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Assassin's Creed director's next game is 'historical action'
Former Assassin's Creed series Creative Director Patrice Desilets discussed the direction of his upcoming game this week. The game will be of the third-person, "historical-action-survival" variety, as noted in a press release found after the break. Desilets launched Panache Digital Games just over one month ago, a Montreal-based studio consisting of "industry veterans that got together to tell stories that we feel are original and cool," according to the developer's website. "Indeed AAA Games, I believe in them," Desilets added. "I believe wholeheartedly that this medium we call 'video games' can be a positive force for change in our society and that AAA quality gaming experiences have unmatched strength to achieve this." The statement complements Panache's mission, per its website: "We make AAA quality third-person action-adventure games, with a narrative twist. We're not a 'me-too' company. We don't do trendy game models or content." To thank "first and beloved supporters" that showed immediate interest in Panache's ambitions, Desilets said the team decided to give those fans a "full copy" of its next game. "Let's call it a free to play game that's not a 'free-to-play' game," he added. Desilets was let go by Ubisoft in May 2013, marking his second departure from the company. The Assassin's Creed director first left the publisher in June 2010 to take a "creative break from the industry" before joining THQ Montreal one year later, following the expiration of the non-compete clause in his contract. THQ Montreal was acquired by Ubisoft in January 2013 along with Desilets' project at the time, 1666. Just two months after Desilets officially re-joined Ubisoft, the publisher suspended development on 1666. He filed a lawsuit against Ubisoft in June 2013 with the option to acquire the rights to the game. [Image: Panache Digital Games]
Third-person Oculus Rift hack delivers a true out-of-body experience
Who says VR needs to be experienced in the first-person? Using a stereo pair of GoPro cameras, mounted to a tall antenna carried in a backpack, some obscenely intelligent makers in Poland have discovered that it's possible to enjoy an Oculus Rift experience from a third-person POV instead. The cameras don't respond automatically to head movements just yet, so they have to be controlled by means of a small thumb stick, but they nevertheless augment the wearer's 3D vision: By giving him a view of the real world as seen from a couple of feet above his head, he could scan a wider part of the horizon, or safely peer out from a sniper-infested trench (do we still have those?) or simply to enjoy the uncanny feeling of staring down at his own head and neck. Not bad for an amateur Intel competition entry that was apparently constructed in just a couple of days.
Scourge: Outbreak infects Steam for PC and Mac
Third-person sci-fi shooter Scourge: Outbreak is now available on Steam, and is 10 percent off ($7.19) until Wednesday, April 9. Developed by Tragnarion Studios, the game first launched on Xbox Live Arcade in July 2013 after being announced in May 2012. The squad-based shooter features eight-player competitive multiplayer modes like Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag spread across five maps as well as a four-player cooperative campaign mode. Tragnarion Studios also launched the game's two DLC packs this week, the Blindside and Fan Packs. Both are currently 20 percent off ($1.59) until April 9. The Blindside DLC, an add-on that amounts to six versus maps, is packed in with a digital artbook and soundtrack in the Ambrosia Bundle version of the game, which is also 10 percent off this week ($8.09). [Image: Bitbox Games]
MMO Mechanics: MOBAs vs. MMO battlegrounds
It may feel as if MMOs have always existed as a core part of our gaming repertoire, but the genre made its indelible mark on the industry just over a decade ago. MMO titans like World of Warcraft, EVE Online, and City of Heroes shaped the mechanics we now use as markers and basic standards for the quickly growing genre, and those mechanics have been reiterated and reforged by the countless additions to the MMO clan that we know and love today. This new MMO Mechanics column aims to navigate the mechanical minefield that is the modern MMO through in-depth opinion pieces, comparative analysis, and a little bit of Irish wit, starting with a peek at what distinguishes MMO PvP battlegrounds from Massively Online Battle Arenas. If women are from Venus and men are from Mars, MMOs and MOBAs must be from different galaxies altogether. Despite the similarities between MMO PvP arenas and MOBA matches, the two take very different approaches to progression, persistence, and matchmaking. This leads to two very separate yet equally engaging ways to test the mettle of your character against the might of a human opponent.
Piranha Games on why MechWarrior Online is getting a third-person mode
Sometimes you find yourself railing against something at one point only to support it later on. That's the process that Piranha Games president Russ Bullock went through regarding a third-person viewing mode in MechWarrior Online. Bullock addresses player concerns about the inclusion by detailing his own experience with the project and how he went from vehemently opposing a third-person view to arguing that its inclusion is necessary for the long-term health of the game. One of the key elements to understand about movement in MechWarrior Online is that your machine moves more like a bipedal tank with an independently rotating torso. Bullock states that he's watched new players trying the game in first-person and third-person modes, and being able to see how 'Mechs move on the screen instantly translates to better play. He also remains adamant that the inclusion of this new view mode is not meant to unbalance the game by allowing players to see things outside of their normal fields of vision. [Thanks to Dire Phoenix for the tip!]
MechWarrior Online discusses the state of the game and the road to launch
MechWarrior Online has already gone into open beta with a functional cash shop, but the game still isn't officially launching until September. So how's the road to launch looking so far? According to creative developer Bryan Ekman, it's going quite well. Despite summer traditionally being one of the slowest times for games like MWO, the community has been strong and growing. The development team is also thrilled that response to the game's first charity drive was immensely positive, with Sarah's 'Mech raising over $40,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society on the first day of release. So what comes next? According to Ekman, the development is currently split into two teams, one focused upon major features and the other on content. A revamped UI and the Community Warfare system are the two biggest elements for the feature team, while a new map, Terra Therma, is set to debut next week. Third-person mode is also in testing for those who prefer to see their multi-ton death machines from the outside. Players would be well-served to look at the full letter for more dispatches about the game's future as September creeps closer.
The Daily Grind: Do you ever play in first-person view?
Meet Uggo. I bumped into him in The Secret World the other day as he was trying to rip my face off my skull. I felt bad for him even so; he's got a bit of a skin condition and a slug crawling through his head. I know I'd be cranky in his position. The weird thing is that I didn't notice all of the incredibly disgusting details of Uggo until I killed him and came in close. Playing in the default third-person view means that I'm not usually in a position to get a good look at what I'm killing, but instead I just see it as an identifiable shape. Whenever I do force myself to go into first-person view, I discover so many more details about the game world and its inhabitants. Unfortunately, it also makes me a bit queasy, and I sorely miss the peripheral vision that third-person perspectives bring. Does anyone out there play a standard MMO in a first-person view? Maybe you do it to get into the shoes of your character more or to see these details up close and personal. If so, I'd love to hear about it today! Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Bringing a Chinese shooter to the west with Mercenary Ops
Mercenary Ops is something of a rarity. While there are quite a few Western-developed games being published in Asia by Chinese and Korean companies, there aren't a lot of Chinese-developed online titles being published by Western companies.Developed in China by Yingpei Games, which used to be called Epic Games China, the shooter is being distributed by the San Francisco-based outfit Kalends, a group of developers who've decided to try their hand at publishing on their own.As for the game itself, Kalends has announced that Mercenary Ops will be released as a free-to-play, microtransaction-based title – a business plan that has deep roots in China, but is only just breaking ground stateside.%Gallery-149855%
Breakfast Topic: Is that you?
As is often the case with Breakfast Topics, I write about what interests me, asking commenters questions that I genuinely want to know the answers to. So it should be no surprise that I read the comments pretty religiously, and often they will spark ideas that lead to more Breakfast Topics. You've only yourselves to blame for being such interesting folk. On a recent BT about gender in WoW, two commenters got my attention. Dez and Nagaina, thanks for replying! The parts that caught my eye from their comments were as follows: Dez wrote: I know some players consider their toons to be extensions of themselves (1st-person narrative), but personally I see them more as other people whose adventures I am following (3rd-person narrative). Nagaina wrote: I'm principally a roleplayer. When I create a character, I'm usually doing so for storyline related reasons not representing myself in game related ones. I personally consider my characters to be extensions of myself. When I refer to them, mentally I'm thinking, "I'm over here," "I'm getting my face chewed off by a murloc," or "I'm going to get myself a kickass new cloak." When I'm talking in game, I do much the same. The idea of the character as a third person fascinates me. I suppose it might be reflected in games like The Sims where you control the life of a character in a different way or maybe in FPS games where you're controlling a character with a predefined story. Or perhaps it's something that is a big part of roleplaying, creating a story for a character that is (maybe by definition) not your own story. I freely admit to knowing barely anything about roleplaying, so of course there is the strong possibility that all that might be utter nonsense! What do you think? Are your characters extensions of yourself? Are you representing yourself in game? Or, like Dez and Nagaina, are you following a third person? And why?
Trenched is a third-person tower-defense game
When Trenched was revealed by Tim Schafer at the end of this year's Game Developer's Choice Awards ceremony, we knew next to nothing about it. Though we can't tell you how we feel about it ourselves, previews are showing up all over the web that describe the game as a third-person tower-defense title set in an alternate history post-WWI world. G4 explains that the tower-defense-style battles of Trenched take place atop walking, upgradeable trenches. As it turns out, television monsters (referred to as "tubes") are attacking the world's mobile trenches and handicapped hero Frank Woodrof is bent on defending them. You'll employ Woodrof's ultra-manliness to defeat said "tubes" and restore alternate reality's normalcy. Or, ya know, Double Fine's bizarre version of normalcy in the world of Trenched. Schafer's team expects the game out on Xbox Live Arcade at some point in 2011.
DIY third person camera rig allows you to pay attention to what's most important: you
Now, this is a strange project to undertake, for sure -- but that doesn't make it uninteresting. And interesting it certainly is. Over at Instructables, you can currently find step-by-step instructions for how to create your very own camera setup, which will allow you to view yourself tooling around in the third person. Weird, right? The whole setup consists of a camera rigged at your back from a distance far enough to film you from behind, a pair of video goggles to wear as you gallivant about, and optionally, a radio transmitter, allowing a remote viewer to join in on the fun and watch along with you. How does it work? A bit disconcertingly if you ask us, but it's something we'd certainly consider giving a try, if only once. Hit up the source for full instructions as well as impressions of the experience. There's a video after the break.
Lead and Gold ganging up on the US PlayStation Store today
Can't wait for Red Dead Redemption's release date to get your cowboy on? You can exercise a more immediate, cost-effective option on the US PlayStation Store today, with the release of Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West. For $15, you can pick up the western-themed multiplayer third-person shooter and begin honing your ever-valuable frontier skills. You know, stuff like rustling. Bronco riding. Spittooning. Campfire cooking. Spur maintenance.
Rooster Teeth experiments with third-person driving in real life
In the pilot episode of a new web series titled "Immersion," the comedic machinimists of Rooster Teeth attempted to bring a popular action game phenomenon into the real world: What if you could really drive a car from a third-person perspective? Using a pole, some dumbbells, an expensive camera and some vision-impairing black sheets, the troupe was able to have an entertaining, albeit entirely irresponsible out-of-car driving experience. Check out the NSFW video after the jump to see their automotive shenanigans in action.
The Daily Grind: Does viewpoint matter to you?
While the ancestry of MMOs were played via text-only clients and thus didn't have to worry about it one way or the other, the modern generation of games has either a first-person view or a third-person view. (Experiments with a second-person view were briefly carried out via webcams, but it proved distracting.) And it can produce some passionate opinions on both sides, much like, well, every other issue about MMOs under the sun. Proponents of first-person views are quick to point out that it's more immersive and forces a player to be more aware of the field beyond what they can see. It lends depth to the game, frees you from concern over needless aesthetics of gear, and it was how things were done back in the day of EverQuest. Proponents of third-person views, on the other hand, point out that it gives a better view of the world as a whole and is more responsive to controls. It lets you see the character you've sculpted, gives you a better sense of what's going on, and it was how things were done even further back in the day with Ultima Online. So today, we ask you -- which do you prefer? Is a good first-person or third-person mode a must for you to consider the game, or do you simply prefer to play one way or the other?
Modern Warfare 2 will feature third-person mode for playlists
digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/26/modern-warfare-2-will-feature-3rd-person-mode-for-playlists/'; You never want to bring a third person along on a date -- not unless that date happens to be November 10th. Infinity Ward's community manager Robert Bowling (A.K.A. fourzerotwo) has taken control and confirmed that a third-person camera viewpoint will be available in this holiday's monolithic Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, though it'll be limited to specifically labeled online playlists. "It's not something you can toggle on and off in ANY game," said Bowling. The special mode can only be played in private matches -- toggled on or off just like "Hardcore" settings -- or in playlists that are designated for third-person play. According to Bowling, everyone playing in a third-person playlist will be restricted to the viewpoint. "This is just another cool way to play the game," he said, "you obviously will still have the option to play gametypes normal as well." Our friend, the internet, has an inscrutable video of some person running around in third person, but you're probably better off waiting for the "awesome trailer" the folks at Infinity Ward have planned.
PAX 2009: Red Dead Redemption lets you kill ... everything
Red Dead Redemption's promised Wild West sandbox came to life in a build shown off to attendees at PAX over the weekend. One of the first things we noticed is that you can end a life whenever you want. What kind of lives? See a bunny bouncing by? Kablam. Attacked by a wild bear? Kapow. Angry at your horse and want to put him down? Kablang. You can kill literally every living thing in the game and, in some cases, skin them and sell their hides to the furrier in town to make some dough. We doubt he deals in horse skins, however. There's more beyond the break, just mind you don't get shot.%Gallery-72189%
The Daily Grind: Do you play in third or first person?
MMOs are great when it comes to flexibility; you can play whatever classes you want and however you want as the situation demands. A friend of mine has just tempted -- nay ordered -- me back into the terrifying world of Second Life (via Virtual Ability Island). So I rerolled an avatar (with the somewhat hippyish name of Asha Serenity) and ducked in. I remembered enough from my last half an hour in-world to teleport to the island while my friend, in her best tour guide mode, took me round. Midway through the tutorial, the issue of perspective came up and I had to figure out how much of my avatar's rather shapely butt I wanted to see. I quickly discovered first person is a must for reading signs but the rest of the time, I prefer having the camera positioned a metre or so behind my avatars head. Even in other games, I seldom use first person unless I have to shoot a bow or look at something close up.However I know quite a lot of people who play MMOs in first person -- many of them seem to be seriously into RP and want to literally 'become' their avatars. So, constant readers, I ask you do you prefer first or third person when you play? Do you change perspective depending on when you raid or how much of the screen you need to see?
Wanted for breaking the law: Vogster's CrimeCraft
***NOTICE TO ALL GAMERS*** FROM: The Joystiq Office of Law EnforcementRE: Vogster's CrimeCraft, a "persistent world next-gen shooter" due out August 25th.Attention: CrimeCraft is to be considered armed and dangerous, and should not be approached in a video game store. Stay away at all costs.Last seen location: E3 2009, in the Vogster booth.
E3 2009: Global Agenda hands-on with executive producer Todd Harris
Global Agenda is coming right along nicely -- we last saw the game in action at GDC, and today at E3, executive producer Todd Harris was nice enough to sit down and show us a never-before-seen part of the game: PvE gameplay.We started off by checking out the character creator, which has come along quite a bit. They've built a very in-depth face creator -- there are about eight or ten different factors to switch between (eyes, mouth, and so on), and for each one, there are seven or eight sliders to adjust and tweak. Which allows for quite a few different variations, as you might imagine. Hair and skin color can also be edited, but Harris told us that body shape will generally be determined by the armor you wear (which is more or less determined by the class you choose).%Gallery-35351% Massively is on the ground in Los Angeles this week and covering all the latest E3 MMO news coming from the convention. Check out our breaking coverage (or all the Joystiq network E3 reporting) and keep your eye on Massively's front page for the latest developments.
E3 2009: Nier trailer hits the web, official website launches
Square Enix has seemingly jumped the gun on at least some of its E3 news, with the trailer for Nier finding its way online, not to mention the game getting an official website. Hey, there's even gameplay!The art style looks like a pretty dramatic departure from the Japanese company's usual androgynix, not to mention the vast swathes of blood. Maybe that has something to do with Square's recent fascination with the Western market? That remains to be seen. We'll assuredly see more as the week progresses, though feel free to peruse our gallery of screens below in the meantime.%Gallery-64593%
