Game News, Movie Reviews, and Free Video Training for Graphic Professionals

By Joseph Tresca

This spot won the Gold Lion at Cannes. It’s great to see Video Games are influencing Advertising in such a profound way. When Blade Runner was first released, it became the leading vision of what the future would probably look like and it held this distinction for many years. It seems Half Life has influenced the minds of the next generation of commercial and film makers even if subtly. I think that if Video games are not considered art, (I’m looking at you Mr. Ebert) then why are films and commercials borrowing from them?

admin Industry News 2, Art, Cannes, Ebert, Gold Lion, Half Life, Phillips, Video Games, Winner

By Joseph Tresca

Now don’t get me wrong, it certainly could have been the fact that Nintendo hired some beautiful women to show off their newest hand held phenom, and you might make the argument that this has some how skewed my perception of just how amazing it was to hold it in my hands, but I’d say that Nintendo’s 3DS was bar none the most impressive piece of kit at E3 this year.

I’m about as skeptical as they come, especially when it comes to Nintendo products. I’ve been burned before with the Game Cube and I was never impressed with the Wii. I respect that Nintendo has captured the casual market with motion controls and touch pads, but it always seemed gimmicky to me. So with a healthy dose of Nintendo prejudice, I reluctantly stepped onto the long line to have some hands on time with Nintendo’s newest bundle of joy.

During my wait which amounted to somewhat around 1.5 hours, Nintendo’s beauties gave a few people a small taste of what was in store for us once we entered the 3DS area which was cordoned off by security. They’d walk up and down the snaking lines with a 3DS tethered to them.

There wasn’t much in the way of actual games to play but the Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater and Resident Evil demonstrations really looked fantastic. At such a small resolution, I’d say that this puppy packs the power of the Wii into a hand held device. That’s pretty darn powerful.

Oh yeah and it’s in 3D. Not the kind of 3D that pops out of the screen at you but it could best be described as a window into a truly 3D dimensional world. The effect is absolutely mind blowing. Mario and company really appear to be living inside your 3DS instead of being pasted on a 2D plane. If this takes off like Nintendo thinks it will, ultimately support for the purchase of 3D televisions will also benefit Sony who is making a similar push with the PS3 and full size televisions. A release date and pricing has not yet been revealed but if Nintendo can keep this around the 200 dollar range, they’ll have a run away hit.

admin Previews 3DS, DS, DSi, Handheld, Mario, Metal Gear Solid 3, Mobile, Nintendo, Portable, Resident Evil, Snake Eater

by Joseph Tresca

Namco Bandai’s Enslaved: Odyssey to the West was on display and fortunately I had the opportunity to give the demo a spin. Ninja Theory, the developer of Heavenly Sword for the PS3, have put together a unique adventure title that was a joy to play. It’s also worth noting that this game will mark the studio’s first foray into multi-platform development.

Enslaved is a third person action adventure game where you control a character named Monkey. You’ll run around the ruins of New York City fighting some really cool looking robots. Monkey can scale walls, climb ledges, swing and jump. He’s also pretty bad ass with his staff. Problem is, he’s got a slave headband attached to his head. The headband will kill him instantly if he stray too far from his partner Trip. Trip is a hacker who programed the headband to keep Monkey close to her at all times. He of course isn’t very happy about this, but it is in his best interest to keep Trip alive. Whenever the duo encounter a door that needs to be opened, Trip, being the gadget girl, will hack it. Of course this will get the attention of enemies but Monkey can also distract enemy fire from Trip as she crosses bridges or runs to cover. Trip can also heal Monkey when she’s in range.

In the demonstration the two protagonists took on dog like robots as they made their way through an overgrown New York theater. Monkey can issue certain commands to Trip as to whether she should follow him or not. I’m told that as the game progresses she’ll learn new commands.

One of the most impressive things about Enslaved is how well the cut scenes appear to be acted. The dialog isn’t cheesy and the acting seems a few notches better than most. You’ll want to keep an eye on this one for sure. Enslaved will be available for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 on October 12, 2010.

admin Industry News, Previews E3, Ninja Theory, Odssey to the west, preview, Xbox 360

By Joseph Tresca

It was the last hour of the last day of E3 and I knew exactly what game and peripheral I wanted to play before heading back to New York where Eyeballistic’s day to day operations take place. So I made my way over to Socom 4 in one of the Playstation Move showcase booths. I stood on a short line and I was assured by a Sony representative that I would be the last person they would let in before closing out the show.

I’d like to come out and say this first and foremost, Socom 4 is fantastic. If you had love for any of the previous Zipper Interactive developed titles then Socom 4 will feel natural and familiar. The new third person and over the shoulder camera views really help with shooting accuracy. You can go prone which is great for sneaking around just as in the older titles. The new cover mechanic is second nature and looks very cool. You really feel as though you’ve stepped into the shoes of a highly trained special forces soldier. All that said, this isn’t a preview of what to expect for Socom 4, so much as I’d like to give you an idea for what it was like controlling Socom 4 with the Playstation Move.

To some sum it up with one word I’d describe the experience as akward. I’m left handed so perhaps It was difficult for me to wrap my right-brained mind around how the controls should work. It’s also very possible that with some tweaking to the button mapping for the PS3 Move controllers I would be able to adapt perfectly. However as it stands right now and based on the titles I had the opportunity to play at E3, I remain skeptical of the PS3 Move’s appeal with the hardcore gaming public.

The Move controller itself is actually pretty light weight compared to what you might expect. This is a very good thing because your arm gets tired when holding even the lightest of objects in front of your body, especially during extended play sessions. Admittedly this wasn’t really a problem for me during my 10 minutes of demonstration time. The accuracy of the Move as a pointer/cross hair is excellent. I didn’t receive any jitters, hops or studders while aiming at enemies. The Playstation Eye, which was sitting just above the television, appear to do a fine job of tracking the glowing orb attached to the top of the controller.

Where things get a bit confusing is when you need to turn your character’s head (essentially the camera view) to pan accross the environment, the Move controller requires you to push your cross hairs to the edge of the screen so that you can pan your view to look in that direction. In its current state, this is really very slow. Any advantage gained in accuracy is lost to head turning speed. Also using the navigation stick in your other hand can take some getting used to. I was constantly pulling the trigger on the Nav controller to fire my gun instead of pulling the trigger on the Move controller, a small problem which I’m sure could be alleviated with configurable button mapping. It’s also worth noting that the Nav controller repeats the X and O buttons which are also located on the Move controller. I understand that this is supposed to allow for easy access, but it does add some confusion and complexity which at this point in time seems excessive.

Although my first experience with Sony’s motion control peripheral was less than perfect, I’m willing to give it another shot when it makes its debut. Perhaps it just takes a little longer to get acquinted with the new controls. Perhaps some developers will implement the controls better than others. Maybe it’s because I’m left handed and with a bit of time I’d feel like a pro. I think it’s worth giving another look when I can spend hours with a final copy of the game.

admin Previews Move, Nav, PS3, Socom 4, Sony, Zipper

By Joseph Tresca

If you know that the latest rendition of Mortal Kombat would, from a chronological standpoint, be named Mortal Kombat 9, then there is a good chance you’ve been paying close attention to the series since its earliest days as a 2D fighter. For the rest of us, MK has by and large rendered itself obsolete and almost irrelevant. Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat’s original creator and Creative Director, has every intention of changing that – and to evoke memories of its glorious popularity of the 90s, this latest rendition will simply be known as “Mortal Kombat”. To say that MK’s fall from grace began at Mortal Kombat 4 would definitely be an understatement. While some fans welcomed the world of 3D to a francise built on the rock, paper, scissors styled 2D fighting, many like myself, found the world of 3D added needless complication to a simple concept that otherwise worked extremely well. Personally I found the dial combos, run mechanic, and projectile dodging of the 3D world mixed with weapons which seemed cartoonishly over sized, served only to remove the gritty realism and cheesy kungfu movie simplicity which made the first 3 Mortal Kombat games so much fun. You played the original Mortal Kombat for the surprises, the mystique of the environments and of course the gory finishing moves, which as we grew older, began to appear less gruesome as disproportioned characters seemed to be going through the motions. Perhaps as fans of the series we were too – bored with the same old characters, performing the same old moves only in frustrating 3D.

Well after watching the demonstration for MK9, I’m officially excited for the series once again. Everything from the graphical detail in the environments, to the incredible animation of the characters, reminds me why I fell in love with the series all those years ago. The first thing you should know is that Mortal Kombat has returned to the 2D fighting mechanic of the good old days. Graphically the game is rendered in superb 3D but the fighting takes place on one two dimensional plane. Also the run button has been removed and there are no signs of dial combos anywhere to be found. Instead this new system ops for juggle combos which can be creatively linked together with any special move or projectile attack. Also the series introduces combo breakers which should inject an element of strategy against those who can perform them too easily. What remains then is a fighter that is deceptively simply and not without depth. The addition of a new type of move, which has your character delivering x-ray styled bone shattering moves performed in slow motion, look particularly painful and serve as a graphical reminder that this Mortal Kombat has returned to its gritty, violent roots. The characters look great on the outside, but Boon and his team have paid particular attention to rendering each characters insides with impeccable detail. That means of the few finishing moves I witnessed, I was able to recognize a complete bone, organ and artery system amidst the bloody insides of a freshly “finished” victim. Yes the finishing moves are properly disgusting and I shameless enjoyed viewing every second of them.

Many of the environments are slightly modified 3D renditions of those in Mortal Kombat 2, which is generally heralded by fans as the pinnacle of the series. That means I had a glimpse of the Dead Pools, Living Forest, Arena and Pit II rendered the way I always wished that they were. Simply put, the environments are teaming with the personality and mystique that’s been missing from the game for a long time. The demonstration featured well known MK favorites such as Jonny Cage, Reptile, Subzero and Scorpion to name a few, but with over 24 characters on the selection screen and space for a downloadable one in the future, there is a good chance that your favorites from past games will return.

If Boon and his team can come through, we may be witnessing a fighting genre renaissance that hearkens back to the days when MK was fresh on the scene. Mortal Kombat is scheduled to release on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in 2011.

admin Previews 2011, Ed Boon, Fatality, Finish Him!, MK, Mortal Kombat, New, Raiden, Rayden, Reptile, Scorpion, Sub-zero