Back in the day when print media ruled the industry (a decade ago, or so), there was a games publisher that gave itself the humble name of GOD, which they claim stood for Gathering of Developers, but we know better. Well, Nietzsche won out over GOD and the publisher folded; but now it’s back, with a brand new chortle-chortle name: Gamecock! Gamecock is aiming to publish innovative and slightly-off-the-mainstream independent games. Five titles have already been announced, including a Firefly Studios PC dungeon crawler, a simulation of politics in the animal kingdom, a film noir/entymology crossover, a un-Mario mushroom kingdom civil war simulator, and a (ho-hum) MMO combat game from recently-announced Battlestar Galactica developer Auran.
In an interview with IGN, Sony executive Phil Harrison commented that the "PlayStation 3 launch has been, objectively by any measure, more successful than PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2 or other competing system out previously. We’re incredibly happy with how things are going." Now, the only thing that I can’t argue in that quote is the last sentence, and that only because mother tells me I’m supposed to respect other people’s opinions. Arguing objective truths? That’s right up my alley! Hubris has got to be a vital part of executive training, and it’s hard to hold it against the guys on a philosophical level, but wouldn’t it be less damaging to Sony’s image to embrace an optimism, instead of defending a moot point?
Yesterday brought an announcement of Super Paper Mario for the Wii, a continuation and evolution of the stylized franchise. Here’s the story from yesterday. Here’s some additional information: Controls are said to use only the Wii remote, held sideways as with certain Virtual Console titles. Maybe in the 2D segments, yanking hard on the remote will make Mario jump higher. That’s how I thought it worked when I was a peeweezer playing on the NES.
Details about Lucasarts’ next-generation Star Wars title have finally started to leak. GamesRadar has some plot and gameplay details here. A couple of things to note from the article. 1) "George Lucas reportedly has a lot of input in the project, and even helped design some of the characters." Brickfucker. And 2) "[Force powers are] presented in a similar vein to the excellent Psi-Ops." Hallelujah! Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy was way more fun that it ought to have been thanks to the fantastic implementation of psychic powers — including pyro- and psychokinesis — in a FPS environment. In my current state of mind, though, I think I’d prefer a sequel to Psi-Ops over a new Star Wars story.
Did you feel the mountains tremble yesterday? It was fanboys exulting in the news that God of War 2 would apparently be playable in 720p high definition on the PlayStation 3! With the recently released game footage of buxom, topless types, that news combined to turn many a parent’s basement into a pit of spooge. IGN, who initially released the news, has now printed a retraction, saying that miscommunication resulted in the high-def specs being attached to the game. It will be playable in 480p, and no higher. IGN has not offered to spring for spooge removal services.
Viva Piñata was one of my favorite games from last year; it’s quasi-sadism mixed with the ever-rising bar of achievement drew a lot of hours from my wife and me. Now Microsoft VP Shane Kim is hinting that the franchise may not be dead, despite regrettably poor sales, and may in fact surface on the DS. That’s a lot of maybes, but it’s enough to spark my imagination. After an uninspiring Harvest Moon entry on the DS, I can easily see how a Viva Piñata game could slot into a certain void.
Here’s a little something to absorb your day: Let’s Play! It’s small archive of games played in a frame-by-frame mode with snarky comments. The ones for Silent Hill 1 and 2 are my favorites. Fucking clueless protagonists…