vinsanityv22

Oh man. I echo this completely. Was waiting for it to drop in price, but then when it finally hit $30 and I was gonna pick it up, I noticed the demo on the PSN and gave it a shot. I loved everything about it (the demo) except for that awful, awful battle system.

However, I absolutely love Tales of Xillia. Fantastic title, but it wasn't even the only JRPG to come to the rescue this year (though it was the only other major one on consoles, I believe). Between Xillia and both Etrian Odyssey games Atlus released this year, I had no problem ignoring Ninokuni. An absolute shame about that all the same though. And shame on Level 5 for undoing so much good with such a terrible core game system...

Ducktales Remastered. Was announced, completely out of the blue, back in March and everything about it was great. Bringing back a cherished game? Having Wayforward update it? Releasing it on-time? Awesome in every way. Good on Capcom.

Killer Instinct for the Xbone - can we just agree to call it KI3 or something, to avoid confusion? I'm no Double Helix hater, but - like Obsidian - they do tend to underperform. So it was a nice surprise to see that they more or less delivered a killer (no pun intended) fighting game in Killer Instinct. Even if the lack of content at launch probably helped. Having a game designed to continually evolve instead of half-assing a game to make a ship date definitely suits them, it seems.

Sega buying Atlus. And Sega deciding to leave them alone, as they're doing a great job.

Persona 5, Tales of Xillia 2 and Zestiria announced, as well as Xenoblade 2 (X). It's good to see some non-Final Fantasy JRPG's providing some excitement going forward in that area.

Sly Cooper 4: Thieves in Time. Best game in the already-amazing series, and coming from a relatively unknown developer? That's surprising. Didn't skip a beat; felt like Sanzaru had been developing these games the whole time. Bravo guys. Just wish Sony did a better job promoting it. In fact, they seem to have screwed over every non-PS4 game they put out this year. Beyond Two Souls, Puppeteer, Rain, Killzone PSVita, Sly, Ratchet Nexus, God of War Ascension... did they market ANYTHING in 2013? I know a big console launch is going to take priority, but damn Sony. Fuck.

Remember Me. Sure, it's not as good as it should be. But Dontnod's first game is awfully impressive nonetheless. And is really fun to play. And is, without a doubt, one of the most gorgeous games I've seen this past generation, period. I know some people above me have said DmC, but I was pretty confident Ninja Theory would deliver on that since their track record is pretty perfect. But Capcom delivered some pleasant surprises this year in other ways, and Remember Me was definitely one.

Well, I just picked up Remember Me from Target for $20, and while I'm enjoying it (especially at that price) it's disappointing to me. It's actually really similar to Enslaved, in blending "cinematic platforming", fighting & storytelling. It's better looking, but it's not as confident/sure of itself or the player. Though seriously - it's pretty cheap now, NEW, at some places. I still recommend it.

Now, I'm not saying it's a bad game - a disappointment is a game that gets so much right, but just can't "seal the deal" and become a classic in my opinion. This game definitely falls under that banner so far, as I've yet to finish it and - judging by trophy progress - I'm only halfway through. It's frickin' gorgeous, for one. Sounds great as well. And the core gameplay of blending Uncharted-style platforming and roughly Sleeping Dogs-style combat (it's actually pretty removed from the Arkham games, mechanically, though the core is similar) is fine, albeit not as smooth as it should be. But it does suck that the a)the game is so, oppressively linear & scripted and b)she beats people up so much, period. The few chase sequences so far have been thrilling and they should've focused on parkour-ing away from your troubles some more. Also, it takes place in France, yet main character Nilin has a British accent in the English track. That bugs the shit out of me. So much so that I keep switching the audio to French just 'cuz.

I get that concessions must be made and ambition dialed down since it's the first game in a would-be franchise, and if you compare it to Uncharted 1 it comes off much better. But there's just too much promise here that it really sucks when they refuse to stop holding your hand (so far). There's so many "forced walk" sequences where she's talking to someone in her ear, there's so many invisible walls and arrows telling you where to go - JUST LET ME PLATFORM AND FIGHT. The story is cool, but fuck - you're a game, not a movie. Can I go 20 steps without triggering another something? Sheesh.

When the training wheels do come off, which it seems to be moving towards finally, it's starting to gel. But it's just still not as good as it could be and likely never will be unless dontnod gets a chance to make a sequel, which probably won't happen - at least, not from Capcom. I definitely want to see it, and Capcom did shove four Lost Planet games down our throats (counting the Japan-only bomb EX Troopers) for no discernible reason. So I'm crossing my fingers. We need more interesting cyberpunky sci-fi worlds in games besides Deus Ex and, presumably, CD Projekt's Cyberpunk 2077 :P

There's a really, really great game here, but it should be an AMAZING one. And that's disappointing to me. It's not even hard to see how it could improve - open up the world, put some of those scripted "Memory Remix" sequences onto certain target NPC's throughout the city so that they're optional, make it so you can steal memories & skills from other target NPC's throughout the game world so the player can pick & choose which abilities to get, smooth out the fighting & platforming, introduce more parkour/stealthy options for dealing with enemies, take the training wheels off and trust the player, etc. -- we've seen this all before this gen. Series like Assassin's Creed and Uncharted improved by leaps & bounds by doing these kinds of things in a sequel, where they're more confidently designed. Remember Me needs that chance.

"...there were loads of commenters who could more quickly believe this was a conspiracy and Lab Zero Games were scam artists or lazy. That strikes me as a certain kind of crazy, and suggests to me there need to be many more stories about game development to drive it home."

First of all, you have be some sort of ignorant monkey person to be that dumb. Lazy? C'mon - they had video of their new character-in-progress IN THEIR PITCH VIDEO. Clearly these guys know what they're doing and mean what they say - the proof is right in front of you, dipshit. It's awesome to see an in-development character too, with just black and white sketchy linework, but that's just my opinion.

You're 100% right though Patrick, in that you journalists should have many more stories about this kind of thing until we stamp out dumbass ignorant gamers. The worst part? I bet those same assholes are the ones using the microtransactions in games like Dead Space 3. Clearly, they have no idea about the concept of value, worth and how to be responsible with their money. "$15 for a new COD map pack featuring 2 old maps from the last game? AWESOME. $150k for a new character in a game (I don't play) from an indie developer? That's bullshit!" *sigh*

I guess when you work as a refrigerator repair man, you don't know how "big business" video game creation can be. Or anything in the entertainment industry really, but hey, that's for us college graduates to worry about! Fucking NeoGAF losers...

Let's just be happy that we got Aliens: Infestation out of Sega's license. At least WAYFORWARD knew how to handle Aliens. More Metroid, less bad Call of Duty.

If Sega wants to make money from their licensing agreement, they'd forget Colonial Marines and commission Wayforward to make an HD version of that game for XBLA, PSN, Steam and eShop. Do a Shadow Complex-type remake of the game.

The game needs way more PR, hype and awareness. So I'm just trying to spread the word. They're asking for 500k and have so far received 130k, with, like, 3 weeks to go. Not bad, but could be better. Let's not let this promising-looking title die.

Let's start with the link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1312036782/project-awakened

Okay, so who here likes Crackdown, Prototype or InFamous? How about games like Psi-Ops and Stranglehold? Then you need to know about this game!

Phosphor Games is a Chicago-based developer formed from ex- EA Chicago and ex- Midway Chicago guys who have worked on games like Psi-Ops and Stranglehold before Midway folded. Once reformed as Phosphor, they worked on games like Kinect Adventure and iOS titles like Horn, as well as doing some engineering work for Epic on Unreal 4. Awakened is an open world super hero game they've been trying to get made for years; it started life at Midway as Hero, and would've pre-dated even Crackdown in the "open world superhero" genre, but unlike those three games I listed above, Hero/Awakened lets you create YOUR OWN CHARACTERS AND POWERS. Big difference!

Here's a feature about the old version, Hero: http://www.1up.com/news/canceled-game-hero-infamous-meets-crackdown

But now that it's been reborn as Awakened (and moved to Unreal Engine 4), they're looking for cash to get the game made. These guys are the real deal, they're not amateurs promising things they can't deliver. Updates are coming fast and furious and they're showing off how all the systems work in development environments (so you can see how all the powers work, but with placeholder blue guys and stuff). This is an extremely ambitious game that deserves to get made from people who have been trying to make it for years now. Realtime Worlds is closed now, so is Radical Entertainment; we're not going to get any more Crackdown or Prototype games. Let's see if we can get Awakened made instead!

Yeah, so... does anyone else find it weird that Giantbomb didn't QL this game? Even though it's in beta (they've done Quick Looks of betas before). It's supposed to be a biggish deal for Sony and CCP, so the fact that not just Giantbomb but no big outlets (IGN, Gameinformer) seemed to have dove in and done some meaty video coverage of this game is kind of shocking to me.

I'd like to see a Quick Look of the Dust 514 beta. And then the final game, for comparison. It deserves it, right?

I know how to fix this! The next big "brodude game" - the next uber mainstream, cartoonishly violent game that caters pretty much exclusively to the Mountain Dew suckers, the Xbox Live Headset wearing Achievement Whores, the future College Drop-Outs of America™ - just needs a special edition with a statue of a big ole' dong:) Picking up Gears of War Judgement or God of War Ascension? Get it with the, "I have a huge cock and am good at sex - who said I wasn't!? You're the one who's bad at it!" bundle. Those guys are so aggressively, obviously hetero anyway - which is why they're much too manly to play any games not rated M for "mature", which is why they scoff at anything with color and style (all that stuff's for babies, obviously) -, they shouldn't have a problem with it...

Seriously, if we're going to objectify one group, we have to objectify them all, no? And gaming wants to be taken as a serious medium alongside film and novels and whatnot. But it's such a boys club - and not just any boy; just the assholes described above. If you don't buy into the concept of online passes and pouring disposable income into Call of Duty multiplayer perks, than big publishers don't even notice you. It's real sad. Don't you want to share your hobby with people who aren't assholes? Why do we cater so exclusively to brodudes? It would be like if the motion picture association - all the studios, all the filmmakeres - got together and declared that they were only going to advertise movies from Paul Anderson and Len Wiseman. Loud, terrible crap filled with explosions and Kate Beckinsale squeezing into tight leather. There'd be BILLIONS of people who THINK they hate movies, all movies. Just because they wouldn't be seeing the dramas, the comedies, the romances, the thrillers, etc. That's what we do with video games; it's why politicans are CONVINCED they're the cause of all the violence in this country. They don't see the Ninokuni's, the Wind Wakers, the fun, colorful and clever games. All they see are the shooters and the Assassin's Creed games and the God of Wars. It's depressing.

And yup, I'm a guy. Not a girl. But I sure as shit ain't a brodude. A.k.a. the "ideal" gamer, apparently, according to big publishers. Marketing stunts like this just depress me. Suck it, big publishers. I'll stick to more stuff like Paper Mario, LEGO Batman 2, Valkyria Chronicles and DmC in lieu of whatever trashy, derivative, creatively bankrupt, multiplayer focused military- or zombie- shooter you're throwing $20 million behind to advertise. Money well spent, when you come up with... stuff...like this...

*golf clap*

I don't care. I DON'T CARE! Zombies are stupid, and I'm sick of them plaguing film, books and video games. People who are into them are idiots and no one should be able to blame a company for taking advantage of people dumb enough to see the word, "Zombie" on any old item and proceed to throw their money away to nab said item? Screw those morons; this developer is a hero. Those people are stupid and stupid people shouldn't have money. The only people who have ever done ANYTHING interesting with zombies is Telltale - every one else, and every other zombie product, can suck it.