Army of Two

Army of TwoDeveloper: EA MontrealPublisher: Electronic ArtsPlatform: Xbox 360Released: Mar. 4, 2008Watching the gold and the glory go to a mercenary after a mission in Somalia is enough to make Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem ditch the Army Rangers for the Security and Strategy Corporation — a Blackwater-esque private military company.If that?s not politically relevant [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.gamecouch.com/2008/08/army-of-two/

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Asheron's Call - 100 Updates And Growing
[Asheron's Call]

Before I started my four-year run with the original Everquest, I spent a couple months in the world of Dereth in Asheron's Call. That was nine years and one failed sequel ago, and I was almost certain the game had long since faded away into nothingness. Apparently I was wrong, as the title is now celebrating its 100th update since release. Originally published my Microsoft, that company dropped the torch and Turbine picked it up and ran a very, very long way with it.

The latest update introduces a new faction system, two new PVP controlled towns, new areas, and level 8 spells. It's a mighty hefty amount of content for a game I was almost positive didn't exist anymore.

Release Notes - August [Asheron's Call via Eurogamer]

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Rock Band 2 Lead Designer Calls Us Out [Rock Band
2]

Harmonix's Dan Teasdale wants to make sure that folks attend the "History of Harmonix" panel at PAX this weekend so badly that he's narrowly avoided calling down a world of hurt upon himself in the process. He's issued challenges to various members of the media, the development community, and his game's chief rivals in an attempt to drum up some attendance.

I challenge Kotaku's Mike Fahey, Wired's Chris Kohler, and Destructoid's Nick Chester to an arm wrestle. Mike is allowed to substitute for Cresente if he can't make it, but in that case I'm allowed to take my elbow off the table and Brian isn't - Crescente looks like he works out, so I need any advantage I can get.

Obviously Mr. Teasdale has never seen a group shot of the Kotaku crew, or he'd know exactly how relieved he should be that Crecente is attending PAX and not me. Not only am I huge, but I own a copy of "Over The Top" on DVD. Check out his blog post for the rest of the challenges, including a manly hug between rhythm game developers, as well as details on Rock Band 2's new Tour Challenges.

PAX and Tour Challenges [Rock Band Blogs - Thanks Smidget!]

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Attorney discusses the 'games made me do it'
defense

We've railed against the anti-games lobbyists helping to make the "videogames" excuse a valid one for criminals, and today an attorney has admitted how good a defense it is, and which judges are the best marks for such a defense. Terry Boesky pretty much admits why videogames are so readily blamed in court for violent crimes, and suggests that "old rural" judges are often receptive:

The goal of the 'video games' defense is to both shift blame and to explain to a judge and jury why this good kid is suddenly acting like a terrorist. Portraying your client as the victim of outside forces... humanizes the client and shifts the culpability... my job is to present ANY theory to a jury that would explain why my client did the things he did...

[The games made me do it defense works on] an unsophisticated, typically older, somewhat more rural jury pool or judge. To an extent, the defendant is playing on the prejudices that these members of society already have towards video games...

The manufacturers do everything they can to make sure that [the games] are a household name... Restricting supply to create buzz, sensationalizing their own violence to the media, doing idiotic things like leaving the "Hot Coffee" code in the game…the jury knows that a lot of kids today are playing this Grand Theft Auto game and that it’s very violent or adult before we even walk into the courtroom.

It's quite amusing how Boek blames the videogame companies themselves for this issue -- now that's the mark of a good attorney. Not only will he blame games for murder, he'll blame games for being blamed for murder. If I ever kill somebody, I want this guy on my side!

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Shadows of Angmar: 10 Days Left

by: Randy Kalista
NEWS -

I have no singular, curatorial narrative to tie this player journal together.  I’ve just been enjoying a steady immigration of memorable moments within The Lord of the Rings Online, some of them loud, some of them soft, all of them keeping me away from the keyboard during this 14-day trial period of Middle-earth baptism.  I’m no power-leveler, sir.  My absorbency levels are high but my movements are deliberate, and I’ve kept my character, Lore-master Sayer of Gondor, moving at a walking pace (literally) through the valley of Archet.

These are a few cemented experiences in my mind, and I’m drawing these off the top of my head; no fact-checking, no reworking my way through them in-game, and with frighteningly little knowledge of Tolkein’s world beyond The Hobbit and a few movies filmed in New Zealand.  (So if I get some details wrong, I apologize now.)  And while these experiences may not be profound, per se, they’ve stirred me to recall what I loved so much about MMOs in the first place, especially after I’ve chewed up and spat out so many betas and free trials and full retail purchases along this jaded brick road.

- I recall standing at the top of Bronwe’s Folly after rigorous flights of stairs bringing it to the treetop heights.  The climb was obviously created as a purposeful reminder of the process to get closer to a holy creator.  But at the top of Bronwe’s Folly, I felt nothing but a sense of claustrophobia from the tightening pillars, no sense of security from its crumbling ledge, and no explanation for its seven-pointed stars.  I left, feeling no need to return.

- I recall the planked, uncovered bridge leading up to the hunter’s lodge on the east side of the lake.  The presence of more dead animals than they could skin brought small whirlwinds of flies to circle above the carcasses.

- I recall taking a back entryway into Blackwold’s Roost, another set of Herculean ruins which further betrayed a greater importance the valley of Archet must have once held for a bygone people.  I remember losing all morale in there, twice, fighting off increasing numbers of brigands, knowing that the right solution was to form a fellowship with other players, and never attempting to do so.

- I recall burying the shepherd after the assault on Archet; putting his bloodied body into the ground, as his equally bloodied flock lie strewn and dead about his brown and green hillock.

- I recall walking, walking, walking the roads, fending off aggressive wolves, boars, and spiders, until I grew in strength and knowledge until even those wild woodland creatures learned my scent and kept away.

- I recall another player, who’d named his character after a Star Wars theme, running in circles around me, never taunting me, but exasperating his boredom by killing off creatures that I first engaged in combat.  Yet we never exchanged any words.

  - I recall two other players who never spoke to me, but walked alongside me from the town of Combe, up and across to the spider-rank fields of a working farm.  One held a banner.  The other continuously jaunted one or two steps ahead of me to make him look like a default leader.  They too never spoke to me, despite my questions, as we walked the roads.

- And I recall seeing the town of Archet, burned down to the foundation in some areas, still trudging with life as vendors, trainers, watchmen, and citizens continued their daily toils.  Some maintained hope while others gave in to exhaustion and bewilderment, but I let Archet go.  I was only a refugee myself, and I allowed that town to slip my grasp.  Seeing it blackened with charcoal affirmed a need to move on, when normally I would have created a family tie with the town.

So this is where my gaming heart now lies.  I’ll admit that my commitment-phobic tendencies with MMOs may very well kick in at any moment.  It usually happens somewhere around the 21-day mark, as the overly-practical side of me realizes that I have to end things now, or pay the subscription fee.  But this could be different.  And for everyone it’s different.  But this one could be the one for me.

[Having been away since beta, Randy is playing through a 14-day free trial of The Lord of the Rings Online.  He tends to be impressed by the little things.]

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Will Wright loves the Spore porn, discusses
possible console release

It's one of the laws of human nature, that the moment a man is given the ability to customize something, a big dong is what he'll customize it with. Thus it was with Spore's creature creator, as semi sentient genitals began popping up all over the Internet shortly after release. It should be a sad and sorry statement on society, but instead it's very funny, and if you're Will Wright, it's even impressive. Yep, Spore's creator and game design legend Will Wright actually praised the skillful way in which gamers are churning out filth.

"Some of it's really good for what they were shooting for," stated Wee Willy Wrighty. "It's amazingly explicit, especially when those creations are animated. We just have to make sure those people aren't messing up the experience for others."

So there you have it, your big bouncing bollocks with eyes has the blessing of Mr. Wright himself -- just keep your bollocks to yourself. Along with sharing his praise for the dirty Sporn, Wright also talked about possible console versions of Spore. While not suggesting they're in the works, or even that they're being considered, he suggested that if they were to appear, they would be tailored for each machine in question.

"Spore on almost any platform is going to be different and tied to the unique aspects of that platform," expounded the legendary designer. "Sitting in front of a console is very different from sitting in front of a PC. Whether you're using a mouse or a PS3 controller or a Wii wand, that right off the bat is arguing for a somewhat different design."

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Sponsored Feature: Inking the Cube: Edge
Detection with Direct3D 10

In this Intel-sponsored feature, part of the Gamasutra Visual Computing microsite, Intel senior graphics software engineer Joshua Doss delves practically into techniques for edge detection, crucial for many approaches to non-photorealistic rendering.

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Defining Boundaries: Creating Credible Obstacles
In Games, Part 2

Sidhe designer Griffiths (Gripshift) sparked much debate with his previous article on invisible barriers in games -- and he returns with an in-depth design article, examining practical solutions for the problem.

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Chuck Norris Brings the Pain... To Cell Phones
[Chuck Norris Bring On The Pain]

FACT: When playing this game, your phone automatically puts 911 on speed dial.

This Chuck Norris box art could be so bad-ass that it actually off-sets the fact that Chuck Norris Bring On the Pain is coming to a cell phone. Oh, did I mention that the chief bad guys are Fidel Castro and Kim Jong-il? That's right you better go out and buy a replacement phone now, because this one is going to KILL your current phone.

According to Gameloft, the game has Norris taking on a rogue Soviet army in an attempt to save POWs from Cambodia. Next he has to save America from invasion. That's right, it makes no sense, but that's how Norris rolls. Gameloft calls the game a "hilarious dive into the life of the legend - martial arts action, denimclad justice, and going commando!" And by hilarious I'm sure Gameloft means kick-ass... unless they want Norris to snap their company over his knee.

Bring on the Pain is said to play like an old-school beat-em-up and allows you to use traditional weapons or Norris' flesh-coated weapons. You can also take pics of your friends and turn them into enemies in the games.

The only way this game could be more bad-ass is if it co-starred Evel Knievel. But I can understand why Gameloft didn't go that route, they don't want to get sued for all of those exploding phones.

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Xav meets Denis: Part 2 of 3

In which Xav gently dangles Denis’ feet over the fire, and Mr. Dyack proves himself an adept firewalker. His answer on the valkyrie thing is horseshit though. You want a penalty for death? Your armor degrades — that’s a penalty, sir.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BitsBytesPixelsSprites/~3/376300560/

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