Though Visceral Games’ video game adaptation of the classic parable known as Dante’s Inferno (which, fun fact, was actually a book adaptation of Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey) won’t see the light of day until next February, we’ll be getting our dirty, sin-soaked hands on a demo for the game in December. In ‘The Gates of Hell,’ players will be able to traverse the entire first level of the game, taking them from the surface world to the titular portcullis, where they must battle (and presumably kill) Death himself.
We imagine the game gets much easier after, you know, there’s no more Death.
A good 18 months before Electronic Arts even agreed to publish 2008’s survival horror hit Dead Space, developers at EA Redwood Shores were working on the title. That’s just what renegades do. During a presentation at last week’s GDC, senior producer Chuck Beaver pointed out how his maverick team of developers took a decidedly different approach to game design, one involving dusting off old hardware and “an aggressive internal PR campaign.”
He noted that early in the game’s development EA was interested in investing in original properties, though it wasn’t exactly sold on the idea. However, from the time Dead Space was pitched in 2006, Beaver and his team worked on the project as if it was already a done deal. With minimal resources they concentrated on “putting pixels on the screen,” tossing out EA’s game development playbook in the process. While Dead Space was always positioned as a current gen title, the team instead prototyped a single level from the game on the original Xbox in order to sell EA on the concept before an engine was even available. Besides, who has time to make an engine when there are limbs to be shaved off? Priorities, people!
We can always count on relevant, genuinely funny video game coverage on The Daily Show with John Stewart, a boatload of which (eight years to be specific) is available right here. They didn’t let us down last night as correspondent Aasif Mandvi took a virtual trip to Liberty City to mark the release of Grand Theft Auto IV.
Though they do repeatedly mention the violence that the series is (justly, we guess) known for, they manage to put it all in perspective at 3:43 in the piece on Antonin Scalia that we’ve lovingly embedded after the break.
Today, Per our conversation with Rockstar Games and information gathered from a recent press release, we just learned that Grand Theft Auto IV’s The Lost & Damned downloadable content will feature new music, television programming (including a new season of Republican Space Rangers!) and radio commercials.
Flexmaster Flex, along with a few other artists, will be featured in Lost & Damned. We’re also told that Trevor Tamerri Smith, Jr. (aka Busta Rhymes) will exclusively debut his latest track, “Conglomerate” in the DLC. We’re sure the Busta news would be more interesting if we still lived in 1996, but just go with it. All new songs (and presumably new commercials) will be added to five of the in-game radio stations and, as with all GTA IV-featured music, players can “tag” each song for purchase through iTunes. Woo-ha!
Namco Bandai has registered trademarks in Japan for Pac-Man Kart Rally — and Pac-Man Rally Kart. It just couldn’t decide! Siliconera notes that the previous Pac-Man kart racer, Pac-Man World Rally (not Rally World) was never released in Japan, so if this one is intended for Japan, it’ll be the nation’s first Pac-Man vs. ghosts racer.
As for what Namco Bandai will use this trademark for, we have no real information. It makes sense for Namco Bandai to be thinking of releasing new Pac games on the 30th anniversary of the arcade original. Were we to guess, we would point out that there have been a lot of iPhone games out of Namcolately, and Konami recently put a mascot kart racer on the platform.
Recently two different movies have included their own versions of the world famous Leeroy Jenkins video in their DVD extras. Year One is the first — the video, which you can watch after the link below, isn’t a perfect reproduction, but it is funny to see Vinnie Jones and the other actors (including McLovin as Leeroy) try to wrap all of the WoW jargon and nonsense jokes from the original into their idea of a scene that makes sense.
There’s another Leeroy Jenkins related extra on the Monsters vs. Aliens DVD — this one’s just a set of storyboards, but it does feature the voice cast, including Kiefer Sutherland and Seth Rogen, doing their own little version of the scene. It’s not quite as faithful as the Year One version, but it does feature Rogen doing the Leeroy yell, and that’s worth watching by itself. You can watch that video after the break as well.
Both are worth a chuckle — it’s wild to see a meme like Leeroy sneak out into mainstream media.
After numerous trailers for the upcoming Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition’s zany costumes, Capcom has finally released a trailer focusing on both of the extra DLC story chapters. “Lost in Nightmares” takes place before the events of Resident Evil 5 and includes a mansion inspired by the setting of the very first RE game. “Desperate Escape” takes place during the end of Resident Evil 5, as Jill and Josh race to save Chris and Sheva from the endgame’s exploding volcano.
With Jill serving as the “main character” for the additional content, the Gold Edition expansion looks like a genuine sequel, a la Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Most importantly, we’re glad to see Jill’s masterful unlocking skills put to good use in this trailer. The first batch of RE5 DLC will be available on February 17.
We thought we’d pass along a courteous reminder from Activision informing the gaming community that Guitar Hero: Metallica began rocking store shelves today. If you haven’t found current full-band simulators to be punishing enough, Metallica promises to deliver with an “Expert +” mode, double kick pedals, and guitar solos capable of turning even the sturdiest fingers into tiny puddles of red goo. If you’ve got $59.99 lying around (or $49.99 for the Wii version, $39.99 for the PS2), you can simulate “riding the lightning”* with unparalleled accuracy.
*Warning: Riding lightning can lead to unintended health consequences in the groin region, including serious unsightly burns and impotence. Consult your doctor before deciding to mount any arcs of electricity.
Zg thinks, quite unreasonably, that 99% of players in the game are “keyboard turners”– people who use the keyboard to turn their characters rather than holding down the right mouse button and moving the camera to turn. It’s hardly anywhere near 99%, but given that WoW is a game that attracts casual players (a.k.a. people who aren’t experienced videogame players), I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more people in Azeroth than in, say, Counter-Strike, who use the keyboard to do most of their navigating.
Personally, I’m one of those that come from a CS background, and so I use the mouse for pretty much all movement whenever possible– I’ll often just hold down both mouse buttons if I need to run for a short distance (and anything longer gets the run lock key from me). I also think that circle strafing is pretty much the best game mechanic ever made, but I know that there are those who disagree with me– back when I worked at Gamestop, one of our employees there just couldn’t seem to wrap his head around the fact that he should turn and move at the same time, and as a result just got dominated in our Halo matches.
But habits are a powerful thing, and so keyboard turning is probably around to stay. I won’t go so far as to say that fast-turning with a mouse is required to be a good player, but certainly that kind of reflex is required to be a really great player. So keyboard turners, pick up that mouse and start looking around– you’ll thank me later.
Dante’s Inferno demo burning up Xbox 360 and PS3 next month originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Zg thinks, quite unreasonably, that