Machinima: Gears of War 3: What Have I BecomePosted by Eddy on July 28th, 2010

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: TheDuoGroup makes some of my favorite machinima out there. Their new piece, a trailer created for Gears of War 3 titled What Have I Become, might be some of their best work. It was created in collaboration with Dave Tyner of Treadster Media.

Anyway, I don’t watch too much machinima these days, but I’m sure to catch everything these guys put out. Honestly, this got me more pumped for Gears of War 3 than anything else has to date. Give it a watch!

Valve Dishing Out Alien Swarm Free Today on SteamPosted by Eddy on July 19th, 2010

Today, Valve is releasing something special that many PC gamers are sure to freak out over. I have to admit, I am not one of the rabid denizens of the Unreal 2004 community that played the junk out of the now famous mod known as Alien Swarm, but I’ve heard all about it from friends of mine who swear that it is one of the most fun multiplayer co-op games that they have ever experienced.

If you don’t know of the history behind it, Alien Swarm was a top-down mod for UT 2004 that allowed 4 players to battle it out, Diablo style, against legions of aliens with totally awesome weapons. Valve then hired the team behind its inception to help them build Left 4 Dead. Apparently the team has had some free time on its hands these days, and have produced a good and proper Source engine version of their beloved classic, which releases today on Steam.

The best part? It’s absolutely free. I’m going to be playing this tonight for sure. Who’s with me?

Did any of you guys play the original? Go!

Rumor: Mysterious Video Points to Modern Warfare 2 Subscription Plan?Posted by Mitch on July 19th, 2010

On the internet, everything must be taken with a grain of salt, which is why Wikipedia is no longer a valid source for information when writing a paper for school. Simply put, there are too many untrustworthy people who are much, much smarter than the vast majority of us, and they use their talents to disguise erroneous facts as the truth. This video, though, seems to be pretty legitimate to me. Apparently an X-Box LIVE user attempted to connect to a friend’s game, only to be bounced to a Marketplace page that announced that a Membership plan was necessary, but not available yet. Take a look at the video and decide for yourself.

The top of the screen clearly has the beginning of “membership” before it is cut off by the size limitation. What do you guys think? Will Modern Warfare 2 follow a WoW-based route, or is this for something different? Treat this as a rumor for now until we have official word from Activision. It wouldn’t surprise me, though.

May Video Games Sales Tell a Sad TalePosted by Mitch on July 6th, 2010

To be honest with you guys, I totally dug Alan Wake. Like I mentioned in my review, that game was a breath of fresh air, something different in an industry inundated with first person shooters and movie tie-ins. Unfortunately, games don’t move copies on the adoration of one man alone, and Alan Wake has had a disappointing showing in its debut month, shifting only 145,000 copies to date. While there are many reasons that games don’t sell, I’m kind of puzzled by the fact that Wake got left behind. The game reviewed fairly well and was backed up by a decent marketing push, but it still barely managed to crack 100,000 copies.

Of course, one good reason could be Red Dead Redemption, which sold an outstanding 1,513,000 in May alone, more than ten fold what Alan Wake did. That sort of number boggles my mind, especially considering that it’s in the typical video game sales “dry season”. Big name games don’t usually sell that well until the end of the year, so kudos to Rockstar on once again proving that they know how to make damn fine games and sell them well. We can expect that number to go up again once the holiday season hits, so don’t be surprised if Red Dead ends up being one of the best selling titles of the year.

Despite Red Dead’s success over Alan Wake, Microsoft has still maintained that it is interested in ongoing downloadable content for the game, something that could help boost sales and even get us a sequel. One game that isn’t going to be coming back, however, is Alpha Protocol. While the game was by no means terrible (Anthony had a good review for it), it didn’t sell enough for SEGA to justify a second showing. I guess the story that May tells is that new IPs are still a very tough sell in the industry, despite the fact that core gamers clamor for new, original properties. Red Dead is more of a reboot than anything, but it’s still a successor to a previous game with a similar name.

What do you guys think of May’s somber news? Are you thrilled for Red Dead or sad for Alan Wake and Alpha Protocol?

Source(s): 1up and VG247.com

Review: Transformers: War for CybertronPosted by Mitch on July 1st, 2010

There are some licensed properties that cry out for a decent video game adaption, and one of those is Transformers. When the basic premise is “giant robots beating the crap out of each other” you really have to try hard to mess that up. So far this generation, we’ve had two less than stellar attempts to cash in on the giant-bot franchise, and both of those fell flat (though that may have something to do with them being movie tie-ins). Now, High Moon Studios, the company responsible for the moderately-successful Bourne game, has gotten behind the wheel and is trying to steer Transformers in a better direction. Does the game deliver the goods, or does it perish in a Michael Bay-style explosion?
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New Kid Icarus Game Will Look at “Lack of Creativity” in GamingPosted by Mitch on June 29th, 2010

There’s a new Kid Icarus game coming to the Nintendo 3DS, and most of us are understandably excited. Aside from an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Pit has sadly been absent from the gaming scene since the NES. While we’re excited to just have him back in our gaming systems, Masahiro Sakurai the game’s lead designer, is using Uprising to address what he feels is “an overriding problem with a lot of game design.” The full quote goes like this:

“I’ve found that, in the established genres, the controls are always the same. For example, in shooting games, you find first-person-shooters utilize all of the buttons on the controller and always do the same thing — the stick is for moving, triggers for shooting and they’re always trapped in this very restricted framework for gameplay. And, that’s just not creative. It feels like people are taking this empty shell and just swapping out the story and art and whatnot. This time, with Kid Icarus, we wanted to address that certain problem and not only because I think the industry deserves it, but also because it’s a more satisfying experience personally.

That’s a very interesting perspective, and I can’t blame Sakurai-san for wanting to shake up the industry a bit. On the other hand, he cites first-person-shooters as an example, one that I feel isn’t that strong. Those games use a standardized control scheme because it works, and it’s what we’ve been using for a long while. Take the Orange Box, which used a different set-up for its controls, and how awkward that felt. They weren’t that different, but the buttons for reloading and melee were swapped around, and it took a few frustrating tries to get used to.

If you’re going to innovate in this industry, are controls the best way to go about it? Do you think that this idea has some merit, or is Sakurai-san barking up the wrong tree? Is the 3DS even the right platform to attempt this on?

Source: VG247

GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?Posted by Mitch on June 25th, 2010

Welcome to our semi-monthly open-forum post where we pose to you the simple question of “What Are You Playing”? It’s summer now, but the games keep on coming, so much so that I can barely keep up with them. I’ve completely skipped Final Fantasy 13, missed half of God of War 3, only just caught up on Heavy Rain, and I still feel like I’m struggling to stay current. It may have something to do with sinking about two days worth of playtime into Red Dead Redemption, but that game is awesome, so I’ll assume that you forgive me.

Other than that, there’s been a couple of co-op DLC releases, a licensed game that’s actually pretty good, and Steam is having a ridiculous sale right now (you can find all of the delicious savings through this link if you don’t follow us on Twitter). I think I’m going to pick up Torchlight since it’s so cheap. I’ve heard good things about it, but has anyone played it?

Also, before we jump in to your posts, I should mention that next week will be bereft of the GamerSushi podcast since Nick and Eddy are “ascending the slopes of Mount Doom” with Web Zeroes, as they put it. We’ll pick up where we left off with our normal format in a couple of weeks though. Hopefully you can wait a while before our dulcet tones, and my nasally voice, caress your ear canals once again. OK, enough blabbing on my part, get cracking!

Crackdown 2 and Demo AchievementsPosted by Mitch on June 23rd, 2010

This past Monday, the demo for Crackdown 2, the forthcoming open-world super-hero cop game, dropped on X-Box LIVE, and most of the GamerSushi crew have been getting skills for kills. One new thing that the trial introduced is the notion of “Demo Achievements”, a system where you can unlock specific goals before the full retail version comes out and they will be applied to your Gamerscore. While this is 360 centric, I do think it brings up a neat idea that Sony can probably start emulating in their demos.

While Achievements and Trophies are not popular amongst all gamers, accumulating points is something that most of us enjoy and the prospect of getting a bit more out of demos isn’t bad either. Of course, offering these Achievements may color the perception of the game, or produce a subconscious need to buy the game to get your points.

While I’m all for the prospect of unlocking Achievements in demos, I’d like to know how you guys feel. Is this a good idea, or will it hurt the nature of demos? Do you even care? Also, what are your Crackdown 2 impressions, if you’ve been playing it.

GamerSushi Asks: Favorite Co-Op Memories?Posted by Mitch on June 22nd, 2010

Ever since we’ve been able to use the internet to connect our consoles to each other, cooperative play is becoming more and more popular. I’m all for this, as I enjoy taking on waves of baddies with my friends just as much as I like shooting them in the face in a competitive match. There’s just something about co-op play that is altogether different and more satisfying than a straight-up Deathmatch game, but maybe that’s just because I’m a team player.

Both Red Dead Redemption and Battlefield Bad Company 2, two excellent games in their own rights, are getting co-op add-on packs today. Since both these games should be a blast to play with friends, I thought I would find out what your favorite co-op gameplay memories are. Do you have a specific recollection of you and a buddy (or several) holding out against AI antagonists, or maybe a particularly epic campaign playthrough to the wee hours of the morning? Let us know!

XCOM Returns as a First Person ShooterPosted by Mitch on June 17th, 2010

XCOM is one of the classics of the the PC gaming scene, an old-school strategy title where you waged war against alien invaders as the director of a Men In Black type organization. In the re-imagining of the series (done by Bioshock developers 2k Games), you still undertake the role of the leader, but instead of issuing orders from behind a desk, you step out into the field to meet the aliens mano a mano. A trailer dropped for the game during E3, and dang if it doesn’t look intense.

Set during the 1950s, this game bares more than a passing resemblance to another period-piece title from 2K that I mentioned above. While similarities aren’t exactly a bad thing, especially given the fact that this is probably the best team to turn XCOM into an FPS, it still remains to be seen whether this will help or hinder the game come release time. What do you guys think about XCOM? Eager to blast some symbiote-looking aliens, or upset about the change in genre?