Trey Smith
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‘Hardspace: Shipbreaker’ is a puzzle-solving parable
'Hardspace: Shipbreaker' is a fun zero-g puzzle game set in a dystopian future where even oxygen is a commodity.
EA Canada racing to add features to NBA Jam on PS3, Xbox 360
"We got this bomb dropped on us just a couple days ago, as well," NBA Jam creative director Trey Smith told Toronto sports radio show Got Game (interview begins as 00:15:38 mark), about EA's last-minute decision to turn the HD console version of the game into a standalone retail product. "So we're shuffling to get everything together, but we got a great team; we got a lot of stuff up and working; we're gonna polish it up; we're gonna get it out there before holidays." Smith and his team at EA Canada have completed the full-featured Wii version of NBA Jam (which will be released tomorrow) and "had online up" -- Smith characterized it as a "really basic online feature set" -- for the planned stripped-down, digital release of Jam on PS3 and Xbox 360. This bonus downloadable version, which was to be included with new copies of the now delayed NBA Elite 11, was to include just the Play Now, Classic Campaign and Online Vs. modes -- "we're trying to blow that out," Smith stressed. The Wii game includes the Remix Tour, which encompasses a number of new modes and takes EA Canada's "best testers" 38 hours to complete, according to Smith, who also confirmed "you get Remix" in the PS3 and Xbox 360 version, as well. At least, that's the new plan. "We're doing everything in our power to get as much on there as possible," Smith assured. "We're trying to throw it all in there."
FaceBreaker details make the game sound like a knock-out [update 2]
When EA changed the title of the Wii's FaceBreaker to FaceBreaker K.O. Party, we couldn't help but moan, groan, grumble, and sneer. Not every Wii game needs to have the word "party" in it, and we do enjoy things that aren't party games from time to time (shock, gasp!). While the video above does ease our fears a bit, it's clear that the focus of K.O. Party is on the multiplayer. Then again, it's a fighting game, so that's okay. Producer Trey Smith talks up the Wii version a bit, and hints at some of the features exclusive to K.O. Party. The part that caught our ears was the "one-to-one" responsiveness, which would be amazing if true. As much as we enjoy Wii Sports: Boxing, flailing around like idiots does not make a good fighter. Smith also boasts about the visual style, which does look nice (although obviously not as nice as its HD counterparts), as well as the multiplayer, of which there will be two different modes.As for the exclusive unlockable character, that's a neat bonus but won't make or break the game -- unless, of course, it happens to be Little Mac, which is unlikely but would make us die happy.[Update: For unknown reasons, GameTrailers no longer has the video up! We summarized most of what happened above, but if the video shows up again, we'll put it in.][Update 2: The video is back up! And well worth watching.]
