Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is an incredibly challenging platformer for gamers who also enjoy puzzles. It doesn’t seem that harsh at first, you’re bounding through fields, going through the basic game mechanics to learn how Twisted Dreams is played. Then it hits you as you start getting into the castle levels, and only hardcore gamers need apply.Read More
November 12, 2012
Will Wright honored at Britannia Awards
Posted on November 12, 2012 by Broken Joysticks
When it comes to video game developers that have found themselves a myriad of awards, names like Gabe Newell or Shigeru Miyamoto often come to mind. However, it is the man behind some of the more ingenious time sinks of all-time that takes the crown. Will Wright of Sim City and the Sims fame acquired himself the Albert R. Broccoli Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment at the 25th Annual Britannia Awards, an awards show from the Los Angeles branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts or BAFTA for short. The reason why Wright was selected for the coveted award was for his involvement in producing games based around game design, as well as attracting a genre of game that would be welcomed into modern culture; open-ended non-violent simulation games, much to the likes of the highly successful Sim City and The Sims franchises.
The Albert R. Broccoli Award is dedicated to (who else?) Albert R. Broccoli, the renowned film producer who to a kindling to Ian Fleming’s James Bond series of novels, who then went about an odyssey in bringing the beloved super spy to the silver screen, thus birthing Dr. No in 1962, and igniting a worldwide passion for Bond ever since. Broccoli went on to become the first Britannia Award winner when the awards originated over twenty years ago. The award was first unveiled in 2011, when John Lasseter from Pixar and Disney fame became the first award recipient, but the only difference is Wright is the first video game developer to win not only this award, but to be recognized at the Britannia Awards. Wright has won several awards in his past, including a pair of Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Games Developer Conference Awards in 2001 and PC Magazine in 2005, not to mention the many awards from his game catalog.
To put it in perspective, other Britannia Award winners included Trey Parker/Matt Stone, Daniel Craig, Quentin Tarantino, and Daniel Day-Lewis. It just seems natural to include Will Wright with the lot.
0
Mass Effect 4 Powered By Frostbite Engine – Headed New Direction
Posted on November 12, 2012 by Joshua Rust
Mass Effect 3 may have been the end of a trilogy, but that doesn’t mean that EA/Bioware are done with the franchise just yet. In the early stages of development is a new Mass Effect game being labeled as Mass Effect 4 (not the “official” title yet, mind you).
Over on the Bioware blog, Yanick Roy – studio director, has let loose some new information regarding the next installment in the franchise.
“This is the goal we have been working toward for years now, and every member of our team is proud, excited, and humbled to take on the responsibility for the next game,” Roy wrote.
“To ensure a proper and effective transition, we’ll continue to be supported by the Edmonton studio through the game’s development, working with and learning from them on some critical initiatives,” he added.
“On top of that, Casey [Hudson] remains the Executive Producer, but he will have a Project Director under him, working in Montreal, leading our development team and making day-to-day decisions for the game. We all care very much about Mass Effect and make our decisions based on what’s best for the game.”
The studio boss said the new Mass Effect will be respectful of the heritage built over the course of the first three games, however it’s “exploring new directions”, both on the gameplay and story fronts.
“You can still expect the pillars the franchise is known for to be fully intact though, including diverse alien races, a huge galaxy to explore, and of course rich, cinematic storytelling.”
“There is really not much I can tell you about the game right now, except that it will be built with the amazing technology of Frostbite as its foundation, enhanced by many of the systems that the Dragon Age III team has already spent a lot of time building.”
I’m a fantasy lover by nature, but Mass Effect is one of my favorite franchises to come out of this generation of consoles. I’m hoping that the next iteration of Mass Effect lets us pick what race we want to start out as. Possibly giving us different starting locations depending on who we choose and have the storyline alter a bit depending on that choice as well.
Hey…we can all dream right?
0
Tomb Raider Collector’s Edition For North America Unveiled
Posted on November 12, 2012 by Joshua Rust
Square Enix has announced today the details of the North American Collector’s Edition for the March release of Tomb Raider. I’m not sure what the deal is with these collector’s editions, but these last few have been looking sweet! (See Assassin’s Creed III & Bioshock: Infinite)
Tomb Raider is a juggernaut when it comes to video game franchises, reaching an amazing 35 million copies sold worldwide. It’s no suprise that with thisTomb Raider “refresh” that Square Enix would do something special for it.
The contents, as seen above, include:
Play Arts -KAI- Lara Croft figurine– Lara Croft has been beautifully recreated as an 8-inch Play Arts -KAI- action figure. The figure comes with an alternate set of three hands, bow and arrow, shotgun, handgun, and an ice axe.
Double-sided island map and poster – Discover Key Landmarks from the mysterious island of Yamatai, where Lara Croft and her fellow castaways were marooned after the Endurance shipwreck, in this 15” x 19” poster. On the reverse is a poster-size image of the box art that epitomizes Lara’s origin story.
Lithographic print – An exclusive 5” x 7” Lara Croft heavy-stock lithograph print with matte frame designed by Crystal Dynamic’s Brian Horton, senior art director, and Brenoch Adams, concept artist.
Experience Shields –Three iron-on badges based on the game’s experience icons: “Animal Instincts,” the “Climbing Axe” and “Fire Arrow.”
TOMB RAIDER Original Soundtrack ‘Survivalist Cut’- A collection of 10 tracks with over 60 minutes of music from the game.
Weapons Pack Downloadable Content – includes a variety of weapons to help Lara survive against the island’s inhabitants.
There are limited quantities of this collector’s edition, so make sure you go out and pre-order this as soon as possible. Tomb Raider Collector’s Edition (for North America) retails at $99.99 and will hit stores March 5th, 2013.
0
Nintendo Network Explained
Posted on November 12, 2012 by Jason Bassett
On the minds of many gamers who may indeed be purchasing a Wii U this holiday is it’s online functionality. Many a gamer has been more or less worried about the Wii U’s online capabilities and many are considering this to be the make or break for the system. With that in mind, all of us have been waiting and wondering how Nintendo Network will function and if the dreaded Friend Codes would make their return. Finally, we have (almost) all the information we need. First off, Nintendo Network will not be using friend codes. Instead, users will need to create a Nintendo Network ID, while it’s similar to the Friend Codes, it is believe to be an alpha-numeric code that a user can choose instead of being automatically generated. When using the Wii U, the user will have a seperate Wii U Console name (these are not tied to each other) and the user’s Nintendo Network ID.Read More
0
