Assassins Creed 2 Dev Diary

If you haven’t guessed it by now, I’m a big fan of developer diaries. I’ve found the string of Ubisoft ones particularly interesting, especially in regards to titles such as Splinter Cell and more recently, Assassin’s Creed 2. In this video, the creators delve into a few of the new gameplay tweaks, including the new banking system as well as gaining notoriety within certain factions. Both of these are cool because of the way they frame it within the context of history. I really can’t wait to see more of this game. What about you guys?

GamerSushi Asks: Day One Purchasing?

uncharted2One of the more interesting parts of each fall and winter is the decision about which games are worthy of purchase, and which are more up the rental alley. And let’s be honest, there’s nothing quite like the anticipation that leads up to a release of a game that you’ve been dying for. Whether I’m attending a midnight release (which doesn’t happen so often these days), picking up a game during lunch or after work, I love the build up before a new video game.
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Has Slayer Marred Shooters?

ctfI have been an FPS guy for years. Years upon years, even. I remember playing Wolfenstein 3D, Quake and Doom on my slow-as-balls PC, gunning away to my heart’s content. Eventually, as the Internet actually became a living, breathing entity that took hold of our collective psyche, I started jumping into multiplayer matches like they could sustain my very being.

I loved playing CTF gametypes in shooters, or planting bombs in Counter-Strike: Source. These were fun and interesting ways to play games that were essentially the same, and they added lots of depth to keep you playing for endless hours. But sometimes, things change.
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N64: Remembering the Multiplayer Madness

n64One of the first games I ever played with more than 2 people was Doom on the PC, when a friend of mine had several computers set up on a LAN. We would go over there after school and just kill each other for hours at a time. I had never experienced anything like it.

Multiplayer gaming is relatively new to the gaming world, having come to the forefront in maybe only the last 15 years or so. Growing up, playing games was always a single player ordeal, me and my fingers against cpu minions as I whittled away the summer hours beating whatever new piece of software I had in my possession. However, that all changed with PC gaming going online, and eventually, the home console.
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The Worst Online Gamers

online-gamersNothing is worse when playing a game online than getting stuck with some jerk on your own team. I mean, getting matched up against them is bad enough, but when you’re on the same team with them, you just have to put up with their garbage for the entire time you play, rather than just the occasional match-up. And the worst part about it is these jerks come up in all shapes and sizes.

So what are these different types of losers? GamesRadar has cataloged them in a recent article titled the 9 Worst Types of Gamer to Have on Your Team, and I have to say it’s pretty accurate. They run down the gobshite (trashtalker), the mute, the drill sergeant, the lone wolf and even the damsel, who always needs saving. There are plenty more, and all of them are hilarious, so I’d recommend reading up on the whole thing.

Which type of online gamer do you hate the most? Which category do you fall into? I’m part drill sergeant and part griefer. Woot!

Source- GamesRadar

Your System Sucks: A Rant About Fanboys

fanboy-3A few months ago, I wrote a feature about the things that are wrong with the gaming industry on the whole. Some of that had to do with the games themselves, some of it had to with the journalists that covered and reviewed them, and some of it had to do with the gamers that played them. In terms of gamers that are hurting gaming and its culture unknowingly, console and even PC fanboys rank right at the top.

What is a fanboy? A fanboy used to be someone that just played and loved their system or machine exclusively. I think we’ve all done this at some point in our lives. I remember loving the Sega Genesis and the Nintendo 64 and being just fine with not owning the rival systems.
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GamerSushi Asks: Would You Rather?

On the eve of E3, it’s time for gamers young and old to dream up a world of possibilities for our next year of gaming. With that in mind, I figured it was a great chance for a new Would You Rather.

In Would You Rather, I simply ask a series of questions, and you follow up with your answers. Give as much or as little explanation as you want for your choices, but we all know that we like to see the reasoning behind the madness.

Don’t let your answers suck, though. You’ll be tarred, feathered and quite possibly beaten like you stole something.

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Today’s WTF: Nintendo Likes to Tease

nintendo-skirtI know, harping on Nintendo for not making many hardcore games lately is a little old hat, but they just make it so darn easy to pick on them sometimes. Especially when they say ludicrous things. Take these recent comments from an interview with Denise Kaigler, Nintendo’s VP of Corporate Affairs, which insinuate that Nintendo is totally fine with the teasing relationship they’ve created with their disgruntled fanbase.

But absolutely, I will give you that hardcore gamers have an insatiable appetite for everything Nintendo, and we love that! We love that. When we get to a point where core gamers say, “OK, Nintendo, enough! We don’t need any more games from you guys….” None of us wants to be put in that position, right?

Oh, certainly not Nintendo. I know I hate being bombarded with lots of great gaming options to choose from. Hit the jump for the rest of the ridiculousness.
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GamerSushi Asks: Would You Rather?

Summer is almost here and it’s time to bust out all the games that you haven’t finished yet. I figured that means it’s time for another Would You Rather.

In Would You Rather, I simply ask a series of questions, and you follow up with your answers. Give as much or as little explanation as you want for your choices, but we all know that we like to see the reasoning behind the madness.

However, if your answers suck, there will be zombies marching upon your abode. Zombies spitting swine flu. So yeah, you’d better make it good.

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Sessler’s Soapbox: Japan, Take a Chance

It’s funny that in the newest edition of Sessler’s Soapbox, Adam Sessler should talk about the same thing I’ve been saying for a few months, most recently in last week’s feature about JRPG’s: Japanese developers have fallen off the rails. He lays out some of the issues and even mentions what part of the problem is, before offering a few solutions.

What do you guys think about this issue? Are Japanese devs playing catch-up to Western developers?

GamerSuShi Asks: Improving Next Gen Genres?

halo3After writing my feature, I got to thinking. This generation, while great and a lot of fun, is starting to pump out some of the same kinds of games over and over. Each year, we are waiting for 4 or 5 big profile games, all of which are shooters. Beyond that, music games have become the big thing as well, giving us still more of the same.

To me, it seems that each new generation of video games should bring with it innovations in each of the genres we know and love. And at this point, it’s like, “ok developers, we get it – you can make awesome FPS games”. We’ve pushed the shooter genre to exciting new leaps and bounds graphically and gameplay wise. But really, that’s where it stops.

So what can developers do to improve on other genres that we seem to be lacking? What genres are you starting to miss this generation. Personally, I feel like platformers are really falling by the wayside, as well as brawlers and fighting games. What about you guys? Thoughts?

Ridiculously Awful Video Game Commercials

Wow. Gaming commercials used to be awful. And not just regular awful. But a special, superior awful reserved only for the most atrocious of media follies. Here is a video with the best of the worst old school video game commercials. It’s hard to believe that anyone used to buy these games after these advertisements. Za za za Zelda!

So, which one is your favorite? Mine would have to be the Pole Position one. Anything that says it will leave skidmarks on my soul is something that I will keep in my heart forever.

E3 2009 Predictions

e3Now that we’re already halfway through the month of April (seriously?), that means the whole gaming realm inches closer to E3 2009, which takes place the first week of June. While the event isn’t quite the spectacle that it used to be, gaming studios take the few days with the press fairly seriously, and bring out their big guns, especially in terms of announcements.

We are now starting to hit that gaming news drought that comes in the month or so leading up to E3 where studios pull up the protective turtle shells and wait to unleash their megaton announcements all at once. In years past, we’ve gotten to see first glimpses of things like Halo, MGS, GTA, Zelda, and the like.

So what do you think we’ll hear at E3 this year? Any big and bold predictions? Personally, I think that one of the big 3 is going to mention a new console. They probably won’t be unveiling it or showing it at this point, but it wouldn’t shock me to get a tease of some kind. Also, I’m thinking we might see an announcement regarding a new Zelda game as well as something new from the Halo franchise.

What do you guys think? Make your predictions!

Has This Gen Lost the “Wow” Factor?

n64One of the defining moments in my life as a gamer happened at a locally owned video game store down the highway from my house. I remember I used to walk there every day, simply to see what used games I could pick up, or what new games they had on display. The owner even let you put in whatever you wanted so you could try it out right there.

One day, I walked up to the counter and saw a game I had never seen before: Super Mario 64. I was fascinated. Watching my favorite plumber fully realized in 3D was like nothing I had experienced. I waited in line and didn’t leave the store for another hour as I shot myself out of cannons and ran around in the lush green Mushroom Kingdom. I remember leaving the store that day fascinated, bewitched even by this game that had simply floored me. I was wowed.
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What are You Playing This Weekend?

deadrisingSince we’re just in the middle of a new gaming season with several major releases coming in the last couple of weeks, there seems to be plenty on the plate at the moment. Some people are playing these brand new titles, while others are still stuck on the ones that they got around the holidays.

Right now, I’m still playing a lot of Civilization Revolution, as well as some Valkyria Chronicles, Left 4 Dead, Gears of War 2 Horde Mode, and hopefully this weekend, a used copy of Dead Rising I picked up recently. I never really got to finish the game, so I’m excited about getting to really jump into it.

So, what are you guys playing lately? What are you playing this weekend? Go!

GamerSushi Asks: Rate Your Skill?

goldeneyeI remember back in the day, Goldeneye was the console multiplayer game of choice. Granted, that might have been because it was the only console multiplayer game, but even still… When it came to seeing who was the best at video games, Goldeneye was the game that we busted out.

And I owned at it. Seriously. Something about that game really stuck with me, and I just got it, really understood the way it worked. The funny thing is, I have still to this day never met a single person that could beat me at that game. Except for my brother.
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GamerSushi Asks: Video Game Binges

civrevI know we’ve had a feature on this before, but yesterday I went on a wild video game binge. I pretty much spent the whole day playing either Call of Duty: World at War or Civilization Revolution. It’s been some time since I’ve done this, and man, is it ever relaxing.

Basically, I spent almost a total of 10 hours rotating between solo and multiplayer on CoD, and playing a single player game of Civilization Revolution. Like I said, I don’t get to do that kind of thing anymore, so it really brought back some awesome memories. Some people don’t get that playing video games is a way that I majorly unwind when stressed, so the occasional binge is really just like therapy.

So, what was your last video game binge and what did it consist of? Go!

GamerSushi Asks: How Important Are HD Graphics?

crysisOne of the biggest hill that consoles war upon is the hill of graphics. Fanboys of ages past can easily recall arguments over which system or game had better graphics, and this has long been a standard for gamers to declare their position. In this newest generation, HD graphics have been given prime importance in the eyes of many, but is it the most important thing?

Apparently not, according to the masses. Loot Ninja posted an article about this very issue recently, looking at the successes of the current day, most notably that of the Nintendo Wii, which does not support HD resolutions of any kind. Studies seem to show that nearly 60 percent of minutes played on video games are played on the PS2, Wii, XBox or GameCube. I guess people haven’t gotten the next gen memo yet.

With many households not even being HD ready, this definitely makes sense. Personally, I’m not much of a graphics whore, but I definitely think that current consoles should maximize on the capabilities that HDTV offers. So what do you guys think? How important are HD graphics to you?

Source- Loot Ninja

Is The Drive For Realism Making Games Less Fun?

virtual-reality-8When I was a kid, realism is all anyone wanted out of video games. Virtual Reality was the buzzword of the times. If an enemy acted realistically, that was amazing. If a character’s portrait in a cut scene looked anything like the real thing, we were in awe. As graphics got better, the dream became closer to reality. Games like Flashback and Heart of Darkness wowed gamers with photorealistic graphics, crude by today’s standards, but jaw dropping back in the days when Kurt Cobain was still smashing guitars.

Even though graphics were getting more real, the gameplay was still crazy. Cloud and Sephiroth may look like real people in the cut scenes, but obviously no human could really wield that giant sword. This was a happy medium, but it never really set right with me. I preferred the awesome summons animations and the scenes with WEAPON and other unreal events. You know: stuff I have never seen.
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GamerSushi Asks: Would You Rather?

Since we’ve had a chance to get our hands on some of these long anticipated titles, it seemed only fitting for another version of “Would You Rather?”. We’re a big fan of how much you guys get involved on these.

In “Would You Rather’, I simply ask a series of questions, and you follow up with your responses. Give as much or as little explanation as you want with your answers.

Unless they suck. In that case, you will endure everlasting suffering at the hands of the video game ninjas. Trust me. They’re real.

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