Tag Archives | Gaming

Call of Duty 3D Won’t Be Gaming’s Avatar

Posted by Jared Newman on October 5, 2010 at 12:57 pm

By several accounts, Call of Duty: Black Ops looks pretty awesome in 3D.

The raves are already in from journalists at USA Today, Kotaku, UGO, and Joystiq, all of whom sampled Call of Duty’s 3D effects at a preview event, and gave their approval despite a few complaints of mild discomfort. Activision announced today that the game, which arrives November 9 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC, will include a 3D option for all platforms.

Enthusiasm from the press will certainly help to push interest in 3D televisions, but Call of Duty: Black Ops isn’t as gifted a 3D salesman as the film Avatar. Unlike movies, video games don’t have a theater for selling the experience.

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How Panasonic’s Jungle Portable Game Device Can Survive

Posted by Jared Newman on October 5, 2010 at 9:39 am

Panasonic has barely announced the Jungle, a tank-like portable game console, and already the skepticism is piling up.

Rightfully so; the Jungle comes at a time when smartphones endanger handheld game consoles (and all standalone mobile gadgets). It also has an oddball concept of supporting massive multiplayer online games, and brings the bitter taste of the 3DO, Panasonic’s failed home console from the mid-1990s.

But I prefer optimism. The Linux-based Jungle reminds me of the Pandora handheld, which is finding some niche success, and it has potential for major content partnerships, like the marquis title Battlestar Galactica Online. And according to Gizmodo’s unnamed source, the Jungle has an awesome screen, a touch pad, a D-pad and a keyboard — basically everything you need to play games. I’m not ready to write off the Jungle until we know more about it. In the meantime, I can think of several ways the Jungle could be taken more seriously.

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A Stinky Old Plan for Video Game Smell-O-Vision

Posted by Jared Newman on October 4, 2010 at 11:34 am

Scent is pretty much an untouchable dimension for multimedia. I doubt that many people pine for the ability to whiff what they’re seeing on the screen in front of them, and besides, delivering smell is impractical outside of big-ticket events.

Decades ago, Hideo Kojima, who’s best known for directing the Metal Gear Solid series of games, had a solution for the latter issue, at least. According to a post on Twitter, found by Kotaku, Kojima wanted the stench of blood to hover over Snatcher, one of his earliest games.

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Taliban Scrubbed From Medal of Honor Multiplayer

Posted by Jared Newman on October 1, 2010 at 8:22 am

The cops and robbers gunplay in Medal of Honor’s multiplayer mode will no longer include the Taliban.

Instead, enemy players will be known as the “Opposing Force.” Taliban will still be part of the single-player campaign in Electronic Arts’ modern war shooter, which will be released on October 12.

Greg Goodrich, Medal of Honor’s executive producer, said Taliban were removed from the game’s multiplayer mode out respect to friends and family of fallen soldiers, some of whom showed concern. “This is a very important voice to the Medal of Honor team,” Goodrich wrote in a blog post. “This is a voice that has earned the right to be listened to. It is a voice that we care deeply about.”

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Xbox 360’s New Software: An Incomplete Review

Posted by Jared Newman on September 29, 2010 at 9:00 am

Microsoft is making a yearly tradition of updating the Xbox 360, once again bringing new features to the console.

This time around, the main attractions are ESPN, Zune Pass (if you have a subscription) and a better version of Netflix. The Xbox 360 software also gets a minor face lift. Microsoft let me try the new Xbox 360 software before its public release, and while I can’t take full advantage of ESPN (more on that later), the other changes are still enough to solidify the Xbox 360’s standing as the best software experience on a game console — provided you’re willing to pay for Xbox Live.

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A Peak at Nintendo 3DS Pricing

Posted by Jared Newman on September 29, 2010 at 8:24 am

In the most unceremonious fashion — a financial forecast — Nintendo announced the price and release date for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan.

The Nintendo 3DS will launch on February 26 for 25,000 yen (roughly $300). It’ll arrive in the United States and Europe in March at the earliest, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

(Update: Nintendo also held a press event in Japan with lots of 3DS announcements. Kotaku has the final specs and some good news: Nintendo DSi owners who bought downloadable games will be able to transfer them to the 3DS.)

If history’s any indication, the 3DS will cost less than $300 in the United States. As Gaming Age points out, the DSi XL, Nintendo’s latest handheld, sells for 18,000 yen in Japan (roughly $215 now), and $170 stateside. My completely speculative, uninformed guess? $250 in the United States.

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All of Kinect’s Gotchas in One Video From Microsoft

Posted by Jared Newman on September 28, 2010 at 12:55 pm

With almost a month to go until Microsoft launches Kinect for Xbox 360, the company released a video showing how to set up the motion sensing camera, and it’s a doozy.

The rundown is almost four minutes long (watch it at Kotaku) and runs through a list of ideal conditions you must achieve to get the best performance from Kinect. To wit:

  • The camera should be in line with the television, and as close to the top or bottom as possible.
  • You need at least 6 feet between you and the camera, preferably more, and three to four feet on each side.
  • You’ll want to clean up clutter on the floor, so Kinect can get a good reading of the room.
  • Try to have even lighting throughout the room, because dark spots can affect how the camera sees you.
  • Background noise confuses Kinect’s microphones, so you must keep the camera away from speakers and subwoofers, and don’t put it on the Xbox itself.

I’m definitely feeling disqualified after going through these requirements. The coffee table in my living room would definitely have to go, and even then, space is tight. And with no overhead lights (I have high ceilings and use a tall lamp), achieving even lighting could be a problem. At least my floor is tidy.

That said, I’m glad Microsoft released this video. Being honest ahead of time about what Kinect requires is far better than pretending the camera will work anywhere. (For what it’s worth, Sony says the Playstation Move performs fine in poor lighting, but it reportedly works best when you’re eight feet from the camera. The Wii’s instruction manual says to stay at least three feet away from the TV for safety’s sake.)

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Metroid Bug Fixed By Mail

Posted by Jared Newman on September 27, 2010 at 6:22 pm

Solid proof that Nintendo underestimates the value of Internet connectivity: Instead of issuing a patch for a game-stopping bug in Metroid: Other M for the Wii, the company is instructing players to send in their SD cards — with game save files enclosed — for repair by snail mail.

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Innocent Mad Catz Controllers Killed in PS3 Counterfeit Crackdown

Posted by Jared Newman on September 27, 2010 at 1:27 pm

A recent Playstation 3 firmware update has blocked knock-off Playstation 3 controllers, but not without taking down a few legitimate third-party controllers from Mad Catz.

The Mad Catz controllers that no longer work with the Playstation 3’s latest firmware are the 2008 Wireless PS3 GamePad, 2008 Wired PS3 GamePad and PS3 Wireless MicroCon. Mad Catz will replace the controllers if they’re within the standard warranty of five years, GamesIndustry.biz reports, so anyone who acts before 2012 should be fine.

Why Sony is cracking down on counterfeit Playstation 3 controllers now is unclear. Sony’s official line is that fake controllers have been spotted in the market, and they’re prone to igniting or exploding.

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On Xbox 360, Super Meat Boy Finds Free Level Loophole

Posted by Jared Newman on September 24, 2010 at 8:46 am

Free downloadable content has become somewhat of a rarity for console video games. The fees for getting extra levels and multiplayer maps approved by the console maker, and the need to cover increasingly high development costs with post-release content, means you just don’t get a lot of freebies anymore.

Team Meat, developers of the upcoming Super Meat Boy, have discovered a workaround, at least on the Xbox 360. The game — a two-dimensional throwback platformer, like Super Mario Bros. with twisted humor — will store new level data under “Title Managed Storage,” a section of Microsoft’s servers usually used for non-essential data like weather, sports game rosters and other settings. By storing level data instead, Team Meat can offer new Super Meat Boy levels at no extra charge, and at no cost to them.

To boot, what a quote from Super Meat Boy co-developer Tommy Refenes (asterisks mine): “In a world where it costs $2 to unlock content in a game that you’ve already purchased it is nice to have the power to totally say ‘f*** you’ to that system and go our own way.”

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