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

Following the lead of the recently delayed Bioshock Infinite, Crystal Dynamics Tomb Raider has been pushed from Fall 2012 to Q1 2013.

Darrell Gallagher, head of Cryistal Dynamics broke the news via the official Eidos forums yesterday.

“A Message to the Tomb Raider Community

When Crystal Dynamics first set out to reboot the Tomb Raider franchise, there were two goals that we were extremely passionate about. The first was to create a modern Tomb Raider game that would surprise and excite gamers. The second was to make this the best game of our careers, something we would be really proud to be a part of. We truly believe that we have something very special on our hands and we can’t wait to share it with you.

Our priority now is to make sure we fully deliver the very highest quality game. In order to do this, we have decided to move the game’s release date by a few months, from Fall 2012 to the first quarter of 2013.

We’re doing things that are completely new to Tomb Raider in this game and the additional development time will allow us to put the finishing touches into the game and polish it to a level that you deserve. We believe this is the right choice and I guarantee it will be worth the wait. The game is looking amazing and we can’t wait to show it to everyone at E3 in a few weeks.”

The good news here, of course, is the last bit about showing the game off at E3. It does seem like they are going to have some new baubles in the bag and I’m looking forward to seeing how this title is progressing. And even though just a few months probably isn’t enough to add something as ample as underwater swimming (much to Brad’s discontent), it dose give them time to add a good deal of polish and flair to what is already existing.

In any case, we’ll know more at E3.

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

Brad’s plans to play Starhawk for last week’s New Release Tuesday hit a snag. He also details new releases he will be playing in the coming weeks.

Thanks to funky_duck for clipping out the Timmy part.

Also going on over at the ol’ 4PP Youtube, I uploaded Mike’s performance of his song Dark Soul.

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

In all honestly, we probably spend more time talking about these disgusting jelly beans than we do talking about games on this weeks episode! Carlos is dealt a crappy hand and becomes addicted to toothpaste and dog food. Brad eats baby wipes and Nick chokes on a centipede. In short, all hell breaks loose on this weeks podcast! When games are being discussed, we talk about our impressions of Starhawk and the recent Xbox 360 version of Minecraft! If you like watching people suffer and are not to keen on the whole video game thing, this podcast might be right up your alley!

Podcast 270 – [download]

Impressions:
The Witcher 2 (Carlos/Nick)
Starhawk (Brad/Nick/Carlos)
Minecraft (Carlos/Brad)

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

Link Dump:
Roll On Sushi Diner – For those of you in the Austin area! (Nick’s favorite restaurant)
Jelly Belly Beanboozled- The star of the show this week

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

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 Final Fantasy X
‘Time Slips Away’- 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

Let’s be honest, the term Horror is used fairly loosely when speaking in reference to the gaming industry. IP (Intellectual Property) like Resident Evil and Dead Space still have their place but with so much emphasis now placed on creating a high-octane experience, the more important elements of true horror are rarely prominent or executed properly. This got me thinking a lot about a property that was born a few years prior to the explosion of the action-horror genre. Along with landmark titles like FEAR, The Suffering (developed by Surreal and published by Midway) was one of the few games that combined exhilarating combat scenarios with elements of psychological horror. The question now becomes: What was so special about The Suffering and where is it now?

The Premise

The Suffering was developed by Surreal Software and released in 2004 under the Midway banner. While never receiving the marketing push or publisher support that was necessary to elevate the title to the status of similar landmark titles, The Suffering still managed to sell over a million copies and prompt the development of a sequel. The game told the story of Torque, a hardened criminal who was imprisoned for murdering his family only to be caught in a horrific paranormal attack on his prison while awaiting execution. What ensues is a dark and twisted game of survival as Torque is forced to face the manifestations of the atrocities that he committed.

Creating a unique blend of Silent Hill’s psychological horror with the visceral gameplay of God of War, The Suffering was a precursor to the style of horror that now appeals to a modern, mainstream audience. Like FEAR, the horror in The Suffering was woven fluidly into the gameplay, creating some truly unsettling moments and a sense of mystery that many games fail to deliver. A game like Dead Space, a recent hit franchise in the “action-horror” genre (or sub-genre rather), made a shallow effort to tap into the psychological aspect of horror by injecting some “Event Horizon” into the experience to limited success.

Where is it Now?

Surreal Software released The Suffering: Ties that Bind in 2005 only to have it be forgotten and brushed into the dark corners of the gaming industry. A few years following the game’s lackluster debut, Midway filed for bankruptcy and eventually sold a large portion of the company’s assets to a little publishing house known as Warner Bros Interactive. Surreal Studios was among the assets that survived the acquisition but one of the few names to make headlines in the years following the event.

Richard Rouse III, the lead designer on The Suffering games, has since moved on to work at Ubisoft, working on the development of an unannounced IP. Other major talent, including Andre Maguire, the lead level designer, went on to work on projects like Lord of the Rings: War in the North for Warner Bros. With the remnants of Surreal confirmed to have been working on the cancelled multiplatform title, This is Vegas, the fate of the studio has been unclear for several years now.

The Dream Team

I find it highly unlikely that we will ever see The Suffering resurface in any significant way based on how the industry cherry-picks IP. However, it is worth recognizing that the IP still exists and is seemingly under the control of a major publisher such as Warner Bros. Could The Suffering make a comeback someday? With the talent behind the original game scattered across various studios and projects, who would be a worthy candidate for reviving this series? If you look outside the realm of the rights holder, the possibilities are seemingly endless. Studios like Visceral come to mind given their familiarity for the genre and their aptness at nailing the atmosphere. Hell, I wouldn’t mind seeing a studio like Vatra games (the studio behind Silent Hill Downpour) take a stab at the series. However, to be realistic for a moment, the game would most likely fall into the hands of a studio that is owned by Warner Bros outright or closely associated with working with the publisher. Luckily, WB owns Monolith Productions, a studio that fits the bill quite nicely.

Monolith Productions is most notable for injecting personality and a real sense of physicality into their games. Games like No One Lives Forever and Aliens vs Predator 2 are often celebrated as some of the best first-person shooters of that era. However, it is their work on the FEAR and Condemned franchises that catapult this studio to the top of my list.

It may be strange to think of a studio like Monolith tackling a third person action game given their familiarity with the first-person perspective but their track record speaks for itself. They are not only masterful at crafting a first-person experience, they are consistently going the extra mile to ensure that their games break the mold of what is expected in a first-person gaming experience. FEAR put them on the map for balancing stellar shooting mechanics with killer AI and bowel-busting horror. They turned around and did the same thing again with Condemned, a game that melded the atmosphere and mystery of the horror genre with brutal, first-person melee combat. Two shining examples of why Monolith would be the ideal studio to revitalize a forgotten horror/action gem.

With a number of first-person titles under their belt, it seems like the studio is long overdue to try something wholly different in their approach. The third-person perspective may fall just outside of Monolith’s comfort zone but the studio specializes in just about everything else that is required to bring back The Suffering back into the limelight. If only Warner Bros would remember the gem that lies dormant in their possession, I’m sure Monolith would rise to the challenge.

Do you remember The Suffering? Which studio would you choose to bring it back?

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

Brad doesn’t think he’s quite driven home why he loves Anarchy Reigns so he tries once again to rectify this along with a batch of other new trailers.  Plus, we have our first community-chosen trailer!

Want to see your trailer on Trailer Talk?  Link it to us in the forums:  http://4playerpodcast.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10335

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

It seems like only a few weeks ago I was asking why Battlefield 3 hadn’t yet hosted -at least to my recollection- a double XP weekend. You know, the ones that Call of Duty hosts at least once every few months that brings every person who ever even glanced at the game to crawl out of the woodwork and rack up a few kills.

Well it looks like this weekend is the one for Battlefield fans. DICE will be hosting an official Double XP weekend on all ranked servers. That’s right. Every kill, revive, resupply, spot, knife, MCOM take, and flag grab will net you double the experience points. And if you know anything about BF3, you know that’s going to be a lot of XP coming our way. It’s a good chance to unlock those high level attachments and, even moreso, work on getting those vehicle unlocks, which can be pretty slow going sometimes.

The double XP weekend starts tonight, Friday at midnight and goes until 11:59 pm on Sunday night. Those of you in the 4Player Wrecking Crew, I want to see all eagles by Monday.

FER MERICA’!

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

Time for Cocktail Time…LIVE! We all get to meet Bob’s hot Mexican hooker and watch him throw her down into his fearful belly! We also talk about Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale, Battlefield 3 training videos, Joseph comes up with “Blowhole Porn,” a little more of The Witcher 2, Elder Scrolls Online 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

Growing up…kind of sucks.  It seems every day that I grew older, I lost a minute I used to spend playing video games.  Worst even, is the length of games I enjoy playing typically range in the 30+ hour bracket. The old, dusty clock on the fireplace mantel now ticks at three-second increments, and I still have a laundry list of games I’ve yet to play. Backed-up into a dark, dank corner, I’m forced to evolve to my current life-style and approach my gaming habits differently.

An opened copy of the Witcher 2 sits on my finger-print riddled glass coffee table.  I’ve just completed Act 1, and will be sealing the game into its plastic home for a while.  I loved every minute of my playtime with Geralt, but this season of The Witcher 2 is over.

I’ve recently began playing longer RPGs like television seasons, breaking away from the game at a perfect moment in its storyline.  Prior to dedicating my time to The Witcher, I paused my play through of Resident Evil 4 as Ashley and Leon stepped into Salazar’s castle.  It’s a method of splitting my time between games that not only artificially drives my urge to return to the game and allows me to take breaks from the monotony of a genre, but makes it easier to remember what’s going on in the plot when I DO return.

It’s often “game-slumps” are cause of not knowing what genre to play, and to counter the fact, my seasonal method leaves me bouncing from genre to genre more often than I would.  Now, the tired tradition of turn-based combat doesn’t fall into the depths of boredom, as it would had I’ve been dragging myself through solely to get to what I’m yearning to play.

Taking a “break” from a game never worked for me as a simple method.  Returning clueless to where I left off – because I didn’t leave off in a optimum jump-off checkpoint – smothered my desire to continue through the rest of the game. It would then be another title tossed back into my back-log to be rekindled from scratch at a later date.  Time wasted.  Time, I don’t have.

These changes, in my approach to gaming, have helped me dodge the wrench that becoming an adult has tossed into my free time. I wondered about how others play video games, or if they even thought about playing methods at all.  I mean, if I have a silly “way” of playing my jams, I’m sure others do too.

Right?

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

During last night’s podcast, the guys sampled some (mostly) terrible jelly beans I sent Brad for his birthday. Here are the very best moments of said jelly beans derailing the show.

Carlos eats smelly dog food,  while Brad hacks up a diaper.

Nick eats some centipede. Then Carlos eats a booger bean, and recounts some tales of vomit.

Carlos eats all the school supplies.

There’s only two peach/vomit beans left, so Nick and Carlos challenge each other.

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

The  list of currently available Vita games is a bit short right now, especially the list of good triple-A titles. Sure there are some really good looking games coming our way, but for a launch title it’s admittedly a little light in the breeches at the moment.  That’s probably why you should start paying attention to Soul Sacrifice, an action horror title for the PS Vita by Keiji Inafune, one of the creators of Mega Man.

In Soul Sacrifice you play a sorcerer’s slave who uses a type of sacrifice magic system in battle. The player can sacrifice anything within the world or environment (even their own body parts), and the bigger or more important the item, the more powerful magic it will produce.  The magic also as a masochistic effect in that the player will lose humanity whenever they use it, which can slowly turn them into a humanoid and provide long lasting consequences to which, and how much, magic you decide to use.

According to a reveal in Famitsu, that’s actually a lot of what you’ll be fighting. Demon’s who were once humans, but found themselves twisted and deformed by their use of magic.

The game also features 4 player co-op and some fairly grotesque imagery. Mega Man this is not. Check out the trailer and screens below. We’ll be keeping this one on our radar.

Trailer:

Screens:

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

Today, a few weeks before release, Rockstar has released the launch trailer for Max Payne 3.

The interesting thing about this trailer is its almost complete lack of gun-play in exchange for story cinematics and tone. And I don’t see this as a bad thing at all. Rockstar has been showing off the shooting mechanics for months now through developer diaries, in essence probably trying to allay fears some had after groaning through subpar shooting in multiple GTA titles, and are using this moment to do more work setting the tone for the title.

The iconic comic-book style isn’t there, but honestly I’m glad it isn’t. Sure it was great to see back in the day, but a slew of titles have used that approach recently -Motorstorm: Apocalypse, Starhawk, Renegade Ops, just off the top of my head- and for this title I think I would like to see a more fluid approach. Something Rockstar, with their seamless transitions from cutscene to gameplay, are certainly nailing this time around.

Have any final thoughts for this title before we get our hands on it? Let them out in the comments below.

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

Several days back Ubisoft thought it to be a good idea to have its fans spam their friends with messages about Assassin’s Creed III in order to unlock the first full gameplay trailer.  It’s an annoying practice to say the least but thankfully the trailer has finally been unlocked.

Judging from the footage in the two minute trailer it, somehow, looks even more fluid a game than Revelations was in terms of combat and navigation.  It hints about the nature-based parkour element and the potential hazards of the land between the three cities as Connor is attacked by a rather ticked off bear.

I’ll let you watch it for yourself but, suffice to say, I’m very excited for this title.  Hopefully we’ll have something to talk about at E3.

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

Capcom has approached multiplayer and Co-op differently in Dragon’s Dogma, allowing you to borrow other players’ Pawns to help you in your travels,  instead of having the players join you themselves. It’s a good mid-point between pure MP Co-op and single player, especially since these Pawns will relay information about the world to you that they learned when fighting alongside their original owners.

Now we’re finding out that Capcom has more plans to broaden this take by adding world events that all players can engage in separately…yet together.

Such an event is the Ur-Dragon. The idea is that the dragon is so immense that it takes the cooperative damage of all the players to bring it down. And this is exactly what happens. The dragon’s health is brought down by the cumulative damage  of every player fighting it within their own world. There are loot drops for everyone involved, but the player to land the final blow on the creature receives a special Epic item.

I’ll admit that I was one of the people slightly dissapointed by the lack of real cooperative play in Dragon’s Dogma, but those feelings have completely washed away the more I find out the kind of Co-op they are adding. Saying that it is a very Dark Souls-ey approach might be a bit redundant by now, but I think it rings true. And bears repeating.

You can watch the Ur-Dragon trailer below.

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

Ken Levine announced on Irrational Games’ blog and the game’s official site today that Bioshock Infinite has been delayed from October 16, 2012 to February 26, 2013.

As is common with these sorts of delays, the reasoning Levine gives is so that the team can make a better game, “It means a bit more waiting, but more importantly, it means an even better BioShock Infinite.” Levine frequently speaks of making the game “more extraordinary,” claiming that Irrational are “doing things that no one has ever done in a first-person shooter.”

He continues, stating, “The great can be made greater, and we owe it to both ourselves and to you, our fans, to take this opportunity. Irrational Games is one of those rare developers lucky enough to ask the people who sign the checks: ‘Hey, can we have a few more of those checks?’”

Irrational are also not planning to display the game at future events this summer like E3 in Los Angeles or Gamescom in Cologne. Levine says, “Preparing for these events takes time away from development,” and that the next time they show Bioshock Infinite, it will be “essentially” the final version.

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

I can’t either…

Enough about that. Ubisoft has released a teaser trailer for a trailer… By building hype on the Assassin’s Creed Facebook page, the full version of the trailer will eventually be unlocked. I think this goes without saying but… I would expect to see this trailer in a matter of days given the popularity of the franchise. Color me excited but inclined to raise my nose at these annoying marketing ploys. Shame on you Ubisoft. Shame on you. Now take my money!

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

BaraBariBall is a video game sport created by Noah Sasso for the NYU Game Center’s annual No Quarter exhibition. In it, two players or two teams of two fight over control of a ball with the aim to score a point by getting the ball in the correct goal at the bottom of the stage. Players will lose a point for falling into the watery goal themselves though. The game’s how to play guide gives more detailed rules, as well as some of the more technical maneuvers one can do beyond jumping and attacking. The guide gives more context for the trailer embedded above.

If you are in the New York City area, it will be playable at the No Quarter exhibition, which opens on May 18 at seven PM. You must RSVP online first though. The event will also feature games from Zach Gage (SpellTower, Bit Pilot), Jan Willem Nijman (one half of the game studio Vlambeer), and Margaret Robertson (frequent game design speaker and writer, Development Director at Hide & Seek).

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

Horror Night clips continue with Brad ambulating through spooky Silent Hill-esque hallways in the Half-Life mod Cry of Fear.

Thanks to the_cuzzy for clipping out this. It was cut into two by the archive split.

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

Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas – MOBA – have been a thing since the “Aeon of Strife” custom map infected the StarCraft community back in 1998.  Since then, nearly every Real-Time Strategy game packaged with a map editor has seen its share of MOBA maps.  This evolution of the RTS genre shed the macro for a deeper micro experience, simplifying the expansive RTS troupes into a mini-game-like experience that has lived-on in the PC gaming world since.  Awesomenauts is an early attempt to bring 2D Action-RTS to consoles, and while its a step closer to expanding the genre to less-obscure heights, it falls shy of its maximum potential.

Awesomenauts (PSN, XBLA)
Developer: Ronimo Games
Publisher: DTP Entertainment
Release Date: May 1, 2012

Players control one of six hero characters to form a team of three, customizing power-ups and special move loadouts before descending into battle.  Once on the battlefield, your attack force – with the aid of AI attacker-bots – pushes forward through enemy lines, destroying defenses on the bloody road to victory.

The MOBA formula is addictive, immensely fun, and works wonderfully on a 2D plain.  The customization of heroes has all the trappings RPG fans love, and the loadout options make for a less frustrated strategist.  Ronimo also tossed a handful of fresh ideas into their action-RTS that help keep the on-screen action a few seconds away.

It’s done then!  This is where I give the game its high-score and recommend to the masses, who frequent online-competitive battlefields, Awesomenauts like it deserves?

Ronimo deserves credit for Awesomenauts, without a doubt.  It’s beautifully Saturday morning cartoon, plays like a 2D action game should, and undoubtably hits all the right notes for genre fans.  It’s also the only MOBA game on the console market.  Yet, I hesitate to recommend the game highly.  Why?

Awesomenauts is fairly bare boned at its asking-price.  3 heroes require heavy grinding before unlocking, along with two of the three maps.  Three maps is a shameful number of battlefields to expect to grind hours of time through, no matter how good the maps.  I also found Awesomenauts to lack a single-player practice experience that was worth playing more than once.  A handful of practice-options would have went a long way with anyone unfamiliar with the formulaic gameplay, or even strategists looking to test attack/defense theories.

My playtime with Awesomenauts went smoothly on 3V3 loaded servers, with a few hitches in lag as expected.  The community of gamers playing was thin, and I often found myself waiting to start a game more often than not.  If the Awesomenauts community doesn’t populate quickly, there wont be enough going on to warrant a visit, deeming the game useless as solely a single-player experience.

With the trend of the video game market twisting in ways never seen before, why Awesomenauts wasn’t an ad-touting, free-to-play game is beyond me.  The niche market that plays Defense of the Ancients are not looking to turn the genre over to consoles, nor is their anything special Awesomenauts is doing to pull console gamers to frequent it.  It’s sadly an over-priced gem that will live and die by the success of its community; a community that has far too many options as far as spending $10 goes.

I liked Awesomenauts enough to say that if you like the idea of seeing MOBA titles on consoles, you should support this effort. In a 3v3 Lobby with friends, excitement and tensions are present alongside hours of fun.  When that group of buddies isn’t gathering for some more Awesomenauts, neither will you.  This Ronimo jam faded quickly on me, never digging its hooks deep enough to drag me away from the PC options I have for playing an action-RTS.  What it does, it does well…but it just isn’t enough.

Score: 72%

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

Brad reloads an earlier save to recover a wasted healing item and tries to speedrun his way back.

He then searches for a lighter amidst an area patrolled by spooky men with hammers. Screaming and resource wasting is had.

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

We’ve all heard the news by now. The Elder Scrolls Online is a real thing, being produced not by Bethesda but by Zenimax Online, an offshoot of Bethesda’s parent company.  There had been whispers of this news for a few months, and I would argue that the churning of those voices began even sooner, back when Skyrim was finally shown for the first time to the world. Among the top five questions people had was, “will there be multiplayer?”

Bethesda, of course, is anything but a multiplayer studio. Instead, their gift is creating a singleplayer game within a world filled with such life that it feels like you’re in the world with real people. Or, at the very least, in a world where there is so much to do that you have no need of other people anyway.

Still it’s hard to get that perfect, and I’ll admit that the Uncanny Valley runs pretty deep the 105th time your companion blocks a doorway. Or the 200th time the shopkeeper tells you that his junk are really treasures. So an online component in Elder Scrolls has always been something that many gamers have been open to, provided it was done right.  For an online Elder Scrolls game to be successful, ironically, it wouldn’t need to do much changing of the formula at all. They could have given us Skyrim, added network play, increased the size and scope of the dungeons, expanded the crafting, added many more items and provide a way to trade them. Done. The perfect Elder Scrolls game.

By doing this, Zenimax would have been making a masterful play. In keeping with the current formula of Bethesda’s games, they would have also been eschewing the standard formula of  MMO’s. That World of Warcraft formula that has proven in the past to be both successful, and breathlessly replicated by developers and publishers trying desperately to cash in on it.

A formula, I would argue, that has far passed its zenith, and is starting to feel the sunset at its back.  A formula that Zenimax has decided to go with for The Elder Scrolls Online.

When the first details of what Elder Scrolls Online actually was came to light, you could actually hear the internet doing a unified sigh of disappointment.  Stamina based, turn combat with cool downs and a hot bar?  Visuals that could have easily been copy and pasted upon any game with a fantasy setting? And though definitive classes have not yet been announced, it’s looking like that’s the direction they are going. The same old, and the tired. But now called The Elder Scrolls for effect.

And possibly sales.

There is still much learn about this game, and -if recent reports that stealth has not been quite worked out yet are true- it’s even sounding like there is still a lot of development to be had. Screens can be produced out of game, and we’ve haven’t even seen the inkling of a HUD.

One can hope, and even dream, that when Zenimax takes the temperature of the fans it will release that changes need to be made. And, strangely enough, hardly needed to be made at all.

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

Chasing Aurora is the next game from Austrian developer Broken Rules, who previously developed the PC and later WiiWare title And Yet it Moves. The trailer above displays the tone of the game, an updated origami art style, as well as some dynamic music. The game is said to be “an explorative 2D aerial action game about the dream of flight.”

“Drop from the cliff and ride the wind from peak to peak. Fight for the beacon of light in the hostile environment of the Alps,” the trailer description says of the single player gameplay, which sounds slightly similar to the multiplayer mode first shown off at PAX Prime 2011. In that mode, players compete over a beacon that the camera follows. Players then capture the beacon and attempt to get away from the other players by swooping through the environment. If the beacon carrier was the only player on screen for a period of time, they win.

Chasing Aurora is planned for release sometime this year. Platforms are unannounced, though Broken Rules’ engine supports Linux, Mac OS and Windows.

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