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Himuro
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 Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 4:55 pm Post subject: The official Game Developers Conference 07 topic |
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Might as well, eh? It'd be easier putting all the news in one topic.
I've reported the Sony home stuff and Tull made a topic updating Lost Odyssey's status.
Hopefully we see other neat things at this conference.
A site called xbox 360 fanboy watched the first hour of Mass Effect. Here's a hands on report without any spoilers:
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We sat down with Bioware's Ray Muzyka to check out the first hour of Mass Effect. Great games, he said, are memorable because of emotional moments. Muzyka stresses that Mass Effect will provide players with a truly cinematic, emotional experience. As if to prove his point, the demo takes place on a crisp HD display with a very loud surround sound speaker system. Muzyka picks up a control, starts the demo, and we begin Bioware's latest adventure.
There are several character backgrounds from which to choose. The background you choose affects the overall story of your character, Commander Shepard. Muzyka chooses a soldier. The story begins with well acted cinematics. Everything is well rendered: characters, backgrounds, everything. It's immediately evident that the game plays on a galactic scale. The facial animations are nice. The eyes, though, seem slightly off. It doesn't pull you out of the experience, but it's worth noting considering BioWare's consistent talk of emotional gameplay. Overall the graphics are extremely polished, with lots of cinematic effects added.
In particular, we notice that character dialogue has much more interesting camera work than BioWare's previous efforts. No longer are you presented with back-and-forth cuts between characters. Now the camera moves, changes locations to present more interesting angles. Another neat effect, the camera focuses on the characters that are talking while blurring the background. This depth of field effect helps create a cinematic environment.
After a bit of dialogue with his superiors, Shepard is dispatched to a planet called Eden Prime. Now we get to see Mass Effect's combat engine in action. Cinematic storytelling is nice, but the combat engine may wind up stealing the show. Mass Effect's combat should satisfy a broad range of players. Combat plays out in real time. Players can issue commands to teammates (who are smart enough to take cover and defend themselves appropriately) and are capable of running and gunning solo as well. Should you desire, you can even pause the action to deliver specific actions to each team member.
In real time, the game essentially plays out like a loose FPS. Players have standard weapons and also biotics -- essentially Mass Effect's magic system. Biotics aid you in many ways. Muzyka showed off an offensive biotic that destroyed enemies and another that created a shield that can be used as portable cover. Overall, the combat seemed visceral and satisfying.
The game promises to have tons of customizable options. The main character, of course, is customizable, with options of background, class, and appearance left to the player. Weapons have a variety of modifications available and even have different types of ammo to pick from. Armor also affects your character's appearance.
All in all, the game is shaping up nicely. Whether or not we'll get to experience the truly emotional moments that Muzyka is hoping for remains to be seen. There is one thing, though, that we think is perfectly clear. The game looks fun. We'll take an emotional experience if we can get it, but we're happy to settle with fun. |
Mercenaries 2 gameplay footage
http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?type=mov&id=17544
Forza 2 gameplay footage
http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?id=17540&type=wmv
A few Forza 2 screens:
Mercenaries 2 screens:
Blue Dragon screens:
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Tullaryx
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:44 pm Post subject: |
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I thought this was a funny enough rant from one of he attending developers. It sort of surmises two reasons why I'm not orgasming over the Wii like most people seem to be going through.
GDC 2007: "The Wii is a Piece of Sh*t!"
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Ujitsuna
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Tullaryx wrote: |
I thought this was a funny enough rant from one of he attending developers. It sort of surmises two reasons why I'm not orgasming over the Wii like most people seem to be going through.
GDC 2007: "The Wii is a Piece of Sh*t!" |
Well, it depends what you want from your console, a gaming PC or a games console. |
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Leb
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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This is the last GDC topic you guys get to make. Any more and I'm going to start closing and archiving them.
Last edited by Leb on Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:51 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Tullaryx
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:50 pm Post subject: |
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Oh, like the PS3 I shall get a Wii down the line just to complete my collection of consoles since my Atari VC/2600 days. But I don't see anything on the Wii which puts the excitement in me like it has to for some people.
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Himuro
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| Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Tullaryx wrote: |
I thought this was a funny enough rant from one of he attending developers. It sort of surmises two reasons why I'm not orgasming over the Wii like most people seem to be going through.
GDC 2007: "The Wii is a Piece of Sh*t!" |
I'm beginning to have my doubts on the Wii myself. I got one at launch but it hasn't served me any use since I beat Zelda. Usually you'd shrug it off because all new consoles are like that, but with Wii it's different because there's controls to deal with.
Nintendo's whole goal behind the Wii is for simpler controls and yet, almost all of the games I've played on the Wii except Zelda (haven't played Trauma Center yet) have overly convoluted controls that would have been so much simpler with a normal game pad. People complained about Sonic's controls and how you have to get used to them. I made a thread about SSX Blur and how I played an hour and a half and STILL can't get them down. This would be fine if this only occurred in the shitty launch games (Red Steel), but this is happening with games almost 6 months after launch, which is uncalled for. "Developers are getting used to the new controller" my foot. If Nintendo thinks traditional game controllers are so complex why are the controls in these Wii games so damn ridiculous to control? Either release the games with good controls or don't, period.
Nintendo's Wii better have some games come out fast that use the controller well or I may end up selling mine because that's the whole point of owning a Wii. Other wise it's just an over priced last gen console. I'll see, but they really have work to do.
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Himuro
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| Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2007 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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Mass Effect release date?
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Bioware gave a big slip about when the game would be released, with a comment about E3: "That event is in July, right?" asked Dr. Ray Muzyka. "Well, Mass Effect won't appear at this year's E3."
The game is being polished and tweaked right now, in the final stages, hinting that a pre-E3 release is coming, either June or early July. We're assuming that by E3 he means the "new E3" arriving this year. |
Mercenaries 2 gameplay footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd2bU0meXi4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LzRarv2a1o
Mizuguchi/Sega fans may have something to look forward to
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/771/771304p1.html
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| "If I were to make another Rez, then I would want to have a high-def, high-end visual and audio experience to produce it," said Mizuguchi. "If I make it," he added with a smile. When asked if he might produce games on Nintendo's Wii, Mizuguchi remained focused. "And if I were to make another Space Channel 5, that game should have a high-end audio and visual experience, too. If I make it." |
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/771/771304p1.html
There's a new video of Super Mario Galaxy as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRq0LGQpVp4
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Tron Bonne
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| Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2007 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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its really hard for me to get into the GDC mood. i mean with e3, it was at least exciting. what's worse is that Nintendo isn't going to make any major announcements. LAME!
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Timbo
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| Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Tullaryx wrote: |
I thought this was a funny enough rant from one of he attending developers. It sort of surmises two reasons why I'm not orgasming over the Wii like most people seem to be going through.
GDC 2007: "The Wii is a Piece of Sh*t!" |
I don't really understand his point about saying the Wii doesn't put games forward as an artform. One of the keys aspects of games is gameplay, and the Wii completely redefined how a person interacts with a game. Caaling the Wii unartistic is like calling GTA3 unartistic. Sure the plot and content were pretty basic, but the new level of immersion and gameplay possibilities that it brought to the table changed how people view and play games, just as the Wii is doing. If anything, I would say that just focusing on AI in unartistic, as it's focusing more on creating artificial life, not creating a game.
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