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Aliens: Colonial Marines' Xenomorphic perspective and Wii U potential
In developing the canonical sequel to James Cameron's Aliens, Gearbox Software feels the naturally extended duration of a video game allows for a deeper narrative than what is found in films."We get ten-plus hours to tell our story. We can go way more in depth and in more directions on really delivering the next chapter in the Aliens saga," Gearbox Software design director John Mulkey told Joystiq during a demo of the studio's upcoming shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines at New York Comic-Con.Continuing from Aliens also allows Gearbox to build from the foundation of Cameron's classic action movie, fleshing out the backstory and mythos that is later continued in David Fincher's Alien 3. According to Mulkey, Colonial Marines will make Alien 3 "a cooler movie."%Gallery-165291%
Gearbox boss on an industry inching toward the 'holodeck'
Despite striking gold, once again, with the Borderlands series, Gearbox isn't sitting back to watch accolades and sales numbers pile up. Having recently released Borderlands 2, the Texas-based team now turns to focus on supporting that game with additional content, and on completing the team's next high-profile project, Aliens: Colonial Marines.During the 2012 New York Comic Con, Gearbox Software President Randy Pitchford was on hand to help promote the narrative sequel to the classic mid-80s film; a game that has finally settled on a firm February 2013 release date for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (with a Wii U version planned later).In keeping with Gearbox's forward-looking plans, Joystiq asked Pitchford what his team wants the next-generation Xbox and PlayStation to include. What hardware does Gearbox need?"Imagine the spectrum of what's possible in the computing world," Pitchford dared us, asking to then pick a sweet spot between price point and computational power. Unlike the response we got from the Frostbite engine crafters at DICE, Pitchford stepped away from naming exact specifications; however, he suggested the next generation would come about from smarter, strategic partnerships across the development community.
Injustice: Gods Among Us online mode built on Mortal Kombat foundation
Green Arrow, one of the newest heroes attached to NetherRealm Entertainment's Injustice: Gods Among Us, was on display during the 2012 New York Comic Con where Joystiq donned his emerald hood.Green Arrow's core powers appear to be modeled after Mortal Kombat mainstay Sub-Zero. Players can fire an arrow to freeze their opponent or generate an electric shock, stopping adversaries dead in their tracks. Arrow's special ability is as brutal as any meter special you've come to expect in a fighting game from the team behind Mortal Kombat. Attaching opponents to a wire, Green Arrow grabs his opponent and brings them crashing back to the ground for a devastating attack.NetherRealm producer Hector Sanchez says to bring Injustice: Gods Among Us to the same competitive level of the company's previous release, the team will build upon the strong foundation of Mortal Kombat's online system and add features along the way."Imagine the online availability that we had in Mortal Kombat just on steroids," he says.%Gallery-168042%
Amazing Spider-Man also coming to Wii U, DLC in tow
Spider-Man, in addition to doing whatever a spider can (catching thieves just like flies, spinning webs of various sizes, etc) will also be swinging his way onto Nintendo's forthcoming flagship console this spring when The Amazing Spider-Man is released on the Wii U.Announced during Marvel's New York Comic Con panel earlier today, the port leverages the WiiPad's unique stable of features by integrating optional motion controls and menu navigation functionality via the touchscreen. As is the case with that other Wii U reissue of a current-gen superhero game, all of Amazing Spider-Man's DLC will come packed in, including the Stan Lee Adventure Pack seen above.
Insomniac wants Fuse players to 'take the universe seriously'
Insomniac's Fuse began as Overstrike, a colorful co-op spy game with a humorous flair. Fuse continues the co-op direction of the game, but has shifted its look to a style that tilts more toward realism than fantasy.Some internet reaction has labeled the new style powering Fuse as just another 'standard military shooter,' but Insomniac says it's not totally shunning the game's fantastical elements."We have our underwater bases. We've got missiles and volcanoes. We have a lot of exotic situations but at the same time we want people to take the universe seriously," Insomniac Creative Director Brian Allgeier told Joystiq at the 2012 New York Comic Con.But over-the-top elements still exist in the more mature-looking multiplatform game, as evidenced by the game's weapons and abilities.%Gallery-168274%
Capcom: Ono dreams of revitalizing Darkstalkers, 'wants Darkstalkers 4'
Darkstalkers Resurrection may have only existed officially for a few minutes, but Capcom's fighting game guru Yoshinori Ono has bigger hopes for the franchise as a whole, which until today remained one of the few dormant forces in the modern fighting game renaissance."Ono has a dream of revitalizing the Darkstalkers franchise, and this is the first step to get there," Capcom producer Derek Neal of Capcom told Joystiq at the New York Comic Con. "[Ono] wants Darkstalkers 4."Capcom is using the release of Darkstalkers Resurrection as a litmus test to gauge the strength and fervor of the Darkstalkers community, says Neal. In the past, Ono has taken it upon himself to poll audiences directly, asking for attendees interested in a new Darkstalkers to hold up cash as proof of their commitment.
Approaching Wii U's GamePad like a 'toy' in Madden NFL 13
Madden NFL 13 on Wii U may lack the Infinity Engine, which brought stronger collisions and dynamic animations into the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, but the console's gamepad fills that void with a tablet-drive, play calling system. The only problem, EA tells Joystiq, was getting players to want to use the new control system."A challenging thing at the beginning was getting people to actually want to touch the screen," says Yuri Bialoskursky, lead designer on Madden 13 for Wii U. "They would just stare at it blankly and not interact with it. We had to come up with a way to make it like a toy, essentially – make you want to mess around with it."The Wii U GamePad lets players navigate their playbook through the gamepad's touch screen, allowing them to tap and drag to the right play. More importantly, players can draw offensive and defensive hot routes right on the screen. Offensive and defensive linemen are represented by yellow circles, while the hot routes you draw are represented by a red line. You can also play in "detached mode" and play Madden entirely on the WiiPad, freeing your television for any other piece of entertainment, like watching real life football.%Gallery-168180%
Capcom announces Darkstalkers Resurrection at NYCC [Update: Now with trailer and screenshots]
Capcom has just announced Darkstalkers Resurrection, an PSN/XBLA Darkstalkers collection expected to release early next year at $14.99/1,600 1,200 MS Points. The game, announced during a Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Panel at New York Comic Con, is under development at Iron Galaxy Studios and will bundle the arcade versions of Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge and Darkstalkers 3 together as a single downloadable title, ala Marvel vs. Capcom Origins.Both games will run on GGPO and will include the standard Ranked Match/Player Match online setup standard to Capcom re-releases. Replay sharing and YouTube functionality are also present, as are HD filters and a gallery of unlockable art assets and bonuses, including the work of Udon and custom artwork by Stanley Lao.When the time came to choose which Darkstalkers game would receive the HD treatment, the decision to release two games as a bundle was one of necessity, according to Capcom producer Derek Neal."We were agonizing over which to release," Neal told us shortly after the game's announcement. "They're the two most popular, fan-favorite games of the people who have played Darkstalkers way back when and loved it. There's a group that loves Darkstalkers 2 and a group that loves Darkstalkers 3."Eventually, Capcom concluded that the only way to keep everyone happy was to release both games as a double-pack.Update: Capcom has informed us that the XBLA price point of 1,600 MS Points listed in the press release after the break is incorrect, and that the game will in fact be available for 1,200 MS Points.%Gallery-168192%
