Tag: Videogames

BioWare Announces Star-Studded Cast for Mass Effect 2

BioWare has announced the large and star-studded cast for the upcoming Mass Effect 2. There are some big stars and sci-fi favorites here (I’m more excited about the latter). Today’s press release stated:

BioWare, a division of Electronic Arts, today revealed the voice actors performing in Mass Effect 2, the second act of the award-winning science fiction trilogy. The game features Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Martin Sheen (“The West Wing”, “Apocalypse Now”), 2009 Emmy Award-winner Shohreh Aghdashloo (“House of Saddam”), comedic actor Seth Green (“Austin Powers”), “Chuck” stars Yvonne Strahovski and Adam Baldwin, Keith David (“Crash”) and sci-fi favorites Michael Dorn (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”) Tricia Helfer (“Battlestar Galactica”), Michael Hogan (“Battlestar Galactica”) and Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix”).

Tricia Helfer

I’m totally geeked out by the cast. The dude from Robot Chicken meets Worf from Star Trek meets Goliath from Gargoyles meets Trinity from The Matrix meets 6 from Battlestar Galactica. Awesome!!!

Tarver Games’ Ghosts Attack Available through iPhone App Store

Ghosts Attack from Tarver Games, the new studio headed up by the excellent Chris Cross, is now available from Apple’s iTunes App Store (iTunes link). Here’s a snippet from the press release:

In Ghosts Attack, a story unfolds regarding the late 1960’s disappearance of thirteen scientists who were accidentally transported to a parallel dimension in a failed teleportation experiment. Too dangerous for humans, the company that employed the scientists is now dispatching remote controlled Rovers to explore and conquer the new realm.

The Ghosts Attack series will offer multiple features inherent to the iPhone OS 3.1, including regular push notifications and badges, In-app Commerce support for evolving episodic content, streaming video for in-game content and more. New content will be introduced in-game through [in-game guide] Karl, keeping the game and the story relevant. The first game features 17 missions, 5 weapons, and 5 Rover upgrades. On a semi-weekly basis, Karl will alert players of new missions set in different destinations around the world, keeping them engaged in the story and the gameplay.

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, I encourage you to check out this $4.99 game. I’m going to be downloading it shortly and would love to hear your thoughts on Ghosts Attack!

Coffee Talk #44: The Disconnect Between Game Critics and Gamers

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, Barry Bonds’ agent saying the slugger’s career is over (duh), the Yankees trying to sign Johnny Damon (why?!?), or how much longer “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels will continue to perform for the WWE, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I was watching this excellent Dante’s Inferno developer diary, I started thinking about the disconnect between game critics and gamers. Some writers are just out of touch with what gamers want and expect. Part of it comes from getting too many free games for too many years, which makes some writers forget that paying $60 for a game is a lot of money for many consumers.

Dantes Inferno 2

In other cases, some critics are too busy being critical to remember what’s fun. Dante’s Inferno is a great example of this. A lot of writers are already down on this game, dismissing it as a God of War rip-off. They’re thinking, “This is crap. It’s just like God of War.” At this year’s San Diego Comic Con, one of my friends was telling me that a lot of the people that saw the game at EA’s booth said things like, “This is cool! It’s just like God of War!” Funny how it goes….

What’s your opinion on game reviewers? Do you think a lot of them are out of touch? Or do you think most of them are spot on? Do you think that some reviewers forget what it’s like to be a paying gamer? If so, does it have a negative impact on their reviews?

Dante’s Inferno Developer Diary: Violence is Golden

The Dante’s Inferno development team discusses the use of violence in this action-packed videogame from Electronic Arts. Included in the mix are gameplay engineer Tom Wilson, art director Ash Huang, and lead designer Steve Desilets. Check it out and let me know what you think (please)!

EA Details Brutal Legend DLC, Hammer of Infinite Fate

Brutal Legend slider

Double Fine’s excellent Brutal Legend (as opposed to the excellent Psychonauts) is getting its first piece of downloadable content on December 17 — Hammer of Infinite Fate. The DLC will cost $4.99 for PlayStation 3 and 480 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360. Here are some details from the press release:

The Hammer of Infinite Fate pack allows players to upgrade Eddie Riggs with three new outfits including the Mountain Man, Black Metal and Zaulia Threads, as well as seven more back patches to slay the tainted coil in style. Eddie’s trusted hotrod, The Deuce (aka The Druid Plow), will also get a face lift with four brand new paint jobs and four more upgrades that players can purchase including the Oculus of the Lost, an all-seeing GPS for the world, and the Eye of Sorrow, a weapon that harnesses the power of the Sea of Black Tears and launches black projectiles of doom at enemies, in addition to The Disgorger and the Coiling Maw.

Players will also be able to unlock 9 new achievements and trophies in Brütal Legend which are based on the latest additions of the Hammer of Infinite Fate expansion pack. Mount Rockmore will also see six more heads for players to purchase and unlock, including Rima, Razputin, Dadbat, Hunter, Kage the Kannonier and Tim Schafer himself.

Any of you buying this DLC? As a Double Fine fan, I plan on supporting the company.

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Today’s Poll: What’s Your Real Life D&D Alignment?

Dungeons and Dragons Alignment

In keeping with the role-playing theme of Coffee Talk #43, I wanted to see which Dungeons & Dragons alignment describes you best. Make a choice and if you have time, elaborate in the comments section. I’m going to have to give my answer some thought….

[poll id=”14″]

Yoshitaka Amano’s Take on Final Fantasy XIII

Amano FFXIII

Here’s a fantastic illustration by legendary artist Yoshitaka Amano, best known as the original artist and character designer for the Final Fantasy series. As some of you know, Tetsuya Nomura has been handling art for many of Square Enix’s games, including FFXIII. It’s super cool to see Amano’s take on Nomura’s character designs.

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Coffee Talk #43: Do You Actually Role Play in RPGs?

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, the NY Yankees closing in on Curtis Granderson, the potentially awesome Google Goggles, or WWE Chris Masters’ dancing pectoral muscles, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Halfway through my fifth play through of Dragon Age: Origins, I was vexed. You see, I originally intended to play this round as a rogue, with assassin and bard specializations. A stealthy, backstabbing rogue with the passive assassin benefits and bard song buffs seemed like a great idea. When my character hit level 14, I couldn’t press the button to activate the bard specialization. A rogue that hid in shadows, backstabbed, and burst into song just didn’t make sense.

Dragon Age Origins 4

Some of my friends play games solely to win and would have added the bard specialization in a flash. I prefer to get lost in adventures and make decisions I like or make sense to me. I guess that’s why I don’t enjoy playing games as evil characters. In this case, my preference for role playing prevented me from playing as a singing assassin. (What do assassins sing anyway? Show tunes?) The thought of a stealthy rogue emerging from the shadows to suddenly backstab an enemy and burst into song sounds…it sounds…it actually sounds frickin’ hilarious. Crap. I should have hit the bard button.

Anyway, I wanted to see how you handle role-playing situations like the one I described. Do you opt for whatever makes your character the most effective? Or do you put yourself in your character’s Dragonscale boots and do what makes sense for the role?

WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 Community Contests Start Today

Smackdown vs Raw 2010 slider

THQ has announced details on the first community contest in a ten-week series for its game WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. (You might know it as the videogame with the best writing in the history of videogames.) The company is challenging its customers to create the ultimate WWE Superstar and/or Diva. Here’s a snippet from the press release:

The first community contest begins today, encouraging site members to use the game’s Create-a-Superstar Mode to construct and name their ultimate Superstars and Divas. Consumers will also submit brief written descriptions to further tell the stories behind their creations. All entries will be received via PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The entries will be judged on character design, character name and the written description. The winner will receive his or her choice of a WWE sweatshirt and WWE t-shirt from www.wweshop.com (subject to availability).

As a videogame lover and WWE fan, I encourage all of you to participate in these contests. If you happen to win with an original Superstar based on me, I’ll get you something special. The storyline can start off with something like this, “Cast off from the place he called home due to dubious circumstances, a lonely Superstar goes back to his roots to fight the battles he loves, the only way he knows how.” Ha!