You know, I liked the original Dead Space, but I felt like it didn't quite live up to one of its promises: the weapons...
Full Story (PC)
Full Story (PS3)
Full Story (360)
Monday, December 21, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Gamez rulez commercialz!
So Adweek recently held a voting on the best commercial of the decade (I know, I wasn't told either) and, in a move that will probably have your grandparents shaking their heads if/when you tell them, two gaming commercials actually managed to make it into the top spots.
One of these was Sony's "Mountain" commercial from the heyday of the Playstation 2 which...well I thought was kind of lame. But that's probably due to my unexplainable dislike for anything involving Shirley Temple. Check it out and make your own decision.
The second of these commercials was from the Halo 3 "Believe" campaign (although this particular ad is apparently called "Diorama") and is pretty rad. I can't ever watch this commercial without thinking to myself "Man! I want all of those things and the time to set up that exact scene!"
Feel free to check out the other, non-gaming commercials as well. From serious political statements to commercials that make you say "Wait...what?" to the ones that just make you say "WTF!?" Enjoy.
One of these was Sony's "Mountain" commercial from the heyday of the Playstation 2 which...well I thought was kind of lame. But that's probably due to my unexplainable dislike for anything involving Shirley Temple. Check it out and make your own decision.
The second of these commercials was from the Halo 3 "Believe" campaign (although this particular ad is apparently called "Diorama") and is pretty rad. I can't ever watch this commercial without thinking to myself "Man! I want all of those things and the time to set up that exact scene!"
Feel free to check out the other, non-gaming commercials as well. From serious political statements to commercials that make you say "Wait...what?" to the ones that just make you say "WTF!?" Enjoy.
The Missing Piece...of DLC. Assassin's Creed II
Anyone else notice that memory sequence 12 AND 13 were missing from Assassin's Creed II?
Full story(PC) Full story(PS3) Full story(360)
Full story(PC) Full story(PS3) Full story(360)
Come here! Go there! Army of Two: 40th Day
Anyone interested (yes, that does include me) in seeing how the Army of Two sequel is shaping up (according to IGN's opinion anyway) can check out a hands-on at IGN this-a-way. Must be nice to be a "legitimate" gaming site, ahh well, move along.
LittleBigPirate (PS3)
According to sources at IGN, MediaMolecule will be releasing a Pirates of the Caribbean level kit...
Full Story (PS3)
Full Story (PS3)
Get Caught up on Mass Effect's Story! (at IGN!)
Never played the first Mass Effect? Well first, shame on you, and second, IGN has apparently got you covered not only for being a bad gamer...
Full Story(360)
Full Story(PC)
Full Story(360)
Full Story(PC)
Monday, December 14, 2009
Transform and Roll Out
So, you may have noticed the site has changed a little. There's a (pretty spiffy) new look to the whole place. Ive made navigation a little easier with the sidebar; you can now choose to view news that only relates to your system of choice instead of sorting everything from newest to oldest. There's still links to all the webcomic episodes and there's even a link to the old HT website and all the (now out-of-date) stories contained therein.
There's a story or two that made it here by managing to still be fairly relevant and, of course, all the High Technology episodes.
All this should bring a much cleaner look to Higher Technology and make navigation easier for everybody.
There's a story or two that made it here by managing to still be fairly relevant and, of course, all the High Technology episodes.
All this should bring a much cleaner look to Higher Technology and make navigation easier for everybody.
Prestige Edition comes with what!?
You've probably noticed that the art style for High Tech has changed yet again. Sorry. I'm still working on finding a way to draw that is relatively speedy without making it obvious just how much I can't draw. I call this look...wait for it..."sketchy."
Yes, that's correct, I actually don't have any plans to get Modern Warfare 2. Don't get me wrong, I liked the first one, it was a fantastic game. However I got it a long time after it came out, I mean a long time and I stopped playing it before the people who got it on release day.
Since I blew through the single player and I hear the sequel's offering isn't any longer I just... meh. Multiplayer is definitely cool, deserves most of the praise it got and kept me interested long enough to get through prestige mode 1 and a half times...but that was it. So I'm not foaming at the mouth to drop $60 on an improved (balance-wise, graphics-wise or otherwise) version of the same. And since I still maintain the opinion that MW2 doesn't quite match the visual polish of Killzone 2 and doesn't touch Uncharted 2, I don't need it for a visual showpiece to the power of HD gaming consoles.
Of course there is a good chance I'll end up grabbing MW2 anyway, I didn't plan on buying the first one either.
Sex and Playstation; Grow Up
So I'm still sifting through the mass of news that accompanies E3 and finding the stuff worth writing about as well as waiting for confirmation on some of the more shadowy details that came out of this year's expo (Metal Gear Solid: Rising, I'm looking at you.) before I start writing my coverage of the videogame circus that is E3. In the meantime, however, I came across some of the details of BioWare's new IP: Dragon Age: Origins and the mounting controversy that tickled my irritate bone just enough that I had to write something about it. BioWare's including sexual relationships in the game. Gasp!
This isn't a first for a BioWare game, and far from a first for the industry, yet people still can't seem to get past it. Look people, sex happens. It's a regular part of everyday life, it's not something that needs to be hidden behind closed doors and looked down upon as something dirty (despite what the Catholic church tells you) just as it's not something to be held up on a pedestal as the ultimate goal in life (despite what the porn industry tells you) and if you're telling the story of an adult's life, sex is most likely going to be part of it. Yet the general public can't seem to accept this and continue to think of sex in videogames the same way they think of sex in their parents lives: it doesn't happen.
But let's get more into BioWare's take specifically. The first time they got into hot water (or Hot Coffee maybe?) was with the game Mass Effect. At the game's outset you create your own character, male or female, and edit their appearance however you like. Whatever you decide, there are two potential romantic interests. There is a male or female human depending on which sex you chose to play as and there is also an alien that is technically neither male nor female, yet whose appearance suggests the latter. Beyond the finger wagging that including a sexual relationship in their game earned them, BioWare also found controversy for allowing players to engage in an apparent lesbian encounter with said alien. What!? Videogames promoting tolerance!? Blasphemy! Depravity! Pornography!
To some of you that may sound stupid, but I remind those of you that we, as a society, still can't seem to decide if we should let homosexuals marry despite the fact that no one has yet put forth a legitimate reason not to. Videogames already catch flak and endure absurd levels of controversy for depicting things commonplace in other mediums so this really shouldn't have been such a surprise. Yet I remain flabbergasted by this. Yes, my flabber has been thoroughly gasted. There are games that throw in sex gratuitously (see the menage a trois minigames in the God of War series, or any Leisure Suit Larry game in general) but those are done in a very tongue-in-cheek way and never made out to be anything more then they are: indulgent, adolescent fantasy intended purely for entertainment. Speaking of God of War, it amuses/irritates me to no end that a game where you can literally tear a guy's arm off and impale him with it faced the most opposition because of it's depiction of bare breasts (this is Greek mythology we're dealing with) and a threesome minigame, with the actual threesome taking place off-screen no less!
BioWare games take an appropriately mature approach to the subject and make it more about the relationship itself and the consequences of adding sex to it. Choose the alien to foster your adult relationship with and your fiery subordinate is going to get angry and pout. Choose said spitfire and the alien will be hurt but understanding. And since your characters and the choices you've made carry on to the game's sequels (isn't modern technology grand) those consequences are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Dragon Age seems to be taking that idea of consequences even further (it didn't take place until almost the very end in Mass Effect...is that a spoiler? Whatever.) with your choices between romantic partners and how your relationship with one affects your relationship with the other, and possibly even more people than you would have thought. And as is the case with real life, even getting these relationships to the point where sex becomes a possibility takes some real effort. Shacking up with one woman makes the other jealous, and maybe even angry or hostile. If you've been flirting with both up to that point, the consequences are even more tangible than had you simply pursued one and left the other to her own devices.
Now both of these women appear to be more than just eye candy and a chance to get your groove on, they serve gameplay purposes. For example, Morrigan is a sorceress. If you break her heart she's not going to lend her magic to your side in battle...and there's always the chance she'll turn you into a toad. Alright, maybe not the toad part but you get my meaning.
The point is, people get to hung up on the sex. Sex is just sex people, it's an integral part of everyday life; without it we can't survive as a species. What seems to get lost amidst the idiocy, is what taking it to a sexual level means to your romantic relationship as well as how it affects, directly or indirectly, your relationship with others, it's part of the story. If you want to depict an adult that has a fully-realized romantic relationship, sex is going to be a part of that relationship. Pretending sex doesn't happen just because it makes you twitch is simply adding a level of pure fantasy to the story you're attempting to tell. The game isn't forcing you to have sex either, it's simply making the option available. This is a role-playing game, after all, a game in which you play a role, and putting as many options as possible at the player's disposal is what allows the player to play their role however they want. Want to go around banging any chick that bats her eyelashes at you? Go ahead, as long as you're ready to deal with the consequences of such promiscuity (digital STD's? hmmmm...). Want to be celibate and act like you're some kind of priest while simultaneously going around killing things? Hey, it is a fantasy game.
Forgetting the relationship and getting hung up on the sex part -- thinking it should be kept in the dark and out of sight -- is the reaction of a repressed individual and I pity you. Sex is sex, it's normal, it's fun, and most of all it's necessary. If you can't find a way to wrap your mind around that and move on with your life...well, you need to grow up.
But let's get more into BioWare's take specifically. The first time they got into hot water (or Hot Coffee maybe?) was with the game Mass Effect. At the game's outset you create your own character, male or female, and edit their appearance however you like. Whatever you decide, there are two potential romantic interests. There is a male or female human depending on which sex you chose to play as and there is also an alien that is technically neither male nor female, yet whose appearance suggests the latter. Beyond the finger wagging that including a sexual relationship in their game earned them, BioWare also found controversy for allowing players to engage in an apparent lesbian encounter with said alien. What!? Videogames promoting tolerance!? Blasphemy! Depravity! Pornography!
To some of you that may sound stupid, but I remind those of you that we, as a society, still can't seem to decide if we should let homosexuals marry despite the fact that no one has yet put forth a legitimate reason not to. Videogames already catch flak and endure absurd levels of controversy for depicting things commonplace in other mediums so this really shouldn't have been such a surprise. Yet I remain flabbergasted by this. Yes, my flabber has been thoroughly gasted. There are games that throw in sex gratuitously (see the menage a trois minigames in the God of War series, or any Leisure Suit Larry game in general) but those are done in a very tongue-in-cheek way and never made out to be anything more then they are: indulgent, adolescent fantasy intended purely for entertainment. Speaking of God of War, it amuses/irritates me to no end that a game where you can literally tear a guy's arm off and impale him with it faced the most opposition because of it's depiction of bare breasts (this is Greek mythology we're dealing with) and a threesome minigame, with the actual threesome taking place off-screen no less!
BioWare games take an appropriately mature approach to the subject and make it more about the relationship itself and the consequences of adding sex to it. Choose the alien to foster your adult relationship with and your fiery subordinate is going to get angry and pout. Choose said spitfire and the alien will be hurt but understanding. And since your characters and the choices you've made carry on to the game's sequels (isn't modern technology grand) those consequences are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Dragon Age seems to be taking that idea of consequences even further (it didn't take place until almost the very end in Mass Effect...is that a spoiler? Whatever.) with your choices between romantic partners and how your relationship with one affects your relationship with the other, and possibly even more people than you would have thought. And as is the case with real life, even getting these relationships to the point where sex becomes a possibility takes some real effort. Shacking up with one woman makes the other jealous, and maybe even angry or hostile. If you've been flirting with both up to that point, the consequences are even more tangible than had you simply pursued one and left the other to her own devices.
Now both of these women appear to be more than just eye candy and a chance to get your groove on, they serve gameplay purposes. For example, Morrigan is a sorceress. If you break her heart she's not going to lend her magic to your side in battle...and there's always the chance she'll turn you into a toad. Alright, maybe not the toad part but you get my meaning.
The point is, people get to hung up on the sex. Sex is just sex people, it's an integral part of everyday life; without it we can't survive as a species. What seems to get lost amidst the idiocy, is what taking it to a sexual level means to your romantic relationship as well as how it affects, directly or indirectly, your relationship with others, it's part of the story. If you want to depict an adult that has a fully-realized romantic relationship, sex is going to be a part of that relationship. Pretending sex doesn't happen just because it makes you twitch is simply adding a level of pure fantasy to the story you're attempting to tell. The game isn't forcing you to have sex either, it's simply making the option available. This is a role-playing game, after all, a game in which you play a role, and putting as many options as possible at the player's disposal is what allows the player to play their role however they want. Want to go around banging any chick that bats her eyelashes at you? Go ahead, as long as you're ready to deal with the consequences of such promiscuity (digital STD's? hmmmm...). Want to be celibate and act like you're some kind of priest while simultaneously going around killing things? Hey, it is a fantasy game.
Forgetting the relationship and getting hung up on the sex part -- thinking it should be kept in the dark and out of sight -- is the reaction of a repressed individual and I pity you. Sex is sex, it's normal, it's fun, and most of all it's necessary. If you can't find a way to wrap your mind around that and move on with your life...well, you need to grow up.
Brutal Legend Tells of a Legendary Warrior whose skills were the stuff of Legend
And that warrior...is Tim Schafer. Thought I was gonna say Jack Black or Eddie Riggs huh? Yup, it's ok, it happens.
So yes, the Brutal Legend demo did come out this week. And yes, it is awesome. How awesome you ask? Well, you've come to the right place to quantify abstract concepts: it's super freakin' awesome...but I guess you need more information than that. The best thing you could do would be download the demo and play for yourself. Actually the best thing you could do is go pre-order Brutal Legend to make sure another Tim Schafer concentrated disc of awesomeness doesn't get ignored completely *cough Psychonauts /cough* so we can get another one at some point in the future. For now though, we'll go with the second...third...a good thing you can do and read about Brutal Legend here on High Technology.
I'll dole out some quick background info on Brutal Legend for those of you that are really intent on ignoring all of Tim Schafer's work.
Brutal Legend is about metal. No, not shiny metal, but dark metal, heavy metal. I'm talking music here. And, as the opening cinema (of both the demo and the game) point out: real, skulls and demons and medieval (not MediEvil) weapons metal. No emo-y nu-metal or anything of that nature. Real M - E - T - A - L. Music that would make Dethklock proud. Don't worry though, even if you've never gotten/given a battle scar in a mosh pit and have no idea how to "throw up the devil horns" you will still enjoy this game. You will get more of the jokes though. Eddie Riggs is one of these lovers of metal, he's also the world's best roadie AND the game's main character, he's just a multi-talented guy. So talented, in fact, that he gets sucked into the Age of Metal by his magical, metal belt buckle after an unfortunate stage accident. Like I said, super freakin' awesome. Like I also said, it's best to see it for yourself. And the Age of Metal is in turmoil, lorded over by a terrible, metal-defiling demon whom only Eddie, it seems, can defeat. Along the way Eddie will pick up new gear (spellcasting guitar, hotrod called The Deuce) and allies (headbangers, Ozzy) to aid in his quest.
The demo actually covers a good portion of the game's opening. You'll see the opening cinema, get Eddies main weapon (a battle-axe called The Separator) his previously mentioned spellcasting guitar, and The Deuce. You'll even get your first ally/love interest, although you don't get the chance to teach her about french-kissing, in the demo anyway AND fight the first boss. Yet it's not a particularly long demo, hmmm...
The presentation you'll see in the retail release is in full effect in the demo as well. The menu consists of an elaborately packaged vinyl record being manipulated by a pair of hands. New game? flip open the cover. Multiplayer? Slide the paper sleeve out. Options? Slide the record out of the sleeve. You get the idea. All menu manipulation is done with the standard left, right method as well, they didn't make a minigame out of it. In fact, all the menus are littered with that special Schafer aroma. Pop-up menus asking if you want swearing and gore enabled or just explaining what buttons do have that little spice of Schafer-esque humor. The specifics of those I'm going to let you see for yourself, however.
Speaking of the buttons, once you get through the opening movie it'll be time to do some playing. Brutal Legend's controls are straightforward and the game trickles out it's tutorial information at appropriate and helpful times. Basically X is standard attack using the Separator with O acting as block and Square utilizing the guitar and it's magical spells. Triangle is a context-sensitive action button that can do everything from jump into the Deuce to grabbing your ally for a double-team move. The basic attacks have variations for holding the appropriate button down as well, and there's a combo that combines X and Square for a super usefull spell that involves some physical movement on Eddie's part as well. And there's no jump. I know, I know, "how can there be no jump?" There just isn't, and it works just fine.
Graphically, Brutal Legend isn't quite going to threaten teh crown currently held by Uncharted 2, but it certainy suffices. For the most part, textures are sharp and models are smooth and the animations is top-notch. Although you'll hear Jack Black's voice and realize it doesn't quite fit with the exceptionally muscular Eddie Riggs, the quality of the character's animation can regularly fog out that reality. For those that don't know Jack Black A) WTF!! and B) it may very well look flawless. And the art direction...well this is Tim Schafer and Tim Schafer loves metal sooo...look, I can't do everything for you here, some stuff you have to fill in the blanks on.
Speaking of Jack Black, he is in perfect form here. The same way that School of Rock dropped Jack Black into a movie best suited to his humor, so Brutal Legend does for video games. We could call it the Brutal School of Rock Legend...but we won't. How no one ever thought to put Schafer and Black together before I do not know, but i'm gladd I was alive when it happened. The collaboration really shines in things like the descent down the mountain of your arrival. While Eddie prays to the gods (player?) to move his conspicuously-absent-of-controls vehicle down the mountain you can cause him to stop and stumble verbally while trying to find appropriate adjectives by simply stopping the vehicle. Once you continue walking he picks up his prayer right where he left off. If you walk down the mountain nonstop the whole way, you'd never know the game even did that. Cool idea on Tim's part, funny dialogue on Jack's.
The music...I mean really, do I need to go into this? The game is about heavy metal so the soundtrack is entirely...heavy metal, yes, thank you. Moving on.
Considering how much fun I had with this excruciatingly small taste of Brutal Legend, I can't imagine how I'm going to wait the whole two weeks it will be before I can experience all of the different gameplay types, allies, metal legend cameos (Ozzy, Lemmy, etc.) and one-liners the full game will offer. I've considered cryogenically freezing myself, but that didn't work out so well for Cartman.
So yes, the Brutal Legend demo did come out this week. And yes, it is awesome. How awesome you ask? Well, you've come to the right place to quantify abstract concepts: it's super freakin' awesome...but I guess you need more information than that. The best thing you could do would be download the demo and play for yourself. Actually the best thing you could do is go pre-order Brutal Legend to make sure another Tim Schafer concentrated disc of awesomeness doesn't get ignored completely *cough Psychonauts /cough* so we can get another one at some point in the future. For now though, we'll go with the second...third...a good thing you can do and read about Brutal Legend here on High Technology.
I'll dole out some quick background info on Brutal Legend for those of you that are really intent on ignoring all of Tim Schafer's work.
Brutal Legend is about metal. No, not shiny metal, but dark metal, heavy metal. I'm talking music here. And, as the opening cinema (of both the demo and the game) point out: real, skulls and demons and medieval (not MediEvil) weapons metal. No emo-y nu-metal or anything of that nature. Real M - E - T - A - L. Music that would make Dethklock proud. Don't worry though, even if you've never gotten/given a battle scar in a mosh pit and have no idea how to "throw up the devil horns" you will still enjoy this game. You will get more of the jokes though. Eddie Riggs is one of these lovers of metal, he's also the world's best roadie AND the game's main character, he's just a multi-talented guy. So talented, in fact, that he gets sucked into the Age of Metal by his magical, metal belt buckle after an unfortunate stage accident. Like I said, super freakin' awesome. Like I also said, it's best to see it for yourself. And the Age of Metal is in turmoil, lorded over by a terrible, metal-defiling demon whom only Eddie, it seems, can defeat. Along the way Eddie will pick up new gear (spellcasting guitar, hotrod called The Deuce) and allies (headbangers, Ozzy) to aid in his quest.
The demo actually covers a good portion of the game's opening. You'll see the opening cinema, get Eddies main weapon (a battle-axe called The Separator) his previously mentioned spellcasting guitar, and The Deuce. You'll even get your first ally/love interest, although you don't get the chance to teach her about french-kissing, in the demo anyway AND fight the first boss. Yet it's not a particularly long demo, hmmm...
The presentation you'll see in the retail release is in full effect in the demo as well. The menu consists of an elaborately packaged vinyl record being manipulated by a pair of hands. New game? flip open the cover. Multiplayer? Slide the paper sleeve out. Options? Slide the record out of the sleeve. You get the idea. All menu manipulation is done with the standard left, right method as well, they didn't make a minigame out of it. In fact, all the menus are littered with that special Schafer aroma. Pop-up menus asking if you want swearing and gore enabled or just explaining what buttons do have that little spice of Schafer-esque humor. The specifics of those I'm going to let you see for yourself, however.
Speaking of the buttons, once you get through the opening movie it'll be time to do some playing. Brutal Legend's controls are straightforward and the game trickles out it's tutorial information at appropriate and helpful times. Basically X is standard attack using the Separator with O acting as block and Square utilizing the guitar and it's magical spells. Triangle is a context-sensitive action button that can do everything from jump into the Deuce to grabbing your ally for a double-team move. The basic attacks have variations for holding the appropriate button down as well, and there's a combo that combines X and Square for a super usefull spell that involves some physical movement on Eddie's part as well. And there's no jump. I know, I know, "how can there be no jump?" There just isn't, and it works just fine.
Graphically, Brutal Legend isn't quite going to threaten teh crown currently held by Uncharted 2, but it certainy suffices. For the most part, textures are sharp and models are smooth and the animations is top-notch. Although you'll hear Jack Black's voice and realize it doesn't quite fit with the exceptionally muscular Eddie Riggs, the quality of the character's animation can regularly fog out that reality. For those that don't know Jack Black A) WTF!! and B) it may very well look flawless. And the art direction...well this is Tim Schafer and Tim Schafer loves metal sooo...look, I can't do everything for you here, some stuff you have to fill in the blanks on.
Speaking of Jack Black, he is in perfect form here. The same way that School of Rock dropped Jack Black into a movie best suited to his humor, so Brutal Legend does for video games. We could call it the Brutal School of Rock Legend...but we won't. How no one ever thought to put Schafer and Black together before I do not know, but i'm gladd I was alive when it happened. The collaboration really shines in things like the descent down the mountain of your arrival. While Eddie prays to the gods (player?) to move his conspicuously-absent-of-controls vehicle down the mountain you can cause him to stop and stumble verbally while trying to find appropriate adjectives by simply stopping the vehicle. Once you continue walking he picks up his prayer right where he left off. If you walk down the mountain nonstop the whole way, you'd never know the game even did that. Cool idea on Tim's part, funny dialogue on Jack's.
The music...I mean really, do I need to go into this? The game is about heavy metal so the soundtrack is entirely...heavy metal, yes, thank you. Moving on.
Considering how much fun I had with this excruciatingly small taste of Brutal Legend, I can't imagine how I'm going to wait the whole two weeks it will be before I can experience all of the different gameplay types, allies, metal legend cameos (Ozzy, Lemmy, etc.) and one-liners the full game will offer. I've considered cryogenically freezing myself, but that didn't work out so well for Cartman.
High Technology: Rock Band
I feel like I should mention that we live next door to a cop. That apparently loves classic rock...
High Technology: WarHawk
Yeah, "Lewis" isnt' all that great at sharing when it comes to Warhawk. This is a frequent occurrance...
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