The GameShadow Blog

We want you to pick a threesome. Oi, you, get your head out the gutter!

We want you pick a threesome of games. Simple as that really. Pick just three titles that, if they had to, could last you the rest of your life.

Once you’ve picked make sure to add them to the comments below.

Ubi set out to make Far Cry 2 as immersive as possible. And they’ve really done a great job. I swear I will never get tired of seeing my avatar’s finger push through his arm to ‘pop’ a bullet out the other side. Or the way you get a glimpse of your own legs when moving between the driver’s seat and a mounted gun.

I’ll be honest tho’ it’s lacking something, something you can’t get from software alone. Like the heat of the sand under your feet, the mild, refreshing, breeze in your hair and the orangey ambient glow from a kick-arse sunset.

Well this is of course where I tell you about something amazing that does the stuff I just mentioned. Introducing amBX. amBX does all that (apart from the heat-of-the-sand bit, but hey just put your feet on the radiator ;D) plus rumble.

So am I just teasing you? No amBX and GameShadow are giving you the chance to win ONE of TWENTY Premium kits plus a copy of, my current favourite game, Far Cry 2.

Entry Here!
(it’s like 90 seconds work!)

Electronic Arts has announced a deal with Universal Pictures to produce a movie based on their action shooter game, Army of Two.

Production on the movie will begin in 2009 and is the second movie-based project from Electronic Arts, with The Sims movie expected next year.

The computer games giant has also hinted at a sequel to Army of Two (no Army of Two 2 jokes please), as well as for Battlefield: Bad Company and Dead Space.

Is multiplayer gaming via the internet all that it’s cracked up to be?

Playing games with various people from all over the world sounds like a great idea and it should be great fun. Unfortunately, for too many people, fun means being irritating and spoiling things for others.

I remember playing Ultima Online and seeing players gather around the newbie areas, waiting for these unsuspecting new players to come along and pick up various pieces of booby-trapped equipment. These more experienced players would then stand and mock as the newbie lost a life and had to start again. It surprised me just how many people indulged in this sort of behaviour, seemingly oblivious to the fact that it could put these new players off playing the game. (more…)

Valve has a large army of fanboys out there, so for me to say what I’m about to is quite brave!

Valve really ain’t all that! There I said it…

I can forgive Counter-Strike and Half-Life (1) for being “floaty” they’re old games and at the time making a good game was still revolutionary. Left 4 Dead on the other hand doesn’t have the same excuse. It’s a brand new title and should be ‘next-gen’ which graphically it might be, but avatar-physics-wise is just dreadful.

A while back I played the demo for Turning Point: Fall of Liberty and I instantly hated it. The reason was you don’t feel like you are, or at least in control of, the avatar at all. Instead you feel like you’re some sort of bomb-squad-robot that moves on super smooth tracks and can spin faster than my new (second-hand) washing machine. Turning Point was terrible, but it was the way you move that I really didn’t like. Valve games have the same problem.

Don’t get me wrong I loved Portal like everyone else, possibly a bit less than some, but even that had the same problem. When walking, the most basic of things, a humans head bobs, if you are holding an object that too will move as you do. I’m not saying Valve need to add Mirror’s Edge avatar-physics into their games but please move away from the avatar-physics of Doom and Wolfenstein!

Valve seem to come up with great ideas but without the very basics of immersion it will always feel like you’re just… …. …. well, playing a game.

[Amendment: In hindsight this wasn’t the most well thought out post. I just felt compelled to have a little rant as I found myself quite disappointed with the movement and feel of Left 4 Dead. I personally didn’t like the feel of Team Fortress 2 and had my fingers crossed Valve weren’t going to use the same for a more realistic looking game. Either way the post was only ment to be a bit of light-hearted fun and a bit tongue-in-cheek. P.S. I don’t think Valve or Steam are really shit, I just liked the pun.]

Ahead of the 2008 London Games Festival this week, over 500 UK gamers were asked, which was their favourite computer game character of all time?

A certain blue, spiky-haired, ultra-fast hedgehog won the poll.

We have the top 10 here:

1. Sonic The Hedgehog
2. Super Mario
3. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)
4. Donkey Kong
5. Pac Man
6. Link (The Legend of Zelda)
7. Max Payne
8. Pikachu (Pokemon)
9. Niko Belic (Grand Theft Auto series)
10. Blanka (Street Fighter)

A leaked YouTube video has revealed the first details of the next edition in the Bioshock series.

Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams is the title, and this teaser trailer is an unlockable piece of content, available once completing the original PS3 edition of the game.

The second half of 2009 is the scheduled release date for the game, on platforms that have yet to be confirmed by 2K Games.

Spore fans are in for some extra content, in both the short and long-term future.

Electronic Arts has officially announced that Spore Creepy and Cute Parts Pack will be available from November 18th, providing more than 100 new creature-building components themed in two styles; charming, cartoon creatures and scary, monster creatures.

Plus, in spring 2009, a Space Stage expansion pack will be available, supplying the chance to explore new planets and earn rewards for completing challenging missions.

Deep Silver recently released the teaser trailer for their 2009 title Ride To Hell. It contained a sample of the 1960s track “Born To Be Wild“ by Steppenwolf, and worked nicely with the open-world, motorcycle theme.

Short samples of music tracks, or music written specifically for a computer game are a staple part of promotional trailers/videos. Electronic Arts commonly use music with their sports titles, such as the early trailers for NBA Live 09, and have done so on older titles including Madden 07. It can be seen as a smart idea, as it promotes the game and the music, with no specific voice-overs or interruptions.

Other titles to jump out include World In Conflict for the 1980s-themed Ruling The World Video, and the GC 2007 Trailer that used a track by the rock group Audioslave to good effect. The Race Driver: GRID Trailer specialised in a heavy sound with Phat Planet by Leftfield, whilst in Gameplay Video 1 remixed it up with “No One Knows” by Queens of the Stone Age.

It is always interesting to see which music tracks, be it old or new ones, are used in trailers/videos, and how much of an impact they actually make in promoting the game.

OK, I found this a bit odd, and mildly worrying. The big supermarkets appear to be taking an interest in shifting consoles it appears. Today there is news in MCV that Game (and other indie retailers) have been rushing out all over the country and snapping up cheap Xbox 360 concoles from Sainsbury and other major supermarket chains.

It’s a bit of a mad world when a proper gaming store such as Game has to resort to such measures to get a discount on hardware that it should clearly be commanding as a specialist (with volume) in the games retail sector.

What worries me now is that the likes of you and I, every day punters, can’t buy the cheap consoles at our local Tesco (insert your local supersnore here) because they have been snapped up by Game. What happens now? Do Game create bundles and put the prices up for everyone or simply pass on the great prices without penalising the buyer in their own store, presumably to get them into the store with the chance they might buy some other stuff whilst they are there getting their cheap console?

Comments/Views very much appreciated!

Regards,

Tony

GameShadow has many great free games; The Suffering, Full Spectrum Warrior and Area 51 to name just a few. But it’s the newest addition to this list  - Facewound – that has really grabbed me, it’s truly something else, and I’m really not an indie game fan.

Put it this way: Who doesn’t love a game where you can shoot zombies with a Bow ‘n’ Arrow to collect plutonium rods?!

The developer says it’s “totally unfinished [and] unpolished” but I’ve played the 1st 3 levels without any bugs or problems.

Download it Now! (just 28mb)

Some people collect things, books, stamps, sports merchandise or gadgets. If they’re kept in good condition, then over a long period of time they can become valuable, priceless even. 

If certain games get better with age, then there are quite a few. Some may even go a step further and keep hold of games forever, or even keep one in mint condition, never opened.

In 50 years time say, what will The Sims, World of Warcraft, or GTA IV be worth? Pristine, boxed copies of these titles could hold a small fortune, not just for their name, but because they were trend setters, or record breaking sellers.

Old vinyl records by popular music artists are a classic example of a physical item that can keep a high value and get better with age. This at a time when digital releases are aiming to make their mark in the industry, both in music and computer games.

Hands up anyone who hasn’t seen the South Park episode “Make Love, Not Warcraft”?

Good, that means I don’t have to explain the bit where Cartman gets his ‘mum’ to hold a potty so he can ‘go’ without leaving the game.

Well for anyone who has done this, been asked to do this or even considered this; today is a good day. Soon, you won’t have too make-do – hehe - with just the game’s 2” thick manual, but you’ll actually be able to continue your game.

This is because John Smedley (Sony Online Entertainment boss) revealed the PSP could be getting MMOs in the future. Could this lead to mini-wow?

Electronic Arts has announced it is cancelling all work on Tiberium.

The first person shooter title, set in the Command and Conquer universe, is being killed off because of what the company said were problems with design that it couldn’t correct.