gdc08fanboy
Latest
GDC08: Havok introduces two new development tools
The folks over at Havok have introduced two new physics engines focusing on some interesting properties -- one is called "Destruction" and the other is called "Cloth". The former allows for complete and realistic environmental destruction unlike anything we've seen to date. Based on the material in the game (sheet metal, wood, et cetera) they will react differently upon destruction. Rocks explode chaotically, wood will splinter along their grain and metallic objects bulge and break as expected in real life.Cloth technology is what you see in the video up top. It's not as cool sounding, but it boasts the ability to have clothes react true-to-life. Notice how the cape never tangles in the character's legs and doesn't automatically fly all the way up when he jumps. It acts like a normal cape would if you wanted to go jump around in a cape outside on a moderately breezy day. Cool stuff! We look forward to seeing these implemented in future games!
GDC08: SOE goes voice chat crazy
Sony Online Entertainment has announced the most comprehensive voice chat plan ever, according to a press release dropped at GDC today. They've teamed up with a company called Vivox to not only bring integrated voice chat into all of their games, but also some features that MMO players have never even dreamed of. Vivox says they'll be able to bring voicemail into games, join raid chats via landline or cell phone, and even use voice manipulation over the connection.Apparently the voice chat service will be also available just through Sony's Launcher, so you won't need to be in-game to use the applications. Gamers will have buddy lists, and games will all have volume controls and channel controls, but the other features they brag about apparently won't be available at launch-- while voice and guild chat channels will be available right away, the other features, like voicemail and "voice fonts," are only "anticipated" for later. Still, John Smedley, SOE President, is quoted in the release as being excited about bringing the two services together, so only time will tell how it will all work.Time, and our interviews, that is. Massively has a few correspondents on the floor at GDC right now, and we are planning to speak with both Vivox and SOE before the end of the week. Stay tuned for more on these services and just what they'll entail for players in-game.
GDC08: New Ninja Gaiden II screens
Fresh from the press kit that came out of the Microsoft keynote earlier today, Microsoft Game Studios released five new images of Ninja Gaiden II in all their bloody hi-res glory. In the new screens, Ryu battles various baddies including, dragons, ninjas and a villain that looks like he fell off the cover box of Blizzard's Diablo. Ninja Gaiden II hits the Xbox 360 exclusively in June 2008, we're sharpening our swords in the meantime.%Gallery-11370%
GDC08: Castle Crashers crash lands this Summer
Coming straight from the digital pages of today's GDC press release, we learn that The Behemoth's Castle Crashers will in fact be making an Xbox Live Arcade release sometime this year. More specifically, this Summer! Castle Crashers has been at the forever delayed end of the release spectrum and now we finally have a four month window to look forward to. You seriously do not know how excited we are right now, we're almost giddy enough to dress up like our favorite colored knight. Almost ... we did say almost.
GDC08: Surprise Metal Slug 7 appearance!
Expecting a room full of Neo Geo collections, I walked into SNK's demo room and found ... a room full of Neo Geo collections. But! In the back of the room, sitting unassumingly on a table, was Metal Slug 7! It was such a surprise that not even the SNK PR people there knew it would be there until this morning. It's fresh. First off, I'll say that the jaggy, messy-looking screenshots released before do not reflect the (not even) final game. In fact, the game looks great, with all of Metal Slug's signature animations intact. The game is controlled with d-pad and buttons (I didn't even think to mess with the stylus) with a progress map on the lower screen. There are six selectable characters: Marco, Eri, Ralf, Clark, Fio, and Tarma. Each comes with a different default weapon; Marco's, for example, was a lightning gun. The levels are rife with bearded hostages, as is the custom for this series, and lots of enemies to be shot and knifed.Unfortunately, I can't provide detailed impressions of multiple levels, because despite my best efforts I died early on in each level. I kept trying, though. There seems to be a mission mode that divides the game into shorter missions; however, since all the interface was in Japanese, I can't be sure. Again, not dying frequently would have helped here.
GDC08: A collection of SNK collections
At SNK's GDC demo room, the Wii versions of SNK Arcade Classics, King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga, and Samurai Shodown Anthology were available for play, and I went through a few of the games on each set, looking for controls and features, and, of course, basic performance. All of the games seemed to be running in 480i even on HDTVs, and it unfortunately showed. Bizarrely, it's entirely possible to play any of the games with the Wiimote. The Neo Geo controller has four buttons, and so does the Wiimote. This is not recommended! The Neo Geo Stick 2 was nowhere to be found, or there would be a lot more exclamation points in this post.The awesome news: SNK just went ahead and decided to throw KOFs '94 and fan-favorite '98 onto the collection, meaning that the set is now an almost-complete record of the 1990s' KOF games. Samurai Shodown does in fact include 1-6. The demos I had (mostly the KOFs) had significant lag, but I'm willing to believe that this will be ironed out by release. It would have to be. The bad news, and the answer to pretty much everyone's question: SNK hasn't figured out whether this or the Virtual Console is The Way to go, meaning that they intend to give the VC games a chance to sell before releasing the collection. Because of this, the Wii version of Arcade Classics is being held until Q4. All versions (PS2, PSP, Wii) of the other collections are also scheduled for Q4.
GDC08: Gears of War 2 teaser trailer debut
For those of our readers sneaking peaks at X3F during the work day, here is the teaser trailer for Gears of War 2 now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Novemeber 2008 can't get here fast enough!
GDC08: Gears of War 2 press kit confirms Limited Edition
With the dust barely settling on the announcement, a press kit for Gears of War 2 on Xbox.com already confirms a Limited Edition is in the works.Gears of War 2, sequel to the 2006 Game of the Year, will release exclusively on the Xbox 360 in November 2008 from Epic Games and Microsoft Game studios.%Gallery-16538%
GDC08: Hands-on with the Logitech Driving Force GT
Just moments after Logitech officially announced the new Driving Force GT for PS3, we rushed over to Sony and gave it a spin. An observer casually noted, "isn't it nice to have rumble on the PS3?" We'd have to agree with this sentiment -- but the Driving Force GT offers much more than just rumble.The wheel feels incredibly sturdy, and offers a surprising amount of resistance when making turns, crashing into walls, and more. The force offered by the wheel rivals those found in arcade cabinets. The wheel makes Gran Turismo 5 feel like a completely different game. Playing in cockpit mode with the controller is incredibly immersive. With wheel in hand, this does feel like the "real driving simulator" that GT promises to be.While the wheel is impressive, we were a bit underwhelmed by the pedals, which lack the heft that makes the wheel so impressive. The pedals need a bit more resistance to feel a bit more realistic, and need to be heavier, so they don't move forward so much. Regardless, we're impressed by this incredible effort of bringing home an arcade experience. Considering the asking price ($150), Logitech needed to make a high quality peripheral. We think they succeeded.
GDC08: Telltale has a mysterious Wii Ware game in the works
digg_url='http://digg.com/nintendo/GDC08_Telltale_has_a_mysterious_Wii_Ware_game_in_the_works'; When we first heard from Nintendo that Telltale was releasing an episodic game for Wii Ware, we stubbornly believed, Sam & Max! Despite the wording in the press release, in which Nintendo revealed the existence of "a new episodic game series from Telltale," we still held onto hope that we'd get to do some rabbit and dog sleuthing on our Wiis.Telltale cleared that up pretty quickly, though. The company stated simply, "And before you ask -- no, it's not Sam & Max." Fine, we get the hint.While the game might not have anything to do with the beloved PC duo, we're sure that Telltale has something really great in store for us. The developer is being coy and keeping tight-lipped about the project, though, which is just making us anticipate it all the more. Hopefully Telltale stops playing hard-to-get soon and tells us what the game is -- unfortunately, patience isn't really a virtue of ours.[Thanks, Michael!]
GDC08: Live from Rob Pardo talks about Blizzard's approach to MMOs
Rob Pardo, Blizzard's Senior Vice President of Game Design, is speaking at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this afternoon and WoW Insider is here live to catch it all. Though the auditorium is just filling up, Pardo should be out in a few minutes to tell us all about Blizzard's approach to multiplayer game design. Catch the full details after the break.%Gallery-16546%
GDC08: Epic announces Gears of War 2 for a Nov 08' release
Just moments ago, towards the end of their GDC08 press conference, Epic Games and Microsoft officially announced that Gears of War 2, the sequel every 360 fanboy has been waiting for, will release November 2008!In an instant, this massive GDC announcement put to rest a year full of speculation and rumors that has kept the Gears community on the edge of their seats. A year long Gears of War 2 rumor mill encompassing events including Cliffy B hinting at a Gears sequel, seeing Amazon.com pre-orders come and go, reporting on Cliffy's brother knowing something, hearing about a GamePro cover, reading about SurferGirl chiming in and we even sunk as low as to analyze GDC floor plans. All these rumors were reported because we were in search of an elusive GoW2 announcement and now, we have it. We finally have confirmation that GoW2 is real and we can put to rest a year full of rumors. It was fun while it lasted, but we're way more satisfied and relieved knowing that the veil has been lifted. More Gears of War 2 details to come.
GDC08: Fable 2 co-op and XBLA tie-in revealed [Update]
During their conference at GDC08, Microsoft announced new and exciting details for its upcoming role-playing game Fable 2. Firstly, Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux detailed plans to bring the Fable 2 experience to Xbox Live Arcade. Developer Carbonated Games will be working with Lionhead to release an Arcade preview of Fable 2 which will allow players to dive into the world, pre-release, and earn money to be used in the retail version of the game. Earning money, a very important element of Fable 2, will the the essence of the Fable 2 XBLA release. The XBLA title will allow players to experience the universe by participating in mini-games, like a cross between Roulette and Craps shown at the conference, that will allow players to earn money that can be transferred to your character when the retail game ships.Secondly, and more importantly, a dynamic cooperative mode was announced. The dynamic coop mode allows a friend to join your experience at any time. Unfortunately the infamous dog mechanic will not be available for player two, but the drop in and drop out coop gameplay is a first for the series and promises exciting possibilities. No date was announced for the release of Fable 2, but we were told the XBLA release will hit weeks before the final product.Update: For clarification, co-op play has only been announced for local play and not over Xbox Live hence the reason we never mention Xbox Live in the story pertaining to the co-op mode. If the drop in and drop out description above led you to assume it was via Xbox Live we apologize for getting your hopes up.
GDC08: Ninja Gaiden II's Ninja Cinema and a June release
Wearing his classy leather jacket, Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki just took Microsoft's keynote stage to do a quick (and very impressive) Ninja Gaiden II demo and revealed a brand new feature that'll be included when the game ships. The new feature is a video sharing service called "Ninja Cinema" that will allow players to record movie clips, save and then share them over Xbox Live with other gamers. The entire system is very similar to Halo 3's file sharing, but much more ... ninja'fied and bloody. It'll be like dismemberment porn. Oh and a little Team Ninja birdy also revealed that Ninja Gaiden II will storm retail this June. Summer can't come soon enough.
GDC08: EVE Online's space stations
In this morning's first panel, CCP's Senior Technical Producer Torfi Frans Olafsson had a lot to say about EVE Online's upcoming space station environments. At present, EVE's player characters are little more than still portraits -- in the playable portion of the game you are primarily represented as your ship, which you can use to navegate and explore the game world. Initially announced in a 2006 dev blog, EVE will one day have the ability to exit your ship and interact with other characters as a human avatar rather -- we still don't have an exact release date (though at GDC07 they gave a 2008 date, so there's a chance it may be included in the upcoming Kali 4 expansion, about which little is known), but we have some details on the gameplay and the development process after the break.%Gallery-16528%
GDC08: Microsoft brings XNA together with Live
Microsoft just announced plans to bridge the gap between the XNA development community with the Xbox Live community by allowing XNA games to be tested, tried and shared over Xbox Live. This new service will be rolled out "soon" and will allow Live members to access, rate, review and play new community created XNA Arcade games which will greatly increase the XBLA's current library. And, as a sampling of what's to come when the service debuts, Microsoft has just placed seven beta versions of XNA created games onto the XBLA so that the developers can get important feedback about their projects. Games including JellyCar, Little Gamers, TriLinea, RocketBall, ProximityHD, Culture and our personal love, The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai. Now THIS is what we call user created content. Bravo!
GDC08: Logitech reveals the "offical wheel of Gran Turismo"
Click for high resolution image. Logitech has today unveiled the Logitech Driving Force GT, the "official wheel of Gran Turismo". Available in May in both America and Europe, the completely over the top (but totally cool) steering wheel will retail for $149.99. There's no suggested European price, but don't expect it to be much less than £100. It'll be totally worth it according to Logitech's Director of Marketing, Ruben Mookerjee, who says that "with the Logitech Driving Force GT, you're not playing games anymore – you're racing!" Hilarious!The Driving Force GT is built especially for Gran Turismo 5 and Prologue, but will also work great with Gran Turismo 3 and 4 on the PS2. It has full force-feedback support and if you want to see what the wheel looks like from all sides, be sure to check out our gallery below. We'll have some hands-on impressions up for you from GDC before too long.%Gallery-16522%
GDC08: Now for some Monkey Business
As you already know, we're in love with wacky 2D platformers, the crazier the better. You need only look to our romantic exchanges with Barnyard Blast, Sanuk Software's low-budget Castlevania spoof, for evidence of our forbidden flirtations.At an IGS session yesterday, EA Tiburon's Kyle Gray demonstrated a new DS game, tentatively titled Monkey Business, currently in development and after our own heart. The colorful game's hero, a British explorer named Hatsby, could be seen battling an opera-singing boss and a robotic construct of Big Ben.The combo system seems reminiscent of The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, and there's some unclarified puzzle mechanic played out on the touchscreen -- what's there not to love? We were surprised to hear that EA greenlit the project, even if only for its EA Casual Games division, but Kyle explained, "It's this weird new face of EA ... They're actually looking to do new things, now."Swing past the post break for more videos from the Flash prototype of this very interesting platformer.
GDC08: Okami on Wii looks great in 480p
For those of you looking forward to the Okami installment on Wii (see: the entire Wii Fanboy staff), then you'll want to feast your eyes on these beautiful direct-feed shots of the game being run in 480p. After going through and checking them out for ourselves, we're dying to get our hands on the game. Check out the gallery below. We're sure you'll think the same thing after giving them a good look. Gallery: Okami (Wii)
GDC08: Joystiq live blogs Microsoft's GDC keynote
As we mentioned last night, Microsoft's GDC08 keynote is going down today and actually, it's less than fifteen minutes away. All of Microsoft's secret GDC announcements will be revealed and if you want minute-by-minute coverage of the keynote, we advise pointing your browser in Joystiq's direction They'll be live-blogging the entire conference, so you'll read about the news as it happens. Who knows, we may hear about some new 360 hardware price cuts. We may even get our long awaited Gears of War 2 announcement. Heck, we may even learn that we all can has Recon. All of Microsoft's GDC secrets will be known in a few minutes ... stay updated.
