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Screenshot roundup: Red Steel
Ubisoft recently released 10 new screens for the highly-anticipated Red Steel. Most of the shots showcase the one-on-one sword fighting the game gets its name from, yet also some nice scenery of the bright Japanese urban locale known as Tokyo. Even if our impressions at E3 kind of put us off, we still would like to believe this will be one of the best titles for the Wii at launch. "Enjoy beer?" Don't mind if we do!
Sony Ericsson's K750i comes in red
Sony Ericsson didn't really strike us as too huge on the whole re-release that device in a new color strategy, but starting, well, last Saturday it would appear our UK pals can snag a lipstick red K750i from Carphone Warehouse. As for the rest of us, we'll just have to live with what we've got now: the K750's far more advanced successor, the K800.
Red Steel: dueling blades, no mercy!
Seriously, I did the same exact thing at E3. What? Don't make that face, you can't give these Yakuza scum any mercy! For the sake of clarity, every time the player blocks, this is from shaking the nunchuk.[Via Codename Revolution]
The U2 iPod makes a 5th generation encore
Apple has re-released the U2 iPod in the form of a red and black 5G iPod with video. The new U2 iPod features one design element to differentiate it from the normal 5G iPod and the previous U2 iPod: "an all-black stainless steel enclosure" or (as a subtitle underneath a picture of the U2 iPod mentions) a rear featuring "striking black metal." The screenshots of the new U2 iPod on Apple's site don't show the black metal very clearly thanks to the black background, so we'll have to wait for some hands-on pictures for a "yay or nay" design critique. Fingers crossed it doesn't scratch as easily as, well, every other iPod ever made.Another bonus over the normal iPod is the inclusion of an iTunes coupon that lets U2 iPod owners download an exclusive video featuring music and interviews with the Irish rock band. Pricing is $329 ($30 more than a vanilla iPod) and shipping is currently "within 24 hours."Update: check out the Quicktime VR movie at the bottom of this page ("take the U2 iPod for a spin") for a better look at the black metal enclosure. Without the U2 signatures and the red scroll wheel (i.e. on a normal, black 5G iPod) it'd look great![Thanks, Robert]
Red Steel to contain blood
According to a post on the IGN Insider boards, Ubisoft's Wii title Red Steel will feature blood spurting from enemies, yet to retain the T rating , no blood will stain the walls and floors in the environments. A similiar employment of the technique may be seen in Call of Duty 2 on the PC and Xbox 360. The post says:"It's the same controls, I just believe they were a bit tighter as we were developing on the GC dev for, well, for a while. I can assure you that we have plenty of time to refine, tighten, and ensure that the controls are solid. In regards to the blood, there will be blood - just not in a grpahic way. I believe you can have blood spurt and then disappear and still not receive a teen rating. Regardless of that point, the game is all about the controller and it's movements - not so much about the graphics."[Via NeoGAF]
Wii impressions: Red Steel
In gaining access to Nintendo's VIP booth, the first thing on my mind was engaging in some action of the crimsoned metal variety. Upon startup and gripping the Wii's remote, with nunchuck attachment, firmly in hand, a feeling of elation washed over me for what was surely to be the highlight of the show, the culmination of everything I could hope for from this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. Sadly, this was not to be.In jumping into the game, the first thing that surfaces is that the positioning of the Wii remote to the TV is paramount to success. Standing was no good. Sitting was better, albeit the aiming was lacking sensitivity. Moving back from the television display did no good and moving closer only made it worse. So the conclusion quickly turned my dream for the console into one hellish nightmare.The game's sensitivity was just off.Your character could not turn fast enough, making everything outside the direct point of view almost impossible to engage, and even firing effectively at visible targets was too difficult. Turning was slow and cumbersome, although it should be said that it was a ways more improved in Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, so it's safe to assume this was a freak incident in this game alone.The game's graphics also seemed washed and there were several of the dreaded 'jaggies' appearing about the edges of every enemy and the protagonist's forearm, along with his firearms and sword. I could easily dismiss this, however, as the game was being displayed in 480i on a 50+ inch plasma display. So while this blogger is still anxious to see the final product, the E3 demo build of Ubisoft's Red Steel failed to validate previous excitement for the game on the console.
Motorola's SLVR goes Red for Africa
It wasn't too long ago we were hearing rumblings about Bono's humanitarian organization Red getting together with Apple to do an iPod. That obviously didn't (yet) materialize, but you can get another vaguely Apple-co-conspired device through Red if you were thinking of a SLVR. For each phone sold, Red's delivering to The Global Fund for African AIDS programs a £10 ($18 US), then 5% of call charges will also trickle through to the charity. We can only hope that with overhead on retail, Moto, Red, and the charity, a decent amount makes it through to the actual cause, but hey, if you're buying a phone anyway it's better than not buying Red at all, right? Unfortunately it's UK only for the time being (go fig), so if you're really concerned with the health and welfare of the Dark Continent, perhaps you should consider some more direct methods of donation.[Via textually]
Mr. Katamari not interested in Revolution
For how quirky and unique a game Katamari Damacy is, I find it odd that its creator is not interested in the Revolution at all. When conversing with Gamasutra's sister-publication Game Developer at GDC, Keita Takahashi claimed "So, there's nothing I really want to do with it right now." He went on further to say "I'm not really interested in it. I don't think a controller should have that much influence on the enjoyment of games."Don't you think he's kind of missing the point? Isn't it not so much that the remote influences the game, but more that it adds a whole new dimension to the gameplay? Red Steel isn't a brand new type of game forced to compromise to the remote's characteristics, it takes the unique properties of the remote and aims to mix it with conventional first-person gameplay to create something new. How can you possibly not be interested in that?! Of course, comparisons to Red Steel aren't all that valid since noone has tried it, but you get the point, right?
Ubisoft Montreal: Yep, we'll make more Rev games
Yannis Mallet, the recently-promoted Ubisoft Montreal Studio CEO, conducted a small Q & A session with Gamasutra. Most concerning the upcoming Nintendo Revolution was the allusion to Ubisoft working on more titles for the platform aside from the already-confirmed Red Steel. When asked about upcoming games for the Revolution, Yannis said "I can say definitely, as any other developer, we are looking at this magical platform, and we want to be part of the adventure. You know already that Red Steel is made public in Game Informer. That's an exclusive Ubisoft title, made in Ubisoft Paris. And I'm pretty sure we'll see other Revolution games from Ubisoft. And some of them, I'm sure, will be made from Montreal."
More Red Steel info and teaser site launch
So the latest word on the web is that the Ubi-confirmed launch title Red Steel will not have any blood, a game which features violent themes of gun and swordplay through a first-person perspective via the Revolution's remote. When we first announced this unconfirmed project of Ubi's, we had no idea such a major part of the gameplay would be censored.The game's teaser site has also launched, should you want to check it out.
