Rockstar's open-world western title won't be shipping this April as previously planned.
Inside Take-Two's fiscal 2010 first quarter results sent this afternoon, the company announced Red Dead Redemption has been delayed until May 18 of this year in North America. The title will also now ship internationally on May 21.
"We think it's a better release window and it gives us a few more weeks to market [Red Dead Redemption]," said Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick during the company's conference call this afternoon. "We think that's the right window for it, right before there are some other competitive titles in the marketplace."
Sunday, March 14, 2010
HALO REACH
Just think, you only have to wait until May 3 to play Halo: Reach. That's the official date for when the multiplayer beta, included with copies of Halo 3: ODST, will open to the public. It's a good thing we only have to wait that long because after getting my first glimpse of Halo: Reach, I don't think I can wait until the fall to get my fix.
Bungie gave its first semi-public showing of Halo: Reach at Microsoft's X10 event in San Francisco. The demo began with Marcus Lehto, the Creative Director for Halo: Reach, offering up a brief overview of Bungie's vision for what it is calling the "definitive Halo title." Take any aspect of Halo and you can be sure that at some point during this demo, Bungie assured attendees that it would be improved for Halo: Reach.
This will be a darker tale than what most Halo fans are accustomed to, even setting out to make Halo 3: ODST look like a walk in the park. That is because it is a prequel to the Halo trilogy, set on the planet Reach. This colony is the center of humankind's military might, the birthplace of the Spartan program, and the home to over 700 million civilians. "We want people to understand that there's a real living breathing culture to this planet," said Lehto as he scrolled past some concept art of houses and living spaces.
All of this will be gone by the time Halo: Reach finishes. The planet is destined to fall to the Covenant.
Watch the latest Video Documentary.Before all of that destruction, there will be a desperate struggle for survival. That's where you come in as a new member of the Noble Team. This group of Spartans is battle tested and weary. Only one is a certified Spartan II (the same class as Master Chief). The rest are Spartan IIIs, a sort of mass produced version of the super soldier destined to save the human race.
These Spartan IIIs were described as being used in "fire and release" situations. In other words, they're sent on suicide missions. That's definitely the case here. Your only hope for survival is to work together with the rest of Noble Team. Even then, don't expect a happy ending.
Unlike past Halo games, this won't be a story of a single hero with little to say. Bungie promised to remove the helmets and flesh out each character in the squad, which seems like a fitting next step from the storytelling advances in Halo 3: ODST.
Though I didn't get to see any of the campaign, the description of where it is heading sounds like Bungie has taken Halo 3 and dialed the experience up to the max. If you thought there were big battles in Halo before, prepare to be amazed. Descriptions of battles against 30 or so enemies, with the entire Noble Team squad and extra marines were given. In short, this will not be a corridor shooter.
Bungie gave its first semi-public showing of Halo: Reach at Microsoft's X10 event in San Francisco. The demo began with Marcus Lehto, the Creative Director for Halo: Reach, offering up a brief overview of Bungie's vision for what it is calling the "definitive Halo title." Take any aspect of Halo and you can be sure that at some point during this demo, Bungie assured attendees that it would be improved for Halo: Reach.
This will be a darker tale than what most Halo fans are accustomed to, even setting out to make Halo 3: ODST look like a walk in the park. That is because it is a prequel to the Halo trilogy, set on the planet Reach. This colony is the center of humankind's military might, the birthplace of the Spartan program, and the home to over 700 million civilians. "We want people to understand that there's a real living breathing culture to this planet," said Lehto as he scrolled past some concept art of houses and living spaces.
All of this will be gone by the time Halo: Reach finishes. The planet is destined to fall to the Covenant.
Watch the latest Video Documentary.Before all of that destruction, there will be a desperate struggle for survival. That's where you come in as a new member of the Noble Team. This group of Spartans is battle tested and weary. Only one is a certified Spartan II (the same class as Master Chief). The rest are Spartan IIIs, a sort of mass produced version of the super soldier destined to save the human race.
These Spartan IIIs were described as being used in "fire and release" situations. In other words, they're sent on suicide missions. That's definitely the case here. Your only hope for survival is to work together with the rest of Noble Team. Even then, don't expect a happy ending.
Unlike past Halo games, this won't be a story of a single hero with little to say. Bungie promised to remove the helmets and flesh out each character in the squad, which seems like a fitting next step from the storytelling advances in Halo 3: ODST.
Though I didn't get to see any of the campaign, the description of where it is heading sounds like Bungie has taken Halo 3 and dialed the experience up to the max. If you thought there were big battles in Halo before, prepare to be amazed. Descriptions of battles against 30 or so enemies, with the entire Noble Team squad and extra marines were given. In short, this will not be a corridor shooter.
MEDAL OF HONOR
March 11, 2010 - Medal of Honor is not a new name for shooter fans, but with the upcoming version the franchise is entering new territory. It's being moved into a modern setting as US forces tangle with hostiles in the hills of Afghanistan. The single-player portion is being handled by EA Los Angeles, which has been in very close contact with the US armed forces to help craft a product that looks, sounds and feels authentic. The multiplayer portion, which we don't really know anything about yet, is being worked on over at DICE, the studio responsible for the Battlefield franchise. Looking at that studio's track record of creating some of the most thrilling online shooter experiences around, then that has to mean good things, or so we all hope. The focus of this preview is the campaign mode, a small portion of which was shown off during a recent demo session.
In the game you'll be playing the role of a Tier 1 operator, an elite soldier that's assigned only the most difficult and demanding missions. This means you're not wearing a uniform or anything like that. Your job is to blend in. You won't be alone, either, but part of a small squad of other Tier 1 operators running things on the ground in Afghanistan.
One of the themes of the game will be how the various levels of military command interact as missions play out. EA LA wasn't really talking about specifics, but it seems like you'll be hearing from direct superiors and commanding officers back in the United States. Whether this means there'll be cut-scenes featuring a cast of characters or if it means you'll be hearing their messages as they're passed along through radio chatter is unclear at this point, but it'll be interesting to see how it's all pulled off. Throughout the course of the game you'll also switch between playable characters from level to level, presumably giving you more insight into the character of the operators on the ground.
In the game you'll be playing the role of a Tier 1 operator, an elite soldier that's assigned only the most difficult and demanding missions. This means you're not wearing a uniform or anything like that. Your job is to blend in. You won't be alone, either, but part of a small squad of other Tier 1 operators running things on the ground in Afghanistan.
One of the themes of the game will be how the various levels of military command interact as missions play out. EA LA wasn't really talking about specifics, but it seems like you'll be hearing from direct superiors and commanding officers back in the United States. Whether this means there'll be cut-scenes featuring a cast of characters or if it means you'll be hearing their messages as they're passed along through radio chatter is unclear at this point, but it'll be interesting to see how it's all pulled off. Throughout the course of the game you'll also switch between playable characters from level to level, presumably giving you more insight into the character of the operators on the ground.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
MADDEN 11
During an EA Sports "Season Opener" presentation at GDC that detailed the ways the company is using player-generated data to identify and fix weak spots in its games, Madden executive producer Jeremy Strauser hinted at a couple new features being implemented in the next version of the football powerhouse.
Using the extensive amount of play data generated by online gaming sessions (the company said 82-percent of NCAA players and 76-percent of the Madden audience plays online), EA Tiburon has identified some telling trends. Though the Madden NFL 10 offers over 300 different plays in various formations, the average player only uses 13 different playcalls a game - not exactly a ringing endorsement for the armchair offensive and defensive coordinators of the world. Strauser's focus on this issue indicates that making the playbook more accessible to players will likely be a point of emphasis in Madden NFL 11, though he didn't divulge any details as to how the dev team plans to achieve this goal. One option could be revamping the playbook's user interface to give players new ways to mine the playbook. Redesigning the "Ask Madden" playcalling assistant to more accurately recommend plays that fit the down and distance of the situation at hand could also go a long way.
Another eye opener EA Tiburon discovered was how players spend their time in games. Though the average head-to-head match lasts a little over an hour, only 17 minutes are spent playing actual football. Trimming this down-time will likely be another point of emphasis, which hopefully indicates that the formation substitutions will return to Madden as they are doing with NCAA. Allowing players to prepare and save changes to their depth charts and specific formations for each team could drastically cut down the time opponents spend buried in the menus after kickoff.
The reams of game data also uncovered some hilarious fun facts. For instance, gamers threw over 7.5 million interceptions with Brett Favre in Madden NFL 10, which falls just short of the record-breaking number of picks the old man has thrown during his real-world career.
Using the extensive amount of play data generated by online gaming sessions (the company said 82-percent of NCAA players and 76-percent of the Madden audience plays online), EA Tiburon has identified some telling trends. Though the Madden NFL 10 offers over 300 different plays in various formations, the average player only uses 13 different playcalls a game - not exactly a ringing endorsement for the armchair offensive and defensive coordinators of the world. Strauser's focus on this issue indicates that making the playbook more accessible to players will likely be a point of emphasis in Madden NFL 11, though he didn't divulge any details as to how the dev team plans to achieve this goal. One option could be revamping the playbook's user interface to give players new ways to mine the playbook. Redesigning the "Ask Madden" playcalling assistant to more accurately recommend plays that fit the down and distance of the situation at hand could also go a long way.
Another eye opener EA Tiburon discovered was how players spend their time in games. Though the average head-to-head match lasts a little over an hour, only 17 minutes are spent playing actual football. Trimming this down-time will likely be another point of emphasis, which hopefully indicates that the formation substitutions will return to Madden as they are doing with NCAA. Allowing players to prepare and save changes to their depth charts and specific formations for each team could drastically cut down the time opponents spend buried in the menus after kickoff.
The reams of game data also uncovered some hilarious fun facts. For instance, gamers threw over 7.5 million interceptions with Brett Favre in Madden NFL 10, which falls just short of the record-breaking number of picks the old man has thrown during his real-world career.
SOCOM 4
If Sony's Move motion controller is going to win over the hardcore gamer, the company will need big titles like SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALS to prove the new input device is more than a Wii knockoff. Surprisingly, the game Sony announced just last week appeared as a playable demo at the Move press event.
The SOCOM 4 control scheme will be familiar to anyone who has played a shooter on the Wii. The subcontroller (read: nunchuck) has an analog stick that controls all movement, while the wand itself handles the pointing and shooting. Your soldier can move into cover with the click of the subcontroller's trigger, and all your squad controls rest on the D-pad located just below the analog stick. To aim down the ironsights, simply press the Move button on top of the wand. While in cover, you can also use the analog stick to pop out and line up shots.
Since this was mainly a tech demo, developer Zipper Interactive removed all of the story elements so we could just focus on shooting the baddies in front of us. The reticle moved slowly but also demonstrated relative precision; in no case did I find my crosshairs jumping to the borders of the screen and sending the camera into a frenzy like on many Wii shooters. Zipper assured us that when the final game ships you'll be able to adjust several sensitivity settings to your liking, or you can stick with the DualShock 3 if you prefer.
When we asked about multiplayer, Zipper confirmed that players will be able to jump into competitive matches with either the DualShock controller or the Move. The short demo didn't give us enough time to come to a conclusion as to whether the Move controls will be up to the task, but we can't wait to see which camp comes out on top when the two input schemes go head to head.
The SOCOM 4 control scheme will be familiar to anyone who has played a shooter on the Wii. The subcontroller (read: nunchuck) has an analog stick that controls all movement, while the wand itself handles the pointing and shooting. Your soldier can move into cover with the click of the subcontroller's trigger, and all your squad controls rest on the D-pad located just below the analog stick. To aim down the ironsights, simply press the Move button on top of the wand. While in cover, you can also use the analog stick to pop out and line up shots.
Since this was mainly a tech demo, developer Zipper Interactive removed all of the story elements so we could just focus on shooting the baddies in front of us. The reticle moved slowly but also demonstrated relative precision; in no case did I find my crosshairs jumping to the borders of the screen and sending the camera into a frenzy like on many Wii shooters. Zipper assured us that when the final game ships you'll be able to adjust several sensitivity settings to your liking, or you can stick with the DualShock 3 if you prefer.
When we asked about multiplayer, Zipper confirmed that players will be able to jump into competitive matches with either the DualShock controller or the Move. The short demo didn't give us enough time to come to a conclusion as to whether the Move controls will be up to the task, but we can't wait to see which camp comes out on top when the two input schemes go head to head.
F-1 IS BACK
Codemasters' inaugural F1 title was an unceremonious release on the Wii and PSP in the fall of last year, but this September's F1 2010 brings the game to the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC for the first time for the company.
Codemasters was awarded the official F1 license after Sony declined to pursue the series, and the game marks a return to the PC after an eight-year absence. F1 2010 will naturally feature all of the tracks, teams, and drivers in this year's season – including new teams and the introduction of the Korean International Circuit. The game contains a career mode apart from the normal Grand Prix, Championship, and Time Trial modes, but Codemasters is not detailing it just yet. Multiplayer, car damage, and dynamic weather are also included in F1 2010.
Despite its appearance on the Wii and PSP in 2009, those platforms are conspicuously absent from today's announcement.
Since F1 racing is usually as hardcore sim-racing as you can get, how do you think Codemasters' treatment of it will compare to the kind usually found in multi-discipline titles like Forza or Gran Turismo? Are you excited that a company with a racing pedigree like Codemasters is handling the license?
Codemasters was awarded the official F1 license after Sony declined to pursue the series, and the game marks a return to the PC after an eight-year absence. F1 2010 will naturally feature all of the tracks, teams, and drivers in this year's season – including new teams and the introduction of the Korean International Circuit. The game contains a career mode apart from the normal Grand Prix, Championship, and Time Trial modes, but Codemasters is not detailing it just yet. Multiplayer, car damage, and dynamic weather are also included in F1 2010.
Despite its appearance on the Wii and PSP in 2009, those platforms are conspicuously absent from today's announcement.
Since F1 racing is usually as hardcore sim-racing as you can get, how do you think Codemasters' treatment of it will compare to the kind usually found in multi-discipline titles like Forza or Gran Turismo? Are you excited that a company with a racing pedigree like Codemasters is handling the license?
SONY'S NEW MOTION CONTROLLER
Sony’s new Move controller is all the talk here at GDC 2010. Some are skeptical and others are quite excited. Sony is definitely chasing Nintendo with the Move’s imagery featuring the families having fun in nice living rooms. But what about the games themselves? Well, we took them all for a ride to see how they felt. While a lot of people have been making the joke “Wii HD”, there is more to the Move’s abilities. Read on for our impression of the games they showed at the event. Also, don’t miss our breakout on the Move version of SOCOM 4 and the interesting info we were able to unearthThe Shoot
One of the better demonstrations of the Move’s tracking ability came in the form of a simple rails shooter aptly titled The Shoot. The gameplay is fairly simple: shoot the bad guys. Set on a campy Hollywood style set, players are pitted against robots with destructible armor. One shot is only enough to tear that armor off. The more robots you kill in a row without missing, the higher your multiplier goes. There are also special moves which use motion gestures to perform attacks that help repel the oncoming robot attacks. The real star of The Shoot is how well the game controls. The tracking is very smooth without being overly sensitive. The developer seems to have nailed a balance that a majority of the Wii games only with they had.
One of the better demonstrations of the Move’s tracking ability came in the form of a simple rails shooter aptly titled The Shoot. The gameplay is fairly simple: shoot the bad guys. Set on a campy Hollywood style set, players are pitted against robots with destructible armor. One shot is only enough to tear that armor off. The more robots you kill in a row without missing, the higher your multiplier goes. There are also special moves which use motion gestures to perform attacks that help repel the oncoming robot attacks. The real star of The Shoot is how well the game controls. The tracking is very smooth without being overly sensitive. The developer seems to have nailed a balance that a majority of the Wii games only with they had.
MAFIA 2
Several open-world action games sprang up in the wake of Rockstar's innovative Grand Theft Auto III, but the original Mafia stood out from the pack with its unique sense of place and dedication to cinematic conventions. For the sequel, developer 2K Czech is taking its Hollywood approach to the next level, with quick cuts, stylish camera angles, and iconic mood music to enrich the experience. To get a further sense of how the project is coming together, I grabbed a controller and jumped into Mafia II's first hands-on demo.
For those of you unfamiliar, Mafia II chronicles the life of Vito Scaletta, a World War II vet who returns from the war to find his mother and sister struggling to make ends meet. While Vito was diving in fox holes across Europe, his deadbeat dad racked up a sizable debt to a bookie and unexpectedly kicked the bucket before he had the chance to balance his checkbook. Not the sort to excuse a death in the family, the cutthroat loan shark demands that the family ponies up the cash. To bail out the fam, Vito and his buddy Joe Barbaro turn to petty crime. Their gift for grifting does not go unnoticed, and suddenly the duo is climbing the ranks of an Empire Bay crime family.
The first hands-on demo of Mafia II drops us into a mission called “Wild Ones,” which takes place well into Vito's criminal career. The session begins with Vito standing in his skivvies, reading a note left by Joe on the kitchen table. Joe's apartment is your typical rundown urban tenement, with the only distinguishing feature being the collection titillating pin-up posters on the wall and a red bra on the unmade bed. Joe is nothing if not sure of his sexuality. The note explains they have another job that afternoon, and instructs Vito to meet Joe at a nearby parking lot. Before heading out the door, I open the wardrobe and select Vito's attire for the day – a leather jacket. Leaving the building, I make may way around the corner to the garage.
From the fedora-donning wise guys loitering on the streets to the advertisements for booze, smokes, and baseball plastered on every wall, Mafia II delivers an unmistakable sense of place and time. Though Empire Bay is a fictitious amalgam of east coast cities, the buildings, gas stations, signage, and citizens are pulled straight out of 1950s Americana. Opening the garage further confirms the Fonzie-friendly setting, as each of the three rides I have to chose from would be right at home on Happy Days. I hop in a sleek convertible and hit the road with early-era rock and roll blasting from the speakers.
Like other open world games, the route to my destination is outlined on a GPS map in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. The car feels a lot stiffer than your typical Grand Theft Auto vehicle, so when navigating tight turns or passing between two cars, I find it best to drive much slower than I normally would. As I pull up, a quick jump cut brings me straight into a cutscene. Joe is stationed next to a cargo truck full of cigarettes in a parking lot. He says Eddie (the duo's higher up) came across the cartons and wants them moved. After we make a few sales to mopes on the street for two bucks a carton, a caravan of hot rods pulls up next to the truck. A greaser dressed in the standard jeans-and-leather-jacket attire confidently steps up to Joe and tells him that this is their turf. If we want to operate in the area, we'll need to cough up some cash and cigarettes. Not one to be strong-armed out of his goods, Joe politely tells him to scram, but the slick-haired goon doesn't step down. He signals his henchmen circling the truck in a car, and out flies a Molotov cocktail that sets our cartons of smokes aflame. Joe is not pleased; without saying another word, he draws his gun and shoots the unsuspecting tough guy in the forehead, hardly blinking an eye. We jump in a car to chase the remaining greasers, but they're long gone by the time we hit the road.
With the cigarettes burned to cinders and the cargo truck in shambles, we have to report the bad news to Eddie. Finding the nearest pay phone, we ring him up and prepare for the worst. After an expletive-laced rant chronicling the myriad ways we failed him, Eddie instructs us to meet up with his shakedown artists at a greaser hangout to set things straight. To do good by the boss man, we have to come up with the $2,000 reimbursement, and be discreet in getting revenge.
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