I don't know what kind of twisted obsession is driving YouTube user freddiew to re-imagine all sorts of video game happenings as if they could happen in the real world, but I hope it never subsides. The prolific YouTuber has followed up last week's futuristic re-imagining of Rock Band with a fictional look at the invention of that most ridiculous of video game physics exploits, the rocket jump.
The best part of the video, besides the surreal vision of a grown man floating gently upward on an explosion shockwave, might be the pixelated, old-school thought balloon that leads to the idea of the Rocket Jump in the first place. And here I was thinking that I was the only person who imagined real-world situations in such low-resolution audio and video.
And yet, he's only 11 years old. Think about that. The first proper Mario game that came out after he was born was Super Mario Sunshine.
Even though Mario easily could be something that Oscar's parents thought was cool, Oscar has amassed an amazing collection of Mario memorabilia - over 1,000 individual pieces. And he's put it all together in a cute little video, which you can see below.
I really wonder where Oscar gets his money. That Japan-only Bathing Ape "Mario and Milo" DS ain't cheap.
... or can you? Almost 20 years after the game's release, devoted players armed with emulators are still testing the limits of the relatively glitchy Super Mario World engine to make Mario perform feats even more superhuman than normal.
Watch as Mario carries two items as once. Gawk as Mario uses a key as an infinite jumping platform. Be amazed as Mario travels through seemingly solid walls. Marvel as Mario spin jumps off of ropes, jumps off of vertical walls, rides Yoshi on deadly lava, kicks shell-less koopas, spin-jumps through a row of Thwimps and re-uses the same P-switch time and time again.
As the below video shows, it's all possible in this brave new Mario World. Oh what a time to be alive!
If the game is by "Genesis systems," as the title screen says, why does it look like a Commodore 64 game? If you're going to make a pun, take it all the way!
Wait, "Supernatural Creator TWO"? What did God do in the first game if there was no light?
Speaking of which, shouldn't creating light be worth more points than creating the plants and mountains in level 3? I mean, without light, how would you even see the mountains.
When did God create the space bi-plane he uses in level 4? I don't remember that part of the bible.
Did anyone else expect God to break out a zapper instead of a guitar controller to shoot the ducks in level 5?
How can creating men and beasts in level 6 not be worth a single point? Are we really that worthless?
All that said, we're glad we played through the whole game and got to see the big twist ending. It doesn't seem like they left much room for a sequel, but here's hoping...
Check out the full trailer after the break, and maybe our criticisms will make a bit more sense.
Sony's Playstation Move and Microsoft's Kinect may be a few years late to the motion control party, but that's not stopping either developer from taking their best delayed swing at it.
With the Move's release date just a few weeks away (Sept. 15 in Europe and Sept. 19 in the U.S.), a new tech demo has popped up on the Playstation Blog to highlight Sony's waggle wand and many of its capabilities.
No matter what Sony R&D member Anton Mikhailov does with the controller, the video appears to showcase precise 1:1 movement in activities like swinging swords, throwing fireballs, sculpting in 3D and even building a Minority Report-esque onscreen workstation.
Halo fans are being asked to "remember where it all began" with the help of the "Deliver Hope" live-action trailer. This latest bit of marketing shows off the heroic efforts of Noble Team as they shoot holes in the Covenant and blow stuff up in dramatic fashion in an effort to save the planet Reach.
"Deliver Hope" is set to hit global airwaves in commercial form beginning Sunday, Aug. 29, in preparation for the Sept. 14 release of Halo: Reach.
The clip was once again produced by an all-star team, including director Noam Murro (Smart People), editor Angus Wall (The Social Network) and sound designer Brian Emerich (The Wrestler).
On a side note, the writers of Independence Day would like to have a few words with the fine folks at Microsoft.
Wondering what to expect from SOCOM 4 but, wouldn't you know it, you were unable to attend GamesCom this year? Then click after the break and clamp your peepers on the latest video uploaded to the Playstation blog by Zipper Interactive.
In it, lead designer Travis Steiner walks you through a quarter of an hour's worth of actual gameplay from the upcoming title, which was being demoed last week on the gamescon floor.
Learn the basics of gameplay, get a glimpse of the story and see what you'll actually be playing in 2011 rather than yet another series of clips from cutscenes. Spoiler alert: You command a team of soldiers and shoot terrorists in the face with bullets.
At this point in our gaming careers, we're totally used to Japan getting all sorts of cool gaming-related stuff that we'll never see in the States. Now, apparently, we have to add South Korea to the list of countries we look at through green-with-envy eyes. That's because those lucky South Koreans getting Rockman Online, a full-on massively multiplayer Mega Man title. And we're not! (Well, unless Mega Man Universe turns out to be really different than we expect)
Oh well... even if we won't get to experience the online Mega Man action for ourselves, we at least we get to enjoy this awesome, heavily anime-inspired trailer for the game through the magic of the Internet. Check it out after the break.
For years, I have convinced myself that "The Future" would finally be here when we all had flying cars. That was before today, when this video convinced me "The Future" will finally be here when we can all play Rock Band with a holographic display locked to real instruments.
Just think... no more awkwardly looking away from the screen to see which keyboard key or guitar fret matches the on-screen color. No more trying to match your real-world movements with the timing of your HDTV's refresh rate. Just colorful notes, floating in mid-air, intersecting with your actual instruments t gently guide your playing.
This vision of our glorious rhythm game future comes from glorious YouTube user freddiew, who you may remember as the guy who brought games like Portal and Time Crisis into the real world with some clever video production techniques. As far as we can tell this is the first time he's anticipated what gaming might look like in the future, but we certainly hope it's not that last.
Check out something much better than flying cars after the break.
If you read Joystick Division regularly, you know we're big fans of theemergingtrend of the demake -- modern game remade with retro aesthetics and/or technology. But we have yet to see what might be termed a super-demake -- an already retro game demade even further into some sort of even rougher form. Until now, that is.
Minitroid, an in-development project by indie developer tokinsom, takes the already pixelated world of Metroid (and it's monochrome Game Boy sequel) and reduces it even further, to the point where every element is distilled to its most basic visual essence. What's surprising is that the resulting game is still recognizably Metroid, from Samus' signature helmet to the tiny, tiny missiles she shoots at those familiar hopping frog enemies.
Though there's no target release date for this indie release yet, the videos released so far look like the game is in a relatively playable form already, an idea which has us nearly wetting ourselves with anticipation. Check out the footage after the break.
First put on by all-female Japanese musical theater troupe Takarazuka Revue in early 2009, the musical actually does a good job capturing the look and feel of the games it draws inspiration from. From the costumes and sets to the dialogue and story... even the timing and sense of humor have a true Phoenix Wright ring to them that will ring true to fans of the Capcom adventure series.
Check out a selection of subtitled YouTube videos from the musical and its sequel (yes, there's a sequel!) after the break.
That headline might not go far enough, actually. "All month" or "all year,' might be more appropriate. In fact, First Person Project: The Jackknife Chronicles is, bar none, one of the best examples of Garry's Mod-based storytelling we've ever seen.
Through quick intercuts between noirish flashbacks, stealthy sneaking and balls-out action, kitty0706's 12-minute epic tells a story of love and revenge with barely a word of dialogue. Though the video is set in the Half Life series' City 17, the simulated gameplay on display takes obvious inspiration from games like Mirror's Edge, Max Payne, Metal Gear Solid and Red Steel. The video's credits reveal that the music and sets for the game were taken from dozens of different games, as well.
While we'd love to see the type of action shown here made into an actual game, our logical side tells us that the perfect pacing, camera angles and visual effects would be somewhat ruined by actual gameplay considerations. Still, we can watch the video after the break and dream, can't we...?
Even though multiplayer is easily the way to go with these games, the developer of Worms: Reloaded would like you to know that that it has plenty of single-player content as well.
You know, in case you don't actually have friends.
The Worms team has released a new trailer that runs down all the single-player goodness you can expect in the new game. Check it out below!
I think I may love the marketing for Halo games more than I actually like Halo games.
Every time there's a new Halo game on the horizon, Microsoft whips out classy, unique ads that are completely removed from the standard "here's footage of stuff in the game blowing up" commercials.
The latest live-action Halo: Reach video is below. It won't work for all of you (it seems to be splitting viewer reaction right down the middle) but it definitely worked for me. Gave me a bit of a chill, honestly.
Ninja Girl guides you through the insanity that was QuakeCon 2010
Every year, id Software holds the world's biggest LAN party in Dallas, TX. Called QuakeCon, the show features massive multiplayer gaming tournaments, demos of upcoming id games (as well as games by their new owners Bethesda), merch booths and much, much more!
We sent Ninja Girl to QuakeCon to chat with gamers, check out the gaming tournaments and report on the vibe of this awesome video game event.
Head below for her video coverage of QuakeCon 2010!
Bethesda has been consistently rolling out new developer diary videos for Brink, the upcoming action-shooter. Most of these videos make some pretty bold claims, including this latest one, which claims that Brink is the end of game genres as we know them.
The developers of Brink make a pretty strong case as to how the game challenges the way we think about topics like single-player, multiplayer and more. Check it out below and let us know your take on Brink's claims.
In honor of today's announcement of Plants vs. Zombies for Nintendo DS, we present to you Plants vs. Zombies in Real Life!
Sure, the video below is a year old, but we just found it today during our daily news search. But hey, just because it's old doesn't mean that it isn't amusing.
The video below originally appeared on Gamervision.com and next made its way to Gametrailers.com. And now it's here. You'll always have a home with us, goofy fan-made video game stuff! We love you.
Ninja Girl knows a thing or two about ass-kicking females
Our good friend Ninja Girl with another Top Five video for your enjoyment.
This time, she's chiming in on something she knows a lot about: sexy ass-kicking women.
In the video below, she counts down her Top Five Sexiest Fighting Game Vixens, as well as giving us a look at her own butt-kicking workout routine.
As per normal, the following video contains vulgar language and a good deal of skin. We wouldn't have it any other way, but we figured you'd appreciate the kinda-NSFW warning.
Retro City Rampage loves and mocks old-school gaming
If you love old-school gaming, then Retro City Rampage is definitely a game you want to watch.
Originally slated for WiiWare, RCR is now slated for unspecified "consoles" later this year. While it clearly draws a lot of inspiration from classic Nintendo games, I hope this sucker hits as many platforms as possible.
An 8-Bit style open-world action game, RCR's trailer (which you can see below) is rife with references to classic games. Some of the easiest ones to spot are Contra and Bionic Commando, but there are plenty more. How many can you name?
Killzone 2's campaign mode was only so-so, but you'd have a hard time arguing that the multiplayer wasn't pretty great. It follows that Killzone 3's multiplayer should be pretty strong as well.
Below is the first clip of Killzone 3's multiplayer in action. It's pretty fast-paced and not exactly in-depth, but you can see some of the new features like vehicles, jetpacks and melee kills.
It goes without saying that the following clip is pretty bloody and violent. Enjoy!
As part of the ongoing GamesCom media blitz, Sony has released new trailers for two of the launch titles for the upcoming PlayStation Move controller. Both The Shoot and Start The Party have received the video treatment, and they lay out pretty clearly what you should expect from Move games.
And that's better-looking Wii games. Shocking, I know. The Move controller may be more technologically advanced than the Wii Remote, but the games look no more original.
Prepare yourself against the charms of Costume Quest!
I am not as big of a fan of Double Fine as some other JD folks. Sure, I loved Psychonauts, but I thought Brutal Legend really underachieved in the gameplay department, despite having a strong story.
That being said, it looks like I'll definitely be checking out Costume Quest. I wasn't quite sold on the initial description, but thanks to this trailer I'm completely on board.
Costume Quest is an all-ages RPG about kids defending Halloween from real monsters. Cute, right? Just wait until you watch the video.
Amongst all the media released at GamesCom is this new trailer for Dragon Age II, which is badass and gorgeous.
Unfortunately, it's all pre-rendered, so it's way better looking than the actual game. But hey, we're not complaining. It's an awesome trailer and hints at some of the powers you'll wield in the game, so why not watch it now? You know you want to.
Over in sunny Germany, folks at GamesCom got a live demo of the multiplayer mode of Crytek's upcoming shooter Crysis 2.
It's the first glimpse we've had of the game's multiplayer mode, and as you'd expect it looks very pretty. However, the original Crysis was better-known for its visuals and punishing PC hardware requirements than its actual gameplay, so it's no surprise that while it looks really nice, it doesn't look all that original.
But hey, who are we to judge? You can watch it yourself below. You know what to do.
A pair of new videos for Halo: Reach have been spotted, and we're only too happy to share them with you.
The first focuses on the characters that make up Noble Team, the squad you'll be joining in the campaign. I have to admit, this one got me excited for the game, although I couldn't exactly tell you why.
The second is a live-action clip that was uncovered as part of the Reach alternate reality game, and it's not very exciting. It does, however, have an interesting tidbit of story info in it.
Red Faction: Battleground wagers that you like blowing shit up.
After being announced yesterday, THQ Digital has unleashed the first trailer for Red Faction: Battlegrounds.
It's a pretty short little video, which is fairly common for a first game trailer. But unlike many game teasers, it's not short because it lacks content - it just gets straight to the point. And that point is "blow shit up."
Check out the trailer below. It's chock full of actual gameplay and gives you a pretty clear idea what to expect from the final game.
Sony's humorous PS3 ad campaign has worked well for the company's home console, so naturally the company has taken a similar direction with the latest PSP ads.
This isn't the first commercial in the new PSP campaign, but we found it interesting because of who it's taking shots at - it's not long-time rival Nintendo. It's Apple.
Sure, no one gets called out by name, but it's pretty clear who the target is here. Sony is saying that Apple games suck - and also recognizing that Apple is a legitimate force in the handheld market.
Y'see, because the below video shows a conversation between a couple of characters in the Mafia II demo. And they're both voiced by prolific video game voice actor Nolan North. And that's "too many." And "Too" sounds like the "two" in "Mafia Two," when you say it out loud. OK, you know what? You just don't appreciate good headline writing, that's what it is.
Anyway, we're not sure what's more embarrassing about this clip: the weirdness of two identical-sounding characters talking to each other; or the awkward pauses, disjointed body language and lack of mouth movement on display by both of them. Hopefully both will be fixed by the time the full game hits stores Aug. 27.
If there's one thing we didn't like about Braid, it's that the story was too simple. Too sensible. Too easy to figure out. If only that dull, straightforward storyline could be presented in a form that was a little more abstract... a little more ambiguous.
All joking aside, we're kind of surprised that this 69 minute dance performance by the (Parker, CO) Chapparal High School Alumni Theatre manages to be even less comprehensible than the hit indie game it's based on. Maybe if we'd spent our youths studying dance instead of studying video games we'd be able to appreciate it better. As it is, we just like the familiar music and sound effects, and try to filter out all that movement and stuff.
We've embedded the performance -- all ten parts -- as a playlist after the break, and if you can make it though the whole thing, you have a better tolerance for this stuff than we do.
If you're like most gamers, you have a closet somewhere in your house full of fake plastic instruments. One day, you will likely have to clean out that closet. Maybe you'll donate the plastic instruments to charity. Maybe you'll arrange them into tasteful modern art objects. Maybe you'll simply throw them out.
Whatever method of plastic instrument disposal you choose, though, I can almost guarantee it will not be nearly as cool as this one.
This over-the-top volcanic desctruction has been brought to us by Seven45 Studios, makers of Power Gig: Rise of the Six String, a.k.a. "that game that lets you play with a real six string guitar," a.k.a. "that game that sounded a lot more appealing before Rock Band 3 promised to do the exact same thing." Regardless, if they keep pulling off PR stunts like this, we'll be happy to give more attention to their upstart rhythm game.
Before pixel artist Paul Robertson and chiptune aficionado Anamanaguchi got involved with the Scott Pilgrim game that hit PSN yesterday, the general idea for the game had to be sold to publisher Ubisoft. Hence this video, which Comics Alliance claims says was used to pitch the idea of the game when it was nothing more than just that... an idea (though they don't say where they got the "exclusive" video or who actually made it, so we're a tiny bit skeptical to its provenance).
While the rough art is a little more 8-bit than 16-bit, the general gameplay and aesthetic from this supposed pitch seems to have made it into the final game. What we're a little sad didn't make it is the awesome chiptune versions of everything from the Smashing Pumpkins to The White Stripes, and the sly references to Mega Man and Ninja Gaiden (not that the final game is lacking in gaming references or anything, but still).
See the alleged ur-Pilgrim game after the break. And, as an added bonus, check out the now-familiar Scott Pilgrim movie trailer replaced with images from the original comics.
Yes, this compressed history is a bit over-simplified, and a bit preachy politically, but it gets bonus surreality points for managing to shoehorn the mechanics of Tetris in with the mechanics of the soviet system. And as we all know, five surreality points can be traded in for a lobster telephone.
If you want your Tetris song lyrics with less history (and more misogyny), BrentalFloss has you covered.
I put "play" in quotes up there because the new "iTrailer" (a word so new it practically demands scare quotes) includes the barest amount of interaction. Basically, you repeatedly click anywhere on the screen as the video plays to unlock everything from behind-the-scenes footage and explanatory text notes to music downloads and even audio commentary from the director. Even if you miss a click, you can simply unlock everything using a button at the trailer's end. I've seen YouTube videos with more interactivity.
Still, I figured it was worth a link here for two few reasons. 1) The i-Trailer actually includes quite a few tidbits not available in previous trailers; and 2) It's actually an interesting concept that we hope gets expanded with more robust interactivity in future i-Trailers.
Bethesda had a pretty good showing at E3, but its upcoming shooter Brink was pretty solidly overshadowed by Fallout: New Vegas and id's award-winning Rage. In an attempt to get some of the focus back on Brink, Bethesda has released a new video diary that focuses on the world of the game and its story.
It's ultimately a game about a lot of dudes shooting each other, so you can imagine that its no character-driven drama or anything. But the video below does actually mention An Inconvenient Truth as an inspiration. Seriously.
There's a hilarious new trailer out today for the upcoming XBLA version of Plants vs. Zombies, and we're totally serious when we say that we plan to pick up this third version of the game. It's a simply great game as is, and the new additions of features like multiplayer make us helpless to resist its charms. See you next month, PvsZ XBLA.
Two World's baddie can't deal with how bad his game was
SouthPeak Interactive is continuing with its ballsy marketing plan for Two Worlds II, which focuses largely on admitting how bad the original game was.
The publisher has released the third chapter in the "Sordahon's Journey" video series, which takes the original game's bad guy and basically mocks the crap out of him. At least, we think he's the bad guy. Honestly, like a lot of you, we stayed far away from the first game, so we can't really be sure.
Check out the first two videos right here. When you're done, check out the new one below. Honestly, they're all pretty damn funny.
Well then, you can always count on LittleBigPlanet and its irresistible mascot Sackboy to satisfy your recommended daily allowance of Vitamin Cuddle. That's a real thing. My doctor told me. And then he hugged me.
*Ahem*
Anyway, Sackboy is back with a new video to remind you that the LittleBigPlanet series isn't just about making your own levels - there's an actual game on that disc, too!
The video below highlights the hijinks and and action players will encounter in the main adventure mode of LittleBigPlanet 2. As with the last game, expect to see plenty of tricky platforming disguised with huge helpings of charm.
Did we mention that this game is cute. It's pretty cute.
Posted by Alexander Bevier at 8:00 AM Aug 04, 2010
Super Mario Bros. is an undisputed classic, and nothing has deterred its majesty sense its 1983 debut. The game has been re-released countless times and has received many special editions; Including revisions made by computer-savvy fans who like adding ninjas to things.
That's right, a ninja was added to Super Mario Bros.
This video showing off a hacked version of the game features Ryu Hayabusa from the NES classic Ninja Gaiden effortlessly performing feats that would normally be impossible for Nintendo's plumber. The video comes from the updated version of Super Mario Crossover (now at version 1.1).
Be sure to check out the video after the jump and the updated game is playable here.
It's kind of amazing how many universal "Oregon Trail" references the team at Half Day Today managed to pack in to this hilarious fake Oregon Trail movie trailer. From the fact that no one wants to be the carpenter to the fact that everyone buys too many bullets at the beginning to the all-too-common character named "Poopface," it's all in there. They even managed to throw in a classy dysentery reference for good measure!
But there is one moment in this fake trailer that threatens to ruin the nostalgic fun. It comes at around 1:20 in the video, when the father says that they can only carry back ten pounds of meat from the 1,400 gathered in a hunting expedition. Everyone knows that you can actually carry back 100 pounds of meat per hunt (or 200 pounds if you're playing the early '90s Windows remake).
What? You say not everyone knows that? You say we're incredibly nerdy for knowing that? Why thank you!
The beat is catchy enough in its own right, especially to fans of the underrated NES Zelda sequel (or Super Smash Bros.' Temple stage). But the lyrics will hook in any unsuspecting nerd with constant barely decipherable internet and gaming references. The pixel-art video by Doc Octoroc (who you might remember from his interactive 8-bit Twilight videos) is similarly packed with nerdy references and some nostalgic game-like visual effects. See how many you can spot in the video below the break.
The Manavox Odyssey: One of the many, many, many consoles you'll see below.
Damn.
Some brave soul has gone and made a video highlighting every single video game console in history.
That brave soul is Eliot Hagen of website Elder Geek. His video clip is nothing more than photos of each console set to some familiar music, but it's much more substantial than you'd think based on that description.
Even with each console getting a few seconds of screen time, the video clocks in at a whopping 23 minutes. This is largely because of how frighteningly complete this list of console is - there are several that I had never heard of before, along with revisions of popular consoles, Japanese versions, and cheap off-brand consoles. When you've got some time, take a look and check it out!
It's hard to pick favorites, but here are the five sex-related Pokemon puns (poke-puns? pun-keman?) from the below rap that we're going to try to work into everyday foreplay:
"...now I'm ready to Cubone"
"...tonight she's just rhyhorn-y"
"But that was before I knew your Diglett was so Dragtini!"
"Since I had to Staryu, you have to Starmie"
"I thought I had been charmin' her" (say it slowly)
Pick your favorite from the lyrics, or listen for yourself after the break.
Princess Peach and other video game characters get sexy!
Around the country, there's a growing number of "nerd-themed" burlesque shows, in which the performers dress up like characters from TV shows, comics, cartoons, and of course video games.
The most famous of the nerd-themed burlesque troops is arguably The Devil's Playground, the LA-area who has performed shows based on video games, Star Wars, comics and more.
The Devil's Playground and all other nerd-themed burlesque performers are obviously performing a valuable service that promotes the betterment of mankind, so we feel that it's our duty to salute them here.
The following six clips show off some of the fun, sexy video game-themed burlesque shows happening out there. We've got a couple clips of Devil's Playground performers, but they're far from the only ones putting on these kinds of acts.
Obviously, the rest of this post should be considered mildly NSFW.
Warriors of Rock Quest mode trailer shows off the stupid
Rock music is a genre that invites comparisons. Are you a Beatles fan or an Elvis fan? A Led Zeppelin fan or a Rolling Stones fan?
A Rock Band fan or a Guitar Hero fan?
I like to admit my biases. I'm a Rock Band fan. The development team at Harmonix clearly likes to make their game all about the music - the big innovation of Rock Band 3 is that you can actually teach yourself to play for real with the game.
Then there's Guitar Hero, which is definitely focused more on the "game" than the "music" in the music game genre.
The new trailer below lays out the details of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock's Quest mode, which focuses on story, mutant creatures and special powers. In other words, everything other than music.
Check out the trailer below and see what I mean. Music is barely even mentioned.
If a LEGO Starcraft game were possible, this is what it would look like
No, there's not really a LEGO Starcraft game on the way.
But this fan-made video from Kooberz Studios proves that if there was one, it would be pretty awesome.
The clip below captures Starcraft pretty perfectly in brick form, which just goes to show you that LEGO can be used to recreate almost anything and make it awesome.
There may never be a real LEGO Starcraft, but if there was ever a LEGO RTS, I'd play it. Check out the video below.
The folks behind the marketing for Halo: Reach have been spending a lot of time promoting the multiplayer, but now they'd like you to remember that this game has a campaign mode as well.
The new story-focused trailer for Reach has arrived, and wouldn't you know it, it's pretty epic. Prepare for lots of pretty shots of big battles, lots of vehicles, and the like.
We've got the video for you below, because above all else, we're here for you. Consider us your humble servants.
This Dungeon Siege 3 pic is tiny. The video below is much bigger!
The teaser trailer for the upcoming Dungeon Siege 3 is missing a couple of things. First of all, there are no dungeons in it, which is, you know, kind of like a Transformers trailer without any Transformers in it.
And while the video touts the game as from the makers of Fallout: New Vegas and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, their most recent title is missing. Sure, Alpha Protocol isn't thematically similar to Dungeon Siege, but then again, neither are the other two games. We have a feeling the omission might have something to do with the fact that Alpha Protocol simply wasn't very good.
But hey, Dungeon Siege 3 should be cool! Why not watch the video below?
If you had tried to get me interested in Southpeak Interactive's Two Worlds II as recently as last week, I would have told you not to waste your time. After all, simply spending an hour with the first Two Worlds was enough to get me to summarily call it "one of the worst games I have ever played." I usually don't play sequels to the worst games I have ever played, on general principle.
But that was before I saw the first two episodes of "Sordahon's Journey," a series of web videos Southpeak made to promote the game. The first episode drew me in by openly mocking some of the worst aspects of the first Two Worlds (long loading times, bad "Olde English" dialogue, sound effect miscues... the list goes on). But the second episode really sold the whole concept with a brilliant five-second sequence showing evil henchman Sordahon getting beaten mercilessly by three-year-olds (pictured). Seriously, I could watch that five-second clip on loop all day.
Sure, the acting and writing and production values in these videos are kind of cheesy, and I have absolutely no confidence that Two Worlds II will actually be any better than the horrible original. Still, if the existence of the Two Worlds franchise has led to the existence of these videos, well, I guess it can't be all bad.
Sunday Night Starcraft: Because the underdog always wins!
A fallen champion returns to the competition that he swore he'd never compete in again after a tragic loss.
You've probably seen a few dozen movies just like that before, and the creators of Sunday Night Starcraft are well aware of that. The creators of this fake gaming movie used the tropes of the sports movie genre to make a trailer for a non-existent film that looks like it could actually work on screen.
"Dead Panda Comedy" have done some nice work on their Sunday Night Starcraft trailer, and wouldn't you know it, you can check it out right here!
Ninja Girl Rachel is back with another weekly video, and she's more dangerous than ever.
Her topic this week is her personal top five video game weapons, a subject she knows well. Unlike the rest of us wimps here at JD, she's an honest-to-goodness firearms nut, so she knows a thing or two about what makes for a good gun. Therefore, we have to assume that her licking a gun barrel is some kind of cleaning technique.
But enough of our babbling. Check out the video below to see which video game weapons made the list.
Now the Brothers have returned with one of their most gaming-focused videos yet: 50 Nintendo Spoilers in Two Minutes.
Over the course of the two minute video, the Brothers spoil the endings of 50 NES games. Some of them you probably know (Mario saves the Princess!), but many of them you might not.
For example, many gamers played but never finished the notoriously hard Ninja Gaiden games. Well, now you can find out how all three of them end, along with 47 other games.
The video, as you may have guessed, is embedded below.
Mega Man Universe: It's a game, but that's about all we can say so far.
Mega Man fans should be thrilled to hear that Capcom has announced a new Mega Man game, but they'd probably be a little more thrilled if we had any idea what it was.
Mega Man Universe is coming to Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network, but that's all we really know for sure. Based on the trailer (which you can see below), it looks like the game will star characters from other popular Capcom franchises, such as Street Fighter and Ghosts n' Goblins.
"This game will break the mold and challenge the conventional wisdom of what a Mega Man game can be," producer Keiji Inafune said in the announcement. "When fans finally get to see it, I believe they'll envision their most far-out Mega Man dreams coming true."
We've had some pretty weird dreams about Mega Man, so I guess we'll see.
Not too long ago, our Top 5 Hot Girls Playing Video Games list introduced our readers to Ninja Girl Rachel, a sexy lesbian gamer, ex-Marine and all-around kick-ass person. We started chatting with her, did a video interview, and found her to be fun, funny and easy to work with.
So starting now, Ninja Girl will be producing a new sexy gaming-related video every week, exclusively for Joystick Division.
Check out Ninja Girl's first video below, which covers her picks for 5 overlooked gems of the 16-Bit era. Which she discusses while wearing a bikini. Just FYI.
You've helped save the Princess from Bowser several times before, but you've never done it like this.
YouTube user "DrCoolSex" presents an interactive video adventure in which you decide what Mario should do on his quest to save Peach yet again. To see every possible outcome you'll have to play through it several times, so what are you waiting for? You'd better get to it.
Naturally, we've got the first part in the video adventure below. No need to thank us. It's what we're here for.
The E3 demo of upcoming shooter Bulletstorm is now online, complete with "director commentary" from Epic Games' Design Director Cliff Bleszinski. The unabashedly arcade-style gameplay of Bulletstorm was a big hit at E3, and the game is definitely on our list of upcoming shooters to watch.
In Bulletstorm, players vie for "skill shots" by dispatching enemies in clever ways, and you'll have more than guns at your disposal. You can pull enemies with your "energy leash" and give bad guys a well-placed kick in the ass. Oh, and there are plenty of guns, too. Using the three elements together leads to a bunch of fun combat combinations, and that's what the game is all about.
But rather than listen to us prattle on about it, why don't you watch the Bulletstorm demo below? Go on, we'll wait.
You either love Twilight or you hate it, but either way you should get a kick out of 8-Bit Twilight Eclipse Interactive. Created by The Fine Brothers with help from partners "Doc Octoroc" and "The Station", the video recreates the world of Twilight in glorious 8-bit style.
But that's not all! 8-Bit Twilight Eclipse Interactive not only looks like a game, it is a game! Using YouTube annotations, the Fine Brothers and friends were able to create a "choose your own adventure" type experience in which you're able to control how the story unfolds.
There are 13 8-Bit Twilight Eclipse Interactive videos in all, so to see them all you'll have to play the game several times. Get started with the first video, which you can see below.
Announced at Konami's E3 press conference, the first trailer for the next chapter in the Silent Hill saga is here. Silent Hill 8 (working title) is the story of convict Murphy Pendleton, an escaped convict who finds himself trapped in gaming's creepiest town. Not much else is known about the game, other than that it's a third-person survival horror game in the tradition of the series, and not an FPS as had been rumored.
Silent Hill 8 is scheduled for 2011 on Xbox 360 and PS3. Check out the trailer below, which boasts some impressive lighting effects and strange, creepy townspeople.
After experiencing a few delays, Activision's sci-fi shooter Singularity finally hits tomorrow. In the wake of its impending release, the publisher released this new trailer for the game's multiplayer mode, which looks like a pretty standard affair in terms of the basics. While it looks like Singularity's online gameplay is most built around the familiar deathmatch model, it carves out its own identity with a little bit of weird, creepy, grossness. Time-warping vomiting zombies, human-possessing wall crabs and temporal distortion warping give the game a little bit of a distinct flavor. Check out the trailer, and let us know if we should look for you online in Singularity.
There are about a million reasons to love Plants vs. Zombies (if you haven't played it yet, you're seriously missing out). Amongst the many is the hilarious and adorable theme song at the end of the game, which is great when you hear it at the end of the game. It's even better live - at least when its performed by original artist Laura Shigihara with "backup vocals" from Plants vs. Zombies designer George Fan. Try to get through this video with a straight face. I dare you.
At this point, we all know that Jimmy Fallon is a huge gamer, and it's refreshing to see a late-night host taking games seriously. Last night, upcoming blockbuster shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops made an appearance on the show, and it's totally worth checking out the video of the demo if you missed it. I saw this level several times at E3, but I never saw it like this. Not once did anyone threaten to punch me in the head while I was watching it.
That's the assertion of this new trailer, which is one of the more clever video games ads I've seen in a while. If you're a Civ junkie, there's now help in the form of CivAnon! Find out more in the video below.
This video makes me wonder what team exactly Mario and his pals would play for. Mario's Italian, but his daddy Shigeru is Japanese... And Donkey Kong's a gorilla, so he's probably from Africa... And does the Mushroom Kingdom have a team? I'm confused. This is why I don't follow sports.
I didn't get a chance to see Naughty Bear at E3, but I definitely heard people talk about it while at the show. The fact that this strange, smaller game has us jaded gamers talking about it has a lot to do with the game's aggressive, clever video campaign, which has parodied famous movies and simply been all-around twisted. Two new videos have been added to the bunch, including the full trailer you see above and the demented multiplayer trailer below. Enjoy!
At E3 last week, I had a chance to get my hands on the MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. However, I'm not too well-versed in the MMO genre, so it's hard for me to write about what I saw in an informed way. But it doesn't take any special knowledge to appreciate this bad-ass trailer for the game, which is easily one of the coolest things with the Star Wars name I've seen in a long time.
The trailer has been out there for a few days, so my apologies for just getting around to it now. This video was created by the ultra-talented folks at Blur Studio, who have done trailers and cinematics for more games than I can possibly list here. This is actually the second trailer Blur has created for The Old Republic, and if you haven't seen the first one (which is just as cool if not moreso), you can check it out below.
With all the focus on getting hands-on coverage of games up as quickly as possible, we've admittedly been a little slow on getting some recent news items up. As a token of apology, please accept this new trailer for Metal Gear Solid: Rising, the new action spin-off that may appeal to fans who don't care for the MGS series' stealth gameplay. Rising looks fast-paced and brutal, with gamplay built around the concept of "Zan-Datsu" - "cut and take" in English. You can see it in action below, and it looks pretty slick.
This parody video from producers The Fine Brothers landed in my inbox over the evening. I got a kick out of it and thought that you good people might as well. It explores one possible reason why Andy stopped playing with Woody, Buzz and the other toys. I think you can figure out what that reason might be based on the title of this post.
Keep in mind that despite the subject, the video is mildly NSFW.
Maybe I'm a sucker, but this trailer for DJ Hero 2 worked on me. Maybe it's because I played the original game all by myself, and it got a little lonely. I like the idea of interacting with other humans.
There's a good chance that you're either up in arms about the new XCOM game because of how different it is from the original series, or completely unaware of said series. If you're not opposed to the new game on principle, then you might want to check out the first trailer for the game, which touts the fact that it was made by the BioShock 2 team. I can see the resemblance, and if you're a fan of the BioShock series, you probably will too.
It was probably a good time for new franchise owners Warner Bros. Interactive to announce a new Mortal Kombat game, given how much the attention the once-stagnant franchise has received thanks to the Hollywood concept video that came out the other day. And while the gameplay seen in the video above looks solid enough, it's a far cry from the total reinvention the other trailer was pitching.
The big change for the series is that its returning to the classic "2D" fighting of the original games, rather than the 3D arena fighting of the later games. There's also a new "co-op arcade mode" and other new features, although it's mostly pretty vague at this point.
The new Mortal Kombat game is coming next year from WBI and NetherRealm Studios (previously known as Midway Chicago). MK co-creator Ed Boon is heading up the project, which is scheduled for Xbox 360 and PS3 next year. Full press release below.
Yesterday I received a press release for upcoming shooter Blacklight: Tango Down that highlights the game's "Hyper Reality Visor" gameplay feature, which helps the player identify threats in the environment. Apparently, the HRV is based on legitimate military technology:
The HRV is an advanced imaging system in the player's Heads up Display that detects nearby enemy and friendly forces and relays the information back to players, giving them immediate battlefield intelligence. Based on real-life applications, the HRV uses cell phone towers and satellites to detect nearby enemy and friendly forces and identifies nearby objectives including health and ammo stations.
Neat. But I'm perhaps more impressed by the fact that Blacklight: Tango Down is a downloadable game that will available shortly for PSN and Xbox Live Arcade. Creating a fancy-schmancy military visor is cool and all, but creating a decent-looking downloadable FPS is perhaps even tougher. Check out the trailer below.
Although I didn't much care for the original game, I have to admit that Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is looking much better than the original game. We've posted a few promotional videos before, and this latest trailer continues the trend of making me believe that I might not hate this game. The stylish editing certainly helps, but there's some solid gameplay footage in here, and it's looking sharp.
Check it out below. As with all Kane & Lynch 2 trailers, there's some cussing in it.
The trailer above was posted yesterday by YouTube user "MortalKombatRebirth," and it's much too professional and big-budget to be a fan-made video. Unless, of course, Michael Jai White is a huge Mortal Kombat fan who paid for it himself.
Most likely, Mortal Kombat: Rebirth is the name of the next game in the series, although it's also possible that it might be a new movie. Either way, it's clearly a dark new take on the series (which was pretty dark to begin with). More grounded in the real world, Rebirth re-imagines characters like Baraka and Reptile as serial killers, apparently does away with the "Outworld" concept and rubs the entire franchise in a coat of dirt and grime. Check it out.
Is it just me, or is this one of the brightest, most colorful post-apocalyptic worlds you've ever seen? I can't say that this trailer for the new Namco Bandai action title Enslaved: Odyssey to the West does much for me, but then again I still haven't played developer Ninja Theory's previous game, Heavenly Sword. I've heard good things, so maybe if I check it out I'll get excited for their upcoming title.
Like pretty much everything else we're covering right now, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West will be on display next week at E3.
The closer we draw to E3, the more of these little videos we see to get us hyped for the games that will be on display at the show. This morning's teaser video is courtesy of PC shooter Crysis 2, inviting us to fear its robotic enemy "The Pinger."
To most of you, the video below is your standard-issue video game teaser. For those who know me personally or know my family, it's freaking hilarious, thanks to an in-joke that's been going on for about, oh, twenty-odd years.
The announcement trailer for FEAR 3 was bad. Really bad. This new trailer isn't as terrible. It's not great, but at least it shows some gameplay footage and some creepy monsters. Why am I posting a new trailer that I'm online luke-warm on? Call me an optimist, but I'm not yet willing to write off a game just because the marketing material has failed to impress.
Over the weekend, a few new game trailers made their way out there in an attempt to make some noise ahead of the impending E3 conference. One such title is Vanquish from Platinum Games and Sega. I've enjoyed every one of Platinum's titles so far on some level, so their take on a Western shooter is something I've been pretty curious about. Looks like I won't be disappointed, as Vanquish appears to be nuts. A very Japanese take on a Gears of War-style game, Vanquish could be one worth watching. Speaking of watching, there's some actual in-game footage below.
Hell yes. I was a huge fan of the last Red Faction game, so I'm thrilled to hear the news about Red Faction: Armageddon, the new entry in the series that takes place 50 years after the events of Red Faction: Guerrilla. You'll play as Darius Mason, grandson of Guerrilla's Alex Mason, and inheritor for that game's "Nano Forge" weapon. The Mars of Armageddon is a much darker place than the last game, thanks to the awakening of an ancient alien race. Mankind has been driven underground, and naturally chaos ensues. But don't take my word for it - check out the first trailer and the feature list below.
One of the features of Alpha Protocol that got a lot of coverage early on is the fact that you can seduce several of the ladies you meet throughout the game. In my playthrough, I did hook up with one character, and it happened pretty organically. It never felt forced, and the actual sex was implied (heavily) and never shown. But now there's a more graphic "love scene" video online, and Agent Thornton isn't the one doing the seducing. There's no seduction at all. In fact, you could argue that the video below veers dangerously close to rape.
In the video below, Russian agent SIE takes advantage of a restrained Michael Thornton. It has no nudity and isn't overly graphic, but the scene is still pretty uncomfortable because of the dialogue between the characters. Had the roles been reversed, this scene never would have made it through the ESRB ratings board. And yet there's an Achievement for it!
When Rock Band 3 is (probably) revealed in a couple week, I think it will be clear that the Rock Band and Guitar Hero franchises have gone very, very different directions. Rock Band tends to focus on the experience of playing music, while Guitar Hero centers on... other things. The first details have been revealed about Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, and it is more centered on the story mode than ever before. You must assemble an army of Rock Warriors to defeat an evil music demon - which sounds a lot like Brutal Legend.
The game will boast all the features of the last game, center on guitar-focused rock like Black Sabbath, Queen and Kiss, and be narrated by Gene Simmons. And according to the trailer, you'll get to shred as some sort of pig-man. Yay?
[Update]: Video fixed and first tracks added below.
It seems like one of the features Sony will be pushing for the upcoming Killzone 3 is its new melee combat, which allows you to get right in your enemy's face to take him out. The video above seems to be pushing that aspect, although it's definitely a teaser that doesn't show anything too solid.
If you want to want to check out some ACTUAL gameplay footage, we've got it below. But be warned: it's off-screen footage from a recent Killzone 3 event, it has no sound and it's partially obscured by a man in a douchey hat who appears to be talking on his cell phone. You've been warned!
I have more or less zero interest in post-prequel Star Wars or MMOs, so clearly Star Wars: The Clone Wars Adventures is not for me. The free-to-play online role-playing game looks pretty squarely aimed at younger players, but I have to admit that it appears to have a lot of things to do in it. The Sony Online Entertainment game boasts all kinds of things to do, such as "exciting minigames, dynamic activities, [and] lively social events."
Even though I know this product is not for me, I'm happy to see it out there. There's plenty of mischief that kids can get up to on the internet, so I'd rather see them playing a game like this than ruining my enjoyment of my favorite porn sites surfing pages that they shouldn't be.
I'm not normally one for "all ages" games, but the trailer that IGN posted today for Batman: The Brave and The Bold convinced me that it's a title that should be on my radar. While Arkham Asylum proved that Batman can be a great game character for adults, The Brave and The Bold may make Batman a hit with the kids as well.
All of the credit I'm giving this game is thanks to its developer, WayForward. You might not know the name, but they're just an excellent studio, having produced titles like Contra 4 and the recent remake of A Boy and His Blob. The crisp art style of TBATB reminds me of that game, which you should really check out if you want a quality Wii game. For now, check out the Batman trailer below.
Earthworm Jim is one of those games that I simply adored when I was younger, and I feel like it's held up pretty well over the years. Of course, even a great game like Earthworm Jim could use a fresh coat of paint after a while, and if Earthworm Jim HD had stopped there I still would have been happy. But the XBLA/PSN game has gone even further, adding new levels, enemies (Keyboard Cat!) and even four-player co-op! You can see all of the new features in the trailer below. It's not the fanciest video I've ever seen, but it sure got me excited.
The Monkey Island Special Editions have been a big hit with gamers, and this video makes it easy to see why. LucasArts has been putting a lot of thought and care into these remakes, and the "Making of" video below shows off just how much effort is going into the special edition of Monkey Island 2. Check it out!
This pisses me off a bit, but only because I thought of a similar multiplayer mode years ago. Alas, I'm not a game developer, so someone beat me to it. Upcoming shooter Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days will feature a "Cops and Robbers" multiplayer mode in which one player is undercover and secretly working against the others. Good idea, right? Of course it is. I thought of it. Grumble grumble. Anyway, check out the trailer below for a breakdown on how the mode works.
Remember Splatterhouse? The violent TurboGrafx-16 series is being revived by Namco Bandai, but there's a good chance you've forgotten about this upcoming revival. The game's development has been plagued with problems and delays, including the closure of the original developer midway through the project. Well, it looks like this troubled project is getting finished up, because the publisher has announced that the new Splatterhouse game will arrive this Halloween. That's an approximate date - Halloween is on a Sunday this year, so I'm guessing it will actually hit shelves the Tuesday before.
There's a new trailer for the game below, but no one in the world seems to like it.
There's a new fighting game on the way to PC called Warriors of Elysia. That's a pretty boring title, one that doesn't tell you much about the game itself. The original name for the game was much more descriptive: Bikini Karate Babes 2.
Recalling the glory days of games with digitized actors, Warriors of Elysia stars a bunch of pretty young women in bikinis pounding on each other. Yep, it's pretty ridiculous. But we've got a trailer for it, in case you're interested in it. Watch it and judge it below!
Activision's upcoming racer Blur has often been described as "Mario Kart meets Project Gotham Racing," but clearly the marketing department thinks the first half of that equation is a bit.. juvenile. The ad above takes a pretty direct shot at Mario Kart, and while I think it's funny enough, it's a risky move. When your game borrows directly from another game, you probably shouldn't accuse that game of sucking.
Kotaku has discovered what might be the strangest game in development anywhere on the planet right now. According to their discussions with Simon Peter, the man behind this insane undertaking, Centaurian is a real game, one which I will definitely be checking out once it releases. In this flash game, you'll use your axe-a-rang to fight evil centaurs who throw their severed genitals at you. Seriously. Look, just watch the trailer.
It may not be a game by problem-plagued Call of Duty creators Infinity War, but something tells me that the upcoming Treyarch-developed Call of Duty: Black Ops will keep fans plenty happy. The first in-game trailer has arrived, and it delivers a lot of the same type of action as the promos for Modern Warfare 2 did. The footage in this clip is supposedly all in-game, but much of it looks like scripted events to me. Regardless, it's pretty slick and you can check it out below.
There's a new trailer out today for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, the upcoming downloadable adventure for Xbox Live Arcade, PSN and PC. I've never been a huge Tomb Raider fan, so I'll admit that I wasn't following this title too closely, so this first glimpse of gameplay was pretty surprising. I'd heard that the game would be pretty different from past Tomb Raider games and was co-op, but that was about all I knew. The video below clears up a lot of additional details.
I'm still not sure what to make of Naughty Bear as a game, but I have to admit that I'm enjoying the marketing campaign. The publisher of the game has released a series of videos spoofing famous scenes from movies, and this one just might be my favorite one yet. Check it out below.
I wasn't a huge fan of the original Kane & Lynch, but everything about the sequel looks like it's an improvement over the original. I'm digging the Cloverfield-esque cinematography in the trailers, which highlight a couple of the game's multiplayer modes. Check out the overview of "Fragile Alliance" mode above and take a look at the "Arcade Mode" trailer below. It's not quite as "arcade-y" as I'd hoped, but still looks interesting. Be warned: both trailers contain both violence and naughty language.
I mean that in a good way. Today we've been blessed with the first trailer for Epic Games' Bulletstorm, and in the words of Liz Lemon, I want to go to there. Check it out below.
Xbox Live Arcade is steadily becoming home to some of the best independent games around. In the tradition of games like Braid and The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom comes Limbo, a black and white platforming game that's been in the works for over four years. Developer Playdead has released the first trailer and it's gorgeous, although it purposely omits much of the game's biggest and best moments. Check it out below.
The initial charm of LittleBigPlanet wore off quickly for me, but obviously many other gamers out there really connected to the game and it's "build your own level" mentality. Today, Sony and Media Molecule have released the first trailer for LittleBigPlanet 2, which you can see below. Unlike most announcement videos, this teaser is chock with both gameplay footage and sold information. For example, the trailer boasts that you can now create AI characters, link levels together into complete games and make non-platforming games like racers and shooters. Every user-created level from the original game will be playable in the sequel, and based on these tidbits of info alone, LIttleBigPlanet 2 sounds like a massive upgrade from the first game. Well played, Sony.
Most gamers are fine, upstanding citizens, as are most game developers. But every now and then something comes along that gives us all a bad name, like this clip from adult game Love Death 4. I should just ignore this as to not spread the negative gamer sterotype, but goddamn it, it's funny.
Love Death 4 developer Teatime has added a motion-tracking camera to its upcoming game, which allows the player to virtually grope its digital stars. You can see this feature in all its terribly glory below.
Apparently concerned that Super Mario Galaxy 2 won't be as accessible to gamers as, say, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Nintendo is bundling the game with an instructional DVD that shows consumers how to play it. The DVD is only for the European and Japanese markets - apparently we Americans are all so fat and lazy that video games are natural to all of us.
Of course, we need to take this opportunity to point out that the Wii is the only console that can't play DVDs. Check out footage of the Japanese video instructions below.
Well this is just bizarre. I never thought I'd see a video about Mario Kart's Rainbow Road that's both charming and creepy. Make no mistake, Mr. Beard here can't sing, but you should still check it out. And then probably call the authorities, because this guy is obviously a danger to himself and others.
The official release of the first Dead Space 2 trailer is here,and along with lots of quick shots of drippy Necromorph monsters, it gives us our first-ever look at protagonist Isaac without his mask on. It's definitely a teaser so there's not a lot of solid info there, but give EA a pass for that, primarily because Dead Space was great and I can't wait to play the sequel.
I'd never willingly watch Top Gun, but if I ever get an iPad I'll definitely be playing the game. Paramount Digital Entertainment and Freeverse have released this new video highlighting some of the very silly features in the iPad version of the Top Gun game, including 100% genuine Kenny Loggins music. If that doesn't sell you on the game, I don't know what will. Maybe the fact that you can play as the race car from Days of Thunder. How about a volleyball mini-game? Seriously, I'm not kidding about either of those.
I've been hearing good things about the Iron Man 2 video game (the developer of which Sega just shuttered), even thought the first movie game was enjoyed by exactly no one. I'd happily play a good Iron Man game, and I'd love to support a new Sega title - in addition to closing the developer, the publisher recently laid off much of its US staff, including some folks I know.
To get us ready for the launch of the game and the movie, Sega released this clip, which shows off the opening cutscene of the game. It looks pretty good, even if the RDJ voice stand-in isn't quite doing it for me.
In other Iron Man news, the complete 1994 animated series is coming to DVD on 5/4, the same day as the game. Just for funsies, I've included a few clips of the show below.
Sega released a new trailer today for Alpha Protocol that highlights its Mass Effect-esque dialogue system. It takes a while to get there, but after watching the whole thing you'll have a pretty good idea of how the system works. The timer adds a nice urgency to the dialogue, but I have to admit the pretty boy good looks of the main character and the woman apparently wearing only ammo belts makes me wonder if there's an unlockable "porn" choice not on display here. Maybe that's just me.
Bizarre Creations would like you to know what you're missing if you haven't checked out the Blur multiplayer beta and have released this trailer to entice you into the online action. Originally open to invited players only, the beta has been available to everyone on Xbox Live for the last couple weeks, so if this video does it for you, you can jump online and start racing right away.
The long-awaited Left 4 Dead 2 expansion The Passing is finally here, and Valve has released a humorous little video to go along with it. The developer has also shared some details on the new "Mutation" events - every Thursday, owners of The Passing will be able to play in special one-off game types with unique rules, including one in which all players get chainsaws. Sold.
The PlayStation 3's fictional pitchman Kevin Butler strikes again. I'm not really sold on the upcoming "make your own Mario Kart" game ModNation Racers, and yet I'm loving this ad. Just like the folks over at Joystiq who posted this video, I'm a little ashamed of how much I'm enjoying this ad campaign.
Know the Old Spice ads that are running currently? Atlus does. I never thought I'd be running a video game trailer that parodies a deodorant commercial, and yet, here we are.
Capcom has proven itself to be a publisher with a sense of humor, as evidenced in this trailer for the upcoming Bionic Commando Rearmed 2. The sequel is coming to Xbox Live Arcade and PSN next year from new studio Fatshark - a team made up of former members of GRIN, who handled the first BCR. Speculation was that the other ex-GRIN studio, Might and Delight, would be handling the game, but now we know better. And knowing is half the battle!
Activision's BioShock-esque* shooter Singularity has fallen off the radar a bit since it was originally announced, so the publisher would like to remind you that this game indeed exists. The game has been announced for a June 29 release date and lets you manipulate time in some hopefully fun ways - you can age stuff until it corrodes, revert broken objects to their complete state and otherwise mess with the timestream.
*I played Singularity waay back at last year's Comic-Con, and while the story or powers aren't at all like BioShock, there was a distinct vibe of inspiration. Maybe that's changed as a result of the delay.
Only a day after stating that Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was "pretty much confirmed," the first trailer for the game has hit the web. It's only a teaser, but it's definitely enough to get any Capcom or Marvel fan plenty excited. Look for more details soon when Capcom officially announces the game this week.
UPDATE: Here's a little more on the game from the official fact sheet.
• Innovative graphics and gameplay bring the Marvel and Capcom
Universes to life: Powered by an advanced version of MT Framework, the
engine used in Resident Evil 5 and Lost Planet 2, now comes to Marvel
vs. Capcom 3, bringing beautiful backgrounds and character animations to
the forefront. • Evolved VS. Fighting System: Wild over-the-top
gameplay complete with signature aerial combos, hyper combos and other
original systems. The evolved battle system takes the exciting
mind-reading game to a whole new level! • 3-on-3 Tag Team
Fighting: Players build their own perfect team and use Assist Attacks
and each character's special moves to create their own unique fighting
style. • Living Comic Book Art Style: See the most adored
characters from the Capcom and Marvel universes brought to life in a
"moving comic" style, blurring the boundaries between 2D and 3D
graphics.Of course we'll have more coming soon, and here are a few
places you'll be able to find the good stuff:
505 Games' Naughty Bear is hitting store shelves this summer, and the publisher has been ramping up the marketing for the game with a series of videos called "The Book of Naughty." These clips highlight the various ways that Naughty Bear can dispatch his cuddly friends in the game, and I've included the two latest videos here.
I like to be upfront with my gaming predilections: Square Enix games just generally don't work for me.* I don't think they suck or anything; they just don't appeal to me. This new Nier trailer is a perfect example: It's got a dude in goofy metal pants, flying books, weird pumpkin-head creatures and all sorts of other nonsense that says it's not a game for me. But it might be a game for you, so check it out above. *Obviously any Square Enix reviews we run will be written by someone other than myself. Just because I'm a hater doesn't mean that the rest of the staff is.
I am not the world's biggest racing fan, but love a good arcade driving game. Naturally, I'm pretty excited about Split/Second, the game in which driving well lets you blow crap up. This new behind the scenes promotional video gives you a glimpse into developer Black Rock Studios, but more importantly has a solid chunk of in-game footage, and it looks like a blast. Check it out.
We Americans love watching people get hurt, amirite? Clearly, that's the idea behind this new trailer for Skate 3 that highlights the "Hall of Meat" feature. Snide concepts aside, I love this feature. It allows me to have fun with the game even though I'm just utterly terrible at Skate's analog-based gameplay.
After a delay and a leak, Gears of War 3 has been officially announced. Gears creator Cliff Bleszinski appeared on the Jimmy Fallon show last night and dropped the first trailer as well as the April 2011 release date. There aren't a ton of new gameplay details available, although it's confirmed that the Locust offshoot the Lambent. There's also word that you'll encounter creatures that can yank you out of cover. Gears of War 3 is supposedly the end of the trilogy. Honestly, I don't expect it will contain any huge surprises, but I still be playing it the first chance I get.
The new Alan Wake trailer views a bit like a documentary, so don't expect the aftermath of erect nipples and goosebumps you've come to expect from your typical action-packed trailer. What do you mean your nipples don't get erect from a bullet-flying, adrenaline-pumping cinematic experience? I find you to be weird and/or a liar. Anyway, the narrator selected was a somewhat questionable decision, but I suppose he does serve his purpose well enough. It's just that I keep expecting him to start talking about the indigenous birds of the region or to point out a rare fern. Oh well, enough of my nonsense, go check it out for yourself.
Over the last few months, Transformers: War for Cybertron has gone from a game that I was mildly curious about to a game that I'm really looking forward to. This new trailer highlights the online character customization, although most of the footage actually shows in-game fightin' - not that I'm complaining. Only time will tell if anyone will actually support an online Transformers community, but based on what I've seen I'm willing to give it a shot.
If you're not excited to play 3D Dot Game Heroes, then I don't want to know you. Seriously, everything I've seen about this game warms the rusty oil-burning pump that replaced my heart.
This trailer for Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions came out yesterday, so it's already 40 years old in internet terms. But you know what? It's cool so I'm posting it anyway. The Spider-Man game series has been a little stagnant lately, so it's nice to see this new game take a different direction. Based on what we know so far, Shattered Dimensions takes place across at least four parallel realities, one being the standard Marvel Universe and another a "Noir" dimension that looks pretty slick. Check out the trailer and let us know what you think.
I had heard of Hydrophobia before this morning, but I have to confess that I hadn't paid any attention to it. But after I watched the trailer above, it's definitely on my radar now. The survival-adventure game has been announced as exclusive to Xbox Live Arcade, and will be playable at this weekend's PAX East.
Hydrophobia was announced as a three-part episodic game and takes place in the near future on a giant boat that's clearly run into some flooding issues. It seems to have some interesting political statements to make in the plot, and the graphics are definitely impressive for a downloadable game. Could Hydrophobia be the next Shadow Complex?
It's Friday, there's not much going on and we're all ready for the weekend. So let's watch a parody of Alien starring animate teddy bears!
The trailer above is for the upcoming action game Naughty Bear, created by Wet developers Artificial Mind and Movement and published by 505 Games. Goofy action games are tough to pull off (anyone remember Raze's Hell? Didn't think so), so I'm really curious to see how this one turns out. We'll find out later this summer when Naughty Bear hits retail for Xbox 360 and PS3.
Anyone interested in 10 minutes of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker gameplay footage? I thought so. Looks pretty dang good for a portable game if you ask me. Oh, and if you wanted to see co-op in action, it's got that too. You're welcome.
Consider this an effort at console diplomacy. It's been a while since we covered anything for the DS, and the only Nintendo-related thing we've covered recent is how their stock prices have fallen. So to make it up to Nintendo, here's a trailer for an upcoming DS game. Granted, it's not published by Nintendo. But hey, the Shin Megami Tensai franchise has some hardcore fans, and Shin Megami Tensai: Strange Journey is sure to be interesting, so there you go. It's not the world's most exciting trailer, but it's definitely for one of the more interesting upcoming DS games.
A little game called God of War III launches today. You may have heard of it. If not, here's the launch trailer, which should give you a pretty good idea as to what it's about. It's a pretty sweet trailer - I've already finished the game and it makes me want to play through it again. So, who amongst you is getting God of War III? If not, why not?
After years of rumors, the return of legendary Deus Ex franchise is finally official. Announced last night at GDC Independent Games Festival, Deus: Ex: Human Revolution will be at E3 this summer, but that's about all we know right now. The teaser trailer above is pretty stylish, though!
If I didn't know before I loaded it up, I might not have known that this was a trailer for SOCOM 4 until the logo at the end. The announcement trailer is the typical gameplay-free pre-rendered teaser, and the SOCOM games have never really had much of a distinct look. But hey, that's not the point. The point is that SOCOM 4 has been announced, and it's a big franchise for Sony. Not one that I personally enjoy, but I figured many of you would still like to know.
With all this talk of Blur multiplayer Beta keys, now seems like a good time to check out the trailer for said beta. Looks pretty cool, and if the actual gameplay matches the craziness of this trailer then I can see having a lot of fun with this game.
I've got another batch of multiplayer keys to give away. You can find them here.
Early this morning, a version of the Halo: Reach multiplayer Beta trailer leaked online. Bungie moved quickly to deal with the situation, officially releasing the trailer you see above. If you're a Halo fan, it will be hard not to get excited by what you see in this video: assassinations, jetpacks (no, really!), large-scale battles and more. It looks like the Halo series you know, but definitely kicked up a notch.
And if you're not a Halo fan, please keep your comments to yourself. We already know what you think.
I am no big fan of Transformers. Unlike a lot of nerds, I apparently have no nostalgia gene - stuff that I loved as a kid typically holds no interest for me as an adult. And everything I've experienced related to the Transformers franchise as a an adult was horrible. So when I say that I'm kind of excited for the Transformers: War for Cybertron game, it's because it looks fun.
The new trailer above has a few (brief) snippets of action, but they're enough to get me interested. I've liked - but not loved - both of developer High Moon Studios previous two games (The Bourne Conspiracy and Darkwatch), so their name on the project adds another layer of interest. Besides, even if i don't love the Transformers per se, I do love giant fighting robots.
Borderlands' most recent DLC, The Secret Armory of General Knoxx, is available now. If you've already put away your copy of the game, this trailer will remind you of all the goodies the latest DLC has in store and inspire you to take that game right back off the shelf.
The marketing team behind Square Enix's* Just Cause 2 have been steadily releasing a series of trailers that show off the upcoming game's insane stunt-based action. We haven't gotten around to posting most of them because... we haven't gotten around to it. But that's an injustice that we're clearing up today! Here are the latest two stunt trailers, and if you watch them and still don't see why Just Cause 2 should be on your radar, then I can't help you.
I liked, but didn't love the original Just Cause. The sequel, however, looks a lot more ambitious and simply a lot more "fun" than the original. I can't wait to get my hands on it when it releases on March 23.
*If that seems strange, it's because JC2 was originally an Eidos game. Square Enix purchased the struggling publisher to increase its reach into the western market.
BioShock 2's publisher 2K Games certainly seems to be throwing a lot of weight behind the launch of the game. Last night, the publisher bought the entire first block of commercials to debut the new launch trailer for the game. Clocking in at over three minutes, this BioShock 2 trailer is pretty awesome, but doesn't contain a single second of gameplay footage. If you've got any familiarity with the series at all, it spells out the set-up of the game pretty clearly. But imagine that you're a non-gaming Fallon-watcher. I'd have to imagine that this video creeped you out to no end.
In other BioShock 2 news, GameStop and Best Buy will be holding midnight launches for the game next Monday. In even more BioShock 2 news, I really can't wait to play it.
The original Battlefield: Bad Company is a game that I never played, not because I wasn't interested, but because I just never got around to it. I may have to go back and pick it up now, because everything I've seen on Bad Company 2 is working for me. And I can't play the sequel first, can I? I'd be, like, totally lost in the story, right? Probably not. The plot on display in this single-player trailer looks like nothing out of the ordinary. But all those jets and explosions look pretty boss. It's like a Michael Bay movie!
This video is simply amazing, well executed, and hilarious. I can hear the real boss battle theme in my head while listening to it. What's even more impressive is it was supposedly created by a single person. Props to you MarzGurl, your a capella is spot on.
I really want to play some Sonic now, but I just bought GTA4 from Steam (sale) and am about to leave to visit family! What's a gamer to do in this situation, readers? I need your wisdom! Watch the video first though.
President Obama is a little confused. Why do kids want video games for Christmas? They should want books and bikes! In the video below, Obama really gets nostalgic when a girl asks for the seventh Harry Potter book. But all these "game things" like "Sins" (The Sims), what's the appeal? Oh well, I guess it's just kids these days.
The president went on to remind the children what Christmas is really about: giving. Not just material giving, but giving respect and kindness to those around you. What a great message. Now excuse me while I go destroy my brother in Quake Live and prove why I'm the favorite child. The festivities are really getting started around here.
Commander Shepard and his crew are kicking ass while I sit back and chew my bubblegum. That's the way I like it and that's the way it's gonna be. Well I guess before I can play this, I should probably finish the original. And I've only got a month to do that. Alright readers, I'm going to go play Mass Effect, you guys hold down the fort and enjoy this video.
Either Cliffy B is working overtime or Epic Games is sneaking their way into the iPhone market. The video below shows a writer from AnandTech playing a modified version of Unreal Tournament on an iPod Touch. The game runs on their latest engine, Unreal Engine 3, which was used to make Gears of War 2.
That's pretty crazy. While Unreal Engine 3 will only run on 3rd generation iPod Touch and iPhone 3GS devices, it's amazing to see the power Apple's gadgets can put out. The company has yet to announce any official plans to license the engine or create a game for the platform, but says licensing will be available "at some point in the near future".
Check out the full details on AnandTech's hands-on with the engine over at their site.
GoNintendo's cute correspondent, Rinry, has a sweet video for all gamers with a taste for knowledge, but lack the attention span to properly read a long feature. In this video, Rinry will take us through some of the strange video game box arts that came out in the 8 and 16-bit era.
She also goes in-depth on the subject, questioning the strange tactics of game publishers in their choices of box arts in the early days of gaming. Now you can go tell your gamer friends something that will make them feel intellectually inferior to you.
The infamous punch by high school gym teacher, Brad Ferro to the face of local big mouth, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, in a teaser clip for MTV's Jersey Shore has been making rounds online for the past two weeks.
While Brad may be trying to forget the incident and claim he had no clue who he was hitting, groups like the Green River Thrillers are looking to cement his act of random violence into history their way. And what better way to do that than through a video game parody. Not just any video game parody, a Street Fighter parody. Now all we need is a flash game to go along with it. MTV also needs to go back to music videos.
I can't help but laugh at the silliness that is this trailer. On the other hand, I can't help but get excited for this game. It may be a Mario Kart rip-off, but it looks fun as hell. Gold Sonic, Ryo driving a forklift, Super Monkey Ball, it's all there. Not only that, but it's not limited to just the Wii and DS like Mario Kart.
And for someone like me who has slowly began to suck more and more at realistic driving games like Gran Turismo and Forza and hates playing Wii games on an HDTV, this game can't come any sooner.
I have a love/hate relationship with these video game parody videos. On the love side, the high quality, well produced videos are normally hilarious and enjoyable (like this one). On the hate side, I can't help but be insulted by someone making a mockery of something I love (in this case, Left 4 Dead 2). Nonetheless, the 3 minutes I paused my Lady Gaga playlist in iTunes to watch this video made those moments without Lady Gaga in my life well worth it.
Gonna grab some heroin, BRB. In my absence, enjoy the video:
It's here, it's Japanese, get ready to jizz your pants Final Fantasy fans. A kind (and lucky) Justin.TV user is currently streaming his FFXIII gameplay for the world to watch. And the world right now is 871 people (including myself). I honestly have no idea what's going on, so it's hard for the footage to ruin any of the story. I also have no idea how long the stream is going to last, so enjoy it while you can.
Honestly, who would have ever thought a Wii commercial could truly be funny? We've all laughed at them -- like we laugh at the kid who gets picked last for dodgeball (Anton).
But, this commercial is different. I didn't laugh at Nintendo's attempt to market their console to a new demographic of gamers. I actually laughed at the contents of the commercial.
So this guy on YouTube has some gameplay of New Super Mario Bros. Wii running through a PC emulator called Dolphin. The footage has some obvious audio hiccups and the video freezes at 1:10 until 1:18. Beautiful nonetheless.
Other than that, it puts YouTube's new 1080p converter to good use and looks incredible. The creator of the video claims the game was running perfectly fine at 60 FPS, but using Fraps to record brought him down to 30 FPS. Once again, Fraps kills the fun! Oh well, it's still brilliant.
You've probably heard of Evony. If you haven't heard of it, you've probably seen it. And if you haven't heard of it or seen it, you probably don't use the internet very often. If that's the case, it's safer that you don't because if you did, you'd be susceptible to Evony's scams.
Well, Destructoid has found out that someone out there who has heard of Evony has brilliantly parodied what a TV commercial would be like if the company behind the game ever officially created one. It's quite accurate with the random shots of boobs and talk of scamming you. Check it out below (after the jump):
I received some pretty negative feedback after I criticized the UK judge who skipped work to play Modern Warfare 2. And while I stick to my original opinion, I have nothing but laughs for this short little Japanese TV spot for Final Fantasy XIII that depicts a teacher announcing he will be taking time off [to play the game].
Translated, the script is as follows:
Teacher: It's sudden, but starting tomorrow I'm taking time off.
Girl (standing): Why are you taking time off?
Teacher(to himself): For three years, I've been waiting for this day...
No doubt the teacher will need to take off for a while in order to finish Final Fantasy XIII in its entirety as Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft pointed out (also, thanks for the translation).
You can check out the video below (after the jump):
This is a prime example of why PC gamers made such a big fuss about Modern Warfare 2's changes. The ability to take the game and create what is basically an entirely new experience is the foundation of how companies like Valve and id Software made their mark on the gaming industry.
The mod was created using Call of Duty 4 for the PC and according to information in the video, should be released before Christmas. I haven't been so excited for a mod since Black Mesa Source was announced (and I'm still waiting).
It's simply mind-boggling to think of how much work went into this sort of project and companies like Infinity Ward don't want to embrace this type of use of their software? Oh well, their loss (or gain, depends on how you look at it). You can keep up with the latest details on the Star Wars: Galactic Warfare project by visited the mod's official site.
Well, enough about corporate profits, you can check out the video below (after the jump):
This is pure win. If you had a bottle of Win-Flavored Nesquik and dumped into a glass of win milk, you would get this video.
I can't help but keep watching this over and over and singing along with it while simultaneously enjoying the soothing Mario sounds . If you don't know the song, I swear I won't make fun of you, but do yourself a favor and find the lyrics and learn them quick!
And if you don't like this song, you can escort yourself away from this post before you further contaminate the awesomeness that is this video.
While I'm a little hurt Sega didn't invite me to test out Aliens vs. Predator, this trailer makes up for it a little bit. Twentieth Century Fox still seems to have the faith to push this franchise to gamers; and with this latest game, it just might work.
We'll have to wait and see how the Call of Duty, console FPS crowd responds to the game. That'll be its bread and butter.
Personally I can't wait to meticulously strategize on the best way to decapitate scared, grouped space marines one by one as they try their hearts out to find me.
Square-Enix released the final Japanese trailer for Final Fantasy XIII last night through the game's official site. Once again, it is filled with emotional and exciting visual cinematic sequences with a little gameplay mixed in. More on the emotional side this time around than the infamous seven-minute long trailer we featured. I was so overwhelmed at one point, I thought tears were inevitable. Luckily, some action scenes saved me from embarrassment.
Oh and thanks to Kotaku for saving me the time of having to screencap that hilarious little chocobo moment near the end of the trailer.
The super secret code keeping the maximum number of Left 4 Dead 2 co-op players to four players has been cracked! The hack allows users to play the co-op campaign with up to 16 people. It is both glorious and horrendous. There is no doubt that this is specifically why Valve limited the numbers.
Although there's also no doubt that a mode or campaign built specifically to handle 16 players would be radically cool. Perhaps a Mall of America campaign? Food for modding thought.
The Onion has gotten their hands on the next iteration in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series. It's been revealed that this newest game, Modern Warfare 3 will finally give Call of Duty fans a true glimpse into real military life. This includes transporting supplies, debating with fellow soldiers, and cleaning the latrines.
The Wii version will come with a 17 pound M249 machine gun controller that needs to be held at all time, but can't be fired unless ordered. Check out the video below:
This week's GameTrailers TV was an episode full of Nintendo and nothing but Nintendo. Speaking with the company's Reggie Fils-Aime, Bill Trinen, and Shigeru Miyamoto, the show goes deep into New Super Mario Bros. Wii and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the DS.
Beyond that, information about Super Mario Galaxy 2, the next Zelda game for the Wii, and Wii HD are discussed. And just to save you the time, Wii HD is not coming according to Reggie Fils-Aime. Ever. So stop asking. As for the next Zelda game for the Wii, Miyamoto mentioned that they were working on getting MotionPlus working with it, but could not divulge any other details.
If you're a fan of Nintendo, this is the show for you. Go check it out.
Ubisoft and Spike TV have partnered to show the short film in its entirety. It will premiere on Spike next Wednesday, November 11th at midnight. If you can't wait for Ubisoft to release the parts online, this is your opportunity to see it all before it hits the web.
If you plan on playing Assassin's Creed II, the short will give you a good back-story to help jump start you into understanding a lot of what you'll encounter in the game.
Hope you weren't expecting anything fabulous. It's low quality and full of quick, witless one-liners and tons of special effects. Did I mention this was a Jerry Bruckheimer production?! Anyways, enjoy.
*Update: IGN has a high quality version. I've added it.*
These viral video campaigns may become more and more the norm for blockbuster titles. Whether or not they have a true effect on game sales hasn't been analyzed, but we may see some hard data after the numbers for Assassin's Creed 2 and Assassin's Creed Bloodline come in.
These short movies are being developed by Ubisoft-owned Hybride Technologies (the guys who did the digital effects for 300 and Sin City), so if the style seems familiar, there's your reason.
Below is a three minute, fully cinematic leaked trailer for Left 4 Dead 2 dubbed "Zombie Survival Guide". What guide you ask? These zombie survivors don't need a guide to survive! Their bullets, axes, and chainsaws are the only tools they need. Some chocolate helicopters would be nice too.
I'm also really yearning for a 30-minute Halo Wars type cinematic movie right about now. Who's with me?
I don't the origins of these Sega office pranks and frankly, I don't give a damn. What I do give a damn about is all the extra copies of Game Informer I have lying around my house. I've debated about setting up a small lemonade-type stand outside a GameStop and offering them up for five cents each, but then I realized that probably wouldn't go over too well. Now Sega has shown me an easy, fun, and cost efficient way to get rid of my old magazines. Anton's not going to be happy when he walks into the office later this morning.
Valve CEO, Gabe Newell made it clear he did not want to fly to meet dedicated Australian modder, "Joe W-A" after the 19-year-old pleaded for his audience. Newell jokingly told the young man that if he could pay for his plane ticket, he would go. Considering Joe is a student, Gabe figured he was safe and got on with his life at Valve.
Joe did not give up that easily. He reached out to the Source modding community and was able to raise the money needed to play fly Gabe to Australia within a few days. Newell was trapped, but instead of taking his community's money, he donated it to charity and Valve fit the bill.
Below is the video of Gabe and Joe talking in front of reporters:: Byteside
Well I guess Lan Di pulled an Osama on Ryo Hazuki because he doesn't seem to care about finding the man who killed his father much. At least that's the message Sega is sending to Shenmue fans by putting him in their newest Mario Kart rip-off, Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing. What happened to you Ryo, did the sailors take your dignity or something?
Square Enix's next online game has not been getting as much media attention as it's roman numeral-ed sibling, Final Fantasy XIII. Luckily being a huge fan of the Final Fantasy franchise and a video game blogger allows me the time to search for news and videos that meet my personal preferences. Tonight, I bring you the official TGS 2009 US Trailer for Final Fantasy XIV Online; and while it lacks actual gameplay, it makes up for that with amazing CG work. Enjoy and good night!
No one should have any doubts about the scale of video game launches after seeing this 2 minute epic trailer on NBC's Sunday Night Football. I can't even form the words to describe the awesomeness that seeped from my monitor while watching it. Amazing voice overs, epic slow motion action, gadling guns, fighting in a war-torn Washington D.C., shooting out of rafting boats, it's all there and it's beautiful. November 11th cannot come quick enough at this point.
This is a Halo 3 machinima created by Lost Studios called "Ambush". Lost uses the audio from a Battlefield Bad Company 2 trailer and cinematic filming with Halo 3 to create one amazing video. Every camera angle is perfect, the overlay effects are incredibly well done, and the audio is amazingly synced to match the actions going on on-screen. A spectacular job to everyone involved! Check it out below.
So Tim Schafer appeared on Late Night this past Thursday and boy did he make Jimmy Fallon look like a hack. It's a little disappointing that they didn't talk about the game more, but they at least brought him on and that helps all of us in the gaming industry who dream for the day when we can be taken seriously. I'm sure Jimmy Fallon feels the same way (not about gaming, but about being taken seriously)!
Above is the latest trailer for Ratchet and Clank's newest next-gen adventure, A Crack in Time. It features Doctor Nefarious who (once again) looks up to no good considering he doesn't just want to kill Ratchet and Clank this time around, he wants to rewind time and do it over and over. That's just mean.
I was going to bash MAG, but I've decided against it. I'll give it a chance to polish itself before I rip it to pieces and feed it to the masses. Look for my some of my pre-release thoughts to be published tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the video!
A New Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes From Liberty City is out in the wild. It features characters from both the side stories, introducing you to them through a montage of fist-bumps and explosions. My badass radar is off the charts. Since I have yet to play The Lost and the Damned via DLC, once this hits retail I don't know how I'll decide which to play first.
Yesterday an epic and long Final Fantasy XIII trailer was released at TGS 2009. After some snooping, I found subtitles for the Japanese audio and hardcoded them to the original video. Now you all can bask in the drama of the world that is Final Fantasy XIII. Enjoy!
Subtitles credit goes to Aokage from NeoGaf and the guys at FF-XIII.net
My Japanese is a little rusty considering my binge anime viewing days are behind me, but despite that I was still unable to take my eyes off the stunning visuals in this epic trailer shown off by Square Enix at the Tokyo Game Show.
All I understood was at the beginning, the younger girl mentioned her "brother" and looked off in the distance. The older guy with her mentioned "sister", I don't know if he was referring to her as his sister or not, but considering they had a pretty intimate moment afterward, I'd guess not. I'm assuming that her brother is missing or something and they are off looking for him maybe? I'll get some more info on this and the general story itself later on.
The backgrounds during the battle modes look incredible and the insane character movements look completely fluid and perfect. The "driving mode" for certain summon creatures looks pretty insane too. I'll learn more about this mechanic and write a nice feature this week.
Hopefully someone will release a subtitled version of this soon. If you have one, please email us the tip at joystickdiv@gmail.com and we'll throw you a much deserved shout out.
The official launch trailer for Batman: Arkham Asylum is in the wild today, featuring more than the dark knight kicking ass with some chilling Mark Hamill laughs in the background. The trailer is sporting some of the game's most positive reviews. The UK-based publisher Eidos and developer Rocksteady are showing some love to their English game magazines, Games Masters and Xbox World 360 in the form of a quote. Both magazines gave the game an extremely high rating (a 96 from Games Masters and a 95 from Xbox World).
Other notable review scores are Game Informer with a 95, IGN with a 93, and Eurogamer with a 90. The lowest mainstream score received so far (according to Metacritic) is GamePro with a respectable 80. They cited gamers are "bound to be disappointed by its reliance on repetitive combat and a shortage of villains worth the big man's attention".
We realize these reviews mean nothing and you are most likely waiting on your hands and knees for the official word from us, so until then enjoy the trailer:
The hype behind James Cameron's Avatar is going through the roof. Even before the trailer for the movie was released, people have been savoring every piece of information they can get their hands on; and today at GamesCom, the first footage of Avatar: The Game was released. Nothing to drool over, but it's looking to be almost as beautiful as the movie.
Definitely one of the most hilarious and best produced movie trailer parodies I've seen. (I haven't see very many, but this one is good). If you don't get the title, then you won't get the video!
I think I'm the last one to hear about this one, but better late than never! Thanks to reader C.A. for the tip (I promise to check the Joystick Division email more often).
A group of young musicians in Seattle put on a show paying tribute to some of the their favorite tunes from video games. The funny performances by their back-up crew were choreographed by two of the musicians (Link and Ash).
Oh and when the guy stood up and started "ahhh"-ing to the Halo tune, I LOL'd. You will too:
I better not show this to my mother, she'll start nagging me about quitting band in 8th grade.
That's right, the Pure Pwnage boys have officially gotten their own show. As of now, it's eight episodes and will air sometime in 2010 on Showcase in Canada. So to any Canadian pirates out their: please do your best to distribute it out as quickly as possible to us lonely gamers to your south.
The series, which premieres in 2010, finds
Jeremy at a crossroads: if he is to maintain residence in his mother's
basement, then he'll need to get a job -- and getting a job means
stepping out of the gaming world and back into reality. With that in
mind, Jeremy starts his own rock band, becomes a video game tutor, and
attempts to socialize with his co-workers at a grocery store
So it looks like the show will not be a remake or spin-off of the web series, but will start fresh with a new story that is a little easier for the average viewer to take in.
*If you know what Pure Pwnage is, please skip the following paragraphs, collect $200 and check out the official video below. If not, we drop some knowledge on you below.*
For those unaware of Pure Pwnage (pronounced "Pure Ownage" for you console n00bs) , it's a web-based show about a guy named Jeremy, a hardcore gamer who thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread (or in his case Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour). The show follows Jeremy doing his everyday thing, ya know? Like, pwning n00bs, stuff, and ya know...
It's shot (mostly) through the eyes (camera) of his younger brother Kyle who is in film school and is responsible for putting the show on the web and making Jeremy famous. For those non-gamers, the show probably seems boring, but for gamers (especially hardcore ones), the show is so amazing that the only word that can truly explain it is PWNAGE...bitches!
*WARNING: Princess Peach is loud in bed. If there are impressionable children, overprotective parents, or recovering sexaholics near you do them all a favor and wear headphones. Or at the very least, close and lock your door.*
No, eating mushrooms will not increase the size of your penis, but some are good for you.
Are you familiar with Killzone 2? Makes you hot, eh? I've got some PS3 hardware in the bedroom if you want to see it. Halo? I don't have a Halo! That's not my Halo! I don't even play Halo!
What do you get when you group a bunch of really smart and passionate Star Fox fans together? A long awaited and needed new Star Fox game -- that's what! The group is calling themselves the SOL Team; SOL standing for the name of the game, Shadows of Lylat. They claim the project has been in the works for six years and with what I've seen and the number of people they have working on this, I believe them.
The game is being built upon the FreeSpace Open engine, a space simulator engine. According to the SOL Team, it will allow them "to do many awesome things, we won't be able to get it just like the original games". Don't worry boys, the legions of Star Fox fans out there will understand and accept your flaws; we're just happy to have found you.
Some features to look forward to
Lots of playable craft, including 3 different Arwings
Weapons galore
Massive enemies, both new and old
Space and ground based missions
A deep storyline
Multiplayer
And good news everyone, the game engine they're using is cross-platform, so the game will support Windows, Mac, and Linux!
To learn more about this project, head over to their official website and read over their FAQs.
What do you do when your parents no longer entertain you and your long stories about video games? You prank call a radio show pretending to be one your favorite characters. However, in the case of this talented and knowledgeable Half-Life fan, he waited until he was old enough to sound as if he really was Gordon Freeman.
The prankster called in to a largely syndicated late night show full of conspiracy theorists called Coast-to-Coast AM about a problem with a pale, blue-suited man with seemingly no personality stalking him at his place of work (ya know, Black Mesa). The fake Gordon mentions that he and his colleagues call this man "the gman" because of the way he looks. The host of the show immediately plays the "HE MUST BE A FED" card and hilarity ensues!
If you follow the Machinima community, chances are you've heard of Freeman's Mind, a comedy series that gives you a glimpse into Gordon Freeman's inner most thoughts. The show follows Gordon as he progresses through the original Half-Life game with a narrator, Ross Scott, voicing over the gameplay. From the first episode, the show will draw you in with it's hilarious and perfectly timed dialogue. For those who are fans of Half-Life, it brings back fond memories and will no doubt leave you rolling on the floor afterwards, begging for more episodes.
This little guy is just awesome! He's got the pew-pew down pretty good and he looks great doing it. Props to the awesome parents and to whomever made the costume. Now all that's missing is a cute little girl to play Roll. Any fathers out there up for the challenge?
(If you're wondering what the second reason for Mega Man fans to have kids is, it's to procreate. The world can't get enough gamers!)
Attack of the Show has had its ups and downs on its way to 1000 episodes. Kevin Rose's departure and later Sarah Lane's departure were some sad moments for old-school TechTV fans. However, Olivia Munn's arrival marked a whole new era in the show's history; an era of hotness (which by the way is shown extremely well in this video). And since Olivia came to AOTS, some great moments have happened. I may not be able to recall them all, but I know many of them involved her and that's all that matters to me (and many of you as well...probably).
This video below was made to celebrate those 1000 episodes (and Olivia Munn). It's a special made music video of a song by Parry Gripp of Nerf Herder called "The Girl at The Video Store". Need I say more? No, watch! (after the jump)
