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Tuesday, December 05, 2006 |
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Halo 3 First TV Ad Impressions and Analysis
I'm sure most of you have already seen the Halo 3 ad by now. If not, here's a youtube link for your viewing pleasure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89wj13J3Vrk
Like most teasers, this was far too short, but there was a lot of information given out for those who want to pay attention. The new gameplay element of the Shield grenade could be very interesting in both the campaign and multiplayer modes of the game when it's released. Imagine being able to create a shield in time to avoid a rocket launcher blast from an unsuspecting opponent. This defensive tactic should lead to some very interesting battles in tight corridors, or in the sure to be included Blood Gulch variation for Halo 3.
One of the problems with Blood Gulch for CTF (Capture the Flag) games is that dropping in from the top of the base to get the flag is often suicidal if the opposing team has a good defence set up with more than one player covering the flag. With this grenade shield, it may allow for a player to drop right on to the flag, activate the shield, engulfing him and the flag, while being protected from enemy fire. In the meantime, other team members can storm the base from other entrances and try to take out the distracted opponents.
Just one of possibly thousands of tactics that this grenade shield will introduce.
Also interesting to see was Master Chief running. Now we all know that what was shown wasn't exactly gameplay footage. It was a combination of live action sequences and some impressive CGI work. The run still looked great, and I'm sure they'll try to adapt a similar look for the game. Given Gears of War's now infamous "roadie cam", it's pretty certain that Bungie will try to one up that game in the running department. Notice the camera angle for Master Chief's sprint? It was off on the side, and it was the filmed using the shaky running with the runner style. Rotate that camera back, keep the same effect, and you have Bungie's version of the roadie cam. The only problem is that the Spartan suit doesn't look so good from the back. Bungie may have to come up with another camera angle for the sprinting elements in the game.
Readers of the Halo novels will probably have a ton of questions about who were those two kids at the begining. Bungie's pretty much ignored anything Eric Nylund has done for the Halo universe when it comes to their games, so I don't see the commercial containing any refrences to characters from the novels. It just might even be two random kids for the same of having them.
This last bit of dialogue should reveal more:
kid1: "maybe someone up there is wondering what it's like here"
kid 2: "I guess. Do you think we'll ever meet them?"
kid 1: "I hope so. don't you?"
The kid then turns to look back at the other, but the camera shows the Master Chief helmet in his place. Does that mean that kid 2 is young Master Chief? Quite likely - so the question is - who is kid 1?
Cortana's voice was briefly but clearly heard during the commercial as well.
Overall the one minute ad probably has a lot more that's revealed than one could initially determine. You can be sure that Bungie carefully insisted on many subtle details to be placed in the ad at their request. While it was far too short for any Halo fan, the commercial succeeded in it's task - generate talk about the game, and probably more importantly- give a glimpse of what an actual Halo movie would look like.
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Saturday, December 02, 2006 |
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Star Trek: Legacy Storyline... eerily similar to some of what I had planned for Brain Trek.
Reading up on the Star Trek Legacy storyline, it's surprisingly similar to what I had planned for Star Trek: Pathfinder. It's so similar, that i'm seriously considering adopting much of the game's backstory into the Pathfinder timeline.
Read up on it, and you'll see where I was going with the mysterious dissapearance of the Vulcans.
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Sunday, November 26, 2006 |
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Sci-Fi Brain Bytes
Grimzo’s new weekly look at this week's top Sci-Fi related News Stories.
Takei and Eccleston on Heroes!
IGN TV reports that the the original 2005 Doctor and Captain Sulu will be appearing on NBC's fantastic new superhero series. Takei will take on the role of fan favourite Hiro Nakamura's father. Eccleston will be coming on as a secret recurring character. Excellent casting choices (sci-fi fans will watch just to see these two actors on the show) and I'm really looking forward to seeing these two on the show. I haven't seen George Takei do anything memorable on TV since his wonderful appearance on Futurama a few years back. Eccleston on the other hand was a very competent Doctor and while David Tennant has done a wonderful job replacing him, Eccleston did have more than a few great moments.
I wonder what Ecceleston's mysterious role will be? And will Takei speak English to his son? Will he have powers of his own too?
Shatner and Nimoy in J.J. Abrams' Trek
J.J. Abrams' relaunch of the Trek franchise is filled with controversy and fan uncertainty. While his feature film debut with Mission Impossible III was quite successful, Abrams' track record hasn't been so great lately; with some very dissapointing Lost episodes, and a lackluster final season of Alias, it's hard to imagine him doing Star Trek justice based on his most recent efforts.
The idea of going back into the past may have worked with other franchise. It made sense to relaunch Batman and James Bond, does this logic apply to Star Trek? Time will tell, but getting Shatner and Nimoy's participation is a small step in the right direction. Now add to it that the Matt Damon as Kirk rumours have been thoroughly squashed, there seems to be even more of a small glimmer of hope for this new vision of Star Trek.
It's still uncertain if J.J. Abrams can actually pull this off and make a decent Trek movie, but one thing's for sure - Fans are eagerly waiting and watching his every move. Abrams has a lot to live up to, and the storied and complex Star Trek universe isn't an easy task for anyone to handle.
Ender's Game Speculation
It's still a long way off. Orson Scott Card's still working on the script. Wolfgang Peterson has nothing to direct at the moment, but it's still worth talking about who you'd cast as Bean and Ender in the upcoming movie. It's hard to cast young children in such complex roles. There's no boy equivalent of the almost unnaturally talented Dakota Fanning that can fill the shoes of Ender. A younger Haley Joel Osment might have worked a few years back, but right now he's too old for the role.
I think the more they delay, the more likely it is that they'll be forced to cast unproven and unknown young actors for the important lead roles in the movie.
Quick Bytes
Gears of War Storyline: Not as bad as people make it out to be. People wanted additional background info - I'm sure it will come in the inevitable Eric Nylund novelization. The game gave me just enough story to care about the universe, and knew when to just let me play. That's fine by me. Games are meant to be played, not watched.
Tin Man series on Sci-Fi? Why bother? The Wizard of Oz is a classic and this is one story that absolutely does not need to be retold.
Freema Agyeman will be replacing Billie Piper as the Doctor's companion in season 3 - but what happens to Mickey and Jackie? Will they be gone for good as well? Somehow, I don't think we've seen the last of Rose on Doctor Who. This isn't grounded on any factual evidence - call it a hunch.
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Sci-Fi Brain update: The blog is still down, but we're hoping it will return sometime this week. In the meantime come here for your daily sci-fi news and views.
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Saturday, November 25, 2006 |
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Part of the reason why we pay for LIVE (or, the coolnessness of the XBL experience)
So last night, I was watching a DVD (The excellent Superman Animated Series). Instead of playing it on my normal standalone player, I was too lazy to switch the audio and video settings so I decided to play it on the 360 (besides, DVDs do look better upscaled on VGA)
I got a notice saying that a friend of mine from out of town (who just recently bought a 360) was online. I paused my movie and clicked on the guide to see what he was up to and sent him a message.
Noticed that he was online, and playing NHL07 and losing 2-0 to Columbus. I sent him a text message making fun of him for losing to them, and then went back to my movie.
A minute later, while still watching my movie, I get a chat invite. I accept, and start talking to my friend. Meanwhile, while the chat session is still happening - I go back to my movie and seamlessly watch and talk at the same time. Since the controller is wireless, I have enough time to keep talking, go to the fridge, pick up something to drink, and come back to keep watching and talking.
Finally after a while, he decides that he wants to play, but doesn't know how to send an invite. I talk him through the process - all while I'm watching my movie and my friend is figuring out how to send a private game invite in NHL07.
Eventually he figures out what to do, I get the invite, and WHILE I'M STILL TALKING TO HIM - eject the movie I'm watching, put in NHL and talk with him through the entire boot up sequence until I get to the game (after logging on to EA's servers of course)
We get into the game, our conversation never broken, and end up playing over 5 games - talking the whole way through.
So in short, I got to watch most of my movie, play some competitive hockey, and most importantly catch up with an old friend - and do all of this seamlessly.
Now I'm sure most of you do this - probably even take it for granted - but do you ever step back and think that you can never have this kind of seamless multimedia experience on any other console?
I'm not sure if this justifies why we pay for XBOX LIVE, but if because I'm paying a small yearly amount, I'm entitled to this type of easy to use interactive community experience - I'm all for it.
- Grimzo
(originally posted in the XBOX 360 General Message Board)
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Thursday, November 23, 2006 |
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TK-422: Top Ten Sci-Fi Games of 2006
Welcome to the new temporary home of TK-422!
Greetings humans! It’s that time of year again – time for the annual rite of misinformed pimply faced alleged journalists to start compiling lists based on malformed opinions. TK-422 is your robotic friend who knows more than you. I have been playing video games back in the days when humans thought that the wheel was a revolutionary concept. My considerable experience automatically makes me this planet’s foremost gaming expert! Listen and learn! Here is the definitive list of the best sci-fi games of 2006.
(Star Trek: Legacy not included yet - if that game lives up to the potential shown at E3, I'd definitely see it deserving a place here in this top ten list)
Number Ten
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (multi)
Sure, we’ve played this type of action-RPG many times, but never with so many characters and never with a compelling storyline. It’s not the most original game, but deserves to be here for the sheer ambitious scope
Number Nine
Starfox Command (DS)
Not the best Starfox game, but with the awesome analog control that the DS stylus provides, it’s hard not to enjoy this space shooter.
Number Eight
F.E.A.R. (XBOX 360)
If this game was released earlier in the year, it would have received a lot more attention. Instead, it came at a time when Gears of War was about to be released, and thus got overlooked. Great PC game; too bad it came a year late for the 360. Nevertheless, F.E.A.R. was a lot of fun and the slo-mo Max Payne inspired gameplay, the addictive combat that is tuned to perfection, and the excellent sound and visuals still hold up a year later.
Number Seven
Warhammer 40,000: Dark Crusade (PC)
The standalone expansion pack to the best Sci-Fi RTS since Starcraft added a few new races and some great new action. Unfortunately, this game came out after the excellent non-sci-fi Company of Heroes, and was completely overshadowed by that game’s awesome visuals and overall brilliance. Shame on you Relic for not using the Company of Heroes engine for this game!
Number Six
Metroid Prime: Hunters (DS)
The DS had an excellent year, and Metroid Prime’s unparalleled control scheme and multiplayer support gave players the most accurate FPS controls since the keyboard/mouse combo. While the single player mode didn’t have the depth of previous Metroid titles, the game made up for it with excellent action.
Number Five
Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
WHAT! PS3 fanatics will surely jump up and down and turn various shades of enraged tomato color when they see that this game placed only number five. Unfortunately, like so many millions of other gamers – I never got my hands on a PS3 at launch, so I couldn’t really rank the final build. I did get the chance to play this game extensively at E3 however, and I did have a lot of fun playing it there. I know that the game has improved significantly since E3, but at the time, I had way more fun playing Warhawk.
Number Four
Darkstar One (PC)
Not since Freelancer has there been a good space action/trading sim for PC. While not as fun as the game that inspired it, Darkstar One was an enjoyable ride and a rare chance to play a type of game that developers have seemingly abandoned. Long Live the Space Shooter! As I ask every year, Lucasarts, EA – please bring back the Tie Fighter and Wing Commander franchises!
Number Three
Half-Life 2: Episode One (PC)
A fine example of how to release compelling episodic content! While Episode One was decidedly short, it was an incredibly enjoyable ride with great level design, an awesome “developer’s commentary” track, and a well-told story. Short isn’t bad, if the story and gameplay are this good.
Number Two
Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
Another visceral Square-Enix epic, this game takes a huge risk and completely revamps the Final Fantasy combat system – and thankfully it works brilliantly. With enjoyable combat, gorgeous cutscenes, and a sufficiently epic complex and often confusing storyline, Final Fantasy XII is an excellent return to form for the immensely successful franchise.
Number One
Gears of War (XBOX 360)
What else can be said about this game that hasn’t been said already? With a few revolutionary gameplay elements, the best graphics ever seen in a video game… ever, and awesome online co-op and competitive gameplay Epic’s Gears of War lives up to all of the hype and more. Games like this don’t happen often, and not since the original Halo has there been a shooter as exciting and as addictive as this. Not just the best sci-fi game of the year, but most likely the best video game of the year – period.
coming soon:
With the Sci-Fi Brain undergoing temporary technical difficulties, TK-422 volunteers to provide this crappy human blog with more content to satisfy the legions of Sci-Fi Brain readers around the globe! Coming up on Monday: XBOX 360: Year 2 Wishlist, and if the Brain site still isn't up - BRAINSTORM will be hosted here for your reading pleasure! Thank you, come again.
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