Chinese Government Nixes WoW Again

The future of Blizzard's megaton MMOG may be in jeopardy (in China) as the game finds itself caught between two warring factions in the Chinese government.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

11/3/2009 8bitrocket.com Games Demo Reel: 70
games in 3.5 minutes.

New 8bitrocket History Blog Entry :
video details and more



After making the last video podcast, the most enjoyable part turned out to be capturing video of some of our games. Taking that lead, we created this new 'demo reel' with game play video from just about 70 games in 3.5 minutes, most of which have never seen the light of day. Many of these are demos and experiments, while some are full games that are 95% complete but never 'released' for various reasons.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.8bitrocket.com/newsdisplay.aspx?newspage=34156

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Why the Left 4 Dead survivors may secretly be
infected

As the Left 4 Dead 2 demo recently illuminated, some survivors in Valve's zombie-filled world are actually "carriers," people who can transmit the supposed zombie virus but are immune to the infection itself.

After a full five minutes of research, I have come to the conclusion that Bill, Zoey, Francis and Louis may, in fact, fall under this category. As much as we all love these four survivors, is it possible that with every step toward safety, they are unknowingly spreading the infection further?

Though nothing is certain and I fully hope that I am wrong, more evidence points toward the original survivors as infection carriers than I would really like to admit. By blasting their way through an infected wasteland, have the fearsome four actually made the world worse?

Hit the jump for our analysis.

The survivors are not, and cannot possibly become, zombies

Though we don't know for certain whether Left 4 Dead's zombie virus is airborne or transmitted by physical contact, we do know one thing: certain people, for whatever reason, are immune to it. The safe rooms writings in the first game make several references to "immunes," presumably to explain why, even after being bit and beaten and vomited on by the rampaging undead, the four survivors never actually turn into zombies.

In the first saferoom of the Left 4 Dead 2 demo, we see the following message written on the wall:

"Why are they separating everyone"

"Some people are carriers"

"They're immune but they can spread the infection"

"Who told you that?"

"That's BS"

Though it's probable that not all immunes are carriers, one has to consider that a pretty significant number of the immunes in the L4D universe must be carriers to justify FEMA's CEDA's decision to quarantine a percentage of the southern population.

As they are most definitely immune to the virus, could Bill, Zoey, Louis and Francis also be carriers? It'd be impossible to argue either way, unless we had evidence of them interacting with other, non-infected, non-immune human beings.

Oh, wait. We do.

For whom the (bloody, rage-infected) bell tolls

(Image from Left 4 Dead 411.)

At the end of Death Toll's third level, the survivors come across a lone (and presumably unstable) survivor who has holed up in a church. Because he is an asshole, he rings the church bell to summon a horde of infected rather than let the survivors into the saferoom. After dispatching the horde, the survivors open the saferoom to find that -- surprise! -- the Church Guy has turned into a random special Infected.

The Left 4 Dead wiki has this to say about the Church Guy:

"If you either listen carefully to the church guy, or search through the sound files; you can hear him talk about how the last person he let in attacked him. This is the reason he locks you out and is constantly heard muttering "Better Safe than Sorry". This also explains why he turns into a Boss Infected and gives possible clues about how the infection spreads."

And that makes a lot of sense. But at the same time, one can't help but wonder -- why, in all the hours that passed between the Church Guy getting wounded by a member of the Infected, did he only turn into a member of the Infected just when our survivors happened to show up? Within less than five minutes of being in the presence of Zoey and the others, the Church Guy goes from a reasonably healthy (if batshit nuts) human being into a Smoker/Hunter/Boomer.

There are three possibilities for the timing of this event:

- It's a huge coincidence

- Louis, Francis, Zoey and Bill are carriers and either infected him through proximity, or merely hurried along the infection that was already coursing through the Church Guy's veins

- Shut up it's just a frigging game why are you over analyzing the plot

My money is on one of the latter two explanations.

"Zoey, just pretend they're all helicopter pilots"

If the Church Guy incident hasn't convinced you that the survivors may be carriers, consider the events that take place between the end of No Mercy and the beginning of Crash Course.

The survivors leave Mercy Hospital on a helicopter (yay!), but the pilot turns into a zombie midway through the flight (boo!), so Zoey shoots him and Francis spends the entirety of Crash Course making fun of her for it (yay!).

But why did he turn into a zombie? Before he landed, he was fine; once he got into an enclosed space with four survivors who may or may not be carriers of the infection, he turned into a zombie. I mean, yeah, this guy could have been bitten a few days previous and just happened to turn into a zombie five minutes after meeting our heroes, but hell.

Turn into a zombie after spending five minutes around me once, shame on you. Turn into a zombie after spending five minutes around me twice, shame on me.

So, what does all this mean?

If the survivors from the first Left 4 Dead are actually carriers of the infection, what does that mean for them? Nothing good, I have to assume: based on FEMA's CEDA's policy of quarantining carriers until they get pissed and decide to revolt (as implied by a note written on the loading screen for The Parish), the survivors will either infect every person they come in contact with, or they'll be captured and put in government quarantine.

Or they'll do something none of us are expecting and somehow they'll meet up with the L4D2 survivors in the third Left 4 Dead game, and it'll be super awesome and it'll be like The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones except good and you'll be able to have Francis and Nick be assholes to one each other and oh my god so cool.

Or the government will line them up against a wall and execute them by firing squad.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Extra Punctuation: A Study of Tim Schafer

Tim Schafer is a big games industry name - but do his games justify his popularity?

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Console Arcade, DJ Hero, Rock Band Set for
Colorado Child's Play Fundraiser [Event]

The Kotaku Child's Play fundraiser will include Rock Band and DJ Hero up on stage as well as a free console arcade when it kicks off on Nov. 19 in the historic Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver.

Last year our annual fundraiser drew in a crowd of about 300 people before hitting capacity, this year we have room for more than 500.

The event is open to anyone 16 or older and kicks off at 6 p.m., running until midnight. If you are 21 or older, don't forget your ID so you can get a wristband to purchase drinks.

We're asking for a minimum donation of $10 to get in and get a door prize ticket. We will be giving away a huge amount of swag including more than 70 T-Shirts, a custom straight jacket, a Guitar Hero drum seat, a popcorn machine and Divinity Dragon knives.

There will also be a silent auction for a number of items including a copy of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter's Edition, which comes with a CD of the game's soundtrack and a copy of the Brady Games guide; a 3L etched bottle of 8BitVintners wine, rare Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 mixtape vinyls, a collector's edition Chun-Li statue, a Capcom hoodie signed by Niitsuma and limited edition Brutal Legend Statue.

Once again Gabe of Death of the Arcade will be running the free Rock Band and DJ Hero gameplay up on Cervantes' mammoth stage. Since we have two set-ups, we'll be able to cycle through people much faster.

On the second floor, Greg of Colorado Cutthroat will be running a free console arcade which will include a chance to play Tekken 6, Street Fighter IV, BlazBlu, Smash Bros. Brawl, Soul Calibur 4, Halo 3 and Modern Warfare 2 on a number of set-ups.

It sounds like this year is going to be quite a blast, so mark your calendars now! Did I mention that Cervantes has a gi-normous disco ball? Because it totally does!!

In a nutshell: The event will be at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in downtown Denver on Nov. 19. Doors open at 6 p.m. and close at midnight. Sixteen and older to get in and a minimum $10 donation. Be there and have fun... for a good cause.

If you can't make it you can always donate directly to Child's Play.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Escape the Cellar

Escape the Cellar is another new point and click type room escape game from Dozen games. Collect all the keys and escape the room. Good luck and have fun!Play This Game

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Warren Spector envisions two more Disney Epic
Mickey games

In the ongoing media blitz that Disney Epic Mickey (yes, it's really still named that) has been receiving over the past few weeks, the game's creative head Warren Spector has been decidedly candid. First, he spoke about the difference between the game's concept art and in-game graphics, then he discussed its roots on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and just this week, in a talk with 1UP, he confirmed his hope that the game would spawn two more adventures.

One hitch - those games have yet to be approved by his new overlords at Disney. "In my head, I've got two more planned ... those games have not approved and who knows if we'll ever see them," he said."I had three games planned for Deus Ex and you see where that got me." As far as other titles that Spector's Junction Point Studios were working on before being acquired over two years ago, Spector confirmed that Disney has officially dropped the lot of them. Wait, even Ninja Gold?! Yes, even Ninja Gold.

Gallery: Disney Epic Mickey

Warren Spector envisions two more Disney Epic Mickey games originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

MoneyTalks: Wealth Simulation on iPhone and iPod
Touch

Want to know more about having more money? There?s a portable wealth academy by your hand for the $1.99 entrance fee.Simple rules are:? Invest some of your time regularly to play the game? Follow the game tips and adjust your goal? Learn to think and[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.gamezplay.org/2009/11/moneytalks-wealth-simulation-on-iphone.html

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Unused Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
intro

video details and more

This comes from Udon Entertainment, the people that redid the characters and backgrounds in Capcom's SSFIIHDTR. It turns out that they didn't get to use the above intro in the final product. It looks pretty good, though. I wonder why it didn't make the cut.

What they did was recreate the original game's intro with their art. Maybe it didn't make the cut because Cammy's little tongue flip was creepy. I seriously felt violated after I watched it for the first time. Otherwise, it's good. Ryu could have been a bit more intense (like in the old intro), but it's good.

[via capcom-unity]

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Assassin's Creed II Soundtrack On Sale This Month
[Soundtrack]

Award-winning composer Jesper Kyd returns to score the soundtrack to Assassin's Creed II, available later this month at fine digital music download websites everywhere.

With 20 years of experience in creating video game music and titles like Hitman, Kane & Lynch, and Borderlands under his belt, Jesper Kyd has become one of the go-to guys as far as video game soundtracks are concerned. Kyd really seems to connect with the games that he composes music for, creating sounds that enhance the action rather than drown it out. That, and Ubisoft's Patrice really seems to dig the guy's work.

"Jesper Kyd's score for Assassin's Creed II brings players into the Italian Renaissance by providing a true sense of depth for the poignant moments, while also giving a jolt of adrenaline to the action-packed sequences. We are thrilled to have Jesper Kyd back with us in making Assassin's Creed II an epic title on all levels."

Ubisoft is so proud of the soundtrack that they'll be releasing it on "popular music stores" for download on November 16th. I am assuming that includes iTunes. Why buy it? Just ask Jesper.

"We created a unique musical identity for Assassin's Creed II that reflects the character and story of Ezio and elevated the music, both in terms of creativity and live production, to a whole new level."

Now if I could only stop mistaking the poor guy for Vesper Lynd from Casino Royale.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!