Metareview: Fuse

Fuse didn't light up Dave's life. He gave Insomniac's latest just two stars out of five in our review, deeming the game "satisfactory at best and frustrating at worst, and a bare-bones shooter without any personality or flair."

Of course, we're not the only outlet you can wire into. Here's a brief meta-view of the mixed review-verse discussion sparked by Fuse.

• Escapist (80/100): "Some of Fuse's flaws, like the grindy boss fights and a storyline that takes itself a little too seriously at times, can harm the experience, but it's a well built third-person shooter that's fun to play solo or on a team."
• GameSpot (70/100): "Fuse is calibrated for people to play together, designed in such a way as to be merely serviceable for solo players, but solid fun for groups of gung-ho mercs."
• Polygon (65/100): " The core of a great third-person shooter is present in Fuse. The team-based insanity offers a unique take on the genre, and Insomniac's reputation for inventive weapons and creative combat helps too. But Fuse only comes together with three or four players, and even then, the late game combat design and boring-to-fight enemies stand in its way."
• Giant Bomb (60/100): "Fuse's bland art design and overall lack of personality are disappointing in the context of that initial reveal trailer, but under the hood it's still a generally well made third-person shooter with a clear emphasis on co-op and the imaginative weapons Insomniac is so good at dreaming up. But there are too few of those weapons, and a few too many irksome issues, to lift Fuse significantly above the many, many other cover-based shooters it's competing with."
• Destructoid (40/100): "Whether it's true or not, Fuse does feel every bit like another victim of the heavily focus-tested, leader following, perpetually terrified mainstream game industry. It's every cloying and desperate element of the retail console market, brought together -- fused, if you will -- to create a factory standard example of a game that tries to be everything the hypothetical mainstream consumer drools over, and ends up as nothing remarkable...That's Fuse in a nutshell."

Metareview: Fuse originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 29 May 2013 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Resident Evil: Revelations review: Any port in a storm

The 3DS is no graphical slouch. Aside from the glasses-free 3D feature, the system can kick out some impressive scenery, and it did so with last year's Resident Evil Revelations, a well-made little horror shooter in a series that's been looking for a lifeboat lately. After launching Resident Evil 6 fewer than six months ago, Capcom seems to think HD platforms need even more Resident Evil love, and so this week Revelations hits Xbox 360, PS3, Windows PCs, and the Wii U.

Playing it in enhanced form on an HD console, however, feels just a little goofy. The textures do look excellent, but the game's models are clearly made for a more lightweight graphics engine, which means you get characters with hair frozen in place and enemies with just a few animations to use over and over again. Revelations was made for a handheld machine, and its designers cut corners that the other platforms would have let them curve around more gracefully.

But Revelations' saving grace is that it's a Resident Evil game, and it's a good Resident Evil game at that. For that reason, fans of the series who missed out the first time around will probably appreciate the chance to see it for themselves.

Gallery: Resident Evil: Revelations (5/20/13)

Continue reading Resident Evil: Revelations review: Any port in a storm

Resident Evil: Revelations review: Any port in a storm originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 May 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Dying Light adds a dash of Parkour to Techland's zombie tour

Techland is keeping its zombie vendetta going in Dying Light, a new first-person action game coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2014, care of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

The ruined-world game hinges on a realistic day/night cycle, as well as the agility and Parkour skills of the protagonist turned traceur. Day is pitched as a preparation phase, in which you scavenge a warmly lit urban wasteland for supplies and craft weapons to fend off undead walkers. The night requires a stealthier approach, if not a swift homeward retreat from deadlier monsters.

Combat in Dying Light appears to be largely based on upgradeable melee weaponry (eg. an electrified machete), with bone-breaking blows triggering an x-ray visual effect. Zombies can also be pushed into spiked walls with a jump-kick to the chest.

The frequency of fighting drops once night arrives and faster, more powerful creatures emerge. These can be detected via an on-screen pulse - one of the abilities you have by virtue of being an infected human yourself. When the monsters of the night do give chase, the camera can quickly flip 180 degrees to show their proximity, even while you dash and vault in the opposite direction. Movement certainly appears to be more fluid than in Techland's Dead Island, with which Dying Light shares a theme of smashing zombies in the tropical sun.

The openness of the environment, overall game structure and the true nature of nightfall, the publisher says, are details left for another day.

Gallery: Dying Light (2013-05-23)

Dying Light adds a dash of Parkour to Techland's zombie tour originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 23 May 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nintendo mass-claims revenue from YouTube 'Let's Play' videos

A number of YouTube members report that Nintendo is issuing "Content ID Match" copyright claims en masse for videos featuring gameplay from its published titles.

The move appears to target the "Let's Play" community, in particular. Let's Play series authors often produce full video walkthroughs of featured games, with voiced or subtitled commentary accompanying gameplay.

When a "Content ID Match" is claimed for a YouTube clip, the claimant is given the right to place an advertisement at the beginning or the end of the video. Content ID Matches differ from DMCA takedown notices or outright video removals, in that matched videos remain viewable by the public and do not count as a copyright strike against their producers. All revenue earned from views, however, will go to the content's copyright owner, rather than the video uploader. The act is common for publishers like Activision, Electronic Arts, and Square Enix, but it's only recently that Nintendo has joined in the practice.

Multiple affected authors have come forward on Reddit to confirm Nintendo's new policy. To date, Nintendo's Content ID Matching spree seems to focus on recent releases like Super Mario 3D Land, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, and New Super Mario Bros. U. Currently, Let's Play videos for older Nintendo-published games are unaffected.

Nintendo explains its position in a statement issued to GameFront: "As part of our on-going push to ensure Nintendo content is shared across social media channels in an appropriate and safe way, we became a YouTube partner and as such in February 2013 we registered our copyright content in the YouTube database.

"For most fan videos this will not result in any changes, however, for those videos featuring Nintendo-owned content, such as images or audio of a certain length, adverts will now appear at the beginning, next to or at the end of the clips. We continually want our fans to enjoy sharing Nintendo content on YouTube, and that is why, unlike other entertainment companies, we have chosen not to block people using our intellectual property."

Nintendo mass-claims revenue from YouTube 'Let's Play' videos originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 16 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Destiny live-action trailer explores the law of the land

A new trailer for Destiny brings Bungie's new world into the live-action realm - with plenty of CG and story time with Breaking Bad's infamous villain. In the video, we learn about the law of the land in the upcoming, online-focused shooter, thanks to a passage from Rudyard Kipling's The Second Jungle Book.

Earlier this morning, Bungie sent Joystiq a copy of the classic story, featuring a highlighted passage detailing "The Law of the Jungle" and a note promising to see us at E3 2013. The video promises a "worldwide gameplay reveal" during Sony's E3 2013 press conference on June 10, 2013.

The passage from the book - as spoken in the trailer - reads: "Now this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky, And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack." A fitting passage, considering Destiny's focus as an "always-on, persistent world adventure."

According to Variety, the ad - starring Giancarlo Esposito - was directed by Jon Favreau and produced by the ad shop 72 and Sunny, with visual effects from Digital Domain. Esposito and Favreau had previously worked together on the pilot of NBC's Revolution, which stars the standout boss figure from Breaking Bad. The ad will also be broadcast during Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference Finals on May 25.

Destiny is launching on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2014.

Continue reading Destiny live-action trailer explores the law of the land

Destiny live-action trailer explores the law of the land originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 23 May 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Atari Inc. seeks to generate $22M by auctioning assets in July

Atari Inc., the US branch of French parent company Atari S.A., filed for court approval this week to auction its assets in July. Those assets include the Atari logo, as well as the Test Drive, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Asteroids, and Pong franchises among others.

As Reuters and the Wall Street Journal reports, Atari Inc., which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year in a bid to sell its assets and separate itself from Atari S.A., has failed to secure a "stalking horse" or lead bidder since then. Atari Inc. approached more than 180 parties about purchasing assets, but only 15 came back with preliminary bids. Atari Inc. didn't deem a single bid acceptable to set the minimum price for the division's clearout.

As it is, Atari Inc.'s own listed minimum bids for the July auction total "nearly $22.2 million." They include $15 million for the Atari brand, $3.5 million for the Rollercoaster Tycoon franchise, $1.5 million for Test Drive, and RTS franchise Total Annihilation at just $250,000. Atari Inc. has already secured $5 million through debtor-in-possession financing. While the auction is still pending court approval, Atari Inc aims to hold it between July 16 and July 19.

While the Atari name is synonymous with the arcade's pioneering years, Atari Inc. traces its roots to a company called GT Interactive, founded in 1993. GT Interactive was eventually acquired by French company Infogrames Entertainment, and in 2001 Infogrames seized Atari Corporation and its Atari properties through the purchase of Hasbro Interactive. In 2009, Infrogrames renamed itself as Atari S.A., with what was GT Interactive by then renamed as Atari Inc.

After some forty or so years that have seen the Atari brand transfer across several entities, if things go to plan then in two months time it'll find itself at a new home once more. What the ramifications of that sale would be for Atari S.A., financially and nominally, are unclear.

In a financial statement published on May 15, Atari S.A. said, "Faced with the uncertainties relating to the proceedings that are underway in the US, where the Group's strategic assets and most of its business are located, the outcome of the Chapter 11 proceedings in the US will be decisive for all the stakeholders." The statement also reveals Atari S.A. recently sold the ownership of its Outcast franchise for a "nominal amount," and negotiations are underway at similar prices for its Desperados and Silver franchises.

Atari Inc. seeks to generate $22M by auctioning assets in July originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 23 May 2013 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

GRID 2 BAC Mono Edition is £125,000

You might be thinking that some countries use commas instead of decimal points, but the headline above does indeed say one hundred and twenty-five thousand British Pounds ($188,700). You might also think that's awfully expensive for the special edition of a racing game (any game, really), but allow us to put things in perspective. The GRID 2 BAC Mono Edition isn't so much a special edition of a game as it is a luxury sports car that happens to come with a game.

Specifically, the BAC Mono Edition comes with the Mono, essentially a street legal formula racing car. Also included is a racing suit and helmet, a copy of GRID 2 and a PlayStation 3 on which to play it. According to BAC's website, a Mono with no frills has a base price of £96,495 ($145,919), and that's before throwing in VAT. Only one copy of the BAC Mono Edition is being manufactured, making it something a collector's item. You can place your pre-order exclusively with GAME. Oh, and shipping is free.

Not to be left out, Best Buy is hosting a special edition of GRID 2 in North America. It includes the IndyCar DLC pack and retails for $59.99.

GRID 2 comes out next week.

Gallery: Grid 2 (BAC Mono Edition)

Continue reading GRID 2 BAC Mono Edition is £125,000

GRID 2 BAC Mono Edition is £125,000 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 24 May 2013 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Need for Speed Rivals floors it to Xbox One, PS4 'later this year', PC and current-gen consoles Nov. 19

Recently renamed developer Ghost Games and the fellow racing fanatics at Criterion Games have banded together for Need for Speed Rivals: a new game that represents the franchise's first drift into the next-gen console world (which is not to be confused with the 2005 handheld spinoff).

Powered by Frostbite 3, Rivals aims to utilize the power of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 to give players "the freedom to seamlessly go from single player to co-op to multiplayer" when it releases "later this year." [Update: This story has been updated for accuracy, removing mention of a release window for the next-gen versions from an outdated release draft.]

Need for Speed Rivals transports players to the fictitious Redview County, an open-world environment where players can take on the role as either street racer or police officer. Like Most Wanted before it, racers aim to become the most infamous person behind the wheel, while cops attempt to work together to drive the area's high-risk inhabitants off the road. Players can personalize the experience with custom license plates, paint, liveries decals and rims, and performance upgrades.

Current-generation consoles will also join the rivalry - powered by its own version of Frostbite 3 - on November 19. A PC version is also in the works.

Gallery: Need for Speed: Rivals

Continue reading Need for Speed Rivals floors it to Xbox One, PS4 'later this year', PC and current-gen consoles Nov. 19

Need for Speed Rivals floors it to Xbox One, PS4 'later this year', PC and current-gen consoles Nov. 19 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 23 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Denis Dyack speaks up on X-Men: Destiny mismanagement allegations

It may not be the timeliest response, but Denis Dyack is speaking out against allegations that the very poorly received X-Men: Destiny was the result of catastrophic mismanagement on the part of developer Silicon Knights. Dyack recently left his role as the head of Silicon Knights to join Precursor games, developer of the coming Eternal Darkness spiritual successor, Shadow of the Eternals. As Precursor is seeking crowdfunding for the project, and Dyack is serving as its chief creative officer, it seems the company believes he has some 'splaining to do.

The allegations sprung from a Kotaku article penned by freelance writer Andrew McMillen last October. In a 30-minute YouTube response, Dyack categorically denies statements made in the article, saying that "there isn't any hard evidence whatsoever besides non-credible anonymous sources." Dyack added that Silicon Knights refused to submit any comments for the article in question, as it would have appeared to lend credence to what he sees as untrue allegations.

Dyack then reads a letter he alleges was written by McMillen to an anonymous source. The letter states that McMillen's article was initially refused by Wired games editor Chris Kohler, who cited a lack of facts and documentation, apart from the comments from anonymous ex-employees. Dyack goes on to say that "not only did Silicon Knights not divert funds from X-Men: Destiny to our other projects, which I can't talk about, we actually put more money into X-Men: Destiny than what we were paid." Dyack says he and Silicon Knights worked with Activision and Marvel to make Destiny as good as it could be and, while he's sorry for how it turned out, he says, "We put nothing but our best efforts" into the game.

Dyack also admitted to saying some things he "shouldn't have said in the press" regarding X-Men Destiny, adding, "I've learned my lesson." The same mistakes won't be made again, he says. The video goes on to address other concerns, such as Silicon Knights' relationship with Nintendo, and Dyack has also posted a litany of related references on Precursor's forums.

Denis Dyack speaks up on X-Men: Destiny mismanagement allegations originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 May 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Xbox One may require game installs, close out used game market [Update]

Update [8:00pm]: In an attempt to further clarify the confusion, Major Nelson wrote on his blog: "While there have been many potential scenarios discussed, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail. Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific scenarios." Fees, however, appear to be part of the plan, with Major Nelson noting that players will not have to pay a fee to play a game at their friend's house, so long as they are connected to the Xbox profile associated with that game. Presumably, that means games are locked to accounts initially. Joystiq will have detailed interviews with Microsoft executives to clarify this matter, once and for all.

Original Post: The Xbox One may shut the door on the used gaming market, according to a report on Wired.

Microsoft's new system will allow - and possibly require - games to be installed to the console's 500GB hard drive, which locks a piece of software to an account, the report states. Once installed, players do not require a disc to boot the software. If a game is used with a second account, that owner will be given the option to pay a fee and install the experience on their own console, Microsoft told Wired. Whether "account" means an entirely new console or another Xbox Live account on the same console, is unclear.

Though Microsoft wouldn't get into specifics as to how this decision affects the used game market, the decision calls into doubt the viability of rental services such as GameFly and RedBox, and used game markets from major retailers such as GameStop, Amazon and BestBuy, with the Xbox One.

Wired's feature says that Xbox One's always-on internet connection rumors were not unfounded, but not as draconian as gamers feared. Developers will have the option to create games that use Microsoft's Azure cloud computing service, which Wired postulates could be done to offload certain computing tasks in the cloud rather than processing them on the console. In this instance, the Xbox One would require a connection to the internet - even during single-player experiences.

Microsoft says this is not a requirement for developers that wish to create offline experiences; however, Microsoft's Marc Whitten told Wired they "hope" developers utilize the tools. The Xbox One's sometimes needs to be on connection could evolve, throughout the generation, as an always-on machine.

Update [4:50pm]: Wired has updated its original feature noting that Microsoft contacted them to clarify a plan is in place for used games, but did not detail it. One of Microsoft's official Xbox Support twitter accounts says there are in fact "no fees" associated with used games and the Wired feature is incorrect. Wired's updated article still makes mention of a fee. Joystiq is at the Microsoft event and will attempt to clear the confusion.

Update [2:50pm]: In a post answering "top questions" about the Xbox One, the official Microsoft page notes the system "does not have to be always connected, but Xbox One does require a connection to the Internet." Additionally Microsoft notes that in the case of pre-owned software, the Xbox one is designed "to enable customers to trade in and resell games. We'll have more details to share later." The Q&A makes no mention of the fees confirmed by Microsoft to Wired. The Q&A post from Microsoft's official page appears to have been removed.

Xbox One may require game installs, close out used game market [Update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 21 May 2013 14:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Relocate your team in Madden 25's franchise owners mode

EA Sports lifted the curtains today on one of its core additions to Madden 25 this year, Connected Franchise owners mode. In it, players take on the role of team owner, setting prices for tickets and concessions as well as having the option to relocate teams to both domestic and international cities. Owners also handle the hiring of team personnel, such as scouts, trainers and coaches, and they answer questions from the media. Players will manage stadium upgrades and market their superstar athletes so fans will buy their jerseys, increasing their teams' yearly profit.

The options to import draft classes from EA's NCAA Football series and take control of all 32 teams in the Connected Careers mode were woefully absent from last year's game, but will return to Madden 25. Additionally, the game's primary career mode will receive a face-lift thanks to an improved user interface that includes a transaction log to follow the movement of players from team to team. The mode's UI includes a new Trade Center, allowing users to see what other teams are offering for players and draft picks so they can top their opponents' bids.

Lastly, Madden 25 will feature more media personalities for the career mode's in-game Twitter feed, such as ESPN fantasy analyst Matthew Berry and Fox Sports NFL writer Peter Schrager. It will also receive new legendary players and coaches, including Mike Ditka and William "The Refrigerator" Perry.

Gallery: Madden NFL 25 (Connected Franchise)

Relocate your team in Madden 25's franchise owners mode originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 May 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Why Defiance's 'fun now, depth later' is great for MMORPGs

This is a weekly column from freelancer Rowan Kaiser, which focuses on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity.

I had my World of Warcraft year. In 2007, when 'The Burning Crusade' came out, the game clicked with me and it became almost the only thing I played for months on end, to the point where I started raiding with an up-and-coming guild. I know many other people who've had that year, with WoW or some other massively multiplayer game, before they lost interest, burnt out, or continued out of habit more than joy. In the last year or so, I've tried several massively-multiplayer role-playing games - Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guild Wars 2, The Secret World - and couldn't find that magic again. I could admire the design, but quickly lost interest in playing them. I was starting to think I'd never really like a massively multiplayer game again - and then, on a whim, I decided to check out Defiance.

Defiance is the main game I've been playing for two weeks now, and this may continue. It's not that it's less flawed than the other MMORPGs, but instead that the parts of the game that it focuses on hold much more appeal to me. To put it another way: Most games within this genre are focused on combat, and Defiance's combat is significantly more fun for me than its competitors'.

Gallery: Defiance (PAX East 2012)

Continue reading Why Defiance's 'fun now, depth later' is great for MMORPGs

Why Defiance's 'fun now, depth later' is great for MMORPGs originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 19 May 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments