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VGAs 2010: Pictures from the red carpet
Spike's Video Game Awards are about an hour away (we'll put up our liveblog shortly), but our own Mike Schramm got to the red carpet early to snap some shots and dish with the celebrities attending this year's event. As he forwards us more pics, we'll be sure to add them to the gallery below. In the meanwhile, let us know what you're looking forward to most at this year's show. Is it the Guillermo Del Toro game? Is it Batman: Arkham City? Mass Effect 3? It's, uh, it's Mass Effect 3, isn't it? %Gallery-110364%
Rumor: PlanetSide Next launching in March
A PlanetSide sequel is sort of like the long-in-development third Ghostbusters movie. We've been hearing it's on the way for so long that we're starting to suspect the whole thing's a long con, a grift, if you will, designed to bilk us out of ... something. First Sony hinted it was in development in September of '09, then SOE's John Smedley called it "PlanetSide Next" a month later. Now, Smedley's back on it, telling the Escapist "We have a very big launch coming in the month of March," Smedley said. "It's a big first person shooter franchise that we're really happy with." With little prodding, Smedley basically confirmed it to be the long-rumored rebirth of the MMOFPS. Though it obviously hasn't been formally announced yet, we wouldn't be at all surprised to see it formally debut at this Saturday's VGAs. Fair warning: If it has Slimer in it, we're gonna know something's up.
Rumor: Mass Effect 3 to be revealed at the VGAs, will include multiplayer [update]
Joystiq has learned from a trusted source that BioWare's enigmatic teaser from last month represents the first glimpse of Mass Effect 3. As many have guessed, the third installment looks to feature something brand new to the series: multiplayer. We're currently unable to confirm that the multiplayer component will be part of the game's unveiling at the upcoming Spike Video Game Awards. The Spike VGAs will air this Saturday night, preceded by a good deal of internet speculation brought on by the above teaser image. As spotted by one of our commenters, Arth Vader, the gun above looks exactly like the M-29 Incisor Sniper Rifle from Mass Effect 2. BioWare has also blasted out curious QR codes via its Twitter feed, all of which indirectly reference things from the Mass Effect universe, including the Vostok system and the surface temperature of the planet Aequitas. So, who's ready for more Mass Effect? Do we even need to ask? Update: While the game was indeed revealed during the VGAs, Game Informer's feature article on Mass Effect 3 has seemingly ruled out multiplayer (though it may appear in a different game tied to the franchise).
Rumor: New SSX developed by Skate team members
EA Sports' Peter Moore may consider it an "obscure new title" being teased in a recent VGA trailer, but word in the ski lodge is that it could be hinting at the new SSX game. A Kotaku source tells the site that a new installment in the abandoned snowboarding franchise has been in development at EA Canada by "much of the Skate team." The expectation is that Skate's inspired and innovative use of the right analog stick to perform tricks will transfer into the series. Whispers and hints of a legitimate SSX title have been echoing through the mountains since last year, with things taking a more substantial turn with the domain registrations of "SSX: Deadly Descent" and "SSX: First Descent." The VGAs will take place this Saturday, December 11, on Spike.
Neil Patrick Harris to host VGAs, hopefully in a legen- (wait for it) dary manner
There are few people on this planet we admire more than one Mr. Neil Patrick Harris, the length of whose name is matched only by the depth of his comedic talent -- which is to say that there's a lot of it. However, we're of two minds about how to react to the announcement that NPH would be fulfilling hosting duties for the 2010 Spike VGAs, which, once again, we have been dragooned into watching and reporting on this year. (Man, this job sometimes, we swear.) Again, we're big, big fans of Neil (who provided one of the four Spider-voices in Shattered Dimensions), and his bit during last year's VGA ceremony was one of the highlights -- but the first time he busts out some unconvincing nerd-speak, or gets danced all-up-on by models with award winners' names painted on their torsos, we're going to have a full-on panic attack. We've got all our fingers crossed that those won't occur, though leaving our fingers in that position might make it a little difficult to type snarky comments about the rest of the show. Hmmm.
'Murder Your Maker' VGA teaser site updated with Prototype footage
Last week, Activision uploaded a teaser site featuring the tagline "Murder Your Maker," which we hypothesized was hinting at the reveal of a new installment in the Prototype series during the Spike VGAs. A brief video which was recently added to the site appears to confirm our suspicions.
Rumor: Resident Evil zombie silhouettes match Spike VGA tease
Gamerzines speculates that a commercial for the upcoming Spike VGAs, which flashes "look closer" and briefly reveals the zombie silhouetted picture above, is teasing a new Resident Evil title. The site concluded this by comparing the teaser image to that of an officially licensed Resident Evil t-shirt. The shirt and teaser image feature matching zombie silhouettes. If the teaser is for a new Resident Evil title, a potential reveal could be for Slant Six Games' rumored multiplayer Resident Evil: Raccoon City. Of course, we always prefer to be surprised. [Update: Looks like someone had their hands in the IP cookie jar – despite an overwhelming similarity to some Resident Evil artwork, this tease was actually for Activision's upcoming Prototype 2.] [Thanks, Vallanthaz]
'Murder Your Maker' teaser site hints at VGA reveal
Earlier this week, a mysterious Spike VGA 2010 site asked its visitors to consider the secret meanings of two mysterious and secret phrases: "MURDER" and "LOOK CLOSER." Today, a new teaser site offers a few more clues. The page, titled "Murder Your Maker," features the image seen above: A bald man, staring at a wall covered in maps, newspaper clippings and delicious strands of black licorice. Or, wait. String. Yeah, that's definitely string. The "Murder Your Maker" tagline has led some theorists to believe we're looking at a teaser for a sequel to last year's super violent, open-world title, Prototype. Alex Mercer certainly has some daddy issues, but our money is on that new God of War game, where Kratos is literally tasked with killing God. Oh, Activision runs the website? Well, in that case ... does "Bloodhunt" sound about right?
Spike VGA 2010 commercial hints at 'Infected' game revelation
Once again, some sneaky developers are hinting at a big game reveal during the Spike 2010 VGAs using extremely surreptitious methods. A commercial for the awards program (posted after the jump) flashes the above image for a fraction of a second, seemingly indicating the premiere of some kind of game featuring "Infected." A couple years ago, we would have taken this as evidence of a new Left 4 Dead, but considering how zombies are now somehow included in every piece of popular media known to man, we can't be quite so certain. Also briefly flashed during the ad is a QR code -- much like those dropped by BioWare, which hinted at its own VGA reveal last Wednesday. However, scanning this particular bar code leads you to another VGA teaser site, featuring the words "Look Closer" and "Murder." We have no idea what this means, but if someone's working on some kind of snuff film game, then they should probably stop, because we're so not down.
2010 Spike VGA nominations are in, appropriately preposterous
Spike! Oh, man, Spike. You guys have really outdone yourselves this year. Don't get us wrong, we've got high hopes for this year's installment of the annual Video Game Awards -- if you'll remember, they weren't completely unwatchable last year -- but the recently released list of nominations doesn't exactly fill us with unbridled confidence. Rather, it fills us with confusion juice, as well as a healthy portion of plain ol' anger fluid. Our hang-ups with the list can best be identified in a fun game we like to call "Really?" We think you can probably pick out the rules to this game yourself -- feel free to play along with the full list of nominees posted after the jump! Danica Patrick as Herself in Blur for "Best Performance by Human Female?" Really? Emmanuelle Chriqui as The Numbers Lady for "Best Performance by Human Female?" REALLY? Take a look at everything in the "Best Song in a Game" category. Really? Nathan Fillion as Sergeant Edward Buck in Halo: Reach? We love us some Fillion, but wasn't he in that game for like, a second? By which we mean, really? Bear McCreary's musical accompaniment for Dark Void didn't make it into the "Best Original Score" category? Really, guys? Really? This is where we are? As a people?
BioWare revealing new project at VGAs on December 11 [Update: clues coming in!]
BioWare will reveal its next game at Spike's Video Game Awards on Saturday, December 11. From the one screen we received from EA and the teaser (posted after the break), we suspect it might be called Mass of Honor: Dragunov Age. Yeah, let's go with that for now. Along with the BioWare reveal, VGA emcee Geoff Keighley also tweeted that the event would feature a new trailer for Batman: Arkham City. The show should also reveal the Guillermo Del Toro project over at THQ and maybe, just maybe, something involving Gears of War and Kinect. Update: The sharp eyes of commenter Arth Vader picked up that the gun in the pic is either the M-29 Incisor Sniper Rifle from the Mass Effect 2 Aegis Pack DLC or a reused asset. If it is the M-29, it would imply the game will be Mass Effect related. Update 2: Recall that EA said last February that something "far-reaching" was coming to Mass Effect during the fourth quarter of the publisher's current fiscal year -- or in layman's terms: January 1 – March 31, 2011. Update 3: Okay, now things are just getting nerdy. BioWare blasted out the adjacent QR code on Twitter which, when decoded, spits out a string of 1s and 0s. When you convert this binary code (we told you: nerdy), it reads: 55.845. Of course, as everyone knows, 55.845 is the atomic mass of iron. Maybe the presence of the word "mass" in our findings isn't quite enough to go on, but we're sure you'll agree that the presence of the word "mass" coupled with a piece of fan fiction titled Mass Effect: Iron Rebirth is practically a smoking M-29 Incisor Sniper Rifle. Update 4: And another QR code has been loosed upon the unsuspecting people of Twitter. This one is again some binary that translates into: -128.5°F. Converted to Celsius, that becomes -89.16666666666667°C. "The coldest temperature ever recorded on earth is -89.2 degrees Celsius (-128.5 degrees Fahrenheit) at Vostok, Antarctica on July 21, 1983," says Wikipedia; and this Mass Effect wiki page describes the Vostok solar system as "a medium system with four planets and an asteroid belt," itself named after the Soviet "Vostok Program" that resulted in the first manned space flight. Oh, and that asteroid belt that was mentioned? The wiki page calls it a "metal-rich asteroid." You know what else is metal? That's right, iron! Update 5: A few folks have also written in about the planet Aequitas, which is also from the Mass Effect universe. Logic train: 1st QR code = 55.845, the atomic mass of iron. 2nd QR code = 128.5. -128.5 deg F = Vostok, Antarctica record-breaking temperature. -128.5 deg F ~= -89 deg C = surface temperature of Aequitas, a planet known for its "famous Iron Canyons." Update 6 11/19/10 5:30pm ET: It's been a couple of days, but BioWare is back at it dropping yet another QR code into the webosphere, this time using Facebook. When read and converted out of binary, this QR reads: "http://www.sis.gov.uk/output/sis-home-welcome.html" which, evidently, is the official site for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service or, as it's also known, MI6. Beyond the two-letter acronym beginning with 'M' and followed by a number format it shares with a would-be ME3, we've got no idea what this means.
No Kinect in Gears of War 3, Bleszinski assures
Cliff Bleszinski has curb-stomped the rumor of Kinect functionality appearing in Gears of War 3. Responding to a report by IGN that suggested motion-control features would emerge in a Gears of War game, the Epic Games developer said on his Twitter: "No Kinect in Gears of War 3." The IGN piece did leave some wiggle room for itself, noting that it "cannot clarify whether or not this is an all-new Gears of War for Kinect or if it's an existing Gears of War game, retro-fitted for the camera controller." The reveal will apparently be made at the Spike TV Video Games Awards. Master of WORLD EXCLUSIVES, Geoff Keighley, has already started to hype the show's "world premiere announcements," teasing two earlier reveals set for Wednesday. If Microsoft wants to combine Gears of War with some optional Kinect functionality, it seems like a perfectly reasonable way to get more core gamers interested in the peripheral, which is a little too family friendly with its catalog at the moment. However, if we don't get a Tickle-Me Dominic™ minigame, we'll consider any Kinect/Gears crossover a failure.
Guillermo Del Toro's THQ game to be revealed during VGAs
"You've heard rumors of us working with a big film director who is actually a big gamer," THQ core games EVP Danny Bilson said during his keynote at the IGDA Leadership Forum. Uh, dude, heads-up: those aren't rumors any more. As it turns out, we'll finally get an official announcement about Guillermo del Toro's THQ project during the Spike VGAs next month. "He's a gamer who wants to make a great game," said Bilson about director Guillermo del Toro, "and has very interesting points of view and is partnered very closely with myself and my writing partner, Paul." Bilson revealed that THQ "will be announcing the game title and the studio and all of that on the VGA awards in about a month." If you're late to the party, catch up on some of our previous coverage here. Del Toro's game will have Lovecraftian themes to it ---- which is great, because we've always felt there should be more awesome games about Cthulhu.
