Freshly Sliced: Destructoid
Friday, March 12 2010, 6:40 am by Jim Sterling
GDC10: Gabe Newell: DRM lowers a game's worth
Valve boss Gabe Newell recently touched upon the always thorny subject of DRM, stating that it lowers the value of games and that it doesn't do anything for customers. Obvious statements, but popular ones, as his speech drew a round of cheers from a packed Games Developer's Choice audience. Newell had just won the Pioneer Award. "One thing that you hear us talk a lot about is entertainment as a service," opines Newell. It’s an attitude that says ‘what have I done for my customers today?. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 6:20 am by Anthony Burch
GDC 10: Schell: we're heading toward Brave New World
At this morning's GDC Microtalks, Jesse Schell elaborated on the basic premise behind his DICE talk concerning the impending "Gamepocalypse," as Schell calls it. Schell finished his DICE talk in March by trying to put a positive spin on the inevitable flood of metagames and the treatment of every aspect of our daily lives as some sort of point-based competition. That optimism was almost entirely absent from Schell's microtalk this morning. After his DICE talk, Schell mentioned that many people. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 6:10 am by Niero
At GDC? Come party with Astro Gaming + Dtoid tonight!
Next week Destructoid turns four years old. Redunkulous. As is customary, we hope to get all of our friends together and cause irreparable damage to our vital organs and professional reputation (ha!). If you're reading this thing and can produce a convincing 21+ over identification you're invited to go down with us: Astro Gaming presents Destructoid's 4th Anniversary Party @ GDC! Open bar and tapas start at 7pm, followed by Snuggie pole vaulting and mountain goat petting, or whatever th. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 6:00 am by Ashley Davis
GDC 10: From Metroid to Tomodachi Collection to WarioWare
Yoshio Sakamoto is a man who needs very little introduction. He is one of the most famous team members from Nintendo's R&D1 department and has directed such masterpieces as Super Metroid and the WarioWare games. It was an honor to be in his audience. Throughout his long career with Nintendo, he has had a hand in games that are polar opposites of one another. He came to GDC this year to share how he is able to make such silly games alongside some very serious ones. Hit the jump for a summary of. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 6:00 am by Anthony Burch
Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin: Heavy Rain
I'm at GDC and currently tired beyond description, but I thought you might wanna know that the newest episode of Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin' is up. It's on Heavy Rain, and you can watch it here. Hope you like it.
Friday, March 12 2010, 5:40 am by Jim Sterling
Sony: PlayStation Move shovelware is 'a concern'
Worried that the PS3 will now be home to crap ports and endless shovelware thanks to the arrival of PlayStation Wiimote? Don't worry, Sony is too! The company has pledged to avoid a launch full of garbage like Carnival Games, stating that shovelware is a concern. "It's obviously a concern of ours as well," assures Worldwide Studios VP Scott Rohde. "But, we've taken advantage of the fact that it is a PS3. Sports Champions, for example, has been in development for a while. We're not announcing. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 5:20 am by Jim Sterling
Ekans
Ekans (アーボ Abo?), is known as the Rattlesnake Pokémon. The name Ekans is the word snake backwards. Ekans' Japanese name, Arbo, is a reversal by morae of the word boa. This reptilian Pokémon has a rattle at the tip of its tail, and is mostly purple while its underbelly, eyes, rattle, and the "bands" on it are yellow. They swallow whole the eggs of small bird Pokémon, such as Pidgey or Spearow. Ekans are able to detach their jaws to swallow large prey whole, although this makes. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 4:57 am by Brad Nicholson
GDC 10: Balance coming to Dragon Age 'Awakening'
As I suspected, Dragon Age: Origins expansion “Awakening” is more Dragon Age. I played the first 20 or so minutes of the expansion at GDC this afternoon, moving my new Gray Warden commander through the Darkspawn-infested Vigil’s Keep and up to a mini-boss fight against a special speech-capable member of the Blight. I didn’t take the several opportunities to use the new special skills, but I did have a big takeaway from the short demo courtesy of online content producer Fernando Milo: th. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 4:40 am by Jim Sterling
Brink gets a f*cking gorgeous new trailer
Bethesda has released a new trailer for its highly promising shooter Brink, and it looks more beautiful than David Bowie's golden scrotum. None of it's gameplay, of course, but it still manages to hype and excite like all good trailers should. I'm not sure why literally everybody in this game is dressed like some sort of creepy fetishist, but I like it! The characters shown in the trailer have distinct and evocative looks, and in a generation permeated by cookie cutter space marines, it's gre. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 4:20 am by Anthony Burch
GDC 10: are Achievements harmful?
Could rewarding players for playing your game make them appreciate the game less, and play worse? Chris Hecker doesn't know for sure, but his talk, "Achievements Considered Harmful?," explored the possibility. I've tried my best to summarize the talk below, but I can't say I've done it justice -- Hecker gave the headiest and most fast-paced talk I've yet heard at GDC 2010. Hit the jump for that. Hecker started by admitting that, "when you do a talk or a paper entitled 'considered harmful,' you'. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 4:00 am by Jim Sterling
Press X To Jason is the ultimate Heavy Rain experience
If you are interested in playing Heavy Rain but don't have a PS3 with which to access David Cage's masturbation session masterpiece, then allow me to introduce you to Press X To Jason, a brand new game by K. Thor Jensen. It takes the Heavy Rain experience and boils it down to its essential elements, giving everything that Quantic Dream's game has to say without you ever leaving the PC. Check it out right here. It's free, it's fun, and it even has Achievements that are well worth checking out.. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 3:40 am by Jim Sterling
Here's what Blaze Union looks like
Blaze Union, the new strategy RPG from Sting and Atlus, was recently revealed as a prequel to the cult favorite Yggdra Union. Even though you could easily guess that it looks more or less like the last game did, here are some new screenshots anyway, courtesy of Famitsu. Yep, that pretty much looks like Yggdra Union. Still, we've always got time for anime ladies with their bras hanging out, so enjoy the screenshots. Any of our many weeaboo readers interested in this? I normally would be, but I. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 3:20 am by Jim Sterling
Kojima: Metal Gear Solid: Rising will 'create new users'
Mad genius Hideo Kojima has been using his Twitter account to do what he does best -- babble incomprehensibly about things and making the rest of us scratch our heads. The Metal Gear Solid creator has remarked upon a game we know next to nothing about, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, though what he says is typically vague and silly. "The next MGS ... RISING," begins the director. "This game will create new users, be developed by the new generation, a new MGS, but on the other hand, [Peace Walker] i. […]
Friday, March 12 2010, 3:00 am by Jim Sterling
Shocker: More Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age DLC coming
BioWare does not release games. It releases giant, story-driven storefronts from which it can sell downloadable content. With that in mind, it should come as a shock to nobody that the studio is planning even more downloadable content for Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins, based on fan reception. "We are seeing a good response to the DLC for ME2 and Dragon Age," says BioWare boss Ray Muzyka. "The fans like it and we have more in development and the different teams for DLC and the franchi. […]
