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TV’s truth about video games
By Joe Fourhman | September 7, 2008
JC Barnett of the weblog Japanmanship has a nice list-post of the many ways television shows and movies mangle video gaming. Usually it’s seems as if the most experience any given TV show has with video games is Merlin.
Among Barnett’s points:
Though graphics have progressed, video game sound has hit its peak in the mid-80s. Even today sophisticated FPS games use bleeps and bloops for audio, incessantly.
The boss’s star employee in every [game development] company is the programming genius, with an I.Q. in the high 300s with matching sociopath tendencies. Or indeed homicidal tendencies.
Nobody in game development is older than 23.
All games can be played while mashing buttons and simultaneously holding conversations with the person standing behind you.
Check out the rest of the list here.
This one’s a fan of Gran Turismo, one way or another
By Stephen Munn | September 6, 2008
On my commute home the other day I passed through downtown Albany and found myself behind this vehicle. It’s a blue Dodge with a license plate that reads GRN2RZMO. Pardon the cell phone camera image quality, and check out the overlay for a sense of what it would look like close up. It’s clear that the owner of this plate is a solid fan of Sony’s Gran Turismo franchise. Either that, or they’re showing off the fact that they know what the common automotive term GT actually stands for.
Gamer license plates are pretty entertaining. It becomes a kind of an in-joke between the owner and the person stuck behind them in traffic, assuming that person is also familiar with the reference. While it’s not certain that this person put this on their plate because of the racing simulator, I’m sure it’s been taken that way by others before I saw it, which makes it good enough a reference for me.
I found someone online using the name Rocket Punch who’s used this string of characters for his blog and on message boards, and I have an inquiry in to find out if this is the guy.
Billy Berghammer interviews Diablo III lead Jay Wilson
By Stephen Munn | September 6, 2008
Blizzard’s own BlizzCast is running on well over a month’s delay, having just released their podcast covering the Diablo III announcement that happened in July. Compare that to this interview with the game’s lead developer, Jay Wilson, over at CrispyGamer by Billy Berghammer.
The great interview covers the loud minority of people who are complaining about the art style, meeting the expectations of the hardcore Diablo fan and removing troublesome elements like potions and runewords, the recurring question of whether the game could appear on consoles, randomly generated elements, and the upcoming new version of Battle.Net. There’s lots of light information for those who are hungry for details, so dig in.
Source: CrispyGamer
Legendary: Behind the Scenes, episode six of six
By Stephen Munn | September 6, 2008Here we are now, the sixth and final episode of the Legendary Behind the Scenes video from developer Spark and publisher Gamecock. This one covers the music and sound effects in the game. I remember seeing something similar around the time Jurassic Park was made. One of the sound designers on that film spoke of the challenges of producing sound effects for creatures like dinosaurs that can’t be simply recorded.
The game’s set to hit at the very end of the month, which means that the game should be finished at this point. I’m guessing at that, I haven’t heard yet one way or the other. Anyway, you can check out the first five videos right here on Aeropause as well.
Anyone here planning to grab this one on launch day?
id Super Pack and More are Half Off on Steam
By Joe Haygood | September 6, 2008
I was perusing my RSS feeds when I saw that 1up was running a story about id titles would be selling for half off this weekend. So I logged on to Steam, and found this to be true for the id Super Pack, which includes just about every id Game ever made with the exception of Quake Wars, which seems ot be excluded from the deal.
Basically this gets you ever Doom Game, Hexen, Heretic, Commander Keen and Wolfenstein game out there. Also gets you every Quake game with the exception of Quake IV (not sure why as it is getting long in the tooth) for $34.99. That my friends is a steal of a deal, and anyone that has not played these classics should be jumping all over this deal.
Namco Bandai offers a new Wii peripheral… oh for crap’s sake
By Stephen Munn | September 5, 2008
I think we can all agree that there are plenty of accessories available for use with Wii. When the Wii Remote was first shown, we were kind of tipped off that this would happen. The controller was designed to be a simple, dense package with all the key hardware. Games that needed more would plug peripherals into it, and that’s how Wii would get more complex, more unusual, or more traditional games.
However you feel about how it all turned out, let’s run down the list. There’s the Nunchuk controller, one of which comes with Wii. This is used in many games, as it’s the only stock way to have an analog stick. There’s the Wii Zapper, which is a shell that you stick the Wii Remote and Nunchuk into. That comes with Link’s Crossbow Training, and can be used with any of the light gun-style games, but since it’s only a shell, it’s pretty superfluous. Same goes for the Wii Wheel, which is really only used for Mario Kart Wii. Then there’s the Balance Board. Don’t get me started on that one. It’s a great device, but so far there’s only one really good game to play with it. Correction: one piece of software. Wii Fit.
Forgive my whining over Namco Bandai’s announcement that their new Active Life: Outdoor Challenge thing uses a new, original mat controller called the Active Life mat. So, is this like a dance mat, the sort of thing we’d use in DDR? Can we use it in DDR? Can we use a DDR mat with this software?
Let me make it clear: I have no problem with peripherals. I just don’t want peripherals that will never see another worthwhile application, particularly in such abundance. Check below for the press release. Read the rest of this entry »
New Warhammer 40K Brawler Footage
By Joe Haygood | September 5, 2008Seems that THQ is looking to expand the genres that the Warhammer games cover, as we now have some demo footage of the new Warhammer 40K brawler, Space Marine. This is the first time in recent memory when we are getting some “boots ont he ground”, in the Warhammer 40K universe (oh how I missed you Space Hulk). The footage is a bit early, and rough around the edges, but overall, it looks like it could be pretty sweet.
via Kotaku
Sting, Tool Setting Up Shop In Guitar Hero World Tour
By Joe Haygood | September 5, 2008
Activision and Neversoft continue to corner the market on artists and their likenesses for the upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour game. This time around, Sting has given the go ahead to not only put his likeness in the game, but you will be able to use him as a playable character in the vocal tour. Also, you can play with him in the band’s classic hit, “Demolition Man”, which is to be included in the final release of Guitar Hero World Tour.
Joining Sting will be the band, Tool. Tool will not only be lending three master tracks to Guitar Hero World Tour, but it will also get a specific arena designed around the themes of the band and their live shows. “Parabala” and “Schism” from the 2001 “Lateralis” album, while “Vicarious” will come off of the 2006 album, “10,000 Days”.
While I have doubted Guitar Hero World Tour in the past, I have to give credit where it is due, and as of now, Neversoft and Activision are putting together a hell of a counter arguement as to why their game may be better. I still think it will come down to DLC as to how this game is received, but the star power they are putting into this release will defintely help its chances of becoming top rhythm release this year. That is unless “Rock Revolution” sells its soul to the devil to come out on top.
X-COM Series Now on Steam
By Joe Haygood | September 5, 2008So it seems that the powers that be have finally brought upon this Windows Vista and XP Earth, a version of X-COM that will run properly, without any glitches or bugs. This was the one game that I was so mad I could not play with my Gametap membership, because the game would not run under Vista. Yay for Steam and 2K Games for making this happen.
Steam is selling each X-COM game in the series, including X-COM: UFO Defense, X-COM: Terror from the Deep, X-COM: Apocalypse, X-COM: Infiltrator and finally, X-COM: Enforcer for $4.99 each. But if you buy the entire collection, you can pick it up for a slim $14.99. Buy it this weekend, and you get 10% off the purchase. If for some reason, any of our readers pass on this deal for one of the greatest games ever released on any platform, Shenannigans will be called and you will be dealt with accordingly.
Jeff Green Leaving 1up For The Sims
By Levi Thornton | September 5, 2008
There is sad news today for people who keep up with GFW and 1up. Our favorite Jewish video game journalist is leaving 1up & GFW. Today 1up announced:
Jeff Green is making the move to game development. After 17 (!) years with Ziff Davis Media, Jeff is finally jumping to the dark side to work on The Sims brand at EA.
Why Jeff? WHY!?! I feel so empty inside! There seems to be a growing trend with journalist leaving the media business and joining game developers. Who will be the first one to leave Aeropause to work with Atari?
Source: 1up
