Quirky video games in Japan

When it comes to quirky games nothing can beat the Japanese. They have practically invented the genre and the market for games that are so out of this world in concept and gameplay that you wouldn’t even think that it is playable, much less marketable. And yet, the Japanese have proven time and time again that their formula actually succeeds in capturing the imaginations (and the wallets) of gamers.

Of course, most of these quirky games would really cater more or less exclusively to the Japanese domestic market itself. Take for example the popularity of “dating” simulators. These dating games are one of the biggest game genres in Japan but it has yet to really penetrate the market abroad. But thent there are games that are soo out there in concept and gameplay mechnics but still manages to get a worldwide audience.

Katamari Damacy is a puzzle/adventure game. You play the role of an alien who needs to replace “lost” stars in the sky and the only way you can do that is by accumulating all types of things on earth by rolling a “sticky” ball until you reach a desired diameter. It’s a really crazy concept but it became a really huge game when it was released and even spawned a sequel.

I think we should try to imitate the Japanese people’s ability to become open about new changes and ideas.

Burnout Paradise Official Trailer (Burnout 5)

Super Smash Brothers Brawl

Fans of “Super Smash Brothers Brawl” for the Wii, I apologize now.

Back when I studied at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism I was taught the importance of recognizing important news and bringing hard-won information to the public.

And yet, despite my schooling, I have failed. I went to a Nintendo summit two weeks ago. I played at least a half-hour of “SSBB.” I asked questions. Filmed videos that explain the game’s controls. I tried a host of characters.
But I did not snap a photo of Meta Knight’s Final Smash.

Like I said, I failed.

Apparently the torrent of information released about “SSBB” via the game’s official blog has not been enough to satisfy “SSBB” fans. Screenshots of 15 announced stages, 22 announced characters, descriptions of multiple modes and even the revelation that each character in the new game will be able to grab an item that lets them deliver a special devastating move called the Final Smash … nothing is enough for the “SSBB” fan.

No, they want to know what Meta Knight’s Final Smash move is. At least one “Smash” fan out there suggests that such a scoop would be huge news.

And all I have is a sentence of notes describing it.

Bear in mind that this was written down in my notebook two weeks ago, in the midst of some furious battling. My mental image of the Final Smash is faint. But the ink of my pen is not. My notes read: “Meta Knight Final Smash: wraps enemy in cape and wails on him.”

That’s all I got. No photo.

But maybe I can make things better with a trio of facts that Multiplayer’s resident “Smash Bros.” expert tells me are, in fact, news:

The character Pit, from “Kid Icarus,” can jump four times. Even using this ability I was getting trounced by better players.
If you get trounced too much the game gives you a break, re-spawning the player in fully-charged and ready to deliver a Final Smash, a mercy-Final-Smash, as it were. If being bad at a game is what it takes for me to get the big scoop, then so be it.
The game’s assist trophies — Nintendo-themed bonus characters that can be used to supplement your attacks — include the girl from “Sin & Punishment.” I know this because I threw an assist trophy capsule and out she jumped, gunning down the enemy characters.

That much I know. But I’m sure I missed something else that was important. Sorry, “Smash” fans.

Source: MTV

Exclusive: Nintendo Gives Us “Battalion Wars 2″

There are times when the mighty Nintendo company actually reacts to little old me.

That includes today, because I have here on my desk a finished, retail copy of “Battalion Wars 2.”

I have it a day before Nintendo is sending it to other reporters, probably because I wrote an article last week questioning the lack of promotion for the game. The game is shipping to stores on October 29.

Do I have power over Nintendo? Well, not really. For the record, other times that Nintendo may have reacted to me: There was a time during a speech from Reggie Fils-Aime two years ago, when he announced that he wasn’t going to put “Brain Age” commercials on MTV, and having chatted with me before the speech, ad-libbed: “Sorry Stephen.” Oh, and 1up.com apparently thinks the makers of “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” do my bidding.

But that’s not why you’re reading this post.

You’re probably reading because you want to know about “Battalion Wars 2.” Is it a the next great hardcore Wii game after “Metroid Prime 3” or a dud? Did I find whatever fatal flaw that may have kept Nintendo from marketing the game more aggressively?

I’ve played the game for three hours so far and am ready to spill the beans…



The Basics

To get everyone up to speed, “Battalion Wars 2″ is published by Nintendo and developed by Kuju London, the same outfit that created the first game in the series, which was released for GameCube in 2005. Both games are third-person action games that put the player on a battlefield where they can both directly and indirectly control a small battalion in skirmishes against enemy military forces.

Many action games might give you a single super-soldier to control. Tthe “Battalion Wars” games let you control, say, a single machine gun soldier, while six guys with flamethrowers, five guys with bazookas, three assault commandos, two tanks, a recon buggy and an attack helicopter — all marching, rolling and swooping in concert with you soldier’s steps. On the fly, you can tell each of your units to attack different enemy units, stand guard, or capture bases. Or you can take immediate control of any of the other allied units yourself and control the battle from thier point of view.

More from: MTV Multiplayer

Crysis demo free download

FREE DOWNLOAD HERE
"Crysis is a next-generation PC first-person shooter from Crytek, the award-winning developers of Far Cry. A stunning technical achievement, Crysis combines incredible visuals, cunning gameplay and an epic story that challenges gamers to adapt to survive.

Powered by CryENGINE 2, Crysis delivers the ultimate DX10 gaming experience for the PC, including unparalleled graphics, special effects and artificial intelligence. The game is also scaleable to deliver a breath-taking FPS experience for older DX9 PCs.

Earth, 2019. A team of US scientists makes a frightening discovery on an island in the South China Sea. All contact with the team is lost when the North Korean Government quickly seals off the area. The United States responds by dispatching an elite team of Delta Force Operators to recon the situation. As tension rises between the two nations, a massive alien ship reveals itself in the middle of the island. The ship generates an immense force sphere that freezes a vast portion of the island and drastically alters the global weather system. Now the US and North Korea must join forces to battle the alien menace. With hope rapidly fading, you must fight epic battles through tropical jungle, frozen landscapes, and finally into the heart of the alien ship itself for the ultimate Zero G showdown.



FEATURES:

A unique three-act structure forces the player to use real-time armor and weapons customization to adapt constantly to an ever-changing world.

Encounter a frightening and totally origina

l alien species—they use their senses intelligently and work together to present the most challenging enemy yet in an FPS.

Control of a variety of land, sea, and air vehicles including trucks, tanks, boats, and helicopters.

Explore a living, dynamic world where earthquakes, breaking ice, landslides, and tornados pose an ever-present threat.

32-player multiplayer with real-time armor and weapons customization, plus an all-new multiplayer mode that combines player modification and tactical objectives.

Emergent gameplay means that in-game actions affect future outcomes and give each player a unique experience.

Highly robust and easy-to-use mod toolset allows players to create their own expansive levels for both multiplayer and single-player modes.

The CryENGINE 2 engine delivers the most realistic environments, spectacular special effects, physics game engine, lighting system, and enemy Al.

Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO @ 2.2GHz
RAM: 2.0 GB RAM
Hard Drive: 12GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS/640 or similar
Soundcard: DirectX 9.0c compatible

Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista
Processor: 2.8 GHz or faster (XP); 3.2 GHz or faster (Vista)
RAM: 1.0 GB RAM or 1.5 GB RAM (Vista)
Hard Drive: 12GB
Video Card: 256 MB
Soundcard: DirectX 9.0c compatible"

FREE DOWNLOAD HERE

Exploiting Online Games: Cheating Massively Distributed Systems

If you are a gamer, a game developer, a software security professional, or an interested bystander, this book exposes the inner workings of online-game security for all to see.

From the authors of the best-selling Exploiting Software, Exploiting Online Games takes a frank look at controversial security issues surrounding MMORPGs, such as World of Warcraft and Second Life. This no-holds-barred book comes fully loaded with code examples, debuggers, bots, and hacks.

This book covers

Why online games are a harbinger of software security issues to come

How millions of gamers have created billion-dollar virtual economies

How game companies invade personal privacy

Why some gamers cheat

Techniques for breaking online game security

How to build a bot to play a game for you

Methods for total conversion and advanced mods

Written by the world's foremost software security experts, this book takes a close look at security problems associated with advanced, massively distributed software. With hundreds of thousands of interacting users, today's online games are a bellwether of modern software. The kinds of attack and defense techniques described in Exploiting Online Games are tomorrow's security techniques on display today.

Read online at SAFARI

Resident Evil: UC - Gameplay Trailer (+18)

Get a taste of some of the exciting situations and weaponry waiting for you in Umbrella Chronicles.

Sims creator backs Wii

The Sims and Spore creator Will Wright has labelled Wii the only true next-generation console out of the three new console platforms on the market.

"Somebody asked me what I thought next generation meant and what about the PlayStation 3 was next generation. The only next gen system I've seen is the Wii - the PS3 and the Xbox 360 feel like better versions of the last, but pretty much the same game with incremental improvement", Wright told Guardian Unlimited.

Wii, Wright continued, feels like a major jump, "not that the graphics are more powerful, but that it hits a completely different demographic".

He said in some sense he sees Nintendo's console as the most significant thing that's happened in the console space in quite a while.

Wright went on to reveal that he has an Xbox 360 at home "collecting dust in the background", with a Wii hooked up that "we use quite a bit". He doesn't own a PS3, apparently.

"I still, for the most part, prefer playing games on the computer - to me the mouse is the best input device ever", he added.

"Every generation it's like 'the PC's dead! The PC's dead!'. But it carries on growing when consoles are flat for five years. At the moment I can get better graphics on my PC than I can on the PS3."

Source: CVG

Metroid Prime 3

The best console FPS controls ever; that's what gamers in the States are saying about Metroid Prime 3: Corruption's innovative Wii controls. For the first few hours of the final code we didn't quite see what they were on about; it was all a bit familiar to Ubisoft's launch shooter effort Red Steel. Then we found the "advanced" control mode. Ooohhh...

Return of Samus
The Metroid series has always been about aiming and shooting and less about which weapon Samus is packing in her orange space holster. That's why the Wii's new accurate method of shooting fits in to the series so well; the difficulty's ramped up even further and beaming a critter requires far more skill than the first two Prime's simple lock-on system.

It should be noted that while the 'normal' mode works well enough - especially for beginners - 'advanced' is far more sensitive and allows you to play more skilfully than on the other mode.

Retro Studios proves that a Nunchuk and Wii Remote are the perfect armchair alternative to a mouse and keyboard; with short, simple Remote movements you can aim Samus's weapon with awesome precision, and thanks to some excellent tuning at Retro Studios, vision movement is accurate and feels tight - unlike the loose aiming circle of Red Steel.

Because of this fire fights are a notch above anything possible in previous Prime games; instead of darting from baddie to baddie with an instant lock-on, Corruption's system allows you to track targets as they dash and dive away from your cursor, as you can see from our captured videos below.

Aiming for specific areas of the body is also played around with; certain enemies will require you to aim at chinks in their armour, which you can do quickly and easily with the Wii Remote, and swarms of drones test your reaction speed with shields and teleports. It's the breath of fresh air that, after the second Prime, first-person Metroid really needed.

The first Prime game could be classed as one of the visceral shooters of it's time; gorgeous visor effects, subtle HUD delay and a teasing glimpse of Samus's girlish reflection made you feel like you were actually stuck inside the helmet. Corruption takes this even further with an abundance of levers and switches you actually reach out and pull with the bounty hunter's Wii Remote-controlled hand.

You're given your first glimpse of these satisfying switch moments in Samus's orbiting space ship at the very beginning; pushing levers forward and twisting dials feels solid thanks to the Remote's sturdy force feedback, and you thrust her ship into by your own hand - which beats pressing the A-button any day.

You can see Samus's new grapple toy in action below which puts you even more in control of the on-screen bounty-hunter, whipping and lassoing rubble - and even enemy shields - out of the way. It plays a big part in Corruption's puzzles and combat later on in the game and, although there are sometimes issues locking on properly at first, it works very well and adds a completely different feel to the straight-forward point-and-click shooting we're used to.

Source: CVG

Nintendo to Sell Wii In China

Nintendo Co Ltd said it aims to launch its Wii game console in China and South Korea next year, helping accelerate its break-neck growth and cement its recent lead over Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp.

One day after the three game makers' earnings announcements, Japan-based analysts said Nintendo looks well positioned to win the race for top spot in the current-generation videogame console market due to a strong software line-up and low hardware price.

"New game hardware comes around once in every five, six years. So, making a good start is crucial," Daiwa Institute of Research analyst Koki Shiraishi said.

"Since the Xbox 360 was launched one year ahead, it is roughly on par with the Wii in total sales. But if you take a look at current momentum in net growth, the Wii is well ahead."

In July-September Nintendo sold 3.9 million units of the Wii, which features a motion-sensing controller that allows users to direct on-screen play by swinging it like a racket, three times as many as Sony's PlayStation 3 sales and twice as many as Microsoft's Xbox 360 sold during the same period.

"We suffer a global shortage of the Wii. Our responsibility now is to deliver as many consoles as we can to existing markets," Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told a news conference.

"But next year, I think we can bring the Wii (to China)."

Iwata also said on Friday he has no plan to cut the Wii price in response to recent console price cuts by Sony and Microsoft.

"We are in a situation where we need to focus our effort on satisfying demand. I am not at all thinking about price cuts."

Sony recently announced PS3 price cuts and the launch of a low-priced model to ignite demand and win back game maker support in the run-up to the critical holiday season.

However, the lowest-priced PS3, which goes on sale on November 11 in Japan for 39,980 yen ($350), will still cost 60 percent more for buyers than the Wii.

Sony loaded the PS3 with its cutting-edge technology such as a Blu-ray high-definition DVD recorder. But advanced components have driven up the price for buyers and made it difficult and time-consuming for game creators to develop PS3 software.

In a major coup, Nintendo said earlier this month software publisher Capcom Co Ltd would develop the latest version of its blockbuster "Monster Hunter" action game for the Wii.

The game had previously been developed for Sony's consoles and the switch to Nintendo has fed speculation that support for the PlayStation franchise may be slipping.

CASH PILE

As a key software for this holiday season, Nintendo will launch a "Wii Fit" home fitness game on December 1 in Japan featuring a pressure-sensitive mat that allows players to "head" virtual soccer balls and imitate ski jumping.

"'Wii Fit' is probably going to appeal to light gamers and it will be helping Nintendo to win more users," Mizuho Investors Securities analyst Etsuko Tamura said.

Nintendo's strategy to offer innovative but easy-to-play games to expand gaming population has been a smashing success.

Nintendo shares have risen more than fivefold in the past two years to make the game maker Japan's third-most valuable company.

Asked what Nintendo plans to do with its growing cash pile, Iwata said the company may carry out a new capital policy in the near future, but did not elaborate.

"Nintendo has ample cash for sure and you may say we have strong cash-generating power," Iwata said.

"There is a chance that we will need to do something we haven't done or we haven't said in the not-so-distant future in terms of capital policy, if cash keeps accumulating. But it is too early to say what it would be."

Nintendo's cash and deposits totaled 912.7 billion yen as of September 30.

Shares in Nintendo closed up 2 percent at 67,700 yen, outperforming the Nikkei average's 1.4 percent gain.

Source: Reuters/New York Times

A Game Seeks Success Through Random Rewards

That some online games are addictive is no secret to anyone who has played a good one. They are the golf of electronic sports. The game designer Bill Roper, whose new project, Hellgate: London, is to be released next Wednesday, knows just why that is.

“It’s because of the power of what psychologists call intermittent rewards,” Mr. Roper said here recently at the offices of Flagship Studios, where he is chief executive. “When you’re playing golf and you have that one great drive, you’re excited at the end of the round even if the other 17 holes were horrible. But it’s the feeling of that one perfect shot that keeps you coming back, and when you get home you can’t stop talking about that one shot. That’s the kind of feeling we want in Hellgate: London.”

So, on Halloween, gamers will get to experience the fruits of the four years the Flagship team has spent refining its seductive “Just five more minutes” style of gameplay. That will inevitably lead to bleary eyes at 4 a.m., irate spouses and neglected schoolwork around the world. (The game is being released in 17 languages.)

More from: The New York Times

Is it a game, or is it real?

"Shall we play a game?"

For those of us who grew up playing videogames in arcades, hearing that computerized voice in WarGames was the moment when gaming became more than a frantic quest for quarters. That voice — tempting Matthew Broderick into nearly setting off a global thermonuclear war — signaled a new epoch: Reaching the next level in Donkey Kong wasn't enough anymore. Games could be serious.

Two decades on, that revelation is now conventional wisdom. From the military's use of America's Army for recruiting to quarterbacks researching tactics via Madden NFL, we've gone from games representing life to becoming life. Ask yourself: Do you believe that your club moves have improved from playing Dance Dance Revolution? Have your driving skills matured because of Gran Turismo? Does cleaning out your RSS reader remind you of playing Pac-Man? Does the action of the iPhone's bouncing icons recall Mario Bros.? Have you tried to convince your friends that the invasion of Sudoku and Tetris into your dreams is proof of high-level brain activity? Welcome to the arcade called you.

Of course, the basics of gameplay — competing against opponents, setting records, winning prizes — are as old as human civilization. But the gaming mindset has now become pervasive. We use game models to motivate ourselves, to answer questions, to find creative solutions. For many, life itself has turned into a game. Our online lives are just twists on the videogame leaderboards, where we jockey to get our blog a higher rank on Technorati and compete to acquire more friend-adds on MySpace than the next guy.

More from: WIRED

Driving the boundaries of realism

Driving through the rain-drenched streets of Shanghai in an Aston Martin DB4 at breakneck speeds, with the neon signs of shops blurring as you pass by, is one of the great thrills in life - even if it is only virtual.
Video game development has made tremendous graphical strides in the last four decades and nowhere is this more pronounced than in driving simulations.

In the 1970s a driving game was a simple mix of black and white pixels that were manoeuvred between two moving lines to represent the road's edge.

One of the first such games, Night Driver, had a plastic representation of the car that was laid under the screen of the arcade machine.

Games such as Project Gotham Racing 4, Ferrari Challenge and Gran Turismo 5 offer photo-real cars with simulated handling physics, being thrown about in high-definition worlds, which often recreate real cities in astonishing detail.

More from the BBC



In Pictures - the evolution of racing games

Pre-Order today and get the Crysis VIP Pack

Genre: Action
Platform: PC
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Microsoft profits surge on Halo 3

Above: Master Chief, Halo 3, Wallpaper
Microsoft shares soared to a six-year high in New York last night, after the software giant lifted its profits for the full-year, off the back of record quarterly revenue growth.

The group reported a 27pc rise in revenue to $13.76bn (£6.71bn) for the three months to the end of September – the fastest growth of any first quarter since 1999, driven by strong demand for video game Halo 3, and Windows Vista.

Master Chief, one of the game's key characters
Halo 3 has enjoyed phenomenal success, becoming the fastest-selling video game in history earlier this month, after notching up $300m worth of sales in its first week.

Meanwhile, the development of Vista has been a torturous five-year project, costing Microsoft $6bn and arriving a year late.

However, Kevin Johnson, president of the platform and services division at Microsoft, said yesterday: "Customer demand for Windows Vista this quarter continued to build with double-digit growth in multi-year agreements by businesses and with the vast majority of consumers purchasing premium editions."

Microsoft's business division, and its server and tool arm saw combined revenue climb 20pc, thanks to robust demand for the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Windows Server and SQL Server – as well as Vista.

Overall, first-quarter sales beat market expectations by more than $1bn. Chris Liddell, chief financial officer, said: "The fiscal year is off to an outstanding start with the fastest revenue growth of any first quarter since 1999. Operating income growth of over 30pc also reflects our ability to translate revenue into profits while making strategic investments for the future."

Looking ahead, the group said it expects profits of $1.78 to $1.81 a share for the full-year, on sales of $58.8bn to $59.7bn.

The group's shares jumped as much as 13pc to $36.02 yesterday – a price last seen in July 2001.

Earlier this week, Microsoft saw off competition from rival Google to secure a stake in Facebook, in a deal which values the social networking site at $15bn.

Source: The Telegraph

New breeds of video gamers come into play

Footballing titans from Ronaldinho to Wayne Rooney this week battled it out at the foot of Nelson's Column in London's Trafalgar Square. The clashes were masterminded by video-gamers and played out on screens around the square as part of a week-long jamboree celebrating the gaming industry.

But rather than the spotty male youths that might reasonably be expected at such an event, host Electronic Arts, the world's largest games publisher, managed to attract a crowd that spanned everything from families on half-term trips, to young professionals, to gaggles of tourists.

Gaming has shifted into the mainstream as the consoles have become more manageable and the games easier to play, opening up huge opportunities for console makers and games publishers.

What's more, new uses for games consoles, online games and the burgeoning area of in-game advertising, mean that what is estimated as a $30bn (£15bn) market could enjoy fairly explosive growth over the next few years.

More from: The Telegraph

Super Mario Galaxy leaked weeks early?

Warning, this story (or elements of this story) may or may not be true. Regardless, it's almost worth reading this great big Pandora's box of silly over at game board megalopolis NeoGAF, if only to ogle the blurry photo of the allegedly leaked disc (did these guys get their digital cameras out of a cereal box?). Oh, and if you're willing to brave the dialogical effluvia (Warning #2, above link may contain strong language), to have a look at some of the most "creative" Mario avatars going.

News site Evil Avatar -- where I first noticed the story courtesy GameTab -- isn't hedging any bets. They pulled their summary for reasons unknown after reporting the leak and citing Qj.net (who in turn cite "reports from the NeoGAF forum") concerning an EB Games employee who may have leaked the game using an in-store demo copy. The Qj.net story is still up, as is this abstrusely sourced entry at PS3News.com.

A demo copy? Huh?

According to Qj.net, the Nintendo store demo has a 10-minute time restriction, but that 10-minute limit only applies when played on a store's proprietary demo machine (don't ask me how or why, unless it's simply a hardwired kiosk reset). Plug the game into a consumer-grade Wii, however, and surprise! It rather astonishingly plays the entire game.

Counter-claims affirm the leak is real, but that the pirated copy throws errors. Said counter-claims are just a couple anonymous message boarders, i.e. survey says consult your magic eight-ball for verification about any of this. (I'll chime in again if/when my Nintendo contact gets back to me.)

If it is true, of course, it's a fairly devastating three-weeks-early blow to Nintendo. If it's not, it's an amusing example of (a) terrific viral marketing, (b) internet hype, or (c) some serendipitous collision of both.

Super Mario Galaxy ships to stores on November 12.

Source: PCWorld Blog

golden joy for phone games developer

Tom Dowding, 25, is a graduate in computer science from Bristol University. He has been playing games since he was 10 and last year set up Mobile Pie, a developer of games for mobile phones. His efforts were rewarded at the Golden Joysticks with a prize of £2,500 and a work placement with Electronic Arts, one of the world’s biggest video game developers. Mr Dowding’s winning game is called Let It Grow.

“You install it on your mobile phone, then, using your phone camera, you nurture it and make it grow,” he said. “Then you post your growing flower on Facebook.” He has licensed the game to a distributor.

For many would-be developers, mobile phones offer a way of making games and minimising expense on programming. A leading game, such as the recent Halo 3, can cost $70 million (£34 million) to develop and a mobile game a fraction of that. The possible rewards are vast. Halo 3 outstripped many blockbuster films in the week that it went on the market, generating sales of $300 million.

Video games have quietly overtaken older entertainment forms such as films and popular music. According to the latest figures from Elspa, the industry body, game software sales in Britain for the first half of 2007 were £519 million, 17 per cent more than in the corresponding period of 2006.

The new consoles Nintendo Wii and PlayStation resulted in a 42 per cent rise in sales of hardware and accessories, to £1.02 billion. In a market where games compete with recorded music and DVDs for pocket money, the games industry has seen off all-comers.

The market is expanding. The first generation of game players, teenagers who grew up hurling 10p pieces into Space Invaders arcade machines, are now in their forties and the games they produce and play are technically sophisticated and, when done well, thought-provoking.

There are, since pioneering work by Nintendo, games designed for senior citizens. Market penetration in its home territory of Japan is thought to have reached one in seven adults, many of whom use games consoles for daily exercise routines, recipes and gardening and fashion tips.

“What would the first Golden Joystick nominees make of the industry if they were here now?” Mitchell asked. “They expected space travel and robot slaves, but all we’ve got is better computer games.”

Sourece: Times Online