American McGee Taking on Little Red Riding Hood + Concept Art

After tackling Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, and Grimm’s Fairytales in videogame form, American McGee is going with Little Red Riding Hood for his next game. The Spicy Horse game designer (that loves to slap his name on boxes) posted some concept art for American McGee’s Red and according to GameSetWatch will be pitching the title at GDC.

The concept art is definitely cool, but I’m interested to hear what you think of American McGee. There’s a whole generation of gamers that have no idea who he is. There are a bunch of gamers that think he’s some guy that feels the need to put his name in the title of every game he works on. There are also a bunch of people that loved what he did with Alice and are waiting for him to do something similarly great.

What do you think of Red and American McGee?

Source via GameSetWatch


250GB Xbox 360 Hard Drive Listed on GameStop for $129.99

Update: The listing has been removed. Thankfully I still had it opened in a window and captured an image. Ha!

GameStop has listed the standalone 250GB Xbox 360 hard drive for $129.99, shipping on March 23, 2010. A roughly comparable external hard drive on Amazon costs less than $60. While the proprietary enclosure adds to the price and Microsoft has always had a high markup on accessories, $130 seems a bit ridiculous.

Of course that’s just my opinion. I’m sure you have one of your own and I’d love to hear it! Is Microsoft’s 250GB hard drive overpriced?

Source

Today’s Poll: ApocalyPS3 vs. Infinity Ward Ousting

March started out with a bang, hey? On one side you had loads of PlayStation 3 gamers unable to do much with their precious consoles (it only does…nothing?) because of a date-processing error. On the other you had a few high-ranking execs from Infinity Ward ousted under curious conditions. Which story was the bigger deal to you?

I’m telling anyone that will listen that both stories are being overblown. Yes, the 8005010F PS3 error was a massive inconvenience for (probably) millions of gamers, but comparing it to the Xbox 360’s red ring of death is moronic. There’s a huge difference between an issue that can be solved through a software update and faulty manufacturing leading to hardware failure.

The Infinity Ward situation is also being extremely exaggerated. Yes, it’s a big deal that popular execs from a hugely successful developer were dismissed and a giant franchise was given to a “lesser” developer, but the “security guard” issue isn’t that big a deal. It’s common for security to be present when people are dismissed — mostly to protect against IP theft, but also to prevent a scene from being caused. The way this aspect of the story was being played up, it sounded like Activision hired Mafia goons to keep the remaining Infinity Ward employees inline — that’s just complete B.S.

Anyway, which story was the bigger deal?

[poll id=”29″]

Konami’s Hideo Kojima is now Tweeting in English

If you can’t get enough Hideo Kojima in your life (and really, who can?) then you’ll want to follow the legendary developer’s Twitter feed. Whether he’s talking about going to the gym, his latest stomach ache, Castlevania, or Metal Gear, Kojima always has…uh…something to say. Check it out!

Is the WWE Attitude Era Coming Back?

Last night’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw was one of the best I’ve seen in a long, long time. The wrestling was decent, but the mic work was truly memorable. There was a certain edge to a number of promos — an edge that has been missing ever since the WWE made the decision to go with PG programming. Perhaps it’s because the company is a month away from WrestleMania or perhaps it’s because it will soon be competing head to head with TNA Impact, but last night felt a bit like the old “Attitude Era” of WWE. Here’s why.

– Triple H was great on the mic. Hunter is one of the best WWE Superstars in the company and he works really hard, but his promos usually bore me. He was outstanding putting Shawn Michaels over. His promo was passionate, strong, and meaningful. For a guy that’s often accused of only putting himself over, he was superb at reminding everyone in the WWE Universe that HBK has been the company’s best performer for the last several years.

– Cena was great on the mic. Sixty percent of the audience loves Cena. Forty percent of the audiences loathes him. His promos are often all over the place. He can be too cute. He can cross the line between being passionate and just yelling at the audience. Last night he was calm, strong, and purposeful. He also managed to help Batista — a guy that usually needs a ton of help on the mic — get over. That was probably the best aspect of his promo. Cena has never been great at carrying people in the ring or on the mic. Last night he did a good job with the latter.

– Batista cut the best promo of his career. Never mind that he looked like he just arrived from the Blue Oyster Bar (see Police Academy). Big Dave was awesome on the mic last night. Keep in mind that I am not a Batista fan at all (he’s a hack in the ring and his promos usually blow). Batista was ruthless and funny (love his line about accusing Cena of kissing kids and fat chicks). I was genuinely shocked by his promo and for a few seconds thought I was transported to a Bizarro universe where Batista possessed superior mic skills.

Sure, last night’s show had some problems. Cheech and Chong getting high on Hornswaggle’s Lucky Charms was silly. Bret Hart using a crutch with the wrong arm to sell his “broken” leg was lame. The Divas pillow fight…well, Gail Kim looked really hot so I didn’t mind that at all. My point is that the three promos I listed above were unusual for this era of WWE. They were great and edgy (if you can forget that Batista looked like a member of The Village People 2010). I’m hoping it’s a sign that WWE is getting its attitude back.

What do you think? Was last night an aberration? Or is WWE kicking off the Attitude Era, part II?

Coffee Talk #97: What’s Your Favorite Final Fantasy?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Bobby Kotick talking about creativity, March coming in like a lion for the gaming business, or the hotness of Mika Brzezinski (again), Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

With Final Fantasy XIII coming out next week and Wired’s Chris Kohler spilling the goods on the Japanese version of the game in the latest RPad.tv PadCast, I thought it would be a good time to discuss your favorite game in this legendary series. There are so many brilliant Final Fantasy games that it’s tough to choose. For the sake of this conversation, let’s stick with the mainline games (Tactics, Crystal Chronicles, etc. do not apply).

As for me, it comes down to IV, V, VI, and X. I’ve probably played IV the most, V has the outstanding job system, VI took interactive storytelling to a new level, and X was just wonderfully polished. My favorite usually changes, but it’s always one of these four games. Today I’m going to go with FFV because I absolutely love job systems (remember, FF Tactics is my all-time favorite).

So let me know what your favorite FF game is and why (please)! In addition to your pick, I want to hear the reasoning behind it. Warning: if you pick FFVII then I expect a pretty lengthy explanation or I’ll probably think you’re a VII fanboy.

PlayStation 3 PSN Error 8001050F Solved?

A bunch of my friends in the Twitterverse have said that their formerly 8001050F-crippled PS3s are working again. Still, I’m not going to sneeze on either of my PS3s for at least a week. I don’t want to anger the gods that sent down the 8001050F curse to our lonely planet.

Anyone have any luck getting their PS3 console going again?

More Dragon Age: Origins Awakening Characters: Mhairi and Sigrun

BioWare has revealed two more characters from the upcoming Dragon Age: Origins Awakening expansion pack: Mhairi and Sigrun. Here are some screens, official bios, and my comments on these new playable characters.

Mhairi

Official description: When Mhairi was a child, she was enraptured by tales of kings and nobles. All she wanted was to be like them, to fight for what she believed. Betrothed to a trader when she turned 16, she saw the life that lay ahead of her and enlisted in the army instead. Her fierce loyalty and devotion to Ferelden earned her the love and respect of her commanders and brothers-in-arms. King Cailan’s betrayal and death hit Mhairi hard, and when she learned of the two Grey Wardens who quelled the Blight almost single-handedly, she vowed to serve the Wardens. When the call came for volunteers to help rebuild the order at Vigil’s Keep, Mhairi jumped at the chance to join.

Raymond’s rant: Dragon Age has a stalker. Awesome! Maybe I’ve seen too many episodes of WWE programming, but Mhairi reminds of Mickie James when she was stalking Trish Stratus. I can totally see her going all fangirl on Alistair. Their interaction should be excellent.

Sigrun

Official description: There is only one way to leave the Legion of the Dead: by fulfilling a vow to die in battle against the enemies of Orzammar, a sacrifice that absolves any guilt. Sigrun craves a chance to prove she is more than a worthless gutter-rat, but it’s hard to rush headlong into a battle you won’t survive. After all, when you grow up casteless, you learn to fight for everything. You learn that you have to watch out for yourself, because no one else will, and the Stone knows no one’s going to miss you when you’re dead. Sigrun’s a survivor, and old habits die hard.

Raymond’s rant: Hmmmm, another casteless dwarf. The Legion of the Dead connection is cool and all, but how many chip-on-their-shoulder little-people does the game need? Then again, the dwarves had the best origin stories by a mile. Perhaps Sigrun’s tale will feature similar writing?

Anyway, let me know what you think of these two Dragon Age characters. I’m definitely going to spend time with Mhairi, but I’ll need more convincing to give Sigrun a good run.

Princeton Review Ranks Top 8 Undergrad Game Design Programs

The Princeton Review has ranked the top eight undergraduate programs in game design, so if you’re looking to be the next Cliffy B (but with better taste in cars) then you’ll want to pay attention to these rankings. Ladies and gentlemen…here are your top eight finalists…I’m Raymond Padilla…and this is American Idol. Sorry, I’ve always wanted to do that. Anyway, here they are:

  1. University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)
  2. DigiPen Institute of Technology (Redmond, WA)
  3. Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA)
  4. Becker College (Worcester, MA)
  5. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY)
  6. The Art Institute of Vancouver (Vancouver, British Columbia)
  7. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, MA)
  8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)

A word of advice — RPI is a great school, but you really don’t want to go to college in upstate New York. The winters are nasty.

Any of you considering these fine institutions?

Source via Game Politics