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Vice Weekly Podcast Taping Tonight @ 9PM EST

Mel Francis — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:20:00 +0000

Tune in tonight folks for another live taping of Vice Weekly.

The show will be streamed here on the site and through our Ustream channel, so once we go live links will be provided.

Hope we see you then!

Madden 11 DEMO Impressions

Mel Francis — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:13:04 +0000

Last night, EA released a demo for their flagship Madden 11 title for the 360 and Ps3 – which introduced a few new features to the title, but left much to be desired.

One of the new features introduced this year is the gameplan system, which builds upon the typical playbook options that the game has always had. The new system allows you to set and rank audibles for your playbook that the AI coach can help you choose depending on scheme situations on each down. Think of it as the ask madden feature, but you’re able to use it during gameplay to switch plays on the fly. While the feature is welcomed, it tends to become a bit overbearing at times due to the fact that the coach will talk to you on every down. It tends to make the feature a bit distracting, especially when while it’s running – you can’t hear any commentary or crowd noise until it’s done.

There seems to be an issue with the way the audio is composed as well. As mentioned before, if the coach is talking to you – the crowd noise is completely silent until he is finished. This is a detriment, because it completely takes you out of the atmosphere of feeling the crowd cheering or booing your team. This also seems to happen when the commentators talk as well, it goes from being completely silent, to a raging crowd once you snap the ball. It’s not easy to see if this is just an issue with the demo or some sort of audio problem, but hopefully it’s addressed.

This years version introduces the new announce team of Cris Collinsworth and Gus Johnson to the game. Right off the bat, you will notice that Gus Johnson is almost a bit too animated – to the point where it takes away from the action in the game. It’s almost akin to watching public access pro wrestling, where the commentators try to sell you on every move being the greatest thing to ever happen. If you make a catch, as routine as it may be, Johnson will ramble on about how amazing the catch was. Aside from that, the presentation holds up very well on both console versions – they are both graphically even.

A great update that they’ve done to the visuals is the fact that the players actually look like their real life counterparts now. Last years Madden had the players looking like generic people with eye paint on and a towel around their neck. All the players from both teams look authentic now, even the coaches on the sidelines. Not only that, but the players have their actual numbers as well, as opposed to last year when anyone on the sidelines just had zero’s for their jersey number.

The controls are relatively the same, aside from some added features that go with the new gameplan system. You can use the D-pad to change your defensive or offensive line assignments pre-snap. One interesting addition was being able to press R1 (on the Ps3) or the RB (on the 360) to secure the ball while you’re running with the ball to avoid turnovers. The audible system is a bit more streamlined now, pushing the options to the bottom of the screen above the stat box.

If you enjoy Madden, then you’ll have a good time with the demo – especially if you’re a fan of the Colts or Jets. One last thing that most will be pleased to hear; you can play an entire game now with five minute quarters to get the full feeling of the game. So if you end up having a close game when the fourth quarter begins, be prepared to have those tense camera angles and gameplay.

Let us know what you think about the demo in the comments section, does it live up to the hype or will you be holding off until next years version?

Kane & Lynch 2 Behind the Scenes Video

Mel Francis — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:09:36 +0000

For all those anticipating the release of Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, on August 17th – this video is for you. In part one of this three part series, the developers of the game will discuss certain aspects of the title. They briefly explain why they decided to use the shaky cam feel for the game and also explain other issues with the first game.

Click here to view the embedded video.

WiiWare/XBLA/PSN Titles Are More Interesting than Retail Games – Thoughts From the Dojo #18

Gary Francis — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:08:11 +0000

Let’s face it, retail games are becoming lame. Most games are either a first person shooter, a sequel, or both. The very few fresh titles get buried so quickly due to lack of promotion that no one knows of their existence half the time, left to be promoted by word of mouth and “Top 10 most underrated games of this gen” lists.

These sequels horridly enough are suffering from what I love to call “Madden Syndrome” explained simply as a sequel that is entirely the first game with one, maybe at max two new features and priced at a full $50/$60. What’s worse is that we feed the machine that kind of money for utter unoriginality.

A shining ray of hope is upon us however in the virtual consoles on each platform. Every time I look at a list for the Playstation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, or WiiWare, I find a new and exciting IP that I would love to check out for the low price range of $5-$15. These titles are simply becoming more and more fresh as time goes by and if they are “inspired” by games of the past, these indie developers find just some way to put their own stamp on it. For almost this entire year I had not really been too excited for any title, I’m not a huge God of War fan, user reviews of Final Fantasy XIII were “meh” I had not played Mass Effect until two weeks prior to writing this article.

When I saw Limbo however, I had finally saw a title that I was comfortable spending money on, a great experience for only $15. The game was true to platforming, making the jumps a challenge, making you truly feel as afraid of dying to a difficult ledge as you are to an enemy on screen. In fact the challenge of the game came mostly in this respect as there are no combat options. I truly have no complaints with the title where as all of the major retail titles for the year, which you pay more for, have problems. God of War III is just God of War II and God of War, Final Fantasy XIII was disappointing after the runaway hype train around its release, and Mass Effect 2, I have not played as of yet, but it cannot be so different from the original.

The virtual consoles also very kindly offer old school classics at the same price range as these brand new titles, some are just fitted to work well with current Televisions and others are given a full HD makeover. Some of these old school titles are also completely remade such as Bionic Commando and Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

Think about it, you can buy four completely creative, sometimes innovative, and affordable titles for the price of one sequel with Madden Syndrome. Take yourself a look at the list of titles for the virtual consoles on all three platforms of this generation and see how long you can resist wanting to buy half the stores. I would make a list of “Games to check out” but these lists are all over the blogs, so I would be beating a dead horse for the umpteenth time over. Game affordably in this economy fellows!

Yoshinori Ono updates fans on Street Fighter

Gary Francis — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:27:19 +0000

Famed Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono has had a lot to say about the franchise he has revitalized over the Comic-Con weekend.

Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition - The producer has stated at his Comic-Con panel that that the title is in early stages so fans should urgently take their suggestions to the Capcom-Unity forums in order to have their voices heard on features they would love to see in the game. I personally just want to see an HD touch up, so that the characters don’t look so pixelated on HD Televisions, and maybe Yun and Chun-Li can get toned down just a little. (taken from Comicbookresources.com)

Super Street Fighter IV- The producer confirmed without a shadow of a doubt, since there were rumors that the extra character slots for the arcade versions might have been photoshopped, that there will in fact be two additional characters in the arcade release of Super Street Fighter IV. According to Ono, more information will be revealed at the Tokyo Game Show, however if you play back his panel at Comic-Con you will hear some names. I wonder just how true that is. Here’s hoping for Alex of Street Fighter III and Karin of Street Fighter Alpha III. (taken from Comicbookresources.com)

Street Fighter X Tekken- Apparently new info on the title will come very slowly we will not hear anything more about the crossover until Captivate 2011 and the game will release some time in 2012 according to an interview the producer has done in Famitsu magazine.

Valve Unbans 12000+ Accounts – Offers Free Game as Well

Mel Francis — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:40:42 +0000

In a very noble move by Valve, they have announced that they will be unbanned well over 12,000 accounts which were falsely banned due to human error. To make things even better, as their way of saying sorry – they will be giving out Left 4 Dead 2 for free to anyone who was falsely banned. If you already owned the game, then you’ll be able to pass the free copy to a friend and enjoy some co-op action together.

Good on Valve for taking responsibility and making things right – all companies should be like this.

Details of the email sent to users below.

Hello,

Recently, your Steam account was erroneously banned from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

This was our mistake, and I apologize for any frustration or angst it may have caused you.

The problem was that Steam would fail a signature check between the disk version of a DLL and a latent memory version. This was caused by a combination of conditions occurring while Steam was updating the disk image of a game. This wasn’t a game-specific mistake. Steam allows us to manage and reverse these erroneous bans (about 12,000 erroneous bans over two weeks).

We have reversed the ban, restoring your access to the game. In addition, we have given you a free copy of Left 4 Dead 2 to give as a gift on Steam, plus a free copy for yourself if you didn’t already own the game.

To share your extra copy of Left 4 Dead 2 with a friend, you can ‘Manage Gifts and Guest Passes’ from the ‘Games’ Menu in Steam, or visit this article on the Steam Support site for detailed instructions:https://support.steampowered.com/kb_…4502-TPJL-2656.

To access your own copy of Left 4 Dead 2, visit your library of games in Steam. If you didn’t already own the game, it will now be listed among your others there, and is available for download immediately.

Regards,
Gabe Newell
President, Valve

This notification has been sent to the email address associated with your Steam account.
For information on Valve’s privacy policy, visit http://www.valvesoftware.com/privacy.htm.
This email message was auto-generated. Please do not respond.

VALVE © Valve Corporation. All rights reserved. All trademarks are property of their respective owners in the US and other countries.

[Source : Official Steam Forums]

Need for Speed World Beta Opens up Today

Mel Francis — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:27:04 +0000

Starting at 1PM EST/ 10AM PST, EA will be opening it’s doors to more users with their Need for Speed World beta.

The plus about this game is that it is free, as long as you decide not to buy any packs to add features to your car. The open beta shows that EA is well along their way to getting this game off the ground, so time will tell how it works out.

If you end up playing the game, come back and share your thoughts about it with us.

PS3 Firmware 3.41 Out Now – Adds Store Recommendations Feature

Mel Francis — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:48:22 +0000

Sony has announced last night that sometime in the near future, we will be graced with new Ps3 firmware. What does it add? Well not much aside from this nifty looking store recommendations feature – which basically suggests to the consumer what they might like based on the media they’re viewing at the moment.

PSP firmware 6.31 is slated to come out around the same time as well, but details are sketchy aside from “…system software stability during use of some PSP format software titles has been improved.”.

Sounds like side-speak for closing holes on the homebrew community.

Avid Playstation fans are still clamoring for the oft-mentioned cross game chat – when will it finally arrive? Only time will tell.

[Source - Official Playstation Blog]

Update: The update is now available – so get it while it’s hot!

Street Fighter X Tekken, Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition, More Super Street Fighter IV DLC:Fighting Games Live!

Gary Francis — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:42:35 +0000

At Comic-Con this passed Saturday, Capcom’s Yoshinori Ono surprised fans by throwing the ultimate curveball. What started as an announcement of an announcement on his twitter page and grew into rumors of a new Darkstalkers title, was revealed on Saturday to be not one but three surprises. The first being that Super Street Fighter IV would be attaining some new DLC costumes. Secondly put an ear to ear grin on my face, Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition, details of which have not been revealed, the general assumption is that it will simply be the 1999 title with Online play? What’s interesting to note is that this new version of Street Fighter III: Third Strike will not be out for some time according to Ono, seems odd if you’re just slapping online features into a new game. Perhaps HD polish? Balance tweaks? A man can dream I suppose. Moving on to the final announcement which is by far the most popular and surprising Capcom has announced a partnership with Namco Bandai games for Street Fighter X Tekken. Namco Bandai will also be doing their own version of the same crossover. What’s known for sure is that Street Fighter X Tekken seems to be re-using the Street Fighter IV models of the Street Fighter cast and the Tekken characters are given the Street Fighter IV look. The game will be 2 v 2 from what the trailer has shown, with tag team play similar to Tatsunoko vs. Capcom or Marvel vs. Capcom.

A few questions that come to mind are, can the Street Fighter characters and Tekken characters work under one system? Tekken characters with Supers? How will the Tekken characters deal with fireballs? Will the Street Fighter characters have juggle combos? What will the command lists look like? Will we see Street Fighter characters with series of chain moves? All I know is I cannot wait for more information about this game.

Enjoy the little visuals we have already.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Vice Weekly 59 – Three’s a Crowd

Mel Francis — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:36:59 +0000

With the announcement of Kinect and other motion control exploits, the Broke Gamers have assembled to discuss not only that – but other hot button topics as well.

Why are people surprised that Killzone 3 has no loading times?
Microsoft and Sony have a battle of wits about their motion control pricing – except neither of them win
Limbo is a hit, but what did it miss?
Comic-con revealed some new details about Marvel vs Capcom 3 – we spread the knowledge on this upcoming title.

And much more!

The Broke Gamer Special that we talked about on the show can be found right here: Best Buy deals @ Respawn Action

Broke Gamers: Mel Francis, Keith Swiader, Gary Francis

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