Random Gaming Talk Thread

[maxy]

New RPG published by EA

    REDWOOD SHORES, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS – News) today announced an agreement with 38 Studios, LLC to publish the company’s first video game, an epic single-player role-playing game codenamed ‘Project Mercury’. 38 Studios is the creative enterprise of World Series MVP and avid gamer Curt Schilling. ‘Project Mercury’ is being developed at Big Huge Games, a wholly-owned subsidiary of 38 Studios, under the leadership of Ken Rolston, former lead designer of the critically acclaimed hits, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The game marks the first entry into the company’s vast universe created by New York Times best-selling fantasy author R. A. Salvatore, with artistic direction by Todd McFarlane, renowned artist and creator of Spawn.

    “From day one, 38 Studios has been focused on creating the next generation of entertainment experiences that embrace all mediums, including film, television, comics, novels, toys and, of course, games,” said Curt Schilling, Founder and Chairman of 38 Studios. “We are creating an enormous world, with heroes and villains and a rich back story from the brilliant minds of R. A., Todd and Ken at its heart, and I can think of no finer partner than the global powerhouse that is EA Partners. Being able to leverage the expertise of EA’s publishing organization to bring our first product to market is a dream come true for 38 Studios.”

    “We are thrilled to be working with 38 Studios. The world of RPG gaming is so rich and it is a perfect complement to our partners and title portfolio in EAP,” said David DeMartini, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA Partners. “Project Mercury is bursting with first-rate talent, with passion that spans across the board, from Curt to R. A. to Todd and Ken. We look forward to collaborating with them to create an amazing game set in this incredible new world.”

http://www.38studios.com/home/list

[Bebpo]

Wasn't EA's last rpg that LotR one?  Yeah, good luck with this.

[demi]

Wasn't EA's last rpg that LotR one?  Yeah, good luck with this.

lol. LOTR is the least bit interesting universe to work with. What did you expect them to do? At least with this they can try something different.

[brawndolicious]

http://kotaku.com/5488801/first-look-at-bodycount-an-orgy-of-bullets--destruction

This looks EXACTLY like Black on the Xbox. What the fuck.

yeah, but it looks like it does some new stuff too.  It's too bad it's a year away.

[Bebpo]

I played the Black demo and I remember the enemies would take a million hits to die and I was like screw this and turned it off.

[ManaByte]

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

[AdmiralViscen]

Wasn't EA's last rpg that LotR one?  Yeah, good luck with this.

Mass Effect 2

[Ichirou]

I wanted Dragon Age till I started reading this forum's opinions on it.

[Stoney Mason]

I wanted Dragon Age till I started reading this forum's opinions on it.

Mistake #1.

[demi]

No mistake, game is shit. You'll live.

[Third]

Wii motion controls and Netal annihilated with one gif:

[archie4208]

Motion controls

Anyway, should I play Blue Dragon or Lost Odyssey?  LO looks better, but BD is cheaper.

[Third]

LO. Definitely LO.
Avoid BD.

[Fragamemnon]

I wanted Dragon Age till I started reading this forum's opinions on it.

EB's groupthink is generally pretty good as groupthink goes, but they missed the ball on this one big time, IMO.

edit: two drops this morning while laddering in SC2 beta made me toss my router into the trash and bust out the "rainy day" buffalo router I got a while back specifically for when my current one died on me. Sucked so hard, I had a good 40+ food count and additional expansion advantage on them both times.  :'(

[Brehvolution]

You might have to mainline that shit.

[OptimoPeach]

Looks like single player WoW with better graphics and worse combat. Someone change my mind?

[iconoclast]

Motion controls

Anyway, should I play Blue Dragon or Lost Odyssey?  LO looks better, but BD is cheaper.

BD has better combat and graphics (and boss music), LO has better everything else. I'd say they're pretty equal in quality, but I like BD just a little more.

[OptimoPeach]

BD has better combat and graphics (and boss music)

[archie4208]

I like the Blue Dragon boss theme.  It is awesome in a cheesy kind of way.

[youtube=560,345]sCNyNmuFSlw[/youtube]

[Third]

Meh, I don't understand the love for BD.  

Lost Odyssey review:
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/review.php?gameID=405

Blue Dragon review
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/blue-dragon-review?page=2

Read and decide.

[demi]

"Read" and decide. Both games alone are $20 combined. Dirty poors.

[Herr Mafflard]

I wanted Dragon Age till I started reading this forum's opinions on it.

What? Demi + Willco does not equate to the whole of this forum. And they played the vastly inferior console version.  

Get it for PC - it's the meatiest and most tactical rpg you'll play this gen... I can't remember the last rpg I did 3 run-throughs of almost back to back....

[Fragamemnon]

Looks like single player WoW with better graphics and worse combat. Someone change my mind?

It borrows some MMO conventions (which are in turn adapted from pen and paper games) for the way some of the mechanics in the game work, but I found the game to have an interesting setting, a really neat relative morality system that was based on the beliefs of your friends and companions instead of an absolute good/evil scale, great combat implementation and good area design.

Very good game. I'm passing on the expansion since it doesn't look like it's got enough to warrant $40, but I played through DA twice back to back when it came out and had a great time in doing so.

[demi]

I think you're a fucking shill

[Eel O'Brian]

i hope lots of people buy into that onlive "minimal lag" hokum, and i hope i get to play against them online

[pilonv1]

Second place got me a free EA Sports game and a Gilette Fusion shaving pack.

First prize was a trip to Florida for the finals

[maxy]

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

[archie4208]

On the topic of PSP, how easy is it to keep one modded for playing PS1 games while still being able to play legit games?  I haven't kept up with PSP modding in a long time.  IIRC, the newest firmwares are uncrackable or something.  The Borecast's gushing about Class of Heroes has made me kinda want another PSP, but I want to keep it modded to play PS1 games but not bother with pirating PSP games. 

[Brehvolution]

[IMG]http://i39.tinypic.com/20fyvm8.png[img]

Second place got me a free EA Sports game and a Gilette Fusion shaving pack.

First prize was a trip to Florida for the finals

That's awesome! 

Congrats!

[maxy]

The Last Story art,looks like Vesperia

http://www.allgamesbeta.info/2010/03/last-story-wii-concept-art.html

[tiesto]

The Last Story art,looks like Vesperia

http://www.allgamesbeta.info/2010/03/last-story-wii-concept-art.html

Looks really nice. Hopefully the second piece of art means there's a world map in the game! I already call that Last Story will be better than FF13.

[bork]

On the topic of PSP, how easy is it to keep one modded for playing PS1 games while still being able to play legit games?  I haven't kept up with PSP modding in a long time.  IIRC, the newest firmwares are uncrackable or something.  The Borecast's gushing about Class of Heroes has made me kinda want another PSP, but I want to keep it modded to play PS1 games but not bother with pirating PSP games. 

The current custom firmware is a hacked version of an older firmware, and has not gotten the same updates for PSOne games that the official firmwares have gotten.  So basically some of the games that were released on PSN will still not work properly on CFW PSPs. 

99% of all the new PSP games released work on CFW PSPs.  It's just the Japanese Kingdom Hearts and God Eater that have yet to be cracked.   Some are claiming that they have or are close to getting CFW 6.20 finished, but it's going to be a while before they release it.  They cite piracy as a major reason why, but I don't believe this for a second since the current CFW plays almost everything anyway.

[Bebpo]

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

All I ask for is that PW be a return to non-linear stealth.  I want my MGS games to be about getting from point A to B while giving me 3 dozen ways to do so.

The decoy stand and supply drop look great in that video.  I also like the new radar.

[Bebpo]

On the topic of PSP, how easy is it to keep one modded for playing PS1 games while still being able to play legit games?  I haven't kept up with PSP modding in a long time.  IIRC, the newest firmwares are uncrackable or something.  The Borecast's gushing about Class of Heroes has made me kinda want another PSP, but I want to keep it modded to play PS1 games but not bother with pirating PSP games. 

The current custom firmware is a hacked version of an older firmware, and has not gotten the same updates for PSOne games that the official firmwares have gotten.  So basically some of the games that were released on PSN will still not work properly on CFW PSPs. 

99% of all the new PSP games released work on CFW PSPs.  It's just the Japanese Kingdom Hearts and God Eater that have yet to be cracked.   Some are claiming that they have or are close to getting CFW 6.20 finished, but it's going to be a while before they release it.  They cite piracy as a major reason why, but I don't believe this for a second since the current CFW plays almost everything anyway.

Kingdom Hearts, God Eater, Classic Dungeon and probably Zettai Hero.
Basically all the major JP games in the last month or two outside of Valkyria 2 because Sega was too poor to get protection.  I'll be surprised if Peace Walker doesn't have the same protection as well.

Hope they crack 6.20 soon!

[bork]

Is Classic Dungeon also on PSN?  Wondering if it has something to do with that.

Sangoku Musou Multi Raid 2 just came out this week.  That's another big PSP game, and it has zilch for protection.  That's Koei-Tecmo, so I assume DOA Paradise won't have any problems on CFW PSPs either.  Metal Gear Peace Walker is a big enough game that someone will find a workaround or they will update the firmware for it.  I think the same might happen with Kingdom Hearts in English too.  Those Japanese games just don't have as much interest from the community as a whole.

I've been wanting to ditch my OFW 1000 and upgrade to a 3000, but haven't done so in the hopes that they will finally reveal the PSP 4000 series.  Think I will give it until Peacewalker hits USA in May, although if that game does run fine on CFW, I probably won't give a shit.

[Bebpo]

Classic Dungeon is on PSN.  They dumped both versions but can't get either working.

[magus]

Classic Dungeon is on PSN.  They dumped both versions but can't get either working.

apparently fat princess got a PSP release too,is it worth?
also where are my zettai hero impressions?

[Bebpo]

Teleport me my game and I'll give you some 

[Bebpo]

lol,

well I just got an e-mail that ncsx shipped my copy.  Which is bizarre since their news for today: http://www.ncsx.com/2010/030810/ncs0308h.htm doesn't mention they actually got the game in.  So either they only got my copy and sent it, or they felt the game wasn't even worth mentioning which is  :'( since Zettai Hero is the 3rd biggest psp release of the year behind KH & MGS.

[bork]

There's a "playable" demo for DOA Paradise up now (link to the link to the site is at Andriasang.com).  "Playable" as in you can pick Hitomi and take some gravure pictures of her for a couple of minutes.  No mini games or anything.  So my impression would be that they did a good job on the boob physics.  Guess that's all that really matters.

lol,

well I just got an e-mail that ncsx shipped my copy.  Which is bizarre since their news for today: http://www.ncsx.com/2010/030810/ncs0308h.htm doesn't mention they actually got the game in.  So either they only got my copy and sent it, or they felt the game wasn't even worth mentioning which is  :'( since Zettai Hero is the 3rd biggest psp release of the year behind KH & MGS.

Perhaps not.  Wouldn't #3 be Godeater in the Nippon anyway?

[archie4208]

I doubt anybody cares, but I have six Heroes of Newerth beta keys available.  PM me your email address and I'll be more than glad to hook you up.

[maxy]

BioShock 2's first batch of DLC, the Sinclair Solutions pack, may have been on the game disc all along.

Users on the 2K forum (spotted by VG247) recorded the download size as a teensy 24K on PC and 108K on Xbox 360. That's what it says on the Xbox Live Marketplace page too.

Developer 2K Marin would need something akin to a miracle to squash all of the Sinclair Solutions content - two new playable characters, 20 new trials, a third weapon upgrade for each weapon, five additional masks, rank upgrade to 50 - into such tiny files.

2K Games is avoiding comment at the moment, which suggests that a more measured and senior statement be needed.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/bioshock-2s-dlc-on-disc-already-article

At least it saves bandwidth.

[Don Flamenco]

Is "rank up to 50" exactly what it sounds like?  paying for level ups? 

[demi]

Is "rank up to 50" exactly what it sounds like?  paying for level ups? 

The original game maxed out at 40. This "new" DLC ups it to 50.

Theres no achievements for it either, so its literally buying whats on the disc it seems.

[magus]

Teleport me my game and I'll give you some 

i digged up a video out of desperation :'(
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm9991581
EDIT:
wa... wait... this is a roguelike?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[maxy]

Capcom Europe has announced that Dead Rising 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the multi-million selling Dead Rising, will be released in Europe on September 3rd 2010, in North America on August 31st and Japan on September 2nd for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Furthermore Capcom has also revealed that Xbox 360 gamers will be able to get an exclusive taste of Dead Rising 2’s signature gameplay with the release of its downloadable prologue, Dead Rising 2: CASE ZERO.

Available as downloadable content (DLC) only on Xbox LIVE shortly before release of the full game, Dead Rising 2: CASE ZERO, will introduce main protagonist and former motocross champion Chuck Greene and provide a link between the original game and the events that await players in the gambling paradise of Fortune City.

[OptimoPeach]

Pre-launch DLC?

[maxy]

?

You didn't know about that?Old news

[OptimoPeach]

Guess I'm out of the loop

[demi]

From what I understand, Case Zero is akin to an XBLA title. Similar to Fable 2 Pub Games.

[Stoney Mason]

lulz

2K has posted the following on its forums:The way our engine and game structure works is that people need to have the exact same content for people to play together. One of the challenges with post launch content for MP is that it can split the player base, and we want to avoid that whenever possible. For this content, creating the DLC package the way we did allowed for us to not split the player base – so whether you purchase the new content or not, you can still play with your friends.I know some of you have strong beliefs about DLC, and I’m not here to sway your opinion or convince you to buy our stuff – if you like what we’re offering, I hope you get it and enjoy it. If it’s not your speed, enjoy BioShock 2 as we released it.I want to let you know that DLC is not interfering with our patching capabilities, which are a top priority and are still being actively worked on. We’re committed to supporting you and making BioShock 2 the best experience possible.

http://www.vg247.com/2010/03/12/2k-bioshock-2-dlc-already-on-the-disc-to-keep-audience-together/

[maxy]

For this content, creating the DLC package the way we did allowed for us to not split the player base – so whether you purchase the new content or not, you can still play with your friends.

This doesn't make any sense...

[tiesto]

It's a loooong editorial, but as someone who grew up with classic RPGs, I agree with many of the points he talks about:

http://www.gamespite.net/toastywiki/index.php/Games/HowRPGSLostTheirWay

[bork]

lulz

2K has posted the following on its forums:The way our engine and game structure works is that people need to have the exact same content for people to play together. One of the challenges with post launch content for MP is that it can split the player base, and we want to avoid that whenever possible. For this content, creating the DLC package the way we did allowed for us to not split the player base – so whether you purchase the new content or not, you can still play with your friends.I know some of you have strong beliefs about DLC, and I’m not here to sway your opinion or convince you to buy our stuff – if you like what we’re offering, I hope you get it and enjoy it. If it’s not your speed, enjoy BioShock 2 as we released it.I want to let you know that DLC is not interfering with our patching capabilities, which are a top priority and are still being actively worked on. We’re committed to supporting you and making BioShock 2 the best experience possible.

http://www.vg247.com/2010/03/12/2k-bioshock-2-dlc-already-on-the-disc-to-keep-audience-together/

They are joining the ranks of Namco, Capcom, and others.  Nothing new here.

[Stoney Mason]

For this content, creating the DLC package the way we did allowed for us to not split the player base – so whether you purchase the new content or not, you can still play with your friends.

This doesn't make any sense...

I believe he is saying something along the lines of their engine only allows people to play together (I assume party up or something) if they have all of the same content on the disc. Of course this begs the question since the MP is a completely new design from the first game, why would you design your MP engine in such away and that's even if this is true which I would be skeptical of.

It is what it is. I don't get internet angry but as usual charging for content actually on the disc is a bad move for consumers. 

[bork]

The DLC-on-a-disc "everyone can play together whether they purchase the content or not" argument has popped up before (Seth Killian at Capcom said the same thing, IIRC), but to me it's just bullshit; they are just locking out content and charging you a fee to access it.  And that's the problem...it's not "DLC" in the first place.  Then again, if they make DLC that was originally planned to be in the game but cut out due to time constraints, or more likely because they figured they could get away with charging money for a couple of levels/extras (see: Tomb Raider Underworld), is there really much of a difference?

[Stoney Mason]

The reality is that DLC as some "pure" concept as stuff done after the game is "finished" doesn't really exist anymore for the most part. That occurred in the early days of this gen when devs were still figuring out their DLC models. (There are always a few exceptions to this)

DLC now is generally done either in conjunction with the game or towards the tail end of development. Devs realized the longer it took to put out DLC from the original launch, the less it sold. So now its done much earlier in the schedule to get it out much closer to the release date. So there really is almost no "pure" DLC.

Still when they charge for things actually on the retail disc that is actually more annoying. I've been on the side where its been done and its something that from a dev perspective you feel like you have to do in certain situations but when you step back and look at it solely from the consumer perspective, its hard not to see it as anything but a screwjob.

How devs rationalize it in their heads is that the game is getting extra resources that normally wouldn't be there to create this "extra" content which is true to a degree but its also pretzel logic.

[Don Flamenco]

i thought it was obvious from the beginning that DLC is planned along with the game.  apparently people want it to be some creative spark that leads to devs putting out DLC "for the fans." 

Not sure how having it on a disc crosses a line either...it's just a method of distribution. 

[Stoney Mason]

DLC on the disc is worse in some cases because they represents DLC that was actually legit finished before it shipped. So there is absolutely no reason outside of the resource issue that it couldn't have been with the game. I'll only speak for myself in the sense of that I've seen really shady stuff done on that side of the coin with it. I've even participated in some of it.

At least with DLC released after the game there is a chance that it was done in a less odious manner although unless somebody is close to the development of a particular game they will never know the truth in specific cases.

[Don Flamenco]

so what people are hoping for is a slim chance that devs tried to do the arguably-yet-still-marginally more ethical thing of waiting until the game is done to develop DLC? 

In the end, it really makes no difference.  You can't tell if content would have made it in, had there not been a digital distribution platform from which to sell it.  The only time I really felt suckered was with mission mode and costumes in Ninja Gaiden 2, but even then, I had to buy a whole new game last gen to get those (NGBlack.)