by Edgar - 03.09.10
Our friends over at Klei Entertainment just released a new trailer for their upcoming game The Shank. They’ve recently signed a deal with EA to publish it on PSN, XBLA and PC.
by Gregory Gay - 03.09.10
Macs are great - pretty much every single person on the 4cr staff uses them religiously. Unfortunately, they still fall short in one key area (again, especially for the 4cr staff). The games just aren’t there, and booting into Windows to play them is at best a major annoyance.
Well, Valve may just be the key to changing the face of Mac gaming forever. Yes, the same company famous for their PS3 putdowns has officially confirmed that their entire catalog of Source Engine games will arrive on the Mac this April, complete with a Mac-compatible version of Steam. The ability to play Left 4 Dead 2 without rebooting my computer is enough to make my day, but this news gets even more exciting when you dig into the details.
Mac gamers are used to the awful emulation-based ports of games like Civilization 4, and Valve is fully aware of this. These are real, honest-to-goodness ports, running natively in OpenGL. All of Valve’s future games (and updates to those games), starting with Portal 2 will launch simultaneously on Windows and Mac. Additionally, all of Valve’s multiplayer games will be cross-platform, allowing games to compete regardless of operating system.
All of that is incredible, but where Valve could truly revolutionize gaming on the Mac is through the port of their Steamworks APIs. Every single one of the existing tools has made it over to the new platform, along with one new feature - Steam Play. Building on the Steam Cloud, Steam Play allows a gamer on their PC to save their game to Valve’s servers and pick up exactly where they left off on their Mac.
The sum total of this? Any developer using Valve’s tools (and that is a significant number of them) can put out a game on both platforms that is truly cross-compatible, sharing saved games and putting players on both platforms in the same multiplayer games. If that doesn’t get you excited, you probably don’t have a pulse. If they can get those Mac versions running on Linux, I’ll really be a happy gamer.
source: Rock, Paper, Shotgun
by Edgar - 03.08.10
I was lucky enough to get a key to try it last weekend with the rest of the press, and I am completely addicted. Here’s my one sentence take on it.
Take licensed cars, render them in beautiful graphics, add in the insanity of twenty players racing against each other, and mix that with Mario Kart (without the cheating weapons - I’m looking at you blue shell).
From what I’ve been hearing, Activision and Bizzare Creations are calling it the Call of Duty of racing games (mainly because of the online mode). They’re probably not far from the truth. Winning races and doing stuff like dodging attacks, drifting and taking down others will score you Fan points. Fan points are your experience - once you get enough you level up. Leveling will give you access to new cars, and new mods. It works just like the perks in Call of Duty, and it is pretty awesome.
I have more fifty keys for you after the break. The beta starts today, so go redeem them!
by Gregory Gay - 03.06.10
We were all expecting it after all of the attention that the first game received, but it now looks official - Scribblenauts 2 is coming!
Details are still scarce, but it looks like the DS sequel will feature improved controls, 120 new levels, 10,000 new words, a new hint system, and new merits. Also, the par limits have been removed, and the developers are adding in a new “adjective” system.
Honestly, all of that sounds awesome to me. The controls were my biggest issue with the first (well, that and the fact that some items just didn’t work). Add in d-pad control and make sure that the objects interact as they should, and I’ll be in heaven.
Scribblenauts 2 will hit the DS this fall. No word yet on the Wii version that was leaked a little while back.
source: Tiny Cartridge
by staff - 03.06.10
We here at 4cr take our gaming seriously — that’s why we only play in Official Nintendo Sweat Pants™, which we stocked up on in 1990. Read on to find out what kept us busy during the month of February, and be sure to let us know what you’ve been playing, too.
by SeanOrange - 03.05.10
Something that BioWare said about the nature of Mass Effect 2 versus Dragon Age really irked me, and it launched into a question: what is the function of a video game narrative? Similarly, what does it mean when a game’s creators tell you that the way you relate to a game is flat-out wrong?
(I’m not talking about Indigo Prophecy or, by extension, Heavy Rain, but I suspect I could be)
The Powet panel discusses these ideas and many more! (After the Jump.)
by Jody Anthony - 03.03.10
Just in case you haven’t heard of it, the folks over at GameSpite.net have been putting out a quarterly print book all about games. Their writers have been consistently producing some of the best, most ‘grown up’ (for lack of a better phrase) writing about games out there today. I’ve been buying the books since Greg mentioned the first one in one of the 4cr staff emails, and I have read each one from cover to cover. If you’re looking for an entertaining, interesting look at video games, check ‘em out.
You can either buy the print versions or read them online, as the contents are slowly posted to the site. If you do decide to actually buy one, I highly recommend Issue 3. The books are well put together and definitely worthy of a purchase.
source: GameSpite Quarterly Issue 4
by SeanOrange - 03.03.10
WHAT?? Isn’t Famicom Dojo supposed to be about Nintendo? It is. Sort of. This is the story of the beginnings of Sega’s entry into the console home market as told by a Nintendo.
…Huh?
Stay with us, it will all make sense.
by staff - 03.02.10
Hey Rebels! We just got our hands on 250 keys for the Blur multiplayer beta. Well, ok, we actually stole them from some dude crossing the street outside our office. He was asking for it!
Anyways, we’ll be giving those codes away over the next few days on the website, our twitter feed. Keep an eye on our sister site Tiny Cartridge, they will have some later this week.
Want a chance to win? Read on to get one of the first fifty keys.
by Jody Anthony - 03.01.10
One of my favorite things to do is to track down old video games that I missed when they were released. Most of the time I find Super Nintendo or Game Boy titles, but recently I have been moving toward more GameCube, GBA, and DS material. Often times I overlooked these games because they didn’t look so great in previews, or I passed them up because I was too busy with other games. Once I end up discovering some of these overlooked gems, however, I wonder how I ever could have thought that they wouldn’t be worth my time.
Recently, one game that’s really struck me this way has been the sublime Yoshi Touch and Go for DS. Despite the praise that it receives here at 4cr from Nick Rumas, I’d never bothered with it until now. Five years later, I’m kicking myself over not trying it sooner.
by Nick - 02.26.10
James Kockalka, indie comic, daily diary drawing extraordinary has teamed up with Pixeljam (the guys behind Dino Run and Mountain Maniac), to create Glorkian Warrior.
I’ve followed Kochalka for years and have always loved both his clever insights into daily life and the nice geek gaming bits that pop up in his work. Kochalka even creates chiptune music with his Game Boy Advance.
Over at Kickstarter, James and the Pixeljam team are raising money to get the game, Glorkain Warrior, made. As of this post they are almost half way to their goal of $10,000. Head over and check out the video (drawn by Kochalka) and donate if you feel so inclined. I see good things coming from this.
source: Boing Boing
by Gregory Gay - 02.25.10
So, hey, how about that Nintendo conference today? Pretty cool, eh? One of the biggest surprises, for me anyways, was that Sin & Punishment: Star Successor will actually see an American release? I long ago gave up on playing it in English.
I’m glad that Nintendo of America has given the game a chance. I loved the original, and from what I’ve seen of the sequel, it looks like it won’t disappoint.
One thing that I hope is carried over in the localization is the phenomenal box art. The Japanese cover was one of my favorite pieces of art from the past year. Guess we’ll find out when the game hits US stores on June 7th.
by Edgar - 02.24.10
Mario Galaxy 2 Will launch May 23rd of this year.
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor coming out June 7th.
Pokemon Heart Gold / Silver coming out March 14th.
Picross 3D will launch on May 3rd, extra content will be available throughout the year through Nintendo’s service.
WarioWare DIY will launch on March 28th. Available as a retail title for DS and a Wiiware companion piece.
VC library stands at 347 titles. On WiiWare, there are 189 titles. Altogether, more than 500 downloadable games. 127 games and applications on DSiWare.
Art Style Light Trax (Color Stream on GBA) and Rotozoa coming to WiiWare.
Mega Man 10 for WiiWare on March 1st.
Cave Story finally gets a release date! March 22!
Rage of the Gladiator, a first person gladiator game for WiiWare. Coming this spring.
Photo Dojo coming to America this spring. This is a DSi game that lets you create your own fighter. Take picture of yourself or friends in different poses, add sounds using the microphone, and then make your photos fight. Sounds like a lot of fun. There’s a single player and also multiplayer mode.
March 28: DSi XL for $189 Canada and USA Thanks Boots!
GhostWire, Majesco’s DSi augmented reality game is coming out this October
Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sand will feature Coop play and include the SNES remake of PoP. Coming out May 18th.
Disney’s Guilty Party is a 4 player game that uses the Wii remote to interrogate suspects and search for clues. Second half of this year.
Monster Hunter Tri will be bundled with the new classic controller pro in America. It will have FREE online play North America. Hell yes! Wii speak compatibility available at launch. You can grab a demo disc of the game at Gamestop starting March 8. The game will launch April 20.
A GameStop demo disc includes two bonus quests. Also, if you pre-order Tri, you’ll receive an exclusive Monster Hunter Tri card that will give you 500 Wii Points good toward the purchase of anything on the WiIWare or DSiWare channels.
Nintendo will publish Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Skies in America.
New items will be available at Club Nintendo - Mario Posters (original Artworks) , Game & Watch Collection 2 for DS and Grill-Off with Ultra Hand for the Wii.
Metroid Other M has been dated for June 27.
Update: Jamie over at Gamesugar.net has tons of assets.
by Gregory Gay - 02.19.10
Change is good, healthy even. You can’t let yourself get stuck in the same groove forever, and Atlus knows this. After four Trauma Center games, it’s time to change the formula a bit. Trauma Team is still unmistakably a Trauma Center game at its heart, but the six different gameplay modes and more than just a fresh coat of paint. Add in a higher focus on realism (no healing touch here, folks) and a story that shifts around a “living, breathing hospital” and you have something that can legitimately be called a sequel.
Today, Atlus gave us the chance to see two of the gameplay modes - one familiar (first response) and one radically different (diagnostics). Read on for your prescription.
by Gregory Gay - 02.18.10
From Software has been on a roll lately. They went for years producing obtuse mech games that fell square in the very definition of “niche,” but last year’s Demon’s Souls shot them into stardom. If you were worried that Souls was a fluke, stop. After getting a good look at an English build of the game, 3D Dot Game Heroes has shot up to the top of my list of games to play this year. From Software and the brilliant localization team at Atlus have created a game that is funny, challenging, and beautiful - a game that pays homage to the 8-bit generation without becoming a shallow copy.
Enticed yet? Scroll past the cut for the nitty-gritty.
