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Too many chefs: Ken Levine's thoughts on auteurship, editorship, and his work on the BioShock film
When it comes to the development behind BioShock 1 and BioShock Infinite, Irrational Games studio head Ken Levine described his role as that of "editor of a magazine ... but I'm also a writer for the magazine," putting things into terms that my word-addled brain could understand. "I believe more in editorship. Auteur sounds like you do everything," he began, making a point to preface his following description with a nod to the other 100-ish folks employed at his Massachusetts studio. That aside, Levine was clear that his role on Infinite is absolutely that of creative lead, not just creative oversight. "This is my game. And I love the fact that we sit down and chat with each other [Levine and other game devs outside of Irrational], but at the end of the day ... this thing's gotta be my decision." When it came to the translation of BioShock 1 from game to film, however, Levine's role changed -- even though he had been creative lead (head editor?) during the game's development. "If I were to make a game that was based on somebody else's franchise, you need somebody there who's going to say, 'This is true to the franchise, this isn't true to the franchise.' So that was more my role in the film," he explained.
The 'Klobb' returns in ex-Rare staff's Fusion: Genesis
Among the throngs of New York Comic Con attendees swarming Microsoft's booth, I managed to snag a few moments with Starfire Studios' first title, an ambitious XBLA space shooter with the utterly forgettable title "Fusion: Genesis." As most of the world had just heard of Starfire via an utterly forgettable press release announcing its first game, I asked art director Philip Dunne a bit more about his small company's history. "Starfire is a brand new company, we're all ex-Rare guys," Dunne explained, piquing my interest. About two years ago, he and three others left Rare to form their own studio and work on an MMO. "This is our first game. As soon as we left Rare we knew we wanted to make some sort of MMO, and we're trying to kind of squeeze it all in here onto this," he added, referring to Fusion: Genesis. What his team has isn't quite an MMO, but it does feature some interesting concepts from that world. For instance, after "roughly 10 to 15 hours" of single-player content, Fusion opens up into a co-op focused 8-player raid, which Dunne repeatedly referred to as "endgame content." In so many words, that content can be played offline with NPCs, though it'll be significantly more difficult than with other high-level human players. The project has been a labor of love for a team of guys who worked on such storied titles as Nintendo 64's console FPS gems GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark, not to mention hilarious cult classics like Killer Instinct. During my demo of Fusion: Genesis, I even spotted a clever nod to veteran game developer and weak weapon namesake Ken Lobb (or "Klobb"), as seen above. About that reference, Dunne said "Ken goes way back with us, so he'd probably be quite happy," and, with Lobb at Microsoft (as creative director of Microsoft Studios), he's been "our backer for this [project], really." Thankfully, unlike its N64 counterpart, Fusion's Klobb is actually useful, and even comes in several strength levels. Lobb will have a chance to try it for himself, as will the rest of us, rather soon, as Fusion's penciled in for a winter 2011 launch.
New Max Payne 3 screens go horizontal
When Max Payne isn't busy looking like a broken man, head in hands, he's exacting vengeance, as seen in the latest volley of screens from upcoming shooter Max Payne 3. If said vengeance just so happens to take him fully horizontal while in mid-air, firing two guns, then so be it!%Gallery-137235%
Hijacking the fun: Grand Theft Auto 3 on iPad
It's hard not to react to seeing Grand Theft Auto 3 on an iPad with anything less than expletive-laden surprise. Approaching the Rockstar booth at New York Comic Con this past weekend, I knew that the game would be playable on iPad, but my reaction was still that of shocked disbelief when I actually saw the thing running. It's GTA3! But it's totally on a little portable tablet! Incredible! Here's something, however, that won't surprise you: what I played was still totally Grand Theft Auto 3, flaws and all. And here's something else that won't surprise you: virtual buttons still totally suck.
Airtight Games' Kim Swift discusses Portal comparisons and the democratic origin of Quantum Conundrum
"All I care about is, 'Is the game fun? Are players gonna pick it up and have a good time?' That, first and foremost, is my job," ex-Valve developer (Portal, Left 4 Dead) and current Airtight Games creative lead Kim Swift declared to me in a pre-NY Comic Con interview last week. She was referring to her current project, Quantum Conundrum, and its similarity to her past work on Portal. I was wondering if she worried that her first big game might color perceptions about her latest, similarly-sized game -- is it just more of the same? "Making first-person puzzle games is what I like to do," Swift said. "And there aren't a whole lot of games ... there's Portal, and that's about it. So, to me, this is the kind of game that I want to play myself." She told me that the idea for QC had come about before arriving at Airtight, and when the opportunity came to head up a team as creative lead, she jumped at the chance. But she also didn't want to be a totalitarian monster. "Once I had gotten my team together, I didn't just wanna say, 'Hey, we're making this game, dammit! It's gonna be the way I say it's gonna be!'" Swift explained. Rather, the team members created individual "one-sheets" which would then be voted on by the whole group. As it turns out, Quantum Conundrum won out. "It just happens that this one came out on top just because it was really easy to implement right away and test," she added. The game's room-based puzzles and play on dimensional mechanics make it "modular" -- as in, individual components can be easily swapped out for others and quickly tested. This kind of development structure allows for quick iteration, a value prized among game developers. It also makes things like DLC all the more possible, which already makes sense for a game like Quantum Conundrum. Whether gamers will be demanding more after the game ships "early" next year remains to be seen, but what I saw had a lot of promise. %Gallery-131812%
Irrational's Ken Levine on BioShock's final boss and how Infinite's solution is 'more in our wheelhouse'
"So every game we make, we always say to ourselves -- back on BioShock 1, we had that terrible showdown fight at the end -- we're not good at that, let's not do that again. And then somehow, we end up ... it's like ... 'Baby I'll never hit you again, I'm changed, I'm changed!' And then we did it!" Irrational Games head and BioShock 1 creative lead Ken Levine struggled through that explanation this past weekend, pausing often, sighing a lot, and doubling back to be extra clear. His sentiment was certainly definitive, though: even he wasn't a big fan of the game's final boss fight with Atlas. "I think the boss battle in BioShock 1 -- the real boss battle -- is Andrew Ryan." I had asked about how BioShock Infinite, the studio's next game, would deal with boss fights, as the Atlas battle in the first BioShock title was seen by many as the lowest point in an otherwise spectacular experience. "I think we need to stay in our wheelhouse," he explained. "We're not Shadow of the Colossus. Those guys have a genius for that. We don't have that particular genius." Without getting into anything specific, and recognizing that it would be a "missed opportunity" not to do something with Songbird (Infinite's airborne antagonist), Levine said gamers should expect something more akin to the Andrew Ryan resolution in BioShock 1.
Ken Levine gives us an update on BioShock for PlayStation Vita
"We're still sort of in the paper design stage," Irrational Games head and co-founder Ken Levine told me this weekend. Sitting in a nondescript conference room four floors above Manhattan's Union Square, sipping on his second Diet Coke, Levine was referring to the new BioShock game coming to PlayStation Vita, which he announced himself on Sony's E3 press conference stage earlier this year. Despite the naming convention, BioShock on Vita isn't planned as a portable version of the upcoming game, Infinite, or the former two games set in the underwater city of Rapture -- at least, not right now. "That's not the current goal for what we're doing," Levine explained. While he admitted that "things can change," he added, "I think for us, the idea we have is a really good expression on a platform like that [Vita]. It's a different goal. And it has to sort of have its own voice in the franchise. If it just feels like a quieter voice in the franchise, I don't think that works. For us." Which isn't to say he derides other developers for taking the pared-down port approach. "I think there's room for every kind of game and every kind of approach. But just for what we do. That's not to say I won't play a lot of those games. I'd love to have that kind of game on a handheld." It simply means the development of the BioShock Vita game isn't taking that route. "I'd rather do something that's an experiment and that's a little different. And is unique for the franchise," he teased.
The Amazing Spider-Man has been cooking for at least a year; Acti canned Spider-Man 4
It's hard to nail down exactly when Beenox began production of The Amazing Spider-Man. According to Activision producer Doug Heder, Amazing has been in the works for longer than either Shattered Dimensions or Edge of Time, the publisher's two latest Spidey titles. "We've spent more time on this game than we will have on either of the other two," he explained to me after Marvel's game panel at New York Comic Con this past weekend. But that's not to say that all that time has been spent in production -- apparently the genesis of Amazing was nearly four years ago, though development didn't begin in earnest until about a year ago. "They are two completely separate teams," Heder said of the developing studio, Beenox. "We have separate leads, separate artists, separate designers -- they're working in parallel with each other." Heder also noted that, at one point, Activison had another studio working on a Spider-Man 4 title to be released alongside a planned movie. When the movie fell through, however, Activision canceled the project and concentrated on other Spidey games. "That was a completely different studio that was working on it, completely different tech, and engine and everything," Heder said. "And when the movie shut down, we shut the game down." Reports from 2009 suggest Radical was working on the now canned title, but Heder unfortunately wouldn't get any more specific.
Star Wars: The Old Republic talks instanced regions and hubs at NYCC
Last weekend's big convention, New York Comic Con, hosted another panel on Star Wars: The Old Republic. And perhaps to the surprise of the fans, this panel was all about numbers. Specifically, it was all about the numbers for upcoming content in the game, such as Flashpoints, Operations, and Warzones. Stephen Reid took his time to lay out what players can expect from this content and how many different areas players can expect, starting with 15 different Flashpoints at launch. The Flashpoints will not all be story-focused, according to Reid, with some focused more heavily on the puzzle or gameplay aspects. All of them, however, can be replayed at higher difficulties in the endgame. In addition, Reid showed off the upcoming fleet hubs for the game, the central gathering areas for players that feature vendors, auction systems, and a special "VIP Lounge" for people who purchased the Collector's Edition. With only a little over two months remaining until the game's launch, there's not much more time before these promised features become a reality.
Halo Waypoint adding 'Atlas,' a multiplayer GPS tracker
If the Kinect reveal for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary wasn't enough, 343 Industries also targeted fans with some new Halo Waypoint functionality at this weekend's Comic Con. The downloadable app is getting real-time GPS tracking of multiplayer games via a new service called "Atlas." Yes, seriously -- while you're playing a multiplayer game of Halo: Reach, you can use Waypoint's GPS feature via Windows Phone 7 or the web (and other "mobiles," we're told) to watch troop movements from above. The updated version of Waypoint also adds the ability to send challenges to friends, similar to the weekly ones set originally via Bungie and now via 343 Industries within Reach multiplayer. 343 reps explained that you'll earn in-game credits for completing these challenges based on the difficulty of said tasks, but didn't dive too deeply into how it will all work exactly. We'll find out soon enough, as the update to Waypoint launches alongside Halo Anniversary on November 15. Update: We've added two Waypoint vids from Microsoft showcasing the update, one above and one after the break.
Prepare for battle with these NYCC Street Fighter X Tekken videos
You caught an early glimpse of Street Fighter X Tekken's radical new Gem system yesterday, but is your knowledge of the rest of the game's mechanics up to snuff? Do you know what a Switch Cancel is? What about a Cross Assault? Are you even paying attention, Grasshopper? Sweep the leg!
The Secret World unveils Tokyo Flashback at New York Comic Con
As The Secret World draws ever closer to its April 2012 launch date, more and more information on the game continues to trickle forth. Today's treat comes to you from New York Comic Con, where Funcom has revealed the first eight-ish minutes of gameplay that new players will experience when they jump into the game. This introductory instance is known as Tokyo Flashback, and not only does it serve to introduce players to the mechanics of combat within The Secret World, but it also sets up the game's conspiracy-laden storyline by introducing players to four key characters of The Secret World's universe. Most players will be familiar with these characters from the title'sprevious trailers, including the one from Gamescom 2011. The demo of Tokyo Flashback follows a shotgun-toting heroine as she tags along with the NPCs against a horde of infected humans known as the Filth. The demo also imparts some new knowledge of gameplay mechanics. For instance, mobility is very important, and few -- if any -- abilities will root the character in place, allowing players to move freely at all times. It's also revealed that combat (or shotgun combat, at any rate) uses a combo-point-esque mechanic wherein certain attacks build resources on a target, and other "finisher" attacks expend those resources. For the full trailer, head on past the cut, and check out the write-up of the Comic Con panel over at The Hydra Initiative. And don't forget, players interested in beta-testing The Secret World can sign up for The Secret War on the game's official site.
'Grenade!': Take a look at Halo Anniversary's Kinect functionality
As promised, we've got a quick and dirty video of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary's Kinect functionality, straight from the Halo/343 Industries panel at New York Comic Con. Are you prepared to shout "Grenade!" and have Master Chief straight throw a grenade, all willy nilly? We sure hope so!
Get caught in FFXIII-2's dark embrace via NYCC trailer and screens
Final Fantasy XIII 2 may not arrive in the US until early next year, but that doesn't mean you can't immerse yourself in its timey-wimey mythos ahead of time. Debuted at the ongoing New York Comic Con, the above trailer and below screenshots offer a fairly in-depth, potentially spoilersy look at Square Enix's latest romp through Cocoon. We're not sure if something can still be considered a "trailer" when it lasts longer than most Adult Swim cartoons, but an extraordinarily long cinematic experience should feel like a warm, tender hug to anyone interested in a Final Fantasy sequel-sequel.%Gallery-136539%
Halo Anniversary adding 'Analyze Mode' with Kinect [update]
Yes, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is getting Kinect functionality -- but you knew that already. Despite a bit of news escaping Tokyo Game Show earlier this year about what the functionality entails, we were promised a fuller reveal "this October." And here we are: 343 Industries reps told Halo panel attendees tonight at NY Comic Con that the game will include a variety of new Kinect features, such as analyzing world items. When in Anniversary mode (read: fancy new graphics mode), players can use Kinect voice commands to "Analyze" various enemies, which will then add said enemies into a readable in-game database ("The Library" -- no, not that Library). What's more, you can also shout "grenade!" and, well, Master Chief will totally throw a grenade. "Reload weapon!" does ... you get the idea. A video showcasing the additions was shown off and we'll have it up for you as soon as possible. It'll arrive in fuller form on Halo Waypoint this coming Monday. Update: Analyze Mode is only available with Kinect, 343 says, and won't work if you've only got a controller. Sorry folks! [Image credit: 'Laugh Pong']
Zen Studios bringing Pinball FX to 3DS, Vita, mobile; shows off X-Men table
As if Zen Studio's Pinball FX series wasn't already enormously popular, studio reps told an audience of New York Comic Con attendees that the pinball franchise would be heading to Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita, and iOS/Android "phones and tablets" at some point in 2012. Get your flippin' fingers at the ready! He also revealed a brand new table coming this winter as part of the upcoming "Vengeance and Virtue" Marvel DLC pack, themed around the X-Men. Which apparently means it's of the "Virtue" category, though we don't think Wolverine would appreciate being called "virtuous" very much.
Watch The Amazing Spider-Man's first gameplay trailer right here
Sure, you already knew that the Amazing version of Spider-Man would be getting his own game, but have you seen the New York Comic Con trailer yet? Unless you were in the room with us, the answer is probably no, but we've got it here for you right now!
Galactus revealed as playable in 'his own little mode' for Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
Our long-time hate for Capcom's fighting game bosses knows no bounds, but we're not above playing as one of the overpowered baddies ourselves to destroy friends. It looks like Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 will allow us to do just that, with Capcom strategy manager Seth Killian today revealing during New York Comic Con that Galactus will become playable in the upcoming Ultimate version of MvC3. Rather than becoming a player in the main roster, Galactus will apparently be getting "his own little mode" in UMvC3. We'll be sure to track down Killian for more details as soon as we can, but take that for what it's worth for now.
Watch Seth Killian demonstrate Street Fighter X Tekken's 'Gem System'
At this evening's Street Fighter X Tekken presentation at New York Comic Con, Capcom's Seth Killian took to an arcade stick to demonstrate the upcoming game's brand new "Gem System." Then game director Yoshinori Ono called it a mix of Street Fighter with Magic the Gathering. Seriously!
Rufus taking a bite out of Street Fighter X Tekken
Everyone's favorite pot-bellied pugilist is heading to Street Fighter X Tekken, as revealed by Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono during a panel tonight at the New York Comic Con (and teased just last month). Despite being comically overweight and rocking an extra long rat tail, the rotund reveal was met with mixed reaction from a raucous crowd of hardcore Street Fighter players. The ever jubilant Yoshinori Ono, however, was all smiles, happily noting that plenty more character reveals are on the way.%Gallery-136564%
