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We'll Be Seeing More Of Unreal Engine 4 This Year

Dan Ryckert — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:41:00 GMT

We haven't seen much of Unreal Engine 4 outside of that Samaritan tech demo released last year, but we'll be seeing more in 2012 according to Epic's Mark Rein. Speaking to G4 at DICE, he said "People are going to be shocked later this year when they see Unreal Engine 4 and how much more profound an effect it will have."

Considering we might also be seeing some new consoles announced at E3, this could be the year that we get our first peek at what next-gen visuals may resemble.

Source: G4 via Joystiq

Hasbro Reveals Fall Of Cybertron Toys

Matt Miller — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Today, Hasbro is formally announcing the first toys that will be tied to the upcoming release of High Moon Studios' Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. Not only will these new figures be directly inspired by the video game, but in a move sure to excite toy collectors, five of the announced figures all combine into one giant figure -- Bruticus.

Old-school bot enthusiasts will recall that Bruticus is the combined form of the five Decepticon-aligned Combaticons. We spoke with Jerry Jovoin, director of Transformers Brand, and Joshua Lamb, director of design for Transformers Brand at Hasbro, to learn more about the inspiration behind these new figures, and exactly what goes into making toys from an existing video game property.

After you read the interview, don't miss our complete gallery of Bruticus and the Combaticons, which shows images of the toys, and the art that inspired them. You can also see the first revealed screenshots of the playable Bruticus character from Fall of Cybertron.

War for Cybertron included a small number of toy figures adapted from the game designs. How did you make the decision to broaden that plan to do more toys, this time tied to the sequel?

Jerry Jivoin: Overall, there was so much excitement from the fans of the first game and the toys we did for them. We did a limited run of four toys the first time for War for Cybertron. And every convention we went to -- whether it was San Diego Comic Con, New York Comic Con, BotCon -- we always would get questions about whether we’re going to do more War for Cybertron toys. So, we were very aware of that. So, when we saw the Fall of Cybertron game, when Activision came in and showed us, it just blew us away what they were doing. We were seeing the assets in 2D. We saw how cool it was shaping up to be. They showed us the trailer and some of the game demo; it looked incredible. We were immediately, like, we’ve got to do toys of these. We know the fans want them. This is a great character lineup, with great styling, and with how big we think the game is going to be, this was almost an easy decision. It’s too rich to pass up on. We think the fans are going to love it.

For fans not immediately familiar with Bruticus and the Combaticons, can you explain who these characters are, and why it might be exciting to see all five together in a single toy line?

JJ: The characters are from the original classic storyline that came out in the 80s. The Combaticons are a Decepticon force of five different characters that actually combine into a gigantic character called Bruticus. Originally, he was one of the first combiners, which is a technology in the Transformers universe where a group of robots transform on their own, individually, but they also transform to combine into one gigantic character. So that’s the origin of the character. And now, Activision and High Moon are taking those characters and bringing them into the game. It’s just a perfect way to reimagine how we want to do Bruticus and the Combaticons.

Joshua Lamb: One of the great things, back in the original G1 was that Bruticus was a really strong character. He was very powerful and headstrong. A character like that; it’s exciting to get to recreate in a toy. Obviously, with the game coming out, and seeing some of the animatics, and how the character is represented in the game, it’s like, wow, that’s so powerful, hitting you over the head with this great character, and we just want to recreate that sensation in the toy.

JJ: Not all Transformers combine like this. For fans not familiar with it, you have these special teams within the Transformers universe, that combine into these gigantic characters. So it’s a unique type of Transformers within the fiction.

How will these new Fall of Cybertron toys fit into the wider rollout of Transformers toys in the coming year? Will they be part of an existing line, like Generations? Or an independent Transformers toy line by themselves?

JJ: These toys will be part of the Generations line. It fits perfectly in it as far as who the consumer is. The style fits within Generations. So we’re excited to bring them out as part of that line.

We’ve released other combiners over the years within the line. But it will be the first in that scale. These characters are in the Deluxe scale. That is a first for us to do. That these Deluxe size figures will combine into this really giant figure.

JL: Traditionally, our combiners have tended to be of a smaller scale, and they combine to create a Deluxe size or a little larger. In this case, each figure is already Deluxe size, so when you put them together you get this very impressive scale.

From a story perspective how do toy characters from Fall of Cybertron relate to characters who appear in the Transformers: Prime television show and toy line?

JJ: The characters in the video game, like Optimus Prime and Megatron, also show up in the Prime show. It’s another story that we’re telling and the characters that are a part of that universe. It’s another chapter of that story. This story takes place on Cybertron, whereas Prime takes place on Earth. It’s just another story within that timeline. This is that part of the story.

JL: The great part about that is that by taking these stories and putting them in different locations and running side by side with each other, it opens up the door to more and more unique characters. Instead of having, say, six characters from the show, the movies, or the games, we’re able to bring in new characters to fill out these separate stories.

JJ: It’s the same continuity. The story that is going on in Fall of Cybertron, this is before they’ve left Cybertron. This is before they come to Earth. Prime is after they’ve come to Earth. It’s all the same continuity, it’s just different points in the timeline.

Are the Combaticons going to be each packaged separately for sale, or together as part of a Fall of Cybertron set?

JJ: They’ll be sold as the individual characters within the Deluxe assortment, and so that we ensure that they all get out there at the same time, we’re going to put them in the same case pack. They should all show up at retail at the same time.

JL: One of the great things about that is knowing that we’re going to launch these as their own individual Deluxe characters, where a consumer can pick one of these up and it’s a figure within itself. It really challenged us to make sure that each character on their own was a fully functional Transformer. You have a vehicle mode and you have a robot mode. You have the weapons. All together it stands as its own product. And, as a phenomenal bonus, you get this uber character. But they are, individually, their own character.

Back in the day, when you’d get combiner figures, you’d sometimes get individual pieces that were meant to be part of the larger figure, like the head or hands. Will there be those sorts of pieces with this set?

JL: The larger figure’s parts are all drawn from the individual character’s transformations. There are no floating pieces that you have to store or hold on to and wait until a later date. Each one on its own – it’s all there. Again, it’s a challenge from designing them, but they came out magnificently.

While you're announcing the Combaticons as figures drawn from the Fall of Cybertron games, can fans expect any other characters from the game to show up within the toy line in a later announcement?

JJ: Yes. We do plan to do more Fall of Cybertron toys, which will be revealed later. We’re very excited about doing additional toys as well. [editor's note: Hasbro also revealed Fall of Cybertron toys for Optimus Prime, Jazz, and Shockwave earlier today]

When do you expect fans will first be able to purchase toys inspired by Fall of Cybertron?

JJ: Currently, right now we’re targeting Fall of 2012. It will be around the August-September time frame at retail, which should put it in line with the video game release.

So, that’s when you’ll have a lot of collectors scrambling around trying to find all five characters?

JL: One thing that we designed and worked in early on is that Brawl is the center character, but as far as the arms and the legs, we designed them all appropriately so that they can all be hands or legs. For some reason, if somebody just has to put together that larger figure, and they find two Blastoffs, but can’t find a Vortex, they can do that. There is room for customization within the character himself. We worked really hard to have each character have a hand or a foot in it. You can really swap it around.

As a toy designer, is it more or less challenging to work with an existing visual design for a character, as you have with these characters drawn from visual designs crafted at High Moon Studios? Are those challenges compounded by the decision to make a combiner toy, like Bruticus?

JL: There’s two parts to to a designer’s job. Part of it is designing the product, but the other half is trying to sell it internally to the sales team and through the whole corporate structure. When you get incredible artwork, like we’ve gotten from High Moon, that shows off these characters, the selling just happens immediately. That half of my job is all of a sudden tremendously easier. Because I have this gorgeous art, and I can say, look what we’re going to do. And everybody in the company just says we’ve got to do that. On the flip side, when you’re trying to create a transformation that matches up to the designs, that is very challenging. It’s something that we’re very fortunate that we have this incredible team of designers that work on these projects that just know how to manipulate the pieces around and create the plastic to match the art. It is more difficult than when we’re coming up with it on our own, but that’s part of the fun. The more challenging it is, the better off the product ends up.

Why is that?

JL: It’s just a passion and a love for what they’re doing. If you have a passion for something, and you’re challenged at it, you strive to make it the best that you can. If it’s all easy, you just start saying, yeah, I can do this during my lunch time, and it’s no problem. It’s easy to not put as much effort into it. With Transformers already being such a challenging toy to design already, on top of that, getting artwork and character designs from wherever they come in from – it’s awesome. It’ s a huge challenge. And it really creates some of our best Transformers.

Can you walk me through the process of an individual toy's creation, from concept to final colored version? Are changes often made along the way? How long does the entire process take?

JL: Overall, it’s about a two year process, from early concept to when the product hits the shelf. Sometimes it gets scrunched a little more. So, in this case, we got it kicked off a while back, which is why we’re so excited to finally discuss it. It’s been on our plates for the last year. The way the process works, and the process is a little more complex with Transformers than with some of the other brands within Hasbro, is that the product line is really a marriage of two companies. There’s Hasbro and there’s Takara Tomy, in Japan. Even though we’re two separate companies, the people at Hasbro working on Transformers, and the people at Takara Tomy working on the brand, we are really one team. We are a complete partnership. What happens throughout the design process is finding a designer in our Rhode Island building here, and a designer at the Takara Tomy building. The designers work really closely with one another. What kind of features do you want to hit? What playability do you want? What kind of novel feature are we trying to put in there? Together, with these goals in mind, we come out with these incredible products. They really go from a sketch stage to an early quick model stage, then the next step is a fine-tuned model that is completely hand built. We have one of those in front of us right now. These models are incredible. Both the team at Hasbro and Takara Tomy are so vested in designing Transformers, and they understand the process so well, that even though they’re incredibly complicated, you watch these designers work on these, and it’s like magic. They’re working on them, and the next thing you know, you’ve got this Transformer in your hands. It’s a hand-built prototype. Because these guys are so talented, what they deliver as far as the hand-built prototype, is almost always dead on to what we ship in production. We take that prototype out to be tooled up – there’s a process by which that prototype goes out and they make the tools at the factory. The handwork that goes into one of these – it’s so detailed that the prototype is really very similar to what you hold in your hands as the final production model.

Are those hand models built to scale?

JL: Yep. They’re built exactly to scale, with all the articulation, everything. All the details, all the scribe lines, face sculpting detail. It’s a hand built model. It’s amazing to be able to play with these. Not only are they hand built with all the detail, but they fully transform, and they’re robust enough that you can transform them. Not like a production model – I could break this pretty easily. But with careful movements I can transform it from a vehicle back into a robot. That’s what we use, not only to evaluate, but these hand built models are also what we end up painting up to sell the product in. So when we go to presentations internally and externally, we use them, as well as the package shots – when you look at the back of a package that is a hand painted model that you’re looking at. It’s usually a hand painted model that we played with, trying to figure out what we were doing. If you want to see how good those models look, just look at any package.

Being more fragile than a production model, do you have these break from time to time?

JL: Oh, every day.

So, there are extras?

JL: It depends on the character. Obviously, with a character like Bruticus that we’re very excited about, we probably have maybe ten sets built and decorated. The first set we built to figure out what we’re doing. The other hand built sets are put together for different types of sales presentations, to be shipped around globally.

After these hand-built models are put together, there aren’t a lot of changes made?

JL: When we come to the manufacturing process, there are changes with some articulations. Not with how the character articulates overall, but some of the joints. Do we want to use a ball joint or a pin? Usually, once you built the model, you’re 99% there.

What is the experience like working with High Moon Studios? Is there much interaction and iteration on a design with the team there when putting together a character's look?

JJ: The great thing is High Moon and Activision are great parnters. With Transformers, we have this great brand, and Hasbro really drives the process of working with Activision and High Moon. Aaron Archer is our vice president of Transformers, and he works on a lot of the storytelling and IP creation, and he works directly with Activision and High Moon to really drive the story and the character selection, the look and feel of it. Once we get into the actual design, there’s a lot of back and forth to really represent the characters and the brand in the best way possible. We’ll work with Takara Tomy on the toy design and the transformation, but the early stages of the brand are really driven by Hasbro and our IP group led by Aaron Archer, along with Activision and High Moon.

JL: Jerry is absolutely right. Aaron has his office, and it has the map of the brand, and where we want it to go. You can go into Aaron’s office, and be talking about 2015 or 2016 – years away. What’s going to happen in 2016 as far as where the Transformers story is going. Archer has all that. He doesn’t have it all solved. He has the ideas. It’s all mapped up there. It comes out of his office and his team and gets funneled to Activision or other media. The great thing for Jerry and I, we’re very fortunate, Archer is just great to work with, and he includes Jerry and myself in his meetings on where the brand wants to go. And once all that is worked out, we can go back to our teams and say: here’s what’s happening. Here is this character. It’s going to be Bruticus.

In recent years, as evidenced by these toys, Hasbro has been looking increasingly at toys tied directly to video games, rather than always a tie to a cartoon. Why is that happening? What is it about video games that has Hasbro offering increased support in that direction?

JJ: When we look at video games, they’re great storytelling devices. The high quality of the game makes it another great way to tell another part of the Transformers story. And we’ve got many fans of different expressions – whether it’s the video game format, or Prime, or the movie, or classic G1, there’s a lot of variation in Transformers fans around the world. And this is just a great way to tell another story along that timeline. And we’re excited to bring that to the fans.

Sony Video Prepares Gamers For Vita Launch

Dan Ryckert — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:03:00 GMT

We're not far from Vita's February 22nd launch, and Sony wants to make sure gamers know about the assortment of features included in the portable. This week, the official Playstation Blog released a 12-minute "Welcome to Playstation Vita" video to help gamers know what to expect.

You can check out the video below.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

The Binding Of Isaac's German Rating Raised For "Blasphemy"

Dan Ryckert — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:53:00 GMT

Inspired by the Biblical story of Abraham, The Binding of Isaac doesn't shy away from religious references. According to designer Edmund McMillen's Twitter page, that's the reason for a rating change in Germany.

His tweet reads: "Turns out Isaac is the 1st and only game to ever get its rating raise to 16 because of "Blasphemy" it actually had a 12+ 1st."

The Last Guardian Is Still Going To Happen, Sony Reassures

Dan Ryckert — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:38:00 GMT

With Fumito Ueda now working on the title on a contract basis, many have wondered what the status of Sony's The Last Guardian is. Despite plenty of concern, Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida recently reassured that the game is still going to happen.

In an interview with 1up, Yoshida said "The project has been making progress, but slow progress. So that's tough, but we haven't changed any focus. It's still a really important project and a vision we want to see realized, and Fumito's vision is really causing a very difficult challenge for the developers, so there's some scrapping and rebuilding -- iteration in the process. That's why [it's taking so long]."

No word on when to expect the long-in-development title, but here's hoping we see it this generation.

Temple Run Hits 36 Million Downloads On iOS

Dan Ryckert — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:19:00 GMT

If you've played Temple Run on iOS, you're probably aware of just how addictive it can be. You're also nowhere near the first person to realize this, as the game has surpassed 36 million downloads.

Also of note, my score of 5,408,964 is still higher than Reiner's 2,809,728.

Source: Gamasutra

EA Announces Rosario Dawson And Brian Cox For Syndicate Voice Cast

Dan Ryckert — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:44:00 GMT

In a recent press release, Electronic Arts and Starbreeze announced some details regarding Syndicate's voice cast. Hollywood talent Rosario Dawson and Brian Cox will play roles in the game, portraying Lily Drawl and Jack Denham, respectively.

In a statement that totally sounds like it was written by Rosario herself, she said "I’m amazed how videogames have become so deep in story, delivering fantastic worlds and memorable characters rivaling big Hollywood films. I was excited when EA approached me to play Lily Drawl in Syndicate. She’s an interesting and strong female character. How cool is it to play the mastermind who designed the military chip inside the player’s head!”

Syndicate will also be noteworthy for being the 7,000th video game that Brian Cox has provided a voice for.

Frictional Teasing Follow-Up To Amnesia

Dan Ryckert — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:37:00 GMT

If you played Frictional Games' surprise hit Amnesia: The Dark Descent, we hope you've emerged from that fetal position by now. If you have, you'll be pleased (or terrified) to learn that the developers apparently have something else up their sleeves.

A new teaser site (found at nextfrictionalgame.com) doesn't say much, but the Amnesia mention makes us wonder if it's a full-on sequel. Interestingly, if you click on the image, it takes you to this Google map of China. No hints regarding what that's about, but we're curious to see what the studio has in store next.

What Does The Academy Of Interactive Arts And Sciences Think Of The Spike Video Game Awards?

Kyle Hilliard — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:19:00 GMT

The Spike Video Game Awards is a divisive show. Every year the awards become both a source of complaint for those who want to the see the entertainment medium treated as art, and an exciting spectacle for those who like to see their favorite hobby spend time in the spotlight.

Some of the people involved with the show have complaints about the VGAs’ tendency to ignore the games in favor of the celebrity guests and extraneous non-video game related segments. Then there are others who enjoy the bright lights and music. Hideo Kojima, the man behind the Metal Gear series, tweeted that future announcements regarding his game may even be at the VGAs instead of E3 or other comparable shows.

The folks in charge of the Interactive Achievement Awards seem to appreciate the show. Here’s what a few members of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences think of the Spike VGAs and how it compares to the annual IAAs (don't forget to check out the just-announced Interactive Achievement Award winners this year):

“I think they’re highly entertaining. I go every year.”
-Ted Price, president and CEO of Insomniac Games

“Well, um, personally I think all the pornography awards are bad. Oh wait a minute, that’s not the question.

"Sorry, that wasn’t a shot at the other guys, there are just a tremendous amount of award shows out there of all kinds. We’re a part of that real estate. There are great awards like BAFTA [British Academy of Film and Television Arts] that are the product of long standing organizations trying to be relevant in our business and trying to reach the customers that they increasingly understand are a part of the broader audience that they want to talk to, in their case, about films. And we think that’s great. We think that when BAFTA has awards about what we do we think that does nothing but make us look like a part of the entertainment business, that’s great. I think the VGAs are a good example of an award that tries to talk to the customers and ask what they want and what they think is great. The customer-oriented awards are an important expression that you really want to hear and I know that when people win those they know it’s the product of customers speaking their minds about what they think is great. At the end of the day, I think our little spot is that we represent the crafts people love, what our business believes are the best of the best, and that’s usually a special responsibility that’s a little different than those other guys.”
-Rich Hilleman, chief creative director at Electronic Arts and co-creator of Madden

“I think the VGAs are a fantastic show as entertainment, as well as a vehicle for publishers to announce a new title. It has a very broad reach and the show is very good at producing constant entertainment value and the positioning and timing of it prior to any other awards coming in typically starts toward the end of the year through the early spring time frame. It kicks off kind of the whole awards streak, so people have some additional interest to look up which are the games that we will be seeing in many other awards shows and selections. It’s very interesting and fun to watch, and some announcements are very exciting. Yeah, I like it.”
-Shuhei Yoshida, senior vice president of product development for Sony Computer Entertainment

“I think they all have their place. I think that one thing that sets the academy apart is an award by people’s peers. And that’s something that the people that receive the award, they really are flattered by because it is voted on by basically their peers in the industry. Much like the Academy Awards, it carries that level of prestige. There is certainly a place for the other awards and they do a good job and it’s great, and they help us all in the industry, but there is something to be said by being recognized by your peer in the industry.”
-Denny Thorley, President of development at Day 1 Studios

Replay: MediEvil

Tim Turi — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:00:00 GMT

The PlayStation served as a training ground for many developers looking to tap the new market for 3D games. One such game is MediEvil, a goofy, Halloween-coated action game that put players in the greaves of the deceased knight Sir Dan. Does the 1998 gameplay hold up? Or is it showing signs of decomposition?

Join your host Andrew Reiner, Ben Reeves, and myself as we dust off this PlayStation relic and have another go. We confront hordes of over-caffeinated zombies, conquer piles of broken glass, and engage in a harrowing battle with a stained glass golem.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Want more Replay? Check out every episode over at our hub page.

Atlus Gives You A Second Chance To Buy Radiant Historia

Phil Kollar — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:30:00 GMT

If you missed last year's excellent DS RPG Radiant Historia, you may have discovered that it's now very difficult to find this game. As is common with Atlus-published titles, a small initial batch was released that quickly sold out. Thankfully, Atlus will be putting out a second printing of Radiant Historia, so here's your chance to not miss out again.

According to an e-mail sent out by Atlus today, a new shipment of Radiant Historia will hit Amazon, EB Games, and possibly other retailers in late March. Sadly this second printing will not come with the soundtrack that was included with the original run of copies.

While the renewed chance to buy this great game is definitely good news, you might want to act on it quickly, as I'm sure there will be only a small number manufactured once again. If you want to know why you should buy Radiant Historia while you still have the chance, read Joe's review, which I agree with completely. This is one of the best Japanese RPGs in years. Play it!

Weekend Warrior 02/10/12

Ben Reeves — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:40:00 GMT

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend; maybe we should be spending a few days trying to woo our significant others back into our good graces. Instead, we’ll be broadening the gap by playing a lot of video games. We’ll buy them a big Christmas gift at the end of the year, so we’re sure everything will even out in the end.

Jeff Marchiafava: The past few weekends I have vowed and failed to beat Saints Row: The Third. This week I picked up Skate 3 as a complete impulse buy, further ensuring I will fail again. When I’m not mutilating my skater in Skate 3’s Hall of Meat challenges (by far the best addition to any skateboarding game), I’ll probably spend some time playing Pinball FX 2 – Jeff Cork sent me a message saying he beat my Thor score, so now it’s on!

Jeff Akervik: Having recently wrapped up Skyward Sword, I finally returned to a game I got derailed from over a year ago thanks to Mass Effect 2…Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. It's my hope to finish Ezio's Roman romp before Mass Effect 3 hits early next month. If not, well, Ezio might be relegated to the sidelines yet again. But, so far so good. Other than that, it's pretty slim as far as gaming goes. My 3DS continues to collect not only dust, but my eternal regret for buying what is undoubtedly a flawed device. Curse you Ocarina of Time 3D. Oh yeah, the Gophers are at Denver for a big series in the WCHA this weekend. You know you care. I sure do.

Ben Hanson: The adventures continue in Pokemon SoulSilver, I wasted several hours catching Lugia, but I am still in love with that game. I recently realized that the release of Mass Effect 3 is quickly approaching and time is running out to play through Mass Effect 2 again since I lost my precious save. I’m looking to follow the same path as before, but this time I will be damn sure that Tali lives to fight another day. I’ve also been considering purchasing Halo Anniversary and the Metal Gear Solid HD collection, we’ll see if it happens this weekend. Oh, and ping pong.

Phil Kollar: I’ll be spending most of my weekend preparing for deadline and (hopefully) finishing up my journey across time in Final Fantasy XIII-2. Assuming both of those go alright, I’m also picking up the Jak Collection and Resident Evil: Revelations, but I may not actually get to those until next week. GAMESGAMESGAMESGAMESGAMES

Tim Turi: My weekend will be consumed with working on another play through of Resident Evil: Revelations, this time with the Circle Pad Pro. I’ll also be cleaning up my first run of Sly Cooper and hopefully be starting the Jak and Daxter HD Collection.

Jeff Cork: I’m going to be exploring the magical land of Kingdoms of Amular: Reckoning this weekend. I just started it last night, but I liked what I played so far. And yes, of course, Pinball FX 2. Always Pinball FX 2.

Kyle Hilliard: This weekend, I will be working on a review of a game that I don’t think I can identify. When I am not doing that, I’ll be playing the Jak & Daxter collection. And while that is installing, or the PlayStation 3 is updating, or whatever other time consuming PlayStation 3 activity occurs, I’ll be circle-padding it up with Resident Evil Revelations. It’s also time for the baby to start eating solid foods, so that should be an adventure that requires no clean-up. Babies are very careful, purposeful eaters from what I have heard.

Dan Ryckert: Working on weekend news as well as a couple of review games. Outside of the work hours, I think I’ll be spending plenty of time with Soulcalibur V.

Paramount And Namco Bandai To Co-publish Star Trek

Kyle Hilliard — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:25:08 GMT

Namco Bandai and Paramount have announced a co-publishing deal for the upcoming Star Trek game that will be based on the J.J. Abrams Star Trek universe.

The game was shown at E3 last year, and it is set to release near the release of the film in 2013. The movie has a set release date of May 17, and we should see the game before then. The game will feature Kirk and Spock and the likeness of the actors playing them, but it is a stand-alone story unrelated to the film.

This Valentine's Day, Shoot Sweet Tooth's Truck – For Real

Jeff Cork — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Sony's going to be marking the Valentine's Day release of Twisted Metal with a bang. Or a series of more than 100,000 of them. In a launch-day stunt, the publisher is giving fans a chance to use their PCs to seize control of a fully automatic weapon and fire it into the side of Sweet Tooth's iconic truck.

Series creator David Jaffe walks you through the event in the video below. If you're interested in giving it a whirl, visit the official web site for more details.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Look for Twisted Metal on the PS3 this Valentine's Day, or February 14, for the romantically impaired.

Shank 2 Review: Blinded By Bloodlust

Phil Kollar — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:40:00 GMT

The first Shank was a gorgeously animated action game that suffered from some badly designed levels. Given a second chance at creating a gory tale of vengeance, developer Klei Entertainment has fixed a lot of tiny problems in Shank 2, but the major frustrations from the first game have largely stuck around.

The biggest shift in Shank 2 comes in the form of much smarter controls. Instead of the attack button also grabbing healing drinks, there’s now a dedicated button for picking up health drops, so you won’t use them accidentally while fighting. The mostly useless block button is now gone entirely, with a smoother and more reliable dodge move mapped to the right stick.

While I felt significantly more in control than in the last game, the developer has balanced out the newfound precision by throwing out more (and denser) waves of enemies. By the final few levels, every encounter becomes a slog to see if you can survive another 20 or 30 enemies in difficult new configurations with infrequent checkpoints. At first it’s fun, but eventually there are too many bodies on screen to keep track of the action, which is a major problem when enemies wielding guns or Molotov cocktails pop up in the corner.

In addition to moving better than before, main character Shank can pick up weapons dropped by enemies, lending welcome variety to the combat. I enjoyed occasionally switching to a baseball bat, lead pipe, or even kitchen sink when I got bored of chainsawing enemies, and each weapon has its own speed and damage potential to learn. Though Shank’s weapon options have increased, he can no longer swap between core weapons on the fly. Now you choose a loadout at the start of each area and can only modify it when you die. I don’t understand why Klei would limit Shank’s arsenal in such an arbitrary way while allowing him to pick up any random weapon off the ground.

Even if you’re able to appreciate the combat, one thing you certainly won’t find in Shank 2 is a compelling motivation for all the bloodshed. While the original game’s plot was thin, Shank was at least given reason for murdering everyone in his path. The supporting cast is larger now, but the brief and soulless cutscenes don’t provide any reason to care about the characters nor enough evidence to warrant a massacre. I don’t think a stylish action game needs a deep plot, but if developers are devoting time and resources to the story, they should be able to do better than this.

Thankfully, narrative isn’t a concern for Shank 2’s best feature: the wave-based cooperative survival mode. We’ve seen this type of mode pop up in tons of games in the last few years, but it gels nicely with Shank 2’s fast-paced action, allowing you to quickly build up a huge score and money to purchase bonuses between rounds. You can choose between multiple characters with unique buffs and weapons, and each level is peppered with clever traps that help you survive especially brutal rounds. I just wish there were more than three maps to play on.

While I continue to respect Klei Entertainment’s art style and devotion to bloody fantasy above all else, it needs to design less frustrating levels and encounters before its games truly click for me. The upgrades in Shank 2 are a lot like the act of revenge: It feels satisfying in the short term, but in the end you’re left with the empty feeling that maybe it didn’t improve that much at all.

New Undisputed 3 Trailer Shows Off The Decision Tree

Kyle Hilliard — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:16:17 GMT

Greg Jackson is a mixed martial arts trainer, and in the latest Undisputed 3 trailer, he explains The Decision Tree.

He offers a walkthrough of how fighters use the tree in combat, and how, in theory, it leads to far fewer punches directly to the face.

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UFC Undisputed 3 is coming to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on February 14.

New Warp Trailer Shows Off Gameplay

Kyle Hilliard — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:59:47 GMT

Warp is a downloadable title that allows the player to warp into enemies, and blow them up from the inside. Do you need to know anything else?

You might want know what it looks like and plays like. I can answer that question, too. Or rather, the video below can.

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The First Set Of Gotham City Imposters DLC Will Be Free

Kyle Hilliard — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:36:00 GMT

As a thanks for everyone who bought Gotham City Impostors and helped during the beta, the first set of DLC will cost zero dollars.

The DLC should be available next month, and it includes the typical suite of additions for an online shooter. There will be a new map on the 25th Floor of the Gotham Times, the ability to join an in-progress match and mute annoying people faster, new weapons, a support item, costume choices, and a fun fact.

Click here for more details on the DLC, and click here to read our review.

Thanks to Wampa King for the news tip!

Steam Hack In November May Still Pose A Threat

Kyle Hilliard — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:53:26 GMT

Gabe Newell of Valve, and professional procrastinator when it comes to Half-Life 3 news, addressed Steam users warning them that the November breach may still be a problem.

Valve is investigating the hack along with outside security experts and they found that, "the intruders obtained a copy of a backup file with information about Steam transactions between 2004 and 2008. This backup file contained user names, email addresses, encrypted billing addresses and encrypted credit card information. It did not include Steam passwords."

Newell went on to say that there hasn't been any concrete evidence that this information is being used for nefarious reasons, but cautioned everyone to keep an eye on their bank accounts for suspicious activity.

Blizzard Opposing Valve's Dota Trademark

Adam Biessener — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:05:00 GMT

Blizzard Entertainment has filed a formal opposition to Valve's application for a trademark of the name Dota, stating that it seeks to usurp the consumer goodwill generated by seven years of use in relation to Blizzard products, specifically Warcraft III and the Dota mods that started everything.

Blizzard's case is that because "Dota" is widely known to refer to its products and services, Valve has no right to trademark it and use the word to market its own product and thereby piggyback on the positive consumer perception that Blizzard is in large part responsible for.

Though the brief filed by Blizzard with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office mentions Warcraft III's end-user licensing agreement, it interestingly doesn't claim any ownership of Dota concepts, design, or the mod itself – only that the EULA states that the underlying game engine, art assets, et cetera are all still owned by Blizzard. This is heartening, since some games' EULAs have seemed to imply that any mods made with provided editing tools are the property of the game publisher, no matter what.

Blizzard's larger claim seems to be that the promotion of Dota as a concept in consumers' minds through Battle.net, Blizzcon, blizzard.com, and other sites entitles the company to gamers' mindshare of the word.

One interesting piece of information to come out of the filing is that Blizzard apparently owns the smashingly popular DotA-Allstars.com website, which still serves as a clearinghouse for the mod's enormous community. Apparently, Steve Feak (also known as Guinsoo, who is one of Dota's key developers and now a designer on League of Legends) and Steve Mescon, the original owners of the website, sold it to Riot in 2010 and then from Riot to Blizzard in 2011. Blizzard uses this fact, and the large role that website has played in the development of Dota as a term, as a supporting plank in its opposition to Valve's trademark application.

Discovery for the case – the period during which lawyers on both sides pore through documents and information in an effort to bolster their case, and which compels both sides to reveal pertinent information to the other – doesn't close until July 23rd, so don't expect any speedy resolution to this issue.

Dota fans shouldn't have much to worry about, though, since the absolute worst outcome of the motion in which Valve was denied any use of the Dota name still wouldn't affect the game itself at all, as Blizzard has not made any claim to the design or game mechanics or anything of that nature.

Game Informer has reached out to Valve for comment, and this story will be updated if we receive any word from the company.

[Source: NeoGAF via Joystiq]

Bethesda Concept Artist Adam Adamowicz Passed Away

Kyle Hilliard — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:01:00 GMT

You may not know the name, but you know his work intimately if you have spent time with any of Bethesda's games.

Adam Adamowicz was a talented concept artist at Bethesda, and was hugely influential on the artistic direction of Fallout 3. There is a great write-up about Adamowicz at awesome-robo.com about his influence on at least one other concept artist, and the work he produced while at Bethesda. You can also see him talk about drawing for Fallout on one of the documentaries produced about the game in the video below. Adamowicz appears at around 1:28.

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Next time you jump into Fallout 3, look around at how awesome everything looks and make sure to think of Adam Adamowicz.

Thanks to Dale Williams for letting us know about Adamowicz's unfortunate passing.

Strife Breeds Strife: Inspiration For The Last Of Us

Tim Turi — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:45:00 GMT

Naughty Dog is attempting to deliver a very different gaming experience with The Last of Us. The ambitious team wants to craft a tense atmosphere, believable relationships, and a post-apocalyptic world like we have never seen in video games. While The Last of Us is a brand new IP, the talented crew at Naughty Dog is citing myriad sources of inspiration for the game. After chatting with the team for our March cover story, we came away with a list of Naughty Dog’s key muses.

No Country for Old Men

The Coen brothers’ film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s grim novel is serving as inspiration for The Last of Us on several levels. “The psychological impact that this movie had was completely inspiring,” says director Bruce Straley regarding his first time watching the film. Like No Country for Old Men, Naughty Dog is aiming for the “less is more” approach to the game’s soundtrack. The Coen brothers’ movie had a mere 20 minutes or so of total music (about five minutes of which was during the credits). This allows for viewers to get sucked into the subtle noises like footsteps and breathing to increase tension. Naughty Dog is also looking to the film as an overall inspiration for the game’s gritty, brutal tone.

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BBC’s Planet Earth

We've already spent a ton of time analyzing the Planet Earth footage about the cordyceps fungus, which turns insects into infectious zombies. The real life phenomenon is the core inspiration for the civilization-ending disaster The Last of Us. Watch the video above to watch Naughty Dog discuss their initial reactions to the brief clip, along with other key inspirational pieces of art.

Children of Men

Alfonso Cuarón’s movie version of P.D. James’ book, The Children of Men, is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the future of humanity hangs on the line. It’s a stark, realistic portrayal of a man’s desperate quest to fight against deranged survivors to deliver precious cargo that could save humanity. Naughty Dog wants The Last of Us to stand out from the plethora of other titles set on a ravaged earth, and using this bleak story as a muse can’t hurt.

The Walking Dead

Whether you’re a fan of AMC’s TV series or Robert Kirkman’s comic series, The Walking Dead is one of the definitive ongoing end-of-days tales. At a glance it appears to be all about the zombie apocalypse, but spending any amount of time with the gripping saga reveals that humans end up being the real monsters. This story of a band of survivors intermittently fighting zombie hordes – and each other – echoes Naughty’s Dog’s insistence that the fungus-infected enemies will play a smaller role in the game than you might think.

City of Thieves by David Benioff

This piece of historical fiction focuses on two young men’s attempt to sneak through Leningrad as it is being occupied by Nazi forces. A mix of suspense and humor creates an interesting contrast as the two unlikely allies search the shattered city for supplies. An unlikely duo, tension-breaking levity, and an oppressive environment make City of Thieves a good tonal reference for Joel and Ellie’s harrowing adventure.

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

Both Alan Weisman’s non-fiction book and the documentary of the same name show how nature might reclaim the world as our sprawling cities rot away. One look at concept art or the trailer for The Last of Us reveals the obvious influence The World Without Us has had on Naughty Dog. The developer wants to deliver a post-apocalyptic world like you’ve never seen, filled with the lush greens of a rebounding mother nature instead of bland browns and sepia tones.

Polio: An American Story by David Oshinsky

The cordyceps fungus is the central disaster that rocks the world of The Last of Us. To gain better insight to how diseases can ravage America, Naughty Dog turned to Polio: An American Story. This non-fiction work documents the polio epidemic that rocked the nations in the 1940s and 50s. Given that the real life cordyceps fungus helped spark the idea for The Last of Us, it’s suiting that the team would look back on a real historical disaster for further research.

The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen

A piece of historical fiction set in 1918, The Last Town on Earth focuses on a town undergoing quarantine to avoid succumbing to the Spanish flu. Things become hectic as the flu eventually infiltrates the populous, spreading infection and treachery as the citizens turn on one another. Naughty Dog has openly stated that players will primarily be battling humans in The Last of Us, and this glimpse into a threatened urban environment is rife with examples of man vs. man.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Naughty Dog looked at Cormac McCarthy’s sad tale of a father and son’s trek through a desolate post-apocalyptic world pocketed with groups of depraved cannibals and other unsavory characters for inspiration for the relationship between Joel and Ellie. Like Ellie in The Last of Us, the son in The Road was born after a catastrophe, and the shattered world is all he knows. The raw, unyielding picture McCarthy paints is both impactful and believable, which gels with Naughty Dog’s vision for a new kind of post-apocalyptic survival tale.

True Grit

Naughty Dog looks to the Coen brothers’ version of a classic tale about a seemingly soulless man’s journey to help a young girl seek out revenge on her father’s death. Again, Naughty Dog is interested in the relationship between a hardened journeyman and an innocent-yet-tough youngster growing up in hard times. From what we’ve seen, there are definite parallels between The Last of Us’ Joel, a black market dealer-turned-bodyguard, and True Grit’s “Rooster” Cogburn, a washed up, alcoholic gun for hire.

Road to Perdition

Similar to True Grit, Naughty Dog draws inspiration from the core relationship in film/graphic novel Road to Perdition. It’s the story of a hitman fighting tooth and nail to protect his son while seeking revenge on his wrongdoers. Naughty Dog wants players to feel a strong connection to Joel and Ellie, and is looking to Mike Sullivan’s emotional quest to protect his son for ideas.

The Last of Us creative director Neil Druckmann on Road to Perdition and True Grit:

“You have these male, violent characters that have gone someplace dark that are essentially dead inside. They get a chance at redemption when they are introduced to this kid, this person who still has some innocence left in this world. They’re helping them fulfill some part of them that’s missing. And for the kid it turns into this coming of age story were both of these characters are pretty capable and pretty brave relative to the circumstances they’re in.

“Through this protector, through this adult that they’re hanging out with who’s in some ways corrupting them but in some ways giving them the tools to become independent in this world.”

Want more exclusive coverage tied to our The Last of Us cover story? Click the link to the hub below.

New Mass Effect 3 Trailer Stars The Female Shepard

Kyle Hilliard — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:55:55 GMT

The affectionately nicknamed "Fem Shep" takes a starring role in the latest Mass Effect 3 trailer.

You won't find a whole lot of new footage or story revelations, but you do you get to see the female Shepard and her fan-voted red hair in some of the scenarios we've only see the male Shepard in to date.

Mass Effect 3 releases March 6, which isn't today, making today significantly less awesome.

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Sony Confirms LittleBigPlanet Karting

Kyle Hilliard — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:41:04 GMT

We have heard rumors of its existence, and we also thought that the game already sort of existed as ModNation Racers, but that won't keep Sony from capitalizing on its stuffed yarn zipper creature.

On twitter, Sony confirmed the game titled LittleBigPlanet Karting, but not much else. It may just be a standard kart racing game with LittleBigPlanet characters, or it may be a creation-style game in the same vein as LittleBigPlanet. Sony is planning on sharing more soon, so it shouldn't take too long to hear more about the game.

Sony Talks The Last Guardian, Demon's Souls, And The Vita Launch

Jim Reilly — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:27:00 GMT

2011 was one of Sony's best years in terms of first-party software releases. The company released many titles, such as LittleBigPlanet 2, Killzone 3, Uncharted 3, and Infamous 2. Sony also released its newest handheld, the PlayStation Vita, in late December in Japan. The Vita launches in North America and Europe later this month. We talked to the president of Sony's Worldwide studios Shuhei Yoshida about what the company learned from the Vita's Japanese launch and the mistakes they hope to correct this year.

Game Informer: I first wanted to get your thoughts on the PlayStation Vita launch in Japan. It started out pretty well, but every week it seemed sales dipped and dipped.

Shuhei Yoshida: In terms of sales, yes. But it’s within our expectation. It didn’t hit our highest expectations, however. From that standpoint it’s disappointing. But when you look at the market in Japan today, it’s a very strong portable market as you know, and the PSP is still very strong and lots of new games come out for it. So PSP is still very relevant. And of course 3DS had the perfect storm of top quality games for Christmas with the reduced price.

Considering all of that, with the numbers we have seen in terms of sell–through, I am very happy.

What have you learned from the Japan launch of the Vita that you might look to remedy for North America and Europe later this month?

There are two major differences. One is the type of lineup that we had for the launch. Games like Uncharted are not a big name in Japan. Hopefully it’s growing in awareness like Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto. It’s not like this game will sell a million units. Gamers in Japan want games catered to their tastes. From that standpoint we didn’t have a strong lineup for the Japanese market.

The second is the PSP. We’re advertising PSP on TV while advertising Vita. So it’s three portables in Japan.

I’m cautiously optimistic. We’ll have to see how the launch goes. In terms of what we have as a foundation as a platform, we’re envisioning this as a seven or eight year platform and are very happy with what we have today and can improve upon it.

Can you give any perspective on how the digital sales of Vita games are doing?

It’s a growing number. We are not specifying numbers, but it’s certainly higher than what we have on other platforms. Digital PSP games jumped. As more people find out how convenient digital games are on the system, my prediction is the ratio goes higher.

Do you think digital Vita sales will outperform retail sales in the Vita’s life?

If our digital platform becomes as strong as we are hoping to be, meaning lots of smaller games get created for the Vita market, I could see that happening within the life cycle of the Vita. If the majority of games coming to Vita are still console-sized games, the majority of sales will stay at the retail level.

There’s a lot of talk about Fumito Ueda leaving Team Ico and the state of Sony’s Japan studios...

Ueda-san has never left the team. It’s a change of his work status from being an employee to working as a contract. We discussed and made it more clear about his role and his creative input and how he works, but he hasn’t changed his presence; he comes to the office. It’s being talked about as if he left the game, but that never happened.

But in terms of the state of the studio in Japan, we have a new head of studio, Allan Becker. He’s been with PlayStation from the beginning. He founded Sony Santa Monica studio. I asked him to move to Japan to instill his philosophy of making games. He's also bringing these two different cultures together. He started in April last year as the head of the Japan studio and has already made a big impact.