A month ago, Slashdot solicited questions from the gaming community which would then be passed on to Sony’s Phil Harrison, that bastion of reason and illumination. The Slashdot editors have received the responses from Mr. Harrison, and have posted them for your respectful perusal and sagacious head-nodding. The questions that Harrison fielded were none too invasive, so you won’t find much in the way of new Sony-bashing material, sorry to say. One Slashdot user managed to get his question about Sony’s atrocious PR in, though. Here’s Harrison’s response: "I don’t deny that we’ve made some mistakes and have been rightly flamed for some of them. We learn, we cringe slightly at the memory of some of them from time to time but we move on. And hopefully we’re not stupid enough to repeat them!"
If you’re at all interested in following the continuing backlash against violent videogames, given momentum by the VA Tech incident, then Game Politics is where to go. Their front page has been dominated by stories on a resurgance of anti-videogame legislation, thoughtful reports on talking head arguments, and the general misplaced ire of political figures. I’m not picking on any story in particular; I just think you should be reading the journal.
Microsoft has settled into a glorious schedule of Wednesday updates to the Xbox Live Arcade, which means we’re getting flooded with announcements of new titles in development for, or slated for delivery on, the service. Today brings word of a 2D shooter in the vein of Geometry Wars called Undertow. If I play this game, I probably won’t be able to help doing my bad impression of Sebastian while making bad guys explode in pretty lights. Also, just on the off chance that anyone’s interested, Settlers of Catan has been given a general May release date on the Arcade, because my birthday is also in May.
A few months ago, it seemed as if we might never get Silent Hill: Origins on the PSP. There were rumors of troubled development, of dev-team shuffling, and of putting the project on "hiatus." The news has gradually improved (from the subjective standpoint that Silent Hill on a handheld is a good thing) and now GameVideos brings you three new videos of gameplay. The over-the-shoulder camera is nowhere to be seen, replaced with the more traditional third-person view. You might also recognize a few monsters, such as the overtly sexual nurses from Silent Hill 2, which… baffles. Also, the traditional wretched voice acting is beautifully intact.
Bioware’s upcoming Xbox 360 RPG, Mass Effect, has been unofficially dated according to Computer and Video Games. We were all hoping for a summer release, but the honchos insist that it won’t see the light of day until September, right around the time North America gets Blue Dragon, a wholly different kind of RPG. I’m personally okay with that, because I was still stuck somewhere in the past where I wasn’t expecting Mass Effect until at least this holiday season. For me, it’s like Christmas come early! For you, it’s as if your birthday were forgotten. Sorry.
Hey, this is pretty objectively stupid.
David Jaffe, the game designer responsible for God of War and the upcoming Calling All Cars, has opened up to Newsweek with more details on the canellation of (and intentions for) his PSP game Heartland, which was going to make you cry. Here’s a Jaffe quote, without his usual dose of profanity: "When I was entertaining lofty thoughts, the idea was to create an experience that would try to make the players — whom I mostly assumed would be of the Western world — feel what it must be like to have their own homeland occupied by another country." It would have been interesting to see, if for no other reason than because the topic actually contains some modern relevancy.
Now, it’s time for you to get consumin’. Unless you already ran out and bought the new Pokemon games, in which case I forgive you for lying on your couch all day.
PC:
Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
EverQuest: The Anniversary Edition
Panzer Elite Action: Dunes of War
PS3:
F.E.A.R.
PSP:
Cube
Seven Wonders
Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos
The Fast and the Furious
DS:
Pokemon Diamond
Pokemon Pearl
Classic Action: Devilish
SNK vs Capcom Card Fighters
Wii:
Bionicle Heroes
Xbox 360:
Rayman Raving Rabbids