Archive for March 24th, 2010

"Persona 5" became a speculation target last year when producer Katsura Hashino blogged that a "Persona 4" team reunion was in the works. Well, it's 2010 now, and Hasino has confirmed that a new "Persona" game is next on their to-do list.

"We are preparing to start work on the next 'Persona,'" Hasino told Dengeki PlayStation, according to a translation by Siliconera. Platform information didn't get clarified, but "Persona 4" came out on the PlayStation 2, so the PS3 may be a safe bet. Hashino reportedly said that standard gameplay elements will return for the new "Persona" with a few new features included as well.

Whatever it looks like, social simulator RPG fans will have something to look forward to when all is said and done. "Persona 5" will surely amass some collection of fighting, dating and wacky anime-style quirks in whatever it eventually becomes. For now, if you don't feel like waiting out the "Persona 5" dev cycle, I hear "Persona: Trinity Soul" will be landing on DVD in the U.S. sometime this year.

What are you looking forward to seeing in a new "Persona" sequel? How soon would you like to see Atlus release the their next installment? Share your expectations in the comment section below.

So how much space does Project Natal require? Owners of tightly packed New York apartments and cramped residential quarters everywhere should breathe a sigh of relief now that Microsoft has gone on the record to clarify that they've considered a wide range of living space measurements. Their statement comes in direct response to a report stating that about 13 feet would be needed between a user and a television to use Natal.

"The comments recently about the play space for Project Natal were misinterpreted," a Microsoft spokesperson told Kotaku. "It is true that the Project Natal sensor reads the configuration of your room and adjusts play space, as appropriate. We know that living rooms come in all shapes and sizes, and have conducted numerous play tests to ensure everyone will be able to jump off the couch and into the fun when Project Natal launches globally this holiday."

The "four meters" (or a little over 13 feet) estimate came from a from on Techflash report that cited sources within the Natal project team. That story indicated that a space "a little more than four metres wide, at least four metres away from the TV and 2.7 metres high" would be necessary for Natal play.

This space recommendation may be something to watch for in instruction booklets once Natal ships. The specs could just represent an ideal setup description or safety guidelines (fastened Wii Remote wrist-straps, anyone?).

Are you concerned that you won't be able to use Project Natal in your gaming space? Do you think you have enough room? Share your estimations in the comment section below.

Today's edition of "Stuff That Came" is a bit special, in that I was expecting this specific "stuff." After all, I commissioned it!

My interest in "Super Meat Boy" comes from a strange, oft-forgotten part of my brain that really enjoys punishingly difficult platformers. Pair that with my fondness for indie gaming and you can understand why I felt compelled to finish all the levels in "N+." In the handful of times I've played "Super Meat Boy," that part of my brain buzzes and whirs in anticipation for its release.

During GDC I caught up with the game's creators, Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes and checked out the latest build (which was, predictably, very hard). I also discovered that Edmund's wife, Danielle, is quite handy with a needle and thread and has her own business creating hand-made plush creatures. You can check it out at Danielleorama.

So I reached out to Danielle and commissioned her to create a Meat Boy plush, inspired by some of the promotional stickers they were handing out at the show. My personal Meat Boy arrived today, wrapped in tissue paper and tied with a bow.

And here he is, in all his meat-y glory:

Props to Danielle for the awesome work! Meat Boy has accepted a permanent placement on my desk, next to a companion cube and a headcrab. If you'd like your very own Meat Boy, Danielle made a bunch of them for sale on Newgrounds.com, which will be available soon. You can also contact her on her site to commission something individually. Not only are you helping out an artist, you're also helping out an indie developer. Two for one on creative types! Score!

The "Spy Hunter" franchise already saw one giant evolutionary leap when Midway released "Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run" for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in 2006. Johnson was also tagged to star in a potential film based on the series, but that eventually fell apart the property rights have since moved on to Warner Bros. Now, WB wants to give a "Spy Hunter" movie one more go.

Screenwriter Chad St. John will tackle the new script according to MTV Movies Blog, who has a great rundown of the "Spy Hunter" movie timeline, which includes director John Woo and Paul W.S. Anderson. The latest news comes from THR, who reports that "Sherlock Holmes" producer Dan Lin will be on board and that Warner obtained the rights in their $33 million purchase of Midway last year.

The movie is going to need an action star to sit behind the wheel of its G-6155 Interceptor, a sports car that hunts down rogue agents with an arsenal of flip-out guns and other weapons. I don't know if they'll get The Rock back, but WB better get the car right when this picture comes together. Meanwhile, if they want to give Jason Statham a call about starring, I won't complain.

Who do you think WB should grab to direct and star in their new "Spy Hunter" film? Would Dwayne Johnson be worth reaching out to? Share your own picks in the comment section below.

EA has a lot of hurdles to leap with their reboot of the "Medal of Honor" franchise. After peaking with "Medal of Honor: Allied Assault," the series has fallen by the wayside in recent years with decent if forgettable releases. This year's reboot, titled "Medal of Honor" is an attempt to bring the franchise back to past glories.

I saw the game a couple weeks ago, when EA showed off a snippet of one of the missions in the game. The focus of this new "Medal of Honor" is on an elite group of soldiers known as Tier 1 operatives who use undercover tactics to infiltrate enemy targets, dressing and speaking like the locals in an effort to blend in before moving into action.

While this offers some unique presentation options (your fellow squad mates look more like Afghani goat herders than soldiers, for example), I didn't see much gameplay variation when compared to the title's closest competitor, "Modern Warfare 2." The shootouts on a cliff-side in Afganistan could've just as easily been ripped from Infinity Ward's shooter and I wouldn't have known the difference. For many people that's not really a bad thing, but I was curious just how much focus is being placed on differentiating the gameplay in "Medal of Honor" from its competitors. Greg Goodrich, the game's Executive Producer, gave an interesting answer:

"What we're focusing on is making a great first person shooter. Whether or not we put out things that revolutionize the genre...so be it. Like I said, we're showing up to do a great experience, a great game that fans will love. There are certain things that you will see that we've taken and given our little spin to them, especially in terms of the Tier 1 operator, certain things they do and the tactics they use, as well as on the enemies side."

Goodrich went on to say that there's a focus being placed on the game experience itself, and that revolutionizing the gameplay isn't really a priority:

"At the end of the day it's all about making a great product, a great experience and a great shooter, and not necessarily pushing the genre forward."

Are you fine with EA not trying to break new ground in the FPS space, or would you rather see more innovation in the "Medal of Honor" reboot?

"L.A. Noire" looks like it will make lead actor Aaron Stanton earn his approximately $46,123 fee for playing Cole Phelps, as the game's script has reportedly swelled to a respectable 22,000 pages. Breaking down exactly how big that is, one of the game's developers explained the amount of writing that it takes to fill that much paper, no matter what entertainment medium you're working in.

"The script's up to 22,000 pages," Team Bondi co-founder Brendan McNamara told Edge Magazine, according to Connected Consoles. "That's two full years of a TV series and probably 12 feature films. It goes a lot of places!"

A TV series can go a lot of places in two years. Just look at the last two seasons of "Lost." Heck, with 22,000 pages, we could travel the entire globe and over to an alternate reality before "L.A. Noire" ends. Or, more likely, we'll see a lot of old-time Los Angeles and some ridiculous characters. The game is due out in 2010, though, so hopefully we'll see at least one time and place in some more trailer or demo action this summer.

And in the meantime, I wish Aaron Stanton well reading through that epic script.

Does the size of the "L.A. Noire" script surprise you? What kinds of things do you want to see in the game? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Warner Bros. Interactive has a wide range of choices as they decide what to build first at their new DC Comics-focused studio in Montreal. Batman, however, is covered over at Rocksteady Games, where a sequel to "Batman: Arkham Asylum" is already underway. No one outside of that studio knows what shape "Arkham Asylum 2" will take, but at least one creative mind there thinks that the Batman comics villain Bane could use a spin-off.

"I think one of the things about working on Batman is that you really get to see how good all the villains are," Rocksteady director Sefton Hill told VideoGamer.com. "I really think there's scope to take some of those villains, even some of the not-so-famous ones like Bane, who has a phenomenal backstory, and really work on turning that into something original and fresh."

Super villains get their own comic book miniseries all the time, but a video game might break some new ground. Bane, the steroid-pumped muscle man who once famously broke Batman's back, would be a particularly interesting choice since he isn't as widely recognized as The Joker or Riddler. Nevertheless, it's good to Rocksteady has a lot of ideas flying around behind the scenes.

What Bat-villain would you like to see featured in their own game? What do you want to see Rocksteady do with "Arkham Asylum 2"?

A Spanish-language gaming magazine had a teaser for their next issue which featured a full page shot of some art from "FEAR 3." I call it "FEAR 3" but the artwork calls it something entirely different.

Audible sigh.

I've reached out to Warner Bros. to see if the next game in the "FEAR" franchise will indeed be called "F3AR," and I'm really hoping this is just some horrible Spanish-language mix-up.

This is not the first time a game has used "leet speak" in a title. The third installment in the "Driver" franchise was called "DRIV3R" and we all remember how well that turned out. I'm not saying leet speak made it suck, but it certainly didn't help matters.

At least the "FEAR" series has experience with name changes. The second game was initially called "Project Origin" until Monolith and Warner wrangled the naming rights from Sierra. Just remember, it's never too late to make a change for the better.

If you're into the indie games scene, "Cave Story," a one-man freeware PC project released in 2004, should ring a bell. Its creative action, astonishing narrative and lovingly crafted 8-bit presentation have kept it afloat amongst a wash of videogames in the rough, generating much deserved attention. I neglected to check it out until recently when the title finally hit WiiWare. So is it worth the look? Let's see.

The Basics

Intrigue fuels the narrative, which stars a tiny, industrious protagonist plopped deep inside a mysterious island's cavernous, yet surprisingly differentiated innards.
The bite-sized boy is an alien to the rabbit-eared denizens of this environment, but he soon finds his place when yanked into the revitalization of an old war -- one he can choose to stop if he so desires.

An action platformer at its core, you'll spend the majority of “Cave Story” jumping from place to place in sprawling horizontal planes while shooting drones and taking down weak-spotted bosses. What makes the game unique are two grand design choices: the attrition-based combat and the narrative-via-exploration which will have you finding the perfect tools in compelling ways in order to progress, much like "Metroid" or "Castlevania."

The Highs

What's That About a Barn Door?
"Cave Story" puts its narrative in your hands with few prompts and hints: there's no spoon-fed story-based mush. You'll experience the grim narrative by participating in the game's world, searching out key locations, people, and items hidden amongst the its curious and varied zones. To come full circle, the story and its conclusion are shrouded in as much seductive mystery as its porous environments.

I Need a (Leveled-Up) Weapon
All the weapons in "Cave Story" have levels of possible upgrade, each of which make the weapon fire on a larger and grander scale. It's a typical design approach, but there's a satisfying wrinkle in it: as you take damage your weapon upgrade levels do as well, forcing you to make meaningful, dynamic combat switches on the fly as your weapons and health degrade in unison.

This is a refreshing point of design that keeps you from using the same weapon until exhaustion and constantly coming up with combat strategies against even the most basic of foes -- which, by the way, are numerous, detailed and deliciously varied in terms of their attacks.

The HD Effect, And Other New Things
The original “Cave Story” was a Japanese release, only later translated by caring individuals. This version offers an official translation that fleshes out the story and its characters, giving the game much more life. The new 480p visuals and richer music does much the same, making a purposefully dated game all the more fantastic.

The other additions to this version -- of the "Time Attack" and "Rush" variety -- give "Cave Story" longer legs. But the real winner amongst the additions is the ability to play holding the controller NES-style -- it just fits.

The Lows

I Hate Hitting 'Retry'
An age-old gripe continues to plague in even this release: the save points can be, at times, frustratingly too far and few. You have a small heath bar to begin with and coupling that with not forgetting to access a save point can be disastrous to the psyche. No one likes clicking through dialogue for the second time or collecting items again because of an ill-timed jump or an unexpected boss confrontation. And for that matter, no one likes to be shackled to save points.

More Like 'Cave Wanderer,' am I rite?
There's a catch with the open-ended play: the game wants you to do things in a very specific order and usually doesn't give you clear hints or ideas on where to head next or what items to look for. Without a FAQ, you'll undoubtedly rack up hours of pointless wandering through familiar areas only to find that the item you needed was hidden in the smallest of crannies.

The Verdict

"Cave Story" is a fantastic and engrossing downloadable that features a startling layer of polish and care that most modern, pyrotechnic big-budget releases lack. This version in particular is more refined and ultimately more sexy for its HD-era improvements.

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