Griffin McElroy
Articles by Griffin McElroy
Sony predicting another year of losses, despite growing games sales
2011 hasn't been the best of years for the electronics manufacturing giant known as Sony. Its not just that the company's television and mobile phone divisions have failed to gain much ground against their competitors, but a string of bad luck -- a major Japanese earthquake, flooding in Thailand, rioters in Britain and hackers in, well, cyberspace -- has affected their ability to supply consumers with their products. Citing these events, Sony is anticipating its fourth unprofitable year in a row. This news comes from a New York Times report, which says Sony's video game business is rallying due to strong interest in the Vita, and the ever-increasing sales of the PS3. That just goes to show you that ... video games are better than cameras and televisions. We encourage Canon, Nikon and Panasonic to give up their increasingly irrelevant platforms, and start making video game consoles. Actually, wait: We're going to need TVs, still. You guys keep doing what you're doing.
Goldeneye 007: Reloaded walkthrough takes us through MI-6 mode
A secret agent rarely has any influence over the difficulty of his or her missions, but Goldeneye 007: Reloaded's MI-6 mode gives its kill-licensed professionals that very courtesy. Check out the game's highly customizable missions in the developer walkthrough posted above.
Bastion half-off on Steam today and tomorrow
Supergiant Games' lovable action-RPG Bastion has won over the hearts of many -- though folks who aren't willing to dish out $15 for a downloadable game have remained, as ever, non-plussed. If you're in this camp, act fast: The game's half off on Steam until November 3.
Iwata: 3DS is Nintendo 'priority,' even at the sake of short-term profitability
In a recent Q&A following a semi-annual investor's meeting, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata laid out the company's plans for its slow-starting handheld, the 3DS. "We came to the conclusion that we needed to make that bold investment," Iwata explained, "instead of focusing just on this term's profitability, so that we would be able to make the Nintendo 3DS an important foundation for Nintendo for years to come." He added that the company expects the system's profitability to improve dramatically during the fiscal year ending March 2013. Iwata mentioned that, falling in line with this strategy, unspecified 3DS games were delayed from the holiday release window to prevent being overlooked due to overcrowding. The only major first-party 3DS titles scheduled for the rest of the year are Super Mario 3D Land (November 13) and Mario Kart 7 (December 4). He also discussed the company's plans to expand the eShop with an "add-on" marketplace for individual games, and the ability to access the store using PCs and Smartphones. You can read more about this initiative in our post from last week, though it lacks Iwata's almost comically tardy discovery of social networking platforms. He's kind of like your grandpa who just discovered Facebook, likes everything you post, and leaves embarrassing comments on all your pictures in all-caps.
A cavalcade of nerds discuss fellowship in this War in the North dev diary
Who do you trust to tell you what you need to know about Lord of the Rings: War in the North? The game's producer? A fan of the franchise, perhaps? How about Samwise-effing-Gamgee himself? All speak their minds in the War in the North dev diary posted above.
Kinect Sports: Season Two review: Sports, kind of
Kinect Sports may have been little more than a tech demo for the fledgling Kinect hardware, but I'll be damned if it wasn't an enjoyable tech demo. It was the stuff of family gathering legends: A game which allowed you to interact with sporting events in a somewhat limited way, using rudimentary, instantly familiar gestures. It wasn't the most intricate or intellectual use of the device's motion-tracking capabilities, but for a launch title, it worked. If anything, Kinect Sports: Season Two is an exquisite example of how far the Kinect's software has come over the past year -- only, not in a good way. After a few hours of mock-football, mock-baseball or, perplexingly, mock-darts, I was left with the overwhelming feeling that the Kinect can be (and has been) used for so much more. %Gallery-126229%
Binding of Isaac gets a big ol' Halloween update
Edmund McMillen's slightly disturbing indie dungeon crawler Binding of Isaac has been extended and expanded on this, the most spookiest of days. Don't expect any seasonal additions, however: In lieu of Jack O' Lanterns and mutant candy corn monsters, the free update features new bosses, a new playable character, an additional ending and a fifth chapter, which, in a fittingly bizarre twist, is "unlocked after 10 mom kills." Check out all the new features after the jump. The game will be updated on Steam by 3 p.m. ET today. It's probably not the scariest thing you could play today, though. If only it were as utterly horrifying as its launch trailer!
GTA: Vice City, San Andreas iOS ports 'very possible'
If you prefer the vibrant, jewel-toned streets of Vice City or the gritty, decidedly not-jewel-toned avenues of San Andreas to the trappings of Old Liberty City, you might have your fancy tickled by Rockstar soon enough. The developer, which recently showed off its iOS port of Grand Theft Auto 3, recently told Digital Trends that, though it might be a "technical challenge," similarly mobile versions of GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas are "very possible." That's the kind of can-do attitude that made Rockstar the top-flight development studio it is today. Well, that and the secret deal that Dan Houser made with the devil back in 1999. Oh, right, breaking news: Dan Houser made a deal with the devil back in 1999. We forgot that wasn't common knowledge!
Australian Classification Branch: R18+ not ready for 'another couple of years'
Though Australian minister for home affairs Brendan O'Connor told press that the R18+ games rating would be available for new titles "a couple of months" after its ratification by the nation's federal government, we might have to wait just a bit longer than that. According to Australian Classification Branch Manager of Applications David Emery, "it'll probably be another couple of years before we'll be able to accept an application for an R18 game." "It's got to go to Parliament, then there's changes that have to be made subsequent to that," Emery explained -- changes that also need to be applied to the classification systems of each state and territory, as well. Try not to get too discouraged, Australian gamers: At least your children will be able to buy Resident Evil 11. Oh, wait, they'll need to be adults, first. Okay, Resident Evil 19.
Buy Dance Central or Kinect Sports sequel, get original for half off on Amazon
If you're looking into jumping into either the Dance Central or Kinect Sports franchises sequel-first, Amazon's offering you a chance to catch up on your back catalog for peanuts. For a limited time, if you buy Dance Central 2 or Kinect Sports: Season 2, you can get their prequels for half-off.
EA adds Warner Bros, Capcom and THQ to Origin
EA recently announced a partnership which would bring some fellow third-party publishers' games to its recently launched Origin gaming platform. The list is short, but auspicious: Warner Bros. Interactive, THQ and Capcom will begin adding their major releases to the service, with November heralding the arrivals of Batman: Arkham City, Saints Row: The Third and others. "Additional titles" are also promised for the coming months. These games mark the first non-EA-branded titles to appear on the platform, joining over 100 of the mega-publisher's games currently on offer.
Crush3D, Mario & Sonic Olympics hitting 3DS early next year
Sega recently announced the launch dates of two of its upcoming titles for the Nintendo 3DS. Folks waiting with bated breath for the three-dimensional puzzler, Crush3D, will be able to exhale earlier than the original projected late-February release date -- it's out on January 10 (January 13 in Europe). Worldwide athletes, on the other hand, can test their mettle when Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games lights the torch on February 14 (February 10 in Europe). Well, we know what we're doing on Valentine's Day: Neglecting our significant others while we try and earn the gold with Dr. Robotnik in the Rhythmic Gymnastics event. They say his supple frame isn't built to twirl ribbons, but we respectfully disagree.
Mass Effect 3 co-op screens bring us all together
Come, friends. It's time for us to put aside our differences, and work together for a common goal: Shooting (and/or telekinetically brutalizing) aliens. Check out the four screenshots from Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode below, and join in the spirit of cooperation.
Get Jetpack Joyride free via App Store Facebook page
Jetpack Joyride is one of the more delightful jetpack-based games to come out this year -- and for a "limited time," you can grab it for free. The official Facebook page for the iOS App Store is offering the game at no cost for reasons unknown; probably as an altruistic gesture, since human lives are inherently enriched by the presence of propulsion-based backpacks. There's no telling when the deal expires, so we'd suggest getting it ... like, right this instant. Seriously. Go.
Magicka takes on Cthulhu and Minecraft in The Stars are Left expansion
Have you and your three wizardly cohorts blown up everything in the universe using your crossbred incantations? No, friend, you haven't. Just ask the subtitle of Magicka's recently announced expansion: The Stars are Left. The add-on isn't just a commentary on your failure to destroy heavenly bodies; it will add a whole new campaign to the title featuring a "horror-mystery inspired by the popular Cthulhu Mythos." Cthul-who? (We kid.) The campaign, which is set to launch this Winter, will feature new enemies and (assumedly tentacle-faced) bosses, items and, according to a fact sheet sent to us by Paradox Interactive, "we make fun of Minecraft this time." Man, it's about time someone took that game down a peg.
Black Eyed Peas Experience trailer gets real (and virtually) groovy
(Boom, boom, boom!) Gotta get that! (Boom, boom, boom!) Gotta get that! (Boom, boom, boom!) Gotta get that! (Boom, boom, boom!) Gotta get that (Kinect gameplay trailer for The Black Eyed Peas Experience, which is posted above)! (Boom, boom, boom!)
XIII: Lost Identity is an 'interactive story,' not a shooter
We're gonna tear this one off like a Band-Aid, dear readers: The recently uncovered installment in the XIII franchise looks to be a far cry from the game which preceded it. Developer Anuman Interactive revealed a handful of screens from XIII: Lost Identity, which appears to be a puzzle-adventure game set in the world of the game, and expands on the lore established by the franchise's comic book off-shoots. You can see a few screens on the developer's Facebook page, if you're not too crushed by the lack of gunplay. (Not to mention the lack of Duchovny.)
WayForward's Shantae headed to iOS this Thursday
Whether you're a fervent supporter of independent development studio WayFoward or you're a diehard fan of the illustrious Shantae franchise -- and, really, who isn't -- you'll have reason to celebrate tomorrow. WayForward just announced on Twitter that Shantae: Risky's Revenge will arrive on the iOS App Store tomorrow. If you're familiar with the DSiWare original, you're in for a similar experience, though the game has been optimized to make it a bit more virtual-controller-friendly. Which is to say, it's a little bit easier this time around. Also, whenever you die because you jumped when you meant to attack, a soothing note pops up, reminding you not to hurl your phone into oncoming traffic.
Iwata reveals three canned Kirby games, more than a decade in the making
The relative ease of Kirby games usually result in their powderpuff protagonist avoiding death from start to finish -- however, Kirby's not immune to the most permanent form of death there is: Project cancellation. In the most recent Iwata Asks, Kirby's Return to Dreamland producer Shigefumi Kawase revealed that three installments in the franchise were killed off mid-development, explaining "We spent 11 years ... making and abandoning these three games." The three Kirby titles in questions would have been starkly different: One was a 2.5D four-player adventure title (sort of like Return to Dreamland, but with more depth), one was a fully-3D exploration-centric game and the other was an animated platformer with "pop-up visuals." They sound charming as all-get-out, which makes us all the more forlorn that they're dead as doornails. Goodnight, sweet princes. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Gameloft dresses up iOS titles in $0.99 price tags for Halloween sale
Have you been using your single, otherwise useless dollar bills as handkerchiefs or dryer sheets? Cut that out. Not only is it illegal, it's pretty wasteful -- for instance, Gameloft will happily take those dollars in exchange for a few discounted iOS titles for a timely Halloween sale.