Gamin' NEWS! VGA Awards - various new trailers

So, once more Spike TV hosted their famous VGA Awards.
The Spike Video Game Awards 2011 to be precise. (but people tend to repeat Awards after VGA for some reason...)

Besides the random events due to their annoucements, silly announcers, star power hosting the show and whatnot, they also had a bunch of new trailers for many of the upcoming games.
(I mean...That's why I only check the latest game trailers instead of the whole event-thingie.)

Amongst those of interest to me, there was some news regarding my most expected titles of 2012. Like Mass Effect, Bioshock and many others!
Let's check 'em out, okay? :)
First up, right when nobody was expecting it, there's more Duke Nukem Forever coming!
(I hear you booo-ying already...)
('reminds me I should put up DNF's review up one of these days....)
It's set in Area 51 and will actually be some more offline campaign.

Once you’ve done that, you may not be interested in playing more, but, well, the option is available, as 2K Games today announced The Doctor Who Cloned Me, a single-player add-on set in Area 51.
The Doctor Who Cloned me costs $9.99, launches everywhere on December 13, and includes new enemies, bosses, weapons, achievements and additional places to interact with for an ego boost. There are also four multiplayer maps--Sky-High, Command, Drop Zone, Biohazard--to run around in.

And here's the unique pic so far:

Give me much better designed maps (my main problem with the original game...so linear, boring, lazy levels design and graphics...) and SECRETS! Loads of 'em! And perhaps I'll be able to start to forgive this mess of a game..


Next up, Agent 47 is in back in the long-awaited next chapter of the Hitman franchise, Hitman: Absolution!

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Hitman: Absolution - VGA 2011: Exclusive Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

I gotta tell ya guys and gals, this is looking great so far! I can't wait enough to try this one.
The mix of CGi (from the game's intro?)  and actual in-game graphics didn't even bother me, it just showcases how nicely this is shaping up.
I missed Agent 47!
The Hitman games were so much fun, you could play them stealth killer-style or go nuts guns ablazin'!
I hope Square Enix didn't get too much of an executive control, the game would suffer from it. Let the developers have fun with this one!


To stay on the subject (kinda), here's finally the reveal trailer of Alan Wake: American Nightmare.
Which seems to be a "What if..?" kinda episode which will be available for DLC only (no original game need..so, huh, it's an Arcade title on digital story if you want).

Alan Wake's American Nightmare  finds our literary hero pitted against his doppelganger Mr. Scratch to keep the world from going to hell. 

Enjoy the ride:

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Alan Wake: American Nightmare - VGA 2011: Exclusive Debut Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

It looks a bit more action oriented than last time.
Looking nice indeed!


Let's see something completely different on the other hand:

Get More: GameTrailers.com, The Amazing Spider-Man - VGA 2011: Exclusive Debut Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

It's The Amazing Spider-Man, the video game adaptation of the (rebooted) movie of the same name.
Activision and Beenox are promising an open world environment this time. So I'm sure it will sell well, and people will love it...but I'm already missing the more structured level-based titles.. (Shattered Dimensions still is my current favorite Spidey game)


The recently announced new Transformers: Fall of Cybertron also gets a brand new trailer:

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron - VGA 2011: Exclusive Debut Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Wow! Lookin quite badass for silly toy robots in CGi! (Ha!)
This one is an original title rather than a movie adaptation, it is the follow-up to War of Cybertron. A 3rd person shooter.


Speaking of, the long awaited final episode of the famous scifi RPG trilogy Mass Effect 3 gets a brand new kickass trailer!
This one is mostly composed of actual gameplay footage, which looks amazing if you ask me!

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Mass Effect 3 - VGA 2011: Exclusive Gameplay Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Woah!
This is looking great!
Though it's funny how the series transitioned from the RPG genre to the 3rd Person Shooter genre through the 3 installments. Doesn't bother me since I'm not a big RPG fan to begin with. (I hate grinding system mechanics forcing you to gather points of experience TO BE ABLE to shoot an enemy rather than being able to correctly aim at an enemy directly and be rewarded for your own gameplay rather than stats...)
Anyway, cannot wait for this one! :D


On the opposite spectrum, here's something unexpected!
Remember the Tony Hawk skating games? Yeah...those used to be good or at least fun enough to have a good time once in a while. The series had so many entries and spinoff since then, I doubt anyone was able to follow all that!

Anyway, they just announced a brand new title...and it's an old title to be exact.
A compilation!

Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD will be a collection of the first two games!

The teased Tony Hawk game was revealed in a red carpet segment during the Spike VGA preshow. It is called Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD, and it takes from the first two THPS titles to make a soft of best-of game. Of course, they'll also get a HD upgrade. Hawk says that this will be a digital release, and it will be priced under $20.
More details will be released later in the show.

Ha!
What? I find that hilarious!


Let's have a look at yet another fighting game now.
One of my most awaited releases of 2012!

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - VGA 2011: Exclusive Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Live!
Pretty nice B)

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is expected for an holiday 2012 release.
And here's some gameplay fro the VGA:

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - TGS 11: Fierce Battles Gameplay (Cam), PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Looking great! :D
Always had a preference for Tekken Tag over the "normal" Tekken entries. It's just a much more random and fun variant of the series (unlike Tekken 4, which was a less fun and more bland entry of the series...in actual 3D - gameplay-wise)


Finally, let's finish this post on a great note.

Here's the prettiest, most awaited title (at least, on my part) and original looking game of the whole show!
BioShock Infinite!!

Get More: GameTrailers.com, BioShock Infinite - VGA 2011: Exclusive Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

"Step back into the flying city of Columbia and get a glimpse at all-new enemies in this trailer from the Spike TV Video Game Awards of 2011!"

This game is looking amazing!

Outstanding!

And I love the art style and colors here.

It annoys me how people complain it's not "gritty" or "realistic" enough. It's not cartoony! (and being "cartoony" shouldn't be a problem ya bunch of crybabies!!)

It has a very distinct and unique looking art direction, and I love it, the more reasons for it.

For once a games steps back from the usual Unreal-engined powered generic look.

And dares standing out!

This flying steampunk world is looking gorgeous!

Give me some of dat! >__<

Gamin' NEWS! Upcoming releases, teasers for next year and a free online demo for your zombie killing needs

Here's a bunch of news for the day.
Assassins, writers, spiders and more!
First up, after the teasing, here's the actual first teaser trailer for the upcoming Alan Wake title!

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Alan Wake (Working Title) - Exclusive VGA 2011 Teaser, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Alan Wake Returns is announced as a DLC episode only.
And they're still quite mysterious about it, so wait and see!~


Assassin's Creed: Revelations get a brand new "launch trailer":



The conspiracy is still crazy yet intriguing..
Ezio is still stabbing people around..
Yep, good ol' great AC! Cannot wait!


A pic of Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 was leaked...

Finally alternate costumes, I was getting tired of all the color palette swaps...so lazy, specially coming from a 3D fighter!!!
Now, that's a Jill Valentine I can play with...I dislike her RE5 so much...

Though Capcom will probably make you pay to get these... *shakes fist in fury* Why you little!!!...


Beenox released their first concept arts for yet another Spider-man game.

Yes, that Spidey is exactly what you're thinking.
This new one will be titled Amazing Spider-Man, it will be a tie-in with the upcoming rebooted movie next year.

This guy!

Here's the leaked trailer:



It seems it will be a mix of both their previous titles (Spider-Man: Edge of Time or Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions) and Activision past "sandbox" Spidey games (Spider-man 2: The Movie: The Videogame or Spider-man: Web of Shadows).
Retaining their much better improved combat system/controls in an open world setting.
(I'll say it, I prefer structured levels, a sense of progression over the open world maps... gets a bit less boring and repetitive scripted that way... My fav Spider-man still is the first 3D game back on the PC/PS1/N64/DC!)


Finally, something different!

You like Deadrising 2?
You got some free time on your hands?
Good.

Capcom, with the help from the game streaming service Gaikai, is offering a "free" demo playable online!
The first 30 minutes of the games are available at this link.
All you need is an internet connection and  Java-enabled computer!

How cool is that?! XD

Gaming NEWS! Two rivals team up, a writer is back and a lawyer gets on the silver screen

Here's today's latest gaming news status!
On today's program;
Two rivals team up, a writer is back and a lawyer gets on the silver screen!
First up Sega and Nintendo got a new ad for their upcoming crossover title Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Actually there's two slightly different versions of it currently running, one for Sonic and another one for Mario.





It's due out on the Wii soon, on November 18 for most countries, 15 for the US and December 8 for Asia. And the 3DS will get its version next February only.


Meanwhile, some new Alan Wake material has long been rumored.
Finally, Remedy revealed it was named Alan Wake's Night Springs, and will be a sort of spinoff/DLC episode.
The first picture has been revealed Game Informer's website.

It doesn't show much, but a lot of things can be guessed from this simple pic.
You can see a Night Springs sign on the right. This means it will take place in an actual Night Springs location.
The game will use the same mechanics/physics as you can guess from the tone and lights here.
But Alan is wearing very different clothes and not handling a gun but a nail gun instead.

I can guess it will either take place in Alan Wake's mind, projecting himself into the fictional in-game Twilight Zone TV show spoof. Or it won't even be related to Alan Wake's story in the main game and be simply an Xbox Live Arcade original title reusing familiar faces to tell a Night Springs story.

An actual trailer will be soon released, around Spike TV's VGA Awards event.

Temporary DLC to help fans await until the actual sequel?


And finally, here's a trailer of the upcoming Phoenix Wright movie!



Woah!
It looks even better than what I imagined at first!
Congrats, Takashi Miike, you did it again!

Blog entry02 Somebody stop Rockstar Games!!

The internet's an hate machine, you know...
I usually try to stay positive, enjoy the stuff I enjoy, and the stuff I don't like simply not try nor do them.
I'm sorry guys and gals, but this time you'll have to endure my rambling a bit...
(well, technically no, just skip or don't read this article : P)

Ah.. Rockstar Games. One of the modern most loved studios/productions.
I find them a bit overrated.
*ducks hate mails from Rockstar fanboys*


Yeah, so they made up the fantastic-ly loved GTA gaming series. One of the biggest blockbuster series nowadays, alongside modern games such as Gears of War and God of War. (not from them, just illustrating modern gaming blockbusters)

I did like the original GTA (top down view). Played a bit but never cared to "finish" GTA 3. Not played any other GTA.
The open world's formula's nice, sure, if you like that type of game!
I'd much rather play a scripted level-based game like Half Life 1 over GTA.
It depends on your experience! I come from old school arcade games, I prefer that developers throw at us an experience that graduates in difficulty to deal with, having specific tasks to do and levels to explore. (this probably comes from my old school 2D running plateformers "origins").

I often find "Sand boxes - open world" games either boring or repetitive.
For example I never finished or played much GTA 3, even if at the time I really liked it.
I turned it on for an hour or so, played a bit, runned mayhem across the city...then turned it off. Enjoyable, but not "involving" for me. Alright, if you like that type of stuff, mindless blockbusters with tons of explosions, no doubt you played hours, I mean, days and months of GTA 3.
I found it was kind of mindless fun, not a fun experience for me (the keyword here is fun).
I tried once to play the game's missions, but I didn't really care about the gangsta story and the stealing cars deal.

Not for me!

But, you're gonna say to me, it sold thousands of copies! Everybody love it! It's a blockbuster, why don't you like it??
To each their own! I do prefer and find more substance in more indie flicks and B movies as I wrote in a little post some time ago.
So why should I like the current gaming gig or fashion?
Modern TV is reality TV, I prefer and enjoy more scifi for example. The ones that make us dream about, work our imagination (hey! I'm a cartoonist too! I prefer imagination!)
Modern music is, ugh, I prefer not to talk about it. I prefer current indie stuff like Jonathan Coulton or old school music like the ZZ Top, The Monkeys, Blues Brothers, etc..

You get the point, right?
Ok, back on Rockstar.

On the left Red Dead Revolver, on the right Red Dead Redemption.

So Rockstar, who owns the Red Dead game and franchise, as I discussed about it in my Red Dead Revolver Review, made a modern sequel called Redemption.

I will probably end up buying it or at least playing it.

But from the looks of it, the game lost some of my favorite aspects about the first one.
First of all, it isn't Spaghetti western anymore, this time around it's more based on American Westerns. You know the John Wayne type instead of the Clint Eastwood one.
That kinda makes me sad since there's so few of those in games (huh, strike that, there aren't, besides RDRevolver).
Then the music isn't taken from old Spaghetti westerns anymore (logic!) but it's a score (..good!) based on American Westerns. (oooh...)
Since the game lost all is original story/characters (Red no more), it was natural to keep at least one thing to justify this game title. The slowmo "Dead Eye" mode.
Last, the game changed, it isn't an arcade-y level based challenging game anymore, it's a "Sand box - open world" game as I put it earlier.

Seems like I may like it (fun well made western game afterall!) but at the same time I'm kinda sad...
Couldn't they change the name? part of it?

The game's receiving a lot of praise, great comments and great reviews, kids already talk about "the Game of the Year" for this one.
And everytime, the souvenir grows stronger.

I kind of think they just wanted to use the old franchise for it's well received reception and cult status, make a big mod and update of GTA 4 and slap it a western overlook.

On the top, the Real Max from Remedy's games, at the bottom the *charismatic* new look from Rockstar's sequel.

I can accept that kind of thing happening to a little bought and owned Capcom old west game.
But Max Payne... I cannot allow that...

Now Max Payne's suffering from the same fate!
Co-developed by 3D Realms (the Duke Nukem guys) and finnish studio Remedy Entertainment, Max Payne was a cleverly plotted dark 3rd person shooter. It had a great story, a great gameplay for 2001, graphics were ok, a great voice acting and was a memorable experience.
Unlike Red Dead, the game sold very well, had a cult status, many fans developed tons of mods... the game had such a big replay-value and an impact in gaming (like Matrix with the movies, it introduced bullet time in games).

Naturally Max Payne had a sequel.
Max Payne 2 was everything fans of the first one dreamed of.
It was beautiful, the gameplay even more tightly done, the story was as good as a good thriller...
I personally luuuuv the second game's plot. One of my favorite game stories ever!

Now they've changed Max Payne completely.
I'll just quote Rockstar's Sam Houser Sam Houser now:
"This is Max as we've never seen him before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever."

The game is supposed to be more realistic (yeah.. cause we totally loved this junkie cop with trippy dreams and bullet time-gameplay for his realistic aspect), darker and grittier (what? darker and grittier than the game that started with the death of a wife and newborn daughter?? on the streets amongst gangs and drug dealers?)...

They already announced a new gameplay and story like we've never seen...
I'm guessing "sand box - open world"..
An the story will progress from missions, no more comic book-like story with Max's narration over it and non-linear order.

Sure, the game will sell a lot more, be a lot more marketable for mainstream audience, but also totally lost it's roots from that!
It's like a deal with the devil, the Max Payne franchise will lose its soul to a more commercial success!

I'm tellin' you guys, I hate Rockstar games.
This game probably started as a GTA expansion or mod, was slapped in a Max Payne "fakeness", because a new GTA so close to GTA 4 wouldn't sell as much...

No thank you Rockstar Games.
I'd much rather stare at this fan made picture during 20 hours than see the crapfest you're making with this original gaming series and play 20+ hours of a spiritless hollow sequel.

At least we got Alan Wake from Remedy not long ago, that's a helluva more Max Payne than what Max Payne 3 will ever dream to be!

What did ya do this weekend?

Hey gang!
Another week, another "What did you do this weekend?"-thing!

I didn't play that much thins weekend...
Mostly read stuff.
Like Bande dessinée and some comics. : P

'Been reading the Brave and the Bold current comic series lately, by Mark Waid.
It's a really fun team-up comic series with bits of sci-fi and adventure all over.

This weekend's I've been on the volume 3 of the paperbacks, called "Demons and Dragons".
It was Mark Waid's last issues, sad news :(
I hope this series will not lose its pulp-fun-adventurous atmosphere for a more serious, dark and big-event-crossovers aspect!

This last volume was probably the best story-arc so far! You don't need too much DC Comics knowledge to enjoy this!
Fun read!

On the gaming part, I've started playing Alan Wake with my bro!
Very original and interesting game! It's from an European developer I love, Remedy Software.
The game looks and feels like a mix of Max Payne with Survival horrors - gameplay wise.

The game really shines in its originality and story.
What Max Payne was to Noir Love stories, Alan Wake does the same and then some to thrillers/drama TV shows.
Max Payne was constructed like and told through a comic book approach.
Alan Wake use the TV drama construction. Many questions thrown at you, a well thought plot revealed bit by bit and it chapters is an episode in itself with everything it implies. Theme, mini-arc, tension culminating with a cliffhanger and even a recap at the beginning of each chapter!

It looks, feels and plays great!
I much prefer a game like this, playable, with a cinematic feel than something, say, like Heavy Rain which is pretty similar in an opposite way, cinematic with a gaming aspect.

To each their own, I guess!
Plus it's nice to see a "blockbuster game" from Europe for once! It's like all games are either American (or rather Canadian) or Japanese now! -__-

Other than that?
I only played Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.
For a while now, I've really wanted to go back to Vin Diesel's Scifi media-franchise Chronicles of Riddick.

I already watched again Pitch Black, a great horror scifi movie, not unlike the first Alien.
I wanted to play again Escape from Butcher Bay, a cult classic Xbox game that really shined when it was released back then, for it's great immersive universe, fun gameplay and great visuals!
But my Xbox re-died lately ("she" does that once in  a while...Yeah. Weird stuff...)
So I took this as an opportunity to finally buy Dark Athena on the Xbox360, which contains a remake of Butcher Bay as well.

I love this game!!
Incredible!
It almost feels adventur-y! The game isn't 100% free open world but neither uses levels for the progression.
You're in a certain space with people to talk to, objectives and stuff to do and collect.
But it uses a FPS engine and view. Plus there's combat, weapons and lots of enemies, but you better be ready to sneak up on enemies one by one, with a clever infiltration/stealth gameplay.

It's quite unique!

Finally, I've been able to watch the Yatterman movie, thanks to the French dvd release!

One word: YATTAAAAA!!

It's a pretty amazing and faithful adaptation of the old Time Bokan anime series from Tatsunoko studios!
By Takashi Miike, nonetheless!
(recommanded watch: Zebraman, epic, heroic and aliens against a Zebra costumed middle aged hero, what could you ask more?!?)

Loved it! Takashi Miike said himsel, Americans are doing now Dragon Ball and many future adaptations. He had to show everybody how you really do an anime live!

Anyway, that's it for now!
Some reviews coming this week finally, if I stop being lazy : P
News in a sec'

Stay tuned for moooaaar-