Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 'Redemption' trailer released
Activision have released the latest trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, featuring single-player footage from the forthcoming title.
Saturday, 8 October 2011
IGN: Battlefield 3 console versions both have Install Options for High-Res Textures
An interesting nugget of news has come out of last night's Battlefield 3 preview event in San Francisco held by EA and DICE. While speaking with GamerZines, DICE's Patrick Liu revealed that the game would allow players to install content from one disc that would let the game stream higher resolution textures.
"There's a voluntary install on the 360," Liu said to GamerZines. "I think Rage did it as well, where you can install content to stream higher res textures. We're pushing that technology to the limit, and compared to our competitors, I would argue that we're the best looking game."
IGN reached out to EA for a statement or confirmation on this additional feature, and they responded:
"Battlefield 3 for Xbox 360 ships on two disks with endless hours of spectacular high-definition gameplay; disk one features the stunning multiplayer, co-op levels and HD installation content, and disk two features the superb single-player campaign."
Additionally, we asked EA whether or not the game would offer the same feature for PS3 owners, and fortunately this seems to be the case. "The PS3 version requires the same install but it's all on the one blu-ray disk," a spokesperson for the company confirmed.
So, it appears that the game will offer support for HD installations across both platforms, resulting in better looking graphics in exchange for some HDD real estate.
"There's a voluntary install on the 360," Liu said to GamerZines. "I think Rage did it as well, where you can install content to stream higher res textures. We're pushing that technology to the limit, and compared to our competitors, I would argue that we're the best looking game."
IGN reached out to EA for a statement or confirmation on this additional feature, and they responded:
"Battlefield 3 for Xbox 360 ships on two disks with endless hours of spectacular high-definition gameplay; disk one features the stunning multiplayer, co-op levels and HD installation content, and disk two features the superb single-player campaign."
Additionally, we asked EA whether or not the game would offer the same feature for PS3 owners, and fortunately this seems to be the case. "The PS3 version requires the same install but it's all on the one blu-ray disk," a spokesperson for the company confirmed.
So, it appears that the game will offer support for HD installations across both platforms, resulting in better looking graphics in exchange for some HDD real estate.
GameSpot - Battlefield 3 – Content Overload
GameSpot - We spend the day playing Battlefield 3 and give you a sample of what you’ll be doing on October 25.
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/battlefield-3/news/6338750/battlefield-3-content-overload?mode=previews&tag=games%3Bgame_title%3B1
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/battlefield-3/news/6338750/battlefield-3-content-overload?mode=previews&tag=games%3Bgame_title%3B1
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Forza 4 Review: The best racing sim on the market
The world of Forza Motorsport – there’s no clever storyline, no rise to fame through a faceless character, just you, few hundred cars and the open road. This is more than a game, it’s an experience and one than can be tailored to any play style and level of skill. The latest game in the hugely successful franchise finally sees the addition of Top Gear, which includes the iconic Top Gear test track and commentary by the man himself, Jeremy Clarkson – I am however still yet to bump into The Stig in-game though!
The game can be played in two ways, with Kinect or with a controller and Kinect. Going into the game exclusively using just Kinect gives you full Kinect-ivity in Autovista (Forza’s new car showroom) as well as being able to drive any of the cars on one of the games many tracks using just your hands. While this is super enjoyable as Kinect is extremely responsive, there is hardly any competition to be had here. The game accelerates and brakes for you leaving you to concentrate on taking a virtual grab of the wheel and enjoying the spectacular scenery Forza has to offer, think of this mode as more like a Sunday drive in the countryside.
You can also take on a friend locally in split-screen for a head-to-head Kinect race. You can choose from a small selection of tracks and cars, but there are one or two issues with the Kinect only mode that make split-screen rather painful. Firstly the navigation of the menus isn’t great (which is also an issue in the single player modes). You can scroll through the cars and tracks by swiping your hand across the screen, sounds simple enough but the execution of this in Forza 4 is one of the worst menu navigations I’ve seen from a Kinect enabled game. Not only is it a bit of a fiddle to grab the pane and swipe across to navigate, it’s practically impossible to navigate through one pane at a time. This can be particularly annoying when playing in split-screen as you watch your opponent wrestle with the navigation to look through ALL the cars on offer. Once in-game and racing against one another, Kinect seemed to struggle somewhat with my movements, they didn’t seem to be as responsive when compared to the single player modes.
The main beauty of the Kinect only mode of Forza 4 though is Autovista. This is Forza’s car showroom and while not all the cars are available in this mode there are certainly enough to keep you entertained for a long while and I would certainly expect Turn 10 to deliver more through DLC during the game’s lifecycle. Initially not all the cars are available for you to explore and you must unlock them by completing a challenge which can be from completing time trials and races to passing as many cars as possible. Autovista mode remains the same whether you choose to explore it using the power of Kinect or by a controller – although challenges are a lot easier to complete using Kinect.
Once you have selected a car to explore you are able to virtually walk around and look at the various parts using head tracking, which works pretty much faultlessly. There are multiple points of interest on the car which when selected, you are treated to a brief narration on that part. There is also a hotspot on the car that will play the Top Gear presentation, which is narrated by Jeremy Clarkson and shot in a very Top Gear-esque fashion. This feature looks and sounds great and wouldn’t look out of place on the TV show, you learn a bit about each car and what Jeremy Clarkson thinks about them. This is a great little feature and you will certainly want to look at the other car’s in Top Gear modes.
Outside of the information hotspots on the cars you can navigate around, open doors and even get into the car all through the power of Kinect. Head tracking works particularly well, allowing you to peer around and inspect the car’s finer points and there are plenty of ‘fine’ points. The cars look absolutely unbelievable, like they are ready to leap out of the screen. The reproduction and detail in the vehicles is breathtaking, they look stunning and it isn’t until you get a closer look at the alloy wheels and the rubber on the tyres that the illusion of looking at a real car is shattered. When using a controller you can look around the car using the sticks and while the experience is relatively the same it’s more fun and immersive to use Kinect.
With such great integration to head tracking in Autovista it’s a shame that Turn 10 didn’t integrate this into the racing side of the Kinect mode. While I can see that this may have been too distracting while racing with your hands, I would have liked to of been given the option to turn it on or off. Likewise there are no voice commands available to you when in Kinect mode, which if there was, could have helped the navigation issue I experienced. The Kinect racing modes may all be played while sitting down, but you need to stand to make full use of Autovista.
The Kinect only mode is just the tip of what’s on offer in Forza, the main game is experienced with a controller, or in the case of this review, a steering wheel. Starting the game you will be treated to a Top Gear presentation about the new game before being thrust into a celebration lap of new level – the Bernese Alps. You now have the option to import your Forza 3 profile and receive a nice achievement as well as cars and credits from your Forza 3 career. Now you can pick your first Forza 4 car in which to begin your World Tour. Similar to previous games in the franchise, you begin by selecting from bog standard “small” cars – I went for a Toyota Aygo.
When using Kinect in contoller mode you can call out ‘Xbox’ and make a voice command to jump straight into a menu or mode at anytime. Don’t worry, all the possible voice commands are listed in the menu just like in the Kinect dashboard. Now, before you begin to sink your teeth into the main game you can if you wish install disc 2 to your hard drive which enables an extra 250 cars to be available in the main game. You can opt to install the whole disc or choose packs to install.
Kinect doesn’t just stop with voice commands, Kinect delivers one of the finest intergrations of the system into a game, head-tracking. To enable head-tracking you must delve into the options screen and switch it on. Here you can also tweak a variety of options to best suit you. You can adjust the sensitivity on head yaw, lean sensitivity and also adjust a setting called “head yaw with lean” which roughly means a setting to adjust the neutral position when you look straight forward. You can also adjust Kinect’s ability to clip out unwanted objects in the background. It’s an impressive set of options but does it work? Oh my word does it!
So how does it work? well as the name suggests, Forza can now track your head movements and translate them directly into the game so now you can look down and round a bend or even check your rear view and wing mirrors. Head tracking becomes even more noticeable when you start drifting around corners at high speeds, the view looks into the corner you are drifting round and through the side window rather than transfixed out front, it’s an incredible experience and is a stand out feature of Forza 4.
The thing I have loved most about using a steering wheel and cockpit view in Forza is the level of immersion it creates, it’s as close many of us will get to sitting in a real car and racing around a track. Many games have carried the better with Kinect tagline and I think that Forza 4 is the first game to really prove that it certainly is, this feature alone makes having Kinectability with Forza 4 worthwhile, I love it!
Just to make sure head tracking is a worthwhile addition, try turning it off after using it for a prolonged period of time. Instantly the cars will feel very rigid and the game will be less immersive. It’s a tremendous accolade to be able to boast the best Kinect support in a game and one that I think Turn 10 will be proud of and deserve.
Turn 10 haven’t just fiddled with Kinect-ability and intergrated Top Gear, they have also delved into the physics of the game making each of the tracks feel like a fresh challenge as you battle against the road surface and the condition of your tyres, the level of immersion just keeps getting deeper. Like previous games you can also tweak the difficulty to suit your skill. On easy, the game will assist you in just about every aspect allowing you to concentrate on steering – Sunday drivers apply here! As the difficulty increases the game gives you more and more control over the car until you are on full simulation mode and have to deal with the clutch as well as driving without any assists such as ABS (I can recommend using a steering wheel if you plan to go for this mode). You can of course also select a difficulty and then tweak individual elements that make up that difficulty, for example, you could opt for medium but instead of limited damage you can change it to full simulation. The possibilities are endless and there really is a difficulty for everyone, as you get better you can keep stepping up the difficulty until you are a racing pro.
There’s nothing worse than playing a racing game against AI that is clinical and overly aggressive, well in Forza 4 the AI has been tweaked further since the last game and while you will come across some overly aggressive drivers who will force you into a spin, you will also see plenty of errors in the way that they drive. On only my second race the AI was out in front with me hot on their heels, as we approached a tight S bend the AI bottled it and spun off the track just as if I was racing a human player, it was truly exhilarating stuff. Unfortunately though there are no options to directly control the AI difficulty in World Tour, their skill does scale with how you set up your car difficulty but there are no direct options to control their skills or levels of aggression which is kind of a shame considering how in-depth most of the options are in Forza. Playing the game in free play\quick race or by choosing to race an event from the list in career mode does allow you to set your opponent difficulty. The event list mode also allows you to set the opponent upgrades and class restrictions, so I felt it was rather odd to leave these settings out of the world tour mode.
Other than new physics to contend with in Forza 4, gameplay wise it remains the same, it’s racing, but in Forza 4 the guys at Top Gear are on hand to help “mix things up”. Bowling anyone? That’s right, knock over pins as you race around the Top Gear track and this is part of the career mode. It’s a shame that there aren’t more of these modes to mix up the standard race career. All of the different circuits of the Top Gear track are available in Forza 4 including the ability to race in the classic Kia cee’d. The only thing I found that was missing was Mr Clarkson’s voice warning me as I approached hammerhead, just like in the celeb hot laps.
As well as catering for just about any level of skill, Forza 4 also caters for a wide range in car taste, from the everyday family car up to the top of the range sports models. Finally I can now drive the family car decked out in a body kit that my wife would never consent too. The cars all feel and look great, each coming with slight differences to the way they handle. Each is so intricately detailed that I’m sure only the nerdiest car fanatic could pick holes!
The single player element to Forza 4 remains vastly unchanged, take part in World Tour, a mode that sees you make your way up the car classes through a plotted path of events across the world. At anytime you can jump out of this and take on events at your pace and at your own choosing by playing through the event list mode. Each event in World Tour gives you a set of options, you may choose to take on the track in one of three ways, these come down to making a choice as to what car class or type you would like to race in, each coming with its own unique bonus reward which is from bonus credits, driver XP or car model affinity bonus. Be warned though going for the best rewards might not be the easiest route through world tour, early on in your career you can jump from E class cars to B class if you want that large juicy reward bonus.
Progress through Forza is pretty much all about self progression and improvement. You can complete the game by chosing easy and just driving mindlessly through the games hundreds of tracks and even if you don’t finish first you can still proceed to the next stage. It’s all about the enjoyment of driving around tracks and improving the simulation experience by increasing the control you have over the car.
The new edition to single player is Rivals mode which can also be played amongst your car club in multiplayer. Rivals is a mode where you compete against other gamers lap times and scores in an effort to better them and place yourself on the line for others to beat. While playing in rivals you continue to earn driver XP and affinity XP and there are various rivals races in which to compete giving every type of Forza player something to compete in. What’s more is you don’t have to race the rival that the game chooses for you if you don’t want to, by pressing Y you can select to take on a rival from your friends list or car club. You can take on a racer from the top scores on that track, racers that are located “near you” or from any you have “favourited”. The game really does cater to what YOU want to do in a racing game and how YOU want to play it.
Graphically Forza is one of the best looking racers out there. I mentioned before Autovista mode looks truly stunning and while not quite as gorgeous, in-game racing still looks superb and will certainly give a wow factor especially if you have people over and the game happens to be on in the background – Forza is eye bleedingly beautiful, I just want to sit and stare at it’s lucious curves all day long. To be fair Forza has always looked pretty awesome but Turn 10 have upped their game further in 4. The tracks look more real than ever, the lighting engine has been improved and makes the cars look so real as light bounces off of them and coupled with a steering wheel and head tracking on Kinect you really can’t get any closer to the real thing.
Forza has always been about the community. The game has offered multiple tools over the years which have all linked in with the website. Picture and video sharing was the tip of the iceberg, Forza features a very comprehensive art tool where users can decorate their cars and create vinyl sets which they can then sell to other users through the storefront or even put one-off designs and cars up for auction. The community has also seen a strong rise in creative flair as gamers try to produce stunning pictures or gameplay movies. In Forza 4 you can now take HD pictures to upload to the website and you can record up to 30s worth of video in either web or high quality format and upload it to the forza website, this can be a lengthy process to record but worth it if you want to show off your greatest driving feats.
The lastest addition to the Forza 4 community is Clubs. Clubs is an extension of the online community that has formed over the years and is best described as a clan. Club members can race against each other, beat each others records in Rivals and best of all share cars and tuning setups. Forza loves it’s community and the attention Forza 4 shows towards this is evidence that the community is a mighty strong and active one. The only issue I found with clubs is that you have to type in gamertags manually to send out invites to join your car club, there didn’t seem a way to access your friends list to fire out invites directly.
There are plenty of modes to race online and you have direct access to invite either friends or club members into your party. The usual race modes are ever-present here but there are also several fun modes to play around with in the playground. The online will certainly extend your Forza career but for me I much prefer the solo experience although with the new club mode I can see myself getting rather competitive with one or two gamers from my friends list and club mode could open up the world of online racing to me, something I’ve never really got into before.
I’ve enjoyed past iterations of Forza but none of them have grabbed me and immersed me as much as Forza 4, it’s utterly fantastic and the best racing game I’ve ever played. Maybe it’s the head tracking but never before have I ever felt like I’m in the car so much as I do with Forza 4, in fact after thrashing the family car about the tracks I have to refocus myself when driving said car in the real world. It just feels all so right, a little too real – I just can’t see how Turn 10 will better the game in the next version which will undoubtedly release on Microsoft’s next console.
What I love about Forza is you don’t have to race on a certain track X amount of times before you can unlock a new track or buy a new car, you don’t have to be the worlds best racer to enjoy all its modes. The game caters for everyone and every skill. It’s not just a racing game but an experience and one that Turn 10 continually improve upon in every iteration. Just when you think the game is at its pinnacle Turn 10 break out the Turtle Wax and elbow grease and bring in something new and squeeze more beauty out of the games graphic engine. The competitive nature of the AI is spot on, the physics feel great particularly the force feedback coming from the road through the steering wheel, which at times makes you really feel like you have to fight against it! To top off the authentic nature of the game you will even get road rage!
If there is one racing game you buy this year make it Forza Motorsport 4 now I’m off to thrash the family car around the Top Gear race track one last time!
VERDICT 9/10
You can also take on a friend locally in split-screen for a head-to-head Kinect race. You can choose from a small selection of tracks and cars, but there are one or two issues with the Kinect only mode that make split-screen rather painful. Firstly the navigation of the menus isn’t great (which is also an issue in the single player modes). You can scroll through the cars and tracks by swiping your hand across the screen, sounds simple enough but the execution of this in Forza 4 is one of the worst menu navigations I’ve seen from a Kinect enabled game. Not only is it a bit of a fiddle to grab the pane and swipe across to navigate, it’s practically impossible to navigate through one pane at a time. This can be particularly annoying when playing in split-screen as you watch your opponent wrestle with the navigation to look through ALL the cars on offer. Once in-game and racing against one another, Kinect seemed to struggle somewhat with my movements, they didn’t seem to be as responsive when compared to the single player modes.
Once you have selected a car to explore you are able to virtually walk around and look at the various parts using head tracking, which works pretty much faultlessly. There are multiple points of interest on the car which when selected, you are treated to a brief narration on that part. There is also a hotspot on the car that will play the Top Gear presentation, which is narrated by Jeremy Clarkson and shot in a very Top Gear-esque fashion. This feature looks and sounds great and wouldn’t look out of place on the TV show, you learn a bit about each car and what Jeremy Clarkson thinks about them. This is a great little feature and you will certainly want to look at the other car’s in Top Gear modes.
Outside of the information hotspots on the cars you can navigate around, open doors and even get into the car all through the power of Kinect. Head tracking works particularly well, allowing you to peer around and inspect the car’s finer points and there are plenty of ‘fine’ points. The cars look absolutely unbelievable, like they are ready to leap out of the screen. The reproduction and detail in the vehicles is breathtaking, they look stunning and it isn’t until you get a closer look at the alloy wheels and the rubber on the tyres that the illusion of looking at a real car is shattered. When using a controller you can look around the car using the sticks and while the experience is relatively the same it’s more fun and immersive to use Kinect.
The Kinect only mode is just the tip of what’s on offer in Forza, the main game is experienced with a controller, or in the case of this review, a steering wheel. Starting the game you will be treated to a Top Gear presentation about the new game before being thrust into a celebration lap of new level – the Bernese Alps. You now have the option to import your Forza 3 profile and receive a nice achievement as well as cars and credits from your Forza 3 career. Now you can pick your first Forza 4 car in which to begin your World Tour. Similar to previous games in the franchise, you begin by selecting from bog standard “small” cars – I went for a Toyota Aygo.
When using Kinect in contoller mode you can call out ‘Xbox’ and make a voice command to jump straight into a menu or mode at anytime. Don’t worry, all the possible voice commands are listed in the menu just like in the Kinect dashboard. Now, before you begin to sink your teeth into the main game you can if you wish install disc 2 to your hard drive which enables an extra 250 cars to be available in the main game. You can opt to install the whole disc or choose packs to install.
So how does it work? well as the name suggests, Forza can now track your head movements and translate them directly into the game so now you can look down and round a bend or even check your rear view and wing mirrors. Head tracking becomes even more noticeable when you start drifting around corners at high speeds, the view looks into the corner you are drifting round and through the side window rather than transfixed out front, it’s an incredible experience and is a stand out feature of Forza 4.
The thing I have loved most about using a steering wheel and cockpit view in Forza is the level of immersion it creates, it’s as close many of us will get to sitting in a real car and racing around a track. Many games have carried the better with Kinect tagline and I think that Forza 4 is the first game to really prove that it certainly is, this feature alone makes having Kinectability with Forza 4 worthwhile, I love it!
Just to make sure head tracking is a worthwhile addition, try turning it off after using it for a prolonged period of time. Instantly the cars will feel very rigid and the game will be less immersive. It’s a tremendous accolade to be able to boast the best Kinect support in a game and one that I think Turn 10 will be proud of and deserve.
There’s nothing worse than playing a racing game against AI that is clinical and overly aggressive, well in Forza 4 the AI has been tweaked further since the last game and while you will come across some overly aggressive drivers who will force you into a spin, you will also see plenty of errors in the way that they drive. On only my second race the AI was out in front with me hot on their heels, as we approached a tight S bend the AI bottled it and spun off the track just as if I was racing a human player, it was truly exhilarating stuff. Unfortunately though there are no options to directly control the AI difficulty in World Tour, their skill does scale with how you set up your car difficulty but there are no direct options to control their skills or levels of aggression which is kind of a shame considering how in-depth most of the options are in Forza. Playing the game in free play\quick race or by choosing to race an event from the list in career mode does allow you to set your opponent difficulty. The event list mode also allows you to set the opponent upgrades and class restrictions, so I felt it was rather odd to leave these settings out of the world tour mode.
Other than new physics to contend with in Forza 4, gameplay wise it remains the same, it’s racing, but in Forza 4 the guys at Top Gear are on hand to help “mix things up”. Bowling anyone? That’s right, knock over pins as you race around the Top Gear track and this is part of the career mode. It’s a shame that there aren’t more of these modes to mix up the standard race career. All of the different circuits of the Top Gear track are available in Forza 4 including the ability to race in the classic Kia cee’d. The only thing I found that was missing was Mr Clarkson’s voice warning me as I approached hammerhead, just like in the celeb hot laps.
As well as catering for just about any level of skill, Forza 4 also caters for a wide range in car taste, from the everyday family car up to the top of the range sports models. Finally I can now drive the family car decked out in a body kit that my wife would never consent too. The cars all feel and look great, each coming with slight differences to the way they handle. Each is so intricately detailed that I’m sure only the nerdiest car fanatic could pick holes!
Progress through Forza is pretty much all about self progression and improvement. You can complete the game by chosing easy and just driving mindlessly through the games hundreds of tracks and even if you don’t finish first you can still proceed to the next stage. It’s all about the enjoyment of driving around tracks and improving the simulation experience by increasing the control you have over the car.
The new edition to single player is Rivals mode which can also be played amongst your car club in multiplayer. Rivals is a mode where you compete against other gamers lap times and scores in an effort to better them and place yourself on the line for others to beat. While playing in rivals you continue to earn driver XP and affinity XP and there are various rivals races in which to compete giving every type of Forza player something to compete in. What’s more is you don’t have to race the rival that the game chooses for you if you don’t want to, by pressing Y you can select to take on a rival from your friends list or car club. You can take on a racer from the top scores on that track, racers that are located “near you” or from any you have “favourited”. The game really does cater to what YOU want to do in a racing game and how YOU want to play it.
Forza has always been about the community. The game has offered multiple tools over the years which have all linked in with the website. Picture and video sharing was the tip of the iceberg, Forza features a very comprehensive art tool where users can decorate their cars and create vinyl sets which they can then sell to other users through the storefront or even put one-off designs and cars up for auction. The community has also seen a strong rise in creative flair as gamers try to produce stunning pictures or gameplay movies. In Forza 4 you can now take HD pictures to upload to the website and you can record up to 30s worth of video in either web or high quality format and upload it to the forza website, this can be a lengthy process to record but worth it if you want to show off your greatest driving feats.
The lastest addition to the Forza 4 community is Clubs. Clubs is an extension of the online community that has formed over the years and is best described as a clan. Club members can race against each other, beat each others records in Rivals and best of all share cars and tuning setups. Forza loves it’s community and the attention Forza 4 shows towards this is evidence that the community is a mighty strong and active one. The only issue I found with clubs is that you have to type in gamertags manually to send out invites to join your car club, there didn’t seem a way to access your friends list to fire out invites directly.
There are plenty of modes to race online and you have direct access to invite either friends or club members into your party. The usual race modes are ever-present here but there are also several fun modes to play around with in the playground. The online will certainly extend your Forza career but for me I much prefer the solo experience although with the new club mode I can see myself getting rather competitive with one or two gamers from my friends list and club mode could open up the world of online racing to me, something I’ve never really got into before.
What I love about Forza is you don’t have to race on a certain track X amount of times before you can unlock a new track or buy a new car, you don’t have to be the worlds best racer to enjoy all its modes. The game caters for everyone and every skill. It’s not just a racing game but an experience and one that Turn 10 continually improve upon in every iteration. Just when you think the game is at its pinnacle Turn 10 break out the Turtle Wax and elbow grease and bring in something new and squeeze more beauty out of the games graphic engine. The competitive nature of the AI is spot on, the physics feel great particularly the force feedback coming from the road through the steering wheel, which at times makes you really feel like you have to fight against it! To top off the authentic nature of the game you will even get road rage!
If there is one racing game you buy this year make it Forza Motorsport 4 now I’m off to thrash the family car around the Top Gear race track one last time!
VERDICT 9/10
IGN: Forza Motorsport 4 Review
IGN Writes: Like the step up from FIFA 11 to FIFA 12, there's no going back to Forza 3 now. The changes and updates are too welcome and widespread. The improved visuals, the added cars on track, the wealth of new race types, the tweaked AI and closer racing, the ferocious sound and superior sense of speed, the even better livery editor, the lot. With Forza 4 Turn 10 has crafted a driving game like no other; it's hands-down this generation's premier racing simulator.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/119/1198556p1.html
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/119/1198556p1.html
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
PlayStation Vita: Nearly Outdated Graphically
Like many gamers, we can't wait to buy PlayStation Vitas next year. Sony has the makings of a stellar launch lineup, and the concept of having a portable system a step below PlayStation 3 is quite an exciting prospect.
You know, despite the notion that Vita's nearly outdated.
Assuming Sony's powerhouse will be around for a minimum of five years, it'll be a dinosaur in at least two.
The reason is simple. Barring some complete hardware revision, developers must make due with the handheld's technology from now until the unit's final gasp. That involves spending extended time learning Vita's innards and/or pulling off some neat tricks to maximize its potential.
On the flip side, smart phones advance more rapidly than your standard video game system. When a company like Sony or Nintendo releases a handheld, it's usually in it for the long haul.
Apple, by comparison, pumps out a new iPhone every year. With each iteration, the device becomes faster and more powerful. Graphics, download speeds and other features (like the camera) improve dramatically.
Consider this quote from id Software's John Carmack, creator of DOOM.
"It's unquestionable that within a very short time, we're going to have portable cell phones that are more powerful than the current-gen consoles. People have exaggerated the relative powers. The iPad2 is not more powerful than the 360. It's still a factor of a couple weaker. But the fact that it's gotten that close that fast, that means that almost certainly, two years from now, there will be mobile devices more powerful than what we're doing all these fabulous games on right now."
That said, it's only a matter of time before an iPhone or Android powered device eclipses PlayStation Vita in raw graphical horsepower. In fact, the current iPhone 4 and upcoming iPhone 4S aren't too far behind.
Consider the following...
Infinity Blade 2
Here we have a game nearly on par with anything we've seen on PlayStation Vita, complete with game saves through iCloud and a new mode (Clash Mob) involving thousands of players. The best part? Infinity Blade 2 debuts December 1, 2011.
The Dark Meadow
Today marks the release of this gorgeous looking first person adventure from Phosphor Games, a game that sends players through a monster filled hospital. Simply beautiful, and like Infinity Blade 2, The Dark Meadow is nearly on par with Vita's launch games visually. Whether or not it's fun remains to be seen.
Shadowgun
OK, so Shadowgun isn't the deepest third person shooter on the market, but that's not the point. Madfinger Games produced a sweet looking Gears of War clone that runs with almost no hitches on a smart phone. Things will only get better from here. Oh, and you can download this game right now.
Bladeslinger
You know, despite the notion that Vita's nearly outdated.
Assuming Sony's powerhouse will be around for a minimum of five years, it'll be a dinosaur in at least two.
The reason is simple. Barring some complete hardware revision, developers must make due with the handheld's technology from now until the unit's final gasp. That involves spending extended time learning Vita's innards and/or pulling off some neat tricks to maximize its potential.
On the flip side, smart phones advance more rapidly than your standard video game system. When a company like Sony or Nintendo releases a handheld, it's usually in it for the long haul.
Apple, by comparison, pumps out a new iPhone every year. With each iteration, the device becomes faster and more powerful. Graphics, download speeds and other features (like the camera) improve dramatically.
Consider this quote from id Software's John Carmack, creator of DOOM.
"It's unquestionable that within a very short time, we're going to have portable cell phones that are more powerful than the current-gen consoles. People have exaggerated the relative powers. The iPad2 is not more powerful than the 360. It's still a factor of a couple weaker. But the fact that it's gotten that close that fast, that means that almost certainly, two years from now, there will be mobile devices more powerful than what we're doing all these fabulous games on right now."
That said, it's only a matter of time before an iPhone or Android powered device eclipses PlayStation Vita in raw graphical horsepower. In fact, the current iPhone 4 and upcoming iPhone 4S aren't too far behind.
Consider the following...
Infinity Blade 2
The Dark Meadow
Shadowgun
Bladeslinger
Gran Turismo 5 Spec 2.0 Update Detailed. All standard cars will get an interior view. Coming October 11
You can head past the cut for the full list.
- Simplified interior view added to all standard cars.
- User control of the weather change feature.
- Added a setting sheet feature allowing you to save multiple car settings.
- Spec 2.0 opening movie.
- Improved UI usability and response.
- Replay rewind and fast forward.
- Ability to save during a race
- Online Lounge Expansion (Ability to narrow down car types via search, shuffle races).
- Expansion of the B-Spec remote race you can play from GT.com (a graph display now shows changes in race rankings.).
- Expanded Photo travel features. You can now take photo’s of cars together with your avatar.
- Added a “NASCAR Pit Scene” stage to Photo Travel
- Added eleven 2011 model NASCAR cars.
- Added the Nissan GT-R N24 Schulze Motorsport.
- Improved physics and AI.
- Support for the Logitec G25/G27 Steering wheel.
Yamauchi also specified Polyphony’s plans for DLCs: they are preparing a racing car pack, a track pack and a racing gear (helmets and suits) pack.
Call me crazy, but I’m especially pleased about the addition of the Schulze Motorsport Nissan GT-R, on which Yamauchi achieved a great class victory at the Nurburgring 24h, as I reported at the beginning of summer. It was an absolutely epic race, and it’ll be a pleasure to relive it, and to be able to save in the middle.
UPDATE: Sony just announced that the Spec 2.0 patch will come on October the 11th. They also shared a few screenshots that you can see in the gallery below:
Apple chairman Steve Jobs dies at 56
The Apple chairman was 56.
The iconic American CEO, whose impact many have compared to auto magnate Henry Ford and Walt Disney- whom Jobs openly admired - abruptly stepped down from his position as CEO of Apple in August because of health concerns. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.
A seminal business and technology leader, Jobs' success flowed from a relentless focus on making products that were easy and intuitive for the average consumer to use. His products were characterized by groundbreaking design and style that, along with their technological usefulness, made them objects of intense desire by consumers around the world.
He was known as a demanding, mercurial boss and an almost mystical figure in technology circles as well as popular culture. Author and business consultant Jim Collins once called Jobs the "Beethoven of business."
He was one of the people who made Silicon Valley the capital of technological innovation and venture capital fortunes.
His creation of iTunes as an online way to purchase music digitally helped transform the music industry and delivered a blow to the standard industry practice of packaging music in albums or CDs. With iTunes, consumers could buy individual songs for 99 cents. The music industry didn't welcome the change at first, but after waging an intense battle against illegal downloads, it came to rely on the business model iTunes created.
Jobs' work at Apple and other projects made him a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine in 2011 at $8.3 billion. He was No.110 on Forbes' list of billionaires worldwide and No.34 in the United States, as of the magazine's March 2011 estimates.
Unlike tech rival Bill Gates of Microsoft or business leader Warren Buffett, Jobs did not make a practice of public philanthropy. While he may have made anonymous gifts to charity, he did not publicly embrace Gates' and Buffett's call for the wealthiest Americans to pledge to donate half their fortunes.
Jobs was married to Laurene Powell Jobs, 47. He had four children, three with Powell Jobs. A fourth child, Lisa, had an early Apple computer - a predecessor to the Macintosh - named after her. The family succeeded in keeping the children out of the spotlight and largely unknown to the public. Jobs was a Buddhist.
FACEBOOK: News10 fans react to Jobs' death
Apple, and a re-boot
Jobs dropped out of Reed College to build computers with high school friend Steve Wozniak, creating what became the Apple I computer in 1976.
As sales lagged by the 1980s, Jobs was ousted from the company's leadership in a 1985 boardroom coup led by then-Apple CEO John Sculley. He returned in 1996 after Apple bought his technology start-up, NeXT, for $400 million. Within months, Jobs took over as Apple CEO for the ousted Gil Amelio and led a major corporate turnaround.
Five years later, with the release of the iPod personal digital music player, Apple had leaped from computer maker to become the leading consumer electronics giant worldwide.
Millions of its computers and gadgets were produced in Asia and sold to U.S. and worldwide markets, making the company one of the most recognizable and beloved brand names ever.
Once on the brink of a financial abyss, Apple had a market value of $350 billion - not far behind No.2 Exxon Mobil - by the time Jobs resigned as CEO.
After his forced departure from Apple, Jobs bought what became Pixar from filmmaker George Lucas. The digital animation movie company has produced box-office hits including Toy Story and Finding Nemo. Disney bought the company for $7.4 billion in 2006. Jobs held a 7.3% ownership stake in Disney.
Health concerns
He was known for creating a culture of secrecy at Apple that fueled intense media speculation about the company's next product. Jobs himself introduced major products with flair at highly anticipated events that proved to be one of the company's best marketing tools.
Jobs didn't hesitate to level caustic comments at competitors, particularly Microsoft in earlier years and later Google, which he ridiculed as evil, mediocre and lacking in taste. His skewering of Microsoft was parodied in a series of TV ads featuring the characters "Mac" and "PC."
Jobs was known for firing employees in profanity-laced tantrums and reducing some subordinates to tears. Yet many of his top deputies at Apple and Pixar worked with him for years.
Jobs is listed as an inventor or co-inventor on 313 Apple patents, including the iPod's user interface.
Although he brought simple, elegant technology to the masses, the reclusive Jobs was often uncomfortable around people and rarely spoke publicly. On rare occasions when he spoke with reporters, he offered few or no personal insights.
His reluctance to appear in public led to questions about his health, as did a dramatic loss in weight and gaunt appearance.
Jobs was diagnosed with a form of pancreatic cancer in 2003. He informed Apple employees in 2004.
"No one wants to die," he said in a commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005. "And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it."
Jobs' status as a corporate star put him on the covers of Time, Fortune and Forbes.
"Jobs led an enormous cultural shift of the businessman as a creative, even artistic, force," says Alan Deutschman, author of The Second Coming of Steve Jobs.
"When Jobs first came on the scene, it wasn't cool to be in business," Deutschman says. "Through the 1970s, the Dow hardly moved. Being in business was seen as being a total sellout. But Jobs was young and glamorous, and gave business that image. Now, young people aspire to be in business."
The early years
Steven Paul Jobs was born in San Francisco on Feb. 24, 1955, to unwed parents. He was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs of Mountain View, Calif.
The young Jobs contacted William Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, to ask for parts for a class project. Impressed, Hewlett offered Jobs a summer internship.
Upon graduating from Homestead High School in Cupertino, Calif., in 1972, Jobs briefly went to Reed College in Portland, Ore. After a stint as a video-game designer at Atari, Jobs trekked to India in 1974, where he embraced Eastern culture and religion. Shortly after that, he lived in a commune in California.
In 1975, Jobs began hanging out with the Homebrew Computer Club and a friend from high school, Steve Wozniak. Jobs, then 21, and Wozniak - the "two Steves," as they became known - co-founded Apple Computer in Jobs' parents' garage in 1976.
By 25, Jobs was a millionaire. His first go-round at Apple was highlighted by the creation and introduction, in 1984, of the Macintosh, a revolutionary personal computer with an inviting graphical user-interface and mouse that popularized PCs for the masses.
The influence of the Beatles ran deep to Apple's core, too. Jobs presented a Mac to Yoko Ono, wife of the late John Lennon, and was ensnared in a long-running trademark lawsuit with the music group's Apple Corps label. It was settled in 2007.
In a 1996 interview in San Francisco, Jobs offered a glimpse of his hopes to mirror the success of Walt Disney and George Lucas. "Computers are commodities with a six-month shelf life," he said. "Classics like Snow White and Fantasia are passed from generation to generation."
Wozniak said Apple is a reflection of Jobs' creative daring.
"He helped it achieve incredible things in music, smartphones, tablets and retail, while still making great computers," said Wozniak, who said he and Jobs occasionally talk.
Leander Kahney, author of Inside Steve's Brain, said Jobs reconciled conflicting personality traits into an eclectic business philosophy.
"Jobs embraced the personality traits that some considered flaws - narcissism, perfectionism, total faith in his intuition - to lead Apple and Pixar to triumph against steep odds," Kahney says. "In the process, he became a self-made billionaire."
Fifa 12 Review
Thankfully, FIFA 12 has not innovated simply for the sake of it. The gameplay innovations greatly improve the way FIFA plays. Matches unfold with a more authentic tempo, taking it much closer to the real thing. Revolution? Evolution? Who really cares. More importantly, is FIFA 12 the best football game in the world? I don't think so. But I'd put it in my top one.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/119/1195975p1.html
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/119/1195975p1.html
Crysis Xbox 360 Review
For console owners who played Crysis 2, a lot of them demanded Crytek to re-release the original game on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Well Crytek listened, and they released a straight port of the original Crysis with a lot of improvements as well.
GOOD:
Remastered Graphics
In 2007, Crysis had some of the most beautiful graphics of any game available at the time. The lush jungles and frozen wastelands in Crysis really showed what the game could do in terms of graphics. The dynamic lighting and shadows of the environments of Crysis were clearly some of the best at that time. In this remastered edition, Crytek improved the graphics by using the Cry Engine 3 that was used in Crysis 2. The graphics of Crysis on the consoles don’t look as pretty as Crysis 2, but you can see the bright detail of its designs and environments. The characters in the remastered edition are crisper than the ones on the original PC. The graphics haven’t been completely redone, but they are certainly enhanced with the Cry Engine 3.
Aside from the game using the Cry Engine 3, nothing has changed when it comes to voice-overs. The voices from the original game are intact. For those who own a 3D TV set, the game is now 3D enabled, allowing you to play the game with heightened realism. With the ability to destroy practically anything, it’s nice to see a palm tree dropping on you, especially with your 3D glasses on.
Story is Still Solid
It’s been a while since the last time I’ve played the original Crysis on PC. Back then, the story was excellent but after replaying the game again on consoles, I just realized that it never gets old, no matter how many times I’ve played it.
In Crysis, you take control of Nomad, a part of the US Special Forces Team, along with other soldiers who were sent on a mission to rescue the archeological team hostages on the nearby island of the Philippines Sea from the North Korean forces. Using high-tech nanosuits that give humans a boost in strength, speed, armor, and cloaking abilities, the Super Soldiers’ hostage rescue situation turns into something big after they learn that an alien force is set to invade the planet.
For those who played the second game, they can expect the same kind of story in the first.
Turn into a SuperSoldier
The majority of the players who played Crysis 2 on the consoles didn’t play the first Crysis on the PC. Therefore, in order to accommodate players more familiar with Crysis 2, the controls were copied in the remastered edition. Some elements from the second game were somehow transferred to Nomad in this version, as everything Nomad does will require energy. In the original game, sprinting doesn’t require energy when used but now, you’ll have to watch out for the energy meter as it will drain pretty fast.
No longer limited in using a mouse and keyboard, playing Crysis with the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 controller makes playing the game a lot easier. Using the special nanosuit, you can jump to high platforms, sprint, and have extra armor. The environments and areas that you can explore in the game are big and there are a lot of different routes that you can take. It’s all up to you to decide on how you will do your missions – you can do it stealthy, or go aggressive.
What make both Crysis games awesome are the freedom you get and the action. At the beginning of the game, you start slow because you basically learn how to use the different functions of the nanosuit. As you progress through later levels, the game gets intense where you’ll see a lot of vehicles and destroy things that will blow your mind. Expect to use tanks to take down planes and other vehicles, which will make you realize why the game is so demanding when it comes to graphics cards.
Full Trophies and Achievements Support
Gamers who are looking to expand their trophy or achievement collection will be pleased to know that Crysis will have full trophy and achievement support. Having a total of 50 achievements and trophies, this is a treat to trophy and achievement hunters.
BAD:
No Multiplayer Mode
Crytek seems to have stripped out the multiplayer portion of Crysis. For those who are looking to get into some multiplayer action, you will not find it here. Even though the game is over four years old, it would still be nice for Crytek if they actually included the multiplayer portion.
Even though the game is fully remastered with a brand new engine and controls, the game still suffers from occasional glitches. In the console version, there are glitches that you can expect such as enemies floating slightly above the ground or textures in the game flickering. These only happen occasionally and pretty much don’t affect the gameplay and experience. Still, they are annoying when they do occur.
VERDICT:
For a four-year-old game, Crysis is still one of the best first person shooters I’ve ever played. Despite its age, the game still manages to have that “spark” that gamers love when it comes to shooter games. If you didn’t have a chance to play Crysis when it was released on the PC, you have another chance to play it and see why Crysis got the glory and glamour it deserved when it was first released. The only downside for the remastered edition is that it doesn’t have multiplayer, but the graphics, story, and intense gameplay will be enough to make that $20 purchase worth it.
SCORE : 5/5
DigitalFoundry - Face-Off: Dark Souls
DigitalFoundry writes: Fantasy games are rarely so horrifying as Dark Souls can be, and it's a pleasure to see another take on the same visual references put forward by Demon's Souls just two years ago. Although the world of Boletaria has been exchanged for Lordran, much remains the same. The long bridges guarded by red wyverns and undead hoplites still show From Software's love of old Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, and the winding, eldritch castle passageways continue to succeed in baiting the reckless gallivant into an untimely end, while rewarding the more patient, methodical player.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-dark-souls-face-off
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-dark-souls-face-off
Crysis PS3 Gameplay Footage
Some footage of the newly revamped edition of Crysis (PS3 version) was recently uploaded
http://gaming4evr.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/crysis-ps3-gameplay-footage/
http://gaming4evr.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/crysis-ps3-gameplay-footage/
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
PS Vita to Revolutionize the Mobile Ecosystem Says Sony
Sony’s director of hardware marketing, John Koller, wants to carve out a new ecosytem in the mobile space using the Playstation Vita. Here’s what he had to say:
“We firmly believe that PlayStation Vita will supersede the mobile market when launched, and have grand ambitions for a product that is really at the forefront of innovation,” he said. “The mobile market in the U.S. offers consumers extremely light gaming options. We developed PlayStation Vita after observing a significant addressable market that demands rich, deep handheld gaming.”When the new handheld releases next spring it will be backed by entires in multimillion copy selling franchises such as Call of Duty and Mortal Kombat.
Koller also stated, that any games and apps created with the VIta in mind will be available on Google, android phones, and tablets. As well as a varitey of other Sony products. This is what will give Sony a fighting chance against apple in the new mobile market created with the advent of smartphones.
Tales of Innocence R screenshots
Namco Bandai released new screenshots of Tales of Innocence R today, their upcoming Tales of Innocence remake for PlayStation Vita.
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