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Alien games to burst out of Sega's chest
A despicable creature gnawing at your insides, slowly growing in size and voracity until it shoves its hideous head right through your rib cage and causes splintery bone to pierce your flesh. So, a lot like playing the new Sonic the Hedgehog, then. Indeed, a more appropriate company than Sega could not be found for a recent deal struck by Fox Licensing with regards to their lucrative Alien film franchise. The new agreement, as detailed by The Hollywood Reporter, allows Sega to develop multiple games for new generation consoles and PCs. With a first-person shooter and a role-playing game already under development, an elaborate and somewhat sinister music-and-rhythm title can't be far behind. Mike Gallo, senior producer of the Alien series at Sega, promises that the developers will go out of their way to "tie the games into the films in unique ways." He also says they'll look at source materials and the films for inspiration, which is nice. The first title is due in 2008 -- that's when Sega will be "taking licensing to the next level," it says here. [Via Pro-G | Image credit: "That's saying a mouthful" -- VG Cats] See also: Firefly returns as MMORPG
Visiting Day: a quirky Flash game
Mike Bithell has just created a new Flash game, made exclusively with the PSP in mind. It has great vector graphics, great style, and a really sleek menu. The game is a series of rather simple minigames, having you fight an alien invasion. WIth multiple difficulties, a psuedo-multiplayer option, and a "story mode," this Flash game goes above and beyond the fan norm. It's not perfect, though: it can use a bit of music, and I didn't know that you had to leave the analog stick at the bottom right at all times. With some music, a few GUI changes, and a little bit of clarification (for example: you can't progress in Story mode unless you fail!), Mike Bithell might have something truly complete. Wish you luck on your professional endeavors, man.Visit Mike's PSP-compatible website for the download. For users with 2.70 firmware and above.
Game designers stuck being "Romantic"
Our readers amaze us. In responding to our post about the "perfect" game enemy, reader Brad Lee diagnosed the ailment that afflicts game designers who insist on using the same old slobbering, ugly Zombie-Alien-Nazi enemies. Here's Brad's post, edited for brevity: The problem is that games are still stuck in the 'Romantic' era. Too many video game developers look to romanticism for inspiration. (Romanticism was an artistic movement that emphasized exaggeration, emotion, nature, tradition, etc.) In Romanticism, an artist who wants to convey an emotion such as sadness uses dark colors. If he wants to convey evil, he makes the subject ugly. And so on.Games use this art style simply because it's easier. There are a lot of costs to produce a video game -- graphics and game engine being the most expensive -- and I'm sure story and characters are probably a lower priority than other aspects of video games. Keep in mind that most games' stories are not produced by professional writers (or good writers anyway), so it is simply easier to use romanticism than try and craft a realistic story with [realistic] characters.It is much easier to make a story about demons rampaging through the world (and only one guy -- you! -- can stop them) than to create a story about real people just struggling to do the right thing. Many game developers just don't know any better because they don't bother to take creative writing classes or to learn how to craft a good story. Many think they shouldn't have to [learn these things] simply because they are focused on the game and not the story or the characters.Game developers are likely game developers because they love games, not because they love great stories. When those developers aren't working they are likely spending their time playing other games. If developers took some time to read [and analyze] good literature and watch classic movies we would probably have better stories and characters in our games. Until that happens, I'll be expecting to slaughter many more hordes of zombies, nazis, demons, and aliens in the years to come. Any game designers out there care to post a rebuttal or confirmation? Are Brad's charges accurate? From where we sit, it seems he's nailed it.
The return of Sim City
That's right. The game that sucked up hundreds of your precious hours as you lovingly crafted your commercial zones and coal-based power plants is coming to a DS near you...as long as you live slightly east of the Asian mainland, that is. The latest issue of Famitsu has confirmed a special DS version of the classic Sim City 3000 (considered by many to be the best in the series) coming to Japan, complete with full stylus control. And that's not all! They've even thrown in some extras: mini-games and a special advisor to help you fend off those alien invasions. Sweet. Sim City does nothing but bring back ever-so-fond memories for a very, very large group of people. Though a North American release has not been confirmed, it would be absolute lunacy for EA to ignore such a guaranteed and obvious profit. With any luck, you'll be giving those silly college-trained civil engineers a run for their money soon enough.[via Joystiq]
Cash Money Chaos video interview
Gamespot has a new video interview with Cash Money Chaos' lead designer. While the video doesn't offer any new info on the game, it does provide plenty of in-game footage of the game's bloody carnage. The designer compares it to Smash TV and Robotron, but with a crazy alien 70s game show feel. Keep this one on your radar: it'll be a mere $30 when it launches in Q1 2007, and it'll feature 8-player online infrastructure play with stat-tracking.
Cash Money Chaos' insanely bloody debut
You play an Elvis-imposter in SOE's newly announced game Cash Money Chaos. And like the original Elvis, you are captured by aliens, and are forced to participate in a "twisted 70s game show." No, you're not going to be playing The Price is Right. You'll have to fight through dozens of enemies, killing everything in your sight. This "uber fast" shooter appears to play a bit like Robotron, if it suddenly turned into Robocop instead: making people's bodies explode in buckets of blood. The game will come with more than 50 levels, and include online infrastructure play for up to 8 players.If you're interested in some really brutal cartoon violence, and want to kill ninjas, hillbillies, clowns, pirates, and aliens, then you'll have to wait a while: Cash Money Chaos is coming "early 2007." Check out the official website to score some art and screenshots.[Thanks, steve!]
