[Editor's note: VirtualGirl has done it again! Our resident art school bombshell has devised the most professional looking trivia game on the subject of video games in the history of geekdom. The name is For Teh Win, a typo only endearing to the hardcore gamer. I'm dying to play this game -- maybe we can get a round going at PAX? Hit the jump for photos and the rules of engagement. -Niero PS. Guys, the girls are kicking your asses.]
Time for another one of those giant game related projects that I worked on for school. Not as cool as my Nintendo project, but it was still fun to put together, and turned out pretty fun to play!
The concept was simply to create a brand new game, and since I warp every school project to relate to gaming, I decided to do a Video Game Trivia board game called "For teh Win." It was another very research intensive project, and a lot of work to make. I had the board, the avatars, and the game trophies laser cut out of plexi-glass, and then hand cut over 150 trivia cards. I only have the 150 trivia cards at the moment, but eventually I hope to get up over 1000 cards to make sure that the game experience does not repeat between play. Below are the rules that I came up with!
It looks like there is yet another case of a developer not showing the Xbox 360 the sort of love that it so craves as a lonely American console in a Japanese game world. The latest rumblings come from a Square Enix executive who is quoted as telling Japan's Nikkei BP that they have no intentions of blessing the Microsoft console with any new Final Fantasy games. When Shinji Hashimoto was asked by Nikkei BP if the Xbox 360 would be getting any new FF games, the answer was clear:
"For the Wii, we have FF Crystal Chronicles in production," replied Hashimoto. "As for FF on the Xbox 360, it's currently a completely blank page."
I guess this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, since Sony must be doing everything in its power behind the scenes to keep some guys on their side. After all, they have been hemorrhaging exclusives left and right.
I'm not so sure Xbox fans are going to care too much about Crystal Chronicles, but Final Fantasy games are still considered system sellers to many people. If the pain is too much to bear, you can still drop the cash on a shiny new PlayStation 3, or just go back and play the Xbox 360 port of Final Fantasy XI.
I remember this one time (last week) that I went into an H&M in my local mall. A piercingly intolerable drum and bass remix of Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape" blared out of the store's hidden speakers. Pictures of Madonna stared at me from all directions as she pimped her "M for Madonna" clothing line. An androgynous clerk wearing what I can only imagine was an Xbox Live headset pushed passed me to reach a stack of argyle sweaters. I purchased a pretty nice short sleeved shirt for $12.99.
That was good.
I remember this one time when I first played Will Wright's The Sims. I spent hours getting my Sim to work, making sure he slept, and moving furniture out of the way so he could reach the toilet. I worked hard to have my Sim promoted at his job so that I could afford the fanciest things in Sim life. Hours were spent nurturing friendships, and when I had the opportunity to finally bring a pet into my home, I jumped on it. When I got bored of that, I trapped my Sim in a small box with nothing but a television and watched as he soiled himself to death.
That was pretty good, too.
Today, Electronic Arts has shipped The Sims 2 H&M Fashion Stuff to North American retailers, and it has launched its online Fashion Runway in which participants can create their own fashion designs that they can show off their outfits on a virtual runway. Actual H&M designers (OMG!) will review the best designs for consideration in a future H&M collection.
This … this is taking it too far. Somewhere Will Wright is making plans to roll over in his grave, as Electronic Arts plots to run all of his video game creations into the ground over the next 143 years. I can’t wait for Spore: Hollister Fashion Stuff.
This week's forgotten game holds a special place in my heart. Clive Barker's Undying, released in February of 2001, was the title that made me want to write about videogames. At the time, I had never seen anything like it: it melded fantasy, horror, and balls-out action in a wholly unprecedented way. It kicked total ass.
And as a result of how much ass it kicked, it only sold about four copies. Hence the article you are now reading.
Clive Barker's Undying was, in short, a gothic horror fan's wet dream. A creepy, possibly incestuous family that dies off, one by one? Check. A magical scythe? Check. A fantastic, evil parallel world called Oneiros, a protagonist with a second sight, an ancient set of standing stones, and an unbreakable curse? Check, check, and double-check.
In truth, the only thing Undying was missing was an audience. Hit the jump, and lament.
To everyone who e-mailed us about the "major" Xbox 360 announcement: thanks. We know. It's not a price drop, it's not a new hardware SKU, and no, Halo 3Mini-Tales is not coming out on the Zune.
Today At the Pac-Man World Championships in New York City, Microsoft and Namco Bandai have "made video game history" by revealing Pac-Man Championship Edition for Xbox Live Arcade. This version of Pac-Man will include all of the playable boss characters like Vega, M. Bison, and ... wait, sorry. I confused this with 1992.
Actually it's 1980, because Pac-Man Championship Edition is an updated version of the original Pac-Man classic arcade updated with new features including: new mazes designed by Pac-Man's daddy, Toru Iwatani; six new timed game modes, a new soundtrack, and high definition graphics.
The game will be available tomorrow morning (9AM EST) for 800 MS points, and will only be available on the Xbox 360. Who needs a price drop now?
Our very own Dick McVengeance was on-hand at the Pac-Man World Championships event, so expect pictures from the event later today (nude photos of Ms. Pac-Man not promised).
Hit the jump for the full skinny on Pac-Man Championship Edition.
[Update: Photo of new stage design. Be prepared for a ton more photos and content later tonight! - DMV]
Tipster Jecrell not only gave us the above YouTube link to Bethesda's teaser trailer for Fallout 3, but he also directed us to Voodoo's blog, which has some extra info on it. Pete Hines, Bethesda's PR guy, says:
1) Yes, that's in-engine (in-engine means it's done with game assets in our rendering engine, but isn't done real-time. If it was done in real-time, that'd be gameplay footage. This isn't something, for example, that was sent to some house [e.g. Blue Studios] so they could build assets and render it out, and create something for us to release [e.g. Dawn of War 40K intro cinematic]). 2) Yes, that's The Ink Spots singing "I Don't Want to Set the World On Fire" 3) Yes, that's Ron Perlman [voiceover man extraordinaire of Fallout 1 and 2].
So in the end, it appears the Fallout 3 teaser really was just a teaser: despite all my wishing and hoping that it might shed some light on our most burning questions about Bethesda's first-ever Fallout title, it really only gives us a location (the east coast, as shown by the lead-up concept art screens and the Washington Monument visible in the background), a vague release date (Fall 2008), and the presence of an organization that everyone knew would be present in the game no matter what (The Brotherhood of Steel).
But what of the combat? Will it be realtime, or turn based? Will the game be first person, a la Oblivion, or stick with the top-down isometric view famous to the series? Can I recruit Dogmeat? The teaser (like all good teasers) answers none of these questions.
For your enjoyment, the Destructoid offices present a behind-the-scenes clip from Traveller's Tales, discussing Transformers: The Game. Now, I'm disgusted by the movie, what with their decision not to cast Frank Welker as Megatron in anything but this game, but I must admit that the footage shown above really shows some potential. You'll notice that there are some clear shots of actual transformations, something which has been lacking in any trailers thus far. They look very fluid and rather sexy indeed, I have to admit.
If they get the sense of clunky, robotic destruction just right, this could be at least mildly pleasing. At the very least, the robots look all pretty. So shiny, so very shiny.
Electronic Arts has sent over some new shots of their upcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game, Army of Two, and it sure is looking a lot like, well ... Army of Two.
Don't get me wrong -- everything about EA Montreal's third-person shooter has me amped to play it. An entirely cooperative experience, Army of Two is going to require me to finally return people's phone calls if I'm going to get the most out of it. Also, as far as I know, it's the only game that will allow you to stuff a tampon into your pal's bloody wound.
But every time I see this game it's just these two dudes touching each other or shooting at things off-screen. Will there be enemies in this game, or will you just cavort around barren wastelands and deserts? I suspect the former, but until I get some more hands on time with the game, I'm going to assume it's a "buddy touching simulator."
I'm still excited to play it. I'm calling my therapist ...
In news that is guaranteed to bring a smile to the battle-hardened face of Bill Gates once again, Xbox 360 software sales have set a new record for the world's smallest continent you may have come to know as Australia.
Thanks to an insatiable appetite for great titles such as Gears of War, Rainbow Six: Vegas, and Ghost Recon 2, the mighty-box-that-could has amassed over a million sales in 14 months.
What makes this news remarkable is the fact that this tops all other launches in this territory -- PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS included. Have we finally found a spot on Earth where the Wii has not been given the key to the city, and had streets (as well as infants) named after it?
Some Web site called IGN, along with Monolith and Warner Bros., are holding a contest to see what poor, unpaid schmuck can come up with the best name for the upcoming F.E.A.R. sequel. Let's back up for a second -- yes, there's going to be a sequel to F.E.A.R. coming to the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC; please try to hide your surprise. We just bought this carpet.
Submissions will be accepted until June 22nd, when three finalists will be sent to Monolith to meet with the development team. At that point, the three finalists will have their name and likeness included in the game, hopefully as character who will get their limbs torn or shot off ... by me.
Once the finalists have been chosen, public voting will open between the 23rd and 27th, letting mouth-breathing fanboys choose the final name. The contest's official site offers some naming and branding tips including my favorite:
Not to be outdone by complete and utter gayness, Blizzard has announced that everyone attending the upcoming Blizzcon would be entitled to quite a bit of gaming goodness, not the least of which may have something to do with Starcraft 2, or possibly a previously unannounced game (Whatever it could be?! They have so many IP's to choose from!):
All BlizzCon attendees will receive their share of free Blizzard swag, to be announced in a future update. We'll also be providing a beta key for an upcoming Blizzard game. If you're not enticed yet, you should definitely check out the in-game murloc suit below, an item that can be redeemed and given to your favorite World of Warcraft character. Love or hate the murlocs, you won't want to miss this opportunity to blend in with them!
Blizzcon will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in California on August 3 and 4th. Tickets will be $100 a pop, but dressing up like a level 70 virgin will remain free.
[Thanks to James "I creamed my pants" Lampkin for the information... and for the tip.]
Following in the footsteps of other great Flash-based games like Alien Hominid, comes N+ for the Nintendo DS and PSP, a platformer-action title starring a stick figure ninja.
The original Flash game (which can be downloaded here) featured 500 levels and homicidal robots. Seriously, what else do you need?
"N+ takes all the great elements of the flash game, from the amazing acrobatics to the simple-but-fast gameplay, and adds an impressive set of new features," said Stephen Baer, senior global product manager, Atari, Inc. "With full support for wireless multiplayer, cartridge sharing ability, downloadable content and community leader boards, gamers will be able to settle, once and for all, who is the greatest ninja."
Oh ... well, I guess that's what the game needed.
No word on whether or not the stylus will be used for controls in the Nintendo DS version of N+, but the game does feature a level editor in which players can use the touch screen to design levels. PSP users, on the other hand, can use the extra UMD loading time to think about level design, giving them a distinct advantage in that department.
Earlier today, Kotaku trained their crack team of Japanese-to-English translator monkeys on the twin spires of Dengeki and Famitsu in order to bring word that there is a new Cho Aniki title in the works!
The details are extremely scant, but based on previous iterations, one can guarantee a few innate themes in the upcoming title:
Theme 1: Dudes. Lots of em. And they've all got eyes for you sweetheart.
Theme 2: An appearance on every list of humorous video game situations forevermore. Much to the delight of IGN.
Theme 3:SOMETHING is going to shoot sperm at you. You won't know when, you won't know where, but it will TOTALLY happen.
With that in mind, I really shouldn't be as psyched for this thing as I am. If you'll excuse me, I have to go bang half of the Eastern Seaboard to reassert my love for the female cooter.
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I remember this one time (last week) that I went into an H&M in my local mall. A piercingly intolerable drum and bass remix of Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape" blared out of the store's hidden speakers. Pictures of Madonna stared at me from all directions as she pimped her "M for Madonna" clothing line. An androgynous clerk wearing what I can only imagine was an Xbox Live headset pushed passed me to reach a stack of argyle sweaters. I purchased a pretty nice short sleeved shirt for $12.99. 
