Tag: Videogames

Redbox Videogame Rental Contest Celebration Extravaganza!

In case you didn’t know, Redbox has gone national with its videogame rental service. Loads of excellent games are available at more than 21,000 Redbox kiosks around the nation (of Domination). Let’s celebrate this momentous occasion (okay maybe not momentous, but it’s definitely very cool) with a giveaway! Before I get to that, here’s a clip from the press release:

Redbox, America’s movie rental destination, will offer video game rentals at more than 21,000 redbox locations nationwide beginning June 17, 2011. Top video games will join new release movies for only $2 a day complementing $1 DVD and $1.50 Blu-ray daily rental prices. The announcement follows a test of video game rentals in select U.S. markets that began in August 2009.

Redbox has hooked me up with freebie coupons to share with you guys and gals. I’ve already contacted RPadholics Lunias, bsukenyan, BigBlak, and Redd75 so that they may claim their loot. If you’re interested in some free Redbox coupons, just leave a comment below.

Click here to find a Redbox location near you. Special thanks to Laura and Cat at Redbox for being super cool people.

Tomb Raider Dives Into Lara Croft’s Past, Shows Bright Future

Although Lara Croft is the first lady of modern gaming, Naughty Dog’s Uncharted games have supplanted Tomb Raider as the best action-adventure videogame series. Square Enix has Lara set for a huge comeback by delving into her past. The upcoming Tomb Raider game stars a young Lara Croft as she embarks on her first adventure. From what I saw at E3 2011, it looks like Lara will be taken to new heights by going in a very different direction.

From the gameplay I was shown, as well as the beautiful intro movies, it’s clear that Lara has been trained but hasn’t been battle tested. She’s capable, but not yet confident. I liked seeing the vulnerable side of her character…though she did a bit too much moaning and whining when she was attacked. There were times I wasn’t sure if she was under duress or on the verge of an orgasm.

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The gameplay had plenty of exploration and puzzle solving — two hallmarks of the Tomb Raider series. Exploring the caverns and outdoor areas was lots of fun. The graphics I saw were beautiful and it was a pleasure watching someone else play the game. The early puzzles I saw played up fire and water. Lara would have to manage her torch (stop thinking about her managing your torch) and relight as necessary. The caverns were full of streams and pools, making torch management an interesting gameplay facet.

While I didn’t get to see any of Lara’s famous gunplay, I saw her engage in a number fights using her limbs, a dagger, and a bow (with arrows…duh!). The back-to-basics fighting was appropriate for the early portion of the game as she was freshly shipwrecked, but I imagine she’ll be dual-wielding pistols towards the end of her adventure.

A lot of the fight scenes implemented quick time events. The amount of them surprised me. The developers are trying to give the combat a cinematic feel while also appealing to casual gamers that are familiar with the Tomb Raider brand. It’s an interesting gambit that potentially gives the game a broader appeal and also differentiates it from a more traditional title like Uncharted.

My demo session of Tomb Raider left me wanting more. The graphics were impressive, the story was interesting, young Lara is hot, the puzzle gameplay looked like fun, and the combat was different. My chief concern at this time is the combat. It was definitely atypical, but it wasn’t as fun to watch as the other facets of gameplay. Will the fighting be fun to play? That’s what I want to know…and I’m willing to watch Lara Croft for hours in order to find out.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I’m almost done with my review run of Dungeon Siege III for Machinima, so I think I’ll start a new game on my personal account. If any of you want to beat up some villains and grab some treasure with me (in the game, not in real life), please let me know.

Aside from that, I expect to pick up a bunch of new games for my iPad 2. EA and Gameloft are having Father’s Day sales. A lot of great stuff will be slashed to high heaven.

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

This Week’s Videogame Releases

I didn’t get around to this article on Monday since my brain was still melted from E3, but it’s an interesting week for videogames. The sequels or spiritual successors to three old franchises were released this week. After years of being a running joke, Duke Nukem Forever was finally released. Longtime fans of Rez will be thrilled to play Q’s Child of Eden. American McGee jumped down the rabbit hole once again in Alice: Madness Returns.

By the way, I’m looking for some peeps to play Dungeon Siege III if anyone is down. The game is so different from Chris Taylor’s original, but I’m enjoying it in a hack-and-slash loot-fest way.

So, any of you picking up new games this week?

My Personal Top 5 Games of E3 2011

Here’s a video with my top five games of E3 2011. Please check it out! Also, please keep in mind that my list was restricted to games that I officially saw. Some developer friends snuck me into demos that I wasn’t scheduled to see and I don’t want to get anyone in trouble. Having said that, there’s only one game I “unofficially” saw that would’ve cracked my personal top five.

Now that you know my top five games of E3 2011, kindly let me know your top five of the show!

Watch Cliffy B Talk Gears of War 3 on Jimmy Fallon!

Here’s a clip of Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski showing off Gears of War 3 on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I’m so, so, so jazzed by this clip for several reasons. As some of you know, Cliff and I used to be tight back in the day and I’m so proud of his success. Secondly, my friend Gavin is a producer for Late Night. He’s one of the original G4 peeps and a super-nice guy. I’m proud of his success too.

Anyway, awesome gentlemen aside, the game rocks! Check out Fallon’s reactions as he plays Gears of War 3.

Coffee Talk #364: Quick Time Events and You

I don’t know that gamers are clamoring for more quick time events, but developers are implementing them into more and more games. One explanation I heard is that developers…

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, Intelligentsia’s Honduras La Tortuga, Heat bashing taking away from Dallas’ victory, or Jeter’s interrupted march to 3,000 hits, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I was talking about the proliferation of quick time events with some industry friends. The trend is curious. I don’t know that gamers are clamoring for more quick time events, but developers are implementing them into more and more games. One explanation I heard is that developers like quick time events because they keep players engaged. During cinematic sequences, gamers interact with the scene instead of just watching it.

This doesn’t work for me for two reasons. Firstly, I’ve been conditioned to enjoy cutscenes as a reward. Cinematic sequences are a nice treat for finishing a level or a chunk of a game. Secondly, during quick time events I get so focused on the area of the screen with the button commands that I block out the rest of the graphics. For me it’s more enjoyable to sit back and watch a beautiful scene instead of pressing simple button commands to interact with it…

…but that’s just me. What about you? How do you feel about quick time events? Do you love ’em? Do you hate ’em? Or are they just kind of…there? What do you think of them being implemented into more games and more genres?

Coffee Talk #363: E3 2011 Takeaways

E3 2011 is over! Today I wanted to talk about general trends, random observations, and closing thoughts on E3 2011. Naturally, I want to hear about your thoughts on this year’s show as well. Let’s get to it!

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, seven-foot Germans crying tears of joy, taking your talents to South Beach and beating the home team, or LeBron being more Scottie Pippen than Michael Jordan, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

E3 2011 is over! It was a glorious show (as always) and my head is still overflowing with awesome games I saw last week. Tomorrow we’ll talk about the top games of the show. Today I wanted to talk about general trends, random observations, and closing thoughts on E3 2011. Naturally, I want to hear about your thoughts on this year’s show as well. Let’s get to it!

– A lot of games at E3 2011 featured quick time events. I was surprised by how many games — spanning all sorts of genres — implemented QTEs. I’ve never heard gamers crying out for more QTEs. I suppose this helps games reach more people since QTEs add a cinematic feel and simple controls.

– Microsoft and Nintendo are trading places. Microsoft emphasized the casual market with Kinect. Disneyland Adventures and Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster are not for enthusiast gamers, but I expect both to do monster numbers. Nintendo is going in a different direction with the Wii U. The company’s success with the original Wii was all about simplicity and accessibility. The Wii U controller is far more complex and geared towards a different type of customer.

– Developers have longer memories than PR people. I was able to sneak into several demos and cut quite a few lines thanks to people I’ve met before. A middling amount of PR people assisted me with this. The majority of help came from developers. It’s curious that a higher percentage of developers were more interested in me seeing their new game than PR reps. I realize that I’m one guy from a very small site and that my name isn’t as valuable as it used to be, but I still found it all…amusing. I do appreciate everyone that helped me check out games I wasn’t scheduled to see at E3 2011.

– Surprises are a thing of the past. Thanks to the aggressive nature of blogging and a tightly controlled PR cycle, there weren’t any huge game surprises at E3 2011. There were certainly a lot of great and good games, but all of them have been reported on before. For me, the only major surprise was the price of the PlayStation Vita. I only found out about that the day before it was announced, thanks to a developer friend from Japan. I expect this trend to continue in future shows. I expect that there will only be a handful of big surprises at the next few E3 events.

– Indie developers are getting more stroke. It was cool seeing Queasy Games get so much attention with Sound Shapes for Vita. The same goes for Supergiant Games with Bastion for Xbox Live Arcade. It’s brilliant that new platforms and delivery methods are making it easier for independent game developers to get some attention.

What trends did you notice from the outside looking in? I’m sure you have a cool and unique perspective on what happened at E3 2011. Please share your thoughts!