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X3F Impressions - Too Human
Too Human is a strange beast. The futuristic Norse dungeon crawler is planned to have a massive story with trilogy spanning themes and complexities. In listening to Dennis Dyack talk at the event, he seemed genuinely enthusiastic as he discussed his favorite pop culture sci-fi and fantasy sagas (he's a big Battlestar Galactica fan).While the game's potential quality without the vaunted four-player co-op is debatable, the underlying mechanics really aren't. Too Human's ability to feed the player with loot while keeping them engaged and responding to the battle conditions and leveling up is well-tuned and feels similar to the Dreamcast's Phantasy Star Online games.
X3F Impressions - Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/xbox/Hands_on_impressions_Viva_Pinata_Trouble_in_Paradise'; The first Viva Piñata was a somewhat divisive game. The visual look turned off many initial players, but those who stayed found an engaging and deep sim. Unfortunately, those two things were usually at odds with one another and given that it was a new IP it perhaps wasn't best to turn away the player base that was most likely to get into the deeper side of the game. So for Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, Rare is looking to somehow split the bar, raising it for the hardcore and lowering it for those who are in fact pulled in by the game's look. Like many sequels, VP2 isn't much different in its basic mechanics and most of its changes consist of refinements and streamlining that allows for the gameplay to pass much faster and in many new ways. Things like co-op, the camera support, and the UI refinement all make the rest of the game's additions that much easier to use. Hit the Pinata after the break. Get it? We're a scream.
Video: Birds sing and swords swing in Fable 2
Cleaning up after a long day of Spring Showcase coverage, we discovered a short yet sweet Fable 2 video burried under a box of Twinkies. A Twinkie fate that was brought upon the video due to yesterday's news madness. So, being the good bloggers we believe ourselves to be, we embedded the latest Fable 2 footage above for your viewing enjoyment and finished off the box of Twinkies for good measure. Like we said, it's a short vid, but it does a pretty solid job at showcasing some of Fable 2's enivornents, natural sites and concludes with an unlucky chap getting knocked into a well. It's priceless!
X3F Impressions - Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/xbox/Hands_on_with_Banjo_Kazooie_Nuts_Bolts'; Alright fanboys, time to get the difficult news out of the way first. Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is not much like its predecessors at all. The main gameplay focus is still on platforming, only it's now platforming with vehicles too. Like most platformers, the specific objectives you have to complete are slightly varied, but are mostly different takes on collecting items.To do so, you'll have a massive tool kit at your fingertips. The vehicles seen in the gallery can all be broken down into various pieces, and a large portion of the gameplay stems from mixing and matching vehicle parts to suit the task at hand. Or y'know, to just suit messing around with infinitely customizable vehicles in a physics playground. That playground can be taken online as well, and the game's multiplayer is very physics-focused and custom-content heavy.Hit the break for more on Banjo.
X3F Impressions - Penny Arcade Adventures
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Hands_on_with_Penny_Arcade_Adventures'; While the visual look of the game has been well known for some time now, the details of the long winded Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness have been a bit sketchy. Admittedly, we are Penny Arcade fans, but we were skeptical of the game, mostly because we didn't know of what it consisted. Turns out the game is a meld of Japanese RPG and old-school adventure. The exploration, battle setup, and nested menus are straight out of traditional RPGs, but the cutscenes (if they can be called such) consist of a partly animated Penny Arcade comic. Albeit a Penny Arcade comic set in (*checks press release*) the deranged 1920's universe of New Arcadia. While the RPG elements have been updated for the times and are designed not be be slow, there isn't much here to hold you if you don't enjoy the Penny Arcade style of writing and humor. If you like the writing and are looking for something a little deeper and more involved, but just as funny and wrapped in a good RPG, give this a shot.More details and impressions after the break.
MS confident in a 7 year Xbox 360 life span
It is no secret that Microsoft was in a hurry to get the Xbox 360 out the door as quick as possible, leaving the original black box on the streets to fend for itself. But Microsoft sees it differently this time around and thinks the Xbox 360 will see a much longer life cycle.Chatting with CVG during the Gamers' Day festivities, Microsoft's own Shane Kim talked about the Xbox 360's life span saying that they "expect the Xbox 360 to have a long tail"' and are "confident" that the 360 will last seven years. Crunching the numbers, that means the 360 should be around until sometime in 2012, a full seven years after its November 2005 launch. Honestly, we'd love to see our beloved white box around until 2012, as long as we don't have to fear anymore RROD and as long as we can bring our achievements with us into the next, next generation.
X3F Impressions - Ninja Gaiden 2
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/xbox/Hands_on_with_Ninja_Gaiden_2'; At an event in which the majority of the games were continuing franchises, Ninja Gaiden 2 didn't appear at first glance to be the game which had changed the most from its predecessors. From afar and to an untrained eye, the game appears to be exactly the same as the first, but the closer you get (right up to and including sitting down and playing the game) the more you notice, and the more you see how crazy over the top that Tomonobu Itagaki and Team Ninja have gone with their latest game. Upon picking up the controller the first thing we noticed was just how much faster the entire experience was. The increased responsiveness, the increased enemy speed, the replacement of the roll with the dash and many other little things all work together to make NG2 a much more fast paced, relentless game than the original.Much, much, more after the break, and be sure to read the rest of our impressions from Microsoft's Spring Showcase as they go live over the course of the day.
A pair of Spring Showcase Alone in the Dark videos
Of all the things that could have been showcased for Alone in the Dark at Microsoft's Spring Showcase, we're not sure we would have picked the two sequences featured in these videos. Alone in the Dark is a survival horror game, right? As such, one would expect to be treated to sequences of surviving horrifying situations. Speaking literally, we suppose these videos do just that, but we were expecting some ghosts, monsters, a mutant insect, something. What we get is some ledge-grabbing platforming and a car escape sequence. Don't get us wrong, it doesn't look bad -- in fact, these are things you don't see in many other survival horror games -- but we're just waiting to see some gameplay that lives up to the atmosphere created by the cinematic trailers that have been released.Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and see the promised demo before the week is out. We're really hoping it will make believers out of us. We want to believe.
Hey, what happened to those 'Lips'?
Don't think we already forgot about those mysterious "Lips" that were supposed to be unveiled as part of today's Spring Showcase announcement. But, as you are well aware, there has been absolutely zero "Lip" talk coming from Microsoft's, erm ... lips. Is it a new game? Is it a new voice accessory? We aren't sure, but hopefully an explanation will still be coming sometime today. Though, as the minutes tick by, we're beginning to think that "Lips" is no longer a Gamer's Day announcement and may now be E3 talk.
New Banjo 3 details: co-op and online play
More Spring Showcase goodness as we continue to dig through the assets provided by Microsoft. Perusing the Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts fact sheet, we've uncovered a few tasty bits of info. First and foremost, the game will feature multiplayer modes. Said modes will be available online, though the fact sheet is unclear if they will be offline capable as well. Given that Rare's other big game for 2008, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, features offline multiplayer, we'd say it will probably be available in Nuts and Bolts as well. Cooperative multiplayer is listed as well, though the label "cooperative challenges" makes us think that co-op through the single-player campaign is probably out. Oh, and in case you'd rather not futz with the do-it-yourself vehicle creation (you old fuddy-duddy, you), the fact sheet assures gamers that many pre-built vehicles are available. The fact sheet also refers to the vehicle creation as user created content. Could this mean that players will be able to trade their vehicle designs? Guess we'll have to wait and see. %Gallery-22579%
Loads of new Ninja Gaiden II images
click to enlarge Good lord. So many Ninja Gaiden II images. Adding more the already huge pile of Spring Showcase media, we bring you 40 new images of Ninja Gaiden II. We've got character renders. We've got concept art. We've got new screenshots. Hell, we even have special screenshots with no blood (good thinking on that one Microsoft). Please, dive into the gallery below. Just dive right in. Caress each image lovingly with your eyes. Your eyes work very hard, and they deserve the treat.%Gallery-22757%
Fable 2 arrives Holiday 2008, new media
click to enlarge Spring Showcase news just keeps pouring out, and now we've got some brand new shots from Fable 2 and (finally) a scheduled release for Holiday 2008. Granted, it's not too specific, but at least we've narrowed it down to somewhere between October and December. Included in our new gallery below are screenshots, character renders, concept art, and the official (and awesome) Fable 2 box art. We particularly like the image of the evil heroine seen above. We're not sure if all evil characters will receive the pale, vampiric look or if our evil hero simply spends too much time indoors. Either way, she looks badass, and frankly we don't think we'd have the courage to ask. Check out the gallery below.%Gallery-22749%
Gears of War 2 features weapon specific executions [update]
Update: It was just brought to our attention that GSB's Spring Showcase video features previously unseen footage of another execution. Look for Marcus fist punching the snot out of a Locust at around 30 seconds in.After digging through today's new Spring Showcase Gears of War 2 press kit, on what we initially thought to be an unsuccessful mission to find something new, we stumbled across an interesting feature reveal. Listed on the official GoW2 May 2008 fact sheet comes mention that the "overall tone of 'Gears of War 2' is more badass - replete with new weapon-specific executions, chain saw duels and shocking boss fights." Weapon specific executions? SUH-WEET! Maybe that's why the recently released gameplay video didn't show the option to curb stomp Locusts which lead us to think neck-snapping replaced the iconic foot to the back of head, head to the curb move. We can only imagine what other weapon specific executions will be included when Gears ships and what twisted execution the crew over at Epic will think up for the torque bow.
See Gears 2, Banjo, Piata 2 (or: Gamerscore Blog loves us)
In the video above, you will see many things. Ostensibly, it's a video press release letting gamers know exactly what will be shown at Microsoft's Spring Showcase. Yes, the video contains footage of Gears of War 2, Banja Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, Viva Piñata 2, Too Human, and more, but the most important thing occurs at 1:22. This is when Gamerscore Blog displays some of the gaming websites that will be attending the event. Who's that displayed right in the middle, front and center? That's right, it's us. Take that Kotaku, 1Up, and IGN. Oh, and especially Joystiq. We hate them the most.
Penny Arcade Adventures storms XBLA on May 21st
Just because we know you haven't already had enough Microsoft Spring Showcase announcements, we thought we'd pass along word that Penny Arcade's (deep breath) Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 1 has now been confirmed to release onto the XBLA next Wednesday, May 21st. Phew! The semi-bad news is that this little Penny Arcade gem will cost a whopping 1600 Microsoft points, which is guaranteed to cause a lot of people's reaction to be something along the lines of "ouch!" or "no-way!" Though, we expect true Penny Arcade fans to unanimously agree that the $20 is worth every penny (pun intended) to experience a Gabe and Tycho featured episodic RPG. Check the new screens below.%Gallery-16607%
Too Human gets August release and co-op too [update]
Update: Embedded the new Too Human co-op trailer above.The unthinkable and the unimaginable has actually come true. Microsoft and Silicon Knights have settled on a Too Human release date and we've also confirmed that pigs can indeed fly.Microsoft just announced that the ever so delayed Too Human will storm North America retailers this August 19th. And that's a guarantee! It was also revealed that Too Human will feature two player Xbox Live co-op gaming all the way through the entire campaign. So, enjoy the newly released screenshots below and the comforting knowledge that even though it had a rocky road into existence, we'll finally be able to experience Too Human this August. Joy!%Gallery-22738%
