Japanese chatter and footage of Mega Man Legends
3

post from Destructoid on 14 May 2011 11:05:45 PM. © Destructoid

Japanese chatter and footage of Mega Man Legends 3 screenshot

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The more I see of Mega Man Legends 3, the more I want it. I had no idea that Barrett (the lead character of the soon to be release Mega Man Legends 3 Prototype Version) had so many exciting and violent techniques. He can run straight up walls, shoryuken robots, and even pull off a move move that looks exactly like Viewtiful Joe's Red Hot Kick. The combination of shooting, city exploring, close combat, and super heroics evokes a bit of a Crackdown vibe, but infused with the Servbots that my body craves.

That's just in the first video (gameplay starting at about 1:07) posted above. The second video features a slightly crisper look at Barret's various moves, some art, and a whole lot of text. If any of you can help translate what those two dudes are saying in the video above, and the text from the video below, it would be much obliged.

Rockman DASH 3 Updates of Mystery and Intrigue (Updated with the Good Stuff) [TheMegaManNetwork]

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Filling in the blanks: Inferred narrative in
small games

post from Destructoid on 14 May 2011 10:06:13 PM. © Destructoid

Filling in the blanks: Inferred narrative in small games screenshot

_{[Community member Tubatic compares games big and small to find out how much of a game's story should be left up to our imagination. Which camp do you fall into? Let us know in the comments! Want to see your own writing on the front page? Write something awesome and put it in the C Blogs -- Kauza]}

At the encouragement of a few outlets over the past few weeks, I finally came around to trying out The Wager by Surprised Man. This game was created as part of this excellent 48hour game dev jam event called Ludlum Dare and, like most games that come out of the event, there's some brilliant design rattling around in this hastily put together frame. In short, I'm lovin' it. As I'm working clumsily on realizing my own game designing aspirations, the game got me thinking about story, choice and leaving things up to the imagination.

And to be direct, games leave less and less up to the imagination than they ever have. Take Final Fantasy XIII. When I watch those characters emote and narrate, I'm seeing the full realization of several professional people working to make the world of that game look as real and uncanny as possible. I see the pain on Sazh's face and a feel the fear in and tremble in Vanille's voice. Its exactly the picture that the team wanted to express, for better or worse. I'm seeing their vision.

Conversely, I'm imprinting less of myself onto that work. Its a similar argument some have made about books compared to their movie adaptations. Aside from cuts made for time or feasibility, the world we see on screen, especially if we've read the book prior, may be markedly different from that realm we crafted in our heads, and by default, less personal.

As I watch Polom and Porom resolve to rescue their teammates in the original Final Fantasy II for North American release on the Super Nintendo, I'm seeing sprites bouncy and glimmer, expressing something for me to understand. I can't see the kid's faces, but the gravity of the moment isn't lost on me. The excitement and emotion I'm meant to feel comes from my own experiences and understanding.

In that thought, we find one of gaming's forgotten arts. Nostalgia's one thing, but this is different. Retro goggles are a convenient excuse for loving those old school classics, but considering that games are still able to tap that unlabored headspace, maybe that's not all we're experiencing as we remember the old games. Like the indie devs of today, developers of the by gone bit era don't have the resources to show you the wrinkles in their character's eyes. However, they can leave some of the work up to you.

In The Wager, the player travels the world in search of fortunes, spending time primarily in an overworld map navigating to hidden islands. When a new island is found, the user is shown a text screen that deals out details about the island and its value. Randomly, the user will find tribes of natives or some harrowing event that requires the player's luck or input to resolves. Simple choices are played out with sometimes dire results for your faceless but well named crew. Dangerous Tom, I hardly knew ye!

Your crew are represented merely as names and ranks on screen, but, if you allow even the smallest inch of investment into the game world, you easily create a handful of inferences about this team of yours. Perhaps that one sailor that got promoted is looked upto as a senior member of the team. Maybe he's gruff and self assured. Maybe that encounter with the ship's parrot reveals a flawed seriousness in his character. And after 6 months at sea, what are these random swabbies like?

That's all on you. The Wager remains content to let you infer all those details, or ignore them. As a result, the story becomes personal, because there's no other choice! With the user filling in the details, and with the game providing this larger operational framework, you draw a picture of this story as you, as if you've read it. Its purely simple, but actually effective!

We see this technique purposefully applied by the works of Brandon Chung at Blendo Games. Through a handful of quirky story vignettes and charming illustrations, a simple game like Flotilla tells a story of a dying ship captain, several times over. Random missions, scant details and expressive style help the player build the world around the game that's actually there. What would take artists, directors and programmers years to craft and show, the player is building in seconds. You don't need million dollar art teams and graphics programmers when you can ignite the imagination of the player!

When I see these games come out and craft stories and worlds so effectively, I become very hopeful for my own chances as a developer. As drop dead gorgeous as professionally made games have become, these small bite indie efforts are harnessing the mental capacity of their players to fill in for their smaller dev teams. While realistically neither is a replacement for the other, its heartening to realize that techniques can overcome the realities of independent limitations.

What are you thinking D-Toid? How effect is this sort of narrative on you? Do you see these concepts as characters and detailed events, or are these cave drawing techniques wholly ineffective for you?

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PlayStation services beginning to be brought back
online

post from Gaming Nexus on 14 May 2011 09:46:00 PM. © Gaming Nexus

by: John Yan
NEWS - So we don't have online services yet, but it's beginning. When you turn on your PlayStation 3, you'll be prompted to update to 3.61 and then be asked to change your password. This is probably a good idea anyways, but smart on Sony to make you do this on the update.

Sony has put up a map to show you which states are online with PSN services. Right now, it's blank and no state's highlighted but it's happening now. Even if your state is highlighted, it might take a little more time so at least some online functionality is beginning to be brought back.

You can watch Kazuo Hirai below announce all the details on what's happening and what they are offering for all the troubles that you've went through.

Well, it's been 7 months since I've last logged into or turned on my PlayStation 3. I guess I should at least try to get it all updated so once I do start getting into PS3 games again, I won't have to sit hours waiting to get back a working console with all the patches.

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Sony Restores the PlayStation Network

post from The Escapist : Latest News on 14 May 2011 09:21:00 PM. © The Escapist : Latest News

Sony has finished fixing up the PlayStation Network and is now in the process of bringing it back.

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Phased restoration of PlayStation Network has
started

post from Destructoid on 14 May 2011 09:06:13 PM. © Destructoid

Phased restoration of PlayStation Network has started screenshot

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So it turns out that the PlayStation Network is getting restored STARTING TODAY! Sony sent out a press release detailing the restoration and Sony's Kazuo Hirai gives a round down of what to expect in the video above.

The phased restoration will be on a country by country basis and begins with America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.

Here's what will first be restored to PlayStation Network and Qriocity users:

Sign-in for PlayStation®Network and Qriocity services, including the resetting of passwords
Restoration of online game-play across PS3 and PSP
Playback rental video content, if within rental period, of PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, for current subscribers, on PS3 and PC
Access to 3rd party services such as Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and MLB.tv
'Friends' category on PS3, including Friends List, Chat Functionality, Trophy Comparison, etc
PlayStation Home

The PlayStation.Blog has a heat map of the US showing which state has restored PlayStation Network services. At the moment, all the states are still white but the second you see your state illuminated is the moment you can jump back on and play with your friends. PlayStation's Patrick Seybold says it will "take several hours to restore PSN throughout the entire country."

We'll have more updates for you as they come through.

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Heroes of Newerth turns one, now win a free
account!

post from Destructoid on 14 May 2011 09:06:13 PM. © Destructoid

Heroes of Newerth turns one, now win a free account! screenshot

Happy first birthday, Heroes of Newerth!

S2 Games, the developer of the real-time strategy PC/Mac title is celebrating with not only a game update, but with over a week of free-to-play goodness.

The update brings an entirely redesigned item shop to the game, mainly revamped around making it easier to navigate. Also look out for fully interactive and customizable hero guides, as well as new in-game "tooltips" designed to ease new players into the game.

If you're one of those new players, the 11-day free to play session (which began on Thursday, May 12) is a great way to get started. But if you want to skip all that and just get right into Heroes of Newerth, great news: I've got 10 free accounts (valued at $30 a piece!) to give away.

Winning an account is easy: simply send me a private message using your Destructoid account and say "Gimme Newerth!" The first 10 to contact me will be blessed with a free account. Good luck!

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Weekend Destructainment: Nostalgia

post from Destructoid on 14 May 2011 08:06:28 PM. © Destructoid

Weekend Destructainment: Nostalgia screenshot

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50 Sega Genesis spoilers in three-minutes.

You got more Portal 2 trick shots, you got Scorpion rapping, you got Noob Saibot being a noob, you got a Epic Meal Time spoof, you got a badass Pokemon battle theme cover, you got nostalgia, you got a Nintendo love rap and you got a real Assassin's Creed blade.

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PSN still down, but you can update your passwords
now

post from Destructoid on 14 May 2011 08:06:28 PM. © Destructoid

PSN still down, but you can update your passwords now screenshot

A new PlayStation 3 System Software update is now available but don't get too excited. Update v.361 is a mandatory install that requires all PlayStation Network users to change their passwords and that's all. The update is just a step to make the restoration of the network easier on all PSN users once the next Firmware comes along.

With the news that some developers are able to get online for testing and this, it sounds like we're finally getting closer to the restoration of the PlayStation Network. We still don't know exactly when it will be back up, though.

PS3 System Software Update [PlayStation.Blog -- Thanks to all that sent this in!]

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God of War Portable Collection enhanced for PS3
coming

God of War Portable Collection enhanced for PS3 coming? screenshot

The Magic Box seems to think that Sony Computer Entertainment has announced the God of War Collection for PlayStation 3.

This collection will feature Kratos' PlayStation Portable adventures, Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta, with updated high resolution visuals and "enhanced graphics" for the PS3.

It's reportedly coming to Asia on July 7, according to The Magic Box, but will likely see release in other territories as well. The website doesn't provide any sources outside of saying it was announced, and since we haven't heard word from Sony ourselves, we'll be checking in to see what's up.

As a huge fan of the series, I do think that Ready at Dawn's portable games are among the best; Ghost of Sparda was particularly amazing. My only real gripe? The PSP's cramped controls. If this portable collection is legit (and let's just say I won't be surprised when it's officially confirmed), folks who missed the games are in for a real treat.

God of War Portable Collection [The Magic Box]

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Batman Brave and the Bold HD Video Game Launch
Trailer - DS Wii

Play through exciting escapades in a fun and interactive way on Wii and Nintendo DS as the hit...

Read the full post at www.gamezplay.org use the search option if there is no link above...