GamerSushi Asks: Fall Plans?

Arkham City

When you’ve got a fall that’s going to be as epic as 2011, it becomes necessary to dig into the furthest reaches of your brain to properly forumlate the best approach. If you look at the Fall of games like a mine field, which steps can you take to avoid getting blown to smithereens? At least, that’s the way I look at it, but I’m kind of weird.

Hyperbole aside, I really do have a game plan of sorts when it comes to this Fall’s releases. It seems like you almost have to in order to avoid dropping $500 in just a few months. Off the top of my head, here are just a few of the games we’re going to see: Deus Ex, Gears of War 3, Batman: Arkham City, Shadow of the Colossus/Ico, MGS HD, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Skyrim, Uncharted 3, Torchlight 2, etc. And that’s not mentioning Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3.

As of now, I’ve got Gears of War 3 and Batman pre-ordered, with plans to use Batman’s credit to get closer to Skyrim. Beyond that, I have no idea what I’m going to do, but I know for sure that I’m going to buy Battlefield 3 and Uncharted 3, even if I have to sell my body.

So what about you guys? What’s your game plan for the Fall? What games are you for sure buying? What have you already pre-ordered? What’s your strategy? Go!

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 35: Buy, Sell!

A new podcast appears? Yup. It’s been a couple of weeks since we recorded this, but I thought you’d like to have it anyway. We’re talking about some old news at this point, but there’s some entertaining bits in there about Counter-Strike: GO, Bethesda Versus Notch and Diablo 3 on consoles.

The super exciting news is that next week’s podcast release will be extra awesome, as it was done over GamerSushi weekend last weekend. Yes, all of us in the same room, acting the fool. It’s entertaining stuff, and by no means should keep you from enjoying this episode as well.

Nick tried editing this one in a different format than normal. It should play mostly the same, but if you open it in Quicktime, you can advance through chapters with the arrows, which is kind of cool. Have fun, gents and ladies.

And don’t forget to rate! Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Ep 35: Buy, Sell!

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Multiplayer Trailer is all Slow-Mo

Infinity Ward’s Creative Strategist Robert Bowling just dropped the trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer mode to coincide with the Call of Duty Experience this weekend. While the trailer isn’t exactly revealing the changes to the UI that are coming with the three-quel, it does include a lot of shots of the weapons, perks and all the other little gadgets you’ll be using to kill people.

So did you get anything from the repeated slow-motion shots of people getting brassed up? Modern Warfare 3 is actually looking pretty cool, and I think we all have a good idea of what the multiplayer portion is going to be like anyways. What did you guys think of the trailer?

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Gameplay

A few weeks ago, Valve made the official announcement for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a long-awaited follow-up to Counter-Strike. At PAX this past weekend, Valve followed that up with a trailer and some good old-fashioned gameplay. And I mean that in every sense of the word.

It’s nice to watch a whole round or so of this game in motion, and I have to say I like what I see so far. I’m not sure how I feel about a few things like the Molotov cocktails or the T skins, but as of now it seems like a great expansion to the game we all know and love. For some reason, it was the sounds that really made me want to play it, more than the updated visuals.

So what do you guys think of this gameplay for CS: GO? Still needs improvement? Not sold? Throwing your wallet at the screen? Go!

Deus Ex: Human Revolution: When Reviews Change Your Mind

Deus Ex Human Revolution

Sometimes you think you’ve got your fall completely planned out, with money and pre-orders organized in neat little rows and squared away just so. You tell yourself you know the games that are worth skipping, the ones that you’ll get after a price drop, and the ones that you’re getting on day one.

But then reviews change everything.

As many of you know, I’ve had my qualms about Deus Ex: Human Revolution for quite some time. In fact, I labeled it as a “Shun” in a recent feature. But today, a pile of glowing reviews dropped for the game in advance of its release tomorrow.

Apparently, Deus Ex is a contender for Game of the Year. It’s being hailed as the best action/stealth game to come out since Metal Gear Solid. It’s also being called a cool blend of Metal Gear Solid and Mass Effect. People are raving about the world, the story and the phenomenal gameplay. As such, all of the GamerSushi staff decided to purchase it today, including myself. And I can’t wait to play it tomorrow. I’m happy to have been proved wrong, but we’ll see if I agree with all the reviews.

So – who else is pumped about these great reviews? When have reviews changed your mind about a purchase before? Go!

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 34: To Be Fair

A new challenger arrives: Episode 34 of the podcast, in which we repeat the phrase, “To Be Fair” quite a bit, even though we are usually anything but fair in these raucous casts which we pod. Also, sorry for Anthony’s robot voice. These things happen over the tubes.

As per usual, we bounce around along various topics, including but not quite limited to Team Bondi, Valve, GameFly’s PC rentals and a throwback to Metroid Prime. After that, we launch into a game of Fill in the Blank, where we vocabitate about next gen consoles, The Old Republic’s expected sales numbers and Bethesda claiming the word Scrolls.

We recorded this guy the day before Counter-Strike: GO was announced, so sadly there’s none of that on there. But next week! Oh, next week there will be counters struck, you guys.

So, listen to it. Give it mad ratings. <3. Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Ep 34: To Be Fair

Notch Challenges Bethesda to a Quake-Off

Scrolls

Oh snap. Things are getting real over at Mojang.

A couple of weeks back, Bethesda hit Mojang up with a bit of a legal dispute, stating that their upcoming game Scrolls was going to confuse consumers about the much bigger Bethesda game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Sort of poor form on Bethesda’s part.

Anyway, to clear up this debacle, Notch has made a gentleman’s wager: if Bethesda can beat Mojang in a 3-v-3 Quake 3 match, then Notch will change the name of Scrolls to anything Bethesda wants. If Mojang wins, Bethesda drops the lawsuit.

Personally, I hope Bethesda jumps on this. It’s brilliant PR for them, whether or not they win or lose the match. On top of that, how entertaining would it be to see some sort of stream of this?

Source – The Word of Notch

Valve Preparing New Counter-Strike for Q1 2012

Counter-Strike

If we posted every rumor that the videogame industry latched onto, this site would be one great slobbering mess. As it stands, we try to handle ourselves with poise amidst a whirlwind of easily debunked rumors, rampant speculation and URL hounding.

I’m ready to throw all of that out of the window for this rumor: Valve is set to release Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the long-awaited sequel to their huge FPS franchise, in Q1 of 2012. In terms of credibility, it seems that Valve has recently been inviting major players in the eSports community to their studios to test the game out, and have been making posts around the Web about their experiences.

Some of the other rumors associated with the game as of now are revamps of Dust and Aztec, new weapons, an updated version of the Source engine, a focus on 5 v 5 play and individual and team rankings. Supposedly, a press release should arrive from Valve about the matter soon, but I couldn’t wait to go ahead and get this up.

Whew. I managed to get through that without letting off a major “squee” of excitement or four. Now it’s your turn. Thoughts about this rumor? Could Valve actually have been secretly preparing this game and plan to launch it in just a few short months? Go!

Update: This is now official: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will release on XBLA, PSN and Steam in early 2012. Woot!

Source – ESEA News and VG247

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 33: Crafting Stars

Look at that, two weeks in a row. My, we are on something of a streak. In fact, you might even say that we are streaking. Just throwing that out there.

In this edition of the podcast, Jeff and Anthony acted like divas and stormed off the set, leaving myself, Nick and Mitch to discuss things all by our lonesome. We basically used this time to talk about all the things we can’t normally talk about with those two bozos around, which really means we spend a good chunk of time talking about StarCraft 2. It gets… fairly in depth at a couple of points, so hopefully you like that kind of thing. I know I do.

We also took the three-man opportunity to play a game we’ve never been able to play before on the podcast – a real-time edition of GameCop Versus LameCop, with each of us swapping roles as we see fit. I think the results are particularly entertaining, and hopefully you do, too. You will either love it or turn the podcast off and throw it from your window.

**Also a big shout out to Temp0, who’s song, “All I do is Stim” we stole for the outro this week. Check him out on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Soundcloud.**

So, check it out. Rate a thing. And enjoy. Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Ep 33: Crafting Stars

GameFly Introducing Digital Beta and Unlimited PC Play

GameflyWhile PC gaming is one of my new favorite things, one area where I feel it is lacking is an avenue to rent games in a way that makes sense. Maybe someone wants to change that.

Today, GameFly announced that this holiday season, they’re launching their own digital client. Here’s the curious part: the digital client is going to allow an unlimited PC play option, where Mac/PC gamers can download as many PC games as they want, as long as they are GameFly subscribers. It’s going to launch with 1,500 titles and grow from there. If this all sounds a bit too good to be true, you can hop over and sign up for the GameFly digital beta, which launches September 8.

My first reaction to reading this particular piece of news was a dumbfounded “what?” Looking at it again, I’m still not sure how I feel. It’s so casually tossed out there it’s hard to believe it would be a big deal, but the implications seem like they could be huge. It’s almost exactly how I felt when Valve was talking about Steam on the PS3. That “this could change everything” feeling. Seems like this could shake the PC gaming market a little in unexpected ways. But maybe that’s just me.

Your thoughts?

Source – GameSpot

Getting Ready for the XBox 10th Anniversary

XBox

Come November, Xbots everywhere will be celebrating the original console’s 10th anniversary. The Xbox was the console that nobody thought would work, as Microsoft was stomping into territory completely dominated by Nintendo and Sony, and to some extent, Sega. Who would have thought that 10 years from now, they’d be neck-and-neck with the big dogs of the video game world?

To prepare for this event, VG247 has actually done a pretty cool retrospective on the system’s origins, titled The XBox Story. It’s a four-part series that looks at the conceptualization, greenlighting, marketing and launch. They really did their homework, and the whole thing is fascinating. Really interesting in particular is the way they first devised it as an answer for PC gaming.

I confess that I was one of those people that doubted the XBox’s staying power when it first came out. I was eventually swayed by Knights of the Old Republic, and later Halo. While this generation still doesn’t give me much of a favorite at the moment in terms of consoles, I’m overall impressed with the 360 and the job Microsoft has done. We’ll see what it does in the future.

So what do you guys think of the 10th anniversary of the XBox? What are some of your favorite games on either console? What do you think of the retrospectives?

Source – VG247: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

GamerSushi Asks: Origin Versus Steam?

Origin

In recent weeks, we’ve seen a bit of drama when it comes to the digital delivery of some of EA’s games. This has mainly occurred on Steam, where Crysis 2 was removed from Valve’s platform, and just this morning, Dragon Age 2. While there are a number of reasons for this, overall it stems from EA pushing their new content delivery system, Origin, as a competitor to Valve’s monopoly.

Here are some thoughts from EA CEO John Riccitiello about the future of Origin, given in a recent conference call with video game press.

“We’ve had a lot of inbound inquiry about getting on. I think forward-looking publishers really want their content on any and every platform possible. One more sale is better than not… We hope to be HBO meets Netflix for gaming. But we’re also very keen to have our content distributed to anywhere and everywhere gamers are.”

So while that does sound like they want to keep their future releases on platforms like Steam, it also sounds like they are setting up a rival system all the same. I’d bet that a big portion of their hopes hinge on The Old Republic and Battlefield 3.

As someone that hopes to play Battlefield 3 in the coming months, the idea of yet another content platform on my PC is kind of irksome at the moment, but I’m willing to see how it plays out. What are your thoughts? Is this like trying to take on iTunes in the music industry? What do you think of EA’s goals here?

Source – Gamasutra

Deus Ex: Human Revolution: Fun or Shun?

Welcome to a new GamerSushi feature, gents. In Fun or Shun, we set our sights on an upcoming release that we are on the fence about, and make final declarations of our allegiance (or lack thereof) to the title. In the first edition of this endeavor, we thought we’d tackle Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the long anticipated follow-up to a legendary series.

Each of us have fallen off the fence about this title in recent weeks. See where we’ve landed below. Continue reading Deus Ex: Human Revolution: Fun or Shun?

Does Halo: Anniversary Pack a Next Gen Punch?

As many of you know, Halo: Anniversary releases this November, right in time for the 10th anniversary of Halo: CE, a game that changed the landscape of FPS gaming on consoles. All we’ve seen of the game thus far has been shown to us in a slew of E3 trailers, but no more. The dudes at 343 have been kind enough to put together a walkthrough of The Silent Cartographer, one of the original game’s more famous levels, in the brand new engine.

So what do you guys think? Do you think the graphics go far enough to make this a contender with some of the other big titles of today? How excited are you that they used much of the original game’s code? Who will be buying this? Go!

The Star Wars: The Old Republic Pre-Order Debacle

star wars the old republic pre-order

Some exciting news out of Comic-Con today regarding the Old Republic, but maybe not the kind that people were expecting. It’s not the release date as many people might have hoped, but rather the news that you can pre-order Star Wars: The Old Republic in one of three flavors (regular, Digital Deluxe and Collector’s
Edition).

Pre-ordering is all well and good and as natural to the video game industry as wetness is to the ocean, but letting people pre-order without a release date is a little strange. Beyond that, the Collector’s Edition was very limited (it was sold out by the time I looked at the page this morning) and apparently the Digital Deluxe version is in limited supply as well. You can still pre-order the DD SKU, but after dropping your cash-monies on it you’ll be informed that you are “likely” to receive the thing you paid for.

I’m going to try and not editorialize this too much, but there’s something wrong if you can’t guarantee people something they paid money for, especially if it is digital. What many people suspect EA and BioWare are attempting to do is limit the amount of people logging in on day one in order to transition smoothly from development to MMO-sentience, but they way they’re going about it is all wrong. Opening pre-orders before a solid release date and telling people that they might get what they paid for smacks of under-preparedness among other things.

EA will no doubt bequeath people their Digital Deluxe editions, but whether or not you’ll be in the first run remains to be seen. I get that the Collector’s Edition is supposed to be rare (given the number of Halo 3 boxes I still see in stores makes me scoff at that notion), but putting a limit on a digital item will no doubt raise eyebrows.

What do you guys think of EA’s move? Is it a little too much taking money before putting out a release date?

Metacritic Founder to Game Reviewers: Use the Full Scale

1.0

One of the things that we try to do differently around here than at other game sites is handle our reviews with care. We do our best not to rush them, we try to tackle them thoughtfully, and really consider our scale when we assign grades. This hasn’t always worked out perfectly, and sometimes I still question the way we handle this, but I think we do a decent job. Other game reviewers? No comment.

Metacritic founder Marc Doyle, however, has some choice comments of his own. Talking with GamePro, Doyle expressed his opinion that game reviewers, quite frankly, need to play more crap. He believes that the sliding scale of game reviews to higher ranges is in part due to reviewers not playing truly bad games often enough.

Below-average games are not being reviewed as often as they once were and, partly as a result, critics have not honed their skills at assigning scores from the lower end of their grading scales. The question of exactly how bad a game has to be to merit a 1 score instead of 2 on the 10 point scale, for example, is not being contemplated with as much experience, care and precision as the 8 versus 9 consideration.

Later he goes on to talk about how the film industry is used to these bad scores, and knows how to adapt itself to them. He believes that playing bad games would help reviewers at their trade more, and would benefit the industry as a result.

So what do you guys think about this? In my mind, this could easily be a chicken vs egg argument. Have reviewers done this because of Metacritic, or did Metacritic come about because of this trend in reviews? Or is it the publishers who have put too much pressure on reviewers? Who exactly is to blame for this strange relationship? Go!

Source – GamePro

Microsoft Admits they “Lost Their Way” with Halo: Reach, ODST

halo lost its way

I know, I know, this is another gaming industry trash talk article, but bear with me for a minute. Now that Bungie has said good-bye to Halo, Microsoft has taken up the banner, trumping up their upcoming schedule of Halo titles like the Combat Evolved remake this fall and Halo 4 later next year. Since Halo 4 features the return of Master Chief, Microsoft’s Corporate VP Phil Spencer talked with OXM about bringing back the O.G. Spartan and why Halo 4 evokes the spirit of the first Halo. I get that he’s promoting Halo 4, but the way he does it is kind of odd. Have a look at the quote, and see if anything strikes you as unusual.

“The key question for me in managing the studio and the creatives is ‘what is Halo?’, making sure Halo lives up to what I think gamers fell in love with [playing Combat Evolved],” Spencer told OXM at E3 after the new game’s official reveal.

“What does that mean? Playing Master Chief,” he said. “We kind of lost our way a little bit, I’ll say. And that’s why I wanted to make sure that at the unveiling of Halo 4, you knew you were playing Master Chief, that John was back. Because Master Chief is the John Wayne character of that universe, and that’s who you want to play.”

It’s the “we kind of lost our way a little bit” coupled with the fact that Mr. Spencer seems to think that Master Chief is what makes Halo Halo. Now that Bungie has officially parted ways with their old publisher, I think a little bit of resentment is starting to crop up in the 343 Industries office. Saying that Halo lost is way in ODST and Reach was a bit unfair, especially considering that Reach was lauded as the closest the series has ever come to emulating the magic of Halo: Combat Evolved.

I guess you could look at this from a story standpoint, but I just don’t think that gamers care that much about who they’re playing as in Halo, as long as the combat is fun and there’s co-op and multiplayer to boot. What do you guys think? Is Phil Spencer dissing Bungie, or does he geniunly believe that people want the Master Chief back really, really badly?

Source – OXM

Bungie’s Farewell to Halo

Master Chief

It had to happen at some point, folks. As somber as it is, Bungie is finally saying their official goodbye to the Halo series as of August 2nd, they’ll be handing control of Halo: Reach’s matchmaking, etc. over to 343 as they send their legendary franchise off to sea. Or the stars, as it were.

Here’s a bit from their farewell post:

Halo is yours now. In many ways, it always has been. Its new caretakers will strive, just as we did, to be worthy stewards but you have the package. Hold these characters and stories and worlds to the same unflinching standards you did while we were at the helm, but allow them all to blossom and change and grow in the ways that they must.

As such, Bungie says they’ll be running dark after August 2nd, as they continue work on their newest endeavor, a brand new universe that they’re building for publisher Activision. Their final words? “See you starside.”

So how do you guys feel about Halo passing hands? I know some of you don’t care very much about it, and I know we also have some fanboys, myself included. Love it or loathe it, it’s hard to deny such a monumental series and its power, and I’ll be curious to see what happens to it in the future. Thoughts, friends?

Source – Bungie

Twenty Minutes of BioShock Infinite Gameplay for Your Friday

Yes, you read that right, twenty minutes of BioShock Infinite gameplay have been gifted to us by the boss of all bosses, GTTV’s Geoff Keighley. In reality it’s a fifteen minute demo book-ended by Ken Levine of Irrational Games chatting about Infinite, but that’s nothing to scoff at either.

One of my big gaming resolutions for 2011 and beyond was to not get dragged into the hype train and consume every piece of media I can get my hands on, but given the quality of what I’ve seen, that pledge has been tough to hold up. Even though BioShock Infinite isn’t coming out until 2012, it’s got me salivating like a fat dude jogging past an ice cream store. What did you guys think of this demo, which was originally shown to journalists at E3? Looking good?

iCEnhancer, the Stunning Grand Theft Auto IV Mod

Hello, gorgeous Liberty City. If you haven’t heard, iCEnhancer is a mod, created by modder iCE La GlacE, that will add a set of visual and behind-the-scenes improvements to Grand Theft Auto IV on the PC. Among these technical upgrades are new car models, high-res textures for roads, buildings and the like, some fancy visual enhancements and even smart new AI that allows NPCs to break the law. While some of that might sound like old hat, a new video demonstration of the visual effects should prove otherwise.

This video pretty much did what I thought was impossible – it made me miss Liberty City and also made me hungry for Grand Theft Auto V. As much as I’ve bagged on GTA IV in the past (which I won’t do again here), the city was seriously a technical marvel. Even in the midst of some of the game’s issues, I was always amazed at what Rockstar did with Liberty City, and to see it re-created in such a way is actually sort of breathtaking. See for yourselves.

Thoughts?

Source – Edge