Just in case you didn’t read my interview with Tarver Games’ Chris Cross (and shame on you if you didn’t — Cross is a sharp dude), here’s the exclusive Ghosts Attack video that accompanied the piece. It’s one of the more interesting games for iPhone. Please check out the video and lemme know what you think (please)!
Coffee Talk #22: Gaming in the Friendly Skies
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, Batman vs. Captain America, the upcoming fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, or playing Dragon Age: Origins until 3AM when you have a 6:05AM flight, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I’m writing this blog entry on United Airlines flight 84. It’s pretty rad that airplanes have WiFi now. I’m actually one of the few people I know that sleeps very well on planes (I can fall asleep on the flight from SNA to LAX). Most of my friends can’t catch Z’s in the air, so WiFi gives them another entertainment option.
I’ve flown a lot over the last 11 years, particularly to various parts of Asia. When I’m not sleeping like a baby, gaming is a huge part of helping me get through a trans-Pacific flight. I’ve had epic Pokemon
Today I wanted to ask you about your airplane gaming habits. Do you play lots of games in the friendly skies? What kinds of games do you prefer for flights? Do you recall any epic gaming sessions you’ve had while flying? Since I’m going to be in the air most of the day, I’m hoping for some great stories!
Play SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 with Adelitas Way
THQ has announced a promotion that brings together its videogame Smackdown vs. Raw 2010
THQ Inc. today announced it will partner with EMI / Capitol Music Group recording artist Adelitas Way to offer consumers a unique opportunity to connect with the band using WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, the latest addition to the popular fighting videogame franchise. On Tuesday, November 10 at 6:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. PT, Adelitas Way band members will log in to the Xbox Live online entertainment network for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft to compete against fans using the Gamertag “ADELITAS WAY.” The consumer gameplay session is expected to last for approximately two hours.
To be completely honest, I’ve never heard of the band, but maybe some of you are fans. If you’re not, I encourage you to get online, play them, beat them, and tell them to stick to music. You should get all Chris Jericho when you win and proclaim that you’re the best in the world at what you do.
Verizon’s New Ads Borrow From Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Verizon’s hardly my favorite company, but I’m really enjoying its advertising campaign for its Droid phone. Following its clever “iDon’t” commercials, the company’s holiday 2009 ads borrow from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, “Blue Christmas”, and Santa’s elves.
The first spot places the iPhone in the Land of Misfit Toys.
Next is the “Blue Christmas” commercial, as in you’ll be blue if you’re relying on AT&T’s coverage.
Continue reading “Verizon’s New Ads Borrow From Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Tarver Games’ Chris Cross Talks Going from Consoles to iPhone, Ghosts Attack, Little Helmet Heads, and More!
Chris Cross achieved a great deal of notoriety in the gaming business from his work on the Medal of Honor series. You’d expect a game designer that had success on big-budget console-games would continue to work on big-budget console-games, but Cross has gone in a different direction — iPhone gaming. He recently started up a new development house — Tarver Games — and has a few iPhone/iPod Touch products in the works. Tarver’s first game, Ghosts Attack, has been submitted to Apple for approval and should be out shortly. I recently interviewed Cross to learn more about Tarver Games, get the skinny on Ghosts Attack, ask him why he went from consoles to iPhone, and to ask him some of your questions.
Cross is an excellent and entertaining person. Check out everything he has to say and be sure to hit the break for an exclusive Ghosts Attack video.
Raymond Padilla: Chris, you’ve had tremendous success on home consoles. Why head to the iPhone? Is it the excitement of undiscovered territory? A new challenge?
Chris Cross: Thanks Ray — Yes, I have had success on home consoles and who is to say I won’t again? But for the moment, we (Tarver) have decided to bring our first IP — Ghosts Attack — to the iPhone. Just take a look at what’s going on today with games, budgets, platforms, and accessibility. The iPhone offers both developers and consumers an incredible chance at amazing products and apps for a fraction of the cost of console products.
RP: Some of my readers might need a primer on your upcoming game, Ghosts Attack. Would kindly give a brief primer on the game?
CC: Ghosts Attack is an alternate reality/FPS with a twisting — and a bit twisted :) — storyline. Ghosts Attacks integrates Google Maps technology with a dynamic alternate reality gaming experience. You explore a parallel world that was accidentally discovered by a group of scientists 40 years ago. Using the Map Kit in the iPhone SDK we let you use our own world map as your guide. There are mysteries to uncover, hostile enemies to fight, fast shooting action, a remote rover to pilot and a whole lot more.
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Being Used to Show Wii Owners Some Love
Capcom’s upcoming Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars
If you take the Wii for example, we don’t just want to put a game out on the Wii. We want to put out a game on the Wii that actually utilizes all the capabilities of the Wii. I like to think about the people who bought a Wii just to play a game like this. I want to take care of them, too.
I think, as I said previously, we’ve tried to exploit the Wii to its full potential for this game. Of course, that’s just my opinion, but, I mean, Capcom might come down on me and say, ‘Hey, we want to make more money, so put on this,’ but that’s on them.
Those are all very nice sentiments, but I can’t imagine this game not hitting the PS3 and/or Xbox 360. While it won’t be as successful as Street Fighter IV
Any Wii owners out there picking this one up? Any PS3/Xbox 360 owners wishing for it to hit their consoles?
Final Fantasy Web Site Reveals Mysterious Anagram
Confession: I was totally consumed with Dragon Age: Origins
“A Henchmen Inventor Tent Unto”
The answer will be revealed later today. Until then, any guesses as to what it might be? I suck at these word puzzles so I’m counting on you to solve it!
Details on Final Fantasy XIII’s Chocobos
If you’re a Final Fantasy fan, chances are that you love chocobos. These incredibly large avian creatures (that are undoubtedly Big Bird’s ancestors) are an important part of the FF universe. They’ve been used differently in the various FF titles and Shonen Jump has revealed how they’ll be used in Final Fantasy XIII
The FFXIII Chocobos have some helpful abilities. In addition to providing high speed movement through the fields of Pulse, they can jump high, taking you to places you might otherwise be unable to reach. They also have the ability to seek out treasure. When they sense the presence of treasure, you’ll see an exclamation point above their head. The magazine says that this means “it’s your chance” — presumably to dig for treasure, although I don’t think Square Enix has shared details on any sort of treasure digging system.
Your Chocobo has a life gauge, indicated by what looks like a set of feathers on the lower left of the screen. Strike an enemy, and you lose a bit of this life. When the life gauge reaches zero, the Chocobo flees.
The treasure hunting could be a fun little side game. In Dragon Age: Origins
This Week’s Videogame Releases
The sheer number of game releases is dying down, but there are a couple of major titles left before the end of the year. This week’s biggie is Activision’s Modern Warfare 2. Some are predicting that this will be the year’s biggest game. I’m curious to see how “big” it will be, but I’m content to wait until it’s marked down before picking it up. Here are this week’s PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo DS releases…along with some brief commentary. I’ve taken out most of the garbage and kids games (unless I found them funny). As always, let me know if you’re planning to buy any of this week’s new releases.
Xbox 360
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Chaotic: Shadow Warriros
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast
Final Fantasy XI Ultimate Collection
Hasbro Family Game Night
Coffee Talk #21: Non-Gaming Console Features
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, WWE increasing the prices of its PPV events, “Bad” Chad Dawson boring the hometown crowd, or the sleep vs. Dragon Age: Origins debate (again) Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Last week, I finally got around to updating my Xbox 360 dashboard. As most of you know the update included Facebook, Last.fm, and Twitter functionality (for a select group of users and the gaming press). The whole thing just reminded me of how far consoles have come this generation. It used to be that consoles were strictly gaming machines. Later on they became gamine machines and movie players. These days, they’re multifaceted devices that let you enjoy games, movies, social networking, the Internet, and so much more.
Surprisingly, I greatly enjoyed the Facebook features of the update — totally wasn’t expecting this. A friend and I were going through photos of our common friends. We did this for about an hour and were like, “Whoa. We just spent an hour on the Xbox tooling around with Facebook. What the hell?!?” While some gamers scoff at the inclusion of these features, I’m up for anything that extends the functionality of consoles.
So today’s questions have to do with all the ancillary features your consoles have. Aside from gaming, what do you use your console for? Do you stream a lot of movies on your Xbox? Do you web browse on your PlayStation 3? If you’re in the beta, do you use Facebook, Last.fm, and Twitter on the 360? If you’re not in the beta, do you plan to? Leave a comment and let me know (please)!