Eurogamer says
Splinter Cell Conviction is now expected in April, 2010, following up on the
recently announced delay to the frequently delayed stealth/action sequel.
The sleuths at
superannuation point to a
trademark registration for 5ive relating to video games. The registration was filed by Cruel and Unusual Films, the production company of filmmaker Zack Snyder. This shouldn't be a complete surprise, as the
300 and
Watchmen director
had previously expressed interest in the video game world.
The
Dark Void Community Website points the way to
Bear's Battlestar Blog where composer Bear McCreary goes into amazing detail in describing the production of his score for
Dark Void, the recently released airborne shooter from Capcom and Airtight Games. The update includes music samples, photographs, and even snippets of sheet music. There's also a press release announcing the soundtrack will be released next month: "The Dark Void Original Soundtrack will release on February 9th, 2010 to retail outlets through Sumthing Else Music Works
http://www.sumthing.com, and will be available for digital download on Sumthing Digital
http://www.sumthingdigital.com." On a related note, there's a video on GameVideos called
Backstage Episode 01- Iteration at Airtight Games, where the developers look back at development of the game.
A post to the
Guild Wars 2 Guru Forums has information from ArenaNet audio director James Ackley with some interesting insights into the procedurally generated audio effects in Guild wars II, the upcoming online RPG sequel. Have you ever given much thought to the sound of footsteps? They sure have: "Every footstep in Guild Wars 2 is made up of three sounds: heel, toe and spray (spray is the kick of your toe, mostly only made with loose surfaces and running). With this set-up, each of those three sounds gets its own random parameters, so you never feel like you are hearing the same footsteps over and over. Using Drew’s system, we get these incredible results but keep the total memory footprint in check." Thanks
Guild Wars 2 Slovenija. On a semi-related note, the Guild Wars Website announces
a second installment in their Wintersday 2009 celebration.
Thanks
Joker961.
Bitmob - Gamers Are Too Defensive. Thanks GamePolitics.
A recent news story broke out about a 40-something-year-old American woman traveling to Canada to meet a 16-year-old boy with whom she had been playing World of Warcraft. A call-in show covered the story. The first caller was a gamer who said that he didn't think it was fair to mention the name of the game, because it wasn't the game's fault that this happened. Many of us probably feel the same way. However, if we are going to be more concerned about protecting the reputation of a video game than about fighting international sexual tourism, people are going to continue to look at gamers as an unbalanced people with twisted priorities.
Ramblings of a Gamer - How do you Measure a Game’s Worth? Thanks Slashdot.
First off, I want to point out that it’s pretty much impossible to measure a game’s value before you buy it. Sometimes you will know that a particular game is supposed to be short/long, but you can’t know how much time you will actually play the game or how much you will like it beforehand. That said, thinking about a game’s “value” is not particularly productive if you already own it, so this is mostly just a topic that was interesting to contemplate.
1UP.com - Rolling Blackout: The Dark Side of Updates.
Another, more realistic hypothetical: Say Activision, following last fall's public outcry over Kurt Cobain's inclusion as a playable character, released a mandatory patch for Guitar Hero 5 that removed Cobain from the game. Would they have been wrong, insofar as they were impinging on a player's rights after the point of purchase? That's debatable. After you pay for a game, whether as a download or as a boxed copy, you as a consumer have certain rights regarding how you use that game. It's the question of game developer and publisher's rights to that game once it's in your hands that causes post-release alterations to be a murky issue.
GameSetWatch - 'Homer In Silicon'- Structure in Arkham.
I got an Xbox 360 for Christmas, and the first game I rented for it was Batman: Arkham Asylum, about which I'd heard great things. And I really enjoyed it: the gameplay was smooth and fun, and the narrative was engaging throughout. As I played, though, I found myself thinking that Arkham Asylum is a case study in the way that the commercial demands on a AAA game play against storytelling.
Frans has completed another project, and has rolled out
an Atom feed for the site, offering another way to keep up with the news here in addition to the
RSS Headlines and our
Twitter feed. Weee! Thanks Frans!
R.I.P.:
British actress Jean Simmons dies aged 80. Thanks Mike Martinez.
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