THQ
officially announces Red Faction: Armageddon, offering
this teaser trailer for the next installment in the groundbreaking shooter series, touting combat against subterranean aliens and a March 2011 release date for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Here's a bit on the story from the announcement: "When Darius is tricked into reopening a mysterious shaft in an old Marauder temple, he releases a long-dormant evil and unleashes Armageddon on Mars. As Colonist and Marauder settlements are torn asunder, only Darius and the Red Faction can save mankind. The battle will take them across the storm-blasted planet... and below it, to the very heart of the unspeakable threat." Here's a feature list:
- Hell on Mars - Darius Mason can only watch as the surface of Mars is destroyed. Seeking solace underground, an even greater threat emerges against humanity.
- Nano Forge - Unleash the devastating force of the Nano Forge with concussive blasts, core-shattering tremblers, and bone-crushing rhino charges.
- Extermination Mode - Four players can team up online to battle back the relentless tide of attackers as the mysteries of the ancient threat continue to unfold.
- Full Destruction - Tear down separatist outposts, rip apart alien monoliths, and reconstruct colonist defenses with Geo Mod 2.0, the most advanced real-time destruction engine to date.
- Fight for Survival - Free colonists from alien cocoons, reclaim cultist fortifications on the surface, and hunt for artifacts deep within alien hives to create unthinkable advanced weaponry.
The
Skulls of the Shogun Website is online, heralding development of
Skulls of the Shogun, described as an "invigorating cocktail of 1960’s flavored sorcery and strategy" by its developers, Electronic Arts expatriates who describe themselves as: "A tight-knit group of 4 game industry veterans have united to create exciting, iconoclastic games for the whole world." A more complete description of the game is: "Skulls of the Shogun is an arcadey, turn based tactical strategy game for XBLA and PC featuring ghostly Samurai locked in an endless war in the afterlife! Featuring beautiful HD hand drawn 2D art and animation, it’s put together by a small crack team of highly experienced game development veterans." There are some screenshots from the game, and
Gamasutra points the way to an
interview on 1Up discussing the project with designer Jake Kazdal.
The E3 trailer from
F.E.A.R. 3 is on GameTrailers.com showing off some gameplay footage from the upcoming continuation of the F.E.A.R. series of horror-themed shooters in development at Day 1 Studios. The trailer's tag line suggests a co-op emphasis, saying: "never face F.E.A.R. alone."
1UP - Are Games Art? Thanks Joker961. It never gets old.
That fundamental misunderstanding over what games are and how they work is at the heart of why the argument over whether or not games are art persists. It's not the only reason, however. The medium is young. Far from its infancy, sure, but not necessarily matured, and the most powerful, artful games are generally unknown to larger audiences. Tom Bissell, author of the new book Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter, notes that video games' quick evolution over the past 30 years explains much of the cultural resistance to the medium.
Today is the 66th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. This is one of those undertakings that I have a hard time comprehending, no matter how often it is depicted in books, movies, and video games. The scope of the operation and the courage of the participants are just too overwhelming to completely wrap my mind around.
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