What happens when you send an anomalous man to Anomalous Materials? Find out this fall on 4PP with Joseph Christ in: Half-Life.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by J52

It looks like the chaps over the CCP are starting to release developer diaries as the run-up to the Dust 514 release beings.

This first installment covers the basic structure of Dust 514, how it works in collusion with Eve Online and, more importantly, how being part of a bigger picture adds additional investment on the part of the players.

The last point is really where the rubber meats the road. Watching the video, Dust 514 certainly won’t be able to hold a candle to more substantiated titles like Battfield 3 in the visual department, but what it offers is something more.  While the battles in a game like BF3 can be large, they are ultimately just small, recycling shards who’s outcome doesn’t mater anywhere else other than as numbers on your Battlelog. Dust 514 approaches battles much more broadly, in that the win or loss of a single battle could have great effect on the universal battle being fought.

For this, I’m more than willing to give up a few points of graphical prowess.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

This week on New Release Tuesday, you can tune in to get a taste for two high-profile releases! Chris kicks things off at 5PM (CST) with Ghost Recon Future Soldier and Brad tops off the second half of the night with Dragon’s Dogma (4Player E3 2011 Game of Show Nominee). Tune in and see if either of these titles have what it takes to pry the cash from your wallet!

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by 4PlayerPodcast

We’ve been seeing Retro City Rampage for years now at conventions and trade shows, and now it seems like Brian Provinciano is finally ready to let this one out to the masses. And good news for Vita owners still struggling to find games worth playing, it’s being released for the handheld as well.

The video below was shot at the PlayStation <3 Canada event held in Toronto earlier this month, and shows off the game being played on Sony’s newest handheld offering. It looks as great as you would expect, and I think Retro City Rampage is probably exceptionally suited to the mobile device.  The game even makes use of the Vita’s more advanced features, like the touchscreen, for menu navigation and mini-games.  Visuals have also been scaled up for the handheld’s smaller screen, so no worries there.

Unfortunately, the release date for this title is still listed as “soon”. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

We have two clips of Max Payne dying and wigging the crap out from two different games. First up, we have Mike with Max Payne 3, and below that: Joseph with Max Payne 2.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by J52

Feeling a bit bored at work today and have access to Facebook? Then feel free to whittle away the time with Ghost Recon Commander, which hit the social media site earlier today.

It’s an isometric, real time, tactical strategy game set in the Tom Clancy universe that pits the player in 10 missions against your usual armed insurgent-like bad guys. Awards and experience are given for kills, and completing missions which can be used to further upgrade your solider and home base. The entire system is actually pretty deep and reminds me of old classics like X-Com or Jagged Alliance. 

My one main gripe, however, is that it’s not turn based. Meaning that you’ll often find yourself in unfortunate situations due to an errant click or walking too far in one direction of the map and coming face-to-face with an armed foe. Making it turn based would have been preferable, but here I am criticizing a free Facebook game.

Oh, and do us all a favor. Whenever the game asks you to share your awards on Facebook, don’t. Everyone hates that.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

It’s been nearly three years since Valve released Left 4 Dead 2, a game that, while fun, didn’t live up to its predecessor in most most respects, at least in my opinion.  News about the series has been very limited and far between as, despite their voiced intentions, have yet to release any official substantial content for the Xbox 360 past Left 4 Dead’s No Mercy campaign and The Sacrifice in October 2010.  Eventually Valve plans to release the community campaign Cold Stream and the rest of the Left 4 Dead campaigns to Left 4 Dead 2 on both the PC and Xbox 360 but, for now, it seems to be a victim of Valve Time.

Overkill, the team behind Payday: The Heist, seem to find this wait time less than acceptable as game director Ulf Anderson teased today that they are working with Valve on a crossover event between the two games.  Evidently the developer who was recently acquired by Starbreeze had been placing hints in Payday that mentioned the co-developed project.  In the announcement post on Overkill’s main page the collaboration is said to be “in depth” and “is so exciting that it will have some players check into the hospital.”  You can read into that little quote right there at your mercy.

I really don’t know what to think about this.  Some new Left 4 Dead content would be a welcome sight for someone like me who put nearly triple digit hours into the original title but, for now, I’ll take a ‘wait and see’ approach to this one.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Chris Davis

Given the state of the Fall release calendar at this point it doesn’t surprise me that Colonial Marines got pushed back AGAIN.  With Borderlands launching this October though I can understand why you’d rather put out a sequel to a game that was very successful rather than risk a new property that has to face the likes of Halo 4, Assassin’s Creed 3 and Black Ops 2.  It’s a smart business move and all it does is make the first half of 2013 better and better.

Oh, and Nick?  Aliens is far better than Alien 3 or Resurrection.  BOOM!

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Chris Davis

A new gameplay trailer for Far Cry 3 was released yesterday, showing a section of the game where the main character is trying to escape a burning building and save his friend in the process.

A few things; as much as I’m excited about FC3, I really hope there aren’t a lot of areas as linear as we’re seeing here. Sure, the game still looks beautiful in this section, but it’s so bogged down by scripts and linearity that it’s completely vacant of that open-world feel which has become synonymous with the series.

It also doesn’t help when he asks Lisa to drive at the very end, leading to what you know will be a chase turret -sequence.

Littering the world with these sequences will be fine, so long as they only infrequently dot the locals amongst your open-world exploring. However, if this becomes the norm in Far Cry 3, and the great expanse is only there to travel between them, then the game might be heading in the wrong direction after all.

Let’s hope that’s not the case.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

Today’s clips are of some masterful Max Payne 3 diving courtesy of Nick.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by J52

Brad is out of town this week which means… bust out the alcohol! Mike, Carlos, and Jack do a fine job filling the void this week but things are made especially awesome since everyone has played a good amount of Max Payne 3. If you wanted to hear our opinions on Rockstar’s attempt at reviving the Max Payne series, this is the podcast for you. We dig into on-disc DLC, Dead Space 3 rumors, and most importantly, Carlos’s choice of undergarments and his fascination with Ouiji boards!

Podcast 271 – [download]

Impressions:
Max Payne 3 (Nick/Carlos/Mike/Jack)

Dictate the news we cover on the show by submitting news items to the 4Player Forums!

Link Dump:
Max Payne 3 Crew – “Playing It Bogart” is Jack’s Max Payne 3 crew!

Follow Us on Twitter
Nick – @Nickh0630
Brad – @FolderBrad
David – @RockLiao
Joseph – @TheJosephChrist
Mike – @mHidalgoPittman
Nolan – @InfamousNolan
Kris – @InspectorKris
Jack – @ThatEnglishDude

Audible Impressions: (LOOK FOR AUDIBLE IMPRESSIONS ON ITUNES!)
Audible Impressions – Mass Effect 3 Spoilercast
Audible Impressions – Xenoblade Chronicles

This week’s break music is a remix from Max Payne
‘Tragedy of a Bullet’- Download Here

Follow us on Twitter

Fan us on Facebook

Enjoy the show? Let us know how you feel about the topics discussed! Don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get each show as soon as it releases! As always, thanks from all of us here at 4player!

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by 4PlayerPodcast

This has been a strange week for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, and former Red Sox player Curt Schilling’s video game company, developer 38 Studios.

First was news that the company was out of money and was unable to make payroll this week, and, on top of that, was late making a payment of  $1.125 million to the state of Rhode Island for a $75 million taxpayer-guaranteed  loan they were given by the state in 2010.

Now we’re hearing that the company, in the same week, laid off all temp workers and rushed a loan payment check over to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation…which was then returned due to insufficient funds.  Yes, 38 Studios bounced a check to the state.

Not good news for 38 Studios who are actually in danger being shut down and handing all intellectual properties to the State of Rhode Island if they can’t pay, seeing as the taxpayers will then be stuck with the $75 million dollar bill.  Oh…and the person who originally approved the loan back in 2010, Keith Stokes, resigned late last night.

And here is where it get’s really strange.

Just a few minutes ago 38 Studios released some teaser footage of a Fantasy MMO called ’Project Copernicus’ they are working on. Yes, a studio that is in such dire financial straits…a studio that can’t make payroll and is inches from having to hand over the Lands of Amalur to the taxpayers of Rhode Island, is now very excited to be telling everyone that they are making a Fantasy MMO. Because, God knows, we don’t have enough of those.

Right now I think 38 Studios is just trying to put some good news out there for once this week, and are hoping everyone will stop talking about the financial mess they have found themselves in. Little do they realize that these two stories are really inextricably linked in that the modern Fantasy MMO is a tolling of the deathbell in this supersaturated market.

Basically…this entire situation is a horrible mess.

(Update: Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, via press conference, said that 38 Studios has just paid $1.1 million it owed the state after missing the initial due date of May 1st.)

[Source: Joystiq]

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

Developing games can be tough and nerve-rending work.  Long hours, complicated code and strict timelines have sent many fleeing from an industry they otherwise loved. Now add workplace harassment to that list and you have recipe for disaster.

A Japanese game developer from the Dragon’s Dogma team is claiming that she received such horrible workplace harassment that she attempted suicide, and is now suing Capcom over the ordeal.

Kotaku has translated the details of the suit from the Japanese publication Minpokyo which claims that the unnamed developer joined the Dragon’s Dogma team in 2009, only to be given horrible treatment by another female manager.  The suit alleges that the developer was openly, and harshly, criticized in meetings. Was given tasks which were impossible to complete, simply to have her inherently fail them, and also spent months working on a database to help with development only to have it pulled away and told that ”even if the database is a success, [she was] worthless to the team.”

She also alleges that after the database was pulled, two other manager actively sought to get her fired by spreading rumors that she was “problematic,” her ideas “were worthless,” and that she had been skipping meetings. This, eventually, led up to her needing to take time off of work after being diagnosed with an Anxiety disorder. During this time off she attempted suicide by ingesting large amounts of sleeping pills, antidepressants and cold medicine.

Thankfully, the woman survived the attempt and eventually returned to work only to be told by her co-workers that she hadn’t recovered. She was eventually suspended and fired from the company.

As bad as all this sounds, we are just hearing one side of the story. However, workplace bullying (or Power Harassment) has become an increasing problem in Japan, leading the  Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to officially define the term late last year. Provided by The Escapist, Power Harassment is defined as: “asking junior employees to perform impossible tasks, committing acts of violence and other physical offenses, causing emotional stress, isolating or ignoring individuals, asking personal questions, and giving an employee nothing or very little to do.”

When ask for comment Capcom declined, stating that they have a company policy not to discuss ongoing litigation.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

Tonight I will be hosting community night featuring DayZ! I’m sure most of you have heard of this, but if you haven’t, it is an intense mulitplayer zombie survival mod out for Arma 2. We will start at 6pm CST and go into the night until 10pm. The day/night cycle for the game runs on REAL TIME, so if we decide to start on a local server we should have enough hours of day light to group together and gather items before nightfall. Further details will be ironed out as we play. Be sure to be there and join me, or witness as I get hunted down by bandits in the night!

Who: SciFiCHiCK & Community

What: DayZ mod for Arma 2 – PC

Where: At our live page here!

When: 6pm-10pm CST

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Patricia

Sometimes I need a challenge, like a hunky 28-year old who hangs out at local cougar bars.  Max Payne sure is one hell of a short straw to pull.  This though, …this is an occasion, the kind I typically celebrate with an empty litter and cramped controller-hands.  I was surprised the options menu didn’t blow me for having such big balls.  That would have made these pills a hell of a lot easier to swallow.

The game kicked my ass, like a farmer raking donkey shit too close to a stanky “hee-haw”.  I got back up though, smarter after every fall.  A better shot too.  The gratification is overwhelming, kind of how I always imagined winning a Grammy would be like.  Knowing I was solely responsible for the accuracy of my shots…priceless.

Its not every day I’m this sadistic.  Most of the time I sit down to play a game, I’d rather focus on how comfortably my feet are resting on grandma’s old, brown, leather ottoman.  Hunched-over, focusing on my every shot is often more of a back-pain than any damn fun anyway.

It all came down to perfect-timing.  I was in the mood to gun-down scumbags by the dozen, and Payne was knocking at the front door.  Prior to his arrival, I was spending most of my time with RPGs, grinding for nerd -cred, feet still up on this old ottoman.  The edge of the seat was whispering my name, like wind blowing through loosely cracked window.

Payne and I slowly became good friends.  I grew comfortable with his pace, and in time garnered more satisfaction from its game play than anything I’ve played in a while. Theres no denying the idea that I was playing on free-aim added a little spice to this bullet-taco.  A spice I chose to toss into the mix, which in relation should have made the game more frustrating…but didn’t.

I decided to end this raspy-voiced monologue with questions.  The kind that hit like unexpected thunder, and lingers on like bad gas after a plate of taco salad.

Why do you think aim-assist exists? Did the urge to capture a casual market push it into video games, or is it an easy-fix to poor control mechanics?

Does this conversation even matter?

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Jeffrey Demelo

Did you want the chance to play CCP’s upcoming shooter Dust 514 early but missed the original closed beta? Well here’s your chance to try again.

After a fairly extensive closed beta, CCP  is about to open the floodgates, and has expanded beta registration to the public.  If you already have an Eve Online account, CCP will be choosing a few select Eve players to enter the beta as early as next week.

Dust 514 is CCP’s first foray into the first-person shooter realm, and it will work in collusion with the Eve Online MMO allowing PC players in space to shoot down orbital strikes to support console players on the ground. It’s a fairly ambitious project that we have written about here, and here.

You can see the trailer for Dust 514 below.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

Time for Cocktail Time…LIVE! This week the guys experience some technical difficulties which results in a new guest, Cyclon InvisiBob visiting the show.  But through it all they also talk about Sniper Elite V. 2, Candy Parties, DayZ, gay Leathermen, Tribes: Ascend,  interfamilial masturbation and more!

 Live Show:

Audio:
Download

Follow Joseph Christ on Twitter.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

As detailed in a new Wired article, Epic is back at it again. Laying out a feast of graphical prowess in the hope that the big console developers start to salivate.

If you remember correctly, when the Xbox 360 was being developed, Microsoft was thinking of only putting 256MB of ram into the machine. Upon hearing that, Epic went to work and created a Gears of War demo for the company detailing what the game would look like with only 256MB of RAM…and what it could look like if Microsoft doubled it to 512MB. Needless to say, Microsoft was impressed and we got ourselves a 512MB, Xbox 360.

Now that we are starting to hear whispers of the next generation being developed, or at least designed, Epic has sprung into action again, releasing a demo and screenshots of what they would like to see out of the Unreal Engine 4, which would basically require as much power in the new consoles as companies can cram in.

The move is a smart one. Epic holds the license to one of Microsoft’s few, and immensely popular, exclusives.  Something that puts Epic in the unique position of a developer driving the tech, rather than the tech dictating what a developer can do. And if Epic can succeed in making the next Xbox a powerhouse, Sony will have no choice put to match it in order to remain relevant.  All the tech moves forward 4 steps instead of 2, and we get better looking -and better acting- games because of it.

It’s machiavellian machinations like these that send my heart into a flutter.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

WB Games has released a new trailer for their upcoming Harley Quinn “Payback” DLC.

The DLC occurs after the end of the main story and details a much darker, brooding -and seriously in mourning- Quinn’s attempt at revenge after the death of The Joker. It also looks like you’ll be controlling multiple characters again, much like the main story except using Robin instead of Catwoman. I don’t exactly think this is a trade-up but there it is.

WB games has stated, “The Harley Quinn’s Revenge mission sends players back into Arkham City to face their final challenge as they interchange between playing as both Batman and Robin.

“Gamers must utilise each of the characters’ unique combat and investigative skills to uncover Harley’s vengeful plan and shut the gates on the urban mega-prison forever. In addition to experiencing a new storyline, fans can explore new environments and face-off against Harley’s all new gang of thugs.”

As I’ve said previously, I’ve wanted to spend more time in Arkham City but haven’t been able to get myself ginned up for Riddler Trophies, so I’m looking forward to having a real reason to put the disk back into my machine.

The DLC is being released on May 29th with about 2 hours of additional story content.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

Are you liking Max Payne 3? Sure you are. We all are, and Rockstar has decided to give you a few more side dishes today for free.

The Gorilla Warfare DLC is a multiplayer pack of additional items (with perks) to use on your character, both alive and dead. They include,

• A Gorilla Mask, which offers extra adrenaline for melee kills from behind;
• Lucky Coin, giving you extra cash when looting dead bodies; and
• The Booby Trap, which booby traps your corpse causing it to explode when someone tries to loot it.

Honestly, that last one sounds like a dick move but things are pretty rough in Brazil, or so I’ve heard.

As for me, I haven’t touched the mutliplayer yet. I’ve found myself way too engrossed in the story and single-player action to even give it a thought. With only 2 chapters left in the main story I’m starting to feel like this may be my favorite 3rd Person shooter ever. Of course I loved the original Max Paynes, but this one simply takes everything wonderful about the older games and refines it.

Minus the aim-switch in Sniper mode. What the hell is that about?

(Update: The DLC has been available in the United States since 5/15 and is available in the UK today)

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

Plenty of innovation in the gaming industry comes from Japan and North America.  While these developers continue to push boundaries and reshape the landscape of our beloved medium, more often than not it seems that our European colleagues are forced to take a back seat thanks to incredibly large marketing campaigns and press demonstrations that simply can’t be afforded by anyone not being published by the likes of EA, Ubisoft or any of other large houses.  One brand that thankfully has pierced this veil has been The Witcher, a series based on Polish fantasy novel series.  CD Projekt RED, the developer behind the video game adaptations, released the first two games on PC this generation.  Prior to their announcement of The Witcher 3 though the team has chosen to release an updated version of the second game, Assassins of Kings, and port it to the Xbox 360, the team’s first home console project.

Assassins of Kings received rave reviews when it was released last year but, a year later and on a brand new platform, does The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition find itself well adapted to gamers with inadequate PCs?

The Witcher 2 Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition (Xbox 360)
Developer: CD Projekt RED
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Release Date: April 17, 2012

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Chris Davis

Brad forbids himself and Meleah to sleep until he he beats the first level of No One Can Stop Mr. Domino! with the larger chain reaction possible.  Here is a montage of the game making him lose his mind in one way or another.

If you’re not familiar with this game, you run laps around a level placing dominoes and tipping over ones you placed on previous laps. The goal is to make dominoes fall on all of the flashing switches (there are five in this level). Setting up more elaborate chain reactions will greatly increase your score and look very cool.

Thanks to turanga1i1a for highlighting a number of the clips used in this montage.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by J52

Well I was just sitting here listening to some Celine Dion when this email burst forth into my inbox. Hi-Rez Studios is announcing that Tribes: Ascend, the newest release in a series started in 1998, has been downloaded 1 million times within the first month of release.

“We’re thrilled that over 1 million gamers have discovered the fast-paced and skill-based gameplay of Tribes,” said Todd Harris, Hi-Rez Studios Chief Operating Officer. “It is truly the player support of the title that has driven the population growth and fuels our team to deliver updates.”

“We see the community expanding primarily through positive word of mouth,” continues Todd. “Since release we’ve already recognized seven players who have each individually referred over 500 new people to Tribes: Ascend. The game’s success allows us to give back to the community through free DLC updates, tournament events and expansion into new markets in coming months.”

We’ve been pretty big fans of Tribes: Ascend here at 4Player, and if you haven’t joined us for one of our community matches yet, I implore you to do so. But there seems to be more happening here than just a good multiplayer game doing just as well as it should.

I’ve been noticing a resurgence recently, not in what I would necessarily call retro gaming , but in games from the 1998-2003 era. Tribes: Ascend, Mechwarrior Online, Planetside. All of these games, PC exclusive, that did their part in making a mark on gaming and pushing their respective genera’s forward. In a gaming industry where some of us feel as though common gamers can be blinded by the yearly churn of AAA titles, it’s good to see this resurgence happening. And for our history, even though somewhat recent, to still find a place to be loved…and more importantly played.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

Naughty Dog has just released a new Cinematic trailer for their post-apocalyptic survival game The Last of Us. The game is set in the remnants of a world overcome by the outbreak of a viral “fungus” that has turned humans into bloodthirsty monsters. Military controlled quarantine zones are the only places people can safely call home. The game’s protagonist, Joel, is a smuggler tasked with escorting the young Ellie out of the quarantine zone in Pittsburgh. Together they face the aftermath of the outbreak. Encountering creatures the virus has left behind as well as the scavengers who are willing to rob and murder those who stray too far into the city.

Since it is a cinematic trailer there is no gameplay, but it does set the scene for the scavenger encounter described in Gameinformers March cover story.

The Last of Us will release for the PS3 in either late 2012 or early 2013.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Tim Bacani

This week, people who have pre-ordered Hitman: Absolution have gained access to a completely separate mini-game called Hitman: Sniper Challenge. Available on both consoles and steam, it places Agent 47 in a type of bad-guy shooting gallery where he must eliminate both a central target along with all of the target’s bodyguards.

It’s also completely antithetical to everything that Hitman is supposed to be, and raises my levels of concern over the franchise to zenith-like levels.

Let’s start with the elimination equation of the mini-game. The player get’s points, not for eliminating his main target in the most efficient way possible, but by pulling a Pulp Fiction and “killing every mother-fucker in the room.” The game tries to explain this away by saying that the “client” is requesting that the hit be done in this fashion but that’s like Bethesda saying “a high wizard of Tamriel has conjured Ak-47′s into Skyrim” as a narrative ploy to combine your dragon hunting with some COD action.  The intention is clear. Points for kills. Sure some extra points are given for headshots, and being able to hide the body in some way through clever shooting. But this is only the bare minimum of the savy with which Hitman should be carrying out his deed, and only a thin veneer hiding the developers true intentions.

In a true Hitman experience, kills beyond the main target are counted against the player. They show a lack of skill on behalf of Agent 47 who was forced to make his presence known before delivering the main strike.  Agent 47 is not supposed to be a gun-toting machine of death, he’s not even supposed to be a bullet. Agent 47 is supposed to be a virus, taking root within the most vital of organs, blending in with the other cells, and causing chaos from within before doctors even detect that he’s there. Agent 47 is like AIDS, a wonderful -fun to play- version of AIDS.

And don’t ask me why no one is hearing sniper shots from the building next door, or why when guards start to disappear the main target doesn’t just take the elevator downstairs and drive away. Yes, yes. “It’s a game!” you say. But Hitman games are supposed to be dynamic living worlds in that way. Worlds that react to the knowledge of your presence, not continue blindly on as you blow up mines with your sniper rifle from 300 ft away.

Why are there mines around the dance floor? That seems dangerous.

Maybe I’m being finicky, but this isn’t without reason. Although we have been promised to be shown some true open-world, hiding in plain site, Hitman action at this years E3, we just haven’t seen it yet. In fact, everything we keep seeing is contradictory to the Hitman formula. This Hitman: Sniper kill-kill Elite V 3 XTREME is only the latest. And the funny thing is, it does look fun. I’m not denying that. But the gameplay found in this mini-game can be found in other games already…in one game in particular that just came out. Hitman is supposed to be a genera unto itself. Historically, it has offered us gameplay that we couldn’t just find by swapping out another disk, and that’s the point.

I’m clearly hoping for some good news about this franchise to come out of E3, and even though I may be ranting here, those hopes are still high. Square Enix just isn’t helping.

Oh…and if someone can actually make that AK-47 mod for Skyrim I would be very grateful.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

Capcom’s Vice President Christian Svensson has decided to address the present issue of on-disc DLC that has dragged the company’s public image through the dirt. The company has come under constant fire from fans in the last few years thanks to unpopular business practices revolving around re-releases, DLC and, most recently disc locked content.

The issue came to a head when it was revealed that Capcom’s Street Fighter X Tekken had 12 characters locked on the game’s disc. Capcom’s claims that the characters were incomplete were subsequently shot down after hackers soon found that the locked characters were actually complete and playable. This stirred up a sea of complaints aimed at Capcom for withholding content for profit.  Svensson had this to say about on-disc DLC on the Capcom-Unity boards:

Hey guys,

We’ve been getting several questions, here and elsewhere about the future of on-disc DLC.

We would like to assure you that we have been listening to your comments and as such have begun the process of re-evaluating how such additional game content is delivered in the future. As this process has only just commenced in the past month or so, there will be some titles, where development began some time ago and that are scheduled for release in the coming months, for which we are unable to make changes to the way some of their post release content is delivered.

One such title is Dragon’s Dogma, where the decision to include some additional (but not all planned additional) game content for the game on disc was made at the beginning of the game’s development cycle as at the time this was determined to be the most efficient way of ensuring certain content was made available. Owners of Dragon’s Dogma will be able to further their gameplay experience with the release of additional quests, weapons and other items in the months following the game going on sale.

Dragon’s Dogma’s post-launch content will extend the lifespan of a title that already offers around 30-40 hours of gameplay by following the main story thread, but if a player was to complete all the side quests Dragon’s Dogma ships with, that increases to around 100 hours. Players will also be able to add to the stock of 100s of weapons and 1,000s of customization options to create not only their ideally equipped, but also their most elaborately designed character.

Just wanted people to know in advance the whys, wherefores and where we’re going in the future. You are being heard. Thanks.

So there you have it. Dragon’s Dogma, as well as some other titles, will still have disc locked content and Capcom will be taking a harder look at their unpopular on-disc DLC strategy for future releases. Now of course “re-evaluating” doesn’t necessarily mean Capcom will stop their DLC shenanigans. This could just mean that they could cut content completely out of the disc and sell it at a later date, thereby addressing the “on-disc” part of the issue.

We’ll see what comes of this “re-evaluation” in the coming months but I still think it’s going to take quite some time before Capcom manages to repair what’s left of its broken image.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Tim Bacani

So how about one last Max Payne 3video before the big day tomorrow?

Rockstar has released a final video showing off the assault rifle weapons you’ll be using in the game.  The  the G6 Commando, MD-97L, FAL, and AK-47 are all shown with the proper slow-mo, falling bodies and atmospheric music to round out the Max Payne-yness of it all.

Personally, I always enjoyed using pistols and Uzi’s in my Max Payne games but that’s just personal preference. I’m guessing that as firefights get more hectic, I’ll be grabbing anything I can.

And if mutliplayer is your thing, join Jack and the rest of the community at the Playing_it_Bogart social club here.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

I never had any doubts that Minecraft would do well on Xbox Live Arcade, but  I didn’t think it would have done this well, this fast. Perhaps I felt that everyone who would have played the game already had it for PC, leaving only a smaller market of neophytes and curious elders.

Apparently this is not the case.

Minecraft, which was released just 5 days ago has sold more than 1 million copies.  Not only that, but the playtime stats for the arcade title are just as staggering and include,

• 5.2 million total online hours spent mining;
• 4 million total multiplayer sessions played; and
• 2.4 million multiplayer gaming hours played.

And you can add my bucketload of hours from over the weekend to that total as well. There is something just so meditative about sitting on a big comfy couch, with 5.1 surround sound, mining away and building to your hearts content. I call it Comfy-Mincraft and I think it’s going to be the only way I play from now on. Sure there may be some missing elements from the Arcade title, but it’s not far off and only a few patches away from matching its PC counterpart in gameplay elements. Just as long as you don’t mind the lack of dedicated servers.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

Younger gamers might be unfamiliar with the vibrance and history that adorns the Mechwarrior series of video games.  After all, its remained almost completely dormant since Mechwarrior 4, and its expansion Mercenaries, first graced our PC’s in 2000 and 2002. Instead we’ve had a number of other series attempt to fill that mech-sized hole in our hearts, with some doing a very good job at it. Steel Battalion is a prime example of a mech-shooter that took most of its nods from the old Mechwarrior series.

The good news is that Mechwarrrior seems to be back in the form of Mechwarrior Online. And when I say ‘back’, I’m not talking about a reboot. Instead, Mechwarrior Online seems to be everything gamers loved about Mechwarrior 4 (considered by many to be the standard-bearer for Mech-shooters), offered with a fresh coat of paint and the marvels of modern networking code.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at the videos below. The top is Mech-warrior 4 from 2o00 and the bottom is the new Mechwarrrior Online. The gameplay seems fairly untouched, with the pilot still having to manage multiple weapon systems, heat levels and component damage, all set in fairly open worlds prime for large scale battles.

Personally, I’m extremely pleased with the way that Mechwarrior Online has come to fruition.  And it seems to come at time when all the old PC games I was playing 10 years ago are suddenly making a resurgence. Tribes, Planetside, Mechwarrior. All of them rising from the grave to feast on our gamer-hearts once more. Now all we need is a new Anarchy Online to be co-opted and intertwined as an Eve Online expansion.

Mechwarrior 4:

Mechwarrior Online:

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Joseph Christ

You know, I try to be an optimist about the game industry.  For every complaint about EA not caring about their consumer base I look at the developers in their employ and just how great some of their games are.  For every rant about publishers charging exorbitant amounts for downloadable content I think about how those funds can help insure the developer continuing to make great new titles.  And, for every licensed-out video game title that is worth less than the gas it costs to drive down to your local game store to buy it, I try to remember the great gems that come along every now and then.

Every now and then though there comes a title that just makes me want to go before Congress and do a filibuster about just what that particular game exemplifies about our industry and just what’s wrong with it.  So far this year it was going to be Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City, a game that was so painful to play that I refuse to ever again let the disc enter my system beyond completing that campaign.  It looks like I might have to change my mind on which title deserves the coveted crown of “worst game of 2012″ after having seen the above trailer.

Coinciding with the release of the third Men in Black film opening in time for Memorial Day, Men in Black Alien Crisis both seems to have nothing to do with the new movie nor any sense of what the core plotline of what the MiB universe is about.  You know, covertly preventing the population from knowing of the existence of extra-terrestrials?  Yea, that thing.  The game is coming to us from Romanian developer Fun Labs whose previous titles all involve Cabelas hunting-related ones.  Judging from their pedigree, the trailer above’s lack of any sense of what the MiB universe is about and the fact that their website seems to have been made in 2003 I’m willing to suggest that Alien Crisis is going to be abysmal.

…you know what?  I’ve decided.  I’m going to review this game.  For those of you who look forward to the thought of my cringing constantly as I experience it, you don’t get the last laugh.  I’m going to play this on the feed next week.  You will experience every flinch-warranting, painful moment with me as we go on a journey to learn just how bad licensed games can be.  If I have to go down, I’m taking you all with me.

I look forward to your mandatory attendance.

From 4Player Podcast - Live video games, gaming news and reviews. written by Chris Davis