Don’t get me wrong, I’m very proud to be a gaming geek, but if you took a look around my apartment, you wouldn’t really notice it. I’m not saying I live in the center of style, but my furnishings and decorations are modest at best, and outside of an expansive movie and video game collection, you could almost be fooled into thinking a normal, socially well adjusted person lives here. I guess you could say that may place is the Clark Kent to my inner gaming Superman.
Still, every now and then I see a piece that makes me want to take my home sweet home through the phone booth.
The latest example has to be the works of Igor Chak. Particularly his Donkey Kong inspired shelves.
Their style can’t be doubted, but you might be surprised to find out that the steel rod and carbon fiber design, supports toughened glass tops that can hold up to 60 lbs. Frankly, I’ve found no better way to support a serious video game collection, and these shelves are just cool enough to justify nerding out your place with, without fear of making some sort of style sacrifice. Their only downside? They aren’t actually for sale yet. However, for a meager $5000 you can buy this Space Invader’s inspired couch.
Ridiculously overpriced and gaudily designed? You bet. But it’s also apparently deceivingly comfortable and, as noted on the site is “An instant conversation starter, this unique retro gaming inspired couch will be the highlight of any room.”
By which I’m sure the artist meant, all your living room now belong to it.
With Gamescom starting this week, the world of video games is starting to get hit with the usual tech show barrage of trailers. While I prefer good old fashioned gameplay demonstrations and hands-on previews, trailers offer a high level of entertainment value, if nothing else. However, if you pay close enough attention, you can sometimes cut past all of the stylized cuts and unnecessarily enhanced graphics to actually tell something about the game underneath.
With that in mind, here are five of the biggest trailers from the week, and what, if anything, we can take away about the games they represent from them.
Remember Me
Analysis: While I’d like to have a beer with the designers of “Remember Me,” as they’ve clearly watched “Blade Runner” and played “Deus Ex” as many time as I have, I just don’t trust Capcom as much as I used to. This is a slick debut for “Remember Me,” and cyber punk noir games will always be welcome, but it does have the misfortune of going up against the similarly themed, and soon to be released, “Dishonored.” And right now, “Dishonored” is looking better. Unless Capcom has something more in mind than the “me too” looking third person action on display in pieces here, I’m just not that excited right now. It also doesn’t help it shares a name with a Robert Pattinson movie.
Star Wars 1313
Analysis: Ok, let’s assume that Lucas Arts is obliged to churn out a new “Star Wars” game every year until the end of time. Let’s also assume that “Battlefront 3” isn’t going to happen (and believe me, it’s not). If that is the case, then I’m at least happy they are considering options in the “Star Wars” universe outside of the usual suspects of the series. However, is this a game that really needs a teaser like this? Is anyone just so jacked up for the next “Star Wars” game that a one minute and thirty-four second trailer, with about 4 seconds of gameplay in it is going to make them rush to their computer and set the hype pyre ablaze? I doubt it. At this point, until Lucas Arts has something more substantial to show, the vague chance that this game might not suck, and actually be original is the best thing they have going for them. They don’t need to ruin that with more of these generic trailers.
Crysis 3 – Multiplayer Hunter Mode
Analysis: I had zero interest in “Crysis 3” before this trailer, and now I want nothing else. This looks highly reminiscent of “Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory’s” Spy vs Merc gameplay, in that it combines two different styles of play into a unified concept. The multiplayer in that game is highly underrated and virtually unduplicated to this day, and it’s about time someone re-explored it. Also, this looks like the “Predator” game we were never going to get, which makes me more excited than I feel I can freely admit. If it can even come close to combining those two things together into a cohesive, balanced multiplayer experience, I might have to allow myself to actually use the word ‘epic.’
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Analysis: First of all, “Can’t you tell where I must unleash this awesome power” is now going to be exactly where I tell every cab driver I’d like to go. Second, how long was he sitting in the back eerily glowing before the driver asked him where he wanted to go? Was the driver hoping he’d just disappear the next time he looked? Finally, as far as debut trailers go, if you’re going to avoid showing gameplay, this is about the best way to go. “Tekken” was always at its best when it was just having fun, and this is a fun trailer. If Namco doesn’t try to screw with the formula too much, and sticks with that loose and easy motif, I’d say the time is right for the next King of the Iron Fist Tag Tournament.
Assassin’s Creed III Naval Warfare Trailer
Analysis: As I mentioned, it’s going to take a concentrated effort for the next installment in the “Assassin’s Creed” series to suck. Ubisoft has proven they’re not scared to explore new ways to expand and improve “Assassin’s Creed,” and while the results have been mixed in some cases, I see no harm this naval gameplay could cause the franchise. Plus naval combat in this time period is rarely explored, and so far this game looks to actually be doing the idea right instead of treating the concept as an afterthought. As for the trailer itself, it features that perfect mix of style and intrigue that you expect from the series at this point, and keeps the well-oiled hype train this game is running well on track.
News is slowly pouring in today that two of the biggest developers on “Bioshock: Infinite” are leaving Irrational Games.
Director of product development Tim Gerritsen and art director (and designer of the series’ iconic Big Daddies) Nate Wells have both updated their LinkedIn profiles to indicate that their employment with Irrational Games is now done. While no further official announcement has been made, Nate Wells also made a Twitter post earlier that read “New Job…Details to follow.” That tweet has since been removed. For those who don’t remember, “Bioshock: Infinite” was also delayed earlier this year until 2013, in order to give it “specific tweaks and improvements” that would make the game “into something even more extraordinary,” according to lead designer and Irrational founding member Ken Levine.
Now some sites are already panicking about this pretty hard. I’m not quite there yet myself. For one thing, it’s a sad but true fact that developers at all levels will often leave a studio before a project is completed. Moves of this nature traditionally have no bearing on the quality of the final product on any consistent level.
No the real news here is that there is no real news. Ever since the delay of “Bioshock: Infinite” was announced, updates on on the game have gone ice cold. This is okay if you’re a title like “Grand Theft Auto V” (another Take-Two production). It’s “GTA”, and everyone knows there’s going to be a lot of secrecy involved leading up to the release. But “Bioshock: Infinite” didn’t even bother to poke its head in at E3 this year. Plus, even though “Bioshock” was possibly the game of the decade, the fact that the only news on its true successor in the last year has been a delay and the departure of your manager of content creators (Gerritsen) and a 13-year veteran of your studio (Wells), makes even the most level headed gamer start to wonder what’s really going on at Irrational.
Ultimately, “Bioshock: Infinite” will still sell millions, and I don’t believe that its overall quality will have anything to do with these departures. However, I’m curious how Irrational addresses this news. Do they remain silent and let speculation rule, or do they make a move as bold and innovative as “Bioshock” itself and actually shed some light on this situation, beyond the typical PR release?
Simply put, if there’s no fire to report, then why fan the flames?
You know, as much as I love Bethesda, they don’t exactly have an astounding history of success with original titles.
If you look at their history as a developer, you’ll of course notice their standout titles (“Fallout 3” and the “Elder Scrolls” series) are both of unquestionably great caliber, but only one of which is a true independent property. After that, you’ll see that Bethesda mostly spends their time as a publisher of titles that include “Brink,” “Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth,” “Rouge Warrior,” and “Rage” (which John Carmack recently apologized for). All of those titles share one thing in common. None of them were really, truly great, but they all featured at least one aspect or element that made them stand out.
See that’s the real magic behind Bethesda. Even when everything doesn’t come together as it should, they always manage to attach themselves to titles that never really feel like they are phoning it in. Hell, they even published a “Pirates of the Caribbean” game that wasn’t a complete hack job, and Disney and Johnny Depp have been phoning that franchise in since “Pirates of the Caribbean 2.”
It’s such a consistent enough history of exceptional effort that it makes gamers everywhere stand up and take notice when the Maryland based developer starts a new project. Apparently, gamers aren’t the only ones taking notice as some A-list Hollywood celebrities have jumped at the chance to sign on for Bethesda’s next title “Dishonored.” It was recently announced that Susan Sarandon (“Thelma and Louise”, “Rocky Horror Picture Show”), Chloe Grace Moretz (“500 Days of Summer”, “Kick-Ass”), and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia…duh), will join previously announced actors Brad Dourif (“Deadwood”, “Childs Play”), Michael Madsen (“Reservoir Dogs”, “Kill Bill Vol. 2”), Lena Heady (“300”, “Game of Thrones”), and “Mad Men’s” John Slattery as voice actors for the new title.
That’s clearly one hell of a cast assembled so far. What’s got them so excited? Well “Dishonored” is described as a “Steampunk, stealth first person role playing video game” that follows an Empress’s bodyguard, turned assassin who becomes framed for the Empress’s murder and must prove his innocence and find the real killers. “Dishonored” is supposed to support a revolutionary stealth system that boasts that no enemy must be killed, and a non-lethal solution is available for any situation. Along with that, the games steampunk open world promises to offer the traditional Bethesda quality open world, where they claim that every NPC is alive and active even if they are not interacting with you.
If you’re anything like me, that description got all kinds of hairs on you standing up. Like I said, when Bethesda gets behind something, they don’t do it half-ass. Between that description, that cast, and the development team attached to “Dishonored” (Arkane Studios, who previously worked on the incredible “Dark Messiah of Might and Magic” and “Bioshock 2”, and designer Viktor Antonov who helped design “Half-Life 2’s” City 17), this is starting to look more and more like a sleeper Game of The Year contender in the making, that’s causing all of the stars to align.
Apparently rap mogul Jay-Z just can’t resist the hard knock life, as he looks to start a new endeavor to add to his 99 problems, and feed his empire state of mind.
I’ll stop now.
But there’s no stopping Jay-Z these days, as evidenced by his recent partnership with 2K Games on their next basketball game,” NBA 2K13.” According to reports, Jay-Z will work on the game in an executive producer capacity. What this means, exactly, no one knows, as executive producer is about the vaguest job title there is in the entertainment industry. In this case, though, it’s probably safe to assume that he won’t be handling the programming duties, or reshaping the foundations of the popular series with exciting, and fresh gameplay concepts and artistic directions. Of course, considering that the last two NBA 2K games make a strong case for being some of the greatest sports or basketball titles of all time, the promotional and soundtrack work Jay-Z will more likely be involved in is probably going to be enough in the way of contributions to insure that this celebrity involvement doesn’t disenfranchise any of the series regular fans.
Still though, I wish that just once we could get a celebrity tie in to video games that actually generates excitement. Like Alan Moore working on “Fallout 4,” or Quentin Tarantino producing “GTA: V.”
