There’s no way in hell I was going to let Ethos one-up me on this one
I couldn’t take it anymore, Ladies and Gentlemen, so I took the path of least resistance/most money, and picked up a copy of Dragon Age: Origins. It’s installing as we speak, so I can offer no impressions beyond this series of text messages between me and Ethos:
Riddles: So HOW IS IT?
Ethos: Still creating character. Install took forever. Sweet character creation, though!
Riddles: Well shyit. About to go grab it before GameStop closes. I’ll let it install while writing HLL.
Ethos: Werd! Good week this week!
Riddles: I agree, sir. Let’s not let it die over the weekend ;) DA installing now.
Ethos: God my character is hot.
Riddles: Betcha mine’ll be hotter.
Ethos: Yours will just look like Cokey
Riddles: Exactly. What’s hotter than a cracked-out amazonian swordfighter?
Ethos: A cute red-haired elf with a bad-ass face tattoo!
Ahem. More thorough impressions to come later, presumably. In any case, I can tell you now that a PS3 install takes MAYBE 10 minutes, so I’m not sure what he was bitching about.
On to the news!
Check Out This Awesome Modern Warfare 2 Launch Trailer
Yes, it has an Eminem song in it. But for some odd reason, I find it fitting, and the trailer is AWESOME regardless of the music. Anticipation = off the fucking charts.
Test Audiences Rate Prince of Persia Movie Highly
In an interview with Latino Review, Prince of Persia producer Jerry Bruckheimer had this to say:
What we found when we tested the movie a few weeks ago, and it tested extraordinarily high which surprised me because I always think these things are going to fail but this one turned out great; the women were a surprise because I thought we made a terrific movie for the boys because the girl is beautiful but the women flipped over this film. I’ve never had a score where the parents, there is violence, too, because it’s PG-13, but the parents rated the film a hundred percent with an excellent or very good which has never happened before. So it’s one of these movies that we know they’ll take their children to go see it which is a huge advantage for a film, that parents can say, ‘Hey, it’s cool. My kid can see it.’
I’m borderline loathe to say this, but… I’m getting pretty damn excited for this movie. There, I said it. Yes, I know I’ve always bashed game-to-film adaptations on principle. But hey, I never said somebody shouldn’t try to change my mind. And it looks to me like Bruckheimer & Co are set out to do just that. By the by, I highly suggest you hit the above link and give the full interview a read. It’s quite good, and features Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner as well as Mr. Bruckheimer.
Nintendo Discusses its High-Definition Future… Kinda
Or DO they? It’s never easy to tell with them. Anyway, a bunch of big-name Nintendo execs have spoken publicly about their supposed eventual step into HD. By a bunch I mean six, and among these six were Shigeru Miyamoto and some dude name Genyo Takeda. He’s, uh… the general manager of Nintendo’s Integrated Research and Development Division. Or something. Anyway. Here’s a few select pieces of the text wall:
Takeda – “Since an increasing number of the TV sets at home around the world are becoming HD today, it will be natural for a machine to be able to generate graphics that people will be accustomed to see on HD televisions. Since the ordinary TV programs are now shifting to HD, moving to HD appears to me a natural flow.”
Miyamoto – “Regarding the question of SD or HD, it must depend on each software. For example, we have to ask ourselves if HD is really necessary to develop Wii Fit. Won’t HD be better for the games like Pikmin? The developers should choose the most appropriate graphical format depending on the software they make. To Nintendo, our theme is how we can prepare the SDK library to cater to the needs of the developers, with which the developers can more easily develop their games. In fact, Nintendo has been working with such mission.”
Those two quotes are among the few that make, y’know… sense. Click here to subject yourself to the full thing.
Check Out This Sweet-Ass Mass Effect 2 Collector’s Edition Box
I usually don’t give collector’s editions a second thought, but Mass Effect 2 already has my attention. For a mere $10 more, you’ll receive a fancy tin case, a 48-page hardcover art book, issue 1 of the Mass Effect: Redemption comic series, and a bonus DVD with behind-the-scenes features.
Do want.
Asassin’s Creed II Will Kick the Original’s Ass
Hoo boy. Strangely, I haven’t been freaking out in anticipation for Assassin’s Creed II. It remains my most anticipated title of the year, but I’ve kept my fanboyism under control for the most part. However, when I read articles like this one from IGN, I start to feel the tingle. The article is entitled “Five Ways Assassin’s Creed Has Improved,” and it’s a good read for anyone with even a passing interest in the game.
Aaaand that’s a wrap, folks. I’m off to play me some Dragon Age. Expect to hear from me again shortly.
Tags: Hey! Look! Listen!, Mass Effect 2, Modern Warfare 2, Prince of Persia Movie
Yeah … you would take Bruckheimer at his word wouldn’t you …
-That Miyamoto quote also strikes me as odd. If Nintendo release a HD system what reason in the world could something as graphically banal as Wii Fit have for not being in HD?
That ACII preview was very interesting, and all of the things mentioned sound wonderful additions, but it doesn’t touch the two biggest criticisms of the game. They didn’t note whether your preparations for assassination is as repetitive or whether they’ve managed to fix the combat system to make it fun.
@SN – I think more what he meant was “is a game like Wii Fit enough to make us make the move to HD?” At least that’s how I read it.
Ah … Ok.
Yeah, I mean I don’t think that games like Wii Fit would really benefit from HD, but other games (like Metroid Prime) would probably get something out of the upgrade. That’s probably what he was referring to when he said they should be the option and it could be up to developers. Either go SD and keep your development costs loser, or switch to HD if graphics are important for the type of game you’re making. Sounds like a good deal to me, if it gets implemented :F.
It’s still very difficult to understand what they’re talking about. Do they mean to keep the Wii going along side a new console? Or are they just working on some sort of image upscaler add-on so that games dont look arse on a HD display?
I bet Nintendo doesn’t even know what Miyamoto’s talking about at this point. Wasn’t it a few years ago or something he was saying how he wanted to make a game about giving up your seat on the train to the elderly? The way I took it, the one system would have both options and a developer could just choose the resolution their game ran in, which I’d be fine with. No idea if that’s correct or not, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
I see no reason for than. Both the PS3 and 360 can run SD games, but the kind of games Miyamoto is talking about are all HD since it’s not exactly hard to get them running in HD, it’s the pretty 3D action games which sometimes fall short of HD. If someone purposefully chose to have their game running in SD from the outset, then that looks a lot like lazyness.
Oh, I agree, but I also see no reason to wave my arms like an idiot while I’m playing a game, but it’s Nintendo, they’re not making games exclusively for our audience any more. And, like I said, I’m probably completely wrong in my interpretation anyway.
I may consider getting the ME2 special edition, depending on how I feel when I go to pick the game up. I’m much more likely to spend an extra $10 to get some extra stuff that stores easily (although I KNOW I’ll never watch the extras DVD) than $60 extra to get something that won’t fit on my shelves anywhere.
Yeah, the end result is that Nintendo is fucked up and if they invent their crazy “in between SD and HD” thing, I’ll hit somebody in the face. I used to get really excited by “info” like that interview, but I’ve learned to wait for official announcements before I get my hopes up (before they usually get crushed).
@Darth – Yeah, the special edition looks good. I’m such a ME fanboy that I can’t see me NOT getting that edition.