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X06: Mini-impressions -- THP8, Lumines, Fuzion Frenzy 2
A quick round up of some of the other games at Microsoft's X06 party tonight: Tony Hawk's Project 8: The marquee new feature, already well-known, is the ability to slow down time to perform individualized tricks, using an analog stick to control each leg. The timing takes a bit of getting used to, but after a few minutes you'll be busting out some ridiculous combos -- and actually understanding what goes into the tricks to boot. Besides that the game seems like the same old Tony Hawk, though being able to choose the desired difficulty of each goal on the fly is a nice improvement. Lumines Live: The Xbox Live version of the PSP puzzler is actually significantly harder to control -- neither the analog stick nor the digital pad are precise enough for quick moves. Playing on a big screen is nice, but it actually makes it harder to take in the whole playfield with one quick glance. And the new mission mode seems intriguing, but there are only five levels available unless you purchase an additional mission pack. Yikes! Fuzion Frenzy 2: Only three mini-games were playable, though there were 43 listed in-game. My favorite was Sumo Paint, featuring rolling, bumping spheres battling for position and control of floor space. Seems like a decent enough drinking game with friends in the room, but not as appealing over Xbox Live. Look for more impressions from the X06 show floor soon.
"NO SKATING ONLINE" for PS3's Tony Hawk
In another setback facing the PS3 launch, Activision and Neversoft confirmed to Joystiq last week that there will be no online gameplay in Tony Hawk's Project 8. While the Xbox 360 version will feature up to eight players online, as well as persistent leaderboards and possible future downloadable content, the PS3 is getting no joy.Possible reasons for this: Neversoft had gotten final hardware from Sony less than three weeks ago and they have yet to receive final software libraries. Hard to build a house when the lumber ain't there yet.With Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam having already been confirmed as not having online play on the Wii, the Xbox 360 version is your only option if you want to kickflip with your buddy in New Jersey while you sit comfortably in Topeka.[Thanks for all the reminders, readers]
Red Steel: better things to come
Yesterday, we told you about a nasty, nasty rumor concerning the graphics of the Wii games we've seen so far. Could it be true that the "real" versions of some of the most anticipated games were being withheld so that the Wii, when revealed in full at last, could make a bigger splash than even we could hope for?Seems silly ... but according to an IGN blog, that could be the case. After they posted videos of Red Steel from Leipzig, Ubisoft apparently contacted IGN to let them know that the footage still didn't reflect the latest build of the game. What we saw at E3 was version 1.0. Let's call LGC v1.5, then, with the amorphous v2.0 still unseen. Why haven't we seen it?If this is true -- and according to the same post, other tweaks are being considered for Activision's Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam as well -- then this begs the question of what, exactly, is going on with the Wii? Here, in the tag end of August, with Nintendo's Fusion Tour just around the corner, and the event on the 14th, as well as the release date coming in November at the latest ... isn't it time to let us know what the real deal is?[Thanks, vidGuy!]
Extreme airtime in GTA:LCS
Weekends aren't usually filled with breaking news, so it's usually the time we look back and reflect on the cooler aspects of the PSP community. I'm not too interested in the musings of an illiterate fanboy, but I am totally awe-inspired by the crazy things that people have been doing in GTA:LCS. The cheat devices for GTA have come a long way since the first time PSP Fanboy reported on it. People are now defying all logic, performing gravity-defying tricks, riding on walls, spawning helicopters and even creating trick ramps for those that want Liberty City to be one giant level of Tony Hawk. Here's some of my favorites from the GTA cheats and trick community.
Hands-on with B-Boy
Marco, regular PSP Fanboy reader, wrote in our comments section: "It is something nobody has done before (as far as I know)... I think people are jaded about any game being about Hip Hop... but at least I do know that there are people who do make the genre respectable."Very true, Marco. It's pretty easy to get jaded over games that don't seem authentic, but B-Boy seems to be the real deal. It's a game that deserves a bit more attention than it's getting, if only for its unique premise: you play as a rising star of break-dancing, and you battle other b-boys to try and become the best. It looks pretty new and different, and according to IGN, it "doesn't play quite like anything that's come before." The D-Pad controls movement, and the face buttons are used as the building blocks of moves. You string things together, and maintain balance using the L and R buttons a la Tony Hawk. There are transition moves, and increasingly complicated moves which require greater button combinations, and that's where a surprising amount of depth can come into play. Like extreme sports games, you can build up some impressive combos.B-Boy promises to mix music rhythm and sports gameplay into an innovative combination. The game is currently UK-exclusive, but hopefully we'll see it branching out soon.
Motion Sensor Add-on for your DS?
You know the rumors that you hear that come from so many people it's hard to take it seriously? You know, the ones that are like "I heard this from my sisters cousins aunts dog" kind of thing? This is one of those. 1Up came across some news from Nintendogossip about a possible motion sensor add-on for the DS. Think, Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble meets Wario Ware Twisted. Supposedly this new device will work with Tony Hawk Downhill Jam forcing you to decide which way your skater goes by tilting your DS. Yes, it is a bit of a stretch. But think of the possibilities! If someone isn't already working on this, they should start. We would love to see some type of racing-fighting-running-jumping-climbing trees type of thing to add to our collection of totally ridiculous games.
Activision slip-up points to October Wii release
Informants come in many shapes, sizes and trenchcoats, but those who approach us under a veil of secrecy and threaten to bend our limbs in unnatural ways should we reveal their identities are usually the best ones. Claiming to work for an independent video game site on a distant continent, our latest informant (we'll call him Mr. Informant Fronzel Neekburm) lends even more weight to the ongoing theory that the Nintendo Wii launches in October. At this point, said theory could probably kill a passerby if dropped from a balcony.Fronzel explains that his outlet received a detailed release schedule from Activision, one that listed Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam with an October release, followed by Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Call of Duty 3 in November. Shortly afterwards, a hasty re-issue dropped in his inbox, with the only alteration being to the Wii release dates -- they'd been replaced with a more vague "Upon Wii launch." Had Mr. Neekburm just witnessed Activision in a drunken stumble, grabbing and pulling back a velvet curtain in an attempt to avoid an unpleasant impact with the floor?Both documents were forwarded to us and we were able to ascertain that the last person to modify the second document is part of Activision's international media relations team. The presence of LucasArts titles on the list had us puzzled for a bit, but it turns out that Activision publishes George's games in certain territories. The last question in need of an answer, of course, is "would Activision already know the launch date?" Considering that they're working on a highly publicized launch title, we're going to go with "yes."Admittedly, that part is pure speculation. Activision may have just been eradicating a date they pulled from the ether, for fear of people getting the wrong idea and writing deeply entertaining, mercilessly captivating blog posts about it. We'll let you know if we hear anything else.Note: In the picture above, we edited the spreadsheet a bit in order to highlight the relevant information. [Thanks, uh, Fronzel!]
Stephen Colbert introduces World of ColbertCraft
After posting a teaser on Friday, GameVideos.com is now shoing the full 93-second introduction to the MI6 Conference as done by Stephen Colbert. Unfortunately, the full version is not much different than the teaser; there is really only one or two more jokes in there. Still, the frame rate is less choppy, and the clip is funny enough to warrant a second view.Stephen Colbert kicks off the MI6 Conference by introducing his latest game, World of ColbertCraft. We won't spoil the rest for you. The MI6 conference is a game marketing event. It has no relation, unfortunately, to the United Kingdom secret service agency formerly known as MI6.
Tony Hawk's Project 8: First gameplay screens
Team Xbox has the first gameplay shots from Tony Hawk's Project 8 and they look pretty...um...gnarly. Most would agree the last Tony Hawk game didn't do next-gen justice to the long-running series. Let's hope this Hawk has enough tricks to end Tony's video game career on high note, before he starts turning up with a wheelchair rather than a skateboard.[Thanks X Budd]
A new Tony Hawk for the next generation?
Kikizo Games reports that Neversoft is starting from (almost) scratch with the next installment of the only perennial skating franchise. This version's dubbed Tony Hawk's Project 8 and it's being built with a new engine and character modeling tools. Of course, over-the-top skating is still the focus, exploited further this time around with a shallow depth of field.Will the aging skater be reborn on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360? Or is Tony Hawk headed 'downhill?' Project 8 is slated for a Q4 2006 release.
Rumor: 16 titles at launch
There's a list of Wii launch games traveling through the myriad computers, routers, cables and robotic gnomes that comprise the Internet, though it mostly amounts to a bunch of good guesses as opposed to official confirmations. No doubt obtained from retailers and not publishers, the list suggests that the following games will be available when Nintendo unleashes their Wii: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Wii Sports Red Steel Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam Madden NFL 2007 Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz Metal Slug Anthology Trauma Center: Second Opinion Elebits Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Blitz: The League Rayman Raving Rabbids SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab Disney/Pixar's Cars Since most of these games were playable at E3, it's not too much of a stretch to think that they'd fall within the system's launch. However, this could be another case of that mysterious launch window marketing nonsense messing with our calendars and drawing a distinction between games that launch on day one and games that release shortly afterwards. Atlus told us specifically that Trauma Center: Second Opinion was a "launch window" game and if Activision is serious about Tony Hawk, Downhill Jam will be one too (because people, that game still needs a lot of work).
E3 Celebrity sighting: Tony Hawk
The Hawkman himself was spotted giving an in-depth interview to G4TV at the Activision booth today. Noticing the large crowd of onlookers snapping photos, I quickly crawled atop some random prop and snapped one myself. We're still holding out for Chuck Norris though.
Wii impressions: Tony Hawk Downhill Jam
Unlike previous Tony Hawk titles, Downhill Jam is a standard racing game -- there is no free-roaming, as far as we can tell from the demo and press releases. In fact, it does not feel like Tony Hawk at all -- more so, the game feels derivative of the skateboarding games found in local arcades a few years back. The Wii remote is held horizontally like a NES controller, and the button layout is smart -- the 1 and 2 buttons for jumping and grinding, the D-pad for tricks. The problems begin with steering, which is accomplished by rocking the controller right and left. A slight move does very little, but move it just a little more and the turning becomes chaotic. The controls will no doubt be tweaked and improved upon before launch.Visually, Downhill Jam could hold its own with a second-generation Xbox One title. It's a pretty game, although not as impressive as other Nintendo first- and second-party titles. Load times, if there were any, were not noticeable.Ironically, by breaking from traditional Tony Hawk games, Downhill Jam became even more formulaic. It could be a fun racer, but we feel the title would have benefited from more elements associated with the Tony Hawk franchise. The tracks are moderately fun, with plenty of shortcuts, but the game gains nothing from being a Tony Hawk title.
Next-gen Tony Hawk footage leaked
If the folks at Gaming Age are to be believed, this footage was swiped from an early build of a next-generation Tony Hawk game. There's nothing in the video that points towards this being Downhill Jam (confirmed for the Wii last month), but footage this early is unlikely to be tied down to a specific platform yet. It appears to be an animation test, showing a skater flail his arms about while attempting to maintain his balance. It looks good (if it's real), though expect next-gen naysayers to complain that "It's still just a guy on a skateboard. What's so next-gen about that?"[Via Gaming Age]
