FREE BONUS! THE = XBOX 360 / PLAYSTATION 3/ Wii /PSP/DS/' ™~ $6.99 US/CAN — SUMMER 2010 Ss & 06960 “6 THE KOMEBACK ISSUE Mild Language : Suggestive Themes a - — Vi 0 | e n G e = = PlayStation-Network y destiny, six must choose between ind, and saving themselves. W) © < = oso = ~~ Tee SAT Le WITHIN Beans 30 COVER STORY EGM EXCLUSIVE Mortal Kombat Go behind-the-scenes with creator Ed Boon and the develooment team at NetherRealm Studios for an insider's look at their 2D re-imagining of the Mortal Kombat franchise. WWWw.EQmMNoWw.comM ELECTRONIC G G SRR EEMONTHLY ISSUE 239.0 PUBLISHER AND FOUNDER Steve B. Harris CREATIVE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Billy Berghammer EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Brady Fiechter CONTENT EDITOR: Marc Camron ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Mark Bozon NEWS EDITOR: Kule Orland REVIEW CREW: Daniel Boutros. Paul Semel. Dan ‘Shoe’ Hsu; Brett Bates, Jasmine Rea. Aaron Thomas. Matt Cabral PC EDITOR: John Keefer iPhone/Pad EDITORS: Arnold Kim. Eli Hodapp. Blake Patterson. (www.TouchArcade.com) FEATURES WRITERS: Evan Shamoon. Tom Russo, Michael Thomsen. John Constantine, John Gaudiosi SAN FRANCISCO EDITOR: Douglas Perry UK EDITOR: Brun Williams VIDEO EDITORS: Areadty (Ryan O'Donnell. Matt Chandronait Jason Bertrand, Cesar Quintero) OTHER CONTRIBUTORS: Demian Linn. Brett Bates. Aaron Thomas. Greg Ford, Jason Wilson (wwwBitmob.com). seanbaby, Heather Campbell SPECIAL THANKS: Alexandra Hall ART DIRECTOR: Michael Hobbs ADDL DESIGN: Michael Stassus vW LUNTENIS EDITOR LETTER ap LOGIN a NEWS THE EGM HOT LIST ) i ~256 NEXT WAVES = — Kill 3 os Ot THE EGM INTERVIEW COVER STORY 3D GAMING MIND GAMES GRIEFING Guerrilla Games unloads the latest chapter of their successful FPS series with a Story that picks up where Killzone 2 ended. CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS ROCK BAND 3 KILLZONE 3 ASSASSIN'S CREED: BROTHERHOOD LITTLEBIGPLANET 2 MADDEN NFL 11 RAGE CASTLEVANIA: LOS BULLETSTORM FINAL FANTASY XIV | FEAR 3 CRACKDOWN e2 WOW: CATACLYSM ti age THE EGM INTERVIEW Warren Spector. SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 PRINCE OF PERSIA RED DEAD REDEMPTION ALAN WAKE SKATE 3 MODNATION RACERS TRAUMA TEAM BACKBREAKER THE DOWNLOAD eh HEATHER BRYN KEEFER ELI SEANBABY www.egmnow.com 8840 Wilshire Blvd., Third Floor, Beverly Wills, CA 90211 www.egmmediagroup.com PRESIDENT: Steve Harris ASST TO THE PUBLISHER: Jodi Bonestroo NEWSSTAND DIRECTOR: Ron Sklon SUBSCRIPTION DIRECTOR: Peter Walsh INTERNATIONAL LICENSING INQUIRIES: llicensing@egmnownet LEGAL COUNSEL: Bob Wyman ACCOUNTING: 02 Abregov NEW SUBS: www.egmnow.com/subscribe subscription Inquiries: 800-829-7830 egm@emailcustomerservice.com ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Jeff Eisenberg ADVERTISING SALES: Michael Eisenberg John Abraham ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: 800-557-465 adsales@egmnownet TRAFFIC MANAGER: Alicia Prater BRAND MANAGER: Sarah Saalabi Digital Technology Powered By Screenpaper Media, LLC Dirk Gemeinhardt President 8840 Wilshire Blvd. Third Floor Beverly Hills, CA 90211 sales@screenpapermedia.com Addl Website Development: Jerry Witt C BO TN \ WWW.EQMNOW.COM The Road to EGM ..OUT goal is to not only deliver the content you've grown to expect and love From EGM, but expand upon it... Billy Berghammer pre-EGM with Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto at Nintendo’s Press Briefing during Es 2000, hat’s me and one of my personal heroes—Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto—at my first-ever E3. What you can't see in the picture, however, is that it was at precisely this moment that I knew I really wanted to work in the game industry. 10 years later, a bit older and wiser, much lighter, and without the ridiculously colored hair (it’s just graying out now), I am now the Editor-in-Chief of Electronic Gaming Monthly. Wait, what?! Let's take a giant step back. I grew up when videogames were in their infancy. Arcades were exploding, home consoles were just beginning, Atari board meetings were held in tandem with bong hits in hot tubs, and magazines and books dedicated to this newfangled hobby littered my bedroom floor. It was the late ‘70s, and while I was a pretty regular kid growing up in Milwaukee that teased my little sister, went to summer camp, played sports, and made snow forts, I was always thinking, talking or playing videogames. When a new Atari Age magazine would come in the mail, I wouldn't just peruse the pages—I would digest them. My parents refused to upgrade my Atari 2600 to a NES, so I concocted a Trojan-horse strategy: If they got me a Commodore 64 I could learn computers and write school papers via Bank Street Writer. My ploy worked well... too well, in fact. In between playing all those C64 classics I developed a love for writing. Wait a second! Did my parents actually outsmart me? “You'll never make a living playing videogames” was a mantra that resonated throughout the Berghammer household. Regardless, I proceeded to play anything I could get my hands on throughout high school and college. In fact, I would say that the Mario series alone caused me to fail a few classes (Philosophy and Super Mario Bros. 3 definitely don't mix). Eventually I decided upon Broadcast Journalism, making radio my first career move. | got my first real radio job at an Alternative Rock radio station in Milwaukee, and my first on-air post was the overnight shift. With little to do while music was playing outside of field calls from the highly intoxicated after- bar crowd, I religiously perused the earliest of videogame websites. I applied to be a writer at one of them, and the rest is history. Throughout my years writing about videogames I’ve been blessed to work with and/or learn from some of the best people in the field, including Scott McCall, Justin Nation, Jonathan Metts, Steven Kent, Raymond Padilla, Ravi Hiranand, Andy McNamara, Andrew Reiner, Sam Kennedy, Thomas Puha, N’Gai Croal, Garnett Lee, John Ricciardi, Adam Sessler, Mark McDonald, Shane Bettenhausen, Andrew Pfister, Josh Krane, Robert Juster, Sterling McGarvey and Patrick Klepek, just to name a few. I've been really lucky. I'm sure I’m forgetting a few people— getting older has its disadvantages. Now, taking the helm of one of the greatest videogame magazine franchises in history, I have monster shoes to fill and an enormous and storied tradition to continue. While this new EGM / EGMi venture is just beginning, what we have planned is beyond exciting. We're about to move into our new home, build an incredible staff, and create videogame magic in both print and digital forms. And while Nerdtropolis wasn't built in a day, we hope you'll bear with us as we get everything in place. We're getting there. We've got a long but fun road ahead of us, and we hope you enjoy the return of EGM to print and the birth of our new digital publication, EGMi. In the months and years to come our goal is to not only deliver the content you've grown to ° expect and love from EGM, but expand upon it in many new and exciting ways. Word. if Ne a Medes aul we a > nm ‘ EO ania na » ? TT Re > ONLINE Co-op > “9 ae ‘ : 5 ANGELs TO & LEADERBOARDS Sy epee : = CHOOSE FROM = - Choose from 5 different a gels, each with their own abtcal iy powers and familias, r b. i Take on the game with a friend and compete forthe highest score. : 4 ee S m x a ars ek oe ‘ —— sean Sa ery bc ee CHOOSE YOUR PATH Deathsmiles contains an extra level and character not playable Sg in the arcade version. . § Choose your route through the) | game and set the difficulty for each level. Ai i ry) AL ay Ct TMG LA te = Ai 6S ole 3 <> ie Animated Blood Fantasy Violence Mild Language | Mild Suggestive Themes eva Partial Nudity B _ © 2007 CAVE., LTD. Licensed to and published by Aksys Games. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft... The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Oo E)SJa}}9| a | and a great disturbance in the Force... wWWwWw.egmnow.com ntesiainannnnmnannenin\iimtnanaenssnsnaiAisens mane hAnaiataananeasAhadRASestatfaiAAsih hh emasnionheinthasntanaatniiinansensnnsnn e\esngnanaoeantinanamnant Awwwww, shucks. Hey guys, As a reader of EGM since issue #1 | thought I’d chime in to offer my thanks to Steve Harris for helping bring back the only magazine I’ve consistently enjoyed reading on a monthly basis for 20-plus years, and to offer some insight towards how valuable | think EGM still is. I’ve been a hardcore gamer most of my life, and although | don’t have the kind of time | used to have even just a few years ago (pre-kids/job/mortgage) to play games, I’ve always stayed up-to-date with the latest news within the gaming industry thanks to my monthly dose of EGM. Once the news came that EGM would be no more, | was torn with where | would go to get the latest info, as | typically didn’t get my news online when the magazine was around (ironically enough, it seems | spend every waking moment of my life working online, so you would think that this would be the most natural progression). As it turned out, | ended up reading... nothing. Really. Nothing at all. This past year has been completely devoid of any game-related reading whatsoever. When it came down to it, when put in a situation where something | once depended on became unavailable, | subconsciously chose to forego any kind of replacement and ended up just abandoning the media altogether. This directly affected my purchasing decisions, and | found that | ended up playing far fewer games than ever before. And | know | wasn’t the only one. This isn’t so much of an ass-kissy love letter to EGM as it is a personal acknowledgement of the value | still find in the medium of print and what | feel is its continued relevance. It sounds like Mr. Harris has similar sentiments, so | wish him and the EGM crew all the best with the relaunch of the magazine and hope to find it on my newsstand every month for many years to come. Good to see you again. — Nev EGM: Thanks to all who have sent in their well-wishes. Our inboxes are overflowing with support and it’s quite flattering. It’s you who drive us to deliver the best content we can! We hope you like what you see! Downloadably speaking.... | just had to write in to clear something up. I’m completely mystified by the inclusion of Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion as an example of DLC done wrong. Knights of the Nine is a deep, engaging, and rewarding quest spanning several hours of gameplay, and The Shivering Isles would be included among my favorite games ever, even if it had been sold as a separate game instead of an expansion. Granted, both expansions were a bit on the expensive side, but for the amount of content included in each, | think they were both well worth the price. In addition, neither one was released close enough to the original game to make the argument that they should have been included in the original. That being said, why did you hold up Oblivion as an example of bad downloadable content? Thanks. - Brian Blazek EGM: While the extended DLC such as Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles were quality downloads, Bethesda’s first offering —Horse Armor—was quite silly. Sure it was only $2.50, but that kind of content was part of what helped open the door to charging for content that, in our opinion, should have been either free or included in the original game. We don’t mind paying for content that truly expands the game, but paying for trinkets and cosmetic things that don’t really extend the life of a game make us scratch our heads. : Is too many a good thing? | hate to look a gift horse in the mouth but the flow of quality games has not stopped the past couple of years. Usually there are gaps where my social life can recover but as of late | am faced with an overwhelming amount of “must-play” titles. | guess | should be grateful that | have so many good games to play now but my family is getting a little sick of it (ok maybe not the kids). With DLC add-on content and full- blown games coming over a wire it makes it easier to always have something to play but the retail games have not stopped either. | suppose we no longer have to worry about gamer drought. Is this a bad or a good thing? | guess it depends on how you look at it (or if you can afford it). Priorities are a Bitch! — Cory Adams EGM: Cory, a bad day with good games is much better than a good day with bad games... trust us. That said, we have a term we like to use called a “backlog.” Most of ours is huge, but in those lulls where there’s nothing new, that backlog is like that week-old bread that’s still fresh. Changing the PR game I’m a junior in college right now majoring in Public Relations. | want to work in the game industry at some point. What are some things that irritate you when you receive press releases from publicists so that | can note what not to do. — Jesse Radonski EGM: While the majority of press releases we get are fluffy inside with rainbows and kittens, few have real solid factual meat to them. The problem is your superiors might have a problem — with you being too real and honest in your press releases, but having substance over PR rhetoric is always appreciated. When deadline comes knocking on your door, may we suggest the droning, melan- choly tunes of Portishead’s latest album, Third. Yes, it makes no sense to consume trip-hop while your nerves are frazzled, but there’s no wrong time for awesome music. Remedy, you dropped the ball by not including a track in Alan Wake! Coming soon to a blender near you... | just read through your “first” issue and | have to say it made me feel nostalgic in all the right ways. | still have issues dating back to 1998 and | am glad | am able to continue that collection again. I’ve used your magazine as a sort of timeline to watch how the industry has changed and the way you distribute your publication has as well. That being said, in both Steve Harris’ and Brady Fiechter’s opening articles they made mention of new mediums, specifically the iPad, and digital distribution with EGMi. | prefer print myself but | am an early adopter of the iPad and was excited about the prospect of reading my favorite magazine on it. Unfortunately | quickly discovered this would not be the case because EGMi requires Flash for viewing which is not something Apple or Steve Jobs is keen on supporting. You also mentioned that EGMi is a work in progress and | was curious if there may be support for an HTML5 format in the future? The Flash version works well but | hope you adopt an open standard down the line. - Glenn Jackson | love the digital issue, but until | can view it on my Windows Mobile phone | won't be satisfied. | know you guys are working on it for the iPhone (way to follow the pack) but what about those of us with smartphones not from Cupertino? Do the millions and millions of Winmo, Blackberry, Android and Symbian users not count? More importantly when can we expect some print issues? Digital is nice, but some of us still prefer paper. — Craig Myers Is there any chance that you may develop an iPhone app for EGMi? — Jamison Luke Forget the iPhone... when is the EGMi android app launching? — Andy Powell EGM: EGMi has been an interesting venture, and right now, we’re building out a version that works not only with your computer, but with tablet devices such as the iPad. Yes, Apple and Steve Jobs threw a lot of publishers through a loop with the lack of Flash support (especially with iPhone OS 4.0) but we’ve always planned for a separate iPad version of the publication. As far as other flavors and what we'll support, we’re researching what will work, what the demand is, and how economically viable it all is. Our team of crack engineers have their hands full working out the kinks and bugs and testing multiple platforms, but rest assured, we want to get our content on as many platforms as possible. Stay tuned. A VLILQUU VY by the Numbers Player-created Content Around 2.3 millio mNner; ( AVer- 7) \ =] ee es YuUmMDer OT Diaver- #h 34% arc fl en atiane NAT are in Lroatia 03% 117,296 U L v ninranan ane in Fight Night Round 4 Number of those ade a profit selling player-created items and locations in Second Life April 2010 (umber of those players making at least $5,000 a month from the game: The Creators of Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat. De ac o- Aleve, Tes hon, and More Descuss the Future of the Fighting Geare ‘S¥ Champs Dasect Son Ste PS TODAY! wee LAUNCH : ear Sa THE DIGITAL MAGAZINE > > a 6%, a El Clad samen | WAR FOR CYBERTRON EGM 239.0 oe ee re ee sAnasnnennnnntnssatntentnntonen snips nnn nen tenement 5 4 Save Point Q: When will we see the launch of PlanetEGM and are you still in love with Nintendo after all these years? A: Ha! PlanetEGM doesn’t seem to have a good ring to it—at least not as good as Planet GameCube! But seriously, there may come a time where EGM has an actual website, but right now our focus online is in our digital magazine, EGMi. As far as my love affair with Nintendo, | love video games period. However, if it weren't for Nintendo games | don’t know if! ever would have written about video games or started my own website. | am lucky that a hobby has turned into my job—more or less. Q: Having such a storied career in gaming news and reviews content, how have things changed over the years and how is it different working at EGM? A: | think what has changed the most is how people digest content. When | started writing about games 12-13 years ago, magazines were the main source of video game news and content, and the Internet was in its infancy. Now people can not only get print magazines for more feature-rich content, but watch video game television programming and get minute-to-minute updates about everything piped into their cell phones, rss feeds, iPads, email, and so on. If there’s a specific way you want your video game content, there's an outlet for it. It’s been quite exciting watching this evolve. Q: What new ideas do you plan to bring EGM and what do you think doesn’t need to change? A: EGM’s had a brilliant past, so if there’s one thing that doesn’t need to change it’s the quality of the content. EGM’s been known for great content created by knowledgeable writers, whether it’s in-depth features, reviews or previews. | think the biggest change is how we utilize the digital space with EGMi. That’s one side that we've just begun to tap, so keep checking it out! We've got lots planned for both EGM and EGMi. www.egmnow.com Gaming by the Numbers Player-created Content continued... 293 Number of player- created songs approved for download through the Rock Band Network beta, since Jan., 2010 Number of Harmonix- created songs available across all Rock Band games and downloadable content, since Nov., 2007: 1,087 136,475 Number of player- created Sims 3 characters available for download via EA's Exchange web site Number of those Sims with both the "Evil" and "Genius" traits: 7,577 144,597,390 Distinct creatures created in Spore Distinct web servers on the Internet, according to a May 2010 Netcraft report: 206,026,787 All statistics accurate as of May 17, 2010 unless otherwise noted. Uncensored censorship | saw your EGMi article and wanted to add my two cents in. Games should never be censored, but all games, no: matter where they are sold/produced should come with an ESRB rating, and parents should be taught that it’s their responsibility to restrict their children from purchasing/playing any game above that parent’s personal preference. It’s the same with movies. Parents that wouldn’t let their children watch an “R” or “PG- 13” movie shouldn’t let their children play an “M” rated or maybe even a “T” rated game. | seriously don’t understand why parents have an issue with this, or why some activists do either. Parents should do their jobs as parents and watch what their kids are being exposed to. Game companies have the right to make whatever they feel like they want to make, and consumers have every right to not purchase it. I’m an independent game designer myself, and it angers me every time parents complain about this or activists go overboard on these restrictions. I’m not looking to restrict their freedom of speech, as long as they don’t want to restrict mine. — M. Kummer If we are going to slap ratings labels on games, and determine that they are not suitable for minors to play, unless deemed so by a parent or guardian, then why would we allow the sale of those games to a minor? | see no problem with a law prohibiting this, and do not think it will bleed into the censorship of games. At least certainly not for violence, but make some Hot Coffee and the Nation is in an uproar! The U.S. has some seriously backwards priorities when it comes to sex and violence, but that is a cultural mythology that is highly unlikely to change. - August A \ /—_\ ALOOK AHEAD TO FFXIV Ill make this short and sweet. The government should never censor anything ever. “Those who would trade in their freedom for their protection deserve neither.” -Benjamin Franklin — Joe B. | think that developers should start putting in options such as turning off blood, or other things like that so that younger gamers could still enjoy the great game they made. — Max Anderson EGM: Thanks to all for your commentary and letters about this hotly debated topic. We agree that it’s frustrating that even though the ESA and ESRB are already doing a remarkable job educating the masses the government still feels the need to step in. If only Ben Franklin were still around... Hello, my name is Charity i saw your profile today and like it very much, which makes me to write to you to let you know that i am interested in you, therefore i will like you to write me back so that i will tell you further about myself and send you my picture for you. | will be waiting for your reply. Wish you all the best for your day. — Charity. EGM: Awwww. Shucks? Strike that. | feel dirty. Keep me connected to the number one name in gaming—EGM! ACT NOW and get 3M delivered to your home and save up to $50 off the cover price! Please find my payment for the subscription duration that | have selected below: ao 6 PRINT ISSUES / ] 12 PRINT ISSUES —— 26 DIGITAL ISSUES —— 52 DIGITAL ISSUES $14.99 (US Funds $24.99 (US Funds) /|P Code MAIL YOUR PAYMENT 10: ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY P.O. BOX 433132 PALM COAST, FL 32143-9859 ve JaVis ssadd £4 Suits, Speed, History, and Bundles WWW.EQMNOW.COM FREE AGENCY By Kyle Urland and Vavid Thomas As the games industry matures and development costs soar, Hollywood agencies are moving in to make a play for their piece of the pie onday wasn't going so well. Under a bright and sunny Southern California sky last March, Jason West and Vince Zampella walked, for the last time, out of the game company they'd help found and run for almost 10 years. West's Twitter account put it succinctly: “Jason West is drinking. He is — also unemployed.” The drinking part was understandable. That morning, West and Zampella had been CEO and CTO, respectively, of Infinity Ward, the development shop behind the highly successful Call of Duty franchise and the billion-dollar-grossing, number-one selling game of 2009, Modern Warfare 2. That evening, they r were just a couple more unemployed game developers. But the pair didn’t wallow in their beers for long. Within two days, West and Zampella had a lawyer and a $36 million lawsuit alleging their parent company, Activision, fired them to avoid paying millions in contractually obligated royalties. Within two weeks the Call of Duty duo signed a deal with Creative Artists Agency, one of the biggest talent agencies in Hollywood. It sounded more like the script for an episode of VH1’s “Behind the Music” than a tale from the games business. Whatever the outcome of West and Zampella’s lawsuit (Activision issued a statement saying the case was “meritless” and a hearing is scheduled for June 21), the episode only served to heighten a growing fear: Things are tough in the fun factory these days. Downsizing, contract disputes and mass firings have turned the dream job of developing games into a nightmare of insecurity and unpaid overtime. As the economic downturn has blasted its way across the game industry, the grumblings among the rank and file have even started to include the one word no manager wants to hear: “union.” Breakdown “(The Activision case] is a dispute between management and senior- level talent, but ... it is indicative of the same arrogant corporate mindset that’s destroying America today,” says Tom Buscaglia, a lawyer who bills himself as “The Game Attorney,” and has served on the board of the International Game Developers Association. Fiery in defense of the talent that powers the industry he loves, Buscaglia thinks the relationship between developers and the publishers that employ them is fundamentally broken. “The way you treat the people that are the head of the studio—that are the thought leaders and the keepers of the vision for the biggest-selling game of the year—and you treat them like crap, it just shows the level of arrogance management has, their devotion to dollars over talent and their total lack of regard for the people who make the games that they sell,” he says. The issue of poor working conditions in the game industry came to the forefront in 2004, when a series of blog posts by Erin Hoffman (under the pseudonym “EA Spouse”) highlighted the pervasive problem of unpaid, mandatory overtime across much of the industry. The scandal landed EA on the front pages of newspapers and the wrong side of a $14.9 million class action lawsuit, and led the International Game Developers Association to launch a quality of life special interest group that continues to press for better working conditions for developers, fairness in compensation and even game crediting of development team members. Dollar-driven Doldrums But attention to quality of life issues has died down in the years since the EA Spouse story broke, and the recession has led many companies to manage budgets by demanding more work from fewer employees. When times get tough in an industry, and business managers feel compelled to squeeze as much extra work out of their employees as they can, workers start to wonder if all the pressure is worth the job. The hot-button issue remains crunch time—the weeks and months of extended overtime required to finish a game product. In a 2009 IGDA quality of life survey, more than half of game developers felt they needed to spend more time with family and less time on the job. “Usually what happens with a company is when the working conditions get awful enough, people start to change their attitudes,” observes Steve Hulett, Business Representative, Animation Guild Local 839 IATSE. “A lot of times it’s not even the wages so much—they make adequate money week to week — but if you're working 80 or 100 hours a week it gets to be a grind by the time you get older, no longer 22 or 23, and want to raise a family and maybe see them once in a while, that’s where a lot of the issues come in. You can only push people so far and then they start to rebel.” Of course, an individual artist or programmer can usually only protest a bad job situation to the degree they are willing to pack up their desk and look for a new job. A union could provide an organization that supports workers in negotiations, helps lay out standard agreements for things like overtime, and credit for work on projects. And, as most people know and most managers fear, unions can back up their pro-worker stance with the threat of a strike. “| can’t say | predict [unionization] is going to happen, but there could be some event where the factors become aligned at the right moment,” said Bobby Schwartz, partner at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, and the lawyer representing West and Zampella against Activision. “It may not take the form of a strike at all, it will simply be a recognition by enough people who, even though they may not be the “This IS a complex issue since there Is such disparity between the large publishers and the rest of the pack. AN — “) Ta rryfry ae & ai U4 ] Do videogame developers need a union? Jason Rubin, CEO of Monkeygods: No need for unions: Developers are artists with unique talent sets and abilities, not assembly line workers, and thus collective bargaining makes little sense. Brian Fargo, CEO of inXile: This is a complex issue since there is such disparity between the large publishers and the rest of the pack. 95% of the smaller developers and publishers cannot afford to pay premiums that might come along with union representation. The large publishers make tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars and should often act different. But those same rules could crush a smaller company. I'm hoping that the labor laws protect against some of the abuses that happen. American McGee, Creative Director of Spicy Horse Games: If game development continues to trend towards larger and larger team sizes, budgets and schedules, all controlled by ever larger corporate entities, then unions could serve a useful function in maintaining worker quality of life. But the usefulness is contingent on the scale of the development organiza- tion and their production and product goals. it’s not a fix-all Band-Aid, and certainly not the only option for remedy of ills within industry. Chris Taylor, CEO of Gas Powered Games: |'m not a fan of the idea, as we are heading into a very different model with digital distribution where the rules are going to change, or at least the deck will be reshuffled. Ask me the question again in five years. rock stars, they may be the rank and file, but nonetheless important enough that their work and their relationship should be protected through the [formation] of a guild or a union.” The Resistance Unionization is already starting to take hold at the margins of the game industry, thanks mainly to interest from long- established Hollywood collectives. The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists already represent roughly 20 percent of the game industry’s voice acting talent between them, but they’ll probably need to increase that membership significantly if they want real bargaining leverage with game publishers. “There isn’t a lot of incentive for producers of videogames to sign with the [voice acting] unions,” says Jonathan Handel, a UCLA adjunct professor and expert on entertainment unions. “The union perspective is that all the best talent for acting, including voice acting, is in unions, but | think the video game producers have voted with their feet and said ‘we've got, in general, perfectly nice talent, thank you very much, and a lot of the time it’s non-union.” The Writers Guild of America has also | dipped its toes into the game industry, by PRESS START 16 | | Jason Rubin, CEO of Monkeygods: Yes to agents: but only at the highest level and only if a developer chooses to do so. An agent is just a spokesper- son acting on behalf of an individual, so a developer without a professional agent is simply representing themselves. If a developer feels a third party can speak for them better than they can for themselves then they should have one do so. | am not represented by an agent, by the way. Brian Fargo, CEO of inXile: The need for agencies would indeed become more useful [to the process], as it can potentially provide some leverage for the development community. It used to be that the top developers had some clout and could have multiple options from publishers but much of that is gone with the consolidation. If an agency represented a wide swath of developers and talent, they could start to push back on the control that is being exerted. American McGee, Creative Director of Spicy Horse Games: Really depends on the team/publisher and their setup. For us, being in China with no permanent business development representative near our main customers (publishers in the US), a US-based agent is a must. Not only do they represent us in daily conversations with potential business partners— but they help us navigate tricky negotiations with up-to-date information on the marketplace and beneficial precedents in existing deals. Business in our industry is less win-win and more win-lose every day—maybe an unfortunate side-effect of maturation. Whatever the cause, the result is the same—rmore reliance on “protection specialists” (agents, lawyers and perhaps even unions). Chris Taylor, CEO of Gas Powered Games: I've done fine without them, but | know that some developers have done well with agents, so | think you can't generalize on this kind of service. assembling some game writers into a “caucus” just below full membership and offering an optional Interactive Program Contract that publishers can sign to help cover freelance writers’ pension and health benefits. “The problem is the companies don’t want to sign it, because they feel like once the guild has infiltrated... they probably think through history that someone is going to go on strike during our project,” says WGA organizer Laura Watson, who works with videogame writers. That said, Watson thinks this dynamic has started to change in recent months. “It feels like in the last year the writers as a whole have realized that they do have clout and power and | think the companies are starting to respect more what these guys do and what they’re capable of and what they do to make their products successful,” she says. Despite this promising initial interest from established unions, there are a lot of reasons to think union meetings won’t be taking up time on the game production schedule anytime soon. Not least of these is the idea among many developers that unions are just for other people. “I think that there’s a perception of unions that reflects an old industrial model—unions are for steel workers and auto workers and people who aren’t white collar people and highly educated and doing non- manual tasks, and that makes it hard for people to see themselves in that context,” says Handel. Buscaglia put a finer point on the issue. “I’ve done a lot of work on quality of life issues with the IGDA and I’ve been shocked by the apparent lack of interest in their own well being,” he says. “These guys [feel] they’re above that. ... Why are longshoremen smarter than computer programmers? Because they realized a long time ago that without collective bargaining, they were f**ked. It’s really difficult, especially white collar workers, to buy into the union model. It’s beneath them.” Unionization in the game industry might also be the victim of bad timing. After all, the videogame industry wasn’t even a shadow of an idea in the ’20s and 30s, when organized labor was thriving and most of the major Hollywood unions formed. “Private sector union density peaked at 35 of 40 percent in the early ‘60s or So, and it’s now at about seven percent,” Handel said. “Our economy has become much more deregulated since the ‘70s and one aspect of deregulation and dehumanization is one of the aspects of deregulation in a sense: this unrestrained capitalism kind of attitude, for both better and worse.” But the biggest obstacle to unionization in the game industry might be institutional inertia and acceptance of the status quo. Too many developers are resigned to the 100-hour weeks during crunch time and too many studio managers have accepted that much of their work force will burn out and leave the industry in three to five years, to be replaced from the overflowing well of young talent eager to get in the door and sleep on the floor to ship a product. “Some publishers don’t realize the value the developer brings to the table and they think developers are a dime a Unionization in the game industry might also be the victim of bad timing. WWW.EQMNOW.COM dozen,” Schwartz says. “[They think] ‘I don’t have to treat them well because there’s thousands and thousands of kids out there that are ready to jump in and do the job, and | won’t have to pay them a lot of money, so why should | pay anyone a lot of money?’” Brain Drain More than hurting the developers themselves, this churn ’em and burn ‘em model could be doing real harm to the industry’s creative output. “This is a talent-driven business, and there is no question in my mind that there has been, over the last ten years, more than one and perhaps dozens of people that could have made a substantial and relevant contribution to our art that have left the industry on burnout within the first three years,” Buscaglia says. “I’ve talked to independent developers that won’t even consider hiring somebody that comes out of one of these hothouses because they figure there’s an 80 percent chance they’ve been damaged and they don’t wanna take the risk of finding out.” Of course, pushing talent to the point of burnout generally works only with low-level talent that’s eager to make a name for itself. As the case of West and Zampella illustrates, top talent might have better luck hiring an agent or a lawyer to find a better situation at work. West and Zampella’s names might not have the cachet of Pitt or Clooney, but their track record cranking out hits gives them extra leverage going into a business deal. “| think the industry is going to mature and make a shift to one like filmed entertainment, where there are recognizable stars and they’re paid for the performance they deliver and they’re just treated better than a bunch of pimple-faced kids that fell off a bus and rode their mountain bike in to pitch their idea, don’t have a lawyer, don’t have an agent,” Schwartz says. On this point, Buscaglia agrees and sees an opportunity for the industry to see a new form of leadership, unions or not. “The whole thing with EA, it would have been interesting to have somebody like Will Wright, of that stature, step up to say ‘This is wrong. | work for EA and I’m ashamed to work for EA because of this.’ To make a public statement and get out in front of this. | don’t mean this against Will personally, but when people reach that stature, maybe as a way to give back, they should do something more than just collect a fking paycheck. Maybe they could try to institute some social change on this stuff, | don’t know.” El Open Borders Bungie, Insomniac, and other developers cross platforms t’s been a pretty good month for fans of wider game availability, and a pretty bad month for fanboys engaging in internecine online console wars. That’s because two major game developers recently announced intentions to move away from single-system exclusivity and towards multi- platform development. First up was Bungie, the former Microsoft subsidiary behind the mega-popular Halo series. In late April it announced a 10-year partnership with Activision to produce a new series of games that will be hitting “multiple platforms and devices.” Formerly Sony- exclusive developer Insomniac followed Bungie’s lead. The company behind the Ratchet & Clank, Spyro and Resistance franchises— which hasn’t made a game for a non-Sony platform for 14 years—announced in May plans to bring a new game to both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 through publisher EA Partners. Why break such long exclusive relationships? “We simply want to reach more gamers,” says Insomniac Founder and ES CEO Ted Price. “We have been very happy with our PS3 fanbase and all the folks who have given us fantastic feedback and support with Ratchet and Clank and Resistance. However there are many more gamers out there that haven’t had an opportunity to try the games we make.” Of course, console makers continue to tie up plenty of high-profile, first-party exclusives to make their systems more attractive, and established series like Halo, Ratchet & Clank and Resistance will remain exclusive to their home consoles going forward. But this generation of consoles has already seen a wave of formerly loyal developers moving to multi-platform development. Major third-party series like Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid were all largely exclusive to Sony’s “We simply want to reach more gamers. - Insomniac founder and CEO Ted Price PlayStation and PlayStation 2, which both had near-monopoly control of the console market in their day. This generation, all three series have seen (or will see) major releases on the Xbox 360 as well as the PlayStation 3. In the other direction, Bizarre Creations, best known for the Xbox-exclusive racing series Project Gotham, recently brought its weapon-based racer Blur to the PS3 as well as the Xbox 360. Many former Xbox Live Arcade exclusives, such as Castle Crashers, Braid, The Secret of Monkey Island and Peggle have been trickling over to the PS3’s PlayStation Network as well. What's been causing this single-platform exodus? “The biggest driver is economics,” says Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. “In order to forego revenues from multi-platform and go single-platform, a developer has to receive incentives from the console maker. Given the potential market for multi-platform games, the price of the incentives is becoming prohibitive.” How prohibitive? Scott Steinberg, head of videogame consulting firm TechSavvy, says they can easily run in the high tens of millions of dollars for a high-profile exclusive. And there are other incentives that can keep developers loyal to one system. “I believe that the console manufacturers, Sony and Microsoft, do an excellent job of promoting their console exclusive games in an effort to sell more consoles,” Price says. “If you look at what Microsoft has done with Gears and Halo and Sony has done with their console exclusive franchises ... there are still many platform-exclusive titles that do extremely well.” But even with those kinds of buoys, some think tying yourself to a single system is a big risk these days. “When you’re facing massive overhead and an audience that continues to splinter across mutliple platforms and genres like social gaming, to tie your fate to a single platform is to cast your anchor to what might be a sinking ship without leaving yourself a potential lifeline,” Steinberg says. Which is why many see the era of the single-console independent developer slowly coming to a close. “I look at the number of independent developers that exist right now and there are fewer and fewer every year it seems,” Price says. “That’s one nice benefit of being an independent developer, is we have choices and we can work with the best publishers in the world.” LAUNCH AUTOBOT CHARACTER PROFILES ee OT TE == } ~ i i NAS | ; tH A LOOK AHEAD TO FFXIV FREE! Connect with the new issue of our digital weekly companion magazine NOW at: EG!" 239.0 We put your questions to Irrational Game’s Creative Director Ken Levine. Here’s what he had to say on gaming morality, water, and his favorite games of the last year... Joshua Schimer asks: | felt guilty dispatching the Splicer in BioShock, hostile though they were. How do you promote moral ambiguity yet encourage the player onward? Ken Levine: We struggled to find the balance here. For awhile, when we were testing the game, people kept calling the splicers “zombies.” Thi is was hard to hear, as oe e them threatening, but also, relatable: — whose lives were crushed by the larger conflicts of the city. Just like you. Lucas Arundel asks: Your perception of how games model water is unique. Do you feel that any games in the time since BioShock have improved water from a technical standpoint? L: “Realistic” water for realistic water's sake wasn't really the goal in BioShock. We were trying to create ar ‘motional response, a feeling that the city was visually ola sing. We m Seige opportunity there to pay off the water better as a gameplay element, but that wasn't something we had the resources to do. That said, Jesse Johnson and Stephen Alexander made the st beautiful water I’ve ever seen, Jarred Douthit asks: ma huge fan of BioShock. Were there any personal experiences or beliefs that influence the ideas created in your games, specifically BioShock? KL: Absolutely. You can’t spend five years of your life building something that has no personal resonance for you. But I'm always reluctant to talk too much about it because the game isn’t about me and my beliefs. If we're oe it will ask questions and not answer them. | love that BioShock causes debates. | was at my old college recently, and | saw a sign that advertised academic discussion 0 Objectivism. And | thought, “Cool!” Mike Franklin asks: What's the best game you've played in the last year? KL: The best game I’ve played in the last year has got to be Red Faction: Guerrilla. I'm a whore for the open-world destruction. It made the game hugely replayable. We even hired several of the designers from the team, and | totally fanboy gush to them whenever | chance. | think it kind of scares them. Many thanks to Ken Levine and our intrepid EGM readers for their questions! Check out our Twitter and Facebook feeds (www.twitter. com/egmnow and www.facebook. com/egmnow) for more I/O in the near future! www.egmnow.com hink your net connection is te fast? = Think again: It’s not even close HE to fast enough. At least not yet. “I can tell you | have encountered hundreds of pros and aspiring PC gam- ers who won’t even play if they have 80 ping,” says Alex Garfield, CEO of Evil Geniuses and the self-described George Steinbrenner of professional gaming. That’s 80 milliseconds, less than a tenth of second for information to travel from your gaming rig to some remote server thousands of miles across the Internet and back again. And that’s just not fast enough. “If my bullet packet gets to the server faster than your bullet packet, | have a better chance of winning,” explains Bigfoot Networks CEO Michael Howse, a maker of network acceleration tools. Game. Set. Match. While improved graphics, smarter ar- tificial intelligence and bigger and better game worlds get the most anticipatory press, a faster, better Internet holds enormous promise for improving the gaming experience of tomorrow. With faster connections and bigger pipes coming soon to an Internet service provider near you, online gaming looks to be the next big thing. “The most important thing that gamers and game authors need to Know about is IPv6,” says Paul Vixie, president of the Internet Systems Con- sortium. “This is a new version of the basic IP (Internet Protocol) that makes room for 24128 global endpoints (840,2 82,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,7 “IF my bullet packet gets to the server faster... have a better chance | Of winning” 68,211,456) whereas the current IP ver- sion 4 protocol only has room for 2432 endpoints (4,294,967 ,296).” What those staggeringly large numbers mean in practice is that today service providers routinely remap your Internet addresses to deal with the growing number of devices that need an IP address in a process called net- work address translation. So while the current system is equivalent to the post office changing your home address a couple of times a day so it can share it with other folks on your block, IPv6 ensures every single network-enabled device on the planet can have a unique number, all its own. “Since IP version 6 has enough addresses to last until the next ice age, we will shortly see the end of NAT in gamers’ homes.” And that means speed. And speed means faster action, with more players, in bigger worlds. “You would be able to play an MMO with shooter elements in it. You could have thousands of people in a raid, everything running in real time with no stutter or frame dropping—a completely immersive experience,” predicts Howse of the faster future Internet. For Bigfoot, though, the future isn’t coming fast enough. The company pro- vides products to the PC market such as the Killer 2100, a network interface card that can decrease ping rates by a factor of 10. While the pipes to the home keep getting bigger the speed Sor on those connections hasn't kept up. Howse suggests that adding bandwidth to the Internet is like increasing highway traffic by adding lanes and busses— you get more people on the road. What his company wants to do for gamers is to speed things up—put more sports cars in those lanes, racing at the top of the speed limit. For now, gamers don’t often complain about the current shape of the Internet for the simple reason that it seems to work pretty well, figures Sony Online Entertainment head John Smedley. “| think we're only in the infancy of online gaming,” says Smedley. “So much more is possible even with the technology levels we have now.” When you pay your cable company or telephone provider to get on the information superhighway, you figure it's an Open road. But efforts on the part of Internet service providers to control what goes over their networks has many citizen ready to act. “Net Neutrality FTW!” says Sony Online Entertainment’s John Smed- ley. “It’s insane to even think about letting the ISPs try and restrict traffic. It would lead to chaos. The net is a big house of cards. If we let big ISPs try and mess with this basic principle, bad things will happen.” Gamers for Net Neutrality was formed by the Entertainment Consum- ers Association to help educate and organize videogame players about the issue and to encourage players to put down the controller and think about contacting their local politicians. “Without Net Neutrality, ISPs are free to charge extra for playing World of Warcraft, to interfere with Xbox Live, or to completely shut off your ability to access your favorite web sites,“ explains the ECA's vice president and general counsel, Jennifer Mercurio. “Negative scenarios might include a cable operator who limits or slows down access to a competitor (or to that competitor’s subsidiary), the throttling of heavier content, such as stream- ing gaming or video files, or a tiered service, where getting just what you have now might cost you more, trigger price inflation or lead to increased ads interrupting your experience.” Mercurio encourages gamers to learn more about the issue and to consider joining Gamers for Net Neutrality on the ECA Website (www.theeca.org). CEO of inXile Entertainment BF. | think the +3 Holy Vorpal Blade/ Chop Chop is my best guess on this one. Besides | finished Diablo with a mere dagger. Only wimps needed swords! a299° BF: Again why would | hack when! powered through the game witha cursed dagger? vw vy ’ 4 » € BF: Aha! Vin siikerimndiendil I believe he was on one or several — episodes of Seinfeld. » 4 . a ’ 4 » q BF: This is | know to be true as | bought some of this beer and have it at the office. | didn’t even know | needed to be free of glutens. > 4 wr 7 € » 4 BF: Sadly EGM did not provide me with a copy of the magazine so | cannot answer this question. | hope that the game it was compared to was incredibly fun. NEW FINAL FANIASTSROnUl SsNOIDE BESTEMDO 64 + PLAYSTATION « P42 + GREAMCAS] + HANDHELDS» ANCADE LO YEARS AGO (July, 2000) EGM slaps a sloppy wet kiss on Sega in this cover story that sprints through a Dreamcast lineup that includes Sonic Shuffle (Sega's ill- fated attempt at a Mario Party) and the online installment of their Phantasy Star series. Also in the issue was a preview of the Crash Bash (yet another party game developed around a franchise character), plus solid scores of Nintendo's Perfect Dark (a game the magazine would later claim was one of the Top 10 most overrated titles of all time). FIRST LOOK AF SECAS CAME TEAR HAND HELO ELECTRONIC (July, 990) With early shots of Ninja Gaiden 2 and Phantasy Star 3 inside, it’s a mystery why we went with Vic Tokai’s multi-themed Mafat Conspiracy on the cover. Especially when the game scored three 7s and a 9 (from Ed Semrad). Although SNK’s Neo-Geo had only recently been unveiled to arcade owners, Quartermann dished the advance word that the “Genesis look-alike” would be headed into homes in the near-future. On the hardware front we learn about impending portables from both Sega (Game Gear) and a mysterious hand-held NES—developed by a third-party and not Nintendo—that would never see the light of day. (July, 980) Borrowing the trackball technology popularized by Atari's earlier Football, Missile Command became an almost immediate classic. Challenging players to save six unnamed cities from an unspecified nuclear attack (using three ground-based anti-missile batteries each controlled by a separate launch button), Missile Command would go on to be ported more than half a dozen times, yet a sequel—though planned—was never released. Years later Atari would release Liberator, which turned the idea on its head with the player attacking cities from orbit, but it, ahem, bombed. Making a BUNDLE From Indie Games Finding big success with low-cost gaming By Kule Urland t first glance, the downloadable set of five independently devel- oped computer games that went on sale May 4 didn’t seem espe- cially noteworthy. Even the collection’s name reflected its lack of pretension: The Humble Indie Bundle (HIB)—containing PC, Mac and Linux versions of indie favorites World of Goo, Aquaria, Lugaru HD, Gish, and Penumbra (plus late donation Samorost 2)— wasn’t try- ing to revolutionize the way indie games are sold and distributed. It was simply “a unique kind of bundle that we are trying out,” as the official web page put it. But when the bundle was taken off the market 11 days later—after attracting over 138,000 purchases and nearly $1.3 million in donations —that built-in humility started to look a little ridiculous. Sure, those numbers would be a drop in the bucket for a big- budget developer, but for the relatively small world of indie games, the HIB was a veritable blockbuster. “When you’re an independent game developer, and there’s no publisher or other middle-man, you only need a tiny amount of sales in order for it to be a gigantic success,” says Jeffrey Rosen, co-founder of Penumbra publisher Wolfire Games and one of the folks who organized the HIB. While the HIB wasn’t the first indie game collection on the Internet, it had a few unique features that helped make it such a success. Most notable, perhaps, was the bundle’s pay- what-you-want pricing model, which allowed consumers to get the games for an online donation of as little as one penny. Offering one-cent downloads might seem like a counterintuitive way to make a lot of money, especially ina PC game market that’s already plagued by serious piracy issues (in fact, Rosen says server data shows about 25% of HIB downloaders pirated the bundle rather than paying even one red cent). But the indie community by-and-large ended up giv- ing a lot more than the minimum, averaging a $9.18 donation for each bundle downloaded. In fact, at least ten deep-pocketed gamers donated $300 or more to the cause, and one big-spending indie gamer gave $3,333, or over $555 per game. www.egmnow.com “A lot of people saw the bundle as a way to get some awesome games for cheap, but | think when it came time to dust off the credit card people wanted to support us,” Rosen says. But not everyone was as impressed by the communhity’s generosity. “[The $9 average donation] is less than $2 per game, which is great if you sell hundreds of thousands, but not great if you sell thousands,” says Georgia Tech game researcher, professor and indie game developer lan Bogost. To Bogost, the HIB is probably best seen as “just a fancy sale” and reflective of a prevailing attitude that indie games aren’t worth buying until they’re discounted much farther than their big-budget counterparts. He worries about a “race to the bottom effect” in the indie games market and fears those that bought the bundle are “seeing it as ‘these games are worth $2 and not a penny more...’ People had heard of and wanted these games but [didn’t follow through because of] the stupid ‘I won’t pay $15 for an indie game’ thing.” Other developers don’t see the more consumer-friendly pricing model as a prob- lem. “I think it’s one of those volume things, because there are so many people that at least gave some to it,” said Alex Austin, who designed and programmed the HIB’s Gish. “! think there are a lot of people that would like to legally buy these games, but they can’t af- ford it... Instead of getting nothing from them and just getting piracy, you’re actually getting something from them, which is nice to say.” It’s also nice for gamers to say they’re supporting a good cause when they donate money. The HIB made this easy by letting buyers commit any portion of their donation to two gamer-focused charities—Child’s Play and the Electronic Frontier Foundation —rath- er than to the developers themselves. In the end, nearly $400,000—over 30% of the total donations— ended up going to charity. For Rosen, including the charities was a prototypical example of doing well by doing good. “If the charities were not there, the developers would get a larger cut,” he says, “but the fact that the charities were there helped spread the bundle.” There are plenty of other relatively unique factors that could have contributed to the HIB’s success—the lack of any digital rights management, the popularity and name-rec- ognition of the underlying games, and even good old-fashioned platform fanboyism may have played a part. But whatever the reason, the HIB had no trouble going viral, with over 20,000 tweets, 25,000 Facebook shares and hundreds of blog posts helping to spread the word. Rosen said it was much easier to market these five old indie games as a collec- tion than it was individually. “Normally, people don’t really talk about your [indie] game very much,” he says. “But when you bundle it, suddenly that’s a newsworthy event and a ton of new people check it out.” While the success of the Humble Indie Bundle has some seeing a new way forward for indie game marketing and distribution, others wonder if the next bundle will make the same kind of splash, especially if the games involved aren’t already well-estab- lished. “There’s probably going to be a lot of people trying to copy this, and it’s going to become ‘Another pay what you want bundle’ or something like that,” Austin says. “I don’t think they’ll be as successful because they won't have that novelty of the first one.” But even if bundles like the HIB don’t become the dominant distribution method for indie games, they’re bound to play a unique role in the market going forward. “You remember those packs of tiny sugar cereals you could get?” Bogost asks rhetorically. “I'd like to think the bundle could work like this. The excitement of 10 different crazy cereals your mom won't let you get! The bundle serves as a way to get something into your hands that wouldn’t otherwise have had a chance, but then it also helps you form future tastes, So to speak.” firings that had the By John Keefer the EGM HOT LIST industry talking — t ’s always news when a company closes its doors and people are laid off. Unfortunately, in this economy, it’s been a bit too common. But every so often, there are some firings or closings : So surprising that we spew our coffee onto the computer screen. In chronological order, we present some of the most interesting firings from the last decade-plus: ee Jacques Servin (Maxis, December 1996) The computer programmer slipped some “unauthorized content” into SimCopter, including beefcake guys in bikini briefs. He had also programmed the game where, on certain rare dates, boys would kiss and more bimbos and Elvis impersonators would appear. The dates? His birthday, Friday the 13" and his significant other’s birth- day. Maxis later patched the game. ee, ae Se eres ane eae Jeff Gerstman (GameSpot, November 2007) Whether it was for his negative Kane & Lynch review that pissed off Eidos or some other reason that Cnet said they couldn't discuss, the firing of the longtime GameSpot editorial director had speculation running rampant for months. In the weeks following, several other GameSpot editors deparated in protest. i Duke Nukem Forever team (May 2009) The team making the long-awaited sequel for the “Come Get Some” hero was terminated when funding for the game dried up. Take-Two still controlled the rights to the game but refused to fund it further, despite negotia- tions with George Broussard and Scott Miller for funds. Lawsuits have since been filed and we'll know the results “when it’s done.” 4 ' Wolfenstein multiplayer team (August 2009) Nothing like seeing your game ship and getting a pink slip on the same day. That’s what happened to the Endrant Studios team that developed the multiplayer portions of Raven Software’s successful shooter. Rumors circulated that it was because of online problems that forced launch day patching, but the studio cited economic reasons. ———— David Allen (Quest Online, February 2010) Allen had been CEO of Quest for almost four years when he left, but it was later revealed by his replacement Derek Smart that he was fired for conduct detrimental to the company. Allen’s departure added to his already checkered resume at MMO companies. He left as head of Artifact Entertainment in 2001 and shutdown Pharaoh Productions in 2004. i rf Josh Robinson (Sony, February 2006) The PS3 artist was fired after making comments on a blog comparing the PS3 and Xbox 360. While he said he was excited about the PS3, he commented that it didn’t mat- ter how good the PS3 was if the 360 was actually better. While he stood by his comments, he pulled down the article. He later vowed to never “say anything at all about anything.” Ensemble Studios closed (January 2009) Microsoft announced in late 2008 that the studio would be closed after Halo Wars was completed. The venerable RTS studio, which created the Age of Empires franchise, ended up spinning off two other studios after its closure, accommodating many of the employees who lost their jobs at Ensemble. The closing started a year of destruc- tion for development teams and studios. Chris Hecker (Maxis, August 2009) Hecker was a prominent member of the Spore team and he is credited with advancing the art of character anima- tion. However, what got him on most people’s radar was his comment at GDC 2007 that the Wii was a “piece of s**t,” likening it to two GameCubes being duct taped together. Pandemic Studios closed (November 2009) The abrupt closing of the high-profile developer by Electronic Arts put 228 people out of work. What made the closure even more surprising was that EA had paid $680 million to VG Holding in January 2008 to acquire the studio, along with BioWare, leading to speculation that EA had only wanted BioWare all along. Jason West and Vince Zampella (Infinity Ward, March 2010): Activision claimed the two head honchos were fired for “breaches of contract and insubordination.” The two later sued Activision for not paying royalties on Modern Warfare 2. The turn of events was shocking, par- ticularly after MW2 became one of the best selling games of all time in 2009. 2009 in general was a bad year to be in the game develop- ment space. In addition to the names mention above, Harmo- nix dismissed 29; Avalanche Studios fired 20; Gearbox let 25 workers go; Midway canned its whole headquarters; Funcom laid off 20 percent of its employees and EA lopped off 1,500. EGM 239.0 ae | WES JH ti N A \ }\ HAL NV Has one of gaming's most forward-look designers been shackled by Mickey Mouse: Or is it simply time he proves his mantra | “Playstyle Matters" to audiences » both great and small? — By Jom Russo | GM goes to Junction Point and comes back with some revealing insights into the hardships endured by one man who has never settled for making games that were anything less than cutting-edge. And while : _ his age-old mantra “playstyle matters” is finally gaining acceptance, his most _ ambitious projects may be the ones the industry isn't ready for... but which = he still plans to make. » te INTERVIEW he Mickey Mouse clock on the wall reads 9:18 A.M. when Warren Spector enters the Junction Point conference room. In his right hand, a large ceramic Mickey Mouse mug full of piping hot coffee. On his wrist, one of his dozen Mickey Mouse watches. (To be fair, wed asked him to wear one for the photo shoot, but with him claiming 12 in his possession, were thinking it wasn't too much of a request.) For those who dont know him, it seems unlikely that the press-anointed “PC Game God” —instrumental in the development of groundbreaking titles such as Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Thief and Deus Ex—would be enthused about, of all things, Mickey Mouse. But to those who know Warren Spector, the collector, the Disneyphile, the animation junkie and designer of the Bullwinkle and Rocky pen-and-paper game, it’s not the stretch it initially seems. (For the record, Spector later confesses that Bullwinkle and Rocky is the only game he ever designed drunk, back in 1989 with a co-worker over gin and tonics in a New York bar). But it’s a little more than a month before E3 2010, and his team is busy assembling and polishing what will become the demo of Disney's Epic Mickey. In just over 48 hours, Warren and several of his in-house producers will fly to Los Angeles to present the game to the E3 judges as part of their pre-E3 week. On his office chair lie 30 different Mickey Mouse shirts from Warren's private wardrobe, from bowling designs to Oxford-style to Hawaiian prints. Later in the day there is a fitting, and his team selects which shirts they'll wear for the press demo. Several Junction Pointers had made passing comments about the studio feeling like a family, but seeing producers try on the boss's shirts really cemented this. The pile of Mickey garments comprises just a smattering of the Disney memorabilia occupying Warren’ office. His shelves are lined with Disney toys and books, ranging from vintage to mint-in-box. The walls throughout the conference rooms and hallways are decorated with classic Disney movie posters or Disney-themed artwork. According to co-workers, more than half of what's on display is from Warren's personal collection. Spector is such a passionate collector of various things that he eventually bought a neighboring house to store his collections (and in his words, save his marriage). Spector takes us from the conference room and tours us through the two fairly large, open-plan floor spaces that make up the bulk of Junction Point's office space.“I’m into pits,” Spector says of his studio layout. “I hate being in an office.” In fact, Spector was so invested in the idea that his team have the ability to collaborate on-the-fly that he insisted that every desk sit on wheels. Subsequently, his team of 98 full-time employees can (and His team feels he's very accessible and “in the trenches” with them, and he defers to them to make the best decisions. Simply stated, Spector's tried to create an environment where his team’s driven to do its best work. Throughout the day Spector consistently credits members of his teams for various achievements, as well as collaborators past and present. There's a strong sense of mutual respect among the Junction Point staff, and great work seems to percolate upward as much as it trickles down. According to development director Paul Weaver, who Warren credits with the uncanny ability to accurately finish two- thirds of all Warren's thoughts, “the fact of the matter is Warren is really friggin’ “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing . - Walt Disney does) dynamically change the floor layout based on who needs to work together. “Everyone thought I was crazy,’ he says, “but it works.” A number of Junction Point team members have worked with Warren before. Tony Bratton, the studios technical director, first worked with Warren back at Origin in 1991. I asked him what's changed the most about Warren's style in the last 20 years: “Less vests,” he jokes. “His production group at Origin was called “Vested Interests, simply because the man wore a vest every single day to the office. But you don't see that anymore.” Bratton actually remembers Spector as the guy clawing his way up at Origin with “the other projects” while Richard Garriott and Chris Roberts worked on the signature titles. So how has he changed? “He's become more decisive, Bratton says, “he knows exactly where he wants to go, and I don't think anybody would want to say he's wishy-washy now. I think that’s the biggest change. I've always enjoyed working with him, but now there's always a very clear, solid purpose going forward, and frankly that’s why I came here. To do something great and not leave Austin, I felt like this was the best chance to make that happen and I haven't been proven wrong.” It's clear that Spector leads by example. smart and creative, and nine times out of 10 he's going to improve an idea that's been presented.” The production team has to provide hard data, such as on time and manpower limitations, to prove that certain requests are impossible. “I think where it can break down,’ he says referring to their time together at Ion Storm, “was that people weighed in with an opinion, with no real data to back it up. That's when you see the hackles raised within him. It can be a bit difficult for that person in that conversation, at that point.’ “In order to tell if a game has got soul,” Weaver continues, “you've almost got to feel the blood, sweat, and tears that went into making it. And that is consistent with a Warren Spector game, and that’s why they are special, because everybody puts 110 percent into it. “ Painted on one wall, in Disney's large, signature script, reads Warrens all-time favorite quote from Walt himself: “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” When asked about it, Spector says he can’t stand the idea that some people think that sitting in meetings counts as work. As we sat down to begin talking with Warren, however, we felt lucky that he counted us as an exception. WWW.EQMNOW.COM TRE SGPTNIERVIEW Warren SPECTOR With this project it feels like, perhaps more so than at any other time in your career, there's a lot at stake here. The great eye of the Disney corp. is on you... You're working with Mickey, a licensed character, on the Wii, the most consumer-friendly of the game consoles. It feels like there are lines being crossed here that a lot of your old-school PC development peers wouldn't dare or care to cross. What really made you feel like you needed to do this? Okay, a lot of people are surprised | am doing this. But for me it’s pretty straightforward. I have been a cartoon freak all my life, I never outgrew it. I wrote my master's thesis on cartoons because | love them so much. The first thing of any consequence I published as a professional game developer was TOON: The Cartoon Roleplaying Game at Steve Jackson Games. When I got to TSR, the second thing I did was say, “You have the rights to the Bullwinkle and Rocky role-playing game?” So Zeb Cook and I got to do that game. And I could show you the concept pitches for half a dozen cartoon-oriented video games that I’ve pitched and have been rejected on in the last 20 years. Cartoon games, that's my wheelhouse— somehow I got a reputation for making a different kind of game. Sure, a great reputation making stuff for hardcore gamers into science fiction and fantasy. After making electronic games for 21 years now, I started looking at people playing my games and realizing they were furrowing their brows and looking really intense. | want to make games that make people smile for a change—just for a change. | So what is the last RPG you played? awhile, ask anybody out here, game-playing ~/ think I can do that, and also express a Probably Mass Effect, not even Mass drops dramatically. Most of the stuff I’ve | i. “playstyle matters” philosophy regardless Effect 2, which is kind of embarrassing to been playing is for research, I’m still playing [1 of the fiction. The reality is, you can make admit. But the sad and painful thing, | tell Uncharted 2 and Heavy Rain. I'm a Zelda ITI a game where choices have consequences, everybody who walks in this door saying Junkie and I havent finished Spirit Tracks Gl where what you do really impacts the way they want to get into game development, yet, I mean cmon. = the story unfolds. You can make a game like __ is be careful what you wish for because a that about anything. Youcanmakea game what was your passion is going to become You mentioned your early career as a pen- — like that about Mickey Mouse, and that's your livelihood. You are going to have a and-paper game designer, how did you ui what we're doing. I think Deus Ex fans, lot less time to play the games you love make the leap to interactive games? a | Ultima fans, System Shock and Thief fans, because youre going to end up making I got really lucky, I got pretty high on the | I think they will find plenty to like here if the games that other people love. We've food chain in tabletop games, I was the they open their minds to it. been crunching pretty hard on Mickey for Editor-in-Chief of Steve Jackson games » INTERVIEW WWW.EQMNOW.COM when I left, and I was the manager of the book and game division at TSR the last year I was there. I was playing video games, and I knew I had to get into this new field. You want to be making what youre playing... So what were the games you were playing that drew you in? I was playing what I call the “middle Ultimas,’ Ultima III, Ultima IV. I met Richard Garriott when he was doing the licensed versions of Autoduel and Ogre. And I didnt know him really well, but we were on a panel together at a science fiction convention, and he showed me what he was working on, which was Ultima V at the time. And I went, “Oh my god, this guy is changing the world, and I'm trying to decide whether to use six-sided dice or 20-sided dice for my next game system.” Later while I was at TSR, I got a call saying Origin is looking for an associate producer, interviewed, and luckily they gave me the job. I took a huge pay cut and it was crazy. First thing I did when I got down to Austin was to work with Richard on the plot and mission structure for Ultima VI. And he showed me how he did his black book where he did all of his design and planned out the characters and their interactions, and the cities, and what quests would be in them, and it was unbelievable. It was... [gasps]. So you went from loving the Ultima series to working on it. Did you have to shake off an element of “fanboyness” in your approach to the job? Naaaah! I pretty much keep that under control, I have a healthy ego, okay? It wasnt like I was a fanboy. I came into that situation with all of this tabletop game experience, face-to-face role-playing. I literally came in with the attitude, “I’m going to show these guys what interactivity is all about.’ And it took me about two weeks before I figured out, “Oh my god, I know nothing.” I think that’s the problem with people who come from the paper game world is that they think “games are games, and they understand them. I was lucky enough that I ran into people who were clearly so much better than me. I worked with Richard Garriott, Paul Neurath and Chris Roberts, these guys are really good! So I was humbled pretty quickly, and after two weeks, I went “Okay, teach me” and I think that’s the only reason I survived. Having moved into the very shaky early video game market, you were earning paychecks in a time when the business of staying in business wasn’t a sure thing. After leaving Origin, you went to Looking Glass (which closed) and then to the implosion at Ion Storm, which you were dragged into. Was there ever a time when you considered saying, “F**k it, I quit?” No. No. I think one of the things that EA does really well, is they have a policy of giving people sabbaticals, and I have certainly needed sabbaticals at certain points in my career. There was never a point where I thought I should do something else for a living. You know, ’ma “game guy’ that’s what I do. I can point to what might be the lowest point in your career. Was it when your salary was leaked in that Ion Storm email trail that was published online? That was pretty low, yeah. Actually that wasn't my salary, that was a salary negotiation, people dont realize that. [Ed. note: in 1999, that amount was $120k.] That was what I wanted to be making, because But Looking Glass didn’t last either. Looking Glass had a very cool indie vibe, but there were a different set of problems. There was never enough money. I told [Looking Glass president] Paul [Neurath] to shut down the Austin office before you take down the entire company, it’s not worth it, Looking Glass needs to go on. So I was out there looking for another deal as an independent. John Romero called and said, I'll give you a bigger budget than you ever had, I'll give you more marketing than you can imagine, and no creative interference whatsoever, go make the game of your dreams. So while there were some low points, John fundamentally lived up to every promise he made. I got to make the game Id been dreaming about for years, with no creative interference, no focus-testing, no nothing. It was the game I wanted to make, and I had the money to make it... And that was Deus Ex. But when the Dallas headquarters of Ion Storm closed, things must have changed when Eidos became more directly involved? I was lucky enough that I ran into people who were clearly SO much better than me. I knew what the other guys at Ion Storm were making, and I didn’t want to be the lowest-paid guy. Which I was, as it noted. But that was pretty low. Publishers and creatives have different goals, perspectives and priorities, so you have low points. So there have been other rough spots? There was a tough time towards the end of my career at Origin, where we had to cut our development budget ridiculously. I was very happily the “B-movie guy.” That was how I used to describe myself. No one paid any attention to me, because Richard Garriott [Ultima] and Chris Roberts [Wing Commander] made the huge games. So I got left alone, but when it came time to make cuts, guess whose teams got shrunk? Guess whose budgets got cut? I was making really good games, at really low cost, and making some money doing that. Not being appreciated for that was VERY tough. And a large part of the reason I finally joined Looking Glass. No! No! No! I'll say this—Eidos treated me really well! I have nothing bad to say about Eidos as a publisher. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is schedu led to ship this year, as the original Deus Ex was your dream project, what can you say about what you've seen? The team seems to be very respectful of your work on the first, but does it bother you that somebody is else is building a prequel to your baby? It doesn't bother me at all. The fact that there's another Deus Ex being made is incredibly cool. To have been part of the creation of something that has lasting value, that 10 years later, people remember fondly for the most part, and that people still dig it out and play it, is really special. The fact that there is a team of people out there who are clearly respectful of what we did, love what we did, and feel a sense of pride in the fact that they are getting to continue that—how can you not love that? Well, you said before that you have a big ego. You don't feel Deus Ex is your universe? Even now in Epic Mickey, with the return of “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit,’ you ve openly discussed with the press how Oswald was Walt’s first animated property that was taken from him... There are certainly stories I would like to tell in the Deus Ex universe, yes, ok? Iam not going to lie. I still have ideas in my head for what the Dentons are all about and what they are up to, and what that world became. But again, I get to play it as a player for the first time, and that’s kinda cool. Youre excited to do that? Heck ya. I can't wait to play it. Do you think you are going to be the most critical player of that game? I tend to be the most critical player of just about every game I play. [laughs] So I dont think it will be any different on Deus Ex 3. While at Looking Glass, we talked about “Junction Point” being the name of a secret project you were very excited about, but you wouldn't elaborate on at the time. Several years later, after leaving Eidos, Junction Point became the name of your current studio. It’s time to come clean, Warren! What was that project? What was so important about that name that made you want to name the studio for it? [sighs, deep breath] When [former Looking Glass president] Paul Neurath gave me the opportunity to start Looking Glass Austin, part of the deal was that I would become exec producer of the role-playing line. My contributions were fairly minimal on the first Thief game. But our real project we were going to do was an MMO! This was in 1996! Very early on. So I started thinking, “How do I create an MMO, that embodies what I think is right for multiplayer gaming?” Jettisoning all the bad stuff from traditional MMOs. I have no interest in getting to know 10,000 people, I want to experience a story with six to eight, maybe 20 people. So how do I do that? That was problem one, problem two was, how do I take the “playstyle matters” that I've been single-minded about since Ultima VI, and how do I embody that in an online multiplayer game? And finally, how do | not get locked into having to make games where the characters look like the mighty Thor, wield swords, and wear fur armor... Junction Point was the end result of that. Without going into details, I have a full design document, I went out and pitched it to every publisher in the world. We had core tech that we were ready to start working on. It was ready to go, and we got a lot of, “we already have an MMO in development” or “it's way too ambitious, it's too early to be doing stuff like that.’ At the end of the day, we couldnt get the funding for it. To this day, I still think most people are doing MMOs wrong, and there are better ways to give people multiplayer experiences than what has been offered. So why the name “Junction Point” for the game? A junction point is a place where a lot of things come together and from which you can go anywhere, that's my interpretation of the meaning of the term. A point of junction, from which you can go many places. It started out referring to a nexus of worlds, but I wanted to go off and do highly instanced stuff, so a small group would go off and do an adventure, and another small group would go off and do the same adventure, and then I had some cool fictional stuff that would have all of the difference instances adding up into something bigger... [hesitating] I’m trying not to really talk about it, because I still want to do it. I was about to ask you that! So you still want to make it? Yeah, I still want to do it, so I don't want to give everything away. I came up with a game, setting, an idea, that had the best qualities of the best MMOs and the best of single-player and small-group multiplayer story adventure, and then I found a way to marry them. Would it work? I dont know. But up here, in my head, it works, it works just fine. I think when you list those things on paper, that sounds like a pretty strong sell sheet... Especially where so many have failed in the MMO market. Some day! Be patient! [laughs] But you know when I started thinking about the name for the studio. You know, Junction Point kind of fit with the games that I make. Everybody comes to a specific point in the story, but where they go from that point is entirely up to them, I don't want to dictate that. But you'll always come back to that next story point, the nexus of the story. Isn't it also a bit like what happens here, you have a collaborative effort coming from people with a diverse set of talents, programmers, artists, designers working together... Yes! That is the other thing, it is also about the way we work. We have a variety of backgrounds. I come from that wacky “we make worlds” Origin/Looking Glass school of design, I have guys here who have worked on straightforward console platformers, guys from the indie scene, | have guys just out of gaming schools. We're all coming together to create something new, so the name just worked for me. I just crossed my fingers and hoped nobody could claim rights to ownership on the name, thankfully no one has. One of Junction Point's first projects was for Vivendi, called Ninja Gold. Now Vivendi as a publisher doesn’t really exist anymore. Can you give us some more details as to what that game was? When I left Ion Storm in the spring of 2004, I had a non-compete clause in my contract, so I couldn't work for a while. I hooked up with Seamus Blackley of CAA [Ed. note: Blackley was also a former Looking Glass coworker of Warrens who had co-created the Xbox at Microsoft before joining CAA] and he became my agent and got me meetings with all sorts of people. He hooked me up with John Woo, one of my heroes. So I talked to John, and he said, “What do you think about doing a modern-day ninja movie and game?” Wed develop a property simultaneously for movies and games. He could have said let's make a dating game, and I would have said “Yeah!” So to cut to the chase, Vivendi put together the best development and royalty deal. That sounds great, so what happened? Word on the street is Vivendi yanked your chain... It goes both ways... I think people trusted me individually to pull off a great game, which is flattering. But at that point Junction Point was six guys and no tech, and temporary office space. To be frank, we were working for at least a year, and we didn't make the kind of progress we should have been making early on. It was not like we were incompetent, but it takes a while to develop momentum as a developer when you are working on an AAA title with a Hollywood director and producer. From [the Vivendi] side, I swear I don't know et 0 Ee N an \\ 4 /\ WARREN SPECTOR SELECTED GAMEOQGRAPHY 1990 Wing Commander Origin Systems 1990 Wing Commander: The Secret Missions Origin Systems 1990 Ultima Vi: The False Prophet Origin Systems 1990 Bad Blood Origin Systems 1991 Wing Commander ll: Vengeance of the Kilarthi Origin Systems 1991 Wing Commander: The Secret Missions 2-Crusade Origin Systems 1991 Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams Origin Systems i882 Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss Origin Systems 1993 Ultima Underworld ll: Labyrinth of Worlds Origin Systems continued... 58) C3 Si co ¢ ON oy | at O INTERVIEW WARREN SPECTOR SELECTED GAMEOGRAPHY continued... 1893 Ultima VIl, Part Two: Serpent Isle Origin Systems gg Ultima VIl, Part Two: The Silver Seed Electronic Arts 1993 Wings of Glory Electronic Arts 1994 Wing Commander: Privateer- Righteous Fire Origin Systems 1994 System Shock Looking Glass Technologies 1995 CyberMage: Darklight Awakening Origin Systems 1835 Crusader: No Remorse Origin Systems 1998 Thief: The Dark Project Looking Glass Studios 2000 Deus Ex lon Storm Austin 2003 Deus Ex: Invisible War lon Storm Austin 2004 Thief: Deadly Shadows lon Storm Austin 2010 Epic Mickey Disney Interactive Studios what happened, it's a mystery. You should do some digging. One day at Vivendi, it looks to me like they shut down 10 projects in one day, bam-bam-bam! This is pure speculation, but I believe they shut down every unannounced project. I never felt like I was mistreated by Vivendi. I was pretty peeved at that moment, but it wasn't like we were singled out. On the flip side, as a result, we did some concept development for Valve that probably will never see the light of day. But thank God Valve was there to help us get through a tough patch. And we got to work with Disney on concepting what became Disney Epic Mickey. Okay, so we’ve established your love of Disney and cartoons. When you brought the idea back to the team, did you feel it was going to be difficult to motivate the team to get behind Mickey? Oh yes, I thought it was going to be very difficult. When I created Junction Point, people signed on specifically to make have a problem with. Early on, we used to have these “Come to Mickey” meetings, and I still do this. I tell people, “Guys, we're making a Mickey game, if you want to make shooters, or indie puzzle games, or a basketball game, that’s probably not going to happen here.’ I tell them in these words, “I need to be surrounded by people who burn with the passion to do this, and if you dont have that passion, and this is just a job to you, then let's part friends.” Now that everyone knows what we're doing, we attract people who want to be part of this. It's not an issue much anymore. So did you lose anyone? I did! Early on. A very talented designer/ level builder said, “I want to be working on Halo-style games,’ so he left. One of the most versatile artists ’'ve ever worked with left, and the lead writer from several of my projects said, “I can't find the voice for this, its not right for me,” so he left. I still talk to all those guys, we're still friends. It worked "..yoOu need people around who bum with passion for what you do." Sleeping Giants, an epic fantasy RPG, and Ninja Gold. To go from that to “we're making a Mickey Mouse game,” that is difficult. Even if I had said “we're making a Superman game’—any time you bring people in with expectations of working on specific games, or a game rated M, ora new IP from scratch, you're going to have issues with a change in direction. It was a radical change from the projects I had been pitching when I interviewed potential candidates. How did you get everyone else to drink the Kool-Aid? The reason I thought I had a shot at keeping people around, and have them be happy, was twofold. One, in a difficult business, the stability associated with being part of Disney is pretty compelling, youre part of an enormous multinational corporation. And the other thing is, everyone associated with Junction Point when this project started was a bit older, mid-thirties, has a family, has kids, and so I had a feeling most of them would go for it... But I knew there would be a couple of guys I was going to out exactly as it should—you need people around who burn with passion for what you do. It's not just a job. So if you were to resurrect any of these projects, do you think they’d come back? I hope theyd all come back, absolutely! About 12 years ago in London, back when ECTS was still a big game convention, I was with a former co- worker of yours from Looking Glass, who had been on the recently panned Trespasser. We all started talking, and you said how impressed you were with Trespasser’s physics and how you were going to steal the physics from Trespasser and put them into your next game... ironically, I believe it was Thief. Oh! [embarrassed] Oh, that’s right! [laughs] I forgot you were there! Now that physics systems are fairly ubiquitous in high-end games, what is today’s equivalent to that? Is there any new tech you've seen lately that impresses you, or you may want to purloin? My real hope is that there is someone out there, in a garage somewhere, doing something so crazy that I can't even imagine what it is, because then I get to experience the joy of discovery with everybody else. The big frontiers for me that | think we need to explore are making “character interaction,’ not “combat AI} as exciting, and interesting, and open-ended as our combat AI is now. We're really good at making you feel like you're in a fight with characters that are tough to beat. Talking, what you and IJ are doing right now—we dont do that well at all. There are developers out there who are clearly working on that problem, but I don't think anybody's even come close to solving it yet. There is a lot more work to do in non-combat AI, character interaction, conversation, that sort of thing. You've also been a big champion of building dynamic worlds. We are trying to do some of that in Disney Epic Mickey with worlds that you can change through your actions. But we're doing that in a cartoon context, which un-asks a lot of questions. I used to say that game developers need to stop building movie sets and start building worlds, and I think that is still true today. Developers still make games where we don't let you open 90 percent of the doors, because we can't simulate what's behind those doors. And we cant let you interact with characters the way you want to, because the characters can only respond to the things we tell them to respond to. When you try to open a door in any game that wasn’t meant to be opened, youre kind of doomed to be disappointed. So we need characters that not only evolve, but worlds that change when the player makes choices. Were still in a state where only what the designer planned and only what artists illustrated, can happen. And J think that really holds us back from taking the next big step forward in what we call interactive entertainment, right? We're not as interactive as we need to be, and we need to be better. It is pretty apparent you find the idea of doing something safe far scarier than the fear of failing at something new. I say this all the time—I have zero interest in working on well-understood WWW.EQMNOW.COM fr problems or things that end up being mediocre. Life is too short. There are 19 games on which I feel I’ve really made a difference, that’s a career. 19 games—that’s nothing! You're working in a medium thats still trying to figure out what it's all about... if youre working on well-understood problems, I understand lots of people have no choice, but I’ve been the luckiest guy in the world because I've never had to work on a game because I was told to work on it. It’s not even that I’m afraid of it, I just won't do it. I will not work on a project that I feel does not have the potential for greatness. the hard times to ultimately triumph? I never thought about that. I think I'll leave Mickey Mouse as the alter-ego of Walt Disney. No character survives for 82 years without having some universal characteristics we can all find ourselves Do you see a bit of yourself in Mickey Mouse? Is it that maybe the good guy has to take a bit of a kicking, maybe scrub a few floors and persevere through What's your alcohol of choice when you finish a project? It's a little drink called Slivovitz. It's a plum brandy, and it’s good for what ails you. There’ a bottle in there [points to his cabinet]. It's a vodka basically, and it's really good. Really powerful, and really good for celebrations. What would you be doing if you weren't making games? Id be teaching at university or college somewhere, film, television history, theory, crit. Writing books, I hope. Writing about film history, and Id have more than one published novel. As an avid reader (professing on your blog to over 500 books on your Kindle) what's the last one you've read? It's embarassing actually, it was “Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow” by David Gemmell. Uh, I go through phases, where I need to read something by David Gemmell. I describe him as the thinking man’s Robert E. Howard, or you know, “Conan for smart people.” He writes these epic heroic fantasy novels. I need them every once in a while, it’s like, once a month I need a McDonald's quarter-pounder with cheese. What was your favorite magazine growing up? It depends on what part of growing up you mean, I went through a Boy's Life period sure... When I was about twelve, I discovered Car and Driver. The September 1969 issue of Car and Driver, and from that moment on I was hooked on cars forever. I subscribed to Car and Driver, Road & Track, Motor Trend. I still do, lam a car freak. Now we're going to need to know what you are driving. Liberal guilt and living eight-tenths of a mile from the office has me driving a Prius. But when it's not incredibly hot in Austin, I have a Honda $2000 that I drop the top on... It’s “give-me-a-ticket” red and Idrive t6o fast, and I love it. What music are you listening to? There's a new Jimi Hendrix album “The Valleys of Neptune.” Oh my God! It’s a bunch of unreleased tapes that have been remastered. It just proves again the guy was 50 years ahead of his time, it sounds absolutely current, it's unbelievable. It's some of the best stuff he ever did. There's also a Boston band called Tribe, half of those guys are working at [Rock Band creators} Harmonix now, and I fell in love with Tribe when I was working with Looking Glass, and all those guys were in the audio department there. You have a huge love of comics, what's your all-time favorite? In the sort of Superhero-y realm, Jim Starlin’s Warlock series from back in the day. My favorite comic artist-writer of all time is Carl Barks. Just go back and look at Pirate Gold, his stuff with Uncle Scrooge and Donald, and the nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie. Those are the best comics I think that have ever been done in the United States. And just because I cant give a simple, short answer to anything, there's an artist-writer out there named Noel Van Horn, who has written just the best Mickey Mouse stories. Speaking of all things Disney, what is your favorite Disney ride? My heart says Pirates of the Caribbean, how do you not love Pirates of the Caribbean? But the ride I have the most fun on now is the Indiana Jones ride. I go on it several times every time I go to one of the parks. Favorite Disney character? We know you're locked into Mickey right now, but you don’t have to say him. in. I think I’m a little bit of Mickey, and a little bit of Donald, and not much of Uncle Scrooge but I wish I was more Uncle Scrooge. [Taken aback] I'm not going to say Mickey! 'm going to say Uncle Scrooge. Mostly because of those Carl Barks comic books... The DuckTales TV series was very good... but Uncle Scrooge was like Indiana Jones before Spielberg was even born. It's kind of a toss-up between Mickey and Oswald for number two on my list. Oswald is kind of a crazy, anarchy-creating, chaotic force. Mickey is, well, he’s Mickey. Favorite Disney movie? And if you need to break them up between animation and live action, we'll give you that. Wow, [hesitates] I have so many. I don't know, Snow White maybe, Alice in Wonderland maybe. More recently I fell in love with Enchanted. [Laughs] My wife and I went to see Enchanted— it's got a lot of what I'm trying to do in the Disney Epic Mickey game. It's so clear the guys who made it love Disney, and yet they're okay having a little fun with the Disney heritage. So it's respect and humor all rolled into one. Okay, most disappointing movie you've ever seen? Nobody has ever asked me that! I’m an old film geek too, in high school I went to the movies seven days a week, literally seven days a week I went to the movies. I've only walked out of one movie in my entire life. Which was? Sid and Nancy. | could not get through it. I found the characters reprehensible, and the pacing was slow... It was like a stupid-person movie. Any movie you can end by saying “stop being stupid” and they stop being stupid, the movie's over, that’s a bad movie. Right? “Don't be stupid” is not a good narrative conclusion. You're sentenced to death for a crime you didn’t commit. What’s your final meal? That's easy, three Nathan's hot dogs, just mustard. Two orders of Nathan's French fries, and a Coke. SLOHS ONLLYVd 6 in eel HOES O es es O eu On ~ O oy op. a a = si ae a = pa U re = O Os OU a RY e O a By Evan Shamoon Wwww.egmnow.com ‘Mortal Kombat |s | associated with violence, and were > = PUBLISHER | WARNER BROS. FIVE ENTERTAINMENT DEVELOPER THERREALM STUDIOS aa PLATFORM “| XBOX 360, PS3 *, Se) MODES _ SINGLE PLAYER - 2-4 ONLINE VS | *. — BSRB 4: “ae known for and definitely going back to that...” t is generally agreed upon that while “fear” and “exhilaration” fall firmly in their emotional wheelhouse, videogames don't do a very good job communicating “funny: Many games try, certainly, with witty dialogue and goofy sight gags, but few succeed in any meaningful way. Mortal Kombat is perhaps an unsuspecting exception to this rule: for those of us that grew up with the series, few things left as lasting a childhood memory as the first time we watched one of the game's menacing contestants pluck a perfect rainbow from mid-air to announce the successful completion of a “Friendship” finishing move. Fast-forward to 2010, a year in which “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great . Job!” has achieved mainstream success, -Funny or Die has a show on HBO that — regularly features geysers of blood, South African “Zef-Rap” act Die Antwoord - creative director Ed Boon has been signed to Interscope Records, and The Human Centipede has been released into select theaters. Heavy metal is undergoing a monstrous resurgence, zombies have been killed in every conceivable fashion, and YouTube videos of dancing babies, bananas, and cats have graced computer screens in even the most rigid workplaces. Essentially, we live in an age where absurdity has become commonplace, where the bar for what's considered “over the top” is pushed ever higher. In other words, we live in an age where the concept of a “Babality” seems perfectly at home. What better time, then, for the return of the seminal Mortal Kombat franchise? The torch has been passed from the now defunct Midway Games to the re-energized Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, but the original studio, still headed up by series co-creator Ed Boon, remains at the helm. Nor has the 239.0 FOUR-WAY KOMBAT > “In making a game that’s so much about players building their own combos and coming up with as many of these as possible, the multiple characters really adds a lot,” says Boon. “As each character has his or her own entry and exit moves, we feel it adds another layer of dimension to the whole fighting mechanic.” The tag- team style action is more than just added girth: As they enter and exit, characters can do so with their own particular moves. They can come in and out with an ot . attack (or an assist attack), or you can even burn part of your super meter to have The game that your second character come in with a special entry attack or super move. Reptile started it all arrives can enter cloaked with invisibility, for example, while Kung Lao whirls in with a in arcades after the development team’s spin attack (which, the developers point out, can even be entered mid-combo). original plan for a Van Dame fighter The team expects players to find their favorite pairs and own them, prancing an falls through. added layer of strategic —_ and —" to the game. MORTAL KOMBAT II 1993 The inevitable sequel introduces sharper graphics and new finishing moves, including “Babalities” and “Friendships.” TORE tN She OES ee i MORTAL KOMBAT 3 199% Despite a so-so cast of main Kombatants implicit irony been lost: For Warner His studio, which has been renamed of a new final frontier in videogame and a lack of masked ae ninjas, MK enjoys Bros., Sub-Zero and Scorpion have NetherRealm since the WB acquisition, violence. pl aban become the comically violent cash cow _is where Mortal Kombat was born, According to Boon, a return to this Animalities as well that Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote and it is here that we are to become sort of carnage has been the most- eee once were. reacquainted with its “signature” brand _ requested feature from fans, and clearly Afurther updating “We're going to be as M-rated as we've ever been,” Boon proudly announces as we gather around a conference table, housed inside an unassuming brick building situated on the outskirts of Chicago. His body is framed by a projected PowerPoint presentation of his own making, one that illustrates how of interactivity. A fighting game built for today’s gaming sensibilities. Case in point: The developers are actually modeling the insides of each character, from brains to bowels. Why? So that when you cut somebody in half, rip their arms off, or otherwise dismember them, you will see their to the MK3 play his new game will appeal to everyone realistically rendered insides as they meapoangeinh and and his mother. “Mortal Kombat is come spilling out of their body. This padi Fa Bosak known for and associated with violence, _ unique brand of virtual human butchery favorite 2D MK. www.egmnow.com and we're definitely going back to that.” is, at least for the moment, representative it’s back in spades. In addition to dismemberment, they’re also modeling physical damage on characters. For example, Mileena’s mask can rip, revealing a disturbing, yellowed, mutant- vampire mouth beneath, and will flap in the wind throughout the remainder of _ the match. Skin shreds and bleeds. Eyes are gouged from their sockets, faces are disfigured, and limbs are torn asunder. Sure enough, it is Mortal Kombat, and - this is the year 2010. The second most-requested feature by MK fans, and one much more crucial to the game's staying power, is a return to a 2D fighting plane. As in Street Fighter IV, Mortal Kombat’s characters are. rendered in full 3D, but all of the action takes place on a single plane. “It was a _big decision for us,’ says Boon, noting the franchise's exploration of the z-axis in Deadly Alliance and Armageddon. This is, at its heart, an embrace of old- school Mortal Kombat, and the results both look and feel familiar. Jumping into the action, one thing becomes immediately clear: This Mortal Kombat is fast and frenetic (“easily the fastest Mortal Kombat game we've ever made,” says Boon). This speed is a manifestation of the game's new design philosophy, whereby short spurts of attacks and fast turnarounds have become the focus. There's a strong emphasis on the pace of the combat: The team is working hard to limit the amount of time players lose control of their characters, something they're achieving by moving away from the sort of long, “baked in” string combos that the series has become famous for. ; “We really want to promote a back- and-forth,” says Boon of the new approach. “We don't want players to have that feeling that they're getting beat up so badly that they're simply holding their controller, unable to do anything about it.” Since the back-and-forth exchanges cycle much faster, who’s in control of the match switches back and forth on a dime. “We're finding that this has a huge impact on the experience, and makes it much more engaging for the player, says Boon. While Mortal Kombat was the game that invented “juggle combos,” the team is moving away from this mentality for the reboot. “We love juggle combos, but really wanted to make it more of a technical gameplay mechanic; it's more | about understanding each character's _ individual fighting style, and knowing — which attack you can perform to create > GM 2390 MORTAL KOMBAT TIMELINE _ MORTAL KOMBAT TRILOGY 1996 Yet another MK3 update, this time including every MK character to date— some played by new actors. eq sin a MORTAL KOMBAT 4 1997 The final MK to make its debut in arcades, MK4 introduces a new 3D fighting sys- tem and weaponry. £4 PlayStation | i© i 1998 Midway's attempt to broaden the MK horizons into the realm of platformers, Mythologies blends traditional controls with side-scrolling action. MORTAL KOMBAT GOLD 1998 . ASega Dreamcast launch title, MK Gold is a faithful, if glitchy, port of MK4. Widely panned as the worst of the MK titles, Special Forces is Midway's second _ (and largely unsuc- cessful) foray into MK platform games. wWww.egmnow.com your own larger combo,’ says lead designer John Edwards. “I don’t want people to feel like they can master a character in a day. We want to promote the idea of mastery of a character, and were putting tons of work into making sure each character is unique, and that players can invest time into their favorite ones.” “The past games kind of relied on chain combos or dial-in combos, string combos, whatever you want to call them—pre-programmed combo strings, kind of a casual fighting game philosophy,’ Edwards continues. “We do still have some of that, but we really limited the number of hits; we’re trying to rely more on players creating their own combos, much like our old 2D games. We're giving the game a lot more replay value in this way for more technical players. For the casual players, we have really powerful special moves, projectiles, teleports. We want to make sure that both sides are represented.” It's a common refrain today, this notion that the game will be all things to all fighting fans. Whenever a “hardcore” feature is mentioned, an equivalent “casual” feature is invoked to balance it out. But perhaps the tale of the tape will come when players go online, which itself figures to be a huge part of the experience. Today’s most talked-about online mode is called King of the Hill: Two players fight while several others watch, patiently waiting for their shot at the champ. “The spectator mode has been done before, but we want to push actual participation for the spectators,” says Boon. “We'll have a whole ratings system after the fight, where players can rate the fight: If you get all 10s, you know you did a good job. If you get 1s and 2s, it means you fought kinda cheesy.’ Players will also be able to make their feelings known in real-time as the match takes place. : The team also sees this setting as a forum for passing along critical fighting knowledge. “Rather than digging around online for info, if you see somebody do something cool in a match, or perform some combo you've never thought of, you can simply ask them how they did it right then and there,’ says Boon. The developer is looking to bring back the performative aspect of arcade fighting games—the group of people fixated on a single match, the “winner stays on” mentality, "We're trying to rely more on players creating their own combos, much like our old 2D games." -lead METER, I NEARLY KILLED HER The team has returned to a more traditional super meter this time around, eschewing such oddities as the Rage Meter found in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. The meter builds up based on various actions—landing a combo, getting beat up, etc.—and serves as the governing system for many of the game's more powerful techniques, including the “Combo Breaker” (which does exactly what i designer John Edwards it says), the aforementioned enhanced version of special moves, or a huge attack at the end of a match. How you choose to manage your special meter will be an important aspect of your playing style. the chance to prove oneself in front of others—all of which was part of what made Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat so popular in the days of arcades. “The feeling of putting your quarter up on the arcade cabinet, knowing you're up in three matches— that tension is what we're trying to capture,” says producer Hector Sanchez. Downloadable content is also said to be key: The team is promising that characters, costumes, and more will be slowly leaked into the game, well after launch. The return to a 2D plane means that projectiles are much more effective they were simply too easy to avoid in 3D. Special moves have their own “enhanced versions,’ similar to Street Fighter IV’s EX moves. The Iron Man- like Spektor, for example, fires rockets at his opponent; if you're willing to burn a bar of your special meter, however, he can launch a heat-seeking rocket that will home in on his enemy. Every special attack in the game will have an upgraded version: Some will do more damage, others will hit multiple times or set up combos, others can provide defensive powers. Four-player tag-team fighting is new to the series, and the single- player experience is being bolstered by something the team is calling the “Challenge Tower.’ Mortal Kombat arcade sticks are being discussed; while the developer is in talks with manufacturers, nothing is certain just yet. “It will happen, unless something goes wrong,’ is the unofficial company line. As a cultural lens into East versus West, few videogame test subjects prove as insightful as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Capcom's fighter, with its subtle gameplay mechanics, precise animation, and refined, almost painterly visual style, met its first popularity match when the Mortal Kombat franchise debuted in 1992, itself a production full of heavy, motion-captured animation, a cut-and- paste digital aesthetic, and still-beating hearts ripped from fighters’ chests. It was, for all intents and purposes, the game design equivalent of a Nissan GT-R versus a Ford Mustang. Or better yet a black hooptie. With hydraulics, 20” rims, and a 300 Ib subwoofer in the trunk. Now that the Street Fighter franchise has had its time to shine with Street Fighter IV and its Super follow-up—and shine it has, having sold several million copies—Mortal Kombat returns to the ring. And if you've ever so much as accidentally brushed against a videogame controller, Boon has you in his sights: Casual fighting game players, more technical, hardcore players, the “mass market” players, even the industry and press—he wants them all. “Our goal was to attack each one of these as aggressively as possible. We've traditionally been a lot more of a casual fighting game, but this reboot will be our strongest entry yet in trying to appeal to the hardcore, technical fighting game player. But we still want to be accessible” That's a lot of buts, certainly... but (there's another) we won't have to wait much longer to see how it all pans out. & TOWER OF POWER The Challenge Tower is a huge part of Mortal Kombat’s single-player experience. “It's similar to an arcade ladder, but we're going to be giving players specific challenges as they climb,” says Boon. Some of these will be very small, others extremely difficult; each one will provide currency rewards upon completion. Players will be able to buy their way past really difficult ones. “We want to force people to ask themselves the question: Do I want to spend 1000 points to get past this, or am I gonna stick with it?” 12 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT MK FROM ED BOON The original Mortal Kombat was created by four people in eight months from start to finish. [he idea for the hidden character Reptile came while Ed Boon was driving to a KFC for lunch. That same afternoon Reptile was in the game. [he first Mortal Kombat movie made $23 million its opening weekend, which (at the time) was the second-biggest August opening in movie history. In Mortal Kombat 3, Nightwolf, Sektor, Cyrax and the cyborg version of Smoke were played by Sal Divita, one of the designers of NBA Jam and NFL Blitz. The Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe team had created two DLC characters for the game, Quan Chi and Harley Quinn. Unfortunately Midway went bankrupt and they were never released. The demand for Mortal Kombat IJ arcade cabinets was so strong that Midway shipped cabs with incomplete software. These early games had only a few fatalities. Later, updated software was shipped to distributors, who had to make sure each cabinet sold had the new code installed. Ed Boon voiced the Scorpion character and the announcer in the original Mortal Kombat, as well as the voice of Scorpion in the Mortal Kombat movies. gle- = Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks was originally a sin player game featuring Raiden as the only playable character. The first Mortal Kombat arcade game originally had only six characters. When it tested well in a local Chicago arcade the decision was made to add a female character, Sonya Blade. . The Mortal Kombat series is approaching 30 million units sold. . The name Mortal Kombat was suggested by famed pinball designer Steve Ritchie. . The Mortal Kombat team pitched the idea for Mortal Kombat vs Street Fighter over 10 years ago. C3 es | COVER STORY MORTAL KOMBAT ADVANCE The GBA port of MK3 is the first game to receive a “0” score in EGM's history. MORTAL KOMBAT TIMELINE aie | LAS Vi § 4 MORTALKOMBAT ¢s. DEADLY ALLIANCE Originally known as MKS, Deadly Alliance is the first entry in the series to be developed exclusively for the home market. ae MORTAL KOMBAT DB TOURNAMENT EDITION Tet MORTAL KOMBAT 2003 An enhanced port of Deadly Alliance that continues the first 3D MK gameplay for a handheld. % ¥ ‘at th MORTAL KOMBAT DECEPTION The sixth installment in the series brings back the Krypt and Konquest modes, while adding puzzle games into the mix. PlayStation.2 f., i is i) ee | Ay a x: te OD MORTAL KOMBAT SHAOLIN MONKS 2OOS Another attempt to merge the MK uni- verse with another gaming genre— this time is met with critical success. i WWWw.egmnow.com 7 In many ways the face of the Mortal Kombat franchise, Johnny Cage (aka Jonathan Carlton) packs a Shadow Kick and Force Ball so devastating that cynics long believed they were only achieved using special effects. This led him to enter the first Mortal Kombat tournament and shed the unjustified pretty-boy label forever. Despite the formidable challenges of defending Earthrealm from repeated attacks, Johnny still found time to continue his career as a movie star before attaining godlike powers in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and giving up material success for a life of enlightenment. y N Standing in the shadow of his fellow Shaolin, Liu Kang, Kung Lao was also trained by Master Bo’ Rai Cho. A direct descendent of the Great Kung Lao (featured in the Mortal Kombat television series Mortal Kombat: Konquest). Lao will not hesitate to prove his worth in kombat as he has done many times over the decades. Representing the Order of Light as well as the White Lotus Society, Lao is best known for utilizing his trademark razor-rimmed hat as a deadly weapon capable of slicing into an opponent or even decapitating a foe that dares cross him. te, After an auspicious debut as one of the hidden bosses in the original Mortal Kombat, Reptile became a fully playable character in the follow-up. Endlessly loyal to Shao Kahn in the hopes that Kahn will help revive his nearly extinct race of two-legged humanoid raptors, Reptile has continued to torment opponents with his Forceball and Acid Spit in nearly every installment of the Mortal Kombat franchise. Despite his displays of ferocious skill, as well as his unbreakable commitment to Kahn, Reptile has yet to see his dreams of a Raptor revitalization come to fruition. a When the Lin Kuei clan decided to automate their most deadly warriors in Mortal Kombat III, Sektor was the first to undergo the change. As unit LK-9T9, he was original sent to terminate Sub- Zero, but came up empty in that effort. In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, however, Sektor did succeed in assassinating the Lin Kuei Grandmaster and was only stopped from grabbing the Dragon Medallion (proof of the Lin Kuei clan leadership) through the efforts of Sub-Zero. Instead, Sektor retreated to Japan where he formed his own band of cyborg ninja warriors known as the Tekunin. a Kitana’ evil clone, Mileena, was created by Shang Tsung to serve Emperor Shao Kahn in place of his rebellious stepdaughter. Mileena believes that serving as princess of Edenia is her birthright, and the only thing standing in her way is Edenia'’s real princess, Kitana. Although literally a physical clone of her sister (save for a sharp set of fangs), Mileena carries none of Kitanas virtuous attributes. To the contrary, she is vicious, spiteful, and opportunistic. Mileena is a femme fatale who would prefer to kill Kitana and usurp her position. This vicious man-eater has risen to become the Mortal Kombat franchise's most popular villainess. a Not to be confused with his near- identical brother, this blue-garbed assassin appeared early in Mortal Kombat, on a mission from the Lin Kuei to assassinate Shang Tsung. Before he could accomplish his assignment, however, he met his demise at the hands of Scorpion, who was seeking revenge of his own. This death did not stop him from reappearing with the name “Classic Sub-Zero’ as one of the three un-lockable ninjas in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Despite his brief reign within the Mortal Kombat universe, Sub-Zero remains one of the most recognizable characters in the franchise. The six characters weve been introduced to so far—Reptile, Kung Lao, Sub-Zero, Mileena, Johnny Cage, and Sektor— represent about a quarter of the cast, wh ich 1S expected is said and done. [hey've undergone the full modern- day 3D treatment, and the results are impressive. ‘The designers and animators are giving each character their own unique animations, stances, and physical personality—from introductions to victory poses and fatalities, each character will be his or her own, unlike some past MK games. “Certain characters are fast, others are power characters that dont rely on combos, others will be more throw- oriented—we really wanted to make sure that each character felt really unique,’ says Edwards. Alternate costumes are back (one for each character), and of course imbued with more detail than they ve ever had. No word yet of a “Leisure Suit Johnny Cage’ spin-off. Ec! ; 38 COVER STORY MORTAL KOMBAT TIMELINE PiayStation.c MORTAL KOMBAT ARMAGEDDON 2006 Boasting a roster of more than 60 fighters and the ability to create more, plus a bonus MK kart game (Motor Kombat), and you have the most complete MK to date. MORTAL K oy bamoway MORTAL KOMBAT UNCHAINED 2006 The PSP port of MK Deception features additional charac- ters and a haphazard control system. —“ Me MORTAL KOMBAT ARMAGEDDON 2007 The Wii version boasts both motion- control and classic DC UNIVERSE 2008 Scrapping earlier | plans to pursue a darker tone for the 8th entry, MK characters instead clash with Batman, Superman, and other DC comic book heroes ina cross-over fighting title that represents the last release from Midway Games before their bankruptcy. WWW.EQMNOW.COM Konversation — 7 Be. ~ “Se é ® e = An EGM rounctable discussion with the creators of Mortal Kombat about their new game, Street Fighter and the art of the Fighting game. EGM: Has your design philosophy changed since previous games? What’s happened in the fighting genre that’s influenced your direction? Creative Director Ed Boon: Between all of us we range from people who played in SF and MK tournaments, to the most casual folks. We're in a constant discussion and debate about how far we want to take stuff. I personally feel that the audience is not as sophisticated as when Virtua Fighter 2 or 3, the really technical stuff [came out]. When fighting games got their most technical, sales went down. You were going to make 100,000 people ecstatic with your really technical game, but everyone else was going to move on to something else. So to me, one of the strengths of Mortal Kombat [has been its appeal] to the guys who just like to get their buddies together and fight. There are more of them than there are guys who enter tournaments. We want the hardcore thing. And then some of us who aren't as sophisticated want stuff in the game that the everyman can do. ‘That's our strength. Lead Designer John Edwards: A lot has to do with the fact that MK2 and MK3 were arcade games. Back then, it was all about being super-competitive; if I win in an arcade, I get to keep playing. As things moved more towards console it was more important to get the single-player experience right, because people didn’t have that option to show off in front of their friends, it was more self-contained. Now, with online gaming coming into its own, | think it’s catching up again to that arcade feel. | think it’s important now to go back towards that competitive, deep gameplay. Boon: It’s definitely a different world out there. There have been peaks, when arcades were really big and it was a social gathering. The home game would come out, and people had already spent time mastering the arcade version—that doesnt exist anymore, these games are introduced in the home. EGM: Do you see this as a resurgence of a style of game that you guys are good at making, or are you having to reinvent what you do for the new generation? Boon: I think MK has taken the most dramatic turns over the years. If you look at Virtua Fighter 1 through 5, they’ve stayed a consistent course through the whole thing. Same with Tekken. We've gone from a 2D game to a 3D game when those games were at their peak. I believe Street Fighter IV is a good indicator; seeing that game enjoy such success has “There are guys who are very celebrated In our industry who dont make profitable games." creative director Ed Boon Pa KTMB AT PA MOMLAI MOURTA really solidified for us what we're doing, and that we're on the right track. EGM: What do you see as being the defining differences between the Street Fighter player and the Mortal Kombat player? Producer Hector Sanchez: Ultimately, MK was more of a Western-based experience. Really big, over-the-top moments and fatalities, whereas in Street Fighter you had to be really skilled in order to get your character to perform something that would make everyone in the crowd roar. You really needed lots of repetition and practice, whereas with Mortal Kombat, if someone told you a fatality, you could go into an arcade and get that sort of crowd reaction by performing something theyd perhaps never seen before. I think that was a huge difference, culturally. EGM: How has that changed now, with Street Fighter IV and the new Mortal Kombat? Boon: Well, I don't think we have quite the shock value—that novelty doesnt exist anymore. Ripping someones head off doesn't have quite the same effect as it did back in the day, when you first saw it. Mortal Kombat has certainly been more focused on story and mythology and all that, whereas Street Fighter hasnt put much into that. We were the MTV fighting game—very Americanized, big events, big everything. Street Fighter was more subtle. Some people didn't want to study that long to get good, whereas you could jump into Mortal Kombat and immediately make Liu Kang fly around. I’ve been playing Street Fighter IV quite a bit, and I don't consider it anything like our game. Our game is way faster, [with] much faster exchanges than theirs—it'’s just really different. Edwards: I think both games are moving towards the same place, a sort of third realm, though from different directions. Mortal Kombat has historically been more casual, whereas Street Fighter has been the more technical, strategic game; I think you can see in SFIV that they’re trying hard to make it more approachable. We're coming from the other way. Both of our teams are trying to get to this nice middle ground, where we can appeal to the largest number of people. Boon: Even Capcom is acknowledging that the hardcore fighting audience is a relatively small slice of the pie. They're the most vocal, they're the most represented online, but the reality is that they're a small slice. The reality is that the last two games—the last Street Fighter game, the last Mortal Kombat games— were comparable in sales, and before that, we were quite a bit ahead of them. Everyone sort of realized that there were some people who couldnt do, you know, two fireballs and then hit all three punch buttons at the same time, in the midst of a fight. The ones that can do it love it, but when it’s all said and done, we want to sell four or five million games. Edwards: I think overall, fighting games have done a poor job of teaching new players how to play. They're probably the most hardcore genre—really competitive, and it’s about timing windows and frame management, and I dont think any game has really taught players about this. As a genre, we could do a much better job of teaching the casual person. I hope that we're able to bridge that gap: Get the casual guy to come play the game because of the mass market appeal—the graphics, the immediacy—but also in doing that, keep them long enough to teach them about fighting games. Back in the arcade, it was very easy to show someone how to do something. On consoles, that kinda went away, but now it’s coming back with the online aspect. Boon: The reality is that most people buy a game, get what they're gonna get out of it, and then something else comes along and they move on. [If] you make them have to study to get proficient at it and [access] all the coolness, youre liable to lose 80% of your audience. EGM: If you had the choice, would you rather have the hardcore fan’s approval, or the masses’? Boon: If we had the hardcore fighting fans’ approval and the sales that those games do, we wouldnt be allowed to continue here. If this game came out and sold 300k or 400k units and got all the approval in the world from the fighting game guys we would be considered gods... and then wed all go on to other games. Games cost millions and millions of dollars to make, and if they dont bring back a return, the company that's giving you the money wont be giving it to you again. There are guys who are very celebrated in our industry who dont make profitable games. & executive a eo = WOT KF Ww cn ! a fatality or two. 40 | __ FEATURE ee ack In 1994 videogames began the long and rocky transi- tion to 8D graphics, with systems like the Saturn, PlayStation and N64 blowing gamers’ minds with blocky 3D worlds. But what looked coo! and amazing back then looks highly primitive by today’s visual standards. If a wide-ranging con- sortium of tech industry bigwigs has Its way, even today’s lushly rendered graphics will soon look out of date. The rea- son? The high-tech elite think true 3D displays are the next big thing, and monolithic corpora- tions and indie start-ups alike are scrambling for a piece of that three-di- mensional pie. At the 3D Gaming Summit in L.A. manufacturers from Real D and other companies you've probably never heard of were touting the world of games as a Key driver for the uptake of 38D technology. While there, | got to play with some of the different types of 8D available. Here's the bunch | liked the most: www.egmnow.com GLASSES EGM evaluates the latest in 3D technology. Does it promise more gimmick than game 2 By Danny Beutros + ASUS The most impressive solution | saw was Nvidia and ASUS’ “world’s first” 3D laptop showcasing Resident Evil 5. You can currently buy this device for around $1,600, which includes the necessary pair of active shutter glasses required to enhance the 3D experience. Resident Evil 5’s atmosphere felt magnified by a factor of ten. The 3D effect completely submerged me in the experience and made the game feel much more intense and immersive, despite nothing in the physical gameplay actually changing. lf a 3D display can take the cliched yet enjoyable story of Avatar and turn it into a magical experience, imagine what it can do for a Legend of Zelda or a God of War 3? Or in this case, a Resident Evil. lt makes for a significantly richer game, sort of like how aco-op multiplayer mode can make a mediocre single-player game good. For this hardware, the wireless 3D glasses work via infrared sensor —like your TV remote—with a 3D on/off button and my favorite bit... a “3D depth control” switch that works like a volume slider. You can move it up or down and the 3D increases or decreases in depth. It blew my mind. And then hurt it. Because if you turn it too high up—and | was at 75% of full capacity — you'll get 3D fatigue, where your eyes move too far apart and give you a headache. Still, this was by far my favorite 3D display tech, and it was made all the better by the fact Capcom had a dedicated 3D version of the game all ready to go. Next up was Sony’s 3D effort. Sony’s 3D experience requires the combination of a 3D capable HDTV, active shutter glasses and a special display mode specifically coded into compatible PS3 games. (We're told this should only take developers a day to a few weeks to implement.) Gran Turismo and Pain were showcased, but Super Stardust HD was the best implementation of the tech in my view. The effect was realized perfectly, with the large 3D sphere mapped to 3D space as if a beachball from Tron with spaceships and rocks all over it was right there in front of me. Explosions popped as you'd expect and even the start menu poking out of the screen was begging to have its buttons pressed repeatedly. This was the cheapest and simplest 3D solution, which goes back to the classic “anaglyph” tech, where you have two uniquely colored lenses. It’s also the tech shipping with the Collector’s Edition of Batman: Arkham Asylum and requires no expensive hardware purchase. THE COST OF 3) DISP t present, enjoying 3D at home—not just in games—is a costly and awkward affair. With people just now getting over their expensive HDTV purchases of a few years ago, manufacturers are hedging their bets on 3DTV being the next living room must-have we don’t know we need yet. At the time of writing the cheapest unit | could find was a Samsung 46-inch LED 3DTV at $1,700, which comes with a pair of glasses—that’s not too bad. But depending on the size of the TV and the size of your wallet, prices rise over $6000 for top- of-the-line sets. And that’s just the beginning... Did you enjoy re-buying all your favorite movies on sexy high-def Blu- ray? Great! You'll be doing it all over again for 3D movies! If only movie discs could be patched like games. Then, if you don’t have a PlayStation 3 (which will receive 3D Blu-ray support via firmware this summer), you’ll need a new 3D Blu- ray player—say, another $300. Next consider additional complications like the need to pre-emptively buy extra glasses (anything from $100 to $250, and they won’t be compatible with all 3DTVs) for however many friends you think you have, as well as the unique pros and cons of each kind of 3D display technology. Ultimately you have the equivalent of an eight- format console race where only the obscenely wealthy and wasteful can win... at least for now. H| FEATURE THE FUTURE OF 3D We asked some key figures in game development what they thought about the future of the tech... Dellekamp Siefert Game Designer for Undying and Star Wars Battlefront series “Perhaps in a different generation of hardware, new controllers and thinking would allow us to tap into 3D tech as a game changer. | am suspicious of some of the eye fatigue that comes with 3D movies. By the end of Avatar | was certainly ready to un-immerse from that world. Gamers’ sessions can last much longer and who knows their endurance when it comes to 3D. Of course [give it] another couple generations and perhaps that will just be the norm.” Jens Andersson Lead Designer at LucasArts “My take is that 3D gaming for this generation of consoles will remain a gadget feature. It’s going to be really difficult to get around the problem that you more or less halve your frame- rate to support real 3D. What gets me excited is when you combine that technology with, for example, low-latency motion control. You might have seen those curious homebrew experiments where a guy straps a Wii Remote on his head and uses that to track his head- position to look around corners in a virtual space. Combining this with 3D would take that concept even further, and | could absolutely see cool gameplay applications of that.” "3D gaming for this generation of consoles will remain a gadget feature." Lorne Lanning CCO at Oddmobb / Oddworld Inhabitants “Mobility and augmented reality. Gaming is going to take more to the streets as we move into the future. We’re beginning to see our towns, cities, and mobile GPS locations become the new face of a gaming level. The composite of virtual realities over the physical reality that we navigate in everyday life —that’s where | believe the biggest bang will come from 3D gaming—but we've got to get more cost-effective visual displays that can clamp onto your eye or sunglasses. In the meantime, iPhones and Androids will blaze the way. WWW.EQMNOW.COM 3D displays, as they are now, offer added Immersion that can take an average game world and enrich tt... This brand of anaglyph is far evolved from the red and green lenses you may have known in the past. One lens is magenta and the other is blue-green with a hint of yellow. The glasses take the frames onscreen and mixes them together to achieve a strong effect that improves on the classic tech by better blending the color together, which achieves a look closer to the real color scheme. My eyes took a bit to become attuned, but after a short while everything popped into 3D, though obviously with a purple/ green tint. For its price the effect can’t be beat, and according to Trioviz, Rocksteady implemented the tech into Batman in just a few days, using middleware that their partner company Darkworks provides at a price. MASTERIMAGE Alongside Sharp and Hitachi—whom Masterimage claim are collaborating TFT-LCD | f } I a i : | ™N -LCD (3D panel) Mite Cup VOC Sana Select GND PING PING PING PINT | | i | | | A schematic of the glasses- free 3D Cell Matrix Parallax technology from Masterimage alongside a practical application in a Japanese cell-phone. We’re assuming a Simulated image. WOQD 7-44 H001 by HITACHI % to build the technology you’ll see in Nintendo’s 3DS—these guys are gunning for the mobile market in a smart way. Utilizing a patented technology that uses a checkerboard-like stereoscopic display, a CG demo video was used to showcase 3D visuals that can be seen clearly, without glasses, on a small mobile screen. It works better than the vertical or horizontal stereoscopic screens, as you can tilt and rotate it and the image doesn’t fall apart. The only limitation is how far away you can move before the effect breaks. Luckily, that’s not an issue with mobile devices, since you’re always within a few feet of view, unless you have weirdly long stilt arms and a giraffe neck. Then you’re screwed. MY VERDICT? 3D displays, as they are now, offer added immersion that can take an average game world and enrich it to the point where the experience becomes much more enjoyable than it would be in 2D. However, the extras required for this make it too impractical and costly for mass consumption. It almost reminds me of laserdisc technology, but | can’t put my finger on why. By the time someone figures out how to run a 3D display experience without annoying hardware add-ons we'll have augmented reality, head-tracking, eye- tracking, heartbeat tracking and other no-hands control systems available on a wide consumer-accessible level. By then we'll probably have consumer-level 3D projection displays creeping up on us. However, | think this is a smaller part of a much bigger, more exciting picture. What | believe we’re presently seeing is the initial technology being created for what could eventually end up being “Star Trek”-style holodeck gaming. And we could reach that tech within our lifetimes. We have the basics of augmented reality and hands-free control now and they’re improving every year. Add this to the money being pumped into the development of 3D displays and it’s clear that we're seeing the birth of futuristic entertainment technology the likes of which we’ve only seen in science fiction movies. EJ if t 4 aout MORTAL KOMEBACK GET 12 PRINTISSUES AND 52 DIGITAL ISSUES ut ot FORTHELOWPRICEOF %2..| i= name you’ve known and respected for more than 20 Years! is back like you've never seen it before... nw ges : pa: ; ee Ee ve Ae” ; r S. 4 i ’ wan '; el Aart | Wasie Aes Nee Warren: a) NS J (, €. \y/ aoe Eo ee = 3s FS t ee 4 “ > e : a ‘ rs soe = 5 - idence <= a ore ageskhnr een> 250 na R ee a —_ 1-800-829-7830 HH FEATURE 3D TERMS YOU BETTER GET THE HANG OF Stereoscopic — An image frame is chopped up into equally sized lines, or shapes. The camera angle of that frame is offset slightly and rendered. Both versions of that frame—slightly differ- ent because of the change in angle— are then laid side-by-side, and a pair of special glasses processes the image so each eye sees a different angle of the same frame. There's horizontal, vertical, radial and checkerboard stereoscopic, the names being approximately descriptive of how the two versions of the same frame are laid alongside each other. Unfortunately you can’t use the glasses for one type of technology with a different TV, as the image wont line up with the lines in your glasses. This is the technology you saw Avatar 3D in. Anaglyph — This is the old-school 3D technique for which you wear different-colored lenses on each eye. In the past they were red and green or red and blue. Active Shutter — This is a liquid crystal eyewear technology requiring a TV with a high refresh rate of 120 frames a second and, of course, 3D content to view. Currently, this is said to be the best tech for viewing home 3D, but manufacturer prices vary dramatically. At the time of this writing, Amazon. com had listings starting at $80 and going up to bundle packs of two active shutter glasses at $380. WWW.EQMNOW.COM Avatar producer Jon Landau believes 3D iS going to blow up once gaming is TUlLIY Th the ix. reason 3D is now in contention for the Next Big Thing in entertainment: James Cameron’s Avatar. It was released in 3D, shattered box office records, and further cemented the idea that the world wants to be entertained in the third dimension. You need only check this summer’s line-up of action films and animated features to find an unprecedented number that require the use of those special glasses. Avatar’s Academy Award-winning producer, Jon Landau, sat down with EGM to share his take on what this trend means for gaming. Landau admits that there were “some things we could have done differently” with Ubisoft’s Avatar videogames, but he believes the future of gaming, as well as entertainment, is in 3D. Since launching the world’s first 3D console videogame last December for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Ubisoft has sold well over 2.5 million copies of the game. Despite the movie’s record-breaking $2.7 billion worldwide box office, the game suffered from poor reviews and didn’t become the blockbuster many had predicted. But on the 3D side, Avatar has had an impact on gaming today. Sony recently released a free firmware upgrade that turns the PS3 into a 3D gaming machine (when played on any 3D TV). A second firmware upgrade this summer will allow Blu-ray 3D movies to play on the game console. “| think that the potential of 3D gaming is greater than the potential of 3D films,” says Landau. “It’s very exciting. It will deliver a truly unique experience that people will be playing in their homes throughout the world. | think the developers will be able to do everything they want with this technology and 3D will deliver gamers everything they could want with new experiences.” With Avatar, a movie that literally took 14 years and the invention of new cameras and technology to create, Landau says gaming was part of the plan when they were barely in pre-production. “We didn’t go into it thinking the game would be in 3D,” explains Landau. “We went into it looking for a partner who shared our vision. Ubisoft ended up being that partner and they came to us and said they wanted to make the game in 3D. We were with them for the whole process. They met not only with myself and Jim, but with our designers and animation team. To make the Avatar film, we started out with a game engine with the template so Jim could see what he was filming in real-time. We were able to share that technology with Ubisoft through a digital assets management system that we created.” Since Pandora exists digitally —-Cameron is already working on adding another 40 minutes of adventure to the director’s cut— additional Avatar games can also be made utilizing these same assets. “We can build upon these digital assets,” says Landau. “Nothing is in a permanent state. We did that with the videogame side. We did that with our promotional partners, as well, with interactive experiences for Coke Zero and McDonald’s.” Both Landau and Cameron sit on the board of directors of videogame company Multiverse, which created the Coke Zero and McDonald’s virtual world experiences for Avatar. Landau says that the world of Avatar could expand into the MMO space in the future. Just as Hollywood has seen computer- animated films drive 3D into theaters because they’re all created digitally, Landau believes videogames’ digital nature will drive 3D because these experiences are already made within a 3D universe. “Gaming is about telling great stories and letting people explore worlds as fantasy characters,” says Landau. “| don’t think that’s about 2D or 3D. 3D enhances that gaming experience. | think you'll find gamers will play longer in 3D and they won't want to play anything that’s not in 3D over time.” Landau argues that games are going to A beautiful image, OW a StaLic even page. Will 3D be demanded as the only way to fly in the fot-So-1 STANT future? drive a tremendous amount of 3D TVs into homes, if simply because gamers are such rabid, early adopters of new technology. “We knew with the Avatar game that most consumers didn’t have 3D TVs in homes, but we made the decision to create the game in 3D,” says Landau. “Now that we have displays like Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and others, 3D is going to be available. If you look at Hollywood's transition from black- and-white to color, and then 2D to 3D; color came out in the ‘30s, but it wasn’t until the 1960s or ‘70s that all films were color and that was because the homes had color TVs. We're going to see the home really drive 3D—first with gaming, televised sports and concerts.” With Nintendo 3DS coming out this fall and Asian cell phones already on the market featuring 3D technology, Landau sees a 3D future in gaming and entertainment. “Ultimately, all of our devices from handheld to computer screens will be in 3D,” says Landau. “We see our lives in 3D. We believe that by watching something in 3D, it actually activates more of the brain. You retain more from a 3D experience. And that will apply to education and advertising and a lot of different areas moving forward.” FEATURE Mind Games By John Constantine ou feel it happen every time you press start. It’s that itch at the back of your brain when you see you've only collected 73 stars in Super Mario Galaxy. It’s that pull when you pause in Grand Theft Auto IV and see you’ve only shot 70% of the pigeons. It’s the nag of a three-star random battle in Final Fantasy XIll, the irk of being two levels away from your mount in World of Warcraft, the drive to see your win streak climb in Street Fighter IV. More than that, though, it's the intoxicating pleasure of ping, of watching the numbers, your lev- els, your loot, your stats go up and up and up at the end of the battle, skirmish, raid or race. It’s the age- old thrill of clocking your initials next to the high score in Space Invaders. WWW.EQMNOW.COM We have, since the advent of the me- dium, been obsessed with the numbers in our games. At the beginning they were quite literally the point. High scores not only distinguished the skilled player in Pac-Man, they determined how long you got to play. The higher the score, the more game you got to enjoy, unless you were willing to pay more. Given the computational skeleton of electronic entertainment, and the poetic mathemat- ics behind any balanced set of rules that make a game, it’s no wonder numbers have stayed at the heart of gaming. The most familiar structures are bound to numerical progression: We move through stages and chapters, we expand our completion percentage. Most important of all, we level up. Five years ago, as Warcraft reached critical mass and Microsoft prepared to launch the Xbox 360, it seemed that the fu- ture of videogames was in hiding as much of the math from players as possible. No more heads-up displays, life bars, or am- munition counts, no more pesky meters or numbers. Immersion, and therefore finan- cial success, was all about bringing you pure, graphic play unfettered by anything sO game-like as numerical signifiers. Infinity Ward shot that all to hell. While it was by no means the progenitor, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is the poster child for the gaming zeitgeist of bringing the character growth of role-playing into every stripe of game. It’s not so much that the boundaries of genre are disappearing so much as the genres of old have gained new life and larger audiences by making numerical growth the central hook of play. Modern Warfare and its successors owe much of their massive popularity to not just impressive technology or tight play but the addictive pleasure of player-based level progression. Millions of people start playing Modern Warfare because it’s fun and it has a lively community, but they keep playing (and that community stays hopping) be- cause of the stat growth and the progres- sive access it grants to in-game assets. The re-emergence of prominent num- bers driving player interest is not restricted to just the integration of RPG-style pro- gression into old rule sets and game styles. The numbers that are hooking players today aren't always unlocking new guns and skills—sometimes they add nothing at all. Look no further than the phenomenon of achievements and trophies, and the popularity of Microsoft’s Gamerscores. These arbitrary goals attached to contem- porary games often yield no real benefit outside of bragging rights, and since a lot of achievements can be unlocked with no real effort, it’s hard to say that players find them appealing as badges of honor. Why is it that player and developer tastes have ended up so far from where we thought they'd be half a decade back? Why did Criterion make Burnout Paradise con- stantly remind us of how many Billboards we've hit when it won't affect the average player’s game? Why do so many people flock to a Call of Duty that defines their per- formance by level rather than one that’s just a good shooter? Why do we so desperately want to see our Gamerscore go up? Why do we get off on all these numbers? Game developers and the players who flock to their creations may think they get the thrill of the numbers game, but there’s something going on beneath the surface that’s larger than you might think. Benjamin Donner, PhD, a psychologist in private practice and Addictions specialist, tells us that while we’re all different, we’re all measuring our own growth as human beings by our performance in games. “In most gaming contexts, we are not only watching, but controlling idealized versions of ourselves,” says Donner. “And we are improving our skills as we do So. tO use Stat growth 7 ) a an | \ \ f did leve] gamers tne Sat Stat { ion EG 239.0 FEATURE Chemical Reaction What is physically happening when we level up? There’s more to that feeling of satisfaction when you hear the ping. “An adrenaline rush—essentially a release of cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine— occurs when we are actively working toward particular achievements,” says Dr. Donner. “Upon achieving our goals, we may also experience a release of dopamine, basically our built-in reward drug. Dopamine release effects have been empirically validated in videogaming contexts. Finally, testosterone levels in men appear to rise and fall on the basis of their success and failure in competitions. This occurs among observers as well. In one study of male fans simply watching their favorite team play, testosterone levels shifted on the basis of their team winning or losing—the winners showed a spike and the losers a drop. This is a nascent science, and it is likely there are multiple neurochemical interactions involved in response to success, and in anticipation of it as well.” An adrenaline cush | occurs when we are actively working toward particular achievements. The Daily Grind Even with an explanation for why we’re drawn to watching numbers get bigger in games, that doesn’t necessarily explain some of the mindless repetition we engage in to make them grow. Why do we grind levels when we say we hate doing it? Dr. Donner: “Grinding is likely evolutionarily grounded. What do you do when there’s potential famine in your future? You stockpile resources. But this is an impulse that can go haywire, as it does in the case of hoarders—people afflicted with a form of OCD who collect massive amounts of junk that they will never have a need for. Grinding might lie somewhere along this continuum, between healthy survival instinct and seemingly uncontrollable compulsion. At the same time, it could also represent a form of self-delusion. Are you really a bigger man for running around a room and repeatedly knocking over the same barrel for more points? The score might go up, but in reality there’s no real ‘growth’ occurring here.” www.egmnow.com Cognitive development in videogames mimics that of other learning tasks, such as tying our shoes or building a deck. The act of learning itself is reinforcing, and is not dependent upon the rewards we receive. In [progress-based] gaming, the skills acquired in earlier levels are honed and utilized in increasing combinations as one progresses, and that in and of itself is rewarding and growth-promoting. And of course there are rewards that come with it, such as access to higher levels and/or greater complexity of gameplay.” That we measure personal feelings of worth and satisfaction based on our prog- ress in games isn’t surprising. Why would we keep playing if we didn’t like what we were doing? Numbers in particular, though, hold a specific allure because they make our progress both easy to understand and physically manifest. “In gaming, the player is actually growing in strength as their skills improve, and status as their numbers rise. That is what is so reinforcing about [numerical growth],” says Donner. “The meaning of a score, or the benefits it bestows, shapes the relationship one sees between their number and their sense of personal growth. Numbers frequently elicit a stronger emotional response than do more ambiguous phenomena such as ‘emotional growth’ because they are immediate and tangible. As such, it is more likely they would be referenced as a marker of growth.” That so many developers have started to rediscover statistical growth and level- ing as asimple, effective means to tweak their audience’s fundamental psychology provides more than a little insight into why certain high-budget games have been successful in recent years. The ever-rising numbers hook players and keep them invested in a product for longer periods of time, helping publishers and developers see a return on the massive investment it takes to build a blockbuster. There is even a compelling explanation for why we continue to revisit games when we have already pushed our levels to the max. We respond to Modern Warfare 2’s prestige mode—the choice of re-leveling in a new tier after reaching the level cap, thus losing all previously earned perks—because we even find pleasure in watching the levels climb a second time. “Comfort is guaran- teed in familiar activities,” explains Donner. “There are no unforeseen and potentially undesirable surprises. Watching the same movie, wearing our favorite shirt, having the same thing for dinner, over and over again, all of these actions allow for a sooth- ing sort of predictability. The repetitive actions in gaming likely provide the player a similar form of solace.” Bizzare Creations’ Blur is a great example of a game banking on that player behavior. This arcade racer is the latest high-profile release looking to revitalize in- terest in its genre by steeping the familiar in numbers and stat growth. Ben Ward, Com- munications Manager of Bizarre Creations, says the developer began creating its racer knowing precisely what it needed to get players invested in the game, and that it would need to spend time making it pitch perfect. “We always knew we would need a mechanic to encourage people to play for an extended period of time. Something to keep working toward. People love ticking boxes and collecting things, so an RPG- style structure would always work well. It wasn’t until the last half of the development period that we nailed the multiplayer’s structure with stats. That’s when we finally had the core game buttoned down.” As Ward says, adding the numbers to what might otherwise be perceived as a game too similar to others on the market means a couple of things. First, it gives Blur a better chance at a prolonged shelf life, meaning fewer sell-backs to used game retailers. It also means better audi- ence satisfaction. “[The RPG-style growth] is an easy way of encouraging people to play your game for longer. It provides more gameplay without having to make more assets and potentially increase the development cost of your game by a huge amount. It’s also good for gamers—with more things to tick off it becomes a bigger and more enjoyable game.” This doesn’t mean that every game on the horizon is going to be layered with growth systems in an effort to keep play- ers invested longer than it takes to play through the base mechanical game. Ward even teases that Bizarre itself is looking at new options beyond Blur. “There are ways of community building which aren’t based directly on incrementing numbers in the game, such as friendship, competitions, behind-the-scenes insight, etc. The games industry is going crazy over RPG-style mechanics at the moment, but we’re cur- rently looking outside of our industry for inspiration on a larger scale...” Regardless of whatever new de- sign trend captures the gaming world’s attention, it’s all but guaranteed that videogames will continue to capitalize on our deep-rooted responses to watch- ing numbers grow. It’s how we, and our games, are built on a fundamental level. The basic language of game design, the rules defining genre and play, are still not rock solid—they are amendable and in flux thanks to the relative youth of the medium. Whether or not designers trend back toward hiding the mathematical meat of games behind perfect, immersive facades .of aural and visual aesthetics (or something else entirely) doesn’t matter. Players will still like watching one turn into two after they press start. Heck, maybe they’ll even get an achievement for it. al — ee FEATURE Veni, Vidi, Grief Why playing against the grain is good for games - - | _ | C C ell is other people,’ Sartre once wrote. By Michael Thomsen Anyone who has ever played an online game should have an immediate sense of just what that means. Griefing is an umbrella term given to different kinds of antagonistic behav- ior when playing with other people, and it's among the most unforgivable taboos in gaming. | If you kill your teammates for fun, “Griefing is usually about ruining the | ignore the rules of a game mode, or gameplay experience of others, mainly ° play spoilsport as your friends compete without thought or intention for the If you kill your for an objective, youre a griefer. You'll griefer to get ahead,’ says Mia Consalvo, ; - - _ find no sympathy from moderators and author of “Cheating: Gaining Advantage teammates for fun, | regularly face bans from the network of | in Video Games.’ ‘ ° your choice. According to a report from “Gain is central to cheating, but the ignore the rules ot A InformationWeek, Microsoft has banned griefer isn't necessarily better off after ¥ - over one million users from Xbox Live griefing.” Same mode, OF play | for reasons that include inappropriate What most frustrates is not the e ~ 3 online behavior. momentary loss of a life or the delayed Sp oilsport as your friends Yet, griefing is much more than this. gratification of a completed objective. . . ae. ; ° It's a prismatic term that can describe Instead, griefers behave in a way that Comp ete LOY al) O ob ye ectiv = great acts of creativity, ruthless precision, marginalizes the rules of the game, to ; . £ _ and the venting of social anxiety that which all the other players have agreed to would be terrifying in any other context. — subject themselves. > Sl 2200) FEATURE | Bad Company 2 (above) and EVE Online (below) are just two examples of major releases threatened by the griefing movement. (ER AREER FEE AOI IRIE NN NAIR BASS ARO ST SRI SR ERE AE EER IT SSD DT ARM SACRE Ai SIE SIE BAS RAIL 1. www.egmnow.com Games most notorious for their griefer populations have also been home to some of gaming’s most creative trends. The Diary of a Camper, a short film captured using the original Quake, told a short vignette of a group of Marines ambushed by a powerful camper, the unflattering name for a player who waits in one place throughout an entire round of play waiting to kill those who pass in front of her. Camper captured the frustration many players felt at having their frantic shooter experience subverted by a lone player who refuses to engage others in the open. Two years later, Metal Gear Solid turned the phenomenon of camping into “stealth-action.” What one player considers a game-ruining irritation can actually be a creative expansion beyond the narrow game rules. “We don't enforce morality on our players when everything is done within the game rules and uses the game sys- tems, says Ned Coker, a public relations associate for CCP Games. Rather than shy away from emergent behavior at the margins of its rules, CCP’s EVE Online has embraced an open-ended play space where the nego- tiation over player choice is core to the experience. The space-themed MMO is built around players exploring the uni- verse, collecting and trading resources to upgrade ships, and forming alliances with other players. Not long after the games launch in 2003, a group of players known as the “m00 corporation” enacted a grief that threatened the viability of the entire game. The m00 players agreed to camp out at the entrance to a planetary system, preventing any other players from entering. “Their antics were starting to drive players away in droves, which was costing us money at a time when EVE was still struggling to gain a toehold in the MMO market,” says Valerie Massey, Senior Director of Public Relations and Communications for CCP. Everything “m00” was doing was allowable in the game rules, it was just a play choice that hadn't been imagined during development. Rather than ban the players or suspend the accounts, CCP sent a fleet of their own highly- powered warships to confront the grief- ers, choosing to communicate within the game rules rather than opting out of the whole universe. One of the “m00” ships was destroyed and the remaining members dispersed. In the aftermath, other players began to better defend and patrol important chokepoints and better options for travel were developed, extracting a new layer of potential strategy and negotia- tion from what had seemed like a mean- spirited takeover. “This is how people learn the limits to what's acceptable,” says Cheryl K. Olson, co-director for Harvard’s Center of Mental Health and Media and co-author of “Grand Theft Childhood.” “For young teenagers in particular, trying different identities and behav- iors—‘How will I feel, or how will people treat me if I act like this or look like this?’—is part of healthy development.” It's been well-documented that people tend to relate to one another much more aggressively in online environments. Said Consalvo, “It’s not something exclusive to digital games, just read the comments of any New York Times article.” “Teens and adults sometimes use electronic games to get out angry feelings or deal with stress,” Olson notes. While aggressive settings and antagonism are frequent components of many modern videogames, they are not exclusively so. If game rewards and pressure from teammates coerce a player into obeying the rules, the impulse to grief can be an anarchic rejection of those constraints. It may well be that players of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Team Fortress 2 dont actually feel like venting aggres- sion all of the time. In this case, a griefer can refuse to par- ticipate in aggressive play while trying to exacerbate it in other players. “I’ve made a guy so mad he switched teams and tried to [teamkill] me,’ Bad Company 2 forum user "toOtyfruity” reports. “When I refuse to [spawn] he called me a puss and kinda [started] yelling at me and told me how useless | am.” Other griefers have turned online shooters into a social theater of the absurd, playing on the stereotypes and social expectations of others to elicit emotion. In some cases the line blurs, as with Team Fortress 2 player DemoniusX, whose in-game rants about women, ra- cial stereotypes, and masculine prowess earned infamy and a small following for his YouTube channel. In a “Playbill” essay accompanying a performance of “No Exit, the play from which his famous quote comes, Sartre protested the common interpretation of his phrase. He had not wanted to suggest — that everyone outside of one’s self is hell, but rather, the most acute suffering a per- son can experience comes from another persons expectations of them. “Into whatever I feel within myself someone else's judgment enters,’ Sartre wrote. “It simply brings out the capital importance of all other people for each one of us.” The word “grief” comes from the Old French for placing a burden on someone. As the practice of griefing has grown in creativity and personal flourish, its most concise definition remains that of an individual seeking to insert the weight of their own selves into game worlds that are often impersonally constructed. It is an act of sharing sent into a world that transforms expression into deviant antagonism. Over time we may come to under- stand griefing, not as the thing that spoiled so many of our videogames, but instead reminded us of how much of ourselves they were really missing. & ® YOUR PASSPORT TO A \WHOLE NEW WAY TO Rea ecm Your Unique iPASS code: Electronic Gaming Monthly is the first gaming magazine to introduce a weekly digital companion to keep you up-to-date with the reviews, oreviews, and breaking events that matter most to you! PLUS, with the EGM iPASS, you can upgrade your interactive experience with more content, more video, and more downloads. Enhancing your 4-issue subscription to EGMi is easy: ]. REGISTER FOR FREE AT www.EGMNOW.com 2. CLICK ON iPASS AND INPUT THE UNIQUE CODE PRINTED ABOVE 3. ACCESS THE LATEST ISSUE OF EGMi FOR ADDITIONAL PAGES OF MAGAZINE-STYLE CONTENT PLUS SPECIAL DOWNLOAD EXTENSIONS! 0 WWW.egGMnow.comM 1) p<) os o x H Sy ae Van. yt www.egmnow.com PUBLISHER ACTIVISION DEVELOPER TREYARCH PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3, PC MODES SINGLE PLAYER CO-OP MULTIPLAYER ESRB ‘ RP RELEASE DATE TL09.2010 hen videogame publishing giant Activison suddenly fired Infinity Ward studio heads Jason f W West and Vince Zampella—mere months after the studio had made more than $1 billion with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2—it represented one of the biggest breakdowns between a developer and management in the history of videogames. It also represented a golden opportunity for Treyarch, Activision’s “other” Call of Duty studio. With Infinity Ward’s future unclear and the reigns to the franchise in its own hands, the developer was going to have its chance to step out of Infinity Ward’s shadow and enjoy its own moment in the spotlight. At least, that’s the perception. “It didn’t really affect us at all,” says Treyarch’s Josh Olin, of the Infinity Ward situation. “We're still keeping our heads down and are focused on making the game. We've always been ‘all in’ with this one. We couldn't be more invested—we'’re already as invested as we could be, and this is our masterpiece. We’ve had a lot of experience with the Call of Duty franchise. We feel like we understand the tools, the development chain, [and] the engine really well. We're in a great position to deliver the best game we've ever made.” And based on what Activision just showed us, it’s not difficult to believe that Black Ops represents Treyarch’s single strongest game to date. This is big, burly first-person military combat, certainly comparable in terms of both force and polish to Infinity Ward's recent output. The game weaves its way through history, jumping between conflicts and time periods. We saw a live demonstration of two levels: one set in the former Soviet Republic entitled WMD, and another, Slaughterhouse, set during the Vietnam War. “It’s a very authentic fiction,” says Olin of Black Ops’ events. “It’s based in history, but what we’re doing there is the fiction. | like to think of our story as a thread on a needie that’s weaving its way through history: You’re not necessarily there fighting the Vietnam War, for example, you’re there with the Vietnam War going on around you.” An overarching narrative ties all of these disparate events together, as told through the eyes of the two high-ranking characters you embody, Mason and Hudson. Your characters will be just that, in fact, with voices and faces, unlike your avatars in the Modern Warfare titles. And The game weaves Its way through history, jumping between conflicts and time periods. since you're part of SOG (the military's unconventional warfare task force, the Studies and Observations Group), you'll also be the highest-ranking bastard on the battlefield (read: “Gimme the keys to that jeep, soldier.”). The initial mission, WMD, is set inthe Ural | mountains, where a weapons-manufacturing | facility is so entrenched it’s said to be | capable of withstanding the biast of a nuclear warhead. We begin on a runway, climbing aboard a stealth fighter; what follows is a series of distinctive, larger-than- life gameplay setpieces, as the franchise has become known for. From sloughing through deep snow with a crossbow and distance on your side, to rappelling off a mountain face, it’s all here, and it’s all every bit as hyperbolic as you'd expect it to be. While we'll save the play-by-play for firsthand experience, of particular note is a moment halfway through. When rappelling off the side of the building our soldier kicked through a window and, in a slow-motion whirlwind of glass and bullets, took out the guards inside. It’s fairly routine plotting as far as videogames go, but it’s quite clearly the most dramatic depiction of such a scenario to date. The fire effects are stunning, the guns feel heavy, and violence is everywhere: This looks and sounds like war. Or, at least, “Rambo.” Despite the allegiance to real events and places, don’t expect your kill tally to drop anywhere near realistic levels. The Vietnam campaign looks entirely distinct, but is equally fraught with headshots. If one thing is clear from our time with Black Ops, it’s that, purely in terms of sound and fury, Treyarch has the chops to.make Activision’s next virtual war experience every bit the operatic affair we were hoping they could deliver. But perhaps that’s something already proven by its last game, World at War. Now it’s time to see if the developer can exceed its many expectations, both at home and abroad. &) SGM 239.0 Www.egmnow.com PUBLISHER MTV/EA DEVELOPER HARMONIX PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3, Wii MODES SINGLE PLAYER MULTIPLAYER ESRB RP RELEASE DATE FALL 2010 wel | | C By Douglass C. Perry | X : imes are tough for music games, with analysts predicting the genre’s imminent demise due to oversaturation and lack of innovation. Harmonix, the most respected name in the niche, has its work cut out for it with Rock Band 3. The developer's attempt to inje phic blood into the genre begins by adding a new instrument—a mini-keyb introducing vo.entirely new guitars. - project director Dairiett oo new hardware i is impressive, even s. One of the two new s 102 plastic b | across the instrument's neck, each one representing a spot for individual notes, with six strummable stri This is for those people e Beatles: Rock Band ina mpleted Rock Band 2 in difficulty,” says Project Director Daniel Sussman. “It answers the question, after all these — what the f**k is the point? | 1€ ; mic Pout port and two Siffione on the short neck (one initiates Overdrive, the om other is the keyboard equivalent of a whammy bar). You’ll be tickling the ivory in songs like “Sister Christian” (Night _ Ranger), “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Queen), and the Doors’ “Break on Through (to the Other Side).” _ While Harmonix is determined to challenge the most skilled players with the new Rock Band Pro offerings —“Only about three people at Harmonix can actually complete these difficult songs on the hardest settings,” says Sussman— _ it's also seeking to streamline the party experience and lower the barrier of entry. With up to seven players in a band now— three singers, a guitarist, a bassist, the drummer, and a keyboardist—just starting the game could pose a problem, says Lead Designer Dan Teasdale. The new dashboard attempts to solve this issue, enabling individual players to tweak their options (difficulty settings, lefty switch, etc.) independent of the group. Despite all the music already released for Rock Band, the shipping songlist is still rock-solid. There are about 80 songs from various decades and musical styles, including “The Power of Love” (Huey Lewis), “Get Free” (The Vines), “Crosstown Traffic” (Jimi Hendrix), “Been Caught Stealing” (Jane’s Addiction), “Waiting on the Sun” (Smash Mouth), “Here | Go Again” (Whitesnake), and “The Hardest Button to Button” (White Stripes), among others. As usual, all prior Rock Band tracks (except those from The Beatles: Rock Band) will be compatible with Rock Band 3. syste folked Harmonix is extending its already social game further. Players can rate their own favorite songs (like on iTunes), create set lists, save, and send them using Facebook and Twitter, and then challenge friends to do battle via high scores, within Rock Band 3 or on Harmonix’s own website. With all this added content (and more to be revealed) and the appeal of new instruments, Rock Band 3 is on the right track to maintain its reputation as the ultimate party game. a wana — x Helghast hath no FOF. of id you see that Killzone 3 trailer? Oh wait, you didn’t. Killzone developer Guerrilla is usually such a tease, known for its en amazing CG target videos. But this time around there is no improbably beautiful | | Killzone 3 clip two years before the game’s release: >) _ After trickling out a few screenshots, Guerrilla showed the game in playable form. And it looks pretty good. ‘7, The roughly 25-minute demo level | played through began with a strafing r from atop a drop ship against Helghast infested oil rigs in a churning, arctic sea. One crash landing later and the on-foot combat gave me a chance to explore Killzone 3’s new melee moves, which vary depending on your approach and weapon but tend to end with gruesome finishers like a Knife to the eye. Guerrilla’s Hermen Hulst claims Killzone 3 levels will be about 10 times the size of Killzone 2’s stages. Thankfully the jet pack from Killzone: Liberation will be making a return, which will help you cover all that ground and find alternate routes. The story picks up right after the events of Killzone 2, but before you skip ~ ——" e this paragraph, the guys at Guerrilla _« e#PUBLISHER know that Killzone 2’s story was kind of 7 SCE 2 crap, and they plan to make amends. DEVELOPER They’re looking to Uncharted 2 for GUERRILLA GAMES inspiration (though not one-liners) in PLATFORM the narrative department, have hired ps3 a dedicated writer, and are booking _... MODES }BSINGLE PLAYER MULTIPLAYER it “easier to aim, easier to navigate.” Not ESRB quite sure how that’s going to work, but RP in the absence of a maybe-too-good-to- RELEASE DATE be-true teaser trailer | can excuse him a avi little verbal hyperbole. Killing in the: nare nteousness By Evan Shamnoon www.egmnow.com s & ; 39 _— 3 » UBISOFT MONTREAL . PLATFORM | © XBOX360, PS3, PC a ~~ MODES au INGLE PLAYER RP | RELEASE DATE | HOLIDAY 2010 fter spending so many years developing and refining the technology behind Assassin's Creed, it should come as no surprise that Ubisoft is expanding the series with a second sequel. What is rather surprising, however, is the newfound multiplayer component—a feature that the publisher is placing front and center as details of the game begin to creep into focus. In Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood you'll choose from various character classes, each with its own signature weapons and attacks. Separate from the main campaign, a host of online modes will be in the offing, including Wanted, which offers a contract to each participant on another player’s head. The result—as demonstrated in a hands-on session hosted by Ubisoft—is a Strategic, eight-way multiplayer affair, in which each contestant is simultaneously predator and prey, and must use a com- bination of stealth and agility to succeed. Approach your enemy with blind rage and you'll blow your cover, revealing yourself to not only your target but your predator as well; follow them too slowly, however, and you'll lose them on the crowded streets. It’s a far cry from the chaotic deathmatch shooters that dominate the online arena, and fits nicely within the framework of the Assassin's Creed universe. While details remain somewhat scarce, it has been revealed that Brotherhood’s single-player campaign picks up where Assassin’s Creed II left off, following inter- dimensional blood brothers Ezio and Des- mond as they continue the fight against the nefarious Templars. This time around the battle takes place in and around Rome, along with major events in the present day said to “bring Desmond to unprecedented places,” by which we can only assume Ubisoft means somewhere other than a retrofitted warehouse or, for that matter, the backseat of a Volkswagen. Indeed, the setting of an Assassin’s Creed adventure is every bit as critical as its characters, and the choice of locale was a key decision for the Ubisoft Montreal team. As in the previous two games in the franchise, there was a very conscious deci- sion to choose a critical moment in history as the stage for the gameplay experience. “Rome in the 1500s was considered the center of the world,” says producer Vincent Pontbriand. “The religious and political power of Italy was concentrated there, [and yet] at the beginning of the 15th century, Rome had not yet entered the Italian Ren- aissance, and was behind cities such as Florence and Venice.” For those keeping score at home, Rome is itself roughly three times the size of AC2’s Florence; it’s the biggest city ever created in an Assassin's Creed game, and the richest in terms of architectural landmarks (see: the Coliseum, the Pantheon, Castel San Angelo, etc.). In Brotherhood, Ezio himself plays a major role in actually bringing said Renais- sance to the city. After receiving feedback from players, Ubisoft learned that one of Assassin’s Creed Il’s most-liked features was upgrading the Auditore stronghold at Monteriggioni, and watching as the environment evolved accordingly. “For Brotherhood, we wanted to extend the property upgrade system in a logical and exciting direction,“ says Pontbriand. At the beginning of the game, Ezio travels to Rome, and will need to strengthen the Assassin’s guild with new members, as well as weaken the Borgia’s corrupted leaders. By investing in the city Ezio can attract the support of locals and eventually build a force for its defense. According to Pontbriand, players invest- ing their hard-earned money in Rome will see the fruit of their actions, unlocking various features such as new factions and missions. The idea is that you'll watch as the city evolves and embraces the Renaissance, based largely on your in-game investments. “As a feature, this is fully integrated in the storyline, and the player will see Rome and Ezio progress simultaneously throughout the game.” And this time, it’s going to take an army: You'll recruit and train assassins, deploy them across the city as desired, and call upon them for aid when needed. “As Ezio progresses throughout the story, he choos- es certain characters to join his brother- hood,” says scriptwriter Jeffrey Yohalem. You'll be able to send your new novice assassins on various assignments; if they gain enough experience they'll eventually become master assassins. All of this will be managed via a unique Animus interface, which will allow you to customize assas- sins with specific weapons. The arsenal has expanded to include poison darts, parachutes, hidden blades and guns, and an advanced “flying machine.” It’s clear that there’s already plenty on the table for this third chapter in the Assassin's Creed canon, and given the trajectory of the series thus far, expecta- tions are understandably high. But is there such a thing as too much of a good thing, even when it involves becoming a deadly assassin and reliving some of history’s most defining moments? We'll find out later this year. GJ - PUBLISHER SCEA* DEVELOPER MEDIA MOLECULE fe PEATFORM PS3 MODES SINGLE PLAYER MULTIPLAYER ESRB RP RELEASE DATE 04 2010 By Bryn Wiltiarns he name of the game might be Little- BigPlanet 2 but don’t let that obstinate number fool you. Media Molecule’s new baby is so far beyond a typical se- quel that even Sack Boy can’t wrap his patch- work noggin around it. We took a good old gawk at what the developer has been working on since the first game wrapped and the results are staggering. | mean that in a “How the hell do these guys make this stuff work?” sort of way, you understand... www.egmnow.com LITTLEBIGPLA Is Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet ‘c merely a sequel or sémething bigger better and rnore— —daré we e'Sa/ it—-badass? — “Backwards compatibility is a really big deal for us. We’re making sure we don’t split the community and lose all that precious time players have spent making great content,” says Alex Evans, technical‘director at Media Molecule. In fact, all the hard work that the LBP community has channelled into the first game with its home-grown levels will look even better than before thanks to some new game engine tweaks. “Play, Create, Share” has long been the LittleBigPlanet mantra and while there was no question that new ground was broken in terms of giving power to the people, this evolution takes everything — and | mean everything—to the next level. LittleBigPlanet 2 is no longer a platform game but rather a platform for games. Without the need for previously required - clever workarounds, it’s now entirely possible for R-Type-style side-scrolling shooters, isometric 3D racers (think Rock ’n Roll Racing), functioning 2D beat-em- ups, and even Command & Conquer- style RTS gameplay to reside within LittleBigPlanet 2’s user-created levels. This is largely made possible by three new components: The Direct Control Seat, programmable microchips, and Sack Bot NPCs. The Direct Control Seat is where you create fully programmable and customizable vehicles, mapping the Sixaxis controller’s inputs to whatever you want your new creation to do. Forget about obvious applications (driving a car? boring!) and instead think about how cool it would be pilot a huge Sack Bot, record some punching and kicking animations, and then program in the logic to perform jumping, ducking and blocking movements. Street Fighter II: Sack Boy Edition anyone? The new microchips aren’t far behind in the cool new features stakes. Players will be able to cram some pretty advanced Al routines into the empty heads of the new Sack Bot NPCs, which - themselves are game-changing. Every Sack Bot has an empty circuit board into which chips can be placed. These cute little guys can be used to change the regular gameplay dynamics of the game immensely. Visualize a level where you have to navigate your way past an army of zombie-style Sack Bots that are trying to feast on your stuffing-filled | cranium. Or what about an ICO-style level where you and a lone Sack Bot > must work in tandem to overcome large physical obstacles (the new Grappling Hook toy would be a prerequisite here)? These types of experiences are totally feasible now thanks to LittleBigPlanet 2’s new tools. And it’s not just the game code that’s evolved, either. Media Molecule’s approach to involving the community through different ways outside of the game is equally as impressive. Twitter- style activity streams make it easier to see what other players are doing; everyone who plays will automatically get their own LBP.me webpage where they can share information, levels, stickers and so on. If Media Molecule achieves its aims, LittleBigPlanet 2 might just signal the beginning of a new category — of digital entertainment. Here’s hopin that the balance between the creative aspects and the casual crowd is struck somewhere firmly in the middle. [& 6 leBigPlanet 2 Is no longer a platform Oo oO) an) a) a st I ? ~ “E> a form for games. at e, but rather ap Litt gam PUBLISHER EA DEVELOPER EA TIBURON PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3 MODES SINGLE-PLAYER ESRB E-EVERYONE RELEASE DATE 810.2010 EA Tiburon goes on offense with four-player co-op and revamped play-calling strategies ~ ~ ~ Cc ; B i U ) aS > i WUVUNLU SU. f you haven't recently played Madden, EA\s flagship football title, you’re in for a few surprises. First, Madden NFL 11 sees less of Madden the man, to coincide with his retirement from commentating. He is still around, but he’s just not as visible.” It’s interesting, Madden is more involved than before because he has more time, so he spends more time on the playbook; he is very pro-shotgun and he thinks that’s the wave of the future,’ said Yuri Bialoskursky, Tiburon’s designer on the game. Like last season, Chris Collinsworth will provide formal commentary duties, but long-time NBC broadcaster Tom Hammond, whose debut was universally trounced in Madden NFL 10, is gone. This year, CBS’s Gus Johnson will handle play-by-play duties. His emotional, funny and colorful additions weren’t fully tuned during our play time so they occasionally seemed poorly timed, but it’s hard to imagine his presence won't liven up the games. While the audio is still being fine tuned, Madden NFL 11 already features some truly gorgeous graphics. In our demo, the game sported more light sources, more refined lighting, and better shadows, creating a more realistic look, all smartly bolstered by sharper animations and better-looking players. Another visual improvement comes in a smarter, friendlier camera, which tries to avoid jarring players out of the experience. “Fixing the camera was the number-one issue this year,” said Bialoskursky. It’s the minute gameplay details, however, that matter most to long-time Madden fans. Just like many recent racing games, Tiburon now has telemetric hooks in its game to help the devs understand what gamers do most while playing. A perfect example of telemetry at work is the newly added Gameflow function. Gameflow works somewhat like “Ask Madden” (which provided a suggestion from Madden during any play situation). In the real-life pros, coaches set up specialized game plans to prepare for situations like 3rd and 25, no-huddle offenses, and how to line up in a goal line stand against a West Coast offense. Madden NFL 11 now lets you do the same, setting your plans in advance of the game so you’re prepared when that situation actually happens. “Your typical playbook has about 350 plays, but people really only use about seven or so actual “In the past, we had to use a gut call, but now telemetry is telling us what gamers are liking, preferring, and doing most. We are getting a bigger, better picture of our demographic.” The newly expanded co-op mode is probably the most interesting upgrade from last year’s two-player co-op effort. plays,” explained Bialoskursky. The co-op game offers options for four players (in multiple team variations) to duke it out locally or online. Co-op is a totally different experience both offensively and defensively. People do stranger, more spontaneous things on the field, which is both a blessing and a curse depending on who you're playing with. Two-on-two games force players to chat, strategize, and improve upon mistakes, which creates a fresher, more lively game. Toss in the new lean function (implemented by using the analog sticks while running) and long-time fans have a deeper, faster, and certainly more lively Madden game to look forward to. y itr Funs at of pack : ng irst things first: Rage is the real deal. When the game was originally unveiled at QuakeCon 2007 John Carmack talked over a short video of what looked to be a dune buggy ripping through some desert landscape. It was, to say the least, “un-id-like.” Now, nearly three years later, we’re finally shown what Rage is really Oe and yes, id shooter fans should start getting excited. Our latest eyes-on Rage feria: kicked off with a re-unveiling of Wellspring, a tiny doomed town in a vast desert wasteland filled with mutants, bandits, and harsh weather conditions. After a quick introduction to the world by Crazy Joe—something along the lines of “Look out! Those mutants will tear you apart just for fun!” —we were on our way. Any doubts as to whether this was a true id offering were squashed instantly, with a blazing-fast opening that showed off new gunplay and an all-new animation system for enemies, all while fierce sandstorms whipped across the endless canyon. Flashlights and demon- infested corridors are fun, but Rage’s post-apocalyptic desert looks to be a great change of pace. After a little gunplay the second piece of the Rage puzzle revealed itself. Vehicles play a vital part in id’s new world, but before you get all up in arms we'll say this: By the looks WWWw.eQgmnow.com of it, Rage’s car combat will seriously deliver. Mixing in splashes of Mad Max and Twisted Metal, we watched as the mysterious hero. blasted the hell out of a few random bandits * i . on his way to town. It was fast, slick, and just a tease of the inevitable (but amen 8" battle race circuit to come. Upon entering the town center it becainals obvious that Rage will be more than just a corridor-shooter (though it’s got plenty of that on offer as well). The town of Wellspring features bounty missions (reward: cash), a Rusty’s Auto Parts (upgrade your vehicle, and rise to the top of the town’s speedway), and various other resources. Everywhere you walk brings about random conversation from a very real, living city. There aren’t any pop-up dialog boxes. Instead, simply moving near a townsperson prompts them to give their two cents. Inside” a small bar Dallas chatters on about how the government shouldn't be allowed to sii iy control the price of water. Meanwhile, the well manager Carson begs for your help with a recent bandit attack. As if the water crisis wasn’t enough of an issue, those lowlifes are out there poisoning the supply. After a quick story—and the promise of a cash reward—id’s demo took us to the underground water reserve. Moths flew around lights while the ambient sounds of dripping water echoed through _ the halls. A group of bandits made the perfect target practice for the new Striker 7 , the gunslinger fired at the water, and we watched as the charge spread across the puddle, shocking the opposition and ~ leading to a not-so-quick death. Other gadgets such as the mini RC Buggy Bomb, Sentry Bot mobile turrets, and a variety of handguns and machine guns made quick work of the bandit army. As in BioShock, each weapon has multiple ammo types, and dual wielding is of course fair game. Battling Rage’s enemy Al is no simple task, however. The new id Tech 5 Al system aims to allow enemies to react to their environments, diving over barrels, kicking over tables, taking cover and hiding around comers automatically, and supposedly entirely unscripted. The Ghost Clan bandits within the water reserve were not only armed but also agile, swinging from pipes, kicking over turret guns, wall-running, and swinging down from above in random-seeming patterns. If id’s ambitions pan out, Rage’s enemies won't just be camping their spawn points or running pre-set paths; they’ll be using every inch of their environments, just like you. & Car combat plays a vital part in id's new world... PUBLISHER BETHESDA SOFTWORKS DEVELOPER id SOFTWARE PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3, PC, MAC MODES SINGLE PLAYER ONLINE MULTIPLAYER ESRB 7 ? RP a RELEASE DATE 20n1 | EGM 239.0 3 PUBLISHER ee KONAMI hd DEVELOPER a : MERCURYSTEAM | PLATFORM = ; = XBOX 360, PS3 | at MODES SINGLE PLAYER ESRB RP RELEASE DATE FALL 2010 > TLEVANI DS OF SHAD Konami aims Its wooden stake at the heart of 3D once again reating a worthy sequel for a well-traversed TV, movie or videogame series is a daunting chal- lenge, but Lords of Shadow producer David Cox is starting fresh. By looking beyond Castlevania: »Symphony of the Night, the last breakthrough Castleva- _ nia console title, and creating a story that doesn’t fit into _ any previous Castlevania timeline, he’s freed his team to seek influence elsewhere. Add in the fact that Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima is supervising the project and you'll catch on to why we're starting to get stoked. Lords of Shadow returns to an action- coming from in this game. We want to re- _ oriented Castlevania. “My definition of create the classic concept in 3D.” Castlevania is going back to the original Starring Gabriel, a new member of the = | | By Douglass C. Perry his whip,” says Cox. “That’s where we’re _ mix action, platforming, and puzzle-style | www.egmnow.com core concept of.the 8-bit games—a lone Belmont family, Lords of Shadow will send. _ warrior battling supernatural warriors with _its hero through more than 50 levels that = “gameplay. “We Liniied to create a slower- _ paced game,” says Cox. “God of War is ~ all about action set-piece after action set- piece, and you’re led down a linear path. Certain stages will drive you along from _ point A to B. Other stages will allow the player to explore, and we'll reward them for exploring.” You'll primarily travel by foot to reach the game’s dark villages, even darker — castle dungeons, and other remote locales. But Gabriel will also secure a steed and, while Cox wouldn't reveal anything further, given that he’s putting you on horseback and cites Nintendo’s Zelda as an influence, it’s likely we'll see some horse-based combat, too. Quick scenes from the video mon- tage also showed large, eagle- like birds, which will be Gabriel’s ticket to high-altitude action sequences. The driving force behind the story is Gabriel's effort to resurrect his recently murdered wife, voiced by Natasha McEI- hone (Ronin, Californication). Gabriel learns that a powerful mask might bring her back, but the ancient, supernatural mask is broken into three pieces, each held by a lord of shadow at a remote loca- tion. “The game is infused with a real kind of melancholy,” says Cox. “When people play it, they'll see the sadness of the main character, and his quest, his mission to bring back his dead wife.” Under Cox’s supervision, developer MercurySteam (Clive Barker’s Jericho, Scrapland) is blending new 3D mechan- ics with traditional Castlevania action. Gabriel wields a unique “Combat Cross,” a retractable chain whip that serves as both a powerful weapon and a tool to get from place to place. The Combat Cross is upgradeable, giving Gabriel the ability to create increasingly powerful attack combinations. And much like Kratos’ and Dante’s weapons it serves as a grappling hook, giving him the ability to jump, Swing, and flip into the air. This isn’t the first time Konami has tried ) bring Castlevania into 3D, but from all a counts it’s the company’s best shot to | Fans have been waiting so long for oper > console scien isn’t it db ry EG!" 2390 ‘ln this game, we like to think you're ~Unleashing your DEVELOPER EPIC7/PEOPLE CAN FLY PLATFORM XBOX 360; PS3, PC MODES SINGLE PLAYER MULTIPLAYER ESRB RP RELEASE DATE e071 69 hen Epic Games recently unveiled Bulletstorm to the press, Epic Design Director Cliff Bleszinski and Producer Tanya Jessen gave the phrase “colorful expression” a new meaning. “In this game, we like to think you’re unleashing your inner sadist,” said Bleszinski. “It’s creative mayhem; that’s the core. It’s the Burnout of shooters.” Added Jessen, “The over-the-top insanity is awesome. | love this game, it’s so full of Bulletstorminess.” “Bulletstorminess”? Nice. By creating yet another first-person shooter in a genre already packed with great contenders, Epic and its newly ac- quired studio People Can Fly are indeed letting things fly—game design, weapons, mechanics and yes, language. “We’re Epic, the guys who gave you triple kills, and we’re making a game with the guys who created guns that shoot electricity and shurikens, so imagine what we’ll do together,” said a smiling Bleszinski. Bulletstorm begins humbly enough, with a character looking for redemption. Players take on the role of Grayson Hunt, the leader of an elite squad of space mer- cenaries. “At one point you find out you are being manipulated to exact the ill will of your bosses,” explained Jessen, “and you decide to attack your boss. You put your crew in jeopardy, and you blow it— big time. You and your crew are exiled to the far reaches of the galaxy and, years later, you’ve become a drunken space pirate living a rogue existence.” Several years later Hunt carries out an under-the-radar task for minimal pay, and encounters a huge ship—30 times the size of his—called the Ulysses. The ship is run by Hunt’s former confed- eration, and instead of turning away, he blindly attacks. Through pure luck and coincidence he hits the Ulysses’ engine, engulfing the ship in flames. But due to a freak circumstance both ships are pulled into a nearby planet’s gravitational field. As luck would have it he’s landed on Stygia, a once-touristy pleasure planet gone bad where all life has mutated and gone feral. Our demo took place halfway through the game, after Hunt has flooded the city of Elysium, its utopian high rises over- taken by unchecked tropical jungles. We join the action just as the equivalent of a 30-foot Venus Flytrap swallows Hunt's Al friend whole. His mission is clear: Follow his friend’s tracking signal and save him. One element that lends People Can Fly’s FPS its distinct edge is a combina- tion of fisticuffs and weaponry. Hunt has the ability to slow down time by ramming, punching, and kicking enemies. When punched, enemies practically freeze, al- lowing you to take special care dispatch- ing them. “Our weapons in our game are insane,” said Jessen. “You can shoot en- emies in the groin, and then kick them in the face. That’s what we call a ‘mercy.”” Despite its name, Bulletstorm encourages players to engage in close combat, which is rewarded with ultra-violent deaths and points which can be redeemed later for weapon upgrades. Mercy, indeed. But that’s just the beginning. The scenario above is a type of “skillshot.” Long-distance kills are worth X amount of points, and up-close “mercy” kills are worth more; Epic is still playing with the exact worth of each kill type. Hunt’s de- fault weapon, the PeaceMaker Carbine, is complemented by other weapons, like the Flail Gun—two grenades tied together with a chain. You can wrap the flail ammo can around poles and plant it on the ground, where it acts as a remote mine and slices humans instantly in two. Hunt has other interesting moves and tools, too, like a Mega Man slide that proved useful in a boss fight against a pulsing penile-like flower enemy, replete with eight veined purple sacks. Hunt also wields a plasma leash that both stuns enemies and can be used to throw objects—like exploding garbage cans— around the environment. We checked out the single-player cam- paign, but Bulletstorm will presumably support two-player co-op and multiplayer, too. Bleszinski played coy regarding multiplayer, merely saying, “We have something in the works, as you can see from what we have done in the past. But we can’t talk about it now.” Despite Epic’s recent swerve into third- person shooter territory, it appears the North Carolina developer still feels right at home making outrageous, over-the-top, cliche-ridden (and tongue-in-cheek) first- person shooters. If Epic and People Can Fly truly manage to impart Bulletstorm with their own special brand of chaos and mayhem, we might just forgive them for coining the word “Bulletstorminess.” &) EGP 239.0 ’m no huge MMO guy. I’ve dabbled in World of War- craft—| think | made some sandals? Crappy ones? —and before that the Diablo series was the closest | came to nightly loot-mongering. | love a good RPG though, and m like many others who haven't taken the leap into the vast MMO world, | feel like I’m waiting for the right game. From This latest online Fantasy what I’ve seen so far, that’s exactly what Square’s Final just might surprise YOU... ae =6Fantasy XIV is trying to deliver. It actually feels less like an | | MMO and more like a traditional RPG. The world just hap- By Mark Bozon pens to be much larger and there are a lot more people inhabiting this expansive landscape. Square’s philosophy with character creation is “A Million Different Looks for . a Million Different Players,” and already those values are becoming apparent. Base creation starts with the selection of one of five races. The Hyur are basic humans, the Elezen are the new nature- loving elf tribe, the Lalafell are a stout race that lives off the land, the Roegadyn are hulking warriors, and the cat-like Miqo’te are mystical creatures that keep watch over the sun and moon. Regardless of which tribe you select you'll find plenty of room for customization. The character advancement system leads to further customization. While you 2 4 q j \ Loe ES | @- L = ra | | 1) ss = %* = 3 2 = a = = PUBLISHER SQUARE ENIX — DEVELOPER “MULTIPLAYER a poe > < feels less like an d more like a - traditional RPG. will have a typical character level that increases as you gain experience, you'll also have a Class rank, which is affected by your playing style. As you play you'll have the option to switch classes (or “disciplines”) to focus on specific weapons and job types. While general experience is always lev- eling your main character, you’re also powering up each discipline, which in turn unlocks new skills to use in battle. Some of those skills only work when using that discipline in battle, while others can be used with multiple disci- plines. In the version we played there was no way to select skills and save them as a Customized group, so hopefully that will be added before release, as the sheer amount of total skills will undoubtedly be gigantic and require serious microman- agement. Currently both class rank and physical level are capped at level 20, but this is subject to change as development progresses. More than the classes, stats, and customization, however, | found myself hooked by the game's ability to blur the line between traditional RPG elements and the MMO world. The presentation, visual effects, and even intro missions had me constantly wondering where the single- player portion ended and the MMO began. Before | could run free in the world there was a short introduction area that set up the story and events of the game, showcasing the game’s storytelling ele- ments in the process. A huge storm kicked up while | was taking a boat across a vast sea in an attempt to reach the town of Limsa Lominsa. Sails billowed as the rain poured down in waves. Lightning crashed in the background. Suddenly balls of fire began falling from the sky as a gigantic sea monster erupted from the ocean and at- tacked, plunging me into battle. The scene lacked a final score, but even without it the world felt very real, and surprisingly visceral. Square has focused on telling the core story using three cinematic styles. You'll see pre-rendered cut scenes, basic scripted storytelling with text narration and in-game models, and then a middle ground between the two, mixing in-game models with your character and a full cast of voice actors. The scene | had just witnessed was an example of that third and final type, and it was stunning. The game eventually opened up to a | more MMO-like experience—quests, a | mini-map with plenty of destinations, and lots of enemy fodder to rip through — but did so without abandoning that intimate, traditional RPG feel and pacing. Combat is a mix of real-time decisions and turn- based results, as you select your combat actions from menus and then wait as they execute and recharge. For as much depth as there is within the game’s class system the HUD is never cluttered. The Passive/ Active system lets you run faster and regenerate HP when you're not in battle, meaning that you'll most likely come to each fight fresh and full of HP; as long as you're playing strategically. Every piece of the game seems to be an attempt to boil gameplay, interface, and concepts down to the most vital, reliable core ideas possible, while still retaining the depth you'd expect. The demo came to an abrupt end, but it left us with a great impression of Final Fantasy XIV Online. The sooner it hits beta the better, because — quite frankly — I’m finally ready and raring to dive on into my first serious MMO experience. Just as long as | don’t have to make any sandals... EG! 239.0 PUBLISHER WARNER BROS. DEVELOPER DAY 1 STUDIOS PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3, PC MODES SINGLE PLAYER ett} 4 A ~ é re Sees , a = te f € K f ~. : an Say) ee . x4 . ° - “Fone Z —< = ) rl Fg , iD é C> ‘ . a \ EAR proved to be one of the more unique first- person shooters of its Kind, concocting an effective brew of horror elements with the rock-solid action you expect from a genre built around big guns. F.E.A.R. 2 stuck firmly to what worked so well in the original, but while F.E.A.R. 3 senior producer Dan Hay agrees that there is a quintessential quality that must be preserved in the games — “close-quarter ¢ combat, a sense of terror, and driving narrative” —developer Day 1 Studios (Mech Assault) is building on Monolith’s The most S 1 stantial shift beains | foundation with a few new ideas of its own. The most substantial shift begins . vies . with the addition of what the team is with the addition of what the te am IS branding “divergent co-op.” While co-op * yi" vy play is rightfully making its way into more aon or anding diver gent CO-OP. and more games, Day 1’s approach to tactical teamwork will attempt to give | ef Sy lI a vr a Be a soon greater focus to narrative and the concept ere of loyalty. The game offers you the role of : either the ghost-like Paxton Fettel—he’s got stun attacks and levitation powers—or his brother Point Man, the military gun- Slinger you played in the first FE.A.R. As scholars of F.E.A.R. lore might recall, the brothers are out to destroy one another. . » “Obviously on the surface you’re working together through the campaign, but do os "5 =a, q . you really get along?” asks Hay. “You are playing cooperatively, but do you really trust the person beside you? That’s where it’s different for us. Fettel’s powers are obviously different from Point Man’s, but more importantly, his personality, his goals, the reasons he is working through this uneasy alliance are not clear.” Ruffian Games fulfills the original game's promise wi four-player co-op and 16-player multiplayer | i a See PUBLISHER MICROSOFT DEVELOPER RUFFIAN GAMES PLATFORM XBOX 360 MODES SINGLE PLAYER CcN_Np gl U MULTIPLAYER ESRB RELEASE DATE ATNE 2N1N ae 0706.2010 rackdown fans, It’s time for your next fix: Ruffian Games has almost finished the long-awaited Crackdown 2. But unlike the origi- nal title, which delivered a powerful but narrow gameplay lure, Crackdown 2 will offer a well-rounded attack on the single- player, co-op, and multiplayer fronts. As you’d expect, you're a powerful elite soldier returning to Pacific City to “crack down” on the growing flood of mutant freaks and criminal gangs that hold the city hostage. Crackdown 2 plays almost exactly like the first game. It’s still a third-person shooter/action platformer in which you can gradually level up your character’s strength, agility, and shooting abilities in the most Ogical possible way through direct, pro- gressive actions: Shoot 100 or so mutants and your weapon skills will improve; crush a hundred (or so) Cell enemies and you’ level up; jump around to high places and you'll find orbs that boost your jumps from “very high” to “completely ridiculous.” In addition to the Agility Orbs and Special Orbs hidden around the city, newly added Renegade orbs zip across the landscape, begging you to chase them. Pacific City is a sprawling landscape packed with gangs to bust, mutants to slaughter, cars to commandeer and civilians to, uh, not hurt too badly. It offers distant islands, industrial districts, residential neighborhoods, and towering skyscrapers twice the size of the original game’s. You'll recognize some of it, but much will have changed. The hardass “Narrator” from the first game also makes a welcome return, equipped with dozens of harsh, seem- ingly ad-libbed comments reflecting your gameplay prowess, or lack thereof. Sev- eral times during shootouts the Narrator made me burst out laughing. The single-player campaign features the usual new weapons and vehicles. To combat mutants (which only appear at night), you'll find a UV shotgun that sends out electromagnetic shockwaves. Mag grenades, aka sticky grenades, can potentially create enormous destruction (depending on how many things you stick them to). Vehicles include an Agency He- licopter, Buggy, Supercar, Cell Truck and Tank. Yes, I'll take one of each, please. In addition to the new rides, a wingsuit lets you jump from high places —think a towering skycraper, or a helicopter — creating a new way to explore the city... and to pounce on unsuspecting enemies. Jump pads will hurl you along pre-defined arcs, which is fun for both single and multiplayer. In a nod to Halo, you can rip turrets off their stands, going mobile with them. And no game is complete without a rocket launcher, especially when it’s eight-chambered and sports an improved targeting system. Crackdown 2 doubles the co-op player count to four, enabling you to work with friends to locate and secure enemy hideouts and attack mutant lairs or to split up and complete missions independently. The turret truck and helicopter are specifi- cally built for co-op assaults. Crackdown 2 offers seamless drop-in and drop-out capabilities, so gameplay’s never inter- rupted. While co-op was around before, Crackdown 2’s multiplayer mode Is new. You can enter into typical deathmatches and team deathmatches or engage in a hyper-kinetic game of rocket launcher tag. Expect Ruffian Games to roll out lots of multiplayer-focused DLC after the game’s release, too. Even though original Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds has moved on to greener pastures, Ruffian Games’ rookie outing is shaping up quite nicely. Crackdown looks to deliver the same destructive, tongue-in-cheek, open-world “just one more mission” gameplay that made the original a surprise hit. And this time around we get to bring more friends along for the ride. s Azeroth feeling a little empty lately? World of Warcraft is still going strong with 11 million players, so it’s probably just me. A lot of friends have either left World of Warcraft or cut down their play time, for the usual reasons: tired of the grind, tired of leveling, tired of chasing those all-important epic purples. Desertérs take note: The calm before this fall's Cataclysm expansion might just be the best time to jump back in and dust off your armor, because the Azeroth you knew will soon be blown to shreds. The. Worgen and Goblins are set to take sides, and the Black Dragonflight is looking mighty, -.- -mighty pissed. ied Lae oe, — = - en ~ World of Warcraft @ cataclysmic face Jift- WWW.eEQmnow.com Se. -~—-With sdclevel 80s, I’ve seen more than my’share of the starting areas. |’m glad, then, that the new races will have fresh “zones tospawn in: Goblins will start on the Isle of Kezan and then move to the Lost Isles of the South Seas, while the IS about to get ONE <> Worgen will-begin in Gilneas behind the Greymane Wall. Many familiar zones will -also get radical updates. Darkshore will be underwater, The Barrens will be split in two, and Azshara will be accessible from Orgrimmar as a low-level zone. Can you imagine Desolace as a lush green paradise? You won’t have to, soon. The new race/class combinations offer another reason to start fresh. Will you playa Tauren retribution paladin, perhaps, or maybe a Gnome shadow priest? The traditional character concepts will be set on their ear. I aioe a commen: Me?.1’m really looking forward to _.. with it) and experiencing the‘old zones anew: But T'don’t-plan on-lettiag: my other characters sit.and rot, either. The level’ ~ cap:is rising to-85, and Blizzard: is opening ppt ty ed ~~ are = * ” 4 fe * : A village.in Gilnea®,~the new Pare ow" wf aie for the oe .) ae Ren ae wa * os te : ta. ee . a. i WE The Goblins, the little green | guys that would turn their... ‘ mothers in for a few gold,» . will be the new Horde race] up a bunch of new areas to facilitate changes, the only reason I’m withholding that, including Mount Hyjal, Vashj’ir, and judgment is that they aren’t final. The good Grim Batol in the Wetlands. Even classic news is that most stuff I’m interested in as lowbie dungeons like Shadowfang Keep a total DPS player looks to be surviving the and Deadmines will be revamped as level _ transition. We'll see if that holds true for the 85 heroics. All told, there’ll be eight new end product. normal and heroic dungeons to plunder Cataclysm’s PvP changes will probably and level in. be less controversial. Rated Battlegrounds The lore is one of my favorite parts of will give players who hate Arenas (hi!) a WoW, so I’m curious to see how Blizzard chance at new-season Arena gear without will tie it all together. The big story twist the agony of Arena matches. A new world PUBLISHER concerns the re-emergence of Deathwing PvP area similar to Wintergrasp is also ACTIVISION BLIZZARD from the depths of Deepholm. Few planned, situated on Tol Barad Island. DEVELOPER concrete details of this new antagonist Some friends who quit long ago have BLIZZARD have been revealed, but rest assured that already expressed an interest in seeing PLATFORM you’ll eventually be facing off with the how Cataclysm will revitalize WoW, and PC, MAC master of all things earth and lava. while the end result could be a pile of i ; ‘ ; : MODES | must admit I’m a little skeptical of crap, that doesn’t seem likely. So if you’ve some of the changes that Blizzard will been away from Azeroth for awhile, or just MMO be making to the class structure. | play want to find out what all this WoW clamor ESRB a Mage, Shadow Priest, Rogue, Hunter, is about, now’s the time to start making T-TEEN a Retribution Paladin and Enhancement plans. WoW’s about to get one cataclysmic RELEASE DATE — e="Shaman. Looking at the upcoming class face lift. El 2010 | sasiteycmenaaprvaion eel - ; “ ie a ERAT ES NU Rs Sa SPR R SE Sst AE cine SR SE SP TREES TE ea i ELS a BRR Sate = - - ie EG 2290 78 | NEXT WAVE Upcoming Releases GREEN DAY: ROCK BAND Multi - MIV Games - 06.08.2010 Billie Joe and the boys (and, well, you) hit the stage. MEGA MAN ZERO COLLECTION m - 06 082 07 0 The entire ra Wien Man Zee collection goes from Game Boy Advance to DS. = sata PGA TOUR 11 tarot returns to the real world of golf as his latest gaming sequel returns to the virtual one. 06.2720 10 SIN & PUNISHMENT Run and gun your way through Treasures sequel to the cult favorite. ie leu! METROID: OTHER M Team Ninja spins a new take on the Samus universe. | METAL GEAR SOLID: PEACE WALKER PSP - Konami - 06.08.2010 Metal Gear fans are pleased that Big Boss just won't go away. CALL OF DUTY: THE WAR COLLECTION 360 - Activis - J0.U0.2U Call cect 3, and World at War in one set. A great way to quickly fill out your CoD collection. Woody, Buzz and Jesse are back and this time they ain't taking any prisoners. NAVAL ASSAULT: KILLING TIDE 360 - 505 Games - 06.15.2010 newer of World War II's greatest naval battles as a Special Ops fleet. RIVER CITY SOCCER HOOLIGANS Kunio and the boys from River City Ransom move their aggression from the streets to the soccer field. TNA CROSS THE LINE This handheld wrasslin’ affair puts a twist on the genre with a whacky plotline starting in Mexico. ARC RISE FANTASIA Wii - Ignition - 06.22.2010 A turn-based RPG from Japan featuring gorgeous anime-style artwork. DRAGON BALL: ORIGINS 2 Gd! Ud A follow-up to the first popular action RPG based in the well- loved Dragon Ball universe. WIPEOUT: THE GAME Wii - Activision - 06.22.2 Take on obstacle-course ls lenges based on the show. PUZZLE QUEST 2 Gem it up with this anticipated sequel to one of the most addic- tive puzzle/RPG hybrids ever. TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON Multi - Activision - 06 yy, 2 )10 It's nearly time to get your Megatron on with Activision’s “how it all began” action game. DARKSIDERS PC - THQ - 06.22.2010 PC owners are getting the chance to see what it’s like to walk a few hundred miles in the shoes of War. WWW.EQMNOW.COM FARMTOPIA A new attempt to harvest some of the recent farming craze brought in by the likes of Facebook's Farmville. LEGO HARRY POTTER: YEARS 1-4 Relive the adventures of the first four Potter movies, LEGO style. HOT SHOTS TENNIS PSP - SCEA - 06.29.2010 The wackiest tennis experi- ence on the PSP continues the console Hot Shots brand. SNIPER: GHOST WARRIOR It’s all about the head shots in this new sniper-based shooter for the X360 - Diazepam on standby. NAUGHTY BEAR | fiilti S05 Games - 06.2 29 AOI () If you're down in the woods today, you might find your head separated from your shoulders. TRINITY UNIVERSE This JRPG features characters from the Disgaea and Atelier series’ so fans will probably be dying their hair pink in anticipation. SINGULARITY Bend time, shoot faces and generally make a bloody mess in Raven’s new first-person shooter. reat World’ 5 MMO shooter promises to be one of the biggest PC releases of the year. Gangs, guns and good times await thousands of players that dare to hit the streets of San Paro. 08.10.20 10 MADDEN NFL 11 Football season is just around the corner. Well, we've got the summer to get through first, but before the real thing kicks off, start with this latest Madden—now with 4p co-op. 11.02.2010 CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS Treyarch is back at the helm, and is now taking you back to the roots of the Black Ops. on HOLIDAY e010 GRAN TURISMO 5 After multiple demos and set back after set back (read: Polyphony is adding more new features and content) Sony's flagship racer is set to be released later this year. No, really’ THE LAST AIRBENDER director M. Knight Shyamalan's upcoming flick which is itself nes en FANRnNS An ” afroanct #h =Amnhis 3 a Se ee ere ee based on an animated show apocalypse, do so in style confused? DEATHSMILES —_ Genre experts Cave go hardcore with this Got eh ee we Sa shooter spilling over with " oldschool 2D action. SECRET FILES: TUNGUSKA FRONT MISSION EVOLVED e is getting the ment the tracks include TRACKMANIA of Sweat =" DRAGON QUEST IX: STARCRAFT Il: PERSONA 3 PORTABLE SENTINELS OF THE WINGS OF LIBERTY STARRY SKIES shot in the arm expanded storyline, and new been out in Japan for nearly W the sequel’s optional red-haired female @ year, DUT ILS almost mace it first-of-three campaigns. main character t0 ACE COMBAT: JOINT ASSAULT NCAA FOOTBALL 2011 SP - Nar inda / 2010 The latest addition to the flying Get the full-on college-football a Ke ae combi sees robust online treatment in EA’s latest in met ee _ multiplaye campaign the series. . mode and more Dinas tae adaameie ee i Uut of this world BRADY FIECHTER | Brady recently discovered that the Sega CDX doesn’t last forever, and he is temporarily sad. Liking: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Not Liking: Dead pixels. No one likes dead pixels. Greatest Fear: Discovering he probably will never have the skills to grab all the stars in Mario Galaxy 2. WWW.EQMNOW.COM =) BILLY BERGHAMMER 4 ce Just getting adjusted to the new role of EiC, the first day was spent wrestling away a review slot for Super Mario Galaxy 2. Shocker. Liking: The impending doom of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Not Liking: Repetitive regurgitated and painful challenge levels in Super Mario Galaxy 2. On the Menu: Diet Mountain Dew. Galaxy 2 ‘ma graphics whore, or whatever you want to call that person who gets a little too excited about high-def textures and parallax mapping. I’m happy to defend myself in any debate, and defend myself | will with plenty of high-and-mighty rhetoric about why modern games need to walk ever further into the language of film and narrative. But then games like Super Mario Galaxy 2 come along, on the modest, non-HD, wiggle-waggle Wii, and I’m reminded why some people want to slap me about the head. Most games today are moving away from being games, which makes a Mario Galaxy 2 feel that much more refreshing, that much more of a novelty, despite Bozon is currently at war with himself over the possibility of Mario Galaxy 2 being the best Mario ever. Liking: Late-night Red Dead multiplayer sessions. Not Liking: Atternpts at home-made ramen. Fact: Bozon is still trying to acquire rights to NES classic Vice Project Doom. | ~ PAUL SEMEL While Paul didn’t lose his second job out of college because he spent all his time playing the original Prince Of Persia, he certainly didn’t do that job well because of it. Liking: Mass Effect 2 Not Liking: That you can’t play the new maps of BioShock 2 unless absolutely everyone has them. Reading: Thelonious Monk. sl the fact that it’s a lot like Mario Galaxy and—more than you might realize—a lot like plenty of classic platformers before it. Where Mario in its oldschool form was immediate and engaging, Mario Galaxy 2 is sweeping and even a little captivating. Its ideas are still as basic and true as a timeless board game’s, punched up with the zest of an unhinged imagination. The om DAN “SHOE” HSU + “™ BRETT BATES end result? Pure, distilled fun. A big chunk of that fun comes from the sense of achievement, of the victory over Mario’s vast obstacle course of treacherously moving parts. There is an obvious foundation that every good game designer builds upon, but the masterful engineers behind Galaxy 2 are at the top of their class. Here we are, %( pARON THOMAS collecting star bits and coins, leaping off disappearing floors and avoiding bombs and spiky creatures. On paper this might sound rudimentary, but the execution hits that sweet spot in your gaming brain that spins you into a trance. We've seen these themes before. You'll run around a ghost house, swim on an island, hop up desert pyramids and catch fire during Shoe recently moved into anew Brett e Niking, |ong walks on the Aaron won a hat in the Nintendc Eli nas spent the entir tne las apartment. Interesting enougn, ne 9eacn, andr ng the eyebails c World Championships back in the montn playing Angry Birds on the set up his TV and game systems of cyclopes in God of War 3 day, and now the hat is lost. This iPhone and finally getting his time before stuff like clean underwear or Liking: God of War 3 makes him (and the ladies) sad. machine working. toilet paper... Liking: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Not Liking: Buying Plants vs. Zombies for a third time on the iPad. Adjusting To: His newly single life. Not Liking: Automated customer service. Confession: Brett checks the Achievement list before starting any new 360 game. Liking: Alan Wake’s story Not Liking: Picking up Alan Wake’s coffee thermoses. Career Goals: Get rich writing about games and retiring on Maui N +4 T video. - king: Amazing full-motion Sega CD Not Liking: Expensive Neo Geo games. orrible Realization: He left his iPhone charger back in 2010. Slarhesol ww.egmnow.com 82 | REVIEW CREW Kis a et * wa eee a mistimed sprint through rotating fire-wheels. I'd like to see something boldly removed from the Mario playbook, someday, but here again is where Mario Galaxy 2 deserves continued praise. Even when you’re traipsing through familiar-seeming territory the game applies little twists and variations to the series’ Classic gameplay ideas, and this only increases as the game goes on. Most games these days don’t offer much sense of gameplay progression, whereas Mario Galaxy 2’s carefully tuned journey is the epitome of it. Everyone will have their favorite levels—some are merely really good, some are great, plenty are incomparable. One of my favorite moments came early on, taking Yoshi through a rotating log as he gulped air bubbles that propelled us through gaps in the course. Nothing too elaborate, really, yet afterward | felt like |’d just experienced one truly great moment in platforming. Mario Galaxy 2 is a bit more aggressive with perspective shifts, finding new ways to disorient, challenge and utterly delight. There’s not a ton of 2D gameplay to tackle, but what is there feels just right. | loved how the game would shift back and forth, providing an almost narrative beat to the gameplay flow. Certain levels are like self-contained, bite-sized board games that pull you in and then spit you out with just the right feeling of reward. Others are more adventurous, with greater complexity in their world design. Boss battles, while only a small part of the Galaxy 2 experience, are even more of a kick than last time. | love the long, THE GOOD Everything you loved about Galaxy and more THE BAD Just a tad bit recucled at times THE UGLY some of those challenges are cheap elegant dragon-like Gobble Gut creature that exposes rings of its soft belly, and heck, even Bowser seems more tricked out. The appealing designs possess that classic Nintendo artistry that is subtle, colorful, playful and crackling with a spirit of childlike wonder. Mario Galaxy 2 may not push a lot of boundaries, but there’s no denying that this is a Mario game at its delightful best. [) BILLY BERGHAMMER ' There’s something truly special about a well-crafted Mario game that puts a smile on your face, and for the most part Super Mario Galaxy 2 does just that. The first thing you'll notice is the sheer amount of variety the game throws at you. The main Galaxy formula is still intact, but new powers, enemies, bosses and some truly nail-biting platforming mix it up enough that it doesn’t feel like a “Galaxy 1.5.” Sadly, toward the end of the main quest for 70 stars the variety stalled a bit, leaving annoying rehash challenges like speed runs, timed battles, coin challenges and “daredevil” boss fights. This left me confused since there’s plenty of adven- tures after you finish the main game. Despite that annoyance, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is still a must-own platformer and a phenomenal sequel with oodles of fan service. Here’s hoping Nintendo expands the Galaxy one more time before the end of the Wii's lifecycle. But next time, with less recycling. A proper Facelift uch like the Tomb Raider series, the Sinbad-inspired Prince of Persia games have always done a better job with aerial acrobatics than combat. But in this latest adventure—which is actually set between 2004’s Warrior Within and 2005’s The Two Thrones—our hero not only flies through the air with the greatest of ease, he dispatches his enemies just as swiftly. The biggest and most welcome change is to the formerly sluggish fighting. Gone is the need to strike at just the right moment, as well as the frustrating blocking and counter moves. And no longer do the bad guys take cheap shots at you when your back is O mF i) latfo rMING a ILI UD turned. Instead, our hero now slices and dices like a real pro. Or rather, like the button-mashing heroes of other games that let you stab things with blades. Even post-fight recovery is easier: instead of healing with water fountains that take forever to restore your health, and leave you vulnerable to attack, just smash some nearby pots. Some aspects of the acrobatics have been similarly simplified. Not only have they excised the balance-beams, but leaping off poles is also more intuitive, and you need not hit a button to grab a wall hanging you want to slide down. Which means you can now swing off a succession of poles and land on a 2x4 like a spider monkey without worrying wi / = Fag 2 < ¢ - > G - = ar gf w->, ~ , Le 3 ex *s Xt |. ~ a.’ z ' Prince Of Persia: PUBLISHER PeSBISOFT DEVELOPER | DANIEL BOUTROS UB) MONTREAL / | SECOND OPINION SINGAPORE | PLATFORM A light blend of God yao 360° PS3 of War’s epicness, Castlevania’s cr f see clocktower levels and Tomb Raider’s switch puzzles, Forgotten Sands’ level ESRB designs work best when they have you TEEN in the throes of a platforming puzzle, RELEASE DATE 05.18.2010 presented within a giant clockwork mechanism made from walls, poles, switches, platforms and pillars— practically a “best of” selection of leftovers from Sands of Time. Later on, though, the platforming part of the game fades into a crude sequence of linear button presses, to the point where | felt | was playing Guitar Hero without the button prompts; a shame, as being able to use the Prince’s tools creatively could lead to a richer experience. But the combat—a long suffering afterthought in the series—is finally as it should be: meaty, expressive and enjoyable. that you might lose your balance and fall off like a spider monkey with an inner-ear infection. Not all change is good, however. The graphics are back to the drab palette of Warrior Within, as opposed to the vividly colorful cel-shaded look of 2008's eponymous outing. Some of the acrobatic challenges are also throwbacks, aS many, especially early on, are ones we've done in previous Prince games. Thankfully, the Prince has learned some new tricks. He can still rewind up, but he can also restore broken structures and stop water from flov time when he screws By Paul Semel = fm — .4 ving, turning it momentarily solid (read: climbable). This is where the acrobatics get interesting, since you sometimes have to freeze or unfreeze objects in mid-flight. He also has some smart bomb-esque magical attacks that he unlocks through an experience-based upgrade system, which can also improve his health and other abilities. For some longtime fans of the series —especially those who didn’t have a problem with the fighting—the Thankfully streamlined controls familiar flipping, quick healing, and Sometimes button-mashing might make Forgotten feels like Prince of Persia: The Greatest Hits Sands seem too easy. However, if you’ve enjoyed this series since its inception, but wished the combat wasn’t so laborious and that the Prince wasn’t such a klutz sometimes, Forgotten is as effortlessly fun as, well, raiding a fine tomb. The drab graphics EG! 239.0 Redemption Welcome to Rockstar's open-world Wild West By Mark Bozon ve religiously picked up each and every version of Grand Theft Auto since the original, but there was always something | missing. Even in GTAIV, | never really felt like | was living in the world with the characters. Maybe it was the pacing or maybe it was the characterization, but a true, cinematic feel always felt just out of reach. That all changes with Red Dead Redemption. For all the fuss about how Red Dead isn’t just “GTA in the Wild West,” | was amazed to find just how similar Rockstar’s latest open-world saga is to its current-day counterpart; at least at its very core structure. Taking the role of outlaw-turned-hero John Marston, players wander the lands of New Austin, take missions from a dozen or so parties, run from the law, follow road-lit waypoints via a familiar radar, and play a host of “just good enough” mini-games to pass the time. Despite an added morality system www.egmnow.com the story is almost entirely linear, and the urge to waste time doing nothing in the presence of everything is overwhelming. In many ways it truly is GTA in the wild west. But then it happens: It pulls you in. Suddenly you aren’t just pushing on to the next fight to unlock the world or score achievement points. You want to be John Marston. Picking up prostitutes seems out of the question since you have family at home. You stick with your own horse—the one you broke in—for the entire game even though faster breeds are often for sale. You ride into town slowly because the musical score is telling you to. Red Dead Redemption has an amazing knack for drawing you into its world. The world comes to life through the wealth of voice work and surprisingly thought-provoking dialogue. Suddenly, it’s something truly special, and trumps the very source material it was based on. Red Dead originally took from the GTA formula, but now Rockstar’s original brand will need to do the same in order to keep up with what Marston and company contributed to the concept of open-world gaming. That isn’t to say it’s a perfect game. In fact, for how amazingly cinematic the entire experience is | was amazed by just how quickly | could be pulled out by the slightest complications. The mini-games are slow and drawn out, taking longer to play than real-life rounds of poker or horseshoes ever would. Random missions broke, forcing me to power off my system and re-boot just to carry on with the story. | fell through the world, saw floating objects around town, and marveled at just how amazingly dead the entire free-roam multiplayer mode was, with the single- player villages reduced to NPC-free ghost towns. | scratched my head at the garbled fast-travel system, which lets you warp anywhere in the world fron , but also requires you to ride an invisi t PUBLISHER ROCKSTAR GAMES DEVELOPER ROCKSTAR SAN DIEGO PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3 MODES SINGLE PLAYER CO-OP ONLINE MULTIPLAYER ESRB M—MATURE RELEASE DATE 05.18.2010 THE GOOD More than a GTA in the Wild West THE BAD Random bugs abound THE UGLY Multiplayer’s ghost towns away from towns and hideouts before you can camp. There are some strange things afoot in the dusty town of New Austin In the end, though, those nagging issues pale in light of what’s easily Rockstar’s best open-world game since Vice City. The gunplay is top-notch, with everything from the soft lock-on aiming to the game’s Dead Eye system constantly making you feel like the badass you’re meant to be. The story will compel you to rush from mission to mission, but then you’ll somehow find yourself trekking through the desert looking for hidden treasure using a genius hand- drawn map system. The allure of fame and honor start to get the best of you, and all of a sudden you’re accepting every duel request, capturing outlaws instead of killing them, and engaging in every little random encounter that presents itself. Well, at least if you’re playing on the honorable side, like | did. | almost have to question the practicality of playing it evil, since all of the story missions lead Marston down the path of redemption. What’s funny is that | normally do take the darker route n these games. Why not this time? The character didn’t seem like he would. | cared enough about the integrity of a made-up protagonist to not give into the dirty-and often profitable-way out. It’s easy for open-world gaming to just boil down to a huge “sandbox” of time- wasting activities. It’s vastly more difficult, however, to craft a world that is truly captivating, offering absolute freedom while still managing to weave a story that’s worth telling. And that’s exactly what Red Dead Redemption has done. &! DAN “SHOE™ HSU From the excellent voice acting and char- acterizations to the dusty set pieces, just about everything in Red Dead Redemption thoroughly immerses you in an incredibly detailed virtual Wild West. Except, that is, for one thing. The game is constantly reminding you of its Grand Theft Auto roots—the map system, the pop-up hints (that, by the way, are easy to miss in the heat of action), the mission presentation, the controls... even the forced conversations when going from point A to point B with a riding partner. It's slightly disappoint- ing, since RDR is so excellent otherwise. It deserves to have its own, completely independent identity. It’s miles better and more impressive than GTAIV, however, on almost every level. Red Dead Redemption is a true open-world masterpiece. WWW.egmnow.com peek 3) od A rightrnare of n nightmares, it’s not always the tangible threats that are the most fright- ening. What’s scarier? The hulking, five-eyed monster chasing you or the fact that you can’t quite see him clearly, you’re not always sure where he is, and your weapons (if you even have any) seem useless against him? It’s that sort of fear factor that Alan Wake plays on so well, and even that is oversimplifying what this game manages to achieve in the frights department. The developers got the pacing down just right, so what are normally clichéd horror conventions (freaks coming at you with screeching chainsaws, a monster surpris- ing you from behind a door, etc.) become heart-pounding drama. | wouldn’t have thought that a garbage can falling over, breaking the still silence with a loud clash, would scare me much, but my thumping chest says otherwise. It’s because the designers know how to lure you into a false sense of security... and then when to spring the next “jump out at you” mo- ment, for ultimate effectiveness. They even take that philosophy a step further by making enemy “Taken” invul- nerable to bullets until you’ve burnt away a game By Uan Shoe’ Hsu their darkness with a strong light source. And in some parts of the adventure you lose your weaponry completely (for vari- ous reasons), just when you think you’ve built up a large enough arsenal to take out the dark creatures haunting the small, woodsy town of Bright Falls. The average gamer may feel frustrated. Who likes collecting guns and ammo only to lose ‘em all in the next chapter? But | see this as shrewd game design. There’s nothing like running around a near-impenetrable forest armed with nothing but a non-lethal flashlight to remind you that you’re not the one-man-army of Chris Redfield. You’re just a normal dude trying to deal with otherworldly horrors. Unfortunately, Alan Wake is a con- sumer product, and it likes to remind you of that sometimes. One collectible is Thermoses full of coffee, complete with a capital T. Is that product placement? Like those gigantic Verizon billboards we see everywhere? Recycled enemies, the over- use of “dark forest level” environments, silly puzzles, objectives that defy any sort of logic, and some pretty bad voice acting become distracting, too. | admit, I’m being overcritical here, simply because these aspects pull me out of what is otherwise a thoroughly immersive experience. And while those “gamey” elements didn’t.work for me, an unlikely one actual- ly helped to enhance the game’s tension: Achievements. Sure, Alan Wake has some standard “get 100 kills with the revolver” or “run over 20 enemies with a car” silli- ness, but a few clever ones can make the game even better, if you’re aware of them. One involves finishing a (long) level with- out firing a single shot. Another wants you to complete a stage within a certain time limit. Artificial goals, sure... but these gave me small adrenaline boosts in an already nerve-wracking experience. Alan Wake has the gameplay and atmosphere down, no doubt. But what truly elevates this game is its story, and proses PUBLISHER MICROSOFT DEVELOPER REMEDY ENTERTAINMENT PLATFORM XBOX 360 MODES SINGLE PLAYER ESRB M-MATURE RELEASE DATE 518.2010 how the designers present it. | wouldn’t be surprised if gamers cite Alan Wake in the next “games as art” debate, because its narrative is really that good—worthy of its own movie or novel. And like a good mystery, it’s always messing with your head. For example, throughout the game, your author protagonist can collect manuscript pages from an unfinished book he may or may not be writing that may or may not be mapping out the events around him. These sheets provide snapshots of what’s happening to you, what's happening around you, and what might happen very soon... even moments from now. You’d think a sneak peek might mentally prepare you for the dangers to come, but these pages didn’t come from some strategy guide. It’s a psychologi- cal screwing of your mind because the game’s telling you that s**t’s about to go down and you’re powerless to do anything about it. In one brilliant scene, another character realizes what’s about to happen to him based on reading these ” same notes... and it happens exactly as prophesied right at that exact moment. It’s so meta! Like | was truly in a nightmare, | could never really tell exactly what was going on in this story (but | was never really lost, either). Was my character bringing a horrifying reality to life with his writings? Was he caught up in an ancient evil with a defined antagonist? Or was he just plain cuckoo? It’s all of the above and none of the above. The game doesn’t exactly answer all these questions with its slightly confusing, up-for-interpretation (but still very cool) ending. But it doesn’t have to. Alan Wake isn’t here to hold your hand through its adventure. It wants to screw with your head and make you think and wonder what’s going on, never providing a clear-cut path through its story. And that’s why, like a nightmare, it’s so damn frightening. Gl THE GOOD Good scares, mind-twisting story THE BAD Repetitive environments and enemies THE UGLY Cringe-worthy voice acting BRADY FIECHTER __ SECOND OPINION | can’t claim that Alan Wake doesn't have a laundry list of issues. There were times when | got frustrated with the combat. The puzzle-solving is occasionally arbitrary and mechanical, and there was always a slight disconnect when | was asked to jump or navigate platforming stretches. But as an experience, as a game with real emotional beats, Alan Wake met my expectations. The game reminds me of how | felt playing Heavy Rain, at times pushed away by the slight inelegance yet absolutely intoxicated by the atmosphere and world design. The Pacific Northwest is an original and magnificent setting, and the creepy inhabitants are spun with a sense of character you don’t often find in a game. Alan Wake’s plotting deserves high praise; here’s an example of how to properly tell a videogame story. G/ Skate Another fine day at the grind ith two sequels in the two- and-a-half years since the original Skate ollied over the Tony Hawk franchise, the Skate series can no longer be considered novel. Gamers now expect to kick flip, grab, and grind with the analog sticks while being trailed by a low-slung camera that mimics skate videos. So where does that leave Skate 3, the latest offering from EA’s Black Box team? What’s left after the novelty wears away? Skate 3 avoids franchise fatigue with two major upgrades. The first is a new location, Port Carverton. Port Carverton is a skater’s utopia: Every rail, ledge, sculp- ture, and stairway has been designed with the line in mind. Here, the security guards don’t chase after you; they point out the sweetest line in the university courtyard. The city is composed of three districts — Downtown, Industrial, and University — filled with challenges ranging from photo shoots and street contests to numbingly fast downhill races. Additionally, Skate 3 brings back Skate 2’s Hall of Meat mode, a series of ridiculously fun bailout challenges that'll have you cannonballing your skater off a building or gliding him spread-eagle off the edge of a cliff. Black Box designed these challenges for short attention spans. Most can be beaten in a few minutes, making the game easily enjoyed in small bites. Of course, the WWW.EQMNOW.COM Brett Bates shredding up Port Carverton with five buddies Teleporting from spot to spot means more loading screens Jason Lee's groan-inducing Coach Frank character addictive leveling system (based on “board sales”) will likely cause you to gorge on challenges to unlock new boards, clothing, terrain-editing tools and teammates. The last two elements function heavily in the second major upgrade in Skate 3: full online support. Create an online team to roll with your buddies and compete against other teams in nearly all of the challenges—in fact, you get a bonus for each challenge you complete online. Players can jump in and out of your game at any time. Rounding out Skate 3’s online offerings are some robust creation tools. In addi- tion to the video and photo sharing tools from the first two games, you can now create and share your own skate parks. Parks generate board sales for the career mode based on how many times they’re downloaded, and new creation tools are unlocked as you sell boards. It’s a nice little feedback loop that will encourage players to fine-tune their creations. In short, Skate 3 isn’t just another phoned-in entry in a new yearly franchise. Sure, the core skating mechanic hasn’t changed much, but the brand-new loca- tion and ambitious online mode should keep players carving up the streets of Port Carverton for months to come. These new features help Skate 3 revitalize the series and make the game a worthwhile purchase for fans and newcomers alike. PUBLISHER EA DEVELOPER BLACK BOX ‘ PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3 MODES SINGLE PLAYER MULTIPLAYER ESRB T-TEEN RELEASE DATE L) ") 4 skate MARK BOZON SECOND OPINION Good news skating fans: We aren’t to the point in EA’s series where we need to add street racing, jet packs, or Bam’s fat uncle Vito yet. The bad news? Well, for all the awesome additions to Skate 3—park editing and in-world creation being at the tip-top of it—the series is certainly going to give you deja vu if you just plopped $60 down for the last version a year ago. As a huge fan of the franchise it didn’t take me long to jump in, create my skate team, and start shredding the hell out of Port Carverton, but it also didn’t take me long to start asking myself if | was really doing this all again. It’s a great game, but in the immortal words of Christopher Walken: “Again? We just did it!” And come on, an entire event dedicated to Miracale Whip? J 76mm THE GOOD Excellent creation tools THE BAD Al often feels cheap THE UGLY End-of-race weapons barrage As ModNation Racers know, another kart racing game. Not much to get excited about, right? Wrong. ModNation Racers is to racing games as LittleBigPlanet is to platform- ers. It offers a comprehensive yet easy- to-use suite of editing tools and lets you share your drivers, cars, and tracks with rest of the world. The actual racing doesn’t break any new ground and the CPU cheats like crazy, but the game's still a ton of fun, especially if you're the creative sort. MNAR is all about creation, whether it’s experiencing the work of others or conjuring up your own outrageous vehicles and tracks. My previous attempts at level PUBLISHER — SCEA DEVELOPER UNITED FRONT GAMES PLATFORM PSg MODES SINGLE PLAYER MULTIPLAYER ESRB E-EVERYONE RELEASE DATE " = ie ~ By Aaron Thomas creation have been mediocre at best. My TimeSplitters maps were about as exciting as walking through an abandoned office building, my Halo 3 levels could best be described as “functional,” and I’m pretty sure | never made it all the way through LittleBigPlanet’s creation tutorial. It should go without saying then that the fact that | was easily able to make a complete, fun, and attractive track on my first try is a testament to how simple and powerful ModNation’s track-creation tools are. | also had a blast customizing my own drivers and vehicles. |'m particularly proud of Jimbo, my dirty-underwear-wearing, MATT CABRAL Pre-release hype is less reliable than a Magic 8-Ball, but the early buzz for Mod Nation Racers was spot-on: It really is a Mario Kart meets LittleBigPlanet mash-up. United Front Games’ inspired take on the kart racing genre effectively emulates the personality packed gameplay of the former while actually trumping the latter in its delivery of Sony’s “Play, Create, Share” concept. Charming characters, colorful settings, and racing that’s buoyed by super-satisfying drifting and upgradeable power-ups comprise a solid standalone offline experience. But it’s the online, community-fueled fun that keeps Mod’s engines revving long after you’ve completed the solo career. sultry-eyed, fanged-tooth, lizard-skinned driver. His first vehicle, a short bus (seri- ously) with zebra stripes, an orange spoiler, peace-sign hood ornament, and steam engine wasn’t much to look at. But his second ride—a sleek-bodied Indy car with an Earth-from-space-inspired paint job, roulette wheels for tires, and a hamster- powered engine—that, my friends, was something special. MNR’s racing has its ups and downs. The included tracks are well thought out and there’s no shortage of shortcuts to discover and exploit. Each race has a set of tough secondary challenges —try not to touch a wall for an entire lap, zap a specific opponent before finishing in first place—that, if completed, unlock new customization items. The challenges are so addictive that even the cheap Al couldn’t deter me from retrying them until | succeeded. Unfortunately, for some reason the controller layout cannot be changed. This is something you'll lament as you steer with the left analog stick and simulta- neously press R2 to accelerate, X to drift, and L1 to boost around a turn. Lengthy load times and awkward controls are minor issues when compared to the rage-inducing, momentum-stopping barrage of the weapons you'll face during the last lap of a race. I’m getting angry just thinking about the times | was zapped just inches from the finish line and dropped from first to fourth in the blink of an eye. There’s no doubt that it’s fun, but the success of Mod Nation Racers is largely dependent upon the creativity of its users. Assuming people embrace the powerful creation tools given to them, you'll be able to enjoy free, top-notch content possibly for years to come. & EGM 229° 90 | REVIEW CREW | repeat! Even those who feel ill are not to leave their homes! he Trauma Center series has come a long way since its humble DS beginnings. After two impressive Wii games, Atlus’ franchise is taking a step beyond straightforward surgery simulation with Trauma Team, a game that blends every- thing from first-response medical care to in-office diagnosis, pediatrics, and even some CSl-inspired crime lab investiga- tion work. It’s a departure from the typi- cal, but it’s also a blast—as long as you actually want those added modes... Nearly everything from Trauma Center has been re-tuned or enhanced. There’s more voice work, more quirky storylines (a superhero who’s also a chief of medi- cine—why not?) and expanded gameplay mechanics that help the series’s fun but familiar formula feel fresh again. There DIFFICULTY are even hints of Phoenix Wright during many of the non-surgical sequences, as you'll be gathering clues and making logical deductions to diagnose patients and solve mysterious deaths. Some of the questions are a bit misleading at times, and a few cases require large leaps in logic, but all in all it’s a great first step into a new take on the world of Trauma Center. The surgical gameplay is just as slick and rewarding, requiring both speed and precision. Your arsenal of tools has been expanded, and the first-response mis- sions are some of the best in the game, forcing you to juggle multiple patients at the same time. Whether you can actually save everybody in time comes down to a quick, steady hand and figuring out which patients to prioritize. THE GOOD It's the largest Trauma Center title yet, by far THE BAD story sequences are still very simple THE UGLY “Playing doctor” with pre-teens FBI watch list, anybody? JASMINE REA Trauma Team at- tempts to cure the Trauma Center franchise with fewer magical tumors and more variety. Previous installments focused on speed over anything else, including fun. Here the focus is less on how fast you move and more on how precisely you carry out procedures— like real surgeries only incredibly sur- real.Where Trauma Team really hits the mark is exploring six different medical fields rather than forcing the player to do one agonizing surgery after another. Each doctor plays a role in the larger medical drama but has their own indi- vidual stories as well. Unfortunately, no amount of charm and story can make up for how poorly the endoscopy levels control. Endoscopy shouldn’t be in videogames, period. |repeat! Even those who feel ill are not to leave their homes! As good as Trauma Team’s many addi- tions are, some areas still need improve- ment. Online play was scrapped for this version, the in-game cinematics are still made up of random sliding art—some of it very amateurish—and the game is decep- tively adult-oriented, with everything from near-nudity to some surprisingly harsh language. Oh, and inspecting the occa- sional order of Japanese jailbait during the diagnostician sequences is a little weird. Really? Did she have to be underage, awk- wardly shy, and needing a chest exam? Your enjoyment of Trauma Team may hinge on how many of the new game- play types you find yourself warming up to. There’s no denying, though, that the series is only gaining momentum after its fifth entry, as Trauma Team is one of the best games in the series yet. [= THE GOOD Pure arcade racing with an impressive hook THE BAD | now want more THE UGLY Trying to shove around immovable Al PUBLISHER DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS DEVELOPER BLACK ROCK STUDIOS PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3 MODES SINGLE PLAYER MULTIPLAYER ESRB E 10+ RELEASE DATE 05.18.2010 hile some developers have toyed with open-worid racing as of late—something | personally can’t stand— Split/Second brings action racing back to its roots. From the outset players jump into a career mode built to fee! like an episodic reality TV show, trekking through 12 episodes, 70+ events, and a half-dozen locales. The reality show shell is simple, but when it comes to delivering white-knuckle racing Split/Second is practically unrivaled in the genre. It may not be stealing the podium away from Criterion’s classic just yet, but Split/ Second is coming up fast, a fresh new franchise not to be ignored by racing enthusiasts. Split/Second follows a simple core concept: Drift, jump, and speed through courses to build up a bank of eneray. Once full, cash that juice in for one of two tiers of “Power Plays” to cause mayhem around the course that can literally crush the competition. Smaller cash-ins lead to crashing vehicles or crumbling landslides, while strategic stockpiling brings about gigantic, worid-morphing disasters. While taking first place and destroying the = | ne Beat 3 , as - ~ a A 2s be warned: Competitors in mirror ageyclasep-th competition is priority one, | found myseif running events over and over just to explore the possibilities each area offered, morphing the game from a racer to a sort of real-worid pinball machine. Learn the “table,” and take the goid. Though entertaining from beginning to end, the “wow” factor of many of the levels can be explored in just a few trips around the track. It’s still a blast, and the fact that learning these tracks has a direct impact on your success during events is a welcomed bit of depth. With SO many repeating tracks and power-play elements, however, it won't take long for you to start dreaming of a sequel! that takes what's here and goes even bigger. Thankfully core racing is just the start. New game modes and variants are around every corner, and while none of them top Burnout 3’s Crash Mode, some come close. Detonator has you racing through an ever-exploding track to post quick times, while others mix in the missile-blasting Split/Second chopper and runaway semi trucks to keep you on your toes. Even if the tracks themselves can fee! like deja vu, these modes will keep you coming back. (LAPT /3) Pre Le 2 a Split/Second succeeds in a lot of sabe ae ways, particularly given that it’s the first 3 entry in a brand-new franchise. Some sa fine-tuning still needs to be done—I'd like to see more tracks, more variation, and a re-tuning of the sometimes-cheap rubber- banding Al racers—but the series is already on its way to achieving legendary status. First Pure, and now Spilit/ Second... Developer Black Rock Studios is gaining serious momentum. GI MARC BOZON tot hae Net ee Whee? vi. Split/Second is the Burnout sequel! | wanted Burnout Paradise to be. While | can appreciate the open worid of Paradise, | want my 4 arcade racers to focus on track design, ; brain-meliting speed, and spectacular crashes. Split/Second delivers on ail of those fronts. The key to Split/Second’s success is its Power Plays, environmental effects * you can trigger that range from mundane exploding barrels to massive, track- altering events that'll send you on wild detours up the spine of a fallen flight control tower or across an aircraft carrier. The dynamic nature of these Power Plays makes each race fee! unique, even when replaying the same track. Split/Second can be frustrating at times. It sucks, for example, to get wrecked just before the finish line and sosatill drop from first to last. But when the rac- ing is this frantic, the highs far outweigh the lows. ~———. | e ~~ nw one PUBLISHER 905 GAMES DEVELOPER NATURAL MOTION PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3 MODES SINGLE PLAYER MULTIPLAYER ESRB J- TEEN RELEASE DATE 06.01.2010 [ By Mark Bozon ideogame football has always been one hell of a tough arena. Gridiron challengers have come and gone: Year after year Mad- den ends up dominating the eyes and game to show off what its tech could do, and this is it. Backbreaker is actually a pretty nice engine showcase. Tackles look great, shadows work realistically and the lighting effects hold their own. While the The attempts to innovate, however, actually make the action feel less intuitive. The GameDay QB camera is strangely low, cutting off your vision. The receiver target- ing system blinds you while you’re in the pocket. Passing can be a crapshoot, since penalties are lax and collisions occur often. I’ve thrown so many interceptions due to no-call pass interference that it’s insane. Even running with the ball can be difficult, since your range of vision is so small. Ina lot of ways it’s harder to execute properly here than in nearly any other football game, completely negating the whole point of making a more arcade-like experience. Natural Motion has touched on a few sion ee _ while ape . ames angles don’t ln bee ail Hard-hitting great concepts with Backbreaker, attempt- — - i " man | ses y : ree they certainly add cinematic tackles ing to create a more intense experience e wayside. Developer ura ion all. - _ “ iene neu ae Es sts q impressive tech, from every position on the field, and the juggernaut, but But this isn’t a good football experi basic technology is certainly there. But it'll when you’re the new kid on the block and ence. In fact, Backbreaker feels like it’s some great competing with a beloved franchise that has a 20-year legacy, comparisons are bound to be made. Regardless of position- ing, Backbreaker is clashing with giants — one very large one in particular. After going the distance with Back- breaker’s rookie year it’s apparent that a lot of passion went into the game. Unfortunately it simply falls short... as a game, at least. You see, Natural Motion is a technology developer, and its Euphoria engine is gaining some serious momen- tum as of late: Grand Theft Auto IV used it, Red Dead Redemption uses it, and so on. Natural Motion decided to do a full-on constantly at odds with itself. The idea was to trim all the fat from the typical football sim, focusing instead on the intensity of on-field play. The devs came up with stuff like bigger hits, a Gears of War-inspired roadie run, and lock-on passing that gives you a one-on- one feel between the QB and his receiver. In the default arcade mode there’s even Al-assisted tackling, and play calling is limited to only four plays per coverage type. Switching over to pro mode gives you a bit more control, but the core game's running, passing and tackling are all unabashedly arcade-like. creation tools An Arcade vs. Realism identity crisis Player collisions + no flag = interception take some serious focus and a gameplay overhaul—camera, controls, and bal- ance —if the series hopes to hit the field again next year. BILLY BERGHAMMER SECOND OPINION When you’re develop- ing a football game without the NFL license what really matters is the core gameplay experi- ence. You don’t care who the teams are, how cool the stadium’s designed or what the uniforms look like. At the end of the day all that matters is how well the football holds up. Backbreaker toys with new control schemes, a flashy visual presentation, a player-centric camera and a real-time physics engine—the only bit that’s interesting, but even that’s kind of wonky. The problems only snowball from there. The Al is dopey, intercep- tions and fumbles occur quite often, obvious penalties aren’t called, passing frustrates, and neither available control scheme actually feels right. There’s little reason to stray with Backbreaker when other games not only have authentic licenses, but play much better to boot. > ‘ior to Chaos Rings’ arrival on the App Store, we were beginning to worry abo iPhone. Previously, its lineup cor than rehashes of of recent mobile g beginning of what will hopefully Phone RPGs from the co Taking control of two or four-per qu Jality in a tournament set in the mysterious Ark is promised both ete youth and immortality. unfolds you slowly learn the origins of y well as w formed in th Initially, two t with their own unique storyline. ying through the game >twoa addi tional teams, and seeing ything Chaos Rings has to offer will require playthroughs. Maybe that’s why it’s 13 bucks the standard Chaos Rings’ gameplay is a good mixture of JRPG elements with plenty of dungeons, random battles and bosses, with graphics that are among the best we've seen for the iPhone. Chaos Rings does a great job of providing an in-depth RPG experience while still being conducive to brief mobile play sessions. Pip 1496 ae ing” rie OOF xe: 226 O1® e Download | a but the box... — iN : i lAdaANN | o~ A “antatatatiateate a ! i ~ [ jd i> ~” fo f*firy) aS 1 ed j ~UVUd.Vv Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 PUBLISHER ACTIVISION MCVWVICE ip DEVICE iPhone A game that should need no introduction, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 is regarded by many as the best skateboarding game of all time. This full-featured iPhone port has everything from the original including all the different skate locations, skater customizations and tricks. The on-screen controls take some time to get used to, but it doesn’t take long before you can start grinding out infinite combos. Tony’s Hawk Pro Skater 2 does a fantastic job of providing a heavy dose of nostalgia while providing a timeless skateboarding experience for newcomers. Even today, the expertly designed vels and great feel will appeal to any skateboarding fan. Geometry Wars: Touch for iPad PUBLISHER ACTIVISION While the App Store is absolutely jam- packed with dual-stick shooters, only a few stand out of the pack. Geometry Wars: Touch is one of those rare exceptions. The iPad version of the game contains seven different game modes, ranging from the classic “Evolved” survival mode to the timed “Deadline” mode. Each game type has its own highly competitive global leaderboard and unique gameplay mechanic. The one downside is that the dual- stick controls can feel awkward ona device the size of the iPad. If you can get past that, Geometry Wars: Touch is one of the best games available for your fancy new gadget. Zen Bound 2 PUBLISHER SECRET EXIT DEVICE iPad Less of a game and more of an experience, Zen Bound 2 is the iPad- exclusive sequel to the original Zen Bound, an early iPhone game which enjoyed both commercial success and critical acclaim. Much like the original, Zen Bound 2 puts you to work wrapping rope around 3D objects, utilizing an intuitive set of multi-touch gestures to rotate said object in space. Your goal is to cover as much of the object as possible with your given supply of rope. Music by Ghost Monkey does a fantastic job of adding to the meditative atmosphere of the game. While the gameplay might be a little too abstract for some, Zen Bound 2 is a beautiful game that is perfect to play when you're just—wait for it—looking to unwind. As say m tay 9 8 ¥; 5. P| . ~ < ¢ > ; ’ 86. 19.5 .,, os- ’ 30 a er Twins PUBLISHER COSMOS INTERACTIVE DEVICE E iPhon 1e/iPad Somewhere between a port and a reimagining of a never-completed Amiga game, Babylonian Twins is one of the best puzzle-platformers on the App Store. Taking control of twin brothers Nasir and Blasir, you need to alternate between controlling them to complete the many levels. Each brother has their own unique skill set. Nasir is armed with a mace to smash things and has a drill ability to destroy broken patches of ground, while Blasir can dash through some walls and jump much higher than his brother. Much like the classic Blizzard game The Lost Vikings, solving the puzzles of Babylonian Twins requires the clever usage of each brother’s abilities. . Kx 543 7 . QU iy” NG a Ph % % Hy ( ‘ | odWNVO SNNY dsHiVsH4 Vey Yj; Y Bi GU Ge LA COMMENTARY { \ | | i\ } | : \ { L | othing is more demoralizing than waking up and losing 1000pp in Super Street Fighter IV. It's the anti-coffee. It’s a broken hot-water heater, it’s a brand- new bill in the mail. It’s a letter from the doctor telling you, “Today, you’re worse than you were yesterday. You might even be dying.” PP, or Player Points, is the measure of how many Ranked Matches you've won in Capcom’ latest update to the Street Fighter series. If you beat someone who has a lot of PP, you gain a lot of PP. If you lose to someone who has very few points, you drop a lot of points. PP is different from BP, or Battle Points. Battle Points are character-specific; they’re representative of how many games you've won with each character. Player Points are game-wide. Now, the general consensus is that high PP does not necessarily mean you're a great tournament player. But skill and Player Points seem tethered together in some informal way. Meaning: If you've got a lot of PP, chances are you dont suck. Losing a bunch of points doesn’t mean you suck, either. But if you drop 500pp at 8:00 a.m. it sure does feel that way. Waking up and losing a bunch of games is just crippling. My breakfast tastes worse. I look older in the mirror. Hell, I don't even look myself in the mirror after a line of strangers beats me to a pulp. sing nank We all know about leveling up and leveling down in online videogames. Online play is cyclical; there's no one who has ever leveled up without pause. A weekly glance at the leaderboards of any given ranked game will tell you just as much. And it’s not just Street Fighter, obviously. Sometimes, you'll be a level 40 Colonel in a game of Halo 3. Then, suddenly, you'll be 35, a Commander. And your week will be ruined. It's not that you're newly terrible; youre probably just tired. The difference between being tired during ranked play and being tired against the machine is a loss of transparency. Your scrub skill, measured in PP, now stares in you the face. If you're having a rough time in a solo match, you ll probably just turn off the game and go do something else. You lose PP, though, and your diminished number will be there the next time you log on. It’s unforgiven. What's more, losing rank is insulting, and fires off the same instincts as gambling. “Okay: I’m down $1000 bucks. If I just stay at the table long enough, I'll get even again. Then I'll walk away. I swear. Oh god, I swear I will.” Your faceless foes add to the degradation. Lose a round in the arcade (if you can find one), and you can nod and smile to the guy who beat you down. Hell, you might even learn something from them. Lose a round online, and you don't know what hit you. You were mugged, and the perp got away before you saw their face. This ambiguity in defeat also robs us of the glories of victory. If you beat someone, you take their PP... but they won't care. The house doesn't keep track of when you get Blackjack. Anonymity is a thief, turning all but the famous few into a mob of grunts who beat each other senseless without making eye contact. We're not warriors; were a mosh pit. Gone are the high-noon shootouts at the Arcade Corral. In their place are fast-flying bullets and sudden bleeding stomachs. Some days you score a hit. And other days, you don't know who shot you. What I’m saying here is, I welcome the day when Facebook will log us into everything. At least then I'll know who it was that ruined my breakfast. &] It's a letter from the doctor telling you, “loday, youre worse than you were yesterday. You might even be dying." ‘ve been a gamer for a staggering 28 years now. At the tender age of eight I got my first home computer in the form of the Oric-1 (Google it, kids). While the games were rudimentary they were decent enough to convince me that it was a good idea to type hundreds of lines of BASIC code just to get some pixels to wobble around my TV screen. It was here that my lifelong love for digital entertainment kicked off, and it continued to grow with the Commodore 64, the Amiga, Game Boy and SNES. I became what Id classify as a hardcore gamer somewhere between 1992 and 1994. Buying extremely expensive imported Super Famicom cartridges, obsessing over pristine- "quality game cases and instruction manuals, and blowing far too much money on mags and game-related crap like stuffed Cactuars and Akuma piggybanks became the norm. A slightly unhealthy obsession with anime also arrived, and a year or two after Sony released the PSOne I scored my first job in the game industry as a staff writer with GameFan Magazine. My career now spans some 13 years of professional writing, web publishing and so on, but it’s only in the last 12 months or so that something's become very apparent. I’m not what I would consider to be that same hardcore gamer anymore. It started maybe two or three years ago. At my job I was doing less and less playing and writing, and more and more management. I wasn't playing nearly as many games to completion as I had in the past, simply because there weren't enough hours in the day for my daily workload, family life and hardcore play sessions to coexist. So I started to try out new kinds of games, games which are now commonly identified as “casual.” Peggle was a potent gateway drug into this new and simplified world, as were staples such as Bejeweled and, more recently, Plants vs. Zombies. These games allowed me to get in, get a fix, and get out in minutes rather than hours. While so-called hardcore gaming was still central to my gaming identity at some level, these casual titles got their claws in and slowly started to encroach on my leisure time. Then I started to notice that my hardcore gaming sessions, less frequent than they were before, were focusing on games that could be beaten in 15 hours or less. The odd exceptions included a rampant Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare online-only addiction and Gears of War co-op sessions, but the days of sinking 40, 50 or even 60 hours into hardcore Japanese titles were ofhcially dead and buried. The new mix of shorter, quicker commercial games and quick-to-play casual titles was a good fit for my adult daily life. At some point Nintendo DS entered the mix as well. Its blend of great first-party games and less-taxing relaxation titles like Crosswords DS and Brain Training gave me even more reasons not to spend countless hours trudging through fancy cinematics and randomly generated dungeons. asual Is The New Hardcore COMMENTARY Funnily enough, I’m fussy about how I get my casual gaming fix. DS and PC are fine and dandy, but Wii's brave new world of little-kid games still turns me off. Some things are just not meant to be. I also appreciate games that let you skip through annoying bits. While a large part of me is embarrassed to even admit this, Miyamotos decision to let players skip tough-to-beat levels in New Super Mario Brothers Wii proved extremely popular in my household. In much the same way, Bayonettas infamous easy setting (wherein the game does all the hard work of pulling off those stupid- cool, visually gorgeous moves) only served to make me want to play through to the end. It's not that I’m lazy, or that I don't have the mad skills needed. It’s just nice to know that someones paying attention to the needs of the non-hardcore crowd and, at the same time, not treading on the toes of the speed runners, the perfectionists and the hardcore. Both of the aforementioned games are packed with potentially difficult challenges, should you be seeking them. Now that I’m once again writing for a dedicated gaming outlet like EGM, there's a very good chance that my habits will start to swing back toward the middle of the casual/hardcore continuum. One thing's not gonna change, though: Games that take 15 hours or more just to roll their credits wont be featuring much in my home gaming time. Final Fantasy XIII, no thank you. God of War III, yes please! & SIV TIA NAge 'm not what | would consider to be that same hardcore gamer anymore. Jo 96 | Sasa NAO WWW.EQMNOW.COM COMMENTARY My Way Or The Highway - ant to send civil discourse spiraling down bedlam? Introduce politics or religion into the discussion: Heaven forbid that someone questions another’s convictions or beliefs. We can also add videogames to that formula, as certain videogame-related topics elicit anarchy in even the earliest stages of conversation. Cases in point: Halo, Fallout, any game created by Blizzard, the Command & Conquer franchise (as evidenced by my review of C&C4 in the last edition of the magazine) and any Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft console. As journalists, it is our job to try to look at topics objectively. Yes, personal bias can come into play, but as long as articles and features try to stick to the facts, bias can be held to a minimum. (Granted, there are writers who bang out stories just to be confrontational for the sake of page views or magazine sales. But in my experience, those hacks are few and far between.) But in the game industry, if you touch on almost any of its many sacred institutions, it doesn’t matter how well-reasoned your points are. Vocal fans brand the writers as fanboys or haters no matter what position they take. Opinions are not allowed unless they exactly match those of the fan. I think it boils down to whether fans of these games and platforms really want intelligent discussion or just a website, magazine or writer that agrees with their views 99% of the time. Woe to those who cross these blinkered masses for their sexuality will be questioned, their health threatened, and their mother called unseemly names. I'm not always going to agree with your opinion, and I don’t expect you to agree with mine. I think that Fallout 3 was a great game in the hands of Bethesda. I think that Halo 3 is incredibly derivative of Halo and Halo 2 and brings nothing new to the table. I like the art direction of Diablo III. I like World of Warcraft, but can’t stand the leveling process. I liked Total Annihilation much better than StarCraft and I am not looking forward to StarCraft I. Oh, and for the console crowd, I like my DS better than the PSP, prefer 360 to PS3, and actually prefer PC to all consoles. To the fanatics, I'll say that, in the end, opinions exist that are at times wildly different from your own. Open your mind to the possibilities that there are other ways of thinking and do it quickly, before you fall off the edge of the earth. If you dont agree with an opinion, fine, but force yourself to keep the discussion to the merits. Swaying someone to your way of thinking can actually be stimulating— unless you just happen to get your kicks out of being a troll. I think many readers try to keep an open mind. To those that do, congratulations, and I look forward to some thoughtful discussions. For those who think their opinions are the only right ones, I'll put this in a way you should understand: You're wrong. EJ I you don’t agree with an opinion, Fine, bUt force yourself to keep the discussion to the merits. here's no doubt that the iPad shows amazing potential as a gaming device. The iPad has everything it needs to be a great portable gaming machine: a high- resolution display, hardware-accelerated 3D graphics, a powerful mobile proces- sor and a responsive multi-touch screen. Unfortunately, the current state of iPad gaming can be summed up in one word: disappointing. Despite my current feelings, I’m hopeful that in time the iPad will fulfill its potential. The original iPhone also showed plenty of promise, but looking back, the early games were extremely basic. While there were some gems— Dizzy Bee, Galcon and Trism, to name a few—many consisted of poorly though- out mobile ports or poorly thought-out original games. It wasn't until games like Rolando started to appear that developers began learning how to make games that felt like they were designed specifically for the iPhone instead of building games that simply ran on it. With Rolando, developer Hand Cir- cus did a great job of combining the tilt- to-move mechanic with touch-screen functionality to create an experience that really would not be possible on any other platform. In contrast, games that were originally designed for a physical control pad often feel awkward when ported to the iPhone. Similarly, the best iPad games to date—check out Geometry Wars, Zen Bound 2 and Mirror’s Edge HD—feel more like higher-resolution iPhone games. The current App Store trend is to release iPhone and “HD” versions of a game at the same time, with the “HD” version featuring higher-resolution graphics, a slightly retooled interface, and (typically) a higher price. I suppose at the end of the day there isn't anything wrong with this, since great iPhone games for the most part translate into good iPad games, but it’s just disap- pointing that we have yet to see the iPad equivalent of Rolando: a game that feels like a natural iPad game. I have to cut developers some slack, as it’s still extremely early in the life of the iPad. Some of the greatest iPhone games have come from highly creative small independent developers. These The iPad as a 7 aming Device COMMENTARY = 97 Y Gf & ZG; a independent developers all gained access to the iPad hardware on the same day as everyone else (the official launch was April 3rd), so it’s no surprise that they haven't had time to complete anything terribly ambitious. Taking into account the amount of time it takes to concep- tualize, design, and develop an amazing dd VUUH | Is iPhone game, there is a likelihood that we might not see an onslaught of truly amazing iPad games for months to come. So, I remain cautiously optimistic about the future of iPad gaming. Like any gaming system, it will take some time for developers to begin stretching their legs on the platform and realizing its potential. In the meantime, the iPad is a phenomenal device for browsing the Internet and consuming media of all kinds. While there are a handful of games that are a lot of fun, until the iPad App Store matures a bit more it’s hard to really recommend the iPad as much of a gaming device. & The current state of iPad gaming can be Summed Up IN one wore: disappointing. Srl esy \ ee sieetpeetesieneieserseenenese ee re Www.egmnow.com The Worst Game Ever Made? ave I Found The Worst Game Ever? I've lived through some tragic video games. I witnessed E.T.: The Extra- Terrestrial choke the game industry to death with its slimy glowing fingers. I paid a $1200 hazardous waste fine when the city found Superman 64 in my trash. I was there when researchers discovered that touching an Atari Jaguar controller is like ramming your hands up a horse that died of constipation. And yet I think I've finally done it... I think I've really found the worst game ever. ‘@e NINTENDOIYS My Boyfriend is a simulation for the Nintendo DS about a teen girl finding love at a beach resort. They made it in Germany, probably because if you ask an American to program a game about children and casual sex, their response is that they're Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC. Surprise. We were on to you from the very beginning. IS IT REALLY THE WORST? A lot of hyperbole gets thrown around when we talk. For example, most people I know encounter the worst thing they've ever seen 50 times a day or more. I’m guilty of this myself, so I wanted to carefully examine My Boyfriend to make sure I wasn't exaggerating. I wasn't shocked to find that it failed in every conceivable category of video game. Let's take a look: THE CONCEPT Obviously, this game is targeted to a very specific type of person: handheld gamers who like trolling resorts for young boys. My Boyfriend: Summer of my Life Great idea, Germans. Only two kinds of people fall into that category. One spent all her allowance money on body lice shampoo and the other isn’t allowed within 50 yards of a toy store. THE GRAPHICS The graphics look like the final act of a 3D artist who died of boredom in 1992, and then his worst enemy released the game to mock him. They took so many shortcuts when designing this resort that they should list the architects as Copy and Paste. The only way you could be a part of anything more monotonous would be to fall into an industrial veggie burger machine. THE NAME The name seems specifically designed to foment comical misunderstandings. If you admit to playing My Boyfriend, your whole day becomes a ‘70s sitcom. Girlfriend: “What are you up to?” You: “Right now I’m deciding which bikini looks best on My Boyfriend” Girlfriend: “I'm confused.” You: “Me too. I think it’s because My Boyfriend sucks so hard that my brain is caving in.” Girlfriend: “I... I don’t even know who you are anymore!” THE WRITING The game seems like it was written by an English as a Second Language class that had been pranked by its teacher. No one ‘\ \ senpenascannsninanasin seems to have any idea what they're saying. Every male hotel guest happily tells you that his wife is missing. And every woman is delighted to inform you that she’s suffering from sunstroke. Maybe it's normal in Germany to exchange missing person reports when you meet little girls, but it’s weird as hell over here. THE GAMEPLAY In all my years of playing terrible games, I have never, ever seen anything like this. As I was exploring the wasteland of the My Boyfriend hotel resort, I discovered nothing less than a lost civilization of . failure. I approached a beach chair and it asked me if I wanted to sunbathe. I readied myself for the world’s most uncomfortable mini-game and clicked yes. There was no mini-game. It just cut to an animated stopwatch. This played for 20 battling, non-interactive seconds and then cut back. What the hell was that? Did they forget to make that part or was the DS simply measuring the response time of my local police? Hearing no sirens, I kept playing. I clicked on the pool and it asked me if I wanted to swim. “Swimming” was 20 seconds of watching a stopwatch. No way. Someone tried to get away with replacing an entire video game with stopwatches! I clicked on a surfboard to go surfing... stopwatch. Stairmaster... stopwatch. Bed... stopwatch. I was actually relieved when I got one from clicking the toilet. Stopwatch or not, though, I was still . disturbed that clicking the toilet was an option. And further disturbed that the toilet stopwatch took as long as the surfing stopwatch. What did this girl eat? THE SOUND The only sound in the game is five notes of music that repeat as you watch a stopwatch. For them to pack so much irritation into only five notes is actually pretty remarkable. You'll swear someone - tried to make elevator music from the screams of your loved ones. NO, SERIOUSLY: THE GAMEPLAY After nearly an hour I finally clicked a boy who hadn't lost his wife or suffered from sunstroke. He offered My Boyfriend’s first real mini-game: He wanted me to make him balloon animals for money. Balloon animals? As if I didn’t . already feel enough like a convicted sex offender. ot m5 SEQUELTO THE SHASH-AMT eI FIGHTING SENSATION — ie ’ — M4 eee os ry nes t TL MODE ae > Lem 7 Ra rs ae ” “iam “i pe OO at — HEH MODES +~—~—«SALL-WEW STORYLINE. ~~=~~S«*S ~NEW CHARACTERS May contain content ry P WA inappropriate for children. a — agenesis Visit www.esrb.org for es _ a, WWW ASYSGAMES. COM © 1998-2010 ARC SYSTEM WORKS., LTD. Licensed to and published by Aksys Games. “PlayStation and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks and “PS3" is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The PlayStation Network Logo is a service mark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ARMAGEDO COMING MARCH 201 WATCH THE NEW TRAILER AT GOBENEATH.COM mMmes3 PlayStation-3 PlayStation.Network May contain content inappropriate for children. Visit www.esrb.org for rating information. © 2010 THO Inc. Red Faction: Armaged t . ‘PlayStation’ and the "PS" Family ‘ogo are registered trademarks and ’PS3" is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The PlayStation Network Logo is a service matk of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks, iogos; ant “copyrights are property of their respective awn oe : '? | ite "a a ; F ; ee tl ee eee oe S . *. M8 ¢ yi 1 , s 4 I N: & es 2 Pe * | . +} ® - a Bon XBOX 360. URE ddon and its respective iogos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THG Inc, All rights reserved. Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companigs.and’afe used under license from Microso! SOFTWARE Iam