Kotaku

Hey, Look at These Max Payne 3 Postcards [Max Payne]

Evan Narcisse — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:30:00 EDT

Max Payne 3 throws a lot of highly stylized violence at you and almost all of it is beautiful to look at. But you've got to keep moving through Rockstar's latest release in to order to get Max the answers he desperately craves, which means you can't necessarily enjoy the ambiance as much as you'd like.

Fear not! These postcard GIFs—courtesy of Kotaku's own Chris Person—let you take a little piece of Max's angry American tourism with you wherever you go. Collect ‘em, share ‘em, use ‘em as motivation to get through the day. However you use them, just know that Max is just like you… only balder, deadlier and more addicted to drugs and drink.

Which Video Game Controller Is Best? No, Seriously. Which? [Burning Questions]

Kirk Hamilton & Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:00:00 EDT

For this week's Burning Questions, Jason and Kirk talk about video game controllers. Which controller is better, Xbox or PlayStation? What do touch-screens like the Wii U and the Vita hold for the future? Is the Kinect good for anything except pausing Netflix videos (and is it even that good at that)? What is the difference between "Effect" and "Affect"?

Well, then. Those sure are some... Burning Questions.

Kirk: Why hello there, Jason. Today we're talking about controllers. Not flight controllers, or passive-aggressive boyfriend-controllers... Video game controllers!

Jason: So just to be clear, we're not talking about the bad guys from Animorphs?

Kirk: Nope. And we're also not talking about that one guy from Mass Effect 2. Though I'm sure someone will make an "assuming direct control" joke at some point. Unless that counts. Nope, just video game controllers. So: Much is made about how the biggest thing that sets games apart from other media like, say, movies, is the fact that we can interact with them. When we say "controllers," we're really talking about that—the means by which we interact with games. Controllers are the bridge between us and video games—they're kind of a big deal!

Jason: And for such a big deal, they can sure be annoying sometimes. But it's hard to enjoy games without them, isn't it? Can't live with'em; can't live without'em.

Kirk: Sort of like Tigers! Though more people are living with them than ever. Rather than wait until the end to answer the Big Question, I'll start with it: Do you prefer the Xbox 360 controller or the PlayStation 3 controller?

Jason: PlayStation 3. By FAR. It's sleeker, it's lighter, and it doesn't have those ugly extraneous bumper buttons. Plus, it doesn't require expensive batteries (although it's annoying when you forget to charge it just before you want to start playing Tales of Graces). What about you?

Kirk: I can't believe you prefer PS3. You CAD. I'm the opposite! I greatly prefer the 360 controller. When the 360 came out, I was so impressed with how well Microsoft had improved upon the (terrible) Xbox controller.

The ergonomics are fantastic, I think—it's close to the perfect controller for me, and I really do hope they add squeeze controls like that patent application suggests. And improve the D-pad. The PS3 feels to small for me, but I've grown to like it for everything but first-person shooters.

Jason: This conversation is making me want to hold a PS3 controller right now; that's how much I like it. Like, I'm feeling ghost sensations and want to put my hands on the DualShock 3. And I'm hardly a fanboy—I didn't even OWN a PS3 til early 2011.

Kirk: I was drafting a pithy way of mocking your PS3-preference, but actually, let's not get sidetracked on the pluses and minuses of these specific controllers. There's a bigger picture thing here, and that's the fact that gamers like us have evolved alongside these controllers. We have these super-specific preferences, but when it comes down to it, the controllers aren't THAT different. And they're both very inaccessible for newcomers. An Xbox controller has 13 buttons, a D-pad, and two joysticks. Good gravy.

Jason: Which might be why Microsoft is putting all of their energy (and money) into an accessory that does away with controllers entirely. Few video game controlling mechanisms are more accessible than Kinect.

Kirk: Well that's the question, isn't it? Is the Kinect really all that accessible? I'm not so sure. I am growing more and more convinced that Microsoft made an error when they assumed that people want to control their games (or their entertainment systems) with nothing but their voices and their hands. If my sister came over and wanted to fire up Netflix on my 360, she'd actually probably be more comfortable doing it with a controller.

Jason: Microsoft's sure putting a lot of money on the idea that it is accessible! But I dunno. I have no interest in waving my body around to control a video game. I want to feel buttons and directional pads. And whenever I talk to friends about Kinect, both gamer and non-gamer, it seems like they like the idea a lot more in theory than they do in practice. I don't think we realize how important tactile feedback is until it's taken away from us.

Kirk: I agree. The games will doubtless improve with the next iteration of Kinect, but even then, some sort of physical thing will probably always be necessary, or at least appreciated. Have you played the upcoming Steel Battalion game?

Jason: Nope. Is it fun?

Kirk: Well... it's wild, anyway. When I played it earlier this year, I described it as the hardest-core Kinect game yet. And that's true—it becomes so hardcore not by replacing standard controls with analog controls, but by layering one on top of the other. Suddenly you've got your controller and your whole body to worry about. Which could be neat, but the farther I get from it, the more I'm convinced that the Kinect just isn't responsive enough.

But the broader thing Heavy Armor makes me realize is: Motion control is certainly a lot better when it's bolstered by some sort of tactile feedback.

Jason: Well that's the Wii, isn't it? Nintendo mastered the motion control/tactile hybrid years ago.

Kirk: It is, except that the Steel Battalion motion controls are insanely more complicated and varied than any Wii game. You literally navigate an entire tank cockpit using only gestures. You stand up, lift your hand to your eyes for binoculars (that's really cool), grab levers, put out fires, fist-bump your teammates... it's an order of magnitude more involved than any Wii game.

But given how well Wii games have worked (though I don't think I'd say Nintendo has "mastered" anything just yet), I'd say Nintendo may have the more approachable idea. Which brings us to the Wii U, and the thing that just may blow the whole "new video game controllers" thing up—a touch screen. That, as far as I'm concerned, is actually the best option for all of this media stuff, and for shopping online stores in your living room.

Jason: Kinect feels similar in many ways. It was released what, a year and a half ago? And the best use of its controls is still Child of Eden, an experimental game in which you aim with your hands and clap to switch weapons. Could have easily been done with a standard controller. (And it was; you can play the game with a normal Xbox 360 controller.)

That's what really worries me about the Wii U. Is this another case of a hardware manufacturer thinking ahead of software developers? Will we see games that really take advantage of the system? Or will we just use it like a regular controller for most games because that's just the easiest way for developers to let us play?

Kirk: Well, if anyone's good at getting developers on board, it's Nintendo. At least, they pulled that off with the DS. Who knows if they've got that kind of magic trick in them again, though at least the Wii U has enough in common with the DS (it's just bigger) that developers should be able to get their heads around it. What's striking, and this is from playing the Vita a lot, is how well analog controls and touchscreen controls can blend. You wrote a little while ago about how touch-screen controls aren't enough for gaming. Do you agree that, when combined with traditional controls, they can open up a lot of new doors?

Jason: Absolutely! And when I played the Wii U at E3 last year, I was really impressed by how its controller felt (for the most part). Creative developers should have a field day brainstorming ideas for how to use the touchscreen both as its own mechanism and as a supplement to the buttons and joysticks around it.

Kirk: I've always thought it's funny—a lot of longtime gamers look at motion controls and touch-controls as a threat, like they're going to somehow replace the controls we've spent 25 years perfecting. But really, I just think they're going to all combine—a game console that can see and hear you, and has both precise analog controls and a touch-screen... the possibilities are endless! And believe me, the games that sucker will run will be anything but casual.

Jason: See and hear you??? That sounds kinda terrifying.

Kirk: Well yeah, though I for one welcome our new video game console overlords. (I'm sorry. Has that reference officially expired? Or did I maybe just make it expire?)

Jason: Good question. And I don't think I can answer, because I think my favorite game control schemes are the ones you don't even think about. The more intuitive the controls, the less you notice how great they are.

Kirk: Really? Oh come on, you have to have some favorites. I think about this kind of thing a lot. For example—I love aiming with the left trigger. I can't remember which console game was the first to do that—though I suppose Call of Duty made it popular. I think that feeling is fantastic, and vastly prefer it to clicking the right thumbstick.

Similarly, I love using the shoulder buttons for ancillary junk. Say, the active reload in Gears of War. Something about the positioning, and how you hit the button with the inside of your index finger... it feels great.

Jason: The control schemes I remember are the ones that were frustrating as hell. Like the Metal Gear Solid games, which are all both wonderful and saddled with atrocious control schemes that involve holding and pushing so many arbitrary buttons, sometimes I wonder if it's some Kojimaesque meta commentary about how stupid video games are.

Kirk: Man, I agree. Sometimes I think they were kidding with that crap. Like, is anyone actually any good at CQC in those games?

Jason: Nobody.

Kirk: Seriously. If you fail, you never get another chance to try, and the button inputs couldn't be more complicated. I like combos (like in God of War, like you mention) as much as the next guy, but when it comes to Metal Gear, I could probably live with contextual controls.

Or just shoot everyone with a tranq gun like I usually do.

Jason: Which is much more fun than that CQC nonsense anyway. Now here's an interesting thought: how would Metal Gear Solid adapt to a system like the Wii U?

Kirk: I'm a little worried about that, actually. I mean, "worried" is the wrong word. But I think that the first games that come out for Wii U that are ports from other consoles will use the touch screen in weird, tacked-on ways. The interesting games are going to come from Nintendo's own studios, for the most part.

Jason: If that happens, the system is doomed. It'll never take off. It won't appeal to the casuals like the Wii did, and it won't appeal to the dedicated gamers who don't care about Mario and Zelda.

The only way the Wii U can survive (in my semi-educated opinion) is if third-party developers master its controller like they never did for the Wii. I want to see games like Metal Gear Solid rock the shit out of the tablet controller. I want to see tactical RPGs that let you move characters around a touchscreen grid in your hands. I want to see rhythm games that require you to pull off perfectly timed swipes and presses. I want to see puzzle games that use two screens simultaneously, in ways that weren't possible on the DS.

Kirk: Well, it's not just games. I get the sense that everyone is angling to have their console be the must-have all-in-one set-top device. And the idea of browsing an e-store with a touch-pad like the Wii U has is really enticing. So much better than using my mouse from afar, like I do now with my PC. Apple's iPad/Apple TV combo is looking like the one to beat at the moment, but the Wii U could.. well, theoretically sneak in there. I wouldn't want to be taking on Apple, though. I'd also be surprised if Sony doesn't do something like that with the Vita and the PS3/4, since I love shopping on the Vita.

Jason: Well if we're talking home entertainment, that's the one place where Kinect really does sing. Literally. You can sing at your TV and get it to play Netflix and shit.

Kirk: You can get technique critiques from it. "Slightly pitchy." But even so, I'd rather use a touch-screen handheld from my couch than use the kinect. Though I do love saying "Xbox, Pause!"

Jason: "Don't tell me what to do, asshole." "Come on, Xbox, I hate it when we fight."

Kirk: I wonder what my neighbors think, particularly when it's not responding. "XBOX, FUCKING PAUSE ALREADY!!"

Jason: Have you played with the Wii U yet? Even if you haven't, do you think it can really compete with other systems as the One Home Entertainment Device To Rule Them All?

Kirk: I only sorta messed around with one at E3. But no, I don't really think so - and like I said, it's gonna be hard to beat Apple for that One Device to Rule Them All, particularly if they get serious about set-top gaming and can get more core games onto their App Store. (Which they're already starting to do.)

Jason: If any gamemaker wants my attention, they'll have to compete with Kingdom Rush on the iPad. (Best game ever.)

Kirk: Now imagine Kingdom Rush... IN GLORIOUS HD.

Jason: Do you think Nintendo will actually get its shit together online this coming gen?

Kirk: Man, that is a whole other Burning Question altogether.

Jason: Ha, that's true. And if the answer isn't yes, Nintendo's investors will be Burning Iwata.

Kirk: Haaaaa

So as we're heading towards wrapping this up, here's a burning question for you: Inverted or boring, dumb non-inverted? (With the bonus question: Can you tell which I prefer?)

Jason: I forget.

Kirk: Bullshit.

Jason: Seriously. I'd have to check one of my games. It's one of those things I can never remember, along with the difference between "affect" and "effect."

Kirk: "Affect" is hipsters. "Effect" is movies. I can't believe that about you not knowing the most important control-related fact about yourself. I guess you just play JRPGs, so it doesn't matter.

Jason: JRPGs, Madden, and StarCraft II.

Kirk: Which, not a bad mix really. Hey before we're done—I know you've been playing some Diablo III. What do you think about the controls in that game?

Jason: I would answer, but I'm still nursing carpal tunnel syndrome from last night's clicking session.

Kirk: Ha. I'm really interested to see how well the game takes off among people who don't normally play games—as much as people argue that it's a complex, hardcore game (which it is), there's no denying the fact that you could play it... basically... with two fingers and a trackpad.

Jason: Yeah, it's very user-friendly. But that's part of the reason it's so appealing! You don't have to think much. It's soothing. Click click click click click click

Kirk: Reward! Click click click. Though I find that excessive clicking has been hell on my inventory space. It's so easy to click, I get going and don't spool down fast enough. I didn't even want those cracked-cloth pants!

Jason: I still don't understand how cloth can be cracked.

Kirk: It's old, man. It's old and crusty.

Jason: You're old and crusty.

Kirk: Sigh.

Midweek Moneysaver: Credit for Your Payne [The Moneysaver]

dealzon — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:30:00 EDT

This Wednesday edition of Kotaku's The Moneysaver catches all the offers, promotions and bargains that can't wait until the weekend. The Midweek Moneysaver is brought to you by Dealzon.

Software

• Yesterday's release Max Payne 3 (360, PS3) is $59.99 with $6 bonus credit from Buy.com. Amazon has next best offer with a $10 credit towards select Rockstar games like L.A. Noire and Red Dead Redemption. Best deal for PC version is $59.99 with $10 bonus credit from Amazon.[Dealzon]

• Prototype 2 (360, PS3) is $39.99, free ship from Best Buy. Amazon and GameStop are price-matching, elsewhere $56 and up. [Dealzon]

• June 12 release Gravity Rush (Vita) is $29.99, free ship from NewEgg. Next best is $39. [Dealzon]

• June 29 release Heroes of Ruin (3DS) is $29.99, free ship from Toys 'R' Us. Next best is $39. [Dealzon]

• July 3 release Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy (3DS) is $29.99, free ship from Toys 'R' Us. Next best is $40. [Dealzon]

• July 31 release Risen 2: Dark Waters (360, PS3) is $44.99, free ship from Toys 'R' Us. Next best is $59. [Dealzon]

• Oct 1 release Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion (3DS) is $34.99, free ship from Amazon. Next best is $40. [Dealzon]

• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC) is $39.99, free ship from Amazon. Next best is $53. [Dealzon]

• Bodycount (360) is $12.99, free ship from NewEgg. Next best is $19. [Dealzon]

• Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars (PS3) is $11.99, free ship from Best Buy. Next best is $17. [Dealzon]

• Metroid: Other M (Wii) is $7.99, free ship from Best Buy. Next best is $14. [Dealzon]

• Kids Learn Spelling and Grammar: A+ Edition (DS) is $14.99 from Amazon. Next best is $21. [Dealzon]

• Saints Row The Third (PC download) is $17.97 from Green Man Gaming. Next best is $45. [Dealzon]

• Amazon has several Serious Sam PC downloads priced between $1-$9.99. Titles include: Serious Sam HD: 2nd Encounter; The First Encounter; Serious Sam 2; Serious Sam Double D; The Random Encounter; and finally the latest title, Serious Sam 3: BFE. [Dealzon]

Hardware

• Xbox 360 250GB Holiday Kinect Bundle with Kinect Adventures and Carnival is down to $349.99, free ship from Microsoft Store. Next best is $400. [Dealzon]

• Xbox 360 Elite Slim 250GB Console is $249.99, free ship from Microsoft Store. Next best is $300. [Dealzon]

• PlayStation 3D Display Bundle with MotorStorm is $249.99, free ship from Best Buy. Next best is $300. [Dealzon]

• Hori SoulCalibur V Arcade Stick (360) is $89.99, free ship from NewEgg. Next best is $126. [Dealzon]

• Sony DR-GA500 PC Gaming Headset is $79.98, free ship from SonyStyle. Next best is $89. [Dealzon]

• Razer DeathAdder 3500 Gaming Mouse is $39.99, free ship from Amazon. Next best is $48. [Dealzon]

• ZOTAC GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB GDDR5 PCIe Video Card is $89.99 after rebate, free ship from NewEgg. Next best is $150. [Dealzon]

• Planar 27-inch PX2710MW 1080p 2ms LCD Monitor is $209.99, free ship from Dell Home. List price is $270. [Dealzon]

• Intel 180GB 330 Series Maple Crest SSD is $139.99 after rebate, free ship from NewEgg. Next best is $229. [Dealzon]

• Samsung 128GB 830 Series SSD is $118, free ship from BuyDig.com. Next best is $130. [Dealzon]

• New low on HP dv7t Quad Edition with Ivy Bridge Core i7-3610QM (3rd Gen), GeForce GT 630M, 17.3-inch 1080p, 8GB RAM, Blu-ray. This config is down to $937.99 after coupon, free ship from HP. That's cheapest ever by $62 and $212 off usual price of $1,150. Rare 33% coupon will discount additional upgrades (e.g. 2GB GeForce GT 650M for $67, usually $100). [Dealzon]

• Also new low on HP dv6t Quad Edition with new Ivy Bridge Core i7-3610QM 3rd Gen, GeForce GT 650M, 32GB mSSD, 15.6-inch 1080p, 8GB RAM, Blu-ray — now $937.99, free ship from HP. Cheapest ever by $62 (previously $999.99) and the percentage coupon works on upgrades. [Dealzon]

As always, smart gamers can find values any day of the week, so if you've run across a deal, share it with us in the comments.

Follow Dealzon on Twitter.

I Just Saw The Last of Us in Action, and It Looks Amazing [The Last Of Us]

Stephen Totilo — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:00:00 EDT

I just watched two people from Naughty Dog play The Last of Us in Santa Monica. It was the best demo for a game I've seen since Assassin's Creed III a few months ago.

Here's what happened.

What played out was similar to the trailer that Sony just shared—Joel and Ellie, the series' two protagonists drove down a road in a pickup truck. Simple, right? Well, first, of all, beautiful. The post-apocalypse in Naughty Dog's game is a gorgeous wreck, a city drained of electricity and overgrown with foliage.

Their drive quickly turned into an encounter with a man-he looked like a hobo— who threw a brick at their windshield. They crashed in a convenience store. More angry men showed, up, dragging Ellie kicking from the truck, the other smashing Joel through the glass of a meat freezer and trying to spike his throat on a shard of glass. Some of that was cutscene, but a rapid tap of the x button kept Joel from getting skewered.

This is a third-person game, but not one that presents the characters as overpowering heroes. They're not expert fighters, nor even are they at Nathan Drake's level. It all looks like scary survival. But not darkness, monsters, shadows and nighttime skulking—the scene we see is sunsplashed, but we're in a city with the power turned off and the survivors all out to kill us (presumably some may be possessed by a fungus, such is the back-story of the game).

In the convenience store, Joel shoots a revolver at the many men coming after them. Enemies called out positions. Ellie cursed back at them. This girl is calling the enemy "fuck face" and throwing a brick at him. Thanks, teenage girl!

The action in the game is brutal. The enemies seem to be regular people, but they speak from the throat, all death threats and growls. They patrol the streets with guns, two at a time. Joel tosses a brick at one of them and then runs up and whacks him to death with a stick.

The action in the game is brutal.

It's all cat and mouse. Our heroes hide in alleys. They hear enemies calling out positions. Joel finds himself back in the convenience store, trying to figure out where his enemies went. He mutters to himself, about the "pansy-ass piece of shit" he's tracking. The enemy, just a guy in a leather jacket and pants, rushes him with a 2x4. Joel shoots him.

Ellie and Joel walk around for a bit. Every building in this city is wrecked: toppled filing cabinets in the stairwell of one building, cracked mirrors and overturned mattresses in some form. As they walk around, scrounging, searching, Joel and Ellie talk to each other. He's quiet, a bit weary. She's curious but not that chatty either.

She's impressed with his fighting prowess. He says it's because he's been on both sides of these kinds of survival ambushes.

"So, you killed a lot of people?" Ellie asks him.

He brushes her off.

"I'll take that as a yes," she replies.

It's clear they don't know each other well and would not have been friends in a pre-apocalyptic world.

They reach an overlook and see a distant bridge. Joel knows where to go. They find a schoolbus full of corpses and a yard full of cars, all of their windows punched out. They find some bodies that are strangely whitened. That may be the signs of the fungus.

Ellie notes how horrible things are, but how pretty it all is too. She's right.

Joel has them walk further, but crows stir and Joel whispers for them to duck. More hobo-looking guys-hunters-show up. A few guitar notes play.

That's it.

It all looked lovely and managed to be gentle and brutal at the same time.

It helps, I think, that the music never soared. It didn't sound like a video game. It was mostly quiet, though an old rock tune played during the opening fight after the crash.

Bruce Straley, the game's director, said that Naughty Dog wants players to feel the same emotions that Ellie and Joel feel as they try to survive in this strange post-apocalypse in the game. He talked about the game as a quest for survival, one that is inflected by a balance of power that causes enemies to adapt to Ellie and Joel's choices of weapons and tactics. Everyone is trying to live, he said.

That's it. I should say that I wasn't too sure the first time I saw Uncharted . I wasn't sold. This, however, was gorgeous. Naughty Dog is making something special.

We'll have more on The Last of Us at E3.

Free-to-Play Football Title Loses Its NFL License [Video]

Owen Good — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 EDT

News and notes from around the world of sports video gaming:

• QuickHit Football had a solid debut year in 2009 and won an NFL license a year later. Then it lost its director of design, a veteran of the beloved NFL 2K5, and was bought up by Majesco around E3 last year. Now it's losing the NFL license that seems to be the holy grail of sports gaming.

QuickHit quietly announced on its Facebook page that as of June 1, players' teams with NFL insignia would no longer carry those brands. Anyone who customized a team with the colors and logos of an existing NFL team will get a placeholder logo and colors.

The game, from its birth, had gotten five real-world players to appear in it, per the limitations of the NFL Players Association's group license. These agreements will be unaffected. But the loss of the league branding simply reeks like a cost-saving move on the part of the new owners. [Pasta Padre]

• If you head to a game at the San Francisco Giants' AT&T Park, chances are you'll catch a new public service announcement about video game ratings, starring the Giants' Buster Posey and Ryan Vogelsong. (That's a making-of video at left). The PSA will also run in television markets and on radio stations throughout northern California. Maybe it's not Willie Mays telling kids not to pick up construction site explosives, but hey, it'll do.

• Andrew Wilson, the man in charge at EA Sports, was recently named No. 40 on Fast Company's ranking of the 100 Most Creative People in Business for the year. Wilson did a little better in the Kotaku Power 40 rankings of influential members of the video games industry, coming in at No. 30.

Activision and EA Settle Case Over Call of Duty [Breaking]

Kirk Hamilton — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:28:00 EDT

Activision and EA have agreed to file a settlement agreement in their dispute over Call of Duty, according to a Bloomberg report.

The settlement is from a countersuit brought by Activision against EA accusing them of attempting to pry Jason West and Vince Zampella away from them. The initial suit was brought against Activision by West and Zampella after the two were fired from Activision in 2010. That case remains unresolved and if anything, appears to have gotten uglier.

The LA Times' Ben Fritz reports that a joint statement issued today by the two companies reads "Activision and EA have agreed to put this matter behind them."

Activision, Electronic Arts Settle Modern Warfare Claims [Bloomberg]

League of Legends World Championship Promises 'The Biggest Payday in eSports History' [Video]

Owen Good — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:20:00 EDT

League of Legends will put $5 million up for grabs this summer and fall in its second annual world championship series, pitting the winners of six regional championships against one another at the University of Southern California's Galen Center on Oct. 13.

The world champion will take home what Riot Games is billing as "the biggest payday in eSports history," taking a good hunk out of a $5 million prize pool offered across all of Season Two's events. Currently, top League of Legends teams have been participating in a series of Challenger Circuit events to qualify for the regional championships. The first of those will be staged July 26 in Shanghai, China.

Europe's regional championship will be Aug. 16 in Cologne, Germany at Gamescom. North America's is Aug. 31 in Seattle, at PAX Prime. Korea's regional is Sept. 21 at Soeul's OGN eSports Stadium. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau follow Sept. 22 at Taipei, Taiwan. A regional will also be held for Southeast Asia at Singapore in September, though no specific date has been set yet.

Two Fitness MMOs Go Mano a Mano with Their PvP Plans [Gamification]

Owen Good — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:10:00 EDT

Last year I profiled Fitocracy, which isn't a video game per se but a gamified fitness regimen that draws from concepts familiar to role-playing video games. One MMO analogue it lacked, however, was the idea of player-vs.-player combat.

Well, that's no longer the case. While Fitocracy on Monday revealed its system for PvP duels, it was beaten to the punch by rival WeightTraining.com, a fitness social network, which on Friday set up PvP "Battles" of its own.

On WeightTraining.com, members may search out and challenge anyone they want to a Battle—most reps, most weight, most cardio time. It's all on the honor system, of course, but at least you know you won't get clubbed to death by someone with superior gear, or ambushed at the water fountain by the alpha male on your server. You can reject any challenge.

Jeffrey Crews, of WeightTraining.com, said the PvP angle was deliberate. "We figured that if we could allow users to battle each other in everyday fitness activities, then we'd be creating a system where users could motivate each other, and create a system that would allow a person who doesn't know many exercises to get involved," Crews said.

WeightTraining.com says it is working on a smartphone app that will integrate all of these features. Fitocracy already has one. And it, like the website, features a new "duel" button that allows you to challenge someone. The feature was just announced on Monday.

The duels are offered in a whimsical manner—a message saying someone slapped you with a glove, offering you the option of running away or fighting. There are 10 smackdowns, including heaviest bench press, most distance run, and the like. But a big difference is Fitocracy's PvP requires "Hero" status, which runs $4.99 a month (or $44.99 a year.)

Again, the biggest divergence from actual PvP is the honor system; both contestants have to be forthright in what they have done for the week. But if offered and contested in a good natured way, bringing a little more geek culture to the weight room is probably a good thing.

Now, if Ben Bertoli suddenly goes all Lord-of-the-Flies and brings PvP to his "sixth-grade MMO" Class Realm, then we're all in deep trouble.

(Image by Istvan Csak / Shutterstock.com)

Report: Activision Tried To Dig Up Dirt On Ex-Call of Duty Developers [Breaking]

Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:04:00 EDT

The ugly court battle between Activision and its former employees has gotten even uglier.

According to documents obtained by The Los Angeles Times and released today, Activision hired a man named Thomas Fenady to "dig up dirt" on Call of Duty creators Jason West and Vince Zampella so the company could build up a case to fire them. The newspaper reports that Fenady was asked to hack into West and Zampella's voicemail, e-mail, and computers in an operation code-named "Project Icebreaker."

Sounds like a spy movie, doesn't it? As the Times writes:

Fenady testified that he expressed concern about the project but was told, "Don't worry about the repercussions." Fenady found an outside company, InGuardians, who also balked at the task because of "legal hurdles." Stymied, Fenady approached the company's Facilities Department and talked about staging a "fake fumigation" and a "mock fire drill" in order to get West and Zampella away from their computers long enough to copy files on their computers.

Ultimately, Activision did none of those things. Activision declined to comment on the documents, as did attorneys for the developers.

According to the Times' Ben Fritz, Activision's request to delay the court trial was denied and it will proceed on May 29.

Check out the Times' piece for the original documents.

Key documents unsealed in Activision Call of Duty trial [LA Times]

(Clover | /Shutterstock)

Madden Hopes Its New Theme Will Be Music to Your Ears [Video]

Owen Good — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:01:00 EDT

Madden NFL 13 will sound a lot different this year. Some quarterbacks will call audibles in their own voice. Bone-crunching hits have been mixed in from NFL Films audio. The crowd is going to explode on big plays and go stoic on drive-killing turnovers.

But where the game will sound most different is in the music, both in what you don't hear and what you hear. The "EA Trax" menu music, rather than fight against something diehard players end up muting after a week anyway, will simply be retired. More importantly, this game is getting a new theme.

Scored by Colin O'Malley, who was also the composer on Tom Raider: Underworld and the PBS documentary The Last Reunion: A Gathering of Heroes, the new Madden theme is much more martial and aggressive, keeping with the trend of themes composed for the NFL productions of Fox, CBS and, most recently, NBC. Madden's past version was short and to the point, but almost obligatory in its themes.

Where other games in the EA Sports lineup have been able to draw on the real-life broadcast packages of ESPN, Madden has had a more difficult job in creating an immersive broadcast. The NFL is carried by all the major networks, in some form, in the United States. Picking one shatters the overall reality. So EA Sports has to build its own presentation that is reasonably unique while still being evocative of something you expect to see on Sunday.

Music is a big part of that. The main theme was impressive, if a little confused in the middle for my tastes. The real blood-pumper is in that video above, the alternate rock-guitar cut that will play when the game cuts away between quarters.

For much more on the audio upgrades in Madden NFL 13 this year, audio director Matt Bialoskunia gives you a guided tour at the link below.

Madden NFL 13 Audio Blog [EA Sports]

Remembering The Glory That Is Final Fantasy XI On Its 10-Year Anniversary [Speak Up On Kotaku]

Speak Up — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:30:00 EDT

Can you believe it has been a decade since the release of Final Fantasy XI? Zasalamel certainly remembers.

Today is Final Fantasy XI's tenth anniversary. I just wanted to take a moment to pay tribute to what is probably the game that has made the biggest impression on me in my lifetime.

As a kid, the SNES Final Fantasy games were the greatest thing ever to me; maybe that's one of the reasons why I like FFXI so much. It feels like a SNES FF game, but one that you can play with friends and that seems never-ending. Unlike MMOs up to that point, FFXI actually featured a real story with cut-scenes. This wasn't just some weak story thrown at you as a bone either; I'd say that FFXI's story, particularly in Chains of Promathia and Wings of the Goddess, is the best story of any FF game. And all of the endgame activities such as Limbus, Dynamis, Besieged, Assault, Salvage, Einherjar and Abyssea actually tied in with the main storylines so not only were these activities amazingly fun but they felt like they made sense story wise compared to the generic endgame raids of most MMOs.

The music is also some of the best of the series. Unlike with FFXIV where he was asked to do the whole soundtrack, which was probably too much of an undertaking to expect really high quality tracks from, Uematsu was able to focus on fewer tracks and really make them great. "Ronfaure" ( [www.youtube.com] )"Airship" ( [www.youtube.com] ) and "Recollection" ( [www.youtube.com] ) stand out to me. Also the "FFXI Opening Theme" ( [www.youtube.com] ) which was used in the game's amazing CG intro sequence. That being said most of the credit for FFXI's fantastic soundtrack must go to Naoshi Mizuta who thanks to this game has become one of my favorite composers. While he contributed so many memorable pieces, none stand out more to me than "The Sanctuary of Zi'tah" ( [www.youtube.com] ). It's one of my favorite musical pieces period.

The game was also so innovative in terms of its design. It was the first MMO that allowed people from all over the world to play on the same servers regardless of location or platform. It was the first MMO to feature an Auto-Translate feature to help communicate with other people (mainly between Japanese and non-Japanese). The fact that the game was designed to be played with a controller to accommodate console players was also a welcome first. The macro system it employed was very avant-garde as well as it allowed to swap pieces of gear before attacks in order to maximize that attack. You were no longer limited to wearing the same gear all the time. You needed to have a full arsenal of varied gear to be at your best, no matter which job you played.

Another innovative feature was its amazing job system where your character could switch jobs at will and you could level as many of them as you wanted. Other MMOs forced you to make a new character if you wanted to play a different class, often requiring you to do a number of quests over. Each job played so differently that it felt like you were playing a new game every time you decided to level a new job. Tanking on Ninja was a rush like no other I'd experienced in a game. It required a constant focus and concentration which determined if you were going to be a badass that never took a single hit or a scrub that would die in seconds. My favorite job though was Blue Mage. Going around the world collecting all the spells from monsters was an unforgettable experience and playing as a Blue Mage was equally rewarding.

The battle system was also brilliant, as unlike most MMOs where combat is a big mess where you just frantically click on icons, the combat in FFXI was very calculated and strategic, requiring a balance of skill and timing. By timing special attacks and spells together, party members could create powerful Skillchains and Magic Bursts that sometimes were key to victory or at least dispatching foes quickly.

But beyond all this what made FFXI special was its community, because unlike most MMOs the community in FFXI was just that. The game was designed with cooperation in mind rather than PvP and the game's original steep difficulty really required people to constantly work together and help each other. And people actually did it, there were days when I'd log on and only help other people do stuff and it honestly felt just as good as if I had achieved something for myself, maybe even better. The community was so mature and varied, almost none of the people playing fell into the MMO player stereotypes you often see on TV like in the World of Warcraft episode South Park and such. People from all over the world, all walks of life, all races, all religions, all coming together and half of them were actually female.

It was all such an unforgettable experience. If you read some of the comments on those Youtube videos I posted when talking about the music you'll see that most people that played the game seriously feel the same way about it as I do; it was just that good. I just want to thank Square-Enix for making the game and supporting it the way they have during these ten years and for allowing me to meet so many great people, many of which I'm still in contact with years later.

Thank you for the great memories FFXI. Here's to you: [www.gametrailers.com]

About Speak Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That's why we have a forum on Kotaku called Speak Up. That's the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Every weekday we'll pull one of the best Speak Up posts we can find and highlight it here.

Starhawk: The Kotaku Review [Video]

Kate Cox — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:00 EDT

Starhawk is a third-person shooter. Actually, scratch that, let me try again: Starhawk is a fighter-pilot game. Although... only sort of. Maybe Starhawk is a real-time strategy game.

This is all getting complicated. How about: Starhawk is a Western, in space. And a fun one. Yes. Let's go with that.

The truth is, Starhawk takes a whole set of divergent styles and throws them together into one game. Bringing third-person shooting, giant mech battles, space dogfights, and strategic building together in one could have been a disaster of epic proportions, but LightBox Interactive has somehow made it all work, and remarkably smoothly at that.

The premise is this: in the wild colony west of faraway solar systems, there is a new source of power called Rift energy. It glows blue and looks quite impressive against dusty red planets and the dark void of space. There was a rush for it, deeply akin to the rush to take over Texas oil fields in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Of course, this being a science-fiction video game, nothing is ever easy. It turns out that with rift energy comes a horde of rift-mutated monsters called the Outcast. Every time you go to cap a rig, there they are, trying to kill you. This means constant work for a man like Emmett Graves, our player character and gunslinger extraordinaire.

The thing is, Starhawk is essentially pointless as a single-player narrative. There's nothing wrong with Emmett Graves or his mercenary ways. He's mildly interesting, and his frontier family drama is, if not immensely compelling, then at least not poorly told. (In fact, I particularly like the animation style of the interstitial cut scenes.) It's just beside the point.

WHY: Because it's a well-assembled, sharp-looking space romp, and the multiplayer focus keeps you on your toes.

Starhawk

Developer: LightBox Interactive, Sony Santa Monica
Platforms: PlayStation 3
Release Date: May 8

Type of game: RTS third-person shooter flight sim. Yes, really.

What I played: The single-player campaign and a few hours dabbling in various multi-player modes

My Two Favorite Things

The sheer sense of speedy, weightless joy in flight sections.
Dropping buildings from orbit, at a whim, with a satisfying "thud."

My Two Least-Favorite Things

Motion sickness. Those flight sections are rough if you are at all prone to queasiness.
Repetitive tedium in single-player goals. "Defend the X" gets dull after a few dozen rounds.

Made-to-Order Back-of-Box Quotes

"This is great! Ugh, I'm going to be sick any second. But this is still great!" -Kate Cox, Kotaku.com
"My giant flying robot will stomp you!" -Kate Cox, Kotaku.com

Emmett, his support staff, his family, and his allies exist for exactly two reasons. First, to give the you a good sense of setting—the frontier chaos and oil-rush mentality come to the forefront in single-player, and that knowledge, once gained, sticks with you permanently. Second, and more importantly: the ten stages of the single-player campaign are the tutorial for multiplayer, the game's true thrust. And they're all the tutorial you get, so pay attention.

Here's how every mission goes:

"Oh no! The [building / energy source / ship] is under attack! The outcast will be arriving by [foot / razorback / tank / jetpack / fighter jet] in [twenty, thirty, or forty-five seconds]! You should build [turrets / mechs / razorbacks] and prepare to defend the [X]!"

The difficulty curve is this: (1) as you progress, the game increases the arsenal of structures you can choose from and becomes slightly less explicit in telling you what to build, and (2) more waves of outcast are likely to appear between checkpoints. It's a system that is, at best, uninspired and, at worst, tedious.

But two things save it. The first is the game's biggest selling point, its "build and battle" system. In short, the energy you collect from barrels or fallen enemies allows you to open up a radial menu and call down massive buildings from the sky. You choose where to put them, and they land at your feet (or, if you don't move quickly enough, on your head) a few seconds later.

Usually in a game like this, you would find a gun, a vehicle, or an ally waiting for you. And at first, Starhawk provides its resources in the same way. But very quickly you learn that you will need to decide for yourself what to call down from the sky.

Do you need guns and ammo? Call for a supply bunker. Snipers pinning you down? Summon a sniper tower of your own—it'll have a rifle waiting for you in it. Are you bound to the earth, being shot at by enemies in the sky? Time to summon the building that lets you equip jet-packs or, the game's other big feature, a Hawk.

At first I approached Starhawk with the wrong mentality, and got wiped out rather a lot early on as a result. I admit to a mild flash of feeling like a genius when I finally started to think the way the game needed me to: I only had about ten bullets left in my gun, and was facing at least three dozen outcast with more on the way. But I called town two turrets and a supply bunker, and hey! Suddenly I had a defensible position to hunker down in, as much ammo as I needed, and turrets mowing down the horde for me while I was still out of range. After that, the wave went much more smoothly.

Starhawk's other saving grace is the fluid smoothness with which it switches modes. From running on foot, to building a garage and leaping into a ground vehicle, to building a launching pad and climbing into a giant mech, nothing seems graceless. Aside from a few small hang-ups in geography (and my AI companions' inability to drive down an obvious path), every change, every motion, and every vehicle felt surprisingly elegant.

The ground-based third-person shooter segments are dry. They are without any particular artistry or nuance. In short, they are not particularly fun. There is a way to make a third-person shooter dynamic and entertaining, and Starhawk doesn't have it. But, like the single-player campaign writ large, that's okay, because it doesn't matter. The moments where you stand on foot, shooting, aren't the point. Strategy is the point: knowing how and when to drop a building from space, knowing when a wall will help, or when you should just drop turrets all over the place, is the point. And when you have Emmet leap into his hawk and soar into the air? That's where Starhawk finds its soul.

When you have Emmet leap into his hawk and soar into the air? That's where Starhawk finds its soul.

It took me a while to see it, because frankly this is not a game for the motion-sensitive and at first mostly I was just trying really hard to avoid throwing up. (I took a break to go buy Bonine, which I made sure to take every day I played thereafter.) But there's a true joy in the flight and aerial combat segments. The controls are designed such that banking through the air, making a tight turn through a web of pipelines, and targeting swarm lasers on your mindlessly spawned enemy is genuinely delightful. If, still, not for the motion-sensitive.

I've played a lot of games lately that are entirely driven by quick-time events, and it's nice to get back a measure of freedom. That said, the negative side to the freedom is that Starhawk doesn't necessarily give you the guidance you need. For example, when you get a jet pack, the game tells you how to take off but then, after, not how to maintain flight. (I figured out what didn't maintain flight by plummeting into the interstellar abyss a few times before getting the hang of it.) And while it's very helpful to have your guide, Cutter, saying, "Outcast coming in from the East and South!", a map and mini-map utterly without compass direction don't give you what you need to figure out where South is.

The lack of guidance carries over to multiplayer as well. Leaping into matches, it was at first unclear what, exactly, I was expected to do. Coming into a match already in progress has some distinct problems.

My notes about the "quick match" feature mostly involve long strings of obscenities and no actual play. This is because every time I tried to join a quick match, I found that players in hawks were camping my ground-based spawn point before I even landed on it, and shot me down immediately. Spawning involves being shot at the ground from a pod in orbit, and anyone with eyes can see where the pod will land before it gets there. In at least five or six attempts, I never once got to step more than three inches away from my pod.

Luckily, browsing the game list rather than using quick match allowed me actually to play a few rounds, rather than just to drop dead a whole bunch. The game modes are what they sound like: "capture the flag" has the red team and the green team trying to steal each other's flags and carry them back to base. "Zones" has teams vying for control of marked regions in the map. And "deathmatch" is, well, exactly what it says on the tin.

All match types can hold up to 32 players, and that can be every bit as chaotic as you might imagine. Popping in with a bunch of strangers, who all start throwing buildings around, is a mess. But once teams have laid down their basic fortifications and the game is in progress, the fun begins. My favorite experience was a Zones match on a platform in space. For a brief, worrying moment I felt clueless and surrounded by equally clueless idiots, but the game began very quickly to take shape and a few minutes later, our team had constructed a launch pad and I grabbed a hawk and went airborne. Weaving through, around, over, and under the map, trying to shoot down enemy turrets before they could shoot me, was a delight.

But for all that I managed with strangers, Starhawk is clearly meant for friends. The co-op mode is invite-only, requiring you either to invite friends from your list, or be invited by friends who have you on their list. Likewise, while I personally hate voice chat with the fire of a thousand suns, in the frenzy to build defensible, well-armed positions and maintain good strategy for a 15, 20, or 30-minute match, communication is essential.

If you have a couple dozen friends on PSN and have always wanted to soar through the inky skies shooting swarm lasers, Starhawk is a good bet. In the end, I know I personally don't have the long-term patience for regular thirty-minute fights of attrition and patient building placement. Nor, sadly, do I have the stomach to take on an offensive airborne role for very long, although I wish I did. And yet, I find myself eagerly recommending the game to those who can. The play in Starhawk can be intricate and creative, and in terms of graphics, animation, flow, and function, the game is superb. And it's true: dropping buildings right onto a pile of baddies just never gets old.

Diablo III's Whimsical Secret [Video]

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:30:00 EDT

Remember back when everyone complained about the bright colors and rainbows appearing in the latest installment of Diablo? Blizzard does. Blizzard never forgets. You'll never forget it either, so don't click here unless you want one of the game's more entertaining secrets revealed.

Blizzard made their opinion of the fan outrage over Diablo III's art direction perfectly clear back in 2008, when game boss Jay Wilson and the team sported the design above on t-shirts during the annual Blizzcon convention. Some of us though it was hilarious. Others were quite annoyed at the trolling.

If you were in the latter group, now would be a good time to avert your eyes.

Let me just take a moment to thank commenter generic_bad_guy for sending us the tip.

I think that's enough padding.

Welcome to Whimsyshire, where dreams come true. Through a convoluted series of actions, European Diablo forum poster Zerofire and friends opened a portal to a mystical land where rainbows, ponies, and soft, cuddly teddy bears roam free from persecution. Or at least they did. Now they are all dead.

This colorful place is both a callback to the art controversy as well as a nod to the Secret Cow Level from Diablo II, itself a reaction to the rumors of a Secret Cow Level in Diablo the first.

I would also like to point out that the author that wrote the My Little Pony / Diablo fan fiction from Monday might actually be a prophet.

I must find this magical place.

WHIMSYSHIRE THE SECRET LEVEL. (VIDEO AND PICS) [Diablo EU Forums]

Reminder: The Game Club is Talking Diablo III Tomorrow! [Blip]

Mike Epstein — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:15:00 EDT

Getting over your Diablo III login blues? I hope so, because the Game Club's first meeting is tomorrow! Make sure you take a break to come discuss the game with the rest of us at 4pm Eastern.

What It's Like Playing Diablo III With A Crappy Graphics Card [Diablo]

Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:00:00 EDT

You will die. Frequently.

You will stare at your screen as it slows to a crawl, wondering when the whole machine will just black out and die.

You will roll your eyes and groan as if somebody just cut you in line at the grocery store and you want to get their attention in an obnoxious, passive-aggressive way.

You will eventually turn off Diablo III and find something less stressful to do, like operating a push-powered forklift or jumping up a cliff.

See, running Blizzard's latest action-RPG on an awful graphics card is like playing blackjack at a casino; it might be exciting and even euphoric for a while, but sooner or later you know you're going to lose everything.

A few years ago, I bought a Samsung Q430 laptop. It's a wonderful machine: not too heavy, fast enough, and sleek in all the right places. But it's saddled with a NVIDIA 310M graphics card, the type of entry-level hardware that can barely run Minesweeper, let alone Diablo III. (This is an exaggeration. My computer can run Minesweeper at phenomenal frame rates.)

This setup was okay for a while, mostly because I could browse the Internet and play StarCraft II. But then Diablo III came along. And with it came those old familiar cravings.

I wanted to hunt for glorious loot. I wanted to beat up Mephisto. I wanted to see what happened to Deckard Cain. I wanted to discover new bosses and dungeons and towns and all the other cool shit that Blizzard packs into its games, which are almost always awesome.

So I ignored the little voice in my head that said "your computer can't run this, dumbass" and started installing Diablo III. Roughly ten thousand hours later, I loaded up the game, ignoring the little message on my computer screen that said "I can't run this, dumbass."

I ignored the little voice in my head that said "your computer can't run this, dumbass" and started installing Diablo III.

And! It worked! The game loaded up smoothly. I entered my Battle.net information. I connected to the Internet. I created a Barbarian. I immediately skipped the opening cinematic for fear of angering the Graphics Gods. I entered the game and started moving around my character, tempted to brag on Twitter about how awesome I was. I had done it! I beat my own graphics card! It worked! I'm a champion!

Then the game froze.

See, the problem with running Diablo III on a crappy graphics card isn't that it won't work. It'll work. The problem is that whenever too many enemies appear on the screen, or some sort of dungeon animation requires a lot of processing power, your computer will suddenly start skipping like an awful dubstep producer.

Every minute or two, everything will go through a time warp. You will watch enemies surround your helpless character, who apparently lacks any sort of life-preservation instincts whatsoever. You will frantically click away from enemies. It won't work. You will frantically slam Q on your keyboard, trying to chug down a potion. It won't work. Your roommate will ask why you are clicking so much. You will ask why he hasn't done the dishes in three weeks. You're in a bad mood. You'll apologize later.

Still, you'll make it through a good chunk of the game thanks to some careful timing (and the fact that death doesn't penalize you until you reach level 10). Until you get to the game's first boss, Leoric the Skeleton King. He will immediately drive your laptop into conniptions. You will die. You will die again. You will give up, shut down the game, and watch basketball for a little while.

And you will order a new computer.

Way to Kick the Competition While They're Down, EVE Online [Screengrab]

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:55:00 EDT

EVE Online developer CCP takes a break from running massively multiplayer online games less successful than World of Warcraft to poke fun at those diabolical Diablo III errors. As seen on my desktop.

Okay, it's kinda cute.

Your PC Doesn't Have to Break to Be Turned Into a Planter [Case Mod Of The Week]

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:40:00 EDT

Some people merge the organic and electronic by working with wood. Mike Schropp of Total Geekdom has created an entirely new way to mix plant and machine with a custom PC case that grows grass. I think he should call it the grow box. Catchy, huh?

Long seeking a project that would merge technology with nature and in possession of a cool basement with only a little sunlight, Schropp decided to harness the heat of the mighty Pentium 4 processor to assist in the growing of healthy wheatgrass. I never said it was a powerful PC.

I can't exactly recall when the idea came to me, but at some point I started wanting to use the heat from a computer as a way to warm the soil and help with germination/growth. I'm about as far from a botanist as it comes, I did some reading online and became pretty interested in the effects of soil temperature on germination/growth. I read different studies and papers from various universities. It was not too long into that process that I became hooked on the idea of using computer heat as a way to control the soil temperature of some sort of living plant life.

Well his experiment paid off. Now his developing geek offspring has a learning computer that teaches farming as well as computing.

I'm just glad he didn't create anything people might try to replicate in order to perpetrate illegal activities. I doubt it would work with more expensive plants anyway. Now with a grow light mod...

Bio Computer [Total Geekdom via Boing Boing]

Nvidia Wants to Stream Your Next GPU to You [Nvidia]

Kate Cox — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:20:00 EDT

NVidia made a splash at the 2012 GPU Technology Conference (GTC) this week, with the announcement of their first virtual, cloud-based GPU.

CEO Jen-Hsun Huang showed a presentation explaining how the Nvidia VGX, based on the new Kepler architecture, can distribute streaming graphics processing. They're aiming their new tech both at businesses and at gamers, and unveiling a service they call the GeForce GRID.

The idea behind the GRID tech is that games can have a device-agnostic, location-blind future. A droid phone or an iPad doesn't have the physical footprint to cram an Nvidia GTX 670 (and its heatsink needs) on board, but can access the graphics processing power remotely and stream it to your face.

Huang demonstrated the principle on-stage with a demo from upcoming mech shooter Hawken, being played live on a television. Not on a console connected to a television, but rather on a television with an ethernet cable and a controller plugged into it, streaming the game directly.

In their press release, Nvidia promises that the GRID can work just as quickly, if not more so, than being plugged directly into a device with a GPU on board: " The latency-reducing technology in GeForce GRID GPUs compensates for the distance in the network, so gamers will feel like they are playing on a gaming supercomputer located in the same room. Lightning-fast play is now possible, even when the gaming supercomputer is miles away."

While controls and human input still remain an issue, if top-notch streaming graphics processing catches on, the future of on-the-go gaming could see a great boost from the tech. A laptop or tablet that couldn't, by itself, support running a brand-new game now can. For now, Nvidia is partnering with cloud-based game-delivery service Gaikai, who will use the tech, presumably, to make their streaming game offerings snazzier-looking and more responsive.

Unravel Society's Disaster in Analogue: A Hate Story [Analogue: A Hate Story]

Kate Cox — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:00:00 EDT

It's the far future. You're a salvager, and you've been notified that a derelict, ancient 25th-century colony ship, one of the generation ships Earth sent out eons before you were born, has been found drifting aimlessly in space. Your task is to dig through all of the log files you can turn up on board the long-abandoned Mugunghwa and find out just what happened to the ship, its passengers, and its crew in centuries long gone, and why it never reached its destination. Welcome to Analogue: A Hate Story.

Designer Christine Love's third game, following Digital: A Love Story and Don't take it personally babe, it just ain't your story, takes her trademark puzzle of storytelling out of its roots in the almost-past and near-present, and brings it far into the future by plumbing humanity's past.

The game is a mystery, told in a series of one-sided point-and-click conversations with the ship-board AI personalities, Hyun-ae and Mute. Each will be happy to tell you more about certain persons, places, or events you find mentioned in the ship's archived letters and logs, but both have their own agendas and neither is, on her own, entirely a reliable narrator. Only through talking with both can you begin to understand the intertwined story of the Smith and Kim families.

You'll access diaries, conversations, and dramas out of sequence and can read them in whatever order you wish. The more you read, the more you can ask your AI companions about. And the more you ask your AI companions about, the more you unlock to read about. Eventually, the maelstrom of names begins to resolve, and the web of stories connecting the ship-bound empire begins to take its true form.

It's a visual novel, a game about thinking rather than about fighting or doing. You're here to read, to learn, and to understand.

It's a family drama, a story of personal weakness, secrets, and relationships. You're here to judge, to condemn, and to pity.

It's a commentary on the very nature and structure of society, a "what-if" tale of speculative fiction drawn out to its nightmare conclusions. You're here to fear, to question, and to take sides.

The future that Analogue brings us is straight out of humanity's history: a rigid, hierarchical, patriarchal society where men run public lives and women live in the shadows. The gender politics are one story; the lost lives of those who lived them are another. The two intertwine as the tale goes on. It was not always this way, Analogue tells us, nor does it have to be again. But here is the thought experiment: let us remove this society from the Earth, leave it on its own in a bottle, and see what happens...

As a player, I love a good dystopia, and I love a good mystery; any chance to play through the mystery of a dystopia is one I'll always jump at. And the joy of playing through darkness of Analogue is in discovering the twists and turns yourself, so I'll say very little about them. The story pulled me in startlingly quickly, in the same way a good novel does, and I found myself flipping virtual pages as quickly as I could while still trying to be sure I caught all the details.

Analogue offers five divergent outcomes, and I know I haven't seen nearly all the game has to offer. I plan to go back and find out more. Because if I don't, I'll be up until the wee hours of the night, wondering. And that's the sign of a mystery well spun.

Analogue: A Hate Story [Official Site - Mac, PC, Linux]

Analogue: A Hate Story [Steam - Mac, PC]

Here’s Why You Should Take a Vacation with Dynamite Jack [Video]

Evan Narcisse — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:40:00 EDT

A little while back, I took a look at Dynamite Jack and really enjoyed the explodey stealth action provided by this indie game.

Well, the game's out on Steam now for the low price of $4.99 and comes with a map editor that lets you craft your own twisting, teasing levels. Watch the trailer above and you'll get a tongue-in-cheek glimpse at what's waiting for you in developer Phil Hassey's newest creation.

Dynamite Jack [$4.99, Steam]

Tribes: Ascend Breaks 1 Million Downloads in Its First Month [Blip]

Kirk Hamilton — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:30:00 EDT

Hi-Rez' free-to-play shooter Tribes: Ascend is doing quite well—it has been downloaded 1.2 million times in its first month, with 110,000 people joining through the game's friend-referral system.

Does the GeForce GTX 670 Spell Trouble For AMD? [Techspot]

Steven Walton | Techspot — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:20:00 EDT

After many months of talking up its latest architecture, Nvidia reclaimed the single-GPU performance crown with its GeForce GTX 680, which outpaced the Radeon HD 7970 by about 7% in our tests. Kepler's arrival forced AMD to slash prices across its Southern Islands lineup, including a $70 drop on the HD 7970, putting it at $479 or about 4% cheaper than the GTX 680's MSRP of $499.

The HD 7950 also took a $60 cut to $399, making it one of the most tempting 7000 series cards because it has no equal — or had no equal, we should say. Continuing Kepler's rollout, Nvidia has unveiled the GTX 670, which is priced against the HD 7950 at $399. Despite being $100 cheaper than the GTX 680, the GTX 670 doesn't appear to be much slower on paper, and that could spell disaster for AMD.

The GTX 670 shares the GTX 680's DNA, as it's powered by the same GK104 GPU and has many other similarities. For example, it uses 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 6GHz and features the new SMX units and GPU Boost technology. Although it's targeting the HD 7950's pricing, Nvidia says its crosshairs are actually on the HD 7970 in terms of performance. Again, a scary notion for AMD.

All this posturing means very little if gamers can't actually buy GTX 600 series products. It's been nearly two months since the GTX 680 launched, but as of writing, you can't purchase one online. Poor availability not only means that it's hard to find a GTX 680, but it also means many people have paid more than the $499 MSRP, which dents the card's full value potential.

We hope Nvidia solves this soon, especially if the GTX 670 is everything it's chalked up to be...

Gainward's GTX 670 in Detail

Having recently reviewed Gainward's GeForce GTX 680 Phantom, we're pleased to be looking at the company's premium version of the GTX 670. The Phantom edition card boasts a reworked PCB with an upgraded power phase, factory overclocking and a massive triple slot cooler. Gainward used the GTX 680 to introduce its second-generation Phantom cooler, and the GTX 670 receives the same treatment.

The GTX 670's Phantom heatsink measures 185mm long, 70mm wide and 17mm tall (7.28in x 2.75in x 0.66in), making it considerably smaller than the GTX 680's 225mm x 70mm x 40mm heatsink. It has a black fan shroud that forces the 80mm fans to draw air in through the grill above them and push it over fins below.

Although the smaller heatsink surprised us, we're more shocked at how compact the GTX 670 Phantom's PCB is. Without a cooler, it measures only 17.3cm (6.81in) long, making the shortest high-performance graphics card we've seen. To put this in perspective, the Radeon HD 6450 also measures 17cm and that's an ultra-low-end HTPC card. With the heatsink and shroud installed, the GTX 670 Phantom is 24.3cm (9.56in) long, which is still slightly shorter than the GTX 680's 25.5cm body.

You'll notice some layout changes between the GTX 670 and 680. Nvidia moved the power supply to the west side of the GPU (much closer than on traditional boards), then rotated the chip to improve power integrity and increase efficiency. With the GTX 670's power circuitry moved to the other side of the board, the right side of the PCB was empty and thus removed to save space.

Whereas the GTX 680 Phantom had a large heatspreader that covered its entire PCB to cool the GDDR5 memory and 6-phase power, the GTX 670 Phantom abandoned this design. Instead, the GDDR5 memory is naked while the power phase is cooled by a separate aluminum heatsink.

Gainward also performed a little factory overclocking, but before we talk clock speeds, let's explore the GTX 670's GPU in a little more detail. The card ships with 1344 CUDA cores and 7 SMX units, 1 SMX unit and 192 CUDA cores less than the GTX 680. There are also slightly less TAUs, 112 down from 128, while the ROPs remain at 32.

The memory subsystem is identical to the GTX 680, consisting of four 64-bit controllers (256-bit) with 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 6008MHz (DDR). The memory bandwidth remains at 192.2GB/s.

Nvidia's specification for the base clock frequency is 915MHz while the average Boost Clock speed is 980MHz. Gainward has increased the base clock frequency to 1006MHz, while the memory operates at 6108MHz, boosting the bandwidth to 195.5GB/s.

The rest of Gainward's card remains fairly standard, including a pair of SLI connectors, 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors, and an I/O panel configuration consisting of HDMI, DisplayPort and two DVI ports.

Test System Specs & 3Dmark 11

Core i7 Test System Specs

Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition (3.30GHz)
x4 2GB G.Skill DDR3-1600(CAS 8-8-8-20)
Gigabyte G1.Assassin2 (Intel X79)
OCZ ZX Series (1250w)
Crucial m4 512GB (SATA 6Gb/s)
Gainward GeForce GTX 680 Phantom (2048MB)
Gainward GeForce GTX 670 Phantom (2048MB)
Gainward GeForce GTX 680 (2048MB)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 590 (3072MB)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 (1536MB)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 570 (1280MB)
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 Ti (1024MB)
HIS Radeon HD 7970 (3072MB)
HIS Radeon HD 7950 (3072MB)
HIS Radeon HD 7870 (2048MB)
HIS Radeon HD 7850 (2048MB)
HIS Radeon HD 6990 (4096MB)
HIS Radeon HD 6970 (2048MB)
HIS Radeon HD 6950 (2048MB)
HIS Radeon HD 6870 (1024MB)
HIS Radeon HD 5870 (1024MB)
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
Nvidia Forceware 301.34
AMD Catalyst 12.4

Impressively, the GTX 670 delivered virtually the same score as the GTX 590 in the 3DMark 11 extreme test, while it was 10% faster than the HD 7970 and just 8% slower than the GTX 680.

Continue Reading

Benchmarks: Aliens vs. Predator, Metro 2033
Benchmarks: Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3
Benchmarks: Crysis 2, Dragon Age II
Benchmarks: Deus Ex, Hard Reset
Benchmarks: DiRT 3, Just Cause 2
Benchmarks: The Witcher 2, The Elder Scrolls V
Benchmarks: Alan Wake, King Arthur II
Power Consumption & Temperatures
Overclocking Performance
Final Thoughts

Republished with permission from:
Steven Walton is a writer at TechSpot. TechSpot is a computer technology publication serving PC enthusiasts, gamers and IT pros since 1998.

Tera MMO Log Part Two: An Axe to Grind [Video]

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:00:01 EDT

Having spent a couple of weeks in the exiled world of Arborea in the delicate boots of a pretty pink Sorcerer, for my second MMO log I decided to take the long, strange trip to mid-level madness in something a little more sturdy.

Well, not too sturdy. My High Elf fixation continues, but instead of the flimsy robe of a caster, Center here dons full plate armor and wields an axe the size of a small car. He's still pretty though, which is what really counts.

Levels one through thirty in En Masse Entertainment's massively multiplayer online fantasy game are a relatively linear affair. You spend the first twelve or so on the starter island. After a brief trip to the gorgeous city of Velika it's off to Lumbertown, where a series of quests will carry you from zone to zone up into your mid-twenties. Then it's off to Popolion to fight the undead.

After that things open up a bit, giving the player some choice in which zones to play through and which to skip, but those first thirty-or-so levels are pretty much set in stone. That can be a problem.

There's a line of thought that in order for a player to get the most out of an MMO they should level a character of every class available. When the first twenty hours of content are exactly the same, a game's got to do something to keep the experience fresh.

Tera handles this issue better than most, once again thanks to its dynamic combat system.

Center is a Berserker, a profession with the same general damage role as a Sorcerer, but a much different way of going about it. Rather than staying at a distance and doing as much harm to the enemy as possible, the Berserker wades in axe swinging. When the enemy attacks he blocks, blows glancing off him as he waits for an opening. There's a great deal of timing involved, but when I get it just right even the most threatening creatures cannot touch me.

So as I progressed through some 35 levels as Center I reveled in this new type of combat. It was much different than simply having a different set of icons on my hot bar. It was an entirely new experience.

As a Berserker my role is in the middle of the fray (hence the name), standing off to the side and trying not to steal aggro from the tank. Despite being the class other than the Lancer that can wear metal armor, the Berserker doesn't have abilities dedicated to keeping a creature's attention while others are pounding on it with spells and swords.

This goes against everything MMOs have taught me up to now. The metal guy is the tank, the leather guy is damage, and the guy in cloth needs to stop casting so hard. Over the past week I've been asked to act as a groups tank at least a dozen times. There was a lot of dying involved.

Last week I said that the Lancer, with its massive shield and tree trunk-sized weapon, was the only viable tank class in Tera. Perhaps I should have said it was the only easy tank class. The dual-sword wielding Warrior is a tank class as well, but it takes an extremely good player to pull it off. Rather than being able to soak up damage, the leather-clad Warrior is about dodging, weaving, and generally annoying the hell out of enemies in order to keep them from eating the guy casting healing spells.

I've run instances with several Warrior tanks over the past week, and quite a few of them did a damn fine job, despite having a member of their party actively attempting to steal aggro to see if it could be done. Sorry, Warrior friends. I'll be better next time.

The game's visuals continue to impress, and every day I'm discovering new lands to explore and new creatures that slice to bits using my Final Fantasy-sized wood-chopping device. I put together a little video of the game's travel system to demonstrate both the range of Tera's scenery and the fact that the magical flying horses have no anuses.

So now I have an alt, but I like to think of him as my other main. While I am occupied with Blizzard's latest, Center sits waiting at level 35, while Back the Sorcerer accumulates rest experience for the big push towards level 48.

Next week I'll definitely take a look at crafting, and with the first elections coming up I might be able to offer a little insight into the political process.

Unless I make another alt, that is.

Kotaku's MMO reviews are a multi-part process. Rather than deliver day one reviews based on beta gameplay, we play the game for four weeks before issuing our final verdict. Once a week we deliver a log detailing when and how we played the game. We believe this gives readers a frame of reference for the final review. Since MMO titles support many different types of play, readers can compare our experiences to theirs to determine what the review means to them.

The Ultimate Video Game Setup [Screengrab]

Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:45:00 EDT

This image has been circulating everywhere on the Internet today, and for good reason: it's friggin' fantastic. With a setup like this, who needs real life?

I don't know how he managed to plug everything in at once, but I assume he has some sort of remote-controlled robot that adjusts his wires based on what he feels like playing at any given moment.

My friend will never be bored with his setup. [Reddit]

These Real-Life Versions Of Video Games Are Wonderfully Bizarre [Photos]

Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:30:00 EDT

I admit it's really strange to see Pac-Man with legs, but I love this picture nonetheless.

All of these photos, shot by German photographer Patrick Runte, are wonderful depictions of what it might be like if classic video games were brought to life in the real world.

The Pong one is especially bizarre (and cool).

Here’s How Epic Mickey 2 Will Look on the Xbox 360 [Video]

Evan Narcisse — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:00 EDT

Part of what you'll see in this latest teaser for Epic Mickey 2 is how the game looks on the Xbox 360. Warren Spector and the other developers from Junction Point talk up the visual upgrade that comes with moving to the PS3and Xbox 360 after having the first Epic Mickey come out only on the Wii. And that sure does seem to be a green A button. Better visuals and hope for a better camera? This Mickey game might be epic after all.

Peter Molyneux Will Provide Expert Analysis During E3 on Spike TV (And So Will We!) [E3 2012]

Stephen Totilo — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:30:00 EDT

Peter Molyneux is a creator of great video games, a recipient of the Order of the British Empire and, in the first week of June, he'll be the world's greatest E3 pundit, to boot.

The former head of Lionhead Studios and lead creator of such hits as Fable and Populous recently left Microsoft to become an indie developer at his new start-up 22 Cans. Lucky for us, that frees one of the video game's great visionaries and talkers to sound off on everything at E3.

Molyneux will be joining Spike TV's All Access Live marathon coverage of the first two days of E3, hopping in the pundit's seat alongside master of ceremonies Geoff Keighley to sound off on all of the show's biggest, best and worst news. Geoff, Peter and the rest of the Spike team will also be joined by a rotating team of Kotaku editors, all of us providing live analysis of the big Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA and Ubisoft press conferences—and much more, no doubt. The coverage will begin which on Monday, June 4 at 11:30 AM (ET)/ 8:30 AM (PT). We're partnering with Spike to stream all of that to you right here on Kotaku as well.

It's highly unusual to have a developer like Molyneux sitting in as a special correspondent to cover all the big gaming companies. Earlier this week, Geoff, Peter and I exchanged a few e-mails about all this. Here they are:

From: Geoff Keighley
To: Peter Molyneux, Stephen Totilo

Peter,

As I write this we are just three weeks away from the start of our live E3 coverage on Spike. I couldn't be more excited that you are joining our team as special correspondent throughout our 17 hours of worldwide coverage. For many years we've covered E3 like a major sporting event or election on Spike, but there's always been something missing: The insider's perspective. When you think about it, it's the rule rather than the exception that the Super Bowl broadcast features commentary from a former champ, or a network's election coverage will set context with thoughts from a former White House staffer. But up until this year broadcast coverage of E3 has remained the domain of journalists and analysts.

A few months ago I began thinking about how to take our E3 coverage to another level, which will include also commentary from Stephen and his editors at Kotaku for the second year running. I smirked at the mere thought of someone like you sitting at our E3 anchor desk, commenting on the press conference announcements and quizzing peers about their new games. Given your new independent status at 22 Cans, I sent you an email to ask if you'd be interested, because honestly I couldn't imagine anyone else who would be better at guiding our audience through the news. To my amazement you instantly said yes!

I'm sure this E3 will be different for you without a game to promote or back-to-back media appointments all day, but the upside is that you'll get to see a lot more games at our studio from big developers and indie studios. I know our viewers will be excited to hear your snap judgment and analysis.

I'm very excited and honored to have you on the team! Going into the show, what do you think will be the big story of E3 2012?

From: Peter
To: Geoff, Stephen

Geoff & Stephen

I have long admired your work at E3, and always wondered what life would be like to be on your side, rather than that of the developer. So when your email flew into my inbox I did not hesitate to say yes.

I am already losing sleep though excitement!

This E3 is going to be fascinating . Thoughts:

Sony and Msft are holding their breath on next gen interesting to see how they pad out another year. Price cuts, form factors?
Nintendo's slightly lack lustre Wii U is going to have to blow us away with better specs and great 1st party line up.
The real challenge is how the players are going to adapt to the mounting pressure of Facebook, Apple, Social, Cloud, Multi-Gaming.
Is the biggest news that E3 itself runs the risk of being outdated, or perhaps it already is?
I guess I am excited about GTA V, but only in a mildly curious way.
I am excited, as always, to hear from Valve.
I would expect some announcement from Bungie
God only knows what COD will have to destroy in the Press briefing demo, after last year's destruction of NY.

Thank you so much for having me on the team, please ask you makeup people to stock up on makeup for my bald shiny head.

Peter

From: Stephen
To: Peter, Geoff

Gentlemen,

This should be fun. It should also do wonders for Geoff's hair. Geoff, next to me and Peter you're going to look like you've got a lion's mane on your head. We're going to make you look good!

Peter, I like what Geoff is saying about how all these other big TV events include all-star veterans on their broadcasts and that it's high time someone like you was part of an E3 broadcast. That implies, of course, that there are things that reporters like me or Geoff don't see or see differently at an E3 than someone in your position would. Do you have a sense of what it is that game reporters tend to miss or look at differently?

Do we, say, miss some of the technical improvements that show up in E3 games from year to year? Or do you find yourself more capable of spotting the meddling of a publisher or a game demo that's all smoke-and-mirrors than someone in the E3 press corps might? I've got to think you can sniff some things out that I'd never even get a whiff of.

-Stephen

From: Peter
To: Stephen, Geoff

Lads,

Really depends on who you interview, so:

In Press Briefings it's all about what it means for the future, spotting the trends and asking why they didn't do the obvious. In my experience of EA and Msft its spotting the paranoia which is most fun.

For developers its getting though the desperation and finding the real passion (if any)

For publishers its understanding what's at stake and understanding motivation.

For PR people, I guess it's about poking and having fun with their often over the top PR speak.

In every developers heart is the fear that their work will be measured against the ‘Pillars' used in Publisher meetings when a project is green lit. If there is enough time going into detail about what the Pillars are and what they say about why a game/sequel is made, I think is fascinating.

Peter

From: Geoff
To: Peter, Stephen

Peter,

I love how you are framing up E3. Yes it's about the games, but it's also about the people behind those games and the emotional journey they go through during E3. As you well know, developers work for months to prepare their E3 demos. Things don't always pan out as they would hope. Having been at every E3, I always find it fascinating to see which games become the talk of the hallways and which ones start to lose traction. There really is so much at stake, and your insight into the E3 experience from a developer's perspective will add a unique angle to our coverage.

I can't wait to have you and Stephen join me in just a few short weeks to continue this discussion in person!

-Geoff

There you go. Peter Molyneux... E3 special correspondent. This is going to be awesome!

You'll be able to watch all of E3's biggest moments—the big five press conferences, the between-conferences analysis by Peter Molyneux, Geoff and the Kotaku team—on Spike TV and right here, live-streamed to Kotaku starting June 4.

We'll have more information about our E3 partnership with Spike's All Access team as the big show approaches.

Ballistic SE Explodes an Orgy of Kaleidoscopic Chaos onto Your Eyeballs [Video]

Evan Narcisse — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:40 EDT

Gorgeous explosions. Fast, frantic action. Clever, customizable design. These elements drive Ballistic SE into the category of games that reconfigures what you can expect out of a mobile gaming experience.

This twin-stick shooter starts off with a familiar old-school formula that sets players adrift in a sea of swarming enemies. But Ballistic adds on an upgrade system that lets you choose from drop mines in your wake, create bigger bomb blasts or max out the Ballistic power-up that slows down time and creates insane ricochets.

Indie developer RadianGames had previously released a version of Ballistic for Xbox Live but this version feels just as good, despite the lack of physical controls. If you equip the right loadout, it's possible to play Ballistic with one hand. This doesn't negate the challenge, though. You're constantly under attack from enemy clusters and, even with homing attacks blasting opponents for you, the tension of moving to safe spaces still remains riveting.

Once you start playing, it's easy to get entranced by the rhythm and action of Ballistic, to the point where you shut everything else out. It's damn good and happens to be on sale right now to celebrate RadianGames' second anniversary.

Ballistic SE [$0.99, iTunes]

Crying At Your Mailbox Is Only Appropriate When Lamenting The Absence Of Diablo III [Video]

Tina Amini — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:05 EDT

Nothing can elicit as much pain from your mailbox than not receiving the expected package of Diablo III.

Bills? Foreclosure notices? Rejection letters? Divorce papers? The cat grandma shipped you, forgetting about the luxuries of air and food? Nothing compares.

Max Payne's Bullet Time Adds a Gritty Noir Edge to Eating E-Z Cheese [Video]

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:03 EDT

What, you thought bullet time was just for shooting? That the voice of Max Payne's wife only haunts him during times of duress?

Look, just because Rockstar didn't include it in the game doesn't mean the film noir tropes of the game don't extend into our pilled-up heroes everyday life. It's what drives him to run around shooting people in delightfully horrible shirts. Angst is a great motivator, but nothing beats a dead wife nagging you to do things in slow motion.

"Bullet Time" - A Day In The Life Of Max Payne [YouTube]

Chalk Warfare Will Make Your Childhood Feel Incomplete [Video]

Tina Amini — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:02 EDT

Where the hell was this when I was a kid? Why did no one tell me about this hardcore spin-off of chalk gameplay?

Back in my day all we did was doodle and play hopscotch.

But in all seriousness, the special effects are phenomenal. The creator, whose work we've featured before, got some great detail in there. If you freeze the frames, you can see the pistol barrel firing back with each shot. So. Neat.

Wednesday Watch This, Play This [Watch This Play This]

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

Watch! The boring version of Max Payne and Bullet Time.

Watch! The mail came and went. Diablo III did not.

Play! Evan plays Ballistic SE on his iPad.

Watch! Chalk War is my new favorite game.

Lionhead Possibly Making a Hybrid MMO/Offline Game for the Next Xbox [Lionhead]

Evan Narcisse — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:30:00 EDT

Now that iconic game designer Peter Molyneux has left the studio he founded, many have wondered what might be next for Lionhead. According to several job listings, it might just be an MMO.

One LinkedIn listing outed on Twitter reports several openings for database and server programmers, along with a multiplayer designer. Now Lionhead's not named in the LinkedIn listing, but of the major game studios in South East England—Codemasters, EA and Splash Damage—the details line up best with the developers responsible for Fable. Some of the same positions also show up on Lionhead's Career page, as well.

The project in question will focus on a hybrid online/offline experience experience:

an RPG-based game with a radical new take on how co-operative and multiplayer gameplay feeds into the experience, while blending online and single player into one complete experience.

...the latest game that will have a complex progression system, multiple routes through the campaign, and an MMO like multiplayer experience that will affect the outcome of the player experience, and many other attributes surrounding their profile (such as the environment and the outcome of certain actions).
Due to the ambition in this new project, there are a number of areas where they need to increase their skill/expertise level in the studio to meet their goals

This mystery devlopment could also support a four-player co-op style, as well:

Multiplayer Level Designer – Ideally you will have worked on 4 player co-op games and will have a deep understanding of how levels should be built to promote this kind of gameplay in new and engaging ways.

If this is indeed Lionhead, it would make sense for them to staff up for multiplayer, which is a discipline they haven't had much experience in. If Fable Heroes was Lionhead dipping their toe into multiplayer waters, then a next-gen project for Durango would likely use the lessons learned from the recent Xbox Live game.

Kotaku has reached out to Lionhead for comment and will update the story as needed.

Update
Here's Lionhead's official comment:

"Lionhead is in the business of making great games. We regularly look to hire great individuals to help in this cause. We have no further details to share at this time."

[Via Twitter]

Halo 4 Will Have Weekly Multiplayer Episodes [Halo]

Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:00:00 EDT

Upcoming first-person shooter Halo 4 will have a whole bunch of multiplayer options, including a weekly episodic mode called "Spartan Ops," publisher Microsoft said today.

Spartan Ops is a series of episodes that will be released weekly and tell the story of the UNSC Infinity spaceship and its crew, Microsoft says. You'll get weekly cinematics and weekly missions. You can play the Spartan Ops missions in either single-player or co-op, and they're all totally free.

There's also a mode called War Games that will be more like the competitive multiplayer you've seen in other Halo games. They take place on the "combat deck" of the UNSC Infinity and they'll involve "visceral and immersive experiences," Microsoft says. Which is pretty much a meaningless description, but hey. Microsoft says it will reveal more details on the War Games soon.

It sounds like you'll have to dish out extra for maps in War Games mode, though. Microsoft is offering up a Halo 4 Limited Edition for preorder at $100 that comes with three map packs (each including three different maps) that will be all "available for download post-launch." The Limited Edition also ships with a bunch of new customization options and an enhanced 90-minute version of the upcoming live-action digital series Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.

Halo 4 will be out for Xbox 360 on November 6.

Gorgeous New Crysis 3 Screens Show Off Destroyed New York [Crysis]

Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:45:00 EDT

Check out these beautiful new pictures and concept art for Crysis 3, the upcoming sandbox shooter that will be released next year for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

There are aliens, a composite bow, and a whole bunch of rubble. It all looks pretty. Really pretty. Really really really pretty.

(We saw a few of these shots when they were leaked a few weeks ago, but most are new. And real official-like.)

Talk Amongst Yourselves [Official Kotaku Frorum]

Evan Narcisse — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:30:00 EDT

Welcome to Kotaku's official forum, known affectionately as Talk Amongst Yourselves. This is the place where we gather on a daily basis to discuss all things video game and existential. Want to talk about new games, old games, games that aren't even out yet? Knock yourselves out!

One thing you've got to hand to Kirby is that the little pink puffball never goes hungry. So, it's nice that Nintendo's cuddly hero decides to help out Angry Impoverished Dude by acquiring him some lunch. Thank you for the sucky TAYpic, The_Real_Pan1da7!

You can do funny things with pictures, right? Want everyone on this fine web forum to see? Here's what you do. Post your masterpieces in the #TAYpics thread. Don't forget to keep your image in a 16x9 ratio if you want a slice of Talk Amongst Yourselves glory. Grab the base image here. Don't forget to keep your image in a 16x9 ratio if you want a slice of TAY glory. The best ones will be featured in future installments of Talk Amongst Yourselves.

How I've Been Playing Diablo III, You Know, Aside From Sporadically [Diablo]

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:00:00 EDT

While Diablo III's error codes are being raved over by the gaming press, they've also managed to add an exciting element of chance to the review process.

Since Diablo III's servers weren't ready for play until 3AM Pacific (ready being a relative term) yesterday morning, a launch day review was pretty much out of the question. Esteemed members of the gaming press weren't able to play the full game early; needless to say I wasn't either.

So I'm right there with the rest of the world, desperately hoping that the next time the game launches won't be the last time before hours of system maintenance.

Here's where I'm at right now.

Who I Play
For my initial play through I selected the Demon Hunter, as I've always been a big fan of crossbows and capes. I selected a female character, because if I am going to be looking at an isometric view of an ass completely obscured by armor and only visible while the avatar is fighting things on the top half of the screen, it might as well be a pretty one.

Okay, that old MMORPG trope doesn't hold up. I just like playing female characters. It's a thing with me, and this thing just happens to click massive amounts of ass, so it works out in the end.

What I've Played
I've managed to reach the third chapter of Act Two of Diablo III so far, with my time played sitting at nearly nine hours. My Demon Hunter, Kotaku, has reached level 19. I've collected 35,773 gold pieces, killed 112 elite creatures, amassed 3,040 kills and earned 180 achievement points over the course of my career.

I began playing solo Tuesday morning at around 8AM Eastern, playing on and off throughout the day until the servers went down that afternoon.

Once servers came back up I joined a friend for some co-op action. You may have heard of him.

Our adventures lasted for several hours, until the game locked up and I couldn't log back in.

This morning, following a brief nap, I managed to squeeze in another hour before duty called.

I've invested heavily in crafting, training my blacksmith up to Adept level. He can now craft items three levels above my character's ability to equip them, so I'd say I am keeping up nicely.

How I Play
With my fingers planted on the shift key, keeping my feet firmly planted and sniping from afar.

The Demon Hunter is a ranged character. During the early stages of the game going toe-to-toe with hordes of beasties is a viable tactic, but as the challenge increases so does the amount of distance the Demon Hunter needs between herself and the eager claws of the enemy.

I seem to have developed a favorite skill configuration early on. For my primary attack I prefer Entangling Shot, an arrow that slows enemies' approach, giving me time to unleash my preferred secondary skill, Rapid Fire. Rapid Fire is Diablo III's answer to the machine gun. It lays waste to everything in its path.

Entangling Shot is modified with a Shock Collar rune, which manifests the skills slowing effect as electrified chains. Rapid Fire gets the Web Shot rune, further slowing enemy advances. With my trusty Templar NPC charging headlong into the fray, this is a winning combination. I've made a point to try out every new skill and rune that's been unlocked, but this is the one that works for me.

Rounding out my current skill lineup are Shadow Power (temporary life gain per kill), Spike Trap (basically a mine), Companion (a crow that bites enemies on the face), and Strafe (evasive move plus scattered arrows).

What's Left to Play

My plan is to finish the story on normal difficulty with my current character, continue briefly at a higher one, and then give each of the other classes a good hour or two of play.

How long will that take? Well that all depends on Blizzard. This is a developer that doesn't release its exciting new errors until they're done, so I never know what to expect. Give me a day or two; we'll see how it goes.