Up late talking games & writing? You're...

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Games: It's been a while since my last post, and holy cow, I can't believe how much has happened since then. In fact, I'm trying to remember the last time we had this much large-scale drama, and I honestly can't recall anything that was as major as the arc we just had. I mean, just look at this brief recap starting with...

>The announcement of the Xbone and all of its DRM restrictions

which then triggered

>Massive, intense waves of hate from the gamer community

followed by

>Sony dropping a nuke with the announcement that they would not be instituting similar DRM

which led to

>PS4 preorders selling out at Amazon and taking a massive, early lead

and this picture of things to come encouraged

>Microsoft pulling a complete 180 and declaring that the ‘Bone will no longer require all of the DRM systems the box was allegedly built on

This has been an incredibly wild roller coaster ride so far, and who knows what's ahead? I don't think anyone could have predicted this sequence of events, and I bet there are a lot of people in expensive suits trying to make some really good guesses in a hurry.

As I've been following events, there have been a number of issues raised and things to think about. I could probably spend days just exploring the bare minimum of what's going on, but instead I'm going to throw out a quick couple of things and ramble on for a bit here....

I guess to start with, do I think that resistance to the ‘Bone based strictly on the fact that used games as we knew them were largely going away?

Although I’m a huge fan of physical media and used games, I really don't think so. I think it's pretty clear that the future of gaming is going to be digital and that's fine. I mean, I'd still love to have a collection of discs on my wall to look at, but that's not the sticking point. No, for me the biggest issue was that I don't want the rules and precedents of a digital future to be established by Microsoft, or any other corporation.

It's a lot harder to change things once they’re entrenched than it is to push back before they become established, and I am a firm believer that a digital future does not need to equate to consumers being put in a position of powerlessness. These companies need us and our money to survive, and structuring the relationship in a mutually beneficial way is a win-win all around.

I have to say, I'm honestly shocked at how many people seemed to have no problem whatsoever with Microsoft's plan; how many didn't even question it. I heard so many people say "that's just the way things are going to be" or "it's the future, there's no point in fighting it". I mean, really? You honestly think that this giant corporation’s power grab was somehow designed with your best interests factored in at any level? I suppose those people were in the minority, though... the sizable outcry from people who did not agree was impossible to ignore, and I'm quite glad for that.

Again, to be clear, I'm not taking a stand against digital media, but I am against the idea that consumers should be happy to forfeit fairness in favor of corporate profit, and that the idea of paying for "a license" fully under the control of corporate whim is the best way to move forward. Everyone seems in such a rush to stand up for protections and controls and restrictions, and anything that's healthy for the consumer isn't on very many radars. Well, I'm sorry, but I don't want to be looked at as a dumb source of income without a voice existing simply to feed the growth of those companies who can take advantage of it.

I also heard several people telling me that these new restrictions were actually a boon for developers, and I really have to call bullshit on that. To start with, I haven't seen any hard numbers but I doubt that all of these controls were designed solely to put more money in the pocket of the people who are actually creating these games. I mean, I've heard all of the same talk about piracy and used games killing profits a million times, and I just don't believe it. If this system had rolled out as planned, I don't doubt for a moment that Microsoft would be taking the biggest cut of the pie, followed by the publishers who would be in support of this DRM, and the situation would probably be status quo for everyone else down the line from there.

I mean, I'm going off on a tangent here, but speaking from personal experience, the used games market is a healthy thing that helps fund new sales, in addition to helping get people interested in certain franchises or developers that they would not have gotten into otherwise. It's pure idiocy to think that every used sale automatically equates to a lost new sale -- I mean, there have been dozens and dozens of games that I would drop $20-$30 on, but that I would not buy for full price under any circumstances. However, after trying some of these games, I've become interested in other works and would be more likely to purchase something for full price in the future.

Take Monster Hunter as a perfect example. The first copy I ever bought was used, and I was also gifted Tri from a friend. I would have never paid full price for one of these games before having played them, but after dipping my toes in, I currently have two WiiUs and four copies of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate in my house. On top of that, how many times have I recommended it to a friend, tweeted about it, wrote about it, or otherwise promoted it in some way to other people? I know for fact some of those instances led to sales, and if you trace all of these things back to the source, it's very possible that none of this would've ever happened if I hadn't had access to a used copy to begin with.

Going off on another tangent, I clearly remember people in the industry saying that the price of games would drop when things went digital thanks to lower overhead, eliminating production and distribution costs, so forth and so on. I definitely think digital is a healthy environment for the indie scene (which I genuinely love and am happy to see flourishing) but what's happened in general is that development budgets keep ballooning, publishers keep betting the farm on mega-hit blockbusters instead of games with more reasonable sales goals, and hard-working people in the industry keep getting laid off and shuffled around -- oh, and did I mention that games are still routinely coming out at $60 a pop? I've seen no reason to convince me that anything Microsoft would've done with the ‘Bone would have changed any of this.

There’s still a hell of a lot to talk about and I've already rambled incoherently for long enough, but I will say that despite Microsoft going back on their original plans for DRM, I still have no plans to purchase the console or support it in any way until I see how things play out with my own eyes over time. They showed their hand and revealed what their goals were, so just because they patch a few things out for a while doesn't mean that these same problems won’t return later on once the system is in everyone's house and we've all forgotten how outraged we felt about the original announcement. The digital future is certainly coming, but just because it's coming doesn't mean that it needs to arrive without balance, without respect for the consumer, and without common sense.

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Games: Alright, enough ranting for one night... what have I actually been playing? Well, not a lot. really, but here it goes.

First, still working my way through the campaign in Defiance. 

Although the formula is little more than third-person open-world shooting with some crazy ATV driving thrown in, it's a hell of a lot of fun thanks to the wide variety of weapons and the commitment-free nature of the online multiplayer. It's incredibly enjoyable to be in the middle of a tough mission and have a random stranger appear out of nowhere to lend assistance. I wouldn't have guessed it before I tried it, but I keep coming back to this one whenever I can.

Secondly (and no surprise to @Nightdreamer) I'm still making progress through MH3U with the family. Since my oldest son is with us for the summer, he's been enjoying the available multiplayer -- he doesn't often get a chance to play, so having the ability to go on three-person quests on a daily basis has been a real highlight for him, and for us. 

Working together, he hit G-Rank (HR7) pretty quickly and we tried taking on the Alatreon a few times. We didn't take him down, but we didn't do too badly, either. With some slightly better gear, I imagine we will get the job done pretty soon.

Besides those two things, I spent a fairly sizable amount of time with State of Decay and turned my full review into Gamecritics a couple of nights ago. I absolutely love the game, but it's been suffering from a few problems and I put it on hold to give the developers some time to get things ironed out.

The biggest issue is that certain houses can become "infested" and if the player doesn't clear them out, then it causes panic in survivors back at home base. They then either run away or become otherwise incapacitated. This in itself is a fine mechanic, but the problem is that infestations that are nowhere near home base still cause this disruption. It sucks to leave things in great shape and come back the next day, only to find that a third of my survivors are gone because some random house on the complete opposite side of the map wasn't cleared out, even though it was absolutely no threat.

I don't mean to scare people away from this game because it is genuinely fantastic, but this is one aspect that has really gotten under my skin lately and I'm hoping that it's remedied soon.

Finally, I broke down and downloaded Animal Crossing: New Leaf on 3DS… I haven't played an AC since the original eleven or twelve years ago, and between nearly everyone in my twitter feed popping for it and hearing that there were substantial additions to the formula, I felt like it was worth a shot.

I've been putting a fair amount of time into it when I can, but because my work schedule and home life are pretty busy at the moment, it's tough to play within the confines of the game’s clock. I often found myself collecting bugs and fishing after all the shops had closed, and progress was quite slow. I mean, I think it's pretty slow in general, but it felt excruciatingly so.

My wife keeps asking if she should download it so we could play together, but I keep telling her that I'm honestly not sure if I'm enjoying it or not. There are moments when I think it's great, and there are also plenty of moments when it's absolutely maddening, boring, and tedious.

On the plus side, I like the sense of ownership and of interacting with this small, discrete town under my care. It's almost like a virtual pet of sorts. It's also cute as all hell, which is great. On the other hand, the amount of filler text that's impossible to skip through drives me absolutely insane, and there are many things that I feel could be sped up or optimized. For example, sometimes I don't feel like listening to the captain's song as I'm getting ferried to the island, and the item-carrying limit/item transferring system is often a pain in the neck.

I suppose I should just have my wife and kids get into it so that we can all work together on it, but I'm still honestly torn as to whether I'm enjoying it more often than I’m frustrated.

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Mars War Logs was released in late April and, if most players who bought the Spiders Studio title liked the game itself, they were disappointed with the narrative element because the English version strayed too far from the original French. The general feeling was that the translation didn’t stick closely enough to the original French story and dialog.

Luc Heninger, Director of Production at Focus Home Interactive, explains:

"Mars contains a vast amount of dialog, even by RPG standards. The plot has numerous strands and the dialog often has many variants to mirror the hero’s changes in reputation. The tight deadlines between the game release dates meant that the initial English translation lacked depth and contained a number of errors; it was then sent to the recording studio, making the job of the actors extremely difficult. The actual game was thoroughly tested and released with very few bugs on PC, but unfortunately the procedures for the audio and text QA failed and allowed many English localization issues to slip through. We realized the extent of the problem after seeing the first feedback from the press and gamers. The result was so far removed from what we usually produce that we took the decision to halt the submission process for the console version, which was due for release only weeks after the PC title. We have re-written the game text and dialog and, of course, recorded the actors again, replacing the sections that weren’t true to the characters in Mars. All these problems will therefore be fixed in the console version. An update is now available for players with the PC game, and we have also incorporated the new audio in the PC versions on the various download sites."

We are pleased to share with you a video showing the first 7 minutes of the game, featuring the new localization and the new English voices present in all versions of the game.

Mars War Logs is currently available on PC and will be today's Daily Deal on Steam, at -33%. The game is scheduled for release on Xbox LIVE® and the PlayStation®Network in September 2013.

- Watch the first 7 minutes of the game

- Visit the official website

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A new challenge for the map-making, labyrinth-crawling fans of the first-person Etrian Odyssey RPG series will be available from ATLUS this fall. Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl (EOU) offers two full length experiences: The expanded story mode takes players on a journey to unravel the mystery of the Yggdrasil Tree's origins, and the classic mode updates the original Etrian Odyssey. Both versions feature the same gameplay conveniences, updated 3D graphics, and StreetPass™ abilities as in Etrian Odyssey IV.  Exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS™ system, Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl will be released in stores and in the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS simultaneously. More details can be found on the game's official website.

The biggest addition to Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millenium Girl is the story mode - a first for the series. The story mode gives players five pre-made characters, each with their own personalities and dialogue to explore a side of Etria not seen in the first game. Adventurers must brave new dungeon layouts, floors and enemies to find out the truth behind the Yggdrasil Tree, and the mysterious girl, Frederica.

Also new to the series is the Grimoire Stone system, available in both modes. In previous Etrian Odyssey games, skills were set to specific classes, but by collecting, synthesizing, and equipping Grimoire Stones, players can hybridize their party to excel in combat. With the right Grimoire Stones, combatants can even learn powerful enemy skills.

To take full advantage of the Nintendo 3DS system's power, EOU features animated opening and story cutscenes by MADHOUSE Inc., renowned for its extensive background in animation, including other ATLUS games Persona 4 Golden and Persona 4 Arena. There will also be voiceovers for the story and battle scenes and the option for orchestrated background music.

The game goes beyond story mode with the inclusion of classic mode, a full-length experience in itself, for players to create their own classes and explore the world of Etria. The same chart-making mechanic is back, along with first-person dungeon exploring and intense turn-based combat in new dungeon layouts. EOU also brings new difficulty modes, which can be changed at any time: "Picnic" and "Standard" mode are for players new to RPGs or the Etrian Odyssey series, while "Expert" adds new challenges for veteran adventurers.

Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl releases this summer exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS™ system and will be available simultaneously in retail stores and in the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS. The game is not yet rated by the ESRB.

For more information, including updates on the game, please visit the official website at: http://www.atlus.com/untold. 

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Meteor Entertainment™, publishers of HAWKEN, the free-to-play mech first-person shooter, have announced the Combat Mech Challenge art contest, which will allow artistically-inclined fans of the highly-anticipated shooter to earn prizes, including gaming accessories and HAWKEN merchandise. As judged by Khang Le, the CEO of Adhesive Games, the winning entrant will win a NVIDIA Shield portable gaming device. Submissions can be entered at the official contest landing page: http://www.cgfeedback.com/cgfeedback/showthread.php?t=4847#posts

The contest ends November 5th, 2013 at 1:00 AM PST.

Founded by Weta Digital’s lead 3D modeler, Pascal Raimbault, CGFeedback is a community-driven forum for professional artists to trade feedback on their digital artwork. Entrants in the Combat Mech Challenge can submit their 2D or 3D artwork to be evaluated by a panel of judges from Adhesive Games and Meteor Entertainment. Three winners will be chosen, with the following prizing:

·         Grand Prize Winner – NVIDIA Shield: an open platform gaming portable designed for gamers who yearn to play when, where and how they want

·         2nd place Winner – Logitech G-Series gaming Bundle: A bundle consisting of a gaming keyboard, headset and mouse valued at $200

·         3rd place Winner – We Love Fine HAWKEN t-shirt valued at $25, and a copy of Hawken: Genesis graphic novel

Artists interested in participating in the CGFeedback Combat Mech Challenge can fill out the submission form and register at the following URL: http://www.cgfeedback.com/cgfeedback/showthread.php?t=4847#posts

Entrants must create a WIP (Work in Progress) thread on the CGFeedback forum, and are encouraged to post regular updates to help exchange artistic feedback and tips with the community. Final entries must be submitted by 11/5/2013 @ 1:00 AM PST.

Join the battle today at www.playhawken.com. To learn more about CGFeedback, visit www.cgfeedback.com/.

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Trion Worlds has announced the winner of the first-ever transmedia contest for Defiance™, the groundbreaking online open world shooter and hit television series on Syfy. The ‘Most Wanted’ in-game contest pitted players against both the game’s environment and each other to see who would rise to the top and become the ultimate Ark Hunter. The Ark Hunter earning the most ark salvage (the in game currency system) per hour*during their time played over the course of the contest, which spanned from April 30 to May 12, was chosen to be the winner. During this span, Zachary Prast showcased his undeniable Ark Hunter skills by earning almost 3 times the average ark salvage per hour! 

Zachary will leave the in-game world and be seen in an upcoming episode of Defiance on Syfy. Zachary demonstrated truly exceptional skills as an Ark Hunter in the game, beating out thousands of other players for a chance to have the show’s character artists render his likeness into a special place in the Season 1 finale, making him the first-ever gamer to crossover into the television property. 

Defiance is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more information on Defiance, please visit www.Defiance.com.

*excluding ark salvage earned from the Salvage Matrix

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MIAMI – You’re a murderer. You murder people. Again. And again. How certain you are of your actions and what is, and what is not, real is what you must determine in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, due out later this year from developer Dennaton Games and publisher Devolver Digital. The epic finale to 2012’s blood-soaked hit follows an escalating level of violence through multiple factions born from the events of the original game -- all within the confines of blistering combat, the unmistakable visual style, and another powerful and intense soundtrack that pushes you to the limit and forces you to question your own thirst for blood.

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number commands you to step into the murderous minds of several distinct characters - each with their own motivations and methods of execution – as storylines intersect and reality slips away into a haze of neon and carnage. Witness hundreds of new sprites and animations in lush new areas to clear floor-by-floor, and harness a variety of savage new weapons to satisfy your murder lust.

Due out in 2013 for PC, Mac, and Linux from Dennaton Games and Devolver Digital.

For more information, please visit www.devolverdigital.com or follow @HotlineMiami on Twitter.

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Leading publisher of digital entertainment Telltale Games and Robert Kirkman, the Eisner Award-winning creator and writer of The Walking Dead for his Skybound imprint at Image Comics, announced today that the 2012 Game of the Year winning series The Walking Dead: Season One is set to receive an all-new installment as downloadable content. Available this summer, The Walking Dead: 400 Days will be available for purchase on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox®360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®Network, as an in-app purchase for compatible iOS devices, and on PC and Mac from the Telltale Online Store and other digital outlets.

The Walking Dead: 400 Days chronicles the horrific aftermath of the undead outbreak through the eyes of five new characters as they struggle to survive the first 400 days of the apocalypse. Playable in any order, the five connected short stories are centered in and around a Georgia truck stop, where players will be thrust into horrifying situations that will test their morals and control the flow of the story through their decisions and actions.

The Walking Dead: Season One is coming to the PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system and will include The Walking Dead: 400 Days. Featuring hybrid touch controls unique to PS®Vita, fans can now take the apocalypse on the road and enjoy the entirety of Season One in one package.

The Walking Dead: 400 Days will be available for US$4.99 or equivalent as downloadable content for The Walking Dead: Season One.  The Walking Dead: 400 Days will require at least Episode One of Season One to be installed on a user's game system in order to play.

For more information on the game, visit the official website, Facebook, and followTelltale Games on Twitter . For more information on The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman, and all of his titles, visit www.Skybound.com andwww.TheWalkingDead.com.

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It’s time to return to Ian Livingstone’s Forest of Doom!

Tin Man Games’ third Fighting Fantasy digital gamebook app, The Forest of Doom, arrives on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad today, following a recent Android release on Google Play and the Amazon Appstore for Android.

Smart phone and tablet users can now take part in one of the classic gamebook experiences that introduced a whole generation to fantasy role-playing games back in 1983! Proudly displaying an animated version of Iain McCaig’s iconic cover of the Shape Changer, the app allows readers to risk the unknown perils of Darkwood Forest with a desperate quest against time to find the missing pieces of the legendary Hammer of Stonebridge.

Ian Livingstone, co-creator of the Fighting Fantasy series and author of The Forest of Doom, said: “For those people coming back to Darkwood Forest after a 30 year absence, I hope the experience is as enjoyable as it was the first time around. The forest has certainly been brought to life in this brilliantly executed digital version by Tin Man Games.”

Fans will also be able to read Ian’s historical notes on the thinking behind the concept of The Forest of Doom and the naming of its principal character, the grand wizard Yaztromo. He continues: “For those of you entering Darkwood Forest for the first time – good luck! Might I suggest you are nice to Yaztromo. He’s my friend.”

Fighting Fantasy: The Forest of Doom  is now available to download from the iOS App Store, Google Play and Amazon Appstore for Android. It costs $5.99 USD/£3.99/ 5,49 €.

Tin Man Games maintain a site dedicated to their Fighting Fantasy apps at www.FightingFantasyApps.com.  The Official Fighting Fantasy site can be found at www.FightingFantasy.com. Tin Man Games also runs a developer blog at www.TinManGames.com.au.

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Wow, it feels like forever since I've updated the blog, and now I've become one of those guys who starts off a blog with apologizing for not updating his blog.

Damn.

In any event, I finally found some time tonight in between writing and editing reviews for Gamecritics, taking care of the day job, spending quality time with the family, occasionally playing a game, and trying (and mostly not succeeding) to finish the final edits on my book. With all that stuff going on it’s too easy to let the blog slip, so thanks for your patience.

And…  to elaborate on some what I was just referencing, my oldest (now age 11) is with me for the summer, and he's finally getting to the age when I feel like I can start introducing him to some things that he might not have been ready for earlier. Nothing too extreme of course, but as an example, I felt pretty comfortable letting him sit down with the recent XCOM and he took to it right away. I'm definitely looking forward to sharing more sophisticated stuff with him as he gets older, and it's great to be able to enjoy something on a more equal footing than we were able to when he was younger.

(It's also a pretty stark reminder of the passage of time, but let's not dwell on that for now...)

Getting back to the book for just a second, I'm really close to the end of my revisions but it's been tough to find enough quiet in the house (while I'm still awake) to wrap it up, but I'm going to knuckle down and push through it. My wonderful wife has been totally supportive of the entire process, so she's going to run interference with the kids and buy me a window of opportunity later this week. I look forward to typing the words "edits are done" before Friday. Keep your fingers crossed for me, okay?

Now, on with the show...

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Games: So State of Decay finally came out on XBLA recently, and I've been playing it for review. If you've been following this blog, then you know I've had my eye on this project ever since I first saw it at PAX last year and I'm extremely happy to say that now that I have laid hands on the final build, it does not disappoint.

If you're not familiar with the game, here it is in a nutshell: a couple of guys go camping and come back to civilization, only to find that the zombie apocalypse happened while they were away. They soon hook up with the remaining survivors, and from that point the game becomes a fantastic blend of individual real-time action (bashing in heads with blunt objects) and a community-based simulation (keeping people happy and running an efficient headquarters).

I've had several people mention to me that they're not up for "another zombie game" and I totally get that, but the fact is that State of Decay isn’t like any other zombie game I've ever played. As someone who is a fan of the subject material, I've always been wanting a game that tackled the survival aspects frequently seen in books and films, but those parts are usually given only cursory attention, if any at all. SoD runs the complete opposite direction, and fully embraces it.

Once your characters make it to the first base (a church) there are other characters to talk to, each with their own skills and disposition. Your active character will get injured or grow fatigue, and they must be swapped out with someone who's fresh, so taking care of the full roster is important. (Also important? Finding more survivors to replace those that will inevitably be lost.)

While at the church, the player will have to find fuel, food, and resources by scavenging the remains of the surrounding town. It's as involved as actually going into each house and structure and searching inside for usable goods. Anything discovered can be carried back, or the player can radio back to base to have another character come and pick it up. Oh, and just FYI, those characters can be ambushed and killed along the way, so it's not just as simple as giving a command and forgetting about it -- you may actually have to go and bail them out if things go south.

Did I forget to mention that permadeath is a thing here? Silently creeping through an infested part of town trying to make is low noise as possible is pretty goddamned intense when you know that your best character could be lost with just one wrong move.

There are a billion other details I can talk about, but if you tried the demo and thought that it was just another action romp, let me assure you that it's definitely not. State of Decay is a huge, incredibly deep simulation set in an open-world environment that must be navigated on both micro and macro levels, and it's the only game I know of that tries to translate surviving the zombie apocalypse into the kind of complicated, stressful and desperate game experience that I always thought it should be.

My full review is coming soon. Stay tuned.

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Games: Not much to report on this except that it's out, but hey, Animal Crossing: New Leaf is out.

Anticipation among my Twitter people is surprisingly high (perhaps not so surprising?) and I just downloaded my own copy earlier tonight. 

Side note: Although I generally prefer physical copies when given the choice, I remember the original AC being something that you only played for ten or fifteen minutes at a time at best, and the thought of having to swap carts out several times a day was not appealing. In this special circumstance, I figured a DL was the smart move.

As far as my history with the series goes, I haven't played any Animal Crossing since the original game back in… dear God, was it actually 2002, eleven years ago?

*koff*

Yeah, well whatever... the point is I'm looking forward to revisiting the series.

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Links: To round it out tonight before hitting the PR section down below, here are some of links that you may have missed:

> The latest @Gamecritics Podcast on… Sports. (Spoiler: I'm not in it.)

> My full review of Defiance is now up, and don't miss my final evaluation of Black Rock Shooter on PSP (yes, PSP!) It's a real gem.

>Furiously unhinged Darren Forman (@KayinAmoh) has been quite busy lately. He's covered Sacred Citadel, Metro: Last Light, Army of Two:Devil’s Cartel, and Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen. I've got no idea when the guy sleeps.

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Next-gen will be a scary place thanks to Daylight, a psychological thriller built on Unreal Engine 4. Developed by Zombie Studios and published worldwide by ATLUS, Daylight will release in early 2014 simultaneously for the PC and as a console exclusive for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system. Only the bravest souls will find all the messages and clues scattered through Daylight's labyrinthine twists of derelict hospital corridors and other creepy environments, where procedurally generated levels ensure no two playthroughs will be the same. More details on the downloadable title Daylight are available on the game's official website at http://www.playDaylight.com.

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Military gaming charity Operation Supply Drop's successful Veterans Day event November 2012 set the bar extremely high. Raising $100,000 in donations for deployed soldiers and soldiers recovering in military hospitals seemed like impossible to reach goal.
However, thanks to donors like Capcom and their sizable donations to OSD's 4th of Julycare package drive, PIXEL FIREWORKS, they helped push the grand total of donations OSD has raised since November 2010 just over the $300,000 mark!  That's a whole lot of happy soldiers! 

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SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe today announced that Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F™, the ultimate rhythm game where players can experience a concert with the virtual diva at any given moment, will be available in North America on both PlayStation®3 system and Playstation®Network, and in Europe onPlaystation®Network. Being the first console game released for the franchise in the West, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F will include all of the updated graphics, additional songs and features of the Japanese version, but fans won’t have to wait long to play the game as the demo will be available on June 11th for the U.S. and June 12th for Europe.

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Indie Royale and Arcen Games are proud to bring you The Arclight Bundle, featuring the lion's share of Arcen’s catalog and highlighted by the brand new Vengeance of the Machine expansion for cult classic strategy title AI War: Fleet Command.

The bundle nets you Steam, Desura and DRM-Free keys for five of Arcen’s titles on both Windows and Mac: Sprawling sidescroller A Valley Without Wind and its sequel A Valley Without Wind 2; top-down environmental puzzle game Shattered Haven; the already mentioned space RTS AI War: Fleet Command and Tidalis -- a surprisingly deep puzzler with a unique ‘streams’ mechanic.

You can find more information on The Arclight Bundle, including real-time statistics and its current price, on its official website or via Indie Royale’s Facebook, Google+ and Twitter pages. The price will increase as the promotion progresses over the next week (unless kind purchasers lower it), so grab the bundle now while the price is still low so that you'll have hundreds of hours of indie gaming to look forward to!

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Saints Row IV fans learned the power of democracy today as Deep Silver announced the details of its highly anticipated fan-sourced Saints Row IV Collector’s Edition: the Super Dangerous Wub Wub Edition. The Super Dangerous Wub Wub Edition is now available for preorder at all participating North American retailers in limited quantities.

Included in the Super Dangerous Wub Wub edition ($99.99 USD) is a 12 inch Dub Step gun replica capable of rendering your enemies absolutely speechless with the power of wub. The ultra-high quality weapon replica packs a party with a bitchin’ design, sweet tunes directly from the in-game Dubstep Gun and a laser sight.  Make no mistake, it’s time to get down.

Additionally the Super Dangerous Wub Wub Edition comes with an awe-inspiring 8 inch Johnny Gat Memorial Statue for all Saints to be able to pay tribute to the greatest Saint while kicking ass in the name of Liberty. Future generations will gaze upon Johnny’s grandeur while learning the history of his glorious murdering sprees with the Third Street Saints.

And because no president is ever without “the button”, the Super Dangerous Wub Wub edition comes with a pocket-sized Dubstep Doomsday Button so fans can drop bombs on the go.

Fans purchasing the collector’s edition will also receive all in-game items from the Commander in Chief pre-order bonus, which include a Screaming Eagle VTOL that fires rockets out of its talons and can invoke the “Sonic Scream” attack, a limited-edition American-iconic ‘Uncle Sam’ uniform decked out in the American flag colors and a stimulus package of epic proportions – the ‘Merica gun – everyone’s American dream weapon.

The Super Dangerous Wub Wub Edition of Saints Row IV is now available for preorder in North America and will only be available as long as supplies last. Saints Row IV launches August 20th, 2013 across North and Latin America and August 23rd in the rest of the world. For more information please visit:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/saintsrow
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/saintsrow
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/saintsrow

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Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today confirmed that the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy HD for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is now available on App Store. Re-created in beautiful HD, this compilation features the first three games in the popular Ace Attorney series: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy HD also comes with the “Everyone Object” mode that allows players to communicate their displeasure of everyday situations with the help of popular Ace Attorney characters and sayings. With a simple touch of a button, the phrases, "Objection!", "Hold it!", and "Take that!" can be emailed to friends or tweeted along with an animated image.

For those wanting affirmation of the great gameplay experience that awaits, the first two episodes of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney are available to download free of charge with the remaining three episodes priced at $5.99/£3.99/€4.99/AUD6.49. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations are available as in-app purchases individually priced at $6.99/£4.99/€5.49/AUD7.49. Alternatively, all three titles can be purchased as an all-in-one pack for $16.99/£11.99/€13.99/AUD17.99.

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Reliving some of the greatest arcade titles is now even easier with the release of the Capcom Arcade Cabinet All in One Pack. Featuring all of the 15 games previously released on the Capcom Arcade Cabinet platform plus the two bonus titles, this definitive collection of Capcom’s arcade titles from 1984-1987 is now available for $29.99/€29.99/£23.99/2000MSP from the PlayStation Store and on XBLA Marketplace.

As a reminder, here’s a list of all 17 titles: Black Tiger; Avengers;  1943: The Battle of Midway; Ghosts n Goblins; Gun.Smoke; Section Z; Side Arms; Legendary Wings;  Trojan; Commando; The Speed Rumbler; Exed Exes (Savage Bees);  1942; SonSon;  Pirate Ship Higemaru; 1943 Kai and Vulgus.

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Contrast - the teaser

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Kingdom Rush Frontiers trailer

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Hellraid is a first-person co-op slasher that offers a single-player, story-driven campaign of hack & slash action and unique, competitive cooperation multiplayer that pits four players against the armies of hell – and each other – in a battle for points, rewards and fame. The game is developed by Techland and scheduled for a 2013 release on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

For more information about the game visit www.hellraid.com

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Seattle Retro Gaming Expo just keeps getting bigger! Not only is SRGE at the

Seattle Center this year, but we will also be featuring panels from collectors, journalists, and industry

experts in the gaming world. Panels will be scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday during the show.

SRGE is excited to announce our 2013 panels:

● ChipTunes with Arcade Armageddon

○ Our show partners talk about chiptune music and how it’s produced. http://w w w .arcadearmageddon.com/

● Playstation Collecting 101 with Gabe Hayward

○ Gabe is an avid playstation collector and has even gone so far as to collect different serial number PS1's to

have every variant hardw are revision. Come see w hat hidden gems exists for the Playstation 1 and 2!

● Video Game Collecting on a Budget with John Hancock

○ John Hancock is a long-time video game collector, enthusiast, and historian - by w hich w e mean he has

entirely too many games that he never stops talking about. He has been a visible face for the retro gaming

crow d for some years, mainly because he is usually hovering, vulture-like, over the rarest thing on a given

vendors booth. We're reasonably sure he has some kind of psychic game radar.

● Survival Horror with Ryan Payton

○ Ryan Payton is founder of Seattle-based Camouflaj, the studio behind the first major kickstarter success

story for videogames, RÉPUBLIQUE. He began his career in Tokyo as a producer on Konami's METAL GEAR

SOLID 4, and w as then recruited by Microsoft to return home to Seattle and direct HALO 4. After three years

at Microsoft, Ryan surprised the industry by announcing his departure to establish his ow n independent

game studio, Camouflaj.

● Breaking into the Game Industry

○ Dan Callan, Ray Almaden and Paul Ehreth discuss their experience in the game industry. They w ill share tips

on how best to start a career in this grow ing industry and take questions from attendees.

● Retronauts Live!

○ Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish and Ray Barnolt host a live podcast at SRGE! This w ill be their first stop after

raising over $55,000 on Kickstarter to fund the much loved Retronauts Podcast.

● Retrogame Roadshow with Chris Kohler

○ Chris Kohler is a video game journalist and editor w ho has w ritten for several publications in the past decade,

including Wired, Animerica, Official Nintendo Magazine and 1UP.com. He is also a published author of tw o

books. His first book, Pow er-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life, w as published

by Brady Games in 2004. His second book, Retro Gaming Hacks, w as published by O'Reilly Media in 2005.

Kohler is currently a resident of San Francisco, California, w here he w orks for Wired, running the gaming

blog Game|Life and the podcast Good Job, Brain!

*

*

Links: So, like, the Xbox One happened.

At this point, I'm sure that anyone who cares has already seen plenty of coverage on Microsoft's new machine, although there are many, many questions that will remain unanswered until E3.

In other linky news, the new @Gamecritics Podcast is now available for your listening pleasure. Hosted by our thoroughly British man-about-town Sinan Kubba (@Shoinan), the usual crew discusses the most overrated and most underrated games of the generation. You may recall that I was asking Twitter for input on this subject several weeks ago, but the original recording got delayed for various reasons. If you were one of the people who chipped in some votes, here are the results you've been waiting for.

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Games: Although I didn't originally intend to cover it, I ended up with the task of reviewing Defiance on 360 - a third-person shooter MMO with links to the new program currently airing on SyFy.  I hadn't heard anything good about it and I'm not someone who plays MMOs, but that's the way things go sometimes.

As preparation for the review, the wife and I sat down to watch the first couple of episodes of the show for background, and we were pleasantly surprised. Although I don't think anyone would say that it's stunningly original, the writing was good and so was the premise: eight alien races take a one-way trip to Earth in search of sanctuary, and their arrival causes planetary upheaval. Thirty years after these events, the world is a very different place and the show is about people trying to get along and make a place for themselves. It's very reminiscent of a frontier Western, except the bad guys have laser guns and the good guys are scaly.

With that positive experience under my belt, I moved onto the game, and I was surprised to find that it was actually... a great time.

To make a long story short, Defiance (the game) is a third-person open-worlder that has a standard single player campaign and a whole lot of supporting content. On top of this comes the MMO layer - players can come and go as they please, joining you to help out if they are so inclined, or simply driving on by if they have another goal in mind.

It's all very freewheeling and loose, with a big focus on fun and action. Players are free to swap between any weapons they like, there are tons of enemies to shoot, and it's pretty fantastic to be going about your business and then suddenly find yourself with three or four friendlies pop up as backup after they saw that you needed some help. As soon as things settle down, everyone goes their separate ways and there's no fighting over loot or messing around trying to coordinate the next quest.

The game also offers continuous events called ‘Arkfalls’, which tie into the show. Basically, there are tons of spaceships drifting dead in orbit, and when one of them crashes, there are resources and items to be had. The game signals when something is up for grabs, and every player in the area rushes towards it to defeat the swarms of bad guys protecting the goods, working together towards a common goal. It's a blast to have fifteen or twenty players coming together in ad-hoc fashion to beat back a swarm of bugs -- the fighting is frenetic and the screen is filled with activity.

I've heard some people say that they've had problems with the game, but it’s apparently been patched several times since release on April 2 of this year, and I haven't had any issues apart from the occasional minor hiccup. I'm guessing that the development team has been working overtime stabilizing things and polishing things up, and I've got no complaints from a technical perspective.

Defiance is currently free-to-play via Steam during the holiday weekend, and the 360/PS3 versions are on sale. There are definitely some rough edges to the experience and I'm not crazy about a few of the MMO aspects, but the core experience is super solid and it's been nothing but fun to play once I got the game properly installed and figured out what was what. Recommended!

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News: Tomorrow is Microsoft's big ‘NextBox’ reveal, and I will be in attendance, covering it for Wired online. What will it actually be called? Will it always be online? Will they still care about Kinect?

Expect to see all of these questions answered and more, quite soon... As for me, I just want to see some really killer games. Fingers crossed!

*

Links: It's been a while since I updated, so there are a fair number of recent features I should take the time to mention.

> The latest podcast went up. The topic was the recent Tomb Raider reboot, and we were honored to have @OverlordRor and @Mahkia as guests. (Also, we've already recorded the next episode, so that one should be up quite soon - the topic is on the most overrated/underrated games of the past generation, and discussion got fairly heated...)

> Interview commando @CFloydTweets spoke to Ted Price of Insomniac about their upcoming game, Fuse.

> I recently reviewed DarkStalkers Resurrection on PSN, and it's pretty awesome.

> New-to-GC writer @TayoDK took on the brutally tough indie La-Mulana.

> @ApricotSushi was unhappy with the latest Hakuoki.

> Snappy dressin' parkour dude @CoreyMotley takes a 2nd on Crysis 3.

> @xMattieBrice played the latest Corpse Party and wasn't very impressed.

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Games: I haven't had a ton of time to play games lately, but I have squeezed in a few things…

First up, I just completed The Starship Damrey on 3DS. It's basically a point-in-click spooky atmosphere game set in space. It avoids most of the rubbish puzzles that this genre seems to thrive on, and it's fairly short - expect a playtime of around three hours or so, depending on if and when you get stuck. 

The entire game hinges on its story so I won't spoil it here, but I thought it ended well and I was satisfied overall. Look for that review coming soon.

Also on the 3DS, I finally got around to Aero Porter by Yoot Saito. Much like his other works, it's thoroughly insane, yet it never stops being engaging and interesting in spite of the rough edges. This title puts you in the role of a person who’s in charge of making sure that passenger bags get on the correct plane at an airport. 

It's a hell of a lot harder than it sounds because the bags spin around circular carousels, and shunting something to its correct destination will inevitably send something else to the wrong one. I have a few issues with some of the game elements being hard to read visually, but it's been tough to put it down.

Finally, I’m still working my way through Sanctum 2 on XBLA. The easiest way to describe it is that it's a First-Person Shooter that takes place in a series of Tower Defense maps. Although neither of these genres are ones that I enjoy in general, putting the two of them together produces something that's definitely greater than the sum of its parts. 

I like the strategy of placing towers and blocks to guide the path of incoming monsters, and I love the ability to personally start kicking ass if my towers aren't getting the job done. I've always hated the feelings of passivity and helplessness when plans go wrong in standard TD games, so this one is definitely what the doctor ordered. Production values are a little rough and it's definitely easier to get through with friends (up to four can play together) than it is solo, but still really enjoying it either way.

And finally-finally, a quick Monster Hunter update. I completed the campaign a while ago and have been making my way through G-Rank. I solo’d long enough to make a couple of suits of armor, and once that was done, I decided to start limiting my play two nights and weekends with other people. 

After two hundred hours (most of that in the 1P campaign) it was definitely time to start focusing on some review games for a while. I've still got my eye on Mark of a Hero, Alatreon and Dark Miralis, but I'll have to patiently work towards them, rather than trying to plow ahead at full speed.

********************PR/NEWS/INFO********************

Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today confirmed that 

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies will be available to purchase digitally on Nintendo 3DS™ across Europe and North America in Fall 2013.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, previously announced for the West as Ace Attorney™ 5, sees the return of courtroom hero Phoenix Wright. Set eight years since his last appearance in the courts, the first case inPhoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies sees the action start in a destroyed court room. It’s down to Phoenix Wright and his team at the Wright Anything Agency to discover the cause of the destruction. Players will have to battle it out in court against Gaspen Payne, the younger brother of Winston Payne from previous Ace Attorney™ titles, as they defend the accused.

*

Seattle Retro Gaming Expo just keeps getting bigger! Not only is SRGE at the

Seattle Center this year, but we will also be featuring panels from collectors, journalists, and industry

experts in the gaming world. Panels will be scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday during the show.

SRGE is excited to announce our 2013 panels:

● ChipTunes with Arcade Armageddon

○ Our show partners talk about chiptune music and how it’s produced. http://w w w .arcadearmageddon.com/

● Playstation Collecting 101 with Gabe Hayward

○ Gabe is an avid playstation collector and has even gone so far as to collect different serial number PS1's to

have every variant hardw are revision. Come see w hat hidden gems exists for the Playstation 1 and 2!

● Video Game Collecting on a Budget with John Hancock

○ John Hancock is a long-time video game collector, enthusiast, and historian - by w hich w e mean he has

entirely too many games that he never stops talking about. He has been a visible face for the retro gaming

crow d for some years, mainly because he is usually hovering, vulture-like, over the rarest thing on a given

vendors booth. We're reasonably sure he has some kind of psychic game radar.

● Survival Horror with Ryan Payton

○ Ryan Payton is founder of Seattle-based Camouflaj, the studio behind the first major kickstarter success

story for videogames, RÉPUBLIQUE. He began his career in Tokyo as a producer on Konami's METAL GEAR

SOLID 4, and w as then recruited by Microsoft to return home to Seattle and direct HALO 4. After three years

at Microsoft, Ryan surprised the industry by announcing his departure to establish his ow n independent

game studio, Camouflaj.

● Breaking into the Game Industry

○ Dan Callan, Ray Almaden and Paul Ehreth discuss their experience in the game industry. They w ill share tips

on how best to start a career in this grow ing industry and take questions from attendees.

● Retronauts Live!

○ Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish and Ray Barnolt host a live podcast at SRGE! This w ill be their first stop after

raising over $55,000 on Kickstarter to fund the much loved Retronauts Podcast.

● Retrogame Roadshow with Chris Kohler

○ Chris Kohler is a video game journalist and editor w ho has w ritten for several publications in the past decade,

including Wired, Animerica, Official Nintendo Magazine and 1UP.com. He is also a published author of tw o

books. His first book, Pow er-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life, w as published

by Brady Games in 2004. His second book, Retro Gaming Hacks, w as published by O'Reilly Media in 2005.

Kohler is currently a resident of San Francisco, California, w here he w orks for Wired, running the gaming

blog Game|Life and the podcast Good Job, Brain!

*

CCP Games, the leading independent developer of massively multiplayer games, today launched 

DUST 514, the world's first free-to-play, multiplayer first-person shooter on a console. The battle for dominance of the EVE Universe escalates to new heights today as DUST mercenaries forge their paths to fame and fortune in a PlayStation ®3 exclusive. 

Launch is only the beginning of the journey for DUST 514 players. As with CCP’s first game, EVE Online®,DUST 514 is an ever-evolving game as a service, built on the technical foundation and experience CCP has gathered over the past decade. New features, content, and upgrades are planned for years to come, beginning with an update in June and additional major releases throughout 2013. All updates to DUST 514 come at no cost, truly keeping the game free-to-play for all players.

DUST 514 is a new breed of first-person shooter, which in addition to tight gunplay features a path to unlimited dropsuit fittings and customization options, taking the player to new dimensions of character progression. The end result is a unique tactical advantage that will allow mercenaries to push DUST 514 beyond the bounds set by the game’s creators, and arm them with the ability to impact their war on a galactic scale.

DUST 514 is also fully integrated with the notorious sci-fi setting of EVE Online, a massive game universe that recently surpassed a half-million subscribers worldwide and which has been growing and expanding for a decade.Together, DUST 514 and EVE Online offer a combined sandbox of unprecedented intergalactic scale, with the outcome of ground battles impacting the persistent universe of EVE and shifting the tide of war for legions of participants. Mercenaries can gain advantage by coordinating with starship pilots in EVE Online, calling in devastating orbital strikes against opposing squads.

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Tired of dithering between action and strategic thinking? Deep Silver now combines both aspects in one game: Ride to Hell: Route 666 lets players experience the whole lifestyle of biker gangs, but those who want to dominate the infamous Route 66 need to act smart. In this new trailer, different classes of gang members and enemies are explained as well as how to arrange formations and how to finish off opposing bikers in close combat. Set up your team, choose your weapons and hit the road! Ride to Hell: Route 666 is scheduled for release on the PlayStation® Store and on Xbox Live® as an arcade game for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft this summer.

Ride to Hell: Route 666 is set within the Ride to Hell universe, a world of bare-knuckle violence, and rip-roaring motorcycles. Later this year the setting will be extended by two further titles featuring the unique and incomparable biker lifestyle; Ride to Hell: Retribution and Ride to Hell: Beatdown.

Ride to Hell: Retribution tells the story of a lone rider, Jake Conway, a man with either a gun in his hand or a girl on his lap (and on more than one occasion both!). He’s on a merciless path of revenge against a brutal biker gang called The Devil’s Hand, armed to the teeth with an arsenal of deadly weapons to enact his vengeance on foot and on bike. The only law Jake answers to is his own.  Hit hard, ride fast and leave 'em in the dust starting June 2013 for Xbox 360, Windows® PC, and PlayStation®3.

The Ride to Hell universe will be rounded out with Ride to Hell: Beatdown, a rock’n’roll brawler set to light up the mobile space, on the go! More details on this title will follow soon.

Ride to Hell: Retribution is developed by Eutechnyx, Ride to Hell: Route 666 by Black Forest Games.

For more information about the Ride to Hell universe, please visit www.ridetohell.com.

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Dark skills trailer 2

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Van Helsing Hunter’s Lair

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Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. announced 

METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION will be available in North America and South America on July 9, 2013.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the METAL GEAR SOLID franchise, this PlayStation®3 exclusive package will include METAL GEAR SOLID, METAL GEAR SOLID 2: HD Edition, METAL GEAR SOLID 3: HD Edition (which includes the original MSX versions of METAL GEAR and METAL GEAR 2), METAL GEAR SOLID: Peace Walker HD Edition, METAL GEAR SOLID: VR MISSIONS, METAL GEAR SOLID 4: Trophy Edition and two Ashley Wood digital graphic novels which will be released for the first time in North America.  In addition, the collection will include an all-new 100 page art book highlighting marketing art from across the globe, spanning the profound 25 year history of the esteemed franchise.

METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION will be available on July 9 for $49.99 for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.

For more information, please visit: http://www.metalgearsolid.com

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I haven't completed my own testimonial for Monster Hunter yet and I've got a few other things that need attending to first, so in the meantime, let's get back to the normal format… I'm sure @Nightdreamer will be happy, at least. 

*

Games: So, my Soul Sacrifice (Vita) review went up, and it’s been… well, let’s just say, less than popular with the fans. Frankly, I thought it was mind-numbingly boring despite some great concepts, but I appear to be in the minority on this one. Your mileage may vary.

Moving on, I’ve heard absolutely no one talking about Black Rock Shooter: The Game, but it was just released by NIS America and it's currently available on the PSN store for $20. (designed for PSP, but compatible with Vita.) I just completed it yesterday, and I have to say, I had an absolute blast with it. It's a very small, focused game that feels perfect for playing on the go, and there are a lot of very smart design decisions on display. 

Putting the anime story aside for the moment (which actually wasn't all that bad) the big hook that sold me was the combat system - the main character is anchored to the foreground while enemies populate the background. Before they attack, they flash, giving the player a chance to either block or dodge to the other side of the screen. In return, the player can use a standard weapon or one of many specials that can be assigned based on preference.

It's a little tough to describe, but once you get the hang of how the game operates during combat, it feels just wonderful to play... I found myself often in a groove and my fingers would pleasantly autopilot during each fight in a semi-flow state. I love, love, love this combat system.

The rest of the game is quite nice. The art direction is good, the streamlined nature of the core structure was smart, and there’s a good amount of replay since missions are quite short and there are different layers of objectives to complete for those who want to get their money's worth.

My full review is coming soon, but this tiny little project is definitely one of my favorite games of the year so far. Big thumbs up.

In other games news... well, I guess I don't have much to report. It's been a busy week, and apart from catching a few quests in Monster Hunter while I'm out and about, I haven't had a lot of time to play anything. Hopefully that's going to change next week... I'll be looking into Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, doing some quick hits on a couple of iOS titles, and I'm hoping to spend some time with Metro: Last Light as well.

Heads up - haven’t played Papo & Yo because you don’t have a PS3? No problem, it just hit Steam a little while ago. Here’s my review of this noteworthy, autobiographical experiment, and if you Steam stuff, then you should go play it yourself, posthaste. 

For all the beautiful, intelligent Sherlock Holmes (by Frogwares) fans, check this video… If you’ve played the older titles, you will be STUNNED by the upgrade. Crimes & Punishments is looking goooood.

Oh, one last thing on the topic of games: I just got wind of Techland’s new title, Hellraid. 

If they were putting their “A” team on this and their “B” team (or, uh, some interns) on Dead Island: Riptide, that would explain why it came out so poorly… Riptide aside, Hellraid is looking promising. I’ve got no info apart from what’s in this trailer, but I’m verrrry intrigued…

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Events: The Independent Games Festival is coming to Seattle on June 8 from 10 AM to 5 PM, and it's a totally free event. There will be a number of big-name speakers giving talks, and lots of indie stuff to check out. If you're interested, you can register (again, for free) at this website.

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Comics: I haven't talked about comics for while, probably because I haven't read any for a while... I had a semi-unfortunate situation happen at my local shop so I stopped buying for a bit, and I have to be totally honest -- after skipping my regular reads for a month or two, I found that I really didn't miss them all that much.

I think part of it is that there’s just a lot of mediocre comics out there, and another part is that comics these days (mediocre or otherwise) are pretty damned expensive.

I can remember going to the comic shop when I was a kid and picking up some books for fifty or seventy-five cents each. The average book I was reading these days is a lot closer to three or four dollars apiece, and when it only takes me five minutes (or less) to go through a single issue, that's not a very good ratio of dollars-to-entertainment.

Long story short, it’s too much money for not enough bang. I’ll still pick up some collections and read in bulk when there’s a good story to be had, but I think I’m done with the monthlies for now.

********************PR/NEWS/INFO********************

The unveiling of the North American game cover for Dragon's Crown puts the vibrant, watercolor-esque art style of renowned game artist and Vanillaware president George Kamitani on full display. Brave adventurers who pre-order the 2D multiplayer hack-and-slash beat 'em up will also receive the Dragon's Crown Artworks: a limited edition soft-cover art book. 

The Artworks will be 64 pages of full-color illustrations from Dragon's Crown. This includes intricate drawings of the characters in the game, lush environment backgrounds, and descriptions from the artist himself. Also included in the art book will be commissioned illustrations of the Dragon's Crown universe from three prominent Japanese video game artists: Akira Yasuda (Akiman), Kinu Nishimura, and Gouda Cheese (BENGUS).  

Dragon's Crown will be exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita systems for $49.99 and $39.99 respectively and is available for pre-orders now from major retailers. The game is not yet rated. More details about the game will be revealed in the future, with updates on the officialDragon's Crown website at: http://www.atlus.com/dragonscrown/

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Cryptozoic Entertainment, developer and publisher of board and card games, has launched a Kickstarter to seek final polish funding for their upcoming project, titled HEX: Shards of Fate. Cryptozoic describes HEX: Shards of Fate as the world’s first Massively Multiplayer Online Trading Card Game. The Kickstarter project is now live at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cze/hex-mmo-trading-card-game, and includes an amazing tiered system of rewards for project backers.

A completely unique gaming experience, HEX: Shards of Fate was created from the ground up as a digital trading card game, free from the restrictions that come from being shackled to physical trading cards. HEX: Shards of Fate combines the amazing community and storytelling aspects of a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) with the compelling collectable and strategic game play of a trading card game (TCG) to create an entirely new gaming experience. Players will make their way through the dynamic MMO world featuring champions, dungeons, raids, and epic gear. Cards can be found while battling within the world or purchased in 15 card Booster Packs. 

The magic of HEX: Shards of Fate comes from the digital nature of the game. Not only are player’s in-game avatars able to level up across a range of stats, but the cards themselves have unique attributes as well. Each card has a “double back” which reveals digital challenges and achievements for that card. Cards also have socketed slots for adding gems that fundamentally change how the card plays, allowing players to modify and individualize their collection to suit their play style, with billions of potential results.

Kickstarter supporters of HEX: Shards of Fate will be provided with a variety of unique collectable rewards including Beta invites for early access to the game. Depending on their pledge level, backers can receive exclusive cards only available through the Kickstarter campaign, customizable sleeves, starter sets, booster packs, in-game bonuses such as increased loot drops and special equipment, exclusive access to tournaments and much more. At the highest level, “Producer Tier” backers will receive executive producer credit, a vanity card and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create their own personalized trading card.

Cryptozoic’s goal is to have the beta begin in late summer 2013, including Player versus Player (PvP) gameplay, tournaments and the first set of collectable Booster Packs, along with single player arena battles and character modifications.  In late fall, Cryptozoic will unleash HEX: Shards of Fate in its entirety, including dozens of Player versus Environment (PvE) dungeons with epic bosses, hundreds of Booster Pack cards and extensive customization elements for characters.

To learn more information about HEX: Shards of Fate and Cryptozoic’s vision, please visit the KIckstarter page athttp://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cze/hex-mmo-trading-card-game.

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SGC, the Dallas-based gaming convention, is set to make its illustrious return to gaming culture June 21st - 23rd. THAT'S LESS THAN 50 DAYS AWAY!!!

Check out our Guest List! – including notable industry personalities like Adam Sessler, Jim Sterling, Lisa Foiles, The Angry Video Game Nerd, and more!!!

Have you seen our Vendor List?! – covering everything from apparel to good ol’ fashion games, we will host over 60 booths in a 20,000 square foot vending space.

What’s the Schedule looking like? – we have a ton of exciting panels, musical acts, and gaming tournaments scheduled for SGC!

We look forward to seeing you in June!

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And in a new twist for the PR section, here are some trailers, presented without comment:

Saints Row IV – The PAX East Demo (multi)

After Earth (iOS)

Thunder Wolves (multi)

Resident Evil: Revelations – The WiiU special features

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Although it's been slightly delayed (darn you, real life!) I'm quite happy to present the final round of Monster Hunter testimonials! Well, the last round from people who aren't me, anyway. I'm going to close out the series with my own words on the game, but I'm still cooking those up.

For now, please enjoy these final entries from my friends and readers!

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I've never understood grinding.

That's not to say I haven't done it in games. I’ve certainly fought the same few monsters over and over again, waiting for levels to pop or rare items to drop, but it's never something I've sought out or particularly enjoyed - there's a reason I haven't played an FF game since 7.

I'm the type of person who, when forced to grind in JRPGs, always looks for a workaround - like using rubber bands and carefully placed weights to trigger an endless series of fights I can automatically win and then just letting the game sit for a few hours.

Really, I'd do anything to keep from having to watch some spiky-haired person kill the same monster over and over again. This antipathy has bled over into games with loot drops - even if a game is fun, I could never quite grasp the attraction of sifting through a dozen swords/guns and trying to determine which of them was slightly better-suited to my play style. I'd essentially cut myself off from entire genres of games.

Then I discovered Monster Hunter Freedom Unite.

I was completely spun by the revelation that scouring a map for a few pieces of ore could be a thrill. I would never have occurred to me that I could love fighting the same monster four times in a row just to grab a few more of its fangs. What turned me around? The core gameplay mechanics.

It's impossible to say too many good things about Monster Hunter's combat mechanics and enemy AI. The developers have created monsters that - due to their vast changes in size and appearance - each feel unique, despite the fact that they frequently draw from a common moveset.

Fighting any large monster in Monster Hunter is a challenge, but a rewarding one - not just because of the visceral thrill of defeating an imposing foe, but because the game does a great job of laying out the stakes: take this thing down and next time it'll be a little easier, because you'll have put together armour and weapons every bit as tough as the creature you sliced the parts off of.

That's why grinding for parts not only works in Monster Hunter, but actually enriches the experience.

The fights are always good, but the loot/crafting mechanic adds another level of depth - the player chooses which monster they want to fight, and it's always with a concrete goal in mind. There's no intangible 'experience points' being earned, just a chunk torn off the sea serpent that was just slaughtered.

Fighting monsters never feels like an obligation to move the characters forward so that they can further the plot - it's an end in and of itself, giving every fight the kind of gravity that most games only manage in a few action setpieces, and every beast conquered feels like an unmatched accomplishment.

When Monster Hunter tells me that I'm going to need six Dragon Claws to build a new sword, intellectually I know that it's no different than any JRPG telling me to go and find a hundred thousand experience points, but the developers have so inexorably tied the absolutely best parts of their game to what would, in any other title, be total drudgery, that I'm unable to object to the demand.

100K XP is a wall that content is hiding behind. Six Dragon Claws? That's a challenge to be met.

…Not to mention a perfectly good excuse to play some more Monster Hunter.

-- by Dan Weissenberger, @GC_Danny

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I originally came into Monster Hunter way back on PS2, with the very first game.

Even back then it just felt different. There was no magic, no spells, no flying boots... instead it was a game about you vs. the monster.

A number of months later I imported MH2 on PS2, and my love for the game really cemented. It was a pain to play and translate on the fly, but eventually I was hunting with the craziest of them. Since then, I've played every MH they've brought over to America. 

In all the years I've been playing, in all the versions, the core joys stay the same. Monster Hunter is a game about seeing a monster, learning how it thinks, and eventually making a hat out of it.

The monster will not give up that hat easily, so instead of just buying the best sword or axe, you have to become better. Your character doesn't level up, so it's on you to gain skill. Each new area, each new monster is a new skill set to learn.

There's little in gaming quite as epic as the first time a new monster rears its head -- the first time you see Rathalos roar or see Fatalis fly down from the sky, you know you are in for a serious battle. Then again, you might run into the Kirin and underestimate just how deadly that bloody horse is.

Monster hunter isn't perfect. The controls could use some work, it's a slow starter (a problem with many crafting centered games), and occasionally the random number generator hates you when you try to loot. But, I've yet to find a game that lets me hunt giant monsters with giant swords, huge hammers, high explosives, and sonic grenades. I can't wait to see what they do with Monster Hunter 4. 

-- by James Barry, Editor at Colonyofgamers.com, and diehard Monster Hunter fan.

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I’m dropped into the middle of the frigid tundra, alone, with one goal: slay a Barioth. 

If you’ve never seen one before, they look like a sabre-tooth tiger crossbred with a bat -- and, compared to him?  Well, I’m a housecat.  

I chug down a hot drink as my breath dissipates into the night air, and I’ve prepared for this hunt well.  My heavy bowgun can chamber exhaust shots to slow my target down, fire shots to take advantage of its elemental weakness, and poison shots to whittle down its relatively low HP.  But good preparation is only half the battle...

After locating the Barioth, I surprise it with a paintball.  In response, it roars with a pitch that instantly paralyzes my body.  

Touché.  

I immediately begin unloading fire shots on its front wings, hoping to break them and lower the beast’s speed.  We exchange blows, and soon the Barioth’s attack patterns come back to me.  My evading, blocking, and reloading all become part of a familiar, choreographed dance.

With one broken wing, the Barioth’s lunges throw it off balance.  

This small opening means I can squeeze off an extra shot each time I block or avoid one of its attacks.  He’s getting sloppy...  Perhaps realizing this, the beast hastily flees to another zone.  I chamber my exhaust shots, specially designed to rob monsters of their stamina.

Following the trail of the paintball I tagged him with for easy tracking, I locate the Barioth attempting to feed on a recently-killed herbivore.  If he finishes eating, his stamina will recover and I’ll be on the receiving end of his renewed icy wrath. I’ve got to stop him. 

I aim my shots between his eyes and fire.  Recoil rips through my body, but I have to shake him from his kill.  On the fourth shot the Barioth stumbles backwards, foaming at the mouth.  

No time to celebrate. I continue unloading shots as the beast struggles to catch its breath.  Drool runs down his amber tusks, now shattered by my assault.  

On my last round of exhaust shots, the Barioth loses consciousness, clumsily flopping to the ground.  I quickly load my Poison shots, and in no time the venom has taken hold.  When the beast regains consciousness, he immediately escapes.

Even though the effects of my paintball have worn off, I know where the Barioth is headed: his nest.  After the thrashing I gave him, the Barioth will attempt to sleep and recover his health.  

While I want to avoid letting him recover, I also know that a sleeping monster is vulnerable.  I’ll have two options: place explosives near the sleeping foe and detonate them for immense damage, or set a trap under him and capture him alive.  Unfortunately for this Barioth, I need pelts --  I’m going for the kill.

Upon locating the slumbering beast, I place two large barrels filled with gunpowder right next to his head and step away -- far away.  

My crosshairs center on the barrels.  

The tundra is deafeningly quiet now.  My numb finger wraps around the trigger and slowly squeezes. The resulting explosion is instantaneous, and deafening.  Flames leap into the sky and surge over the beast’s body.  My target has been eliminated, and I step forward proudly to carve my rewards.

When I get back to the hunter’s tavern, some friends have appeared.  They’re drinking, cheering, and talking shop.  “Up for a hunt?”, they ask.  

You bet I am.

-- by Roy Blakely, @kotowari, author of the Monster Hunter Beginner’s Guide

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Still want more?

While I wasn't able to contact him with enough time for a new piece, Michael Abbott (@BrainyGamer) has written about the series several times and wanted to share. You can find some of those articles here and here.

I'll close things out next time with my own writeup, and this blog will go back to business as usual afterwards. Thanks very much to everyone who expressed such enthusiasm over hearing the stories of fellow hunters… and apologies to everyone who isn't a fan of the series, and has probably been bored to death over the last couple of weeks.  ^_^

... Or maybe you've been intrigued enough to try out one of the games for yourself? If so, I would love to hear from you about your first experience. Drop me a note and let me know!

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