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Alan Wake scribbles down new May 14 release in Europe
Alan Wake's bizarro world seeps into ours as Europe's release date for the action thriller moves up a week to May 14. Whenever Europe gets a game release before the rest of the planet, it always compels us to check with the mice on the natural state of life, the universe and everything. The North American and Japanese releases remain May 18 and 27, respectively. After launch, Alan Wake will receive DLC episodes before the end of the year that should -- fans willing -- build a cozy, covered bridge to further adventures. %Gallery-64691% [Via @RemedyAlerts]
Consider Alan Wake's DLC a 'Christmas Special'
Like Remedy Entertainment told us back in March, Alan Wake's poorly lit world will be getting a few DLC "episodes" this year. What we didn't know, however, was how said episodes would fold into the game's narrative arc -- but head of franchise development Oskari Hakkinen recently shed some light on them in a recent interview with Edge (via CVG), saying, "We've thought of DLC, which will be more of a bridge between season one and season two, should this first part be a success." Hakkinen is referring to the first, yet to be released Alan Wake as "season one," banking on the interest in the first game to produce a sequel (or "second season") with DLC episodes set to bridge the narrative between the two "seasons." He also likens it to a "Christmas special," adding that it "will give you a different perspective on the stuff you've played in season one." If our past with Christmas specials is any indication of what we can expect from this DLC, we're just as excited as you are.
April Fools: Alan Wake Wars
Throw another gag on the April Fools' Day fire, Remedy has entered the fray. Up for offer is Alan Wake Wars, a game that takes the taut, suspenseful bent of Alan Wake and tosses on a layer of real-time strategy. The game contains 17 maps, 24 unit types and a staggering 18 tech trees. Lots of different units are showcased in the video, including local militia, trucks and, our favorite, deadly lumberjacks. Honestly, as "real time psychological film noir action love story" games go, Alan Wake Wars looks to be on top of the pack. Check out the trailer after the break.
Perfect Dark, Alan Wake items now in Avatar Marketplace
Your virtual closet of Avatar wear just got some new styles, as Perfect Dark and Alan Wake gear is now available in the Avatar Marketplace. You can peruse the usual -- shirts, pants, helmets and outfits -- or if props is more your thing, there's a variety to choose from. "Elvis" you can see above, but there's also a flare, some pages of a manuscript or even an Alan Wake book. Like, a book that says Alan Wake on it that your Avatar looks at. Head into the Avatar Marketplace to see all of the new stuff. Source -- Perfect Dark Avatar gear on Xbox Live [Xbox.com] Source -- Alan Wake Avatar gear on Xbox Live [Xbox.com] [Via Destructoid]
Alan Wake: several DLC episodes this year, second 'season' dependent on audience
As revealed during this year's Consumer Electronics Show, tormented writer Alan Wake will continue his dimly lit journey in the form of post-launch downloadable episodes. After the internally episodic thriller hits shelves on May 18, Remedy Entertainment will expand it with at least two episodes in 2010. The scope of subsequent episodes and the duration of DLC support will hinge on the audience, of course, but Remedy managing director Matias Myllyrinne envisions a substantial engagement. "I think it'll depend a lot on the audience, but certainly we want to -- if we're successful -- we want to do a large 'Season 2,' if you will, at some point," he said in an interview with Joystiq. "Right now, I'm not allowed to say what we're doing exactly this year. But we're going to have more than one episode come out this year." Once the full game is complete and the team has a chance to gauge acceptance and feedback, Remedy Entertainment will shed some more light on its plans. We'll share ours with you right now: Expect to see the full Matias Myllyrinne interview on Joystiq later this week.
Fun facts about Alan Wake's facial animation
CaptiveMotion has announced that it has completed work on the facial animation for Alan Wake. The company provided facial capture services for the developers at Remedy to use in the upcoming thriller. One of the more intriguing aspects of the announcement is that the facial capturing done by CaptiveMotion was actually done separately from the full body motion capture used in the game, which was completed six months prior. As a result, CaptiveMotion had to "present the data in a fashion that Remedy could easily integrate it into their pipeline." The capture technology itself is called Embody, which allows up to 1,600 markers to be mapped on a single motion capture actor. See it in action in the (somewhat bizarre) video after the break.
Alan Wake rated Teen, five minutes of footage illuminated
New footage of Remedy's upcoming mystery thriller Alan Wake has found its way online, showcasing some of the demonic thoughts scrawled on paper by the game's title character. Five minutes of footage found at French site GameBlog.fr (posted after the break) showcases some gorgeous environments and some of the action we experienced at Microsoft's X10. Considering half of the Joystiq staff wasn't even born yet when the game was first announced*, we're just happy to help Alan Wake figure out what's happening in the small mid-western town of Bright Falls. But we're not expecting a gruesome adventure, as the ESRB has rated Alan Wake T for Teen. We can't blame Alan: when you're fighting for your life you need as many gamers as you can get on your side. *Okay, not really.
Interview: Remedy's Matias Myllyrinne on Alan Wake
X10 was a special day for Remedy's long-in-development Alan Wake: the release date was announced at last, officially bringing the psychological thriller within a few months of release. On this occasion, Matias Myllyrinne, managing director of Remedy, shared his thoughts with Joystiq about episodic gaming, the inevitabillity of digital distribution, and high-profile competition. Joystiq: It was announced earlier that there would be episodes of Alan Wake. Matias Myllyrinne: It was just announced in CES by Robbie Bach. Did you guys take a look at the experiment with Fable 2? That was surprising. What are your thoughts on that? I think it's interesting to see how those new forms of enjoying entertainment -- how to distribute that, and get through to people in the way they want to enjoy it. I think it'll be really cool to see what happens with the Fable episodic delivery stuff. I think the jury's still out on how people want to consume media such as games. I think it's also an evolving thing, as well. If you think back to music, it's not that long ago that we all bought CDs. That changed. I thought it would happen like in two years, but it actually took more like seven for the music industry to shift and tilt. %Gallery-85310%
X10: The Recap Post
.nounderline a { text-decoration: none; } Microsoft's X10 press event has come and gone, and with it came a stack of Xbox-related news, trailers, screenshots and more. It was so much content, we nearly broke the Internet! Alright, that's probably inaccurate but we have to assume we were close. In case you missed anything, we've wrapped it all up and have it here for you in one tidy, little package. Alan Wake | Dead Rising 2 | Fable III | Final Fantasy XIII | Halo: Reach Left 4 Dead 2 | Modern Warfare 2 | Splinter Cell: Conviction | XBLA Block Party %Gallery-85281%
Still awake? Alan Wake screens from X10 light up your evening
click for our gallery, unless you're s-s-s-scared You didn't think the X10 news was over, did you? Alan Wake, as you know, is always fashionably late to the party, and these latest screens are just another example of that fact. In them we get another quick glimpse at the havoc occurring in the small town of Bright Falls. Alan Wake is scheduled to hit Stateside on May 18, in multiple flavors.%Gallery-85310%
Wake up early for Alan Wake Q&A next Wednesday
Okay, okay -- for some of you, 2PM GMT isn't exactly "bright and early," but for us, it's 9AM, so bear with us for a moment here. As announced by Alan Wake's community manager on the game's forum, next Wednesday at 2PM GMT fans will get a chance to ask questions to their heart's desire of the team behind the game at Remedy Entertainment. As the Q&A will be taking place via IRC (no, we're not kidding), the announcement suggests heading to the web-based client for those of you not familiar with the no-we-can't-believe-people-are-still-using-it chat program. Between now and then, we suggest working on your question list, as the community man also notes the chat will be moderated and only "relevant questions (i.e. questions that haven't been answered already)" will be answered. Get crackin', gumshoes! %Gallery-64691%
Matias Myllyrinne answers 10 Questions from the Academy
And now, 10 Questions from the Academy: A weekly feature from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wherein significant figures in the video game industry provide their input on past trends, current events, and future challenges and goals for the entertainment software community. Matias Myllyrinne is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and will speak at the D.I.C.E. Summit in 2010. He works for Remedy, and told Joystiq that the developer's latest game, Alan Wake, is "done" and is just being "polished" before its "Spring 2010" release. AIAS: What's your favorite part of game development? Matias Myllyrinne: Shipping. We are so close with Alan Wake and it has taken a while. I would really like to share what we have done with the world. No other feeling can match the exhilaration of seeing years of work come to closure. How do you measure success? As for, success in games. it's easy – units sold and Metacritic. In any form of entertainment, if the audience likes what you create and it sells – that's what counts in the end. Professionally, success is defined by the success of those around me. Are my partners aligned with me and taking part in good business, is my team creative, empowered and financially secure and are my shareholders seeing good long term strategic direction. Personally, I am successful if I am doing new things, enjoying a balanced life with the job I love and all the other interesting things the world has to offer.
Alan Wake dev wants to avoid including game's ending in press copies
According to a Remedy managing director Matias Myllyrinne, the studio wants to discuss the possibility of leaving the ending of its upcoming thriller Alan Wake off discs sent to press with its publisher, Microsoft. "I think we're going to be insanely careful about how much of the story we reveal," Myllyrinne told G4TV. "I'd like to hold it back, [I] don't want anybody to spoil it for the audience. That's just my personal feeling." Using the twist ending of The Sixth Sense as an analogy, Myllrinne says he'd prefer players be able to piece together the secrets of Bright Falls on their own before having them spoiled by others. Although admirable, his analogy can only mean one of two things: Alan Wake is dead or he's Haley Joel Osment. Either way, we're already terrified.
Impressions: 'Alan Wake' runs toward darkness
click to enlarge Previously on Alan Wake... in search of lost manuscript pages for a novel he doesn't recall writing, Alan Wake is searching the Pacific Northwest town of Bright Falls for his missing wife. The pages aren't only a clue as to where Alan must search next, but seem to be the basis of a dark force taking over the small town. In the latest demo of Alan Wake, the title character is without a weapon or the protection of a light source -- the only thing that can slow down the darkness taking over the small town. During this section of the game, Alan must retreat into the darkened forests, pursued by an FBI agent named Nightingale who is sure Wake is to blame for all of the terrible things happening in the town. Sadly, Nightingale may not be wrong.%Gallery-64691%
Lessons from GDC Europe: The 'seven pillars' of a Remedy IP
During his speech at GDC Europe – exhaustively titled "From Max Payne to Alan Wake: Creating Intellectual Properties the Remedy Way" (air!) – Remedy Managing Director Matias Myllyrinne laid out the seven pillars the company uses for its games: 1. Strong Lead Character -- Main character is iconic and easy to get on the surface. Things went wrong when Myllyrinne wanted the Max Payne sequel to simply be called The Fall of Max Payne. The compromised title admittedly didn't work out in the sales department. He didn't mention anything about Rockstar's reimagined Max Payne in the latest sequel. 2. Mainstream approachability -- Avoiding niche and cliché settings (for video games that would mean no WWII setting, dragons, sci-fi, etc.). Having gameplay mechanics that are approachable (low barrier of entry to start playing the game). 3. Cinematic -- Taking lessons learned from movies. The presentation of Max Payne makes this pretty obvious. With Alan Wake the company is focusing on the trinity of the flashlight, Alan himself (see: pillar one), and the gun. This also lead Myllyrinne to an anecdote about presentation, saying "It's not what things are, it's what the audience thinks things are." He mentioned the Ingram gun was made bigger in Max Payne because people expect that gun to be larger than it actually is in real life.
Remedy's Sam Lake shows off Remedy's Alan Wake
Remedy writer Sam Lake narrated a video presentation of Alan Wake at gamesCOM, providing the most detailed look we've seen yet at the psychological thriller. We see Wake realize that his wife is missing, and begin the undertaking of piecing together the manuscript that he doesn't remember writing, and whose events are coming true. Lake discusses the role of the game's light sources, which act as shelter and weapons against the shadowy, possessed townspeople. We're delighted to see this much of Alan Wake. By revealing this much footage, Remedy seems to be treating it like a real game that, in fact, "is done." %Gallery-64691%
Lake: 'Remedy is not a factory,' team fortunate to spend time on Alan Wake's debut adventure
Following our extended look of the Alan Wake demo showcased at Microsoft's E3 2009 keynote, Remedy lead writer Sam Lake took a moment to answer our questions regarding the evolution of the title, since it was first announced in 2005."We have been in the fortunate position where we've had time to do research and do prototypes ... keep the quality bar high and explore, until we find the right combination of different elements," Lake said. "Things have evolved along the way. This is an action game, but there is a lot of variety." Lake also explained that Alan Wake will feature segments of gameplay during daytime sequences, which will allow players to explore and interact with the "quirky locals" of Bright Falls. According to Lake, the day and night cycle is governed by the game's linear storyline.Lake also made it clear his team is no stranger to the perception that Remedy Entertainment had been taking their time bringing Alan Wake's debut adventure to players. "Remedy is not a factory," Lake said. "We take our time and try out different things until we feel have found the right combination and a good balance for the game." Alan Wake is scheduled to release in Spring 2010.%Gallery-64691%
New Alan Wake details emerge into the cold, hard light of day
We're not quite sure how, considering the media blackout approach that Alan Wake developer Remedy Entertainment has taken, but Norwegian gaming site Gamer.no sat down for dinner with head of franchise development for Remedy, Oskari Häkkinen, this past week. New details were (unsurprisingly) scant, though we were able to glean a handful of facts from the interview. For instance, the game has, "a lot less action than Max Payne," the studio's last franchise which recently had a current-gen update announced. Aside from an emphasis on story, Mr. Häkkinen says that weather effects will play a role in gameplay, specifically noting (by way of a strange sounding Google translation from Norwegian), "Everything in the game can be influenced by the weather. If you are running the car, run conditions will be worse by heavy rain, than if the weather was good ... the weather is dynamic, since it will influence how you play the game."Furthermore, Mr. Häkkinen tells Gamer.no that, "Lighting is very important in the game, and this is a unique item that really has not been used in the game before on the way we do it." The obvious comparison here would be to last year's conceptually strong Alone in the Dark -- here's hoping Remedy can deliver on the lighting concept where Alone in the Dark more or less failed. So, we officially still know little-to-nothing! We'll keep an eye out for information at E3 2009 in June, but, ya know, we're not holding our breath or anything.[Via IGN]%Gallery-33592%
New Alan Wake information doesn't tell us much
Fresh Alan Wake information text has made its way online, with a cryptic message appearing on the official Alan Wake forums. The paragraph, penned by Alan Wake himself, was posted by the forums' community manager and supposedly comes from developer Remedy Entertainment. It reads:"The amount of pages keeps growing each night. There are also new edits on the old pages. They keep getting more aggressive. The story is rewriting itself. The protagonist is now my namesake, and his wife is called Alice. The most worrying aspect: the genre seems to be shifting. It's turning into a horror story. I can no longer be certain whether the hero can succeed or even survive. Apart for jumbled fragments of bad dreams and an oppressive feeling, I can remember nothing of the process when I wake up. But this morning, a breakthrough! When I came to my senses, I could smell her perfume on my shirt. I am close. I know it. I must push on. - Alan Wake"So, some pages are being re-written, a horrible horror story is starting and there's perfume that smells like shirts ... or something. Honestly, we have no idea what this all means, but feel free to share your thoughts. Who knows, maybe there's a new trailer or a release date hidden in there somewhere.[Via IGN]
Ex Remedy boss creates new studio, 360 title
Samuli Syvahuoko, the former co-founder of Remedy Entertainment -- the studio behind Max Payne and the upcoming Alan Wake -- has formed a new game company by the name of Recoil Games in Helsinki, Finland. With veterans from companies like Ubisoft, Guerilla Games, Electronic Arts and Codemasters, Recoil Games hopes to create hit games that will reach worldwide recognition, no small task. The company is currently working on an original IP inspired by classic disaster movies. The game uses a combination of in-house technology and 3rd party tools. The first Recoil Games project, still untitled at this point, should hit the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC sometime in the near future.
