Games

A while back, Bioware stated that the story between ME2 and ME3 would be told through ME2 DLC. The apparent first installment of that DLC has just been announced as "Lair of the Shadow Broker." Featuring a reunion with Liara, things might get awkward for anyone who dumped her for one of the new romance options!

This looks pretty exciting! I'd be ineterested to see if Liara's affection has any impact on dialog, though. These DLC packs tend to minimize the amount of voice work that needs to be done.

Some older news, as well - remember those Mass Effect: Redemption comics from Dark Horse? There's a new line of comics coming that will be telling the story of the Illusive Man. More information on that can be found here.

So, thanks to some kind (although slightly NDA breaking) fellows in the beta, we have a glimpse of the options for character creation for FFXIV. I've uploaded the most interesting images from these, including beards and hairstyles. Tomorrow, there should be more images showing the particular facial features available to each face (such as scars and tattoos). So keep checking this gallery as the beta progresses.

Update: Februrary 1, 2011 was from an earlier statement made about this game. The press release actually says March 2011. Today, Bioware put up a website for Dragon Age 2! The site goes into some detail about the premise of the game, as well as offering two pieces of concept art, included in this article. The press release, as reported on Kotaku, reveals some further information about the character in the game.

The site adds that they're updating the graphics with a new visual style, while they're beefing up the cinematic aspect of the game. They'll also be updating the combat mechanics, making them more "dynamic," putting you in the "heart of battle." There's a trailer coming August 17.

A specific character name would enable a Mass Effect-like system, wherein characters in the game can refer to you by name, while you could potentially have a voice. You'll still be able to choose gender and class, but not race. There's still no word on whether or not your character will be voiced in the same manner, which might imply a dialog system like that of Mass Effect.

More, concept art and spoilers for Dragon Age: Origins after the jump.

Back during E3, Bioware sneakily announced a new DLC pack for Dragon Age - Leliana's Song. And, it's out today! For all platforms! Surprise! $6.99, or 560 points, wherever those apply. You play as Leliana (with her same voice actress), exploring her past with Marjolaine, her mentor.

edit: Bioware also released the "Aegis Pack" of DLC for Mass Effect 2. It's 160 MS points, and includes a few new armor pieces for your N7 armor.

FFXIV will be released globally for PC on September 30 of this year for $49.99. There will be a Collector's Edition released September 22, priced at $74.99 (with pre-orders already up on Amazon). Amazon also lists March 31, 2011 as the release date for the PS3 version. The Japanese website says the PS3 version will arrive early in March 2011. Subscription is $12.99 for 30 days. Additional characters will be $3 more. Each account gets one free retainer NPC (the thing that lets you sell Bazaar items without being logged in), then additional retainers are $1.

The collector's edition includes a security token, a "behind the scenes" DVD, a tumbler, Eorzea map, concept art book (with art by Yoshitaka Amano), something called a "Right of Passage" certificate, and a guest pass for a friend to play. There's also a preorder-only in-game item that shortens the time it takes to recover after a KO. Preorders for both versions give you a pair of spiffy goggles that make you level faster, pictured here. Codes distributed with Final Fantasy XIII will allow you to get the "Asuran Armbands," which improve the effectiveness of tools. All versions will provide 30 days of free play.

Final PC version recommended specs are: Windows XP/Vista/7, Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz or AMD Athlon X2 2GHz, 2GB of RAM, 15GB HDD space, NVIDIA GeForce 9600 512MB or ATI Radeon HD 2900 512MB and DirectX 9.

via FFXICore.

Recently, I signed up for GameFly, which has proven to be a rather useful tool in catching up on games - especially those I'd be hesitant to buy. The first of these games was Red Faction: Guerilla - a title that can be found relatively cheaply in a variety of places, yet I still couldn't bring myself to buy it. Well, I was wrong to hesitate.

The game is a mission-based sandbox, much like GTA or any other open-world game. This is where I had trouble approaching the game, since I typically find myself only interested in a sandbox for as long as the novelty of the world lasts. Where Red Faction stands out is its unique Geo-mod engine (also a characteristic of earlier titles in the series). This engine allows you to destroy any object in the environment, taking down buildings, breaking into garages, collapsing the floors underneath enemies, etc. This, along with competent cover-based third person shooting with a variety of weapons, makes for a really fun game. Add to this a compelling story that edifies the player as he frees an oppressed people from the villainous EDF paramilitary organization, and you've got some serious desire to blow shit up.

Your destruction is guided by pleasingly varied missions and mini-map markers showing you which buildings belong to the enemy. Any building will yield the game's currency - salvage - but destroying civilian property carries with it the risk of killing civilians, thus damaging morale (and your profit from completing missions). The map shows you targets of medium-high importance, the destruction of which awards positive morale, while story and discoverable missions can provide salvage, morale, or both. So basically, you're being rewarded at every turn in a different, measurable way, as salvage leads to more equipment, and morale leads to more salvage. The attitude surrounding each mission vilifies your enemy so thoroughly that hammering through their troops feels quite nice. More specifics about gameplay after the jump.

We’ve been getting a lot of FFXIV news ever since the alpha started, it’s hard to keep track of it all. I’m going to try my best to summarize the most interesting details. There is a long list of sources at the end. The new known details mostly concern features that will appear in the beta, which starts globally by July at the latest. The first round of beta testers will only consist of the same testers from the alpha, but with time, new testers will be invited.

One of the more interesting points in my eyes has been this discussion of a “Company” system in addition to the linkshells. Not only will linkshells be a more fully featured communication tool, but companies will exist as groups of linkshells. When producer Horimichi Tanaka was asked of alternatives to FFXI’s Conquest system (the warring city-states and such), he mentioned the Company system, implying that companies would compete in a similar manner. He went on to compare those companies to guilds or clans. 1up managed to confirm that there will be shared housing (in addition to player housing) for Companies, and that they would be able to "level up." More details on this system will come at a later date. Linkshells will appear in the beta a little after it starts.

As mentioned in an earlier article, the battle system has been sped up significantly for the beta. You have three gauges - effect, TP, and MP, which dictate the types of actions you can make on individual timers. The effect gauge will always refill itself, in and out of battle, with the type of action you take affecting how much of the gauge is depleted. For a more powerful, constant attack, each enemy should be engaged with a full gauge. There are also going to be macros like the ones in FFXI that allow you to announce your attacks, or string certain abilities together. Of course, timing your attacks with party members will still be important.

Much more after the jump.

Okay, this is a bit out of my usual territory, but it looks really fun. Dance Central is a game that uses Microsoft’s Kinect to read your movements as you dance along to a song. The game’s dancing character does each move for you to copy, telling you where you went wrong if you did. So, in the process of playing this game, you are learning real dance moves as they go in time with a given song. There’s also a tutorial mode that breaks down each step piece by piece, allowing you to slowly become used to moving your body in the appropriate manner. Developed by Harmonix, of Rock Band fame, there’s bound to be a huge library of songs, which is already confirmed to include Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face,” among several other titles.

The impressions coming out of E3 towards this game have been fairly positive, concluding that although it can make you look like an idiot as you learn, it is very successful at reading your movements. Like other Harmonix rhythm games, it provides difficulty levels over which you can continually improve your abilities.

After looking into this game, which only slightly piqued my interest at the press conference, I’m a lot more excited about Kinect - which will launch on November 4 with Dance Central and 14 other games. It’s like, dancing is something I know I’m terrible at, but it would be cool to learn at some point. And now, this! Although, I feel like I would need to play this in a locked room until I got any good at it.

The video above shows the tutorial mode and demonstrates how exactly it works. The guy in the video isn’t exactly great, but he certainly is dancing, unlike what I do when I try such things.

There is a huge list of games for the 3DS. That list can be found on this article’s full page. For now, I’ll touch upon some of the more promising titles. If you’d like to see screenshots of any of these games, you should check Nintendo’s 3DS site, where they’ve made all screens that exist available.

Kid Icarus - After over 20 years, Kid Icarus returns in a leading role. This game looks beautiful, and has plenty of nostalgia, from music to eggplant wizards. The way this was presented right alongside the 3DS leads me to believe it will be among the launch titles. Kirby/Smash Bros creator Masahiro Sakurai is in charge of this game’s development.

Ocarina of Time 3DS - (screens here) Newish character models, updated textures, and some fancy lighting is all we can really glean from the available material for this remake. There has been some confusion as to whether or not this is a real game, as Miyamoto stated the E3 demo was made to show off the 3DS technology. But, the game has since been confirmed as a future 3DS title, complete with some gameplay polish. Aonuma, who started with the Zelda franchise as a level designer for Ocarina of Time, has publicly repented for the frustration of the Water Temple, saying that the remake will fix some of its problems - such as needing to go into the inventory menu to put on iron boots constantly. It sounds like all of the GUI elements will move down to the touch screen, so equipment changes should be as quick as the tap of an icon.

MGS: Snake Eater 3GS - This, like OoT 3DS was only available at the show as a tech demo. It looks very nice - and if this turns out to be a full port of MGS3, we’re looking at something very interesting. After all, one of the key issues with MGS3 was the constant need to go into the pause menu to fix wounds, eat rations, or spin Snake around so he vomits. If all that ends up on the lower screen, magic!

Kingdom Hearts 3DS - What we’ve seen of the screenshots here look very similar to the first Kingdom Hearts game, but we do know now that this will be an original title.

Star Fox 3DS - This is another apparent remake, this time of Star Fox 64. There’s not much else to say, beyond the fact that some who played this demo found it a bit harder because of the 3D messing with their depth perception.

Resident Evil: Revelations - This is another game where we only have screen shots, but unlike other titles, it appears to be its own game starring superbuff Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine. Here's a video.

Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle - Professor Layton has a good shot at utilizing the 3D features in a creative way, though any puzzle that relies on 3D runs the risk of creating accessibility problems.

Full list of games announced after the jump.

All right, so Nintendo unveiled a new handheld console - the 3DS. The device will allow for 3D viewing without glasses, a feature that goes a long way towards improving the accessibility of 3D in gaming. But there’s many more reasons to care about Nintendo’s next handheld.

There was a lot of 3DS hardware going around at this year’s E3, varying in colors and content - each of the numerous devices was meant to prove to the attendance that the 3DS worked. And, according to every report, it does. People are, however, also reporting that it’s not a perfect technology, as people who have trouble with movie theater 3D have been having similar issues with the 3DS. However, the 3DS features a slider that allows players to adjust the depth of the 3D field, even allowing for it to be turned off entirely.

With so many of the devices going around, it seems like Nintendo’s on the verge of release, right? We’ve already seen a huge library of games to expect, from Kid Icarus and Resident Evil to ports of Ocarina of Time and MGS: Snake Eater. I’ll cover more of the games in a separate article. As far as release date is concerned, numerous reports indicate that we’ll see this new handheld before the end of Nintendo’s fiscal year, so March 31, 2011 is the latest possible date. Cammie Dunaway said as much during an interview with GiantBomb, at least. A release from Nintendo Japan reiterated the point as well.

The 3DS itself is a technological leapfrog to the original DS. While the final design of the device is still “to be announced,” we know a lot of the inner workings (although I sure hope they move the power button). The 3.53 inch upper screen is the only one that will support 3D, in widescreen. The actual pixel resolution is 800x240, but half of those pixels in width are allocated to each of the different 3D images, so we’re looking at 400x240. The 3.02 inch lower screen remains a touchscreen, and is actually smaller than the screens on a DSi (3.25 inches each). The resolution is improved from the previous DS, from 256x192 to 320x240. Game cards will hold up to 2 GB at launch, whereas typically, DS games of the past have been on 128 MB cards, with the bigger games like Final Fantasy on 256 MB cards. Of course, with the availability of microSD cards at 16 GB these days, DS cards could go for larger capacities, should the need ever arise. For some techno-jargon about the GPU, check out this Engadget article. To summarize - it's pretty awesome. There's a trailer for Kid Icarus under the jump that's slightly different from the one shown during the conference - I would guess this one was actually rendered on a 3DS. That, and more, after you click "Read More!"