Regardless of whether your take on Assassin's Creed is glowing or somewhat derisory, I think we can probably agree that the game has a few shortcomings. Though critics generally consent that the mechanics are fresh, it's hard to ignore arguments claiming that Assassin's suffers from repetitive objectives. Call it a smart business decision: give players a little too much of one thing and hopefully your competition won't attempt to reiterate before you get the chance. Whatever the case, those never-ending investigations aren't what irked me about Assassin's Creed. No, in my opinion, the truly onerous design decisions had to do with cut scene camera positioning.

Naturally, these issues are far from game-breaking. But they're still worth thinking about for a variety of reasons. First, expository elements almost always have a serious atmospheric impact. Of more particular interest, however, is the fact that cinematics have taken a lot of flack in the wake of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. While I largely concur with the folks who have argued that player interaction is what games are all about, abandoning cut scenes in favor of scripted sequences isn't necessarily going to deliver a superior immersive experience, and, to my thinking, Assassin's is living proof.

I found myself almost completely unable to pay even a whit of attention during most of the major plot points despite being genuinely interested in what was happening.

Spoilers to follow.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Take the scene in which Desmond Miles, Altaïr ibn La-Ahad's present-day descendant, is asking Abstergo employee Lucy Stillman about how she came to work with her supervisor, Warren Vidic. Stillman has just defended Vidic in spite of his short temper and brusque tone, claiming that he once saved her life. "What do you mean he saved your life?" Miles asks.

Now, despite earnestly wanting to know Stillman's answer, I zoned out and later consulted Sarranduin's transcription at GameFAQs. This happened more than once, and, unfortunately, Sarranduin isn't quite finished with the script. At any rate, so far as I can tell, the reason for my (rather consistent) lapses in concentration had to do with Ubisoft Montreal's decision to deliver their storytelling tidbits via scripting rather than itsy-bitsy film. As a consequence, these segments didn't seem separate or special -- yet they were clearly intended to be. Instead of briefly taking control in order to elucidate important details, the development team left its end users an unusual amount of interpretive freedom for such a directed experience.

This seems especially bizarre when one considers that Assassin's Creed is unusually camera conscious. When ibn La-Ahad selects his pickpocket targets, for instance, the perspective shifts in something not unlike rack focus, drawing players' attention to their quarry by leaving white-robed Altaïr looking soft and blurry. Later, when it comes time to assassinate Al Mualim, the developers choose to introduce Masyaf's mind-controlled citizens with a rather brilliant canted angle. This is the work of a team that clearly knows a thing or two about how movies use various techniques to convey meaning. So why not take full advantage of these methods?

Moreover, the scripted portions are severely limiting in terms of control. You can steer Miles and ibn La-Ahad about, but save for some point of view switches through occasional button mashing, there's not a whole lot to do. You can add some artificial oomph to everything by changing perspectives every time someone utters a complete sentence, though if all you can affect are the camera angles, why bother?

Perhaps I'm drawing too hard a line. The scripted sequences in Assassin's are so restrictive they might as well be cut scenes. Nevertheless, editing your own exposition on the fly is not only distracting, it's wholly ineffective as a narrative device. After all, given a linear game such as this, it's the developer who should choose which actions to underscore and which lines of dialogue to emphasize.

One way or another, it'll be fascinating to see how Ubisoft Montreal decides to frame their sequel.

Hola queridos lectores, como a mi siempre me han enseñado que la humildad esta siempre por delante y ante todo hay que admitir un error, hoy en la madrugada me encontre sorprendido con un comentario el cual me criticaba por poner una entrada la cual yo no habia escrito, esta persona dice que soy una persona sin etica y poca originalidad, la verdad no me molesto en lo mas minimo por que como dicen algunos comentarios aqui escritos por algunos lectores, no sabe de lo que habla, si lo hiciera supiera que en una entrada bien explique que mis noticias serian de fuentes como Atomix, Club Nintendo, IGN, Gametrailers, Gamers, X Box Player, Sputnik y Sonik entre otras ademas de mi opinion personal, mi error fatal del cual aprendere de el es que no puse la fuente, gracias por la gente que me apoyo en sus comentarios y que apesar de no conocerme saben distingir a la gente con etica, ahora "Your Joker" si quieres dar mala fama a esta web no importa, hazlo y estas en tu derecho "es un mundo libre" solo si te digo una cosa y es en buena onda, haz algo con tu vida, gente como tu que solo hace eso por molestar o no tener que hacer termina como sedentario, no hables de valores si no los conoces, aun asi gracias por hacerme ver mi error, te espero por aqui y que tengas un buen dia, espero replica de tu comentario. cualquier duda o aclaracion mi correo es conviction.world@hotmail.com

La gente de Australia de la página IGN se dió a la tarea de reseñar una versión importada del título Resident Evil 0, el cual solo salió a la venta en Japón, y al parecer fue bueno que se quedara ahí.

Para empezar, hacen notar lo obvio, que no es algo muy inteligente, ni intuitivo portear un  título como este al Wii, a diferencia de Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, un título que pareciera que estuviera hecho desde cero para esta consola.

Capcom no se dió a la tarea de cambiar de ninguna forma los gráficos del título, se sigue viendo igual (lo cual era hasta cierto punto lógico), y el título sigue corriendo en un aspecto de pantalla de 4:3, es decir, no es Widescreen.

El control es muy parecido al de RE4WE pero sin el uso del puntero, y tienes la posibilidad de usar un mando clásico o un control de Gamecube.

Les dejo la dirección de la reseña original para que vean que calificación obtuvo, creo que estoy de acuerdo con ellos, me encanta ese título, pero debió quedarse nada más en el Gamecube.

Nota original: IGN

I was thinking it would be interesting if  Talia Al Ghul, were to surface as Catwoman. She appears in town as a possible business venture partner for Wayne Enterprises, while she stalks the streets at night in search of Batman,  curious to know who managed to finish her father.

Of course she wouldn't be alone. Which brings us to a possible next villian: The Penguin. I don't read the comics, but follow them loosely. Lately, from what I've heard is that The Penguin, is seen as a mob boss, and this form is fitting for Nolan's universe. Talia, can tap him for knowledge. Also, as a way of using him the way her father used Jonathan Crane(Scarecrow) to as a diversion for a more sinister plan.

As she learns more abouts Batman she could fall into a divide of love and hate for the man who killed her father. Find herself hesitating to carry out what she came to do.  Of course, like all bad people in movies, when the leader can't do it, someone right under her will as a way of betrayal. Someone that was an aid, just decides to turn on her. Not sure.

Thats my take on a possible third Nolan Batman film.

To find more information, to satisfy your curiousity I suggest checking out IGN's articles on how to bring the various Batman villians to Nolan's universe. Links are below.

Batman's Villans Part 1

Batman's Villains Part 2

IGN ran an article today hypothesizing the demise of E3 after this year's show failed to generate much excitement. IGN isn't the only one to think this, as many who were there (and many who were not) think that either a return to the uber-huge shows of yesteryear or an all-out discontinuation of the show is necessary. As a gaming fan, and someone who has followed E3 since he was 12 years old, I without a doubt have to agree. The whole purpose of E3 was to show the rest of the world (not just gamers) what the gaming world was bringing to the table for the next year. There were some huge announcements (Final Fantasy 13), and some great games shown off (Gears 2, Killzone 2, Little Big Planet), but these things could be accomplished by something as simple and cheap as a press release or media kit. E3 is about the spectacle, the granduer, the booth babes. However, it's the cost and distraction of the old E3 that killed it in the first place. So will a return to form be something that developers even want to try, especially with so many trade shows already (GDC, Tokyo Game Show). No official word has been given as E3 ended less than a week ago, but the general consensus is that something has to change in order for E3 to survive. I hope E3 survives to some extent, as the conference's significance to the industry is unquestionable.

Ora, sicuramente Megan Fox non sarà la responsabile di produzione del prossimo Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, ma dovendo credere a quello che ha detto a IGN, c’è da fare un balzo sulla poltrona. La Fox, infatti, ha assicurato che il sequel dei Transformers avrà il doppio del budget del primo film!

Ora, facendo due banalissimi conti, con il primo capitolo costato 150 milioni di dollari, questo sequel andrebbe a costarne 300? Si tratterebbe di una cifra record, e obiettivamente folle, ma la domanda a questo punto diventa… possiamo considerare attendibile Megan Fox?

Anche perchè non osiamo pensare cosa potrebbe fare Michael Bay con 300 milioni di dollari a disposizione, roba che i robottoni ce li fa davvero uscire dallo schermo…

FONTE: cineblog.it ]]> http://buzzreport.wordpress.com/?p=6 Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:01:42 +0000 HypeGeist http://buzzreport.wordpress.com/?p=6 Do you hear that? Those are the final gasps of life for the show formally known as E3. Say what you will - it was expensive, it was loud, it was a bitch to work, but you know what? It worked.

E3 was our Superbowl. It was our prom and our chance to remind the world that our industry is fueled by creative individuals and by loyal fans.

This year's E3 from all reports and my experience felt more like a glorified swap meet than a trade show for a multi-billion dollar industry. Thank God for excellent coverage by G4, Gametrailers TV, IGN and Gamespot, it nearly made me forget the failed abortion that that E3 has become.

The role of a trade show is to be the medium for publicity, sales and business. E3 continues to deteriorate to a point where the ESA expects the publicity, sales and business to be the medium to promote the show. Who's working for who? I don't fault any company for pulling out of the ESA and saying enough is enough. We don't need this show, but many of us miss it. It used to be a beautiful cacophony of light and sound. There used to be REAL news, big announcements and booth babes!

There used to be fun.

There used to be parties - BIG PARTIES!

What was the news this year? Netflix + Xbox360 = meh. Okay - mild enthusiasm for less interaction with the outside world.

Gears of War 2 = murder boner! Looks pretty but this was announced in Game Informer a long time ago.

Dead Space is coming together nicely.

Fallout 3 could have shown better, but will be an epic purchase. Fallout 3 may be the only game I'm truly hyped up to play. Why did the devs choose a ridiculously boring section of gameplay to demo on such an important stage as the Xbox E3 presentation. When life gives you an opportunity to show off why you should be "Game of the Show" than you'd better bring your "A" game. I understand why you want to show off the finer elements of a game, but where's the money shot? NEGATIVE KUDOS to the publicist on that one. It's the PR's job to educate devs and marketing folks on what is going to kill with the press and fans alike.

The Gears of War 2 trailer is far more effective and has a nice payoff at the end and leaves you wanting more KUDOS Epic!

More to come on E3!

-HypeGeist

Everyone loves to create their own legends wrestlers and have their favourite classics take on each other, or current superstars.  But these "creations" were never 100% "right".  If only a game coming along would allow you to truly go back, in a way that was (until now) only hinted at with the Blue Steel Cage and WrestleMania IX ring from a few SmackDown's ago.  Good news... there IS.

THQ has announced a WWE Legends of WrestleMania game.  While minimal details are known at this time, it is confirmed that Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan are in the game.  And judging by this video here, it looks incredible.

IGN also has an interesting little preview, and I am exceptionally pumped to hear that Heenan (as Andre's manager) actually gets involved in the match.

No roster details are announced, so let the specualting begin! It's highly unlikely that the Ultimate Warrior will be in the game due to his licensing issues with WWE/WWF, not to mention his questionable sanity. And unfortunately, I doubt "Macho Man" Randy Savage will be in; they still haven't released a DVD compilation of one of their best World Champions ever, nor have they had any involvement with him since he left WCW. While there are rumours about why this is so (rumours which I will not help perpetuate), it is a shame. Because I would love to re-enact the Main Events from WrestleMania V and VI.

The game contains 40 wrestlers, and is set in the 80s and 90s. There are countless stars from those eras for WWE to choose from, and so many WrestleMania Moments to be recreated. I can't wait!

"Mythic closed out the demo by finally offering us official access to the beta, so you can be sure that we'll be bringing you even more information soon."

So, is this the dawn of the NDA dropping? If so when? Will Mythic announce it before E308 ends? If the NDA drops how soon will open beta start? I know we have to wait for the guild beta verdict, but if the press is wandering around WAR, the CE holders are close to their dreams. Last question; if NDA drops this week
will Syp be able to keep up with Da Newz? I think he is a machine so my answer is, yes.

Update: More beta invites out today so I checked my account info. NO for me but I found something interesting. Comparing accounts with my friend, her account was started on the 7th month of 2007 and she had "Vetern news letter member". I started mine on the 6th month of 2007 and I am not a member. I think I am getting screwed out of a chance in beta!

Aun cuando en la conferencia no se dieron tales noticias, de forma indirecta, se ha encontrado información sobre esto, en una página dedicada al entretenimiento como películas y videojuegos, expresan sus hallazgos.

Aun cuando bungie tenia promesas de dar una gran noticia durante el lunes, tuvieron que posponer todo anuncio oficial por razones de desarrollo, pero por voces “undeground” se ha dado a conocer el secreto, se trata de un nuevo titulo de Halo y no se refieren a Halo Wars o al proyecto de Peter Moore, un nuevo titulo traídos por el ahora independiente Bungie, ¿será cierto esto?, y si lo es, ¿será una secuela?, ¿un nuevo tipo de juego? Solo falta esperar para saber.

Por otro lado, Nintendo a dado información de una forma un poco inverosímil de proyectos a futuro que tienen, entre ellos, esta una secuela de Mario galaxy, una versión de Wii de la famosa saga Pikmin, un nuevo Zelda y un nuevo Mario para ds, declarando: “No puedo hacer ningún anuncio oficial, ya que saben que no nos gusta decir nada hasta sentir que el juego esta listo para que el publico lo vea” dijo miyamoto a los entrevistadores que no paraban de hacer preguntas. ¿Será esta la respuesta de Nintendo para los hardcore gamers?, solo falta esperar para saber si son ciertos estos rumores.

La fuente de esta información no es nada más ni nada menos que la pagina IGN.COM, dedicada a todo aspecto de entretenimiento, y profesionales en dar información al respecto.

Antes de irme, ahí también un personaje que no se da por vencido, y regresa para demostrar que la llama aun no muere.

*Sonic Unleashed (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)

Sonic ha vuelto, y esta vez mas salvaje que nunca. SEGA quiere retomar las raíces de lo que solía ser Sonic, antes de tener… tantos tropiezos, lo que hasta ahora se ve como un juego de Sonic que podría estar mejor que sus ultimas entregas, solo esperemos ( y personalmente lo espero mucho ) que este juego sea merecedor de lo que una vez fue SONIC THE HEDGEHOG.

Sin más, pueden ver el trailer que fue presentado en la E3 aquí, donde se ve por primera vez, la forma bestial de Sonic.

Hasta la próxima the TOPOman.

* Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty
Släpps på Playstation Network under sommaren med ett pris på $15. Enligt Sony blir det som ett vanligt spel, bara lite kortare. Jag tror snarare man ska se det som en expansion till Ratchet & Clank: Tools of destruction. Bara de ser till att få med stöd för trophys. IGN har förhandstittat på det och skrivit några rader.

* Crash Commando
Sidoscrollande FPS som antingen kan spelas singleplayer eller mot 11 andra via PSN. Galet blodigt och överdrivet. Jag får lite Lemmins-känsla även om det så klart är helt fel. Trevligt att de har två dimensioner som innebär att man kan gå till en parallell bana via portar. Blir så mycket mer rörigt då. Releasedag okänt.
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This article was written before Monday, July 14 and therefore does not contain current E3 updates. More commentary on E3 revelations will follow. Sorry for the delay. We are kinda lazy. =P

Well E3 is coming up soon and I figured I might as well copy all the other gaming sites and announce the five top games that I am looking forward to the most. Unlike some gaming media websites who believe that another Guitar Hero with some updated graphics and billions of more songs to obsess with is something to get excited about (cough IGN cough), I believe that REAL games, not a DDR version for the hands, are the reason to get hyped up about E3. Now before the anticipation explodes into an array of trumpet blasts (sorry, I’m listening to Mars, the Bringer of War by Holst), here are my personal top games to look forward to at this year’s E3.

Final Fantasy XIII – Square Enix (PS3)

Even though I don’t have a PS3, this might as well be the best reason to get one. I’ve never gotten into the whole Metal Gear series and no other games in Sony’s current lineup interest me as much as this game. I admit, I’ve been a fan of Final Fantasy. I thought FFVIII had great gameplay, but the storyline got quite out of hand near the end. FFIX was paid homage to the old school days and was fun to play. FFX was just amazing, changing the formula but still managing to retain its old school roots. Ever since then, Final Fantasy as seem to wind down a bit. FFX-2 was a pure marketing cash-in. FFXI was an MMO (ugh) and FFXII just was too weird, with the new battle system and bleh story. The trailer than Square Enix released for FFXIII looked amazing, but they’ve been recycling the same trailer with a couple of seconds of new footage for each trailer release. Way to be lazy guys. I hope this E3 Square Enix will announce something epic related to FFXIII, or the other games they are developing for not only the PS3, but for the 360 and PC.

Fallout 3 – Bethesda Game Studios (X360, PS3, PC)

I’ll be dead honest with you. I have never played the previous two Fallouts. If you asked me before Fallout 3 was announced what Fallout was, I probably would have guessed a racing game. Since Bethesda Game Studios, my homeboys up in Maryland and mostly known for their work in the Elder Scroll series, are taking on the classical PC classic and adding a bit of Elder Scroll flavor to it. Fallout 3 is going to be huge, creating your own weapons, having up to 50,000 different endings, and other wild various unbelievable super-mega-awesome features. Fallout 3 could be another reason never to leave the house this year and hopefully we’ll see a new trailer or some gameplay footage this E3. On a side note, I heard Bethesda is making an MMO. If they can make the average human addicted to a single-player game, imagine what they will do with an MMO. The world might end. Literally.

Mirror’s Edge – EA / DICE (X360, PS3, PC)

This game has me so excited. I love games that attempt to revolutionize an old and beaten down genre. Now I know its EA. I hate EA as much as the next guy. They’re the super corporation that’s attempting to brainwash our minds into believing that this year’s Madden game is TOTALLY different from last year’s and is necessary to buy it to live. However, it seems as though EA is trying to change their image a bit. They’re sponsored a lot of more unique games that aren’t part of a series or franchise. Mirror’s Edge is just one of several games they have announced. If you haven’t seen the trailer, its almost mind-blowing. I go coo-coo for the whole utopian environment (I used to love 1984 before my transvestite English teacher killed it for me) and the new perspective and almost simplistic graphics could change our expectations for first-person shooters. Now, granted it is EA and DICE and therefore they could totally fuck it up. Not much has been released about this game at all and that actually gives me hope. If its secretive, it might be good. I don’t understand my logic either. Just try to comprehend with me.

Half-Life 2: Episode 3 – Valve Corporation (PC, ???)

WHERE IS IT?!?! WHERE IS IT!! I have never wanted a game to come out this badly. Valve is evil. They end off Episode 2 in a cliffhanger and don’t even give us a brief trailer like they did in Episode 1. I hate you Valve even though I did liked your Orange Box idea. I got the Orange Box for 25 bucks on Black Friday. Greatest deal I ever made, although getting two Dr. Peppers for the price of one comes in a close second. Doug Lombardi has cruelly announced that Episode 3 won’t be featured in this year’s E3, but a little boy can dream, can’t he? Instead, Valve will be showing off their multiplayer survival-horror zombie game Left 4 Dead, which looks phenomenal. Maybe Valve should come up with a package similar to the Orange Box, with Episode 3, Portal 2, and Left 4 Dead. Oh, and Natural Selection: Source. Man that would be sick. I’d call it… the Purple Box. Yeah, that’s what they should do. That wouldn’t be gay at all.

Spore – EA / Maxis (PC)

This game has been promoted for nearly three years and finally it is coming this year. The amount of interactivity of this game is incredible. The Spore Creature Creator has become a game of itself, now boasting its users have created over 1.8 million unique creatures (that’s more than known real species on Earth folks!). This game will be amazing without a doubt. Creating your own civilization from the tinniest molecule to the expanse of space. Whether you believe in evolution or not, this game will be entertaining and one of the many reasons to never go out and see the sun again.

That's it folks! Oh whoa don't freak out and yell at me. There are plenty of other games for E3. These are just five that I'm REALLY excited about. A man’s gotta cap it off an article sometime, right? Resistance 2, Banjo-Kazooie, Sonic Unleashed, inFamous, Prototype, DC Universe Online, the list goes on. I have never seen an E3 lineup of this epic proportions. Add all these games with rumors of a new Nintendo DS, new Sony PSP, price cuts, better Xbox Live / PSN / WiiConnect, and more. There is so much happening this E3, my brain can't comprehend it. Tune into your favorite source of gaming news and make sure to keep in touch with CEREV for our (not so) professional thoughts on the Big Three (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) presentations and more.

-Sheel Kumar

The LiveWire Fallout 3 presentation already ended. Nothing really new, except a loading screen in the end and a successful attempt at the hacking mini-game.

Thanks Incognito.

Ich gucke/höre das, das und das.

Warum muss Nintendo das machen? Weil andere sowas haben.

Pressekonferenz vorbei:

Note: ausreichend

Warum? keine richtigen Spiele. Häufig ungenaue Aussagen, nichts zu: Disaster, Pikmin und Konsorten. Nichts!

Hier gibt es eine kurze Zusammenfassung aller Pressekonferenzen.