Game Invasion's Head Games

Here at Microsoft's Spring Gamer's Day in sunny and unseasonably hot San Francisco there are quite a few games to see, but the top two are, without a doubt, 'Gears of War 2' and 'Fable 2' - two very different games with two very different personalities behind them.

First, we have 'Gears' and its designer, Cliff Bleszinski. Cliff has been the spokesman for Gears of War and certainly is able to express how jazzed he is about a franchise that is making him and his employer, Epic Games, millions of dollars.

While it may sound simple to develop a sequel for a major hit like 'Gears of War' because as it ain't broke, there's no need to fix it. But that's not Cliff's or Epic's style. They are not mailing this one in.

I watched THE GAMEPLAY VIDEO just like the rest of you - it was easy to dismiss the game as "more of the same."

However, after watching the completion of what Cliff called "Level Two" I can now admit I was wrong - dead wrong.

Yeah it looks similar to 'Gears of War' - but after what I just saw, I am blown away with the pure scale of this game. It's a Gears game, but it's a monstrously huge Gears game.

Secondly, we have the venerable Peter Molyneux of Lionhead Studios who is currently working on 'FABLE 2' - a game that you can easily tell is the game he was put on this Earth to create.

Also, a game he would like to see sell 10 million copies - a number he thinks is attainable because 'Fable 2' is designed to be simple to play - as simple as you make it.

"Why shouldn't we invite our friends," Molyneux said. "Why shouldn't we be playing with them? Because they are not good enough? That is why we created a game that can be easily played by anyone."

However, that's selling the game short. 'Fable 2' is turning out to be a game that will be talked about at water coolers in offices throughout the world. I know that may sound like an exaggeration, but think about it. You and I will be playing this game and have two totally different experiences. Totally different and that is what we'll be talking about.

We are in for a treat this holiday season when these games are released. While they are completely different games, they are both games that will appeal to the hardest of the hardcore gamer in us all.

PC gamers --

Tired of missing out on demos because you don't own a PS3 or an Xbox 360? Now is your time to get a leg up on the console competition with a chance to play 'LEGO INDIANA JONES' before anyone else.

Get a taste of 'LEGO Indiana Jones's' campy humor, playful puzzles and destructive action with the latest demo straight from the Games for Windows WEBSITE. Much like 'LEGO Star Wars,' 'LEGO Indiana Jones' spans the entire series of films -- letting you play through memorable scenes from "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Temple of Doom" and "Last Crusade."

Click the picture below to jump to the demo's download page.

Features Fact Sheet

• For the first time ever, LEGO characters are fully immersed in their environment; they are able to swim, climb, shimmy across rock ledges and pick up and carry objects.

• Also for the first time ever, you can use a variety of weapons from the environment such as chairs, guns, swords and bottles to fight enemies.

• And no Indiana Jones game would be complete without Indy’s signature whip which you’ll use as a multi-purpose tool to attack, disarm, swing across gaps, activate levers and interact with a world of LEGO objects and puzzles.

• Unlock more than 60 playable characters, each with unique abilities. And team up with a friend to battle enemies and seek out the world’s greatest treasures.

• Create unique playable characters like Sallah Scott or Mola Round by mixing and matching the LEGO body parts of all playable characters.

You've already seen how faithfully RockStar has recreated MTV's Times Square offices within GTA IV, but how about the rest of New York City?

Intrepid photographer and virtual tourist, Matthew Johnston, set up his own GALLERY of prominent sights in NYC juxtaposed against Liberty City counterparts. Matt even went the extra mile to compose the shots from similar angles so you can really discern the similarities. A few of these photos are sure to dupe you into thinking they're both real pics.

Hopefully Johnston won't do a photo comparison of the working girls of Star Junction. It would be the one time we'd demand less graphic fidelity.

Spring is the season where most of the shiny new games vying for your attention throw elaborate parties to show off their finest garb. Not unlike a young girl's Sweet 16, but with fewer high pitched screams. Unless you count the over enthused whine of the occasional fanboy watching new footage of their most anticipated title.

Konami held just such an event on Monday for 'METAL GEAR SOLID IV,' featuring none other than the game's creator, Hideo Kojima. Kojima revealed some interesting tidbits about the in-game features, including a functional iPod, customizable weapons, customizable camo and in-game weapons store. That last one is presumably for DLC.

Much of the event seemed to contain copious amounts of MGS IV CO-BRANDING and marketing partnerships for everything from an energy drink to cell phone.

The best news of the event came from a videotaped communique from 'ASSASSIN'S CREED' producer, Jade Raymond, congratulating the team on all they've put into MGS IV. The cherry on top? Remember that April Fool's video of Snake dressed as Altair?

That one.

Well, it's no joke. One of the game's Easter Eggs allows Snake to go on his own crusade dressed as the 12th-century assassin. No word if the barrels you hide inside change from plastic to wood. But a cool bonus nonetheless.

For more info read the shows bullet points at KOTAKU.

The folks at Hammer Creative are building quite a name for themselves in the world of video game advertising. The talented crew behind the award winning commercials for THE GODFATHER: THE GAME and TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL: DOUBLE AGENT have another accolade to add -- Golden Trailer Award recipient for THE SIMPSONS GAME: MEDAL OF HOMER. 2008 marks the third consecutive year that Hammer Creative brings home the Best Video Game Trailer award.

Have a look at this year's winner.

"It's a real tribute to our video game team, led by Scott Hayman and Jim Botko, that we have had such consistent, long term creative success in the video game arena," commented Hammer Creative founder Mark Pierce. "EA has been a terrific partner and we look forward to our continued relationship with them."

There's just no surprising the enterprising internet gaming community.

BRITISH GAMING BLOG broke the new BANJO 3 screenshots a few days ago to much fan attention, prompting gamers to speculate that the latest in Rare's Banjo Kazooie series would be a racing title for the Xbox 360.

Au contraire, says Rare:

"Reading some of the comments, it's nice to see that people think the game is quite pretty, but its definitely not a racer, which is what some people think it is," community liaison George Kelion told KOTAKU. "You're better off waiting until tomorrow, when we reveal what is for us the most spectacular feature of the game, which is the gameplay mechanic."

Sorry to spoil another surprise, Rare, but WORD all over the web is that a motion-sensitive controller similar to the Wii-mote will be packaged with 'Banjo 3.'

We'll have to wait and see what comes out of this week's Microsoft Gamers' Day, when more details of this and other 2008 titles are revealed. Until then, get a glimpse of some select screenshots from 'Banjo 3.'

To say that Saturday Night Live is still on the cutting edge of comedy would be presuming the tip of a musket plunger could be sharp enough to pierce through a barrier of banality. Fresh off the release of GTA IV, the cut-ups at SNL cobbled together a skit for their most recent Weekend Update segment.

With Bill Hader as Niko and Fred Armisen as Vlad, the two poke fun at GTA IV's mo-capping and outrageous dialog. And like the typical SNL skit, it stops being funny five minutes before it ends.

In this case, Niko and Vlad appear five minutes before the end of the segment.

Video game modder extraordinaire, Ben Heckendorn, put his exceptional skills to use for the betterment of mankind at the GAMES FOR HEALTH CONFERENCE when he displayed his latest invention -- a pedal controller for 'GUITAR HERO.' Before you start wondering why someone would need a foot pedal for 'Guitar Hero' when the game has no drum peripheral, Ben developed this controller to aid gamers who may only have one functional hand.

"These replace the strum and whammy bar from a standard guitar, allowing you to use a single hand for the chords. What you do is use your foot and click your toes up or down to strum or navigate menus. To perform a whammy you lift up your heel - the spring loaded plate is shown in the up (full whammy) position in the photo, but normally your heel compresses it (no whammy). The pedal plugs into a modified Guitar Hero 3 Les Paul wireless controller. You can still strum the modified guitar but the whammy is only on the pedal."

Ben takes us through step by step instructions, following the inventor's process, for making the unique controllers. The Mod Master goes so far as to salvage components of old consoles to build his new creations, like the Atari Jaguar controller cable used on this project.

Heckendorn is also known for the book 'HACKING VIDEO GAME CONSOLES,' where he demonstrates how to make handheld versions of the PSOne, Atari 2600, NES and SNES systems. He's also made CUSTOM Atari 800, Wii and Xbox 360 laptops in addition to portable versions of the PS2, Genesis, N64 and Colecovision.

Pirates of the Caribbean director, Gore Verbinski, has signed a deal with Universal Pictures to direct the 'BIOSHOCK' movie, according to VARIETY.

"Bioshock" publisher Take-Two Interactive is getting a multimillion-dollar advance against gross points on the pic. It's believed to be the biggest videogame-to-movie deal since 2005, when U and Fox signed onto the since aborted "Halo" pic, for which Microsoft got $5 million against 10%.

Take-Two executive chairman Strauss Zelnick said the "state of the art" deal is structured so that "Bioshock" won't end up in turnaround like "Halo," which is back with Microsoft.

"The reason I structured it the way I did is to make sure it gets made," he emphasized.

Take-Two waited until the attention for 'Bioshock' reached critical mass before pitching the project around Hollywood. After winning immense praise from gamers and industry critics, Zelnick worked with CAA to bring 'Bioshock' to Universal. Universal, in turn, made a bid before Take-Two could pitch to another movie house.

Smart move by both parties. Universal, and subsequently Verbinski, instantly realized the cinematic potential of the 'Bioshock' story. Zelnick, meanwhile, wanted to preserve the integrity of their IP and opted out of putting the movie in the hands of a Hollywood producer.

"One of the things we decided early on is that we didn't want to go through a producer," he [Zelnick] commented. "It's terribly important to us to have a meaningful influence on how this project is produced. We didn't want any insulation between us."

Verbinski noted that Rapture's art deco design and visually arresting characters, such as the mechanical Big Daddys who protect genetically mutated girls called Little Sisters, particularly inspired him to see the game as a film.

Universal must be trying to make up for their failed attempts to bring 'HALO' to the big-screen. Much like 'Bioshock,' the 'Halo' movie also had big names behind it, with Peter Jackson set to produce and Neil Blomkamp directing. Unfortunately, Universal closed production after a year amid concerns over escalating costs. Blomkamp later released test reels of the project to much fan interest, though it still didn't keep the project alive. HERE is what a 'Halo' movie might have looked like.

Take-Two is currently riding a huge wave of success with the blockbuster release of GTA IV, which has beaten out 'HALO 3' for most sales in a week. The announcement of a 'Bioshock' movie deal also justifies holding out on EA's bid for the company.

Let's see how the company capitalizes on this momentum with 'Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution,' 'Borderlands,' the fabled 'Duke Nukem Forever' and the eventual 'Bioshock 2.'

What if the finest fashion houses of Milan designed weapons of war?

That's the question being explored at artist Peter Gronquist's "The Revolution Will Be Fabulous: A Weapons of Mass Designer Show" installation at Los Angeles' Gallery 1988. A Louis Vuitton upholstered electric chair, Fendi chain saw, Gucci and Versace AK-47s, Paul Smith warhead and Chanel rocket-launcher are just a few of the featured pieces at the exhibition.

But the golden grenades shaped like Pac-Man are what really got our attention. At $350 per pac-man, you'll want to make sure you hit all four ghosts at once even if your pockets are deep enough to employ such luxurious warfare.

Via NOTCOT

The was a ton of buzz going on yesterday regarding Spike TV's Game Trailers TV with Geoff Keighley having access to "exclusive" first ever look at gameplay of 'Gears of War 2' and I went to sleep last night only after setting my DVR to record the program.

Oh what a difference a day makes. Looks like Ziff Davis' GameVideos.com is touting its own "exclusive" running the same night. Can two gaming outlets have access to the same exclusive on the same night? Impossible? Yeah it is.

For Reference:

In this case "exclusive" means - "A news item initially released to only one publication or broadcaster." - DICTIONARY.COM

So who has the exclusive? Game Trailers TV with Geoff Keighley is pitching this:

and Ziff Davis' 1UP is pitching this:

Exclusive Gears of War 2 Gameplay Video on Friday

That's all you need to know, really. 1UP's GAMEVIDEOS will be the very first place online you'll be able to see the footage, and we'll be posting it in all of its HD glory. And trust us when we say you're going to be blown away. So this Friday, go to dinner, go to the movies, or go play some GTA IV -- but whatever you do, make sure you check back here at 10:30 p.m. PST for the exclusive first Gears of War 2 video.

--

Hold on. Which outlet really has the exclusive 'Gears of War 2' gameplay video? Neither, as both have the same footage and are set to air it on the same day.

"We are first with the exclusive," Game Trailers TV with Geoff Keighley's Geoff Keighley said via email. And he's right. Regardless of how you look at it - you can't get around the fact that the 'Gears of War 2' gameplay footage will debut on Spike TV at 1 a.m. eastern standard time. That is a fact and it is indisputable.

So GameVideos.com gets the "second exclusive?"

"GameTrailers TV has the TV exclusive and 1UP/GameVideos has the online exclusive," 1UP Network Editorial Director, Sam Kennedy replied. "GTTV will be airing the trailer in some markets at 10:00 PM PST. A few minutes later, 1UP/GameVideos gets to post the trailer exclusively on the web, and no other site is allowed to post it until a half hour after we do.

"It's basically a dual exclusive, though, for two different mediums."

While it may be on two different mediums, I know I am going to want to see this now “dual exclusive” as quickly as I can – even if we’re talking drunken shakey-cam posted on YouTube. I believe other 'Gears' fans will be doing the same.

Also, if you're on the West Coast and are not a Direct TV subscriber, the footage will be on GameVideos.com for two-and-a-half whole hours before it will air on Spike – and will be splattered on every other gaming site two hours before the Spike TV exclusive.

Make no mistake about it - an exclusive this ain't. While both outlets can claim a window of exclusivity, calling this footage, "exclusive" is simply another instance of the games media not understanding this painfully overused word.

Sony broke out a little treat, literally, at their recent Gamer's Day in London. While demoing the upcoming LITTLEBIGPLANET, Sony showed off a pair of sack-men remiscent of KILLZONE 2's Helghast stormtroopers. An ambitious attendant took some handi-cam video to share with the masses - enjoy a peek.

You might think the world is picking on Uwe Boll at the moment. The director of the video game related films BLOODRAYNE, ALONE IN THE DARK and HOUSE OF THE DEAD has garnered the ire of the gaming community for his lackluster portrayal of those properties. Recently Boll received so many pans for his latest movie, POSTAL, that a PETITION was put online pleading him to stop making movies.

Boll responded with a video diatribe, lashing out at the movie going audience in general and fellow director Michael Bay specifically. Bay brushed Boll off, prompting the jilted director to challenge Bay to a boxing match.

Now, the makers of STRIDE gum have joined the fray -- offering a free pack of gum everyone who supports the petition if they reach one million signatures.

For years, Boll has piqued the ire of the gaming community by adapting many of their favorite games into universally panned films (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/uwe_boll/). On April 4, 2008, Boll remarked to legendary horror site FEARNET that he'd consider acquiescing to his critics and abandoning making films in this genre if an online petition reached one million signatures. As of press time, the petition is just about 234,000 names, which is why Stride has decided to jump in.

"Since gamers are one of our most supportive groups, we have been looking for ways to return the favor," said Gary Osifchin, Stride North American Marketing Director. "And what better way is there to get gamers' backs than by helping them rescue their cherished videogames from the clutches of Uwe Boll?"

In an effort to help boost signings, the makers of Stride have put out a special bounty. If the petition reaches the required 1 million signatures by May 14 at 5pm EDT, each signer will receive a digital coupon* for a pack of gum, downloadable on May 23, 2008, a day that could really use some long-lasting refreshment, particularly as it will see the debut of his latest videogame-based film.

"Look, it's nothing personal against the guy. Maybe his non videogame-based films are unbelievable! But we have seen such intense passion for this cause that we couldn't help but get involved," said Osifchin. "Let the signing continue."

* Stride will provide a downloadable coupon (good for one pack of gum) to each petition signer that will be downloadable on May 23, 2008, if the target of one million signatures is reached between May 7 and 14, 2008. Additional details will be forthcoming.

The petition currently has about three-quarters of the way to go before May 14th. Ambitious, yes. Shameless promotional initiative, yes. But if it takes a pack of gum to help stop the madness, chew until your teeth rot.

Perhaps its the warm weather that's got people ready to rumble. It has become a virtual stat board around here, keeping track of who wants whom to suffer in the ninth ring of Hell.

Don't count Aussie video game critic and designer, Ben 'Yahtzee' Croshaw, out of the scuffle. In this episode of Zero Punctuation, 'Yahtzee' puts his boot to the butts of fanboys who took exception to his SUPER SMASH BROS. BRAWL review.

Yahtzee's taking on a tough crowd here. The faceless fanboy legion has been known to carry long grudges with detractors and go to great lengths to show their collective might.

Carry a big stick, Yahtzee -- and update your PC's security suite. Just to be safe.

What can THQ do to revive its fledgling wrestling series, Smackdown vs. Raw? To fans of the franchise, SvR hasn't changed much in the last few years, save for the roster and the ability to wrestle for a title without going through career mode. And counting on a roster to sell a title leaves each iteration subject to the sudden changes within the wrestlers' ranks.

Keep in mind that 'SMACKDOWN Vs. RAW 09' should almost be finished and WWE is still featuring the same roster of talent as last year minus a few recognizable players like Bobby Lashley, Marcus Cor Von and Booker T. Will Santino Marella, Cody Rhodes and Kofi Kingston be exciting enough to take their place? I wouldn't even make those guys in Create-A-Wrestler mode. How about the returning Chris Jericho or Big Show? You couldn't possibly be compelled by minor cosmetic changes in hair length and weight, respectively, could you?

So, how do you reinvent a wrestling product that relies so heavily on recognizable talent? Put all of the most recognizable WWE superstars into one game.

Next year THQ is pushing to bring a unique brand of excitement to the WWE franchise with 'Legends of WrestleMania.'

Joining the distinguished WWE SmackDown/SmackDown vs. Raw franchise, which has shipped more than 37 million units worldwide since 2000, 'WWE Legends of WrestleMania' is scheduled for release in March 2009 to coincide with the annual pinnacle of sports entertainment, WrestleMania 25, in Houston, Texas.

"We have generated significant year-over-year growth in key global territories with WWE-licensed videogames, including tremendous success with the WWE SmackDown vs. Raw franchise," said Peter Matiss, vice president, global brand management, THQ. "The development capabilities afforded by next generation hardware, combined with our established history and deep understanding of fighting videogames, allow us to leverage the strength of the WWE brand to further extend our leadership in the fighting videogame genre and bring this new property to market."

"JAKKS Pacific is pleased to introduce a new WWE videogame property to the fighting genre," said Nelo Lucich, senior vice president of interactive, JAKKS Pacific. "The WWE SmackDown vs. Raw franchise has captured a collective audience of WWE fans, game enthusiasts and casual players, and we are confident that WWE Legends of WrestleMania will be poised for great success."

No further information has been released about the game, but you can bet it will highlight many of the hidden/legend characters from prior games. Stone Cold, The Rock, Mick Foley, Ric Flair, Eddie Guerrero, Jake the Snake, Sgt. Slaughter and the like have been included in several iterations already and can most likely be counted for the LoW title. Toss some current legends-in-the-making like Triple H, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and the golden boy himself, John Cena, and it might make for a decent interim title until SvR 10.

But with WWE's licensing agreement with THQ-Jakks running through 2009, could 'Legends of WrestleMania' be THQ's swan song with the WWE?