked fans to "Like" the one that they want to see in the game.

Shepard #5 (seen above) is currently in the lead.

Head over to Facebook to see the images and cast your vote!

-Alex Brown

Halo: Anniversary Sneak Peak

HD Resident Evil 4 & Code Veronica Get Release Dates

Capcom announced during the Resident Evil Panel at Comic-Con 2011 that Resident Evil 4 HD would be released on September 20 and Resident Evil: Code Veronica would be released on September 27, both for Xbox Live and Playstation Network. No Pricing was given.

-Alex Brown

Star Wars Xbox 360 Bundle

Microsoft revealed a new Star Wars Xbox 360 bundle that will be released this fall.

The bundle will include:

• R2D2 320GB Xbox 360 Console
• C3P0 Transforming Dpad Controller
• White Kinect Sensor
• Star Wars Kinect
• Kinect Adventures

Preorders for the bundle are priced at $449.

Source: Joystiq

-Alex Brown

Episode 31: Chillin With Dan

Join Alex and Ashley as we Chill with Dan and discuss our opinions on the Catherine Demo.

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Recommendations

Dan - Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, Xbox 360)

Ashley -  If you are interested in The Elder Scrolls, wait for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, release date 11,11,11 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) 

Alex - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Gamecube)

GoldenEye 007 Reloaded Trailer revealed

The once Wii exclusive is now being ported with better graphics to the other consoles. Sounds good to me!



-Ashley

Sony Invests $20 Million for PSN Exclusives

Director of Marketing for the Playstation Network, Brandon Stander posted to the Playstation Blog that Sony will be investing $20 Million for PSN Exlusives.

"We continually strive to make PlayStation Network the most innovative console game and entertainment service and that’s why we’re thrilled to announce a three-year, $20 million dollar investment plan to develop PSN exclusive games. Our line of PSN exclusives has had great success with titles such as Joe Danger, Critter Crunch, Flower and the PixelJunk series, and we’re excited to add new and different game experiences to this portfolio of games that can’t be found on any other game console. This investment includes support across both our own network of first-party studios as well as for the Pub Fund, which was first introduced at GDC in 2009."


Three of these games include Eufloria, Okabu, and Papo & Yo which had been shown off at E3 2011.


-Alex Brown

Mass Effect 3 New Character Reaction

James Vega has been announced as Mass Effect 3's newest character. Apparently the character is meant to reflect a player who is new to the ME3 universe, but capable in combat. So far the public reaction seems to be negative but appearance is all us fans have to go on. Hopefully his personality and voice actor will be a great addition to the Mass Effect Universe.

-Ashley

Last Story Trademark Issued to Nintendo of America

Nintendo of America have been issued the trademark for The Last Story after filing for the trademark in January 2010.

This does not mean that the game will be released in America and Nintendo of America has previously said that they have no plans to do so.

Source: IGN

PS3 Blu-ray HDMI Only

Sony spoke up about the rumors of the new PS3 models having only HDMI output and no component output.

Sony Senior Manager of PR, Al De Leon said, "The new CECH-3000 series PS3 requires HDMI only for BD movie output in HD, in compliance with AACS standards. PS3 continues to support component output for HD gaming and streaming content."

New licensing mandates all Blu-ray players eliminate analog HD output to stop illegal duplication.

Source: IGN

-Alex Brown

Activision tries to get ModernWarfare3.com

The domain ModernWarfare3.com has been used by apparent Battlefield 3 fanboys to put down the Call of Duty franchise. If you currently go to www.modernwarfare3.com it seems to have been shut down. But if you click on the cached copy you will be redirected to the official Battlefield 3 website. Earlier this website was posting insults to the franchise. Here is an example:

"Modern Warfare is crap. On November 8, 2011, the most over-hyped first-person action series of all-time returns with the copy and paste sequel to the lackluster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Check out the E3 2011 gameplay demo featuring the Black Tuesday level for a look at the epic fail of the campaign. Pre-Order Call of Duty MW3 Today for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC to secure exclusive bonuses only available online for Modern Warfare 3 fanboys who don't know that Battlefield 3 is the better game." 


The domain is not owned by either Activision or EA. Activision is currently filing a complaint asking for the domain name. You have to be a pretty big fanboy to go to these kinds of lengths.
-Ashley

Neil Burger's Uncharted Movie Starting From Scratch

CRAVE Online posted an interview with Neil Burger, the new director of the Uncharted movie. Burger mentions that he has not seen the former director's screen play and plans to start over.

"Mainly we're beginning from scratch and going back to the videogame. Because there's a lot of cool stuff, actually, from the videogame, if you know it..."

He also says that he is aware of fan's desire to see Nathan Fillion play the part of Nathan Drake and that he knows the difference between Uncharted and similar films like Indiana Jones.

You can see the full interview at CRAVE Online.


-Alex Brown

Xbox 720 Will Have Graphics on Par With Avatar

AMD, the graphics hardware supplier for the Xbox 360 claims that the next Xbox console will launch with graphics capabilities on par with James Cameron's film Avatar. 

Director of ISV relationships at AMD, Neal Robison, also said that the AI and physics capabilities of the next Xbox console will allow for every AI in a game to have their own reactions and be their own individual characters.

Source: examiner.com and August issue of Official Xbox Magazine

-Alex Brown

Goldeneye 007 Reloaded Coming to PS3 & Xbox 360

Screenshots posted on Videogamer seem to imply that the Activision title Goldeneye 007 Reloaded will be a high definition port for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 of the 2010 Wii game, Goldeneye 007.


Activision is set to officially announce the game at Comic-Con in San Diego.

-Alex Brown

Catherine Demo Playthrough

Ashley and Alex sat down and played through the Catherine Demo for PS3 and Xbox 360. Check it out.

Episode 30: Half-Life 2 Spoilercast

We are about to spoil Half-Life 2. If you haven't played it yet, go do so now. It is an amazing game.

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6 Reasons You Should Play Half-Life 2 if you haven't already

I recently replayed Half-Life 2 and played Episode 1 and 2 for the first time. I enjoyed my moments with this game so much that I came to the conclusion that everyone needs to play this game! Here are the reasons why!

1. The Price:

This game came out in 2004 and the price has come way down. You can download it off Steam for $6.99 or you can buy it in the Orange Box for xbox 360 for $19.99 ( The PS3 version is priced higher and doesn't run as well so I recommend 360 unless you only have a ps3) Not only does this include Half-Life 2, but you also get Half-Life 2 Episodes 1 and 2, Team Fortress, and Portal.

The Orange Box!!!

2. Has Aged Well
This game holds up really well for such an old game.  The graphics aren't as spectacular today as they were in '04 but they still are quite good. The gameplay is somewhat dated in the fact that to melee you have to equip your melee weapon (same with grenades) but I never found that to be much of a problem. In fact the gameplay, in retrospect, was probably ahead of its time.

Pretty good for a 7 year-old game!

3. The Characters
Half-Life 2 has fantastic characters. I felt a fondness and a connection to all the characters I was introduced to in the game. Most games (FPS seem to be especially guilty) don't have that level of care put into their characters. Alyx Vance is everyone's favorite for good reason. She keeps you company on occasion (more so in Episodes 1 and 2) and I love having her around. She is also one of the more interesting female video game characters of recent years.

Dr. Kleiner, Eli Vance, and Alyx Vance

4. The Story
The story of Half-Life 2 is structured well and is enjoyable throughout. The setting is a dystopian Earth where the Combine (an oppressive multidimensional biomechanical force) have taken over. You play as Gordan Freeman and join an underground resistance that was formed by former colleagues at Black Mesa. The story and gameplay mesh into one entity as you are introduced to the game. Playing the first Half Life is not required (although you can get that cheap off steam as well!) but I recommend maybe reading a synopsis of the first game online somewhere. One thing that I really appreciate about the Half-Life series is the level of mysteriousness. I often speculate about who G-man is and why he's so damned interested in Gordan Freeman!

Keep an eye out for G-man. He seems to always be watching. Kinda creepy!

5. Length vs Enjoyment
I have often noticed that first person shooter campaigns are often short. I have also noticed that I am usually ready for them to be over once they do end. As much as I enjoy a first person shooter, often I find that the gameplay gets repetitive and the story just isn't that interesting. This is not the case with Half-Life 2. The campaign is easily 13-15 hours long and that doesn't include the other episodes. Episode 1 takes about 4 hours while Episode 2 takes 5-7 hours. Now, length is only a good thing when you are enjoying the experience the entire time, right? Well I can honestly say that I never felt the game was repetitive at all. This is largely due to the various puzzles and vehicles in the game. Also the objectives are sometimes different or the game lets you gain control of an amazing weapon/ability. I won't say specifics for the sake of not spoiling anything! Now, fifteen hours is a really long first person shooter and the fact that it is enjoyable the entire time is just one more reason why you need to play this game!

Driving an airboat!

6. Very Immersive
Okay so I'm going to reference the characters and story once again, but not as a main reason for the immersion. These factors just add up to a world that is entirely believable and make you feel a part of it. As you are making your way to your next objective, the way isn't necessarily laid out for you with a blinking neon sign. While the game is mostly linear there is room for exploration and you can often find extra supplies if you look around. There is even a singing vortigaunt you can discover in a cave (you also get an achievement for finding him!) Another aspect that helps immerse the player is the fact that all the puzzles are extremely logical and mostly intuitive.  All these things create a world that feels very real and the experience is spectacular.

Lambdas indicate supplies. Could this be an intuitive puzzle?

I hope you found these reasons helpful if you haven't played the game yet, and if you have I hope that you enjoyed the game as much as I did. Maybe you should go replay it!

-Ashley

Episode 29: The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda series is a legend unto itself.

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