I saw a video on YouTube recently about MAV's. Or Micro Air Vehicles. I wasn't really shocked or even surprised by it at first. The video was made by the Air Force Research Laboratory.It shows various sizes and shapes of surveillance drones in use. Perhaps some are tech demos,but they are coming. The video was interesting to me because it was presented much like a video game preview or something.
On February 20th, Sony unleashed the opening volley in what could very well be the next generation of the fabled Console Wars with the introduction of the PlayStation 4. The message was clear: “We messed up with the PS3 and let our ego get the better of us. But we’re learning from our mistakes, and we’re taking the fight to our competitors.” From the opening song “Monster Hospital” by Metric to the strategic use of classic PlayStation cues for speakers at the conference, it seems like Sony is embracing the now storied history of the PlayStation brand and is ready for a hell of a battle with Microsoft and Nintendo.
Welcome to the final part of PixlBit’s comprehensive look at the Final Fantasy series. In our last installment, we went through the PlayStation 2 era, which took the series into uncharted territory, for better or worse. This time, we look at the most recent Final Fantasy games, which have gone on to become the most divisive and controversial games in the series so far. Join us as we explore the Seventh Generation years!
Welcome to the fourth part of our long look at the Final Fantasy series, in celebration of its 25th anniversary. In our last installment, we talked about how Square stunned the gaming world by leaving their longtime home of Nintendo platforms for the shiny new world of CD technology with Sony's PlayStation. This time, we look at the series in its somewhat shaky transition to voice acting, a controversial but successful transition into the online space, and the first game in the series to have real problems behind the scenes.
This year was a bit thinner than what we were expecting, especially with Nintendo supposedly pulling back the curtain on the Wii U. But while we were left a bit underwhelmed and with more questions than answers there were still plenty of games on display to get us excited for something.
Going by the old proverb ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’, Quantic Dream’s newest title Beyond: Two Souls must be worth a million. After showcasing their impressive “Kara tech demo” back at GDC, it was obvious that Quantic’s next title would be a visual splendor and this game does not disappoint. Using the same sophisticated capture technology as James Cameron’s Avatar, Beyond: Two Souls is able to depict the uncanny life like mannerisms of its actors, which is welcomed considering award winning actress Ellen Page will be playing the lead.
Beyond: Two Souls was shown off for the first time at the Sony E3 press conference today in trailer form. While it doesn’t show much, what it does show has some parallels to the impressive "Kara" tech demo from GDC. For starters, Beyond stars American actress Ellen Paige, of Juno and Hard Candy fame. You may remember that the titular Kara was played by Valorie Curry, known for her role in Twilight: Breaking Dawn.
It's time for another installment of PixlTalk! Julian wrote a blog series about the future of video games, and that's the impetus for this discussion by the Tri-Force crew. Before that, we take some listener questions, talk some games we've been playing, what would be a good entry-level horror movie, and adventures in indie game store shopping.
It is immediately clear that Little Deviants was designed to let you play with all of the Vita’s features. Within the first half hour you will use the touch screen, rear touch pad, motion controls, camera, and even the microphone. The ideas displayed are definitely interesting, but within that first half hour you will have seen everything the game has to offer. By the time I reached my first hour of gameplay I was already bored of all of the mini-games – even the good ones.
In a statement made to Joystiq, Nintendo has confirmed that the Nintendo Wii U will indeed be made available to demo at the 2012 CES conference.
As we head into 2012, it’s time to start looking forward to what’s next in the realm of video games. If you’re at all interested in what’s coming down the pipeline, you’ll probably want to set your DVR for the Spike TV VGAs this Saturday. The awards ceremony leaves much to be desired for many enthusiasts, but the show will give us our first look at a ton of games, including the next game from Epic. But why would the President of Epic Games, Mike Capps, be scared about unveiling this all-new IP?
Apparently, I thought wrong. First up, some housekeeping. Today, we'll have our first holiday buyer's guide. The guides will go up over a few days, and each one was written by a different staff member with a different approach. In a few days, depending on our schedule, I'll have my review for Otomedius Excellent, a shoot-em-up game. Of course, I have to mention that PixlTalk looks like it'll be back on track again. There have been issues keeping it going at a steady pace, so hopefully those who feel like they missed out over the past few weeks will consider trying out PB & Jason, which you hopefully know by now is my stand-alone podcast. But enough about the “What's coming soon.” I'm writing to talk about reviews. The review problem. Conundrum, or whatever it is. Sit back. It'll take a while. This first blog really has nothing to do with it. Really. Instead, this blog and the next will talk about my history with gaming media and reviews. Deal with it.
The 5 playable levels ranged from your typical desert to cave, to the tricky moving on-rail platforms seen in previous games, but their design and layout were at least unique. I didn't see any new powerups and the remote controls were virtually unchanged, with d-pad control used even on Wii U. I did seem to remember trying to make a last-second bubble save and being unable to, so that feature may be removed in future sequels. One change that didn't feel as good was the shake; trying to drift closer to someone while in a bubble by shaking the tablet didn't seem to work well for me. So assigning the extra jump flutter move to the R button instead of an upward flick wasn't too surprising when considering the controller's extra weight. Getting a feel for which controller configurations work best for Wii U will no doubt take some extra experimentation from developers.
E3 is a busy time, and 2011's conference is no exception. With new information constantly being released, it can be easy to miss big announcements or overlook certain articles. Because of this, PixlBit has compiled all of our E3 articles into separate sections (Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Wii U, and Vita) for easy viewing, so that none of you miss out on any of our coverage.
The first demo was a 30-second Zelda HD cutscene of Link entering a spectacular room and fighting a giant spider. The Wii U's HD capabilities turn a simple boss room into a massive and beautiful palace hall, and the spider was incredibly intimidating, full of segmented body ridges, menacing mouth parts, and hair (shudder). It was fluid, detailed, ornate, colorful, brilliant in light contrasts, but a limited experience.
There's no question, Steel Diver is a weird game. Even after playing it for a while, I'm still not totally sure how to feel about it. Clearly, it's not the deepest of games and it's definitely not one of the better launch titles available, especially from Nintendo. Furthermore, its 2D gameplay does a better job showcasing the touch screen than it does the 3D effect; which isn't totally surprising considering the game started as a DS tech demo. The gimmicky Periscope mode handles that just fine, but like the main content, it's not going to be compelling for the majority of players.
Steel Diver has a rather odd history. Originally a Nintendo DS tech demo, the game appeared to be one of those neat concepts that never came to fruition. A generation later the game is set to release as a 3DS launch title.
Today in Japan, Sony unveiled their newest handheld gaming platform, the Next Generation Portable, or "NGP," for short. Immediately before this announcement, Sony revealed the PlayStation Suite, an Android gaming platform for PlayStation-quality titles.
Surprisingly, the best 3DS demo on the floor wasn't a real game in its own right. Rather, a tech demo designed to show off three pieces of technology featured in the 3DS: The Camera, Motion Sensors, and of course, the 3D effect.
With E3 starting this week, a few staff members have decided to offer up their predictions before they head on the plane to California and start the craziest week in game journalism.