Defiance and the challenges of transmedia storytelling

We speak to Syfy's Mark Stern and Trion Worlds' Nicholas Beliaeff about the upcoming MMO shooter and the accompanying TV series.

On April 2, Rift developer Trion Worlds will launch a new project five years in the making, an open world, multiplatform MMO shooter developed alongside a global television series on US network Syfy.

Defiance is set in the San Francisco Bay Area in a futuristic time period where Earth been dramatically changed by alien terraforming. The TV series will take place in St Louis.

The open-world online title will launch on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on April 2, while the accompanying Defiance TV show, which will change its storyline based on the game, will debut on April 15 on Syfy.

We caught up with Defiance creators Mark Stern, president of original programming at Syfy, and Nick Beliaeff, vice president of production at Trion Worlds, at the 2013 DICE Summit to talk about the challenges of transmedia storytelling and giving audiences an altogether different kind of experience.

This idea of doing a game and a TV show at the same time, and having one feed off the other: what's the benefit of this kind of partnership? Is this how all content will be consumed in the future?

Mark: I guess the benefit is bringing in a new audience for each of our respective platforms. So we get the gaming audience, and Nick gets the television audience. It's also about extending a mythology and watching it evolve organically between platforms.

What did you learn from each other and each other's medium in the process of making Defiance?

Nick: I don't think we would have done Defiance if we weren't working with Mark and Syfy. Once they began filming the pilot for the series, just seeing the images of the world really hit home, and at that point in time, we did not have an in-game cinematic engine to be able to do cut-scenes. But once we saw how great everything looked on screen, we decided we needed cut-scenes in the game, and it inspired us to develop the technology to allow us to do that. So we ended up with over 120 movies because of that. There's a way the show communicates with its audience; for us, it's a powerful mechanism that we wanted to replicate. We hired people we didn't plan on hiring, and we built technology we had no plans of building, but in the end we have a better game because of it.

Mark: For Syfy, it's been good to learn a whole different process of working in another creative discipline. I think people assume that television is easy, especially genre television, and I think I had some of the same misconceptions about games. It's just pixels--how hard can it be? But I really got schooled on exactly what goes into making a game, and Trion proved me wrong.

How much collaboration was there between Trion and Syfy? Where did it all start?

Nick: We didn't work in the same space, but we never shut the communication off. A few times, we let it go astray and when we checked back in, it was clear we had each gone off in a different direction, so we had to go back to the start.

But by the time Mark and his team got to the point of writing episodes, they were exposing us to the scripts and engaged us in conversations about what was happening, which was necessary to make sure we were on the same page.

Mark: When we first came up with the idea, we had a huge conversation to work out the mythology of Defiance, the rules of the world, the characters, and so on. Then each team went away and built their stuff; we were working on the pilot episode for years while Trion was working on the game. We'd have periodic check-ins, but it wasn't really until the last 18 months that things really ramped up and we started working more and more in tandem.

Nick: No one was prepared for this way of working because it hadn't really been done before. If you look at all the development we'd done with Syfy up to that point, it was really a handful of people on Mark's side, but we were growing our core team from 10, 15 people to 50 and then to 100, and so the majority of the stuff that you could actually see and play was all happening at our end for a really long time. So we were feeling a little bit like we were in the leadership seat.

And then we saw the first daily and thought, "Shit, this just got real". And then Mark and his team were blazing ahead, and we had to play catch-up. Each team was motivated by what the other was doing.

So who came up with the idea for Defiance first?

Nick: The idea of having a game and a show that would interact with each other started with Syfy. We had this relationship with them through our corporate parents, so it was natural to be introduced to one another and scope out if it could be a working relationship. When we were developing concepts, we took in a lot of the initial world-building and pitched it back to them, and we ended up with Defiance.

What's the pay-off for the audience with this kind of transmedia project? What do they get out of it?

Nick: It's a completely different approach. Both the game and the television show will move together. As a game developer, we want the benefit of a tie-in with this top-notch TV show, where it can bring in a new audience for us and give the people that play our game an added element.

Mark: The gaming audience is an untapped market for us. That's a hard demo for us to tap into, and with Defiance, we found a way in. The good thing is that both game and TV show operate separately, as well as together, so as a consumer, you can live in one world or the other, or both.

Nick: There's also the creative challenge of attempting this kind of project. We both want our respective projects to do well--it's important that we make a good game and that Mark and his team make a good show--but we also want to see if this will work on a larger scale and what will come of that. We're interested to see how audiences will react.

How will the game and television show feed into each other over time?

Mark: We'll send characters from the series into the game world and have all sorts of crossovers of big events, and some subtle ones, too. So for example, audiences may be introduced to a character with his or her personality in the game, and then see them later in the show and already know their motivations, etc. Or there might be a character in the show with a small episode ark that later moves into the game and has a bigger part to play.

Nick: And then comes back to the show.

Mark: But the whole thing is timed. So we know the show's schedule. It's not like the episode ends at 9:05 p.m. and at 9:06 p.m. the game reacts. It's a North American and European simultaneous launch, so there's a time shift. So some things are rubber-banding, but other things, like bigger story arcs, which will play out in the show and players will have a week to catch up before the game reacts.

Can you tell us a bit more about the game, and how the gameplay will work?

Nick: It's very broad in terms of what you can do. There's a mission arc that takes the player through the season one story; but there are also a bunch of side missions, which are optional; different levels of content; heaps and heaps of co-op missions; challenges that you stumble upon; mini-games; and so on. There will be thousands of players in this open world. We also have specific co-op maps and special rewards for people who watch the show and play the game.

Mark: Yeah, like for example, one episode of the show deals with a particular enemy type, and anyone who watches that episode will immediately know how to defeat that enemy type when it appears in the game a week later.

What are your expectations with Defiance? Are you leading the way towards a new type of format and breaking new ground?

Nick: We're definitely breaking new ground. We've gone through this five year journey to make Defiance, and I don't think this is something that everyone can do. You really have to be dedicated. To have two different companies work together towards the same goals…well, that's not normal business.

I think we're doing something neat, and I hope we open the door for other people to do similar sort of things, but I don't think this is going to become a model by which everyone will work in the industry because you have to have the will to do it.

There's definitely a move towards more multiplatform, multi-screen games, and even in television, audiences are demanding more and more interactive content. So there definitely seems to be potential for more of this stuff in the future.

Nick: Exactly. And even if people don't necessarily follow our example step-by-step, they can at least take a step back and look at what we did, and examine how their way of doing business might allow them to do a similar thing. Change is good, and it's going to lead to a better way of doing things in the game industry.

Mark: Hopefully Defiance and everything we've built around it will become an inspirational tale, rather than a cautionary one.

15.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 31: Covert Taboo Action

February 26, 2013 6:13PM PST

Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli joins Kevin, Caro, Tom, and Peter to tell us what the next generation means for him. Also: steak, s'mores, and fondue for everyone!

Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli is having a busy year--but not so busy that he couldn't make time to join an especially rambunctious team of GameSpot busybodies. Cevat schools us in the way of the next generation as we ponder the Pikmin's political ramifications, compare playing video games to cooking steak on rocks, and wash a potty-mouthed superhero's mouth out with supersoap.

In addition to our special guest, host Kevin VanOrd also welcomes GameSpotters Tom Mc Shea, Carolyn Petit, and Peter Brown. Caution: thoughtful hilarity contained within!

You can access all previous episodes on GameSpot here.

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 30: The Beefy Center of your Meat Arsenal

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 28: Occupy Animal Crossing

GameSpot GamePlay Special Edition Spoilercast: Ni no Kuni

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 27: Vibrate Your Molecules

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 26: The Soup is a Problem

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 25: Tap Tap-a-Roo

By Kevin VanOrd, Senior Editor

Kevin VanOrd is a lifelong RPG lover and violin player. When he isn't busy building PCs and composing symphonies, he watches American Dad reruns with his fat cat, Ollie.

15.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sound Byte: Meet The Composer - Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

We chat with Peter McConnell, a music-composing veteran whose latest work is on the recent Sly Cooper entry on the PS3.

If you were a fan of LucasArt's '90s adventure games like Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, and Full Throttle, chances are you've heard of Peter McConnell. He has worked on the soundtracks for a ton of LucasArt titles from the '90s until he left the company in 2000 and worked with other companies like Sucker Punch, Double Fine, and Sony.

Because of his musical ties with the Sly Cooper series on the PS2, he was a natural fit for working with Sanzaru Games for the latest in the franchise, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. We managed to have a quick chat with the composer about his most recent work, as well as his history with LucasArts.

Tell us about your background in music.

I've loved music ever since I can remember. As an infant, I had a condition that forced me to breathe through a tube in my throat, so that I could only make whispering noises. My mother tells me I would "sing" Mozart tunes to the doctors and nurses; we lived in Switzerland at the time. When they took out the tube I started singing really loudly and haven't stopped since.

In grade school I learned violin and taught myself banjo and guitar. Later I studied music at Harvard under Ivan Tcherepnin who combined his experience of coming from an old European musical family with a unique sense of pop music and the avant-garde.

How did you meet with Michael Land, who would then be LucasArts' major composer in the '90s? Was it a partnership made in heaven?

Michael and I were housemates in college. He helped me record my senior thesis. We were in bands together and I helped him get a job at Lexicon before he helped me get the position at LucasArts. We had a working relationship in music and technology that lasted over 30 years.

On the tech side, we created LucasArts' iMUSE adaptive music system along with programmer extraordinaire Michael McMahon and later on our own produced an online multimedia authoring system called SmashMash. In music, we wrote some scores along with Clint Bajakian that I was very fond of.

I think our working relationship has thrived on the fact that we have complementary ways of thinking; his is exacting and mine is intuitive.

Who are your major influences in music?

Carl Stalling and Lalo Shifrin come to mind. Also Henry Mancini, Bernard Hermann, Raymond Scott, Duke Ellington and of course John Williams. There are players, too – Jimi Hendrix, Lester Young, Pinkas Zukermann, Taj Mahal, the list goes on. I'm a guy who grew up loving classical and folk music and then fell in love with jazz and rock n' roll. I lived in a lot of places growing up – Switzerland, Kentucky, Kansas, New Jersey – and all those places influenced my music as well.

Among all your LucasArts music projects, which was the toughest you had to compose in your personal experience, and why?

Probably Grim Fandango, since it drew influence from so many styles and sources. Then there was finding the players – all the San Francisco jazz guys, plus the Mariachi band and the Andean flute player. It was also probably the most fun for all the same reasons.

How did you end up working with Sucker Punch on the second and third Sly Cooper games?

It was kind of serendipity, because I was connected with them through a mutual friend who is a visual artist. They sent me some video of Sly in Paris and I sent them the tune that became the main theme for Sly 2 & 3, and is also prominent in Thieves in Time.

What's the thought process behind the overall music of the Sly Cooper games? You seem to channel a lot of Henry Mancini in the game's OST.

How could I not? Henry Mancini is the essence of the retro-cool tongue-in-cheek spy sound. There's a lot of other influence as well: Lalo Schifrin, Carl Stalling, John Williams, even Charlie Mingus.

I wanted to have a sound that is melodic and rich with complexity, yet with a kind of simple, larger-than-life sense of humor. An old school sound with both lightness and depth. When it comes to humor, I get pretty serious.

What instruments and tech did you use for Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time?

Thieves in Time was two and a half hours of music, every bit of it recorded with live players. We did two weeks of recording sessions in Nashville with winds, double reeds, horn, brass, drums, piano, guitar and 30 strings. We were able to record some amazing players. The music team from Sony put the sessions together and handled and made everything run smoothly, then did all the editing and mixing.

Could you give a short description to the following tracks?

"Thieves in Time" – This is an homage to Dr. Who and the original Star Trek TV theme. That's my voice in the track. I think we were going to replace that part, but the sound of me imitating a theremin kind of grew on people.

"Whoa Camel, Whoa" – I was influenced by Carl Stalling, Max Steiner's themes from Casablanca and Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and Bim Ska La Bim while composing this. We had a lot of fun recording this one; the trombone players got into it so much they appeared to be riding on camels in the session.

"Clan of the Cave Raccoon" – The idea was to make the sound of music being invented. If there is any influence on this one I would say it's Mingus, and maybe Sun Ra, both of whom used a kind of roughness to convey emotion.

Oh yes, and Sesame Street, but that's a long story. In any case, I wanted to go as far as possible to get a crude sound, and we had to constantly tell the players not to sound too good.

"Tavern Tomfoolery" – Ever since Sly 2: Band of Thieves, I've wanted to pull out the stops on some action swing music. This was my big opportunity to do just that.

Was there any particular track you had trouble perfecting during the making of the OST?

The entire Ice Age level was a challenge; I mean, what kind of music sounds like the Ice Age? How do you evoke pre-history? I think Clan of the Cave Raccoon was the piece in which I found this idea of music being invented. Then I got to take that idea and run with it: throw out every rule you can, just revel in the idea of playing sounds together, or not even completely together.

For some of the mallet parts I would urge the players not to play the parts as written, but just to choose random notes with roughly the same pitch range and melodic shape as what was written. In the end I really felt like we'd accomplished something cool.

What will you be working on in the future? Could you tell us in a few words what fans can expect in your next project?

One project is Tim Schafer's new Double Fine adventure game. It's pretty hard to describe. The story is quite fantastical and unusual. The music comes from two entirely different realms: earth and sky. I imagine we'll be hearing more about it soon.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is out now on PS3. Check out GameSpot's full review here.

15.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

THQ to sell remainder of intellectual properties

THQ has announced that it will sell the remainder of its intellectual properties in a court-supervised sale. The publisher has already sold the majority of its studios and games following news of its bankruptcy last month.

THQ will now accept bids on franchises including Darksiders, Red Faction, Homeworld, MX; owned software including Big Beach Sports and Destroy All Humans!; as well as licensed software including Marvel Super Hero Squad, Supreme Commander, Worms, and more.

The publisher said that it expects to complete the bidding and sale process for the remaining IP assets by mid-May.

Initial bids for the properties must be submitted by April 1, 2013, with final bids required by April 15. The sales will be presented to a court for final approval in May. THQ says it has already received more than 100 expressions of interest for various titles.

Last month, the court approved the sale of three THQ studios (THQ Montreal, Volition Inc, and Relic Entertainment), as well as games including Evolve, Homefront 2, Metro: Last Light, and South Park: The Stick of Truth.

Sales from the auction totalled around $72 million, though the total value is higher. THQ said that it expects the total sale process to have generated $100 million, which includes "certain assets and other intellectual properties" excluded from the sale.

Grand Theft Auto parent publisher Take-Two Interactive recently obtained the WWE license.

15.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

Free of Charge - TERA Rising

Haven't played for six months. On the combat. there is no targeting, you can miss, and you can avoid enemy attacks. There is clipping in this game, if you're tanking as a Lancer for example you have to actively block mob attacks, bosses will hit your character backwards, it's pretty cool. 

The best part is the combat, by far. Dungeons are great and take skill and gear on hard modes, at least used to. Enchanting/Masterwork system was terrible but I believe they have fixed that now. 

I tried to play GW2 after it but I couldn't get into it purely due to the combat feeling stale by comparison. 

If you play for story, don't bother with this one.

15.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

The Emotional Price of Making Video Games

Making games can be a grueling, all-consuming process. John Davison talks to developers about the significant emotional challenges of this creative and commercial endeavor.

When you fire up a new video game, some elements are easy to appreciate immediately. Pretty graphics, a rousing soundtrack, or fluid animations can leap off the screen and make you thankful for all the hard work that went in to the game's creation. However, beneath that veneer lie untold hours of struggle and sacrifice. As six industry veterans explain, creating an amazing game takes more than your time and technical prowess. It requires a bit of your heart as well. Despite occasional media flare-ups triggered by complaints about ridiculous working conditions or inconsiderate executive teams, the game-playing populace doesn't often hear about the mental burden shouldered by game creators. Executing on a creative vision, and doing so both on-time and on-budget, imposes an enormous amount of pressure on those involved.

"Making anything creative relies on you putting yourself out there and totally revealing yourself; it's scary," says Greg Zeschuk, who co-founded BioWare with partners Ray Muzyka and Augustine Yip in 1995 and retired last year. He is currently taking some time off from anything to do with games and is producing a YouTube show called The Beer Diaries about the other love of his life. "You need to be willing to be vulnerable in a very public sense. This experience changes when teams get larger and larger; if you're running part of a project, it's pretty natural for it to feel like an extension of yourself."

This sentiment is common among those in creative leadership positions. Ryan Payton is the founder of Camouflaj, a new studio working on the iOS game République, which was successfully funded on Kickstarter in 2012. Payton previously worked as assistant producer on Metal Gear Solid 4 at Kojima Productions, and later spent time as creative director on Halo 4 before leaving 343 Industries in 2011. He concurs with Zeschuk, stating, "In order to make an unforgettable game, I believe the onus is on me to find something I believe in and inject as much of that into the game as possible. I feel that the games I work on are an extension of myself, making game development a very personal and emotionally charged endeavor. I worry that I take a dangerous approach by investing too much emotionally in the development, but this stems from my belief that games should be more than mere 'products.'"

"The emotional journey, for me, looks like a seismograph," says Greg Kasavin of Supergiant Games. Before the success of his game Bastion, on which he was creative director, Kasavin was an associate producer at Electronic Arts on Command & Conquer 3, the producer of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, and later a producer on Spec Ops: The Line at 2K Games. "It's not a curve with peaks and valleys; it's a violent jagged series of near-vertical lines. I don't know how emotionally stable I appear to be, but I know I'm less so than I appear to be. My emotional state changes from day to day, if not multiple times a day. I don't have sustained periods of high or low morale. Small imperceptible things affect me in significant ways."

"In every case the precise emotional journey is different," explains Zeschuk, "though there are a few similarities. When you start a game, it seems like anything is possible; the future is bright and the possibilities are limitless. Fast-forward to the actual production phase, and you suddenly realize that if you want to finish on a reasonable schedule, you need to jettison some stuff; it's helpful to be harsh and cold to do this, even if it's painful. Then, when you're finishing, even if you think what you're making is great, I always felt a bit of trepidation around what people would think of the game. You never really know. We'd always try our best, and put forward our best work, but there's always that risk that folks wouldn't like it. The most likely outcome is that you'd end up with some mixed response, though with varying degrees of happy and unhappy people."

"When you talk about the pressure that individuals at studios go through, most people just think of the EA spouse story," says Pete Hawley, co-founder of Red Robot Labs (disclosure: John Davison currently works alongside Pete Hawley at Red Robot Labs). He is referring to Erin Hoffman's LiveJournal post in November 2004 under the pseudonym "EA Spouse," where she criticized Electronic Arts' poor treatment of employees and the expectation that they work extremely long hours.

The blog prompted a great deal of debate within the games industry at the time and triggered class-action lawsuits against EA, which weren't resolved until 2007. Hawley served as both executive producer and vice president of product development at Electronic Arts in the years after the controversy, where he worked on a number of games, including Burnout Paradise. Prior to this, he worked as development director at Sony Computer Entertainment, was head of production at Lionhead, and was a producer at GT Interactive. "The notoriety of that incident wasn't necessarily a bad thing," he says, "as it brought an aspect of the challenges to light. What everyone focused on at the time wasn't the whole story, though. Most people fixated on the lawsuit and the legal wranglings. What it really brought to light, though, was that studios and individuals go through hell when creating something as awesome as a video game. The emotional journey it takes you on is really, really hard."

"My emotional state changes from day to day, if not multiple times a day."Regardless of the best intentions of those involved, executives or otherwise, the care and attention required means that work-life balance becomes a major issue on any game project. "It's exciting and energizing, but it's almost a reality-show-type environment," Hawley explains. "You're stuck in a room with a bunch of like-minded individuals, 20- to 30-something dudes. It's just not healthy. It definitely develops these Lord of the Flies-type situations. You've spent so long together that you develop a group craziness. You witness the very pinnacle of sleep-deprived in-jokes, and songs that are unique to the group. To this day I can't hear Journey without thinking of Burnout, because Alex [Ward, Criterion's creative director] would play it every single morning."

Payton is struggling with similar issues and has become increasingly aware of struggling with a healthy work-life balance since starting to work for himself. "I've worked a minimum of 70 hours per week since République began development in November 2011," he explains. "As I did with Halo 4, I only play games, watch movies, and read books that are relevant to République--that's my hobby. Making games is my hobby; it's my passion, and it's my lifeblood, as I liquidated everything I had to get this sucker off the ground. I even sacrificed my relationship with my girlfriend, ending a five-year relationship."

"Thankfully she later took me back and has helped me disconnect a little bit from the emotional demands of my games, which was something I very desperately needed." That disconnection has come in the form of finding something a little more balanced in favor of "real life" as well as game development work. "I still work 70 hours a week and still dream about the game," he explains, "but daily exercise and turning off email after 8 p.m. is actually making me a happier person. Does that mean my emotional investment in game making is waning? I sure hope not. That's probably why I'm afraid to have children."

Jake Kazdal spent much of his career as a designer, illustrator, and artist before forming his own studio, 17-Bit (formerly Haunted Temple Studios). His career includes time working on some cult classics like Space Channel 5 and Rez, as well as working on UI design for Boom Blox at EA and as a concept artist for Command & Conquer 4. His first release as an independent developer is Skulls of the Shogun, which was recently released on Xbox Live as well as for Windows 8 and mobile. Kazdal, like many of those interviewed for this story, has grown up with the games business, and has had two children since his career began.

On the subject of work-life balance within studio culture, he has a lot to say. "This is a serious topic," he states earnestly. "I don't get to spend nearly as much time with my family as I would like or need to. I have two young boys. They're 1 and 3 years old, and the fact is, I need to work a lot to get things done. Regardless of how busy I am, I've started going home and having a normal dinner and bedtime prep with the family twice a week. If I don't, my wife is going to kill me."

"Some nights I'll go back to work from home after the boys go to bed, and unless there is something major burning, I try to spend every minute of my weekends with the family as well," he adds. "Of course, there is always an hour or two of email and the like to distract me in the mornings, but I'm working very hard to spend more time with my family. The boys are growing so fast, and it breaks my heart to only see them a few minutes a day, but I'm sure I'm not alone in this situation."

James Mielke is one of the lucky ones. Previously an editor at Electronic Gaming Monthly, he moved to Japan to work as a producer on Child of Eden at Q Entertainment, before moving on to be both the producer and musical director on Lumines Electronic Symphony. He is currently a producer on two different projects at Q-Games in Kyoto, Japan. "I can only speak from experience, and my particular case isn't that dramatic. I always make sure my home life doesn't suffer as a result of my professional life."

"I visited Neversoft one year, when they were still working on Tony Hawk in the early 2000s," he recalls. "They made a big impression on me because they ran strict 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. hours, with a little more time put in during crunch. They were adamant about getting better results out of refreshed staff, and not grinding them down. In Japan, a large percentage of dev teams here famously work their fingers to the bone, and I don't think that's healthy. I'm lucky to have worked for two very progressive companies in Japan where I haven't had to burn the midnight oil."

15.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

House of Horrors: Fatal Frame 2 Part 2 Highlights

Thanks for the video.  I'd missed out on this game completely, and had no idea what it was like until watching this.

I was so impressed, I actually began to wonder what I was doing to have missed this game 10 years ago.   (And I remembered:  working, getting inebriated in the evenings, and spending huge amounts of time on playing Dark Cloud 2 & Disgaea.)   I may have to locate this game and reclaim my loaned-out PS2 if you don't finish the game!  Go, Zorine!   : )

On another note -- 4:10 - 4:40 is hilarious.  x)   

In particular:  "I would actually rather hang out with this chick than go back to that possessed, crazy bitch."

I haven't played the game, but can definitely relate to those words!

15.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kojima says MGS: Ground Zeroes may be too 'risky' to release

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes may be too "risky" to ever see release. Designer Hideo Kojima explained in a roundtable interview session attended by Videogamer that the game's focus on mature and taboo themes may make it too controversial to sell, even if it does release.

"That's precisely what I want to try to tackle with Ground Zeroes. Honestly I'm going to be targeting a lot of taboos, a lot of mature themes that really are quite risky," Kojima said. "I'm not even sure if I'm going to be able to release the game, and even if I did release the game then maybe it wouldn't sell because it's too much. As a creator I want to take that risk."

Kojima said games have not matured much in the past 25 years--including Metal Gear Solid games--, saying "It's always about killing aliens and zombies." He said he thinks these games are fun, but claimed they have "a long way to go before they can mature."

Kojima does not seem too worried about hitting sales targets for Ground Zeroes. Ultimately, he said creativity trumps sales.

"I'm approaching the project as a creator and prioritizing creativity over sales," he said.

For more on Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

15.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gaming Meme History - Lost In Translation

@tempertress @Renunciation @IamTakkun  Oh, I wasn't complaining about you over-or-under -enunciating!  

I admit that I did find you a bit difficult to hear at times, however -- especially when you were speaking directly towards the camera, as opposed to doing the voice-over parts.  The volume levels between the camera mic and voice-overs seemed a bit unbalanced, and you spoke differently in each:  louder (and more treble) in front of the camera, and quieter (with more bass) on the voice-overs.

I think perhaps the going-back-and-forth between both modes during the video may have resulted in a mildly jarring experience, where it could take a few seconds for a listener to get used to the changes... and that might be real source of the original "enunciate" problems.  (Or maybe I'm just old and slow!)

Perhaps sitting or standing back a bit further from the mic (and thereby projecting more) for voice-over sessions would help smooth out the transition between the two audio modes.   And yeah, awesome hair.

15.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kojima says MGS: Ground Zeroes may be too 'risky' to release

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes may be too "risky" to ever see release. Designer Hideo Kojima explained in a roundtable interview session attended by Videogamer that the game's focus on mature and taboo themes may make it too controversial to sell, even if it does release.

"That's precisely what I want to try to tackle with Ground Zeroes. Honestly I'm going to be targeting a lot of taboos, a lot of mature themes that really are quite risky," Kojima said. "I'm not even sure if I'm going to be able to release the game, and even if I did release the game then maybe it wouldn't sell because it's too much. As a creator I want to take that risk."

Kojima said games have not matured much in the past 25 years--including Metal Gear Solid games--, saying "It's always about killing aliens and zombies." He said he thinks these games are fun, but claimed they have "a long way to go before they can mature."

Kojima does not seem too worried about hitting sales targets for Ground Zeroes. Ultimately, he said creativity trumps sales.

"I'm approaching the project as a creator and prioritizing creativity over sales," he said.

For more on Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

15.06 | 0 komentar | Read More

Podcast Episode 30: The Beefy Center of your Meat Arsenal

February 22, 2013 7:43PM PST

A Valley Without Wind 2 developer Chris Park joins us to discuss the PlayStation 4, our fondest memories of 1UP and GameSpy, and the emotional weight of hot dogs.

Chris Park at Arcen Games knows a lot about making games, having made a number of them himself. He shares his thoughts on the PlayStation 4 hardware, the future of console indie development, and his favorite episode of Blue's Clues. Host Kevin VanOrd chimes in on the deliciousness of dog biscuits; Tom Mc Shea forgets that Wonder Woman isn't real; Shaun McInnis explains the charms of Geodude; and Chris Watters muses on the personal pleasures of modern teleprompters.

We also honor beloved publications 1UP and GameSpy, as well as our friends at IGN. It was a hard week for our colleagues, and we salute them.

You can access all previous episodes on GameSpot here.

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GameSpot GamePlay Episode 29: Eat My Dead Skin

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 28: Occupy Animal Crossing

GameSpot GamePlay Special Edition Spoilercast: Ni no Kuni

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 27: Vibrate Your Molecules

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 26: The Soup is a Problem

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 25: Tap Tap-a-Roo

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 24: Rubbing the Cow Gently

By Kevin VanOrd, Senior Editor

Kevin VanOrd is a lifelong RPG lover and violin player. When he isn't busy building PCs and composing symphonies, he watches American Dad reruns with his fat cat, Ollie.

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Developers Can Be Creative with the PlayStation 4's Social Features

Tom Mc Shea hypothesizes how PlayStation 4 games could use the system's functionality in unique and crazy ways.

The PlayStation 4 has finally been unveiled. Beyond the chatter of processing speeds and memory space lie features that represent intriguing possibilities for the future. Sony is pushing social connectivity in a big way with its new console. Empowering players with editing software built right in lets everyone share their gaming exploits with a push of a button. And for those whose exploits are not nearly as impressive, a friend can commandeer your console from down the block or thousands of miles away to help you overcome a particularly nasty situation. As interesting as the straightforward uses of these tools might be, however, creative developers could implement them in unorthodox ways that sound downright fascinating.

Sony is pushing social connectivity in a big way with its new console.

Hideo Kojima loves messing with people's minds. The notorious creator of Metal Gear has repeatedly broken the fourth wall and created some of the most iconic scenes in video games in the process. Remember, for instance, when you scrambled for the Metal Gear Solid game box to find the codec frequency for Meryl? Or the "Fission Mailed" screen in Sons of Liberty? His in-jokes have been a time-honored tradition for the franchise, going back to the very first game. In Metal Gear, Big Boss commands you to turn off the system that you're currently playing. Would it be surprising if Kojima took advantage of the PlayStation 4's social features to build on his legacy of lighthearted trolling?

Sony presented the share functionality as a way to show off your most extraordinary accomplishments (or laughable failures) to the world. But, as it currently stands, sharing is a completely separate act from playing. You pause what you're doing, crop out the footage that tickles your fancy, and then jump back into the action as if nothing happened. It's a great concept, but just imagine if that feature could be integrated with the core adventuring.

Which brings us back to Kojima. Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is currently in development, potentially for the PlayStation 4. Picture this scenario: Snake enters a metal-plated room in an automobile factory in Belize. The door slams behind him, audibly locking in place. A computer terminal is sitting on a rickety desk directly across the room. Snake taps the keyboard, and with a flash, Tomorrow Comes (a cyborg hell-bent on destroying America's transportation infrastructure) is displayed on the monitor. Snake listens intently as his cyborg foe launches into a 20-minute dissertation on how the electric car is going to cause an unstoppable war between rival oil manufactures, so Snake must be locked in this industrial prison to the detriment of humanity.

Hideo Kojima loves messing with people's minds.

And then he's gone, off the screen. Snake is alone in the room. There is nothing on the table except for the computer, and the monitor is blank save for a blinking cursor. The old man is trapped, or so it would seem. Snake moves slowly around the room, testing every floorboard and wall panel for give. Maybe if he kneels facing the wall, like the hero from Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, a whirlwind will whisk him away to safety. Tossing grenades doesn't make a dent, and he has emptied every bullet, bolt, and slug in his arsenal. Bereft of ideas, you pause the game.

There's your desperate playtime recorded, mocking you with your many failures. You scroll through the footage, lamenting the time you fired a rocket launcher directly at your feet, but you stop when something catches your eye. That flash. Just before Tomorrow Comes explained his master plan, a message briefly filled the screen. You scroll through the video until you find the exact frame you need. "Eco Motor Worms." That's it! You type in this baffling message, unsealing the door as you run toward your ultimate confrontation with the man trying to release the electric car.

Kojima isn't the only creator who could use seemingly cut-and-dry community tools to further his vision. Hidetaka Miyazaki has been downright devious. In Demon's Souls, the old monk was not your typical boss. Invading players would inhabit the body of this insidious enemy, standing in your path toward victory. Such a reversal was shocking. It might have taken hours of careful study, but by the time you crested the stairway of World 3-3, you thought that you understood the rules that Demon's Souls followed. Other players could invade your game, but they were mere annoyances on your way to a greater danger at the end of each stage. And yet, here, you had to fight the smartest and craftiest enemy of all, another player.

Miyazaki is not currently the director on any project. However, it's certainly possible that he's working on a next-generation entry in his esteemed Souls franchise. If a future Souls (Death Souls? Damp Souls? Dancing Souls?) lands on the PlayStation 4, it could use one of the system's most interesting social aspects. Sony pitched the ability for one player to take over another's console in a friendly way to let one gaming buddy alleviate the frustrations of another. But imagine if this were used in an upcoming Souls game with a more nefarious purpose.

[Demon's Souls creator] Hidetaka Miyazaki has been downright devious.

The Deathmaker stands before you, half goat, half dragon, with a prehensile tail and with fire pouring out of every orifice. Except its mouth. In its jaws are the crushed remains of your left arm. After an endless fight in which you spend as much time fleeing wildly from its many attacks as you do planning your own offensive, the beast finally falls to your blade. And the rewards, the thousands and thousands of souls that come with victory, drain easily into your body. The thrill of victory is what brings you back to the Souls games, even though they have never reciprocated your love.

As you walk back toward the bonfire, your controller rumbles. Looking around the environment, you see nothing that could warrant such an action, but the shaking persists. And then, just two feet from the save point, from a chance to regain your health and upgrade your character, you're warped to a dark land. You stand motionless, staring into the black abyss before you, unsure what happened or where you must go. Just before you tap the stick to begin this new quest, your character takes a tentative sword swing. Did you just…? And then your character rolls away, seemingly of its own accord. What is this madness? Before long, your character runs into the darkness, and you helplessly watch him or her.

Another player has invaded your game. But instead of being a demon that you must fight, your character has been possessed. Such a feature could destroy the delicate balance the Souls games have expertly weaved. This invader could just run your character off the nearest cliff or try to fight a skeleton bare-handed, even though you usually hold a weapon. Why would the other player want to live? Because he or she has to. The punishment for failure is to stay trapped perpetually in this bleak cell. If the invader should die, control is given back to the original player, the rightful player, while the aggressor is left waiting for another straggler to come upon his or her trap. But if the infiltrator succeeds, if he or she makes it through the blinding darkness unscathed, boundless rewards are offered. So what does an invading player choose? And how tense would it be to watch your character go off on its own, controlled by a stranger, while you sit idly by?

Raw specifications are but one aspect of a console's potential. As impressive as graphics could be on the PlayStation 4, there are features that could be exploited to change how we view games. Social integration has been at the forefront of many recent technological innovations, and it's only going to become more important in the future. Seeing just how versatile these tools are makes the future seem extremely exciting, with ideas surfacing that no one has even thought about before. Tomorrow can't come soon enough.

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Firefall second public beta jumpstarts this weekend

February 21, 2013 8:57PM PST

Red 5 Studio also hosting airborne moments video contest for participants to enter.

Red 5 Studio has announced that it will be hosting another round of public beta testing for its upcoming shooter Firefall.

The developer said on its official website that the next beta weekend will start from February 22 at 12pm PST and will end on February 25 at midnight PST. Players can now stream their play sessions via the integrated Twitch broadcasting system in-game.

Red 5 are also hosting a contest about who has the best air-borne moments in a game captured on video. Contestants will need to upload their clip on YouTube in response to the contest video on the Stage 5 TV channel.

Two winners will be picked; the first will be chosen by Red 5's community team while the other will be determined based on the number of likes the video has. The winners will get a Razer Kraken headset, an ATi Radeon iPower IceQ X2 3GB video card, and a firefall brontodon plushie.

Players can register on the official site here.

By Jonathan Toyad, Associate Editor

Born and raised from a jungle-laden village in Sarawak, Malaysia, Jonathan Toyad has been playing games since the early 90s. He favors fighting games, RPGs, and rhythm titles above every other genre, and occasionally spaces out like Pavlov's dog to video game music on his iPod.

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Diablo III coming to PS3, PS4

If you buy this game based off your experience and nostalgia from Diablo 1 or Diablo 2, remember this - Diablo lll has nothing in common with it's predecessors. Other games have more in common with Diablo than this installment.

Treat it as some other hack and slash game, but not as Diablo. If you do your expectations will be crushed. It's not a bad game by itself, but as a 'Diablo' game it's completely awful.

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GameSpot Writers Round Table - Meet the Justicars

Introducing the newest ranking GameSpot volunteers. The few, the proud, the prolific, the Justicars!

You might be asking yourself what exactly is a Justicar? First and foremost they are the authority of the GameSpot Writers Round Table, a union dedicated to written contributions by the GameSpot Community. A GameSpot Justicar is also trusted member of the site, as well as a user who has also proven their writing skills to the GameSpot community. They have a solid grounding on advanced writing skills and are in regular practice. Some of you may already know the following to be amazing writers, but we thought we should take some time to get to know them a little more.

About me: I've been a member of Gamespot for the last 6 years now and slowly making towards my 7th year on Gamespot. Over the years I've learned a lot from writing reviews and blogs on Gamespot and it is nice to hear feedback from everyone. I do try and make my blogs and reviews good for anyone to read and view online. I do try and keep myself busy outside of Gamespot by taking on voluntary work, doing course work and finding a paid job on office/admin.

How long have you been gaming?: I've been gaming for the last 13 years now from the Sega MegaDrive to the PS3 and 3DS.

What is your favorite subject to write about?: I always liked to talk about what games I've been playing and what have been my favourite games over the year. And of course I do special blogs on various Anime Conventions I've been to like SUNNYCON and Nemacon.

Share your favorite editorial piece that you've written? I've got at least 2 favourite pieces- this one and this one

Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumbler, or Deviantart? Of course Twitter- LegendHeroBen

Deviantart- www.benleslie5.deviantart.com

What is your "Golden Rule" for aspiring writers? Be as creative as you can, try and surprise your friends and fans on Gamespot when it comes to making blogs.

About me: Name's Callum Rakestraw. I started writing back in 2007 because it seemed easy (man, was I wrong). Always wanted to work in the games business, and writing about them seemed like the best option. Since then, I've begun writing for a couple of small sites you've never heard of while also perfecting my craft here at GameSpot. Currently unemployed, keeping myself afloat however I can while I try making something out of this writing thing.

Share some of your writing strong points: Descriptive, succint, critical.

How long have you been gaming? For 17 years.

What's your favorite subject to write about? Music is a subject that fascinates me, mostly because it's such a difficult subject to talk about. Love me a challenge.

Share your favorite editorial piece you've written? Haven't written too many here, actually. Though this piece on Demon's Souls and its music is one of my favorite works.

Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumblr, or DeviantArt? I'm on Twitter (@c_rakestraw). Don't use it as much as I ought to, though.

What is your "golden rule" for aspiring writers? Don't be afraid to use I in your work -- or just seem human, for that matter. Too often I see reviews or articles that sound like they were made by robots or printed off a production line. All because people are too often afraid to mention themselves in their work. Don't let that happen to you. Oh, and clutter -- root it out. Don't use fancy words because you can; use them because they have meaning.

About me: Born in New York, moved to Virginia, where I now live and work. Currently claiming to be an IT professional, I also enjoy the occasional movie, book or game to eat the time away. I am aspiring to succeed, in something.

Share some of your writing strong points: I read a lot, so my vocab is pretty impressive most of the time. The more you read, the more you learn and understand how certain words work better than others.

How long have you been gaming? Since the mid-1990s…fifteen years or so What is your favorite subject to write about? I love writing fiction, making up people, places, things that happen, and inspiration for that is truly everywhere. Here on Gamespot, I like to post topics that are polarising to get a good range of feedback

Share your favorite editorial piece that you've written? This one was funny and flippant, and about Cool Whip!

Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumbler, or Deviantart? orangeyHina on twitter, I'm not on the other two.

What is your "Golden Rule" for aspiring writers? Proofread! The easiest errors to find are those you read after writing!

About me: Budding games journalist from the UK, PC enthusiast and all round creatively minded. Has a strong passion for the written word and respects the English language. Has been known on occasion to appear outside. Could be Batman (so clichéd but I love it)

Share some of your writing strong points: Great with sentence structure and descriptive language. Alliteration aficionado. Have plenty of experience with creating engaging opinion pieces as well as more investigative articles.

How long have you been gaming? 17 years

What is your favorite subject to write about?: anything that requires heavy research, journalistic approaches or in depth looks into 'hidden' themes and sub plots. Current events are a close second.

Share your favorite editorial piece that you've written?: This one

Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumbler, or Deviantart?: @SuperMassive20 on twitter, supermassive20.tumblr.com, search SuperMassive20 into just about anything and it should be me.

What is your "Golden Rule" for aspiring writers?: Don't stress, write in peace, concentrate on putting one word in front of another and keep going. Always have a general message and make sure you stick to it.

About Me: I'm a thirty-four year old CSULB alumni with a Studio Art Bachelor's Degree. My main goal is to one day find a career in character design for video games and other media. I also have a deep love for writing, drawing, art and art history. And I have a profound love for video games, a hobby I've enjoyed since I was about five years old. I wouldn't call myself a hardcore gamer, but I enjoy gaming to have fun, indulge in escapism every once in a while and find inspiration.

Share Some of your Strong Writing Points: My strongest writing points involve thinking objectively, and using as much of the English vocabulary as possible without complicating my message. I also refer to the Rogerian argument style because I typically try to avoid bias, as I want to convey my opinions and acknowledge the points of the other side as well. The goal of my writing is to invite both sides to the table for a legitimate, healthy debate.

How Long Have You Been Gaming? I've been gaming for thirty years, from the time of the Atari 2600 my older brother owned.

What is Your Favorite Subject to Write About? The Golden Age of 16-bit gaming is something I love discussing, as I've lived through it and had the most fun during that time. Outside of gaming, I like writing about Art History and often delve into creative storytelling.

My Favorite Editorial Piece? "The art of Stealth in Gaming". One of my first Soapbox entries. I'm very proud of that.

Can I Follow You on Twitter, Tumbler or DeviantArt? I currently do not yet have either of those accounts, but I do have Coroflot and Facebook. Yes, you can follow me once I start said accounts, however.

What is your Golden Rule for Aspiring Writers? Always write from your heart. Don't worry about being perfect -- nobody is. The important thing is to convey your message loud and clear, be objective and avoid bias so as not to arouse hostility--regardless of how strongly you feel on an issue. Work hard to hone your craft, and never give up--even when it gets hard or if you suffer writer's block every now and then.

About Me: Whenever I get away from my busy lifestyle, I like to spend my time on GS and games. I've been a Ranger since 2007 and still have a strong interest in games, despite my time for them being squeezed. This is why I find reviews, not just from the professionals, but probably even more importantly from all gamers, whoever they may be, to serve a common interest we all have: to find out which games are good and which games are bad. We don't have an infinite amount of time and money, so this is why we need to spend it wisely on games we perceive to be worthy of it.

Strong Writing Points: Always critical and skeptical, even of my favorite games - I detest fanboyism. Never take anything for granted and appreciate a well made game for what it is, even if I don't like it.

Favourite Subject to Write About: Underrated Games

Share your favorite editorial piece that you've written?Could it be the end of Koei's Warriors series?

Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumbler, or Deviantart? You can follow me on GameSpot - I write blogs and use Fuse to disseminate useful GS information.

What is your "Golden Rule" for aspiring writers? Think outside of the box - don't parrot what's already out there.

About me: I was born in the UK and now I'm living in the Kansas with plans to move to San Francisco by the end of 2013. For my full time job I am a lead developer for a major group of websites but the gaming industry is where my heart lies. I love all types of games, writing reviews and creating videos. For a while I was even making video reviews for the popular Android website AndroidSPIN.com

Share some of your writing strong points: Because I have such a vast experience with gaming I can talk about just about any game or genre with experience.

How long have you been gaming? My parents bought me a ZX Spectrum +3 when it came out, but before that I was derping around on the Commodore 64, so I'd say at least 28 years.

What is your favorite subject to write about? I love to review games, any game, good or bad.

Share your favorite editorial piece that you've written? Most of the things I'm the most proud of are videos, although in their own way they were written. I was humbled by the popularity of my Grow review, even though I believe I have written better: You can see it here

Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumbler, or Deviantart? I'm madelk on Twitter, but you'll find me on GameSpot's Fuse site just as often.

What is your "Golden Rule" for aspiring writers? Enjoy writing for the enjoyment of writing, not the popularity.

-Share some of your writing strong points: I have a decent grasp of grammar, even though I'm an engineer! I had a solid technical writing background and appreciate critical thinking beyond the nuts and bolts of most standard essays or editorials.

-How long have you been gaming? I have been gaming for over 26 years now, since I was 7 years old.

-What is your favorite subject to write about?: I enjoy writing emotive vignettes that are more about describing a state of mind or stream of consciousness than an essay or editorial.

-Share your favorite editorial piece that you've written? This one here (I tend to write emotive pieces more informally with no capitalization.)

-Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumbler, or Deviantart? I'm not an active member of any social networking, pictorial or artsy sites, sorry!

-What is your "Golden Rule" for aspiring writers? Write what YOU would like to read and stay true to your style without letting your writing get bogged down by grammatical errors. Using big words simply because you think it makes you look smart is rarely successful; if you can explain your message well to an 8-year-old I'd say you have an excellent grasp of your message and are quite effective in its delivery!

All are welcome at the writers round table simply stop by and create a topic including the phrase "evaluation" that lets the Justicars know that you are looking to have your work critiqued. If you are interested in becoming a Justicar you can send an email to community@gamespot.com with the subject "Justicar Application" for your chance to join the ranks.

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Daily Digest - PlayStation Rumor Mill

February 19, 2013 4:19PM PST

Remember to tune in tomorrow for Sony's big announcement!

To-Do List

- TUNE IN Super Awesome PlayStation Announcement!
- WELCOME The GameSpot Justicars
- WATCH Escape from Mount Stupid - PlayStation 3
- JOIN GameSpot's Official Steam Community

Tip: Rumor Mill PS4

With less than 24 hours standing between you (the gamer) and Sony's new announcement it's time to get the rumor mill turning. Comment below on your favorite, fictitious, or famed PlayStation 4 rumor for a boost in profile points. If we get over 50 comments we will choose our favorite 3 rumors to be the Rumor Mill Champions those winners will get this nifty poster!

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Wishful Thinking: Predicting the PlayStation 4

February 19, 2013 8:17PM PST

GameSpot staff from around the globe sound off on their hopes and dreams for Sony's new console.

With the hours rapidly ticking down to Sony's New York event, rumour and speculation are running wild that the company is preparing to announce new console hardware. GameSpot's global editorial team weighed in on their thoughts on the expected features, games, and services that the next PlayStation may offer, and the reality of what's likely to be unveiled.

If I had to go all-out bonkers with my predictions, I'd say that its supposed codename, Orbis, will be used for the actual device. Given the trend of branding consoles with less-than-unique names, this is a huge stretch, especially since marketing a console is dependent on how relatable your device's name is. The PS4 controller will be exactly the same as the current DualShock 3, only with the ability to be split into two and used as independent motion controllers.

Sony hasn't always let customers play their old, physical games on its brand new systems

As far as software predictions go, Vivendi will team up with Naughty Dog, paving the way for a new, next-generation Crash Bandicoot title with touchscreen functions and PS Vita cross-platform goodness. Additionally, Square Enix will get out of its creative slump and make Final Fantasy Versus XIII a launch title for the PS4. Just to up the ante in bizarreness, how about a gritty reboot of Tomba!, one of the most underrated characters to be on a Sony gaming platform?

Of course, since we're living on planet Earth, and expectations are usually beyond the reality we're given, the PlayStation 4 will unimaginatively be called that: the PlayStation 4, complete with the 2002 Spider-Man movie title font for its name. Used games will still be playable, but will require a surcharge to activate.

The usual franchise culprits will be announced: a new Uncharted, a new Killzone, more teasing of The Last Guardian, and a new Infamous. Sweet Jesus, the latter announcement would make my day. Other potential surprises include Metal Gear Solid 5/Phantom Pain/whatever Kojima Productions is working on to be a PS4 exclusive. For a year. As much as the Metal Gear Solid brand is synonymous with the PlayStation, Konami still needs to make money.

I also hope that Sony makes the PS4 backwards compatible with PS3 titles, though I give it almost a year until it does so with a new hardware revision. Sony has inconsistently let its loyal customers play their old, physical games on their brand-spanking new systems, so I'm expecting them to make us pay for digital versions of the same damn thing they had eons ago.

Follow Jonathan on Twitter: @MrToffee

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PlayStation 4 to cost Â’300, reports The Times

Sony is looking to price the PlayStation 4 at "about" £300, according to British newspaper The Times.

"Industry sources and leaked internal documents suggest that Sony is considering pricing the new device at about £300, more than £100 cheaper than the starting cost of its predecessor," says The Times. The PlayStation 3 launched in the UK for £425.

£300 works out at approximately $464, though hardware in the US is traditionally priced a bit cheaper than in the UK.

But The Times' report also says Sony won't be announcing the price or the date of the PlayStation 4 at its PlayStation Meeting 2013 event in New York on Wednesday, and will instead be waiting for Microsoft to show its hardware before coming to a final decision.

"Because company executives want to see Microsoft's updated Xbox before PS4's release, Sony is unlikely to reveal exact prices or dates for the new PlayStation at next week's event," says the newspaper.

The Times also says Sony's PlayStation 4 will be able to support the "new generation of ultra-high definition [4K] televisions" alongside earlier rumours such as cloud streaming and a touchscreen controller.

Sony's PlayStation Meeting will take place in New York on February 20 at 18:00 EST/15:00 PST/23:00 GMT. GameSpot will be in attendance and broadcasting the event live.

For the latest PlayStation 4 information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

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Rock Band weekly DLC ends in April

After 275 consecutive weeks of new content, publisher Harmonix has announced Rock Band DLC will cease on April 2.

"In recent months we've scaled production down as we've transitioned resources onto other projects," wrote Harmonix on its blog. "With several new titles in development and developers needed to usher these new games along, April 2nd will be the last weekly DLC release for Rock Band."

"We're incredibly proud of the DLC milestones we've set, especially producing the largest music library of any game available, and we wouldn't have been able to release as much outstanding content without the support of our amazing community."

"We hope that you'll all agree that this has been a tremendous run, and you should know it's a ride that we at Harmonix have been thrilled to be a part of."

Over 4000 tracks have graced Rock Band's store since the original game was released in 2007, and the publisher intends to continue its current 50 per cent off sale on over 1000 of its tracks.

Last year Harmonix posted a job advertisement for a "combat designer", suggesting that its upcoming projects might take a slightly different approach to its past titles such as Dance Central, Rock Band and the original two Guitar Hero games.

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Bungie's Destiny not coming out in 2013, says Activision

Activision has warned not to expect Bungie's Destiny in 2013.

"Although Bungie's amazing new world was revealed today, Activision has not included the launch in its 2013 outlook and there should be no speculation or expectation of a different result," said the publisher today in a statement.

Destiny is scheduled to be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and all future console platforms, with the new Xbox and PlayStation expected on shop shelves before the end of the year. This means it is unlikely Destiny will be a next-gen launch title.

Destiny is billing itself a "shared-world shooter" in an always-connected world. Players assume the roles of Guardians in the last safe city on Earth. Bungie has yet to release any in-game footage of the game.

"For all the unknowns, Destiny still feels very much like the product of Bungie," said GameSpot's Shaun McInnis after glancing a first look at the game last week. "More specifically, it feels like Bungie taking what they've done well over the years and moving in a new direction, with new technology, toward something well beyond Halo. I know I can't wait to see what else Destiny is."

For more information on Destiny, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

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Destiny Unveiled: What Bungie's Next Game Is (And Isn't) All About

The wait is over. It's time to dig into Bungie's ambitious successor to Halo.

The cat is out of the bag. After years of silence, Bungie has finally begun to open up about its long-awaited (and occasionally leaked) successor to Halo. The new franchise, known simply as Destiny, is the product of a publishing partnership with Activision that will span 10 years and multiple sequels. It's both hugely ambitious and noticeably Bungie, seeking to break new ground with the type of technology and social experiences a console game can offer while bearing the familiar stylistic trademarks that the studio has refined over the years.

So what is Destiny? It's a lot of things. It's a new sci-fi universe where humans are once again up against an alien threat seeking to rid them from existence. It's an open first-person shooter with a commerce system allowing you to buy a ship and travel to other planets. It's…you know what, why don't I just run down the full list?

Like Halo, Destiny will feature a story campaign that allows multiple players to get together and fend off alien scum as a group. But unlike Halo, Destiny's approach to social interaction is far more focused on happenstance and serendipity. While you can still buddy up with players from your friends list, your journey through Destiny's various locales (both on Earth and other planets in our solar system) will be populated by total strangers brought together by chance. Well, chance and some robust networking architecture.

Destiny's co-op is intended to be very seamless in the way it has players running into each other out of the blue. Destiny is constantly talking to its servers to see if there are other people out there playing the same mission or simply navigating the same geography as you. When it finds a good match, it combines each of these players into a single shared experience. Bungie insists there's no co-op lobby, no "waiting for player to join" pop-up, none of that--it's intended to be very seamless in the way it has players running into each other out of the blue. Bungie wants you to feel like these are "chance encounters" where you can forge a lasting alliance, or just go your separate ways once you've collected your loot after a successful mission (more on that in a bit).

On top of this, you've also got dedicated social hubs that allow you to interact with other players outside of combat. This includes things like trading goods, gambling, or just taking a break from the game's optional "activities" that draw you away from these safe havens with the promise of adventure and loot. It's a lot like an MMO in certain respects. Which brings us to the next point…

At least, that's Bungie's insistence. While the overall structure of social hubs, dynamic environments, and optional missions promising adventure and wealth sounds a lot like an MMO, Bungie is quick to argue that this is something different. "These are living, open worlds with evolving stories, changing time of day…and every one is full of players," says engineering lead Chris Butcher. "Destiny is an always online experience, but it's not an MMO."

Reading between the lines, it sounds like Bungie wants to make an online shooter that borrows certain ideas from the MMO genre without requiring the usual sort of legwork and coordination found in assembling guilds and raids. Take this quote from project director Jason Jones, for example: "Destiny knows you're tired, impatient, and distracted. [Players] don't want to work hard. They don't want to read. They don't want to go to the Internet to figure out our bullshit."

And there's also no MMO subscription fee. So that helps.

Destiny bears some similarities to the Halo universe, in that it's focused on human beings dealing with a hostile alien threat. But the world of Destiny feels somehow darker. Humanity is in far worse shape this time around, holed up in the one remaining city on Earth as they fight to avoid extinction. The rest of the planet lies in ruins, with nature reclaiming what the alien invaders haven't. You play as one of the "Guardians" of this last remaining city, venturing out to salvage these devastated remains whether they're on Earth or distant locales like the jungles of Venus or the lost human civilizations of Mars.

Looking at the concept art for Destiny, it's clear that Bungie is aiming for a more ominous style of sci-fi this time around. From derelict ships floating through space to the imposing design of alien cities (see the Citadel concept art above), everything feels slightly more threatening than Bungie's previous efforts. Combine this with a new graphics engine that employs real-time lighting to further emphasize the contrast between light and shadow, and you can see how things might get a little spooky in places.

Yet for all this, Bungie used the words "hope" and "hopeful" more times than I can count while describing this new universe. Here's how story lead Joe Staten sees it: "At its core, Destiny is a hopeful world. It's a place worth spending time in. It's a place worth fighting for."

Combining this sense of hope with such a dire setting is a tough balancing act. But looking back, this was something Bungie was able to do well with Halo. Those games were filled with dangerous but ruggedly beautiful environments that inspired an odd sense of inspiration to save these places from destruction. As long as Bungie continues its habit of building those starkly beautiful worlds with their majestic skies and fleshed-out histories, I'm inclined to believe this is a balancing act Bungie can pull off.

At this point, the only two platforms Bungie and Activision have confirmed for Destiny are Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Is it coming to PC? No comment. Is it coming to next-gen systems? No comment.

We'll have to wait and see whether Bungie has been able to work its magic on Sony and Microsoft's aging hardware. So how does it look? Well, that's tough to say. Bungie's introduction to Destiny was much more of a high-level run through the game's creative vision than a tour through full-on combat or gameplay. As such, the only in-engine stuff I saw was a brief walk through one of the game's environments intended to show off the new real-time lighting engine. The lighting effects were undoubtedly impressive, with that greater contrast between light and shadows I mentioned before, as well as a full day-night cycle that should make for some interesting changes in mood when the sun drops below the horizon. But this tour was free of any other characters besides the player, so I can't really say how well the game holds up during intense action scenes.

In other words, we'll have to wait and see whether Bungie has been able to work its magic on Sony and Microsoft's aging hardware. They did point out that this new engine is built to be highly scalable for more powerful hardware, though. Take that how you will.

In some ways, Destiny is more a platform than a game. In addition to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 software, you'll have access to your Destiny character through mobile apps and Bungie.net's community portal. Details on how these services connect with your game are vague right now--all we can tell now is that you can get game invites pushed to your mobile phone--but Bungie is eager to claim that Destiny is the sort of social, connected experience that you'll want to have access to on the go. Here's hoping these services add a more meaningful contribution to your game than simply another Call of Duty Elite or Halo Waypoint.

This is where things get interesting. As in previous Bungie games, there'll be both a traditional competitive multiplayer mode and a "highly crafted" story campaign. But as I've touched on a few times now, that story campaign will be a far more open experience than anything the studio has done with Halo. Players venture from hub cities out to optional missions and activities on forgotten parts of Earth as well as remote planets. You might get there in a rinky-dink spaceship you bought by cashing in on the odd bounty, or in a highly customized interstellar luxury yacht you purchased after consistently dominating in competitive multiplayer. (Yes, there seems to be a shared currency between the various modes.)

Destiny's story campaign will be a far more open experience than anything Bungie has done with Halo. Once you're out on those missions, you might team up with a bunch of other players you run into out of the blue, or just tip your proverbial hat as you all cross paths. One of the missions Bungie described was a raid on a "Cabal exclusion zone" on Mars, an intimidating red fortress manned by hulking alien beasts called War Rhinos. If successful, your raid will net you not only a valuable piece of ancient machine intelligence to help humanity's dire cause, but also some rare loot to pocket for yourself. This includes new armor and equipment that changes both your appearance and attributes, as well as rare weapons. In typical Bungie fashion, these rare weapons bear names ranging from the serious, like The Fate of All Fools, to the silly, like Super Good Advice.

As if building a game that blends epic sci-fi first-person shooters with role-playing games weren't enough, Bungie is also promising dynamic worlds that are constantly changing over time. "We want every night to be a new experience," says Jason Jones. "Our goal is that every time a player sits down to play Destiny, they have a different experience from the last time. [This] led us to create emergent activities, rare activities, time-limited activities. So you get distracted from doing the thing you wanted to doing something you didn't expect."

Part of Destiny seems very alien. After all, when a developer spends a decade making games set in the same universe, it's bound to feel strange once that same studio ventures off toward the wild frontier of original IP. And yet, Destiny is also the sort of game you couldn't mistake for any other studio. There's just something about that combination of exotic sci-fi landscapes, Marty O'Donnell's sweeping orchestral score, and a social-first approach to first-person shooter action that immediately screams Bungie.

There are still a lot of things we don't know about Destiny--and in fact, those things definitely outnumber the details we do know at this point. How many players can be grouped together at once? What does the game look like in a full-on firefight? What's the deal with those time-traveling robots? Oh, did I mention that Destiny has time-traveling robots? Because it does.

But for all the unknowns, Destiny still feels very much like the product of Bungie. More specifically, it feels like Bungie taking what they've done well over the years and moving in a new direction, with new technology, toward something well beyond Halo. I know I can't wait to see what else Destiny is.

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Bungie's Destiny a 'shared-world' shooter

After years of secrecy, Bungie today officially announced Destiny , its first post-Halo project. A first-person shooter for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with elements of open-world sandbox and persistent world, Destiny is described as the world's first "shared-world shooter." And Activision has big hopes for it.

"Very few games transcend their medium and their genre to truly become a part of popular culture; to belong in the time capsule as something that we can all share. And we believe Destiny could become one of those games," Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said, describing its title as the "worst-kept secret in the history of secrets."

Bungie cofounder Jason Jones said Destiny will be the ultimate first-person shooter and even something grander.

"If you enjoy shooters, Destiny is going to be the best game you've ever played," Jones said. "Destiny is Bungie's next great shooter and is set in an amazing new world that we're building. In Destiny, players get to build their own characters and grow them over time. We're really putting players in the center of the world and giving them control over their experience. From the ground up we've built this game to be social and cooperative."

Bungie and Activision are not yet talking release timing, but past legal documents said Destiny would ship first for Xbox 360 (and the Xbox 720) later this year, with a 2014 release for PS3. Could Destiny come to PC or next-generation platforms? It's plausible, but Activision would not comment.

"We're really putting players in the center of the world and giving them control over their experience. From the ground up we've built this game to be social and cooperative." --Bungie cofounder Jason Jones.

Though Destiny will feature a persistent world, the game will not carry a monthly fee. Hirshberg confirmed the publisher has "no plans" to charge gamers a subscription to play Destiny and would not got into further detail about the game's business model.

Destiny aims to break molds by throwing away the traditional playbook, including the idea of main menus, Jones said. In addition, Jones said everything that's fun to do is more fun if friends are around, and this is why Destiny's campaign will not be a solitary experience.

"Think about the gym, think about college; imagine those places empty. That would be crazy; no one would would like that; it would be creepy. But that's the experience we've all had for decades playing these campaign games in a solitary way. That's not what we want," he said.

Playing solo is a "totally valid" way to experience Destiny, Jones said, though he argued it's more fun to play with other people. For more on Destiny, check out GameSpot's just-published extended coverage of Bungie's new universe.

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Destiny ViDoc - Pathways out of Darkness

Our weekly video game news discussion show with John Davison, Brendan Sinclair, and Tom Mc Shea. Topics: Activision calls for Destiny in 2013, Street Fighter's opportunistic 25th Anniversary bundle, and more on this week's Quoted for Truth.

Posted May 25, 2012 | 34:56 | 11,003 Views

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AZUBU Collegiate Champions Grand Finals

February 16, 2013 1:57PM PST

Watch as the Grand Finals makes it way to Los Angeles on February 16th-17th for both StarCraft II and League of Legends.

THE AZUBU Collegiate Champions Grand Finals is finally here and will start on Saturday, February 16th with StarCraft II at 10am PST casted by Sean "Day[9]" Plott, Tricia "megumixbear" Sugita, and CSL's own Daniil "Cheeseheadlogic" Pauley and Ferguson "Alphaferg" Mitchell. On Sunday, February 17th League of Legends kicks off at 10 am PST and will be casted by Steve "RiotJaws" Jaworski, Reid "RAPiD" Melton, Michelle "silverdirge" Lim, and Brent "Phrank" Riberdy. The event will be held at Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, California. Stay tuned this weekend for the live stream and more.

CSL StarCraft II Stream

Saturday February 17th, 10am PST

CSL League of Legends Stream

Sunday February 18th, 10am PST

For more information regarding the Grand Finals check out cstarleague.

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Blacklight: Retribution Onslaught! - FPS Friday

Hey guys, great show and thanks for the codes, really looking forward to the anniversary update.

But a little feedback is in order:

You shouldn't stage the DM/TDM matches in favor of the person playing, just because the person is on TV/Live-Stream. 
Yes, we all saw what you did there... way too obvious and I actually found it annoying to watch.

PS: The new maps/items look awesome, can't wait to try them out.

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PlayStation 4 will stream PlayStation 3 games - Report

The PlayStation 4 will be able to stream PlayStation 3 games over the Internet, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

Citing sources "familiar" with Sony's plans, the WSJ reports that "the new technology, to be unveiled Wednesday along with the new console, will allow users to play games delivered over the Internet, these people said. The streaming service, they added, is designed to use current PlayStation 3 titles on the new console; the new device is also expected to play new games stored on optical discs."

The WSJ adds that streaming support in the PlayStation 4 comes alongside "other enhancements to bolster its position on the market," but does not go any further into what these might be.

Two photographs of the PlayStation 4's devkit controller have surfaced recently, showing a front-facing touch screen and an integrated speaker. Another rumour has said Sony will be focusing on new play options as opposed to technical power, though one leaked specification sheet for the PlayStation 4 suggests a machine significantly more powerful than the PlayStation 3.

Sony acquired streaming company Gaikai last year for $380 million, and since then the Gaikai website has teased pictures of Uncharted, Killzone, and Metal Gear Solid.

Sony today updated its website for PlayStation Meeting 2013 to show a video titled PlayStation Evolution, which could potentially be teasing a PlayStation 4 unveiling at the New York event on February 20, which will take place at 18:00 EST/15:00 PST/23:00 GMT. GameSpot will be in attendance and broadcasting the event live.

For the latest PlayStation 4 information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

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Take-Two acquires WWE license

The rumors were right. Bloomberg reports today that Take-Two has agreed to acquire the World Wrestling Entertainment license for video games following THQ's bankruptcy last month.

According to the documents, Take-Two's acquisition of the license will save millions by minimizing impact on WWE and developer Yuke's.

"By working together to transition development of WWE games going forward, the parties have minimized the harm to WWE and Yuke's, which have, in turn, agreed to substantial reductions of their claims" against THQ, lawyers for Take-Two said in court papers.

Without the new agreement, the Take-Two lawyers said WWE and Yuke's claims "would certainly exceed $30 million and might exceed $60 million." Other THQ franchises, like Homefront, Company of Heroes, and Saints Row, were sold during an auction last month.

The new agreement will nullify the previous WWE and Yuke's contracts, allowing the companies to sign new deals with Take-Two. According to the documents, WWE agreed to waive $45 million in pre-bankruptcy claims, as well as royalty advances of around $7.5 million through 2017.

As part of the new deal, THQ will pay WWE $650,000 in royalty payments for games sold while under bankruptcy protection. In addition, THQ will give its 14 percent stake in Yuke's--about 1,552,000 shares worth $4.5 million--back to the developer, as well as a $250,000 royalty payment.

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Valve responds to layoffs

Valve cofounder Gabe Newell has responded to the reports of layoffs at the Half-Life and Counter-Strike developer today. In a statement sent to Engadget, Newell said the developer is not canceling any ongoing projects or changing its priorities.

"We don't usually talk about personnel matters for a number of reasons. There seems to be an unusual amount of speculation about some recent changes here, so I thought I'd take the unusual step of addressing them," Newell said.

"No, we aren't canceling any projects. No, we aren't changing any priorities or projects we've been discussing," he added. "No, this isn't about Steam or Linux or hardware or [insert game name here]. We're not going to discuss why anyone in particular is or isn't working here."

According to reports this afternoon, Valve laid off as many as 25 developers in its hardware and Android divisions as part of the company making "large decisions" about its future.

Prominent hardware developer Jeri Ellsworth said she was fired, while business director Jason Holtman has reportedly left for unknown reasons.

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Anodyne Review

Few games spend as little time hiding their inspirations as Sean Hogan and Jonathan Kittaka's Anodyne. Mere minutes in, you can see its obvious debts to The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening in the design of the trees that adorn the top-down environment, though it adds contrast by way of hefty helpings of surreal encounters and disturbing imagery. Ultimately, it emerges as a memorable game in its own right, even if it struggles at times to overcome the limitations of its own ambition.

That ambition manifests itself most prominently in the seven or so hours of disjointed narrative, which hints at our reluctantly changing relationships with gaming concepts as we age. More to the point, subtle hints littered throughout the narrative suggest that the protagonist is using gaming as an anodyne (or painkiller) for his emotional suffering. Here we find no quasi-elven protagonists in the vein of Link; in their place, we're presented with a white-haired fellow with the perhaps symbolic name of Young, whose Coke-bottle glasses serve as his only possession remotely resembling a shield and who uses a prosaic broom in place of a sword. The action takes place entirely in his unconscious mind--Young is a closer relative of Braid's Tim than of Zelda's Link. Gone, too, is the simplicity of a story that focuses on saving a princess; in its place, we're left with an unfocused story about saving the world that transpires through fragments of Young's dreams.

Young's struggle to enjoy the classic dungeon-crawling role-playing game that unfolds around him is never so apparent as in the many moments when flashbacks from "real life," as it were, butt into the gameplay. Young may spend several hours swatting bats and energy-belching frogs with his broom amid fantasyscapes and postapocalyptic freeway ruins, but we find him most haunted by memories depicted in fractured vignettes that reference family struggles and the pain of leaving home. At times, such as when Young tries to converse with a fisherman only to push him to his death in a whirlpool or when he encounters a strange man muttering incoherently, Anodyne assumes an air better suited to horror than to lighthearted action adventure. This isn't the first instance of developers using retro environments normally associated with 16-bit fun to explore darker themes--the first Corpse Party, for instance, used it to greater effect--but Hogan and Kittaka effectively use the contrast to tackle lightweight philosophical questions.

Indeed, these moments are the backbone of Anodyne's appeal. As it is, the promising ideas of the thin narrative's first couple of hours lose their power long before the end, and the haunting vignettes themselves devolve into a heap of broken images increasingly bereft of meaning. In its worst moments, it becomes pretentious nonsense.

The combat excels in a simplistic Zelda-circa-1991 way thanks to commendable hit detection and a wealth of simple but satisfying single-screen puzzles, but the core gameplay never advances far past Young's basic broom swatting, which you encounter within the first few minutes, despite three upgrades. Later on, a rapid succession of often frustrating jumping puzzles feels forced and ill-suited to the top-down design, and the absence of a means of playing with a gamepad is disappointing in light of Anodyne's obvious affection for early consoles.

Still, if you take the time to explore all of Anodyne's nooks and crannies, you'll find hours and hours of gameplay in store. The problem is that much of this exploration centers on the careful and necessary hunt for 50 collectible cards that serve as the keys for new content all the way up until the final boss, and the ages' worth of backtracking involved at times feels like an artificial means of extending the running time. Many cards drop from the fun but generally easy dungeon bosses, but finding other cards involves performing maddening jumping puzzles and retracing your steps throughout an entire zone in search of the single chest you missed. A system of warp portals makes this process easier than it could have been, but the whole concept ends up feeling like exploration for the sake of exploration rather than the hunt for gear upgrades that makes Zelda games so memorable.

Anodyne rarely feels like a waste of your time despite these shortcomings. It makes up for the deficiencies of its narrative through the beautiful visuals you encounter as you trudge through everything from unsettling suburban neighborhoods to crumbling temples, and the poignant musical score surges with emotional power. At the most basic gameplay level, as you swat slimes and scoop up dust for use as a raft across bodies of water, it maintains a degree of fun. Above all, Anodyne never lets you forget that it's a game more concerned with the journey than with the destination, and at 10 bucks, it's a journey worth taking.

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GameStop: 60 percent of gamers would not buy console that blocks used games

If Microsoft or Sony--or both--decide to block used games with their next-generation platforms, the majority of consumers would not buy them. That's according to GameStop chief financial officer Rob Lloyd, who defended used games today during a presentation at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference this afternoon.

"It's really only about 4 percent of our used game sales are games that were games released in the last 60 days," Lloyd said. "So it does not have a big impact on the sale of new product. So that's why publishers understand how important the preowned business is to them. Sony has said publicly that they don't intend to block used games in their next console. Microsoft has refused to or has not commented on the rumors that have hit the marketplace."

Lloyd further noted that GameStop has conducted internal research on anticipated consumer buying behavior and shared this information with platform holders. This research has shown consumers want control over the games they purchase, he said.

"Consumers want the ability to play preowned games; they want portability in their games; they want to play physical games," he said. "And to not have those things would be a substantial reason for them to not purchase a new console."

Asked for a specific percentage, Lloyd said, "I think it's approximately 60 percent of the customers who have said they wouldn't buy a new console if it didn't play preowned games."

"We'll be able to sell the new consoles that come from Microsoft and Sony regardless of what features they have or what they do or don't allow."

Even if next-gen platforms from Microsoft and Sony do block used games, Lloyd said GameStop will still be able to sell these consoles and adapt appropriately.

"We'll be able to sell the new consoles that come from Microsoft and Sony regardless of what features they have or what they do or don't allow," he said. "We'll have leading market share on the sale of those consoles. We'll adapt to what it does to the preowned business. And one of the ways we'll do that is through a continued healthy preowned business for today's generation of consoles."

If the majority of gamers would not be interested in a next-gen console that blocks used games, why has the rumor floated around for so long? Lloyd said the preowned business is a tough one to crack; both sides have compelling arguments, he argued.

"There's two constituencies that the publishers and the console-makers…have to consider. One is the retailer like GameStop that is moving their product through the chain. The second are the development firms that actually develop the games. Developers have historically not liked the preowned game business because they don't participate in the revenue streams."

"The publishers really get caught in the middle," he added. "[The publisher] understands that, but also understands the importance of the preowned game business to the overcall ecosystem of the video game business. And so, I think that as the console makers balance those needs, they consider, 'Is this an appropriate thing to do? Would we make more money by doing this in the future?' I think what customers have told them at this point is they view it as a very unfriendly thing to do."

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