EA Wows Crowd With Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
EA just beat Microsoft's entire press conference in the first 5 minutes when they revealed Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, developed by Burnout creators Criterion. The game is a reboot of the series as envisioned by the Criterion team, and it looks great. One of the chief new features is the ability to play as the cops in both campaign and multiplayer.
They demo'd a cop vs criminal race for us, and it looked fantastic. One of the things I noticed most was the great transition from an intro cutscene to the race itself, which was entirely seamless with the exception of the HUD fade in. I can't wait to get my hands on the game and find out how well it plays.
Given the DualShocks the crew was demoing the game with, NFS Hot Pursuit looks to have been developed primarily on PS3, though I'm sure the 360 port will be great.
The game will be out November 16th.
People of Fanservice, Lend Me Your Strength!
Hey everyone, it's time for a Fanservice group project!
Ever Wanted To Play Halo On Your PS3?
Every Cell in my Playstation is tingling with excitement. Just last week, iPod hacker extraordinaire George Hotz announced that he had cracked the PS3. This week, he gives us the goods, by which I mean the software exploit he's developed. Because I am not a hacker, I will not attempt to explain how he did it. Actually, he does that quite well himself.
Study Finds That “Big Brain Think Good”
A recent study conducted by the University of Illinois, the University of Pittsburgh, and MIT surprised several people when it found that brain size is proportional to video game performance. The experiments consisted of people with relatively little gaming experience playing two games specially developed for the study. One game had players concentrate on a single task (think Tetris), the other shifted their attention between multiple jobs (think a strategy or simulator game). Presumably these were non-competitive games, and results were compared via a scoring system. If I'm reading the article right, the team found that they could predict the best player 25% of the time based on the size of their brain.
Video Game Super Slam — Bayonetta
I'll be back, gorgeous.
Bayonetta is a very strange game. It snubs masculinity and macho manliness in a genre dominated almost exclusively by burly, muscle-bound, devilishly attractive men and Spartan war gods. The debates as to whether or not it's a culturally progressive game or an exploitative assault against women still rages on. It employs sex as a deadly weapon where other similar games have used it as a minor and often completely overlooked selling point.
It's also easily the best game in its genre to this day.
Mega Man’s 22nd Birthday featuring Keiji Inafune — Video Game Super Slam
WELCOME TO THE GUN SHOW. NO CONSOLE DEBATES ALLOWED. JUST PURE UNADULTERATED MAN POWER.
Today Is A Beautiful Day. Granted, it's technically 1AM my time and I am tired like no other, but It Is A Good Day Nonetheless. Why??
Capcom Unity, Capcom's in-house social networking site, hosted a Mega Man birthday party and streamed it live to the internet, registering 80,000 unique visitors watching the stream by the end of the two-hour production. Keiji Inafune, creator of the Megaman franchise himself was present, as was Hitoshi Ariga, mangaka for the up coming Mega Man Megamix comic books -- which, confirmed as of tonight, will be published stateside by Capcom's main squeeze Udon Comics. There were plenty of other important Japanese people and I'm sure they had names but I was sharing a video stream with 79,999 of my closest friends...it was kind of choppy. I missed their names. My apologies.
So, what came out of this little event? What was the BIG UNREVEALED NEWS?!
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger — Video Game Super Slam
BROTHERRRRRR, I LIVE ON THROUGH THESE ROCKIN' ARMS
A friend approached me the other day and said, "I saw [mutual friend] playing BlazBlue or whatever on Xbox Live, hah, what a fag!" I replied to him, "Sir, I believe you saw me playing BlazBlue on Xbox Live, because [mutual friend] doesn't play those games." He almost had time to correct himself and laugh it off before I reached through the internet, punched him in the face and ate his heart. BlazBlue is that awesome.
PSP2? So Soon?
According to Eurogamer Spain, who claims to have gotten a hold of some classified information, Sony's planned successor to the PSP packs quite a punch in the pixels. It's reported to be built around a quad-core the POWERVR SGX543MP graphics chip, allowing it match the capabilities of the original Xbox and, apparently, even run DX10. If true, this would certainly suggest that the new device will be in possession of a high-resolution screen, perhaps even 1280x720.
However, with the PSP Go just around the corner, it seems somewhat unlikely that Sony would be planning the PSP2 with such current tech, rather than a chip in development. There does, of course, remain the possibility that they plan to keep both the PSP and PSP2 on the market simultaneously, as they have done with their home console line. And there are always the persistent rumors that a PSP phone is coming, so who knows if this could be their planned iPhone-killer? It's doubtful we'll get anything out of Sony at this stage, though.
Exclusiva: Características gráficas de la PSP2 [Eurogamer Spain]
New Kid Icarus? Wait!
In a recent Nintendo Power interview, Miyamoto was asked about the possibility of a new Wii or DS Kid Icarus game. His response?
Wait, please. I'm really surprised how popular that is. But you are the first person to ask at this E3!
So I guess we'll wait (though I'm sure that's not the first time he's been asked).
Miyamoto says 'wait' for a new Kid Icarus [GoNintendo]
Ubisoft Opens 4th Canadian Studio
Ubisoft, developer and publisher of many popular game franchises such as Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed, and Rayman, announced Monday that it plans to open a new studio in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The studio will be its 4th in Canada, accompanied by sister studios in Quebec City, Montreal, and Vancouver. Ubisoft says it expects the Toronto development house to employ 800 staff members by the end of the year, bringing the company's Canadian development force to nearly 3,000 people. The Toronto studio will also play a large role in Ubisoft's endeavor's to more closely blend film and gaming into a joint medium. However, no projects have yet been announced.
Ubisoft opening videogame studio in Toronto [AFP]