Everyone loves a good mystery, and RedLynx is more than happy to provide. The teaser for the team's upcoming 1000 day-long game for iOS devices is this morning's Top Story.
Finnish developer RedLynx, best known for the hugely successful Trials HD on Xbox LIVE Arcade, has released a video teaser for their new, as-yet untitled game. The new title promises to be a game that lasts one thousand days, with a new map and hero available each day. Players are challenged to gather one thousand treasures on their journey through time.
"There is a timeline inside all of us,"said Antti Ilvessuo, Creative Director of RedLynx."A past that guides us, ancestors whom time may have forgotten, but whose choices influence us even today. This game takes these ideas, and plays with them in a fun and engaging way."
RedLynx has so far remained rather tight-lipped about the exact details of the game -- we have no idea what kind of game it is, even -- but promises a new adventure every day for 1000 days. Each new adventure features a new map, a new hero and new relics to gather. And from what Ilvessuo says, we can presumably expect events from previous days' play to affect subsequent adventures.
This could potentially be an interesting solution to the assumption that people don't want to play longer games on mobile devices. If each daily adventure is short enough, people will be willing to invest a few minutes of their time each day to see the saga through to its conclusion. Assuming the gameplay is compelling enough to keep people playing for 1000 days, of course. That's nearly 3 years' worth of game -- it better be good to keep people interested!
You can follow the latest news on the mystery game at theofficial site.
STAT CHECK -- 6:50AM PST, Feb. 24, 2011
Chances You Saw This Story:20%
Calculated by number of times we saw it divided by the number of sites we visited today.
GamePro Forum Views:231
GamePro Comments:0
Top Story is an analysis of a topic that seems to be on everybody's mind for the day -- it could be the most important story in our industry, or it could be a dumb story that got a ton of comments. You, the reader, vote with your attention by viewing and commenting on stories in ourNew Flash section.
Some of the best games I get my hands on are passed to me through AIM conversations with buddies. Today's special: Streetview Zombie Apocalypse -- a game that actually is what it sounds like and worth every minute I spent on it today.
The"game"uses Google Maps' streetview functionality to create a character for the user. Then, it creates"zombie"characters in the surrounding neighborhood that move toward wherever your marker is on the map. You escape by moving down different streets with the arrow keys or with mouse clicks. If the zombies catch up to you, they eat you.
I know it looks a little rough, but it's a nifty proof of concept and a great way to waste 10 minutes in the office (which adds up to about five play-throughs for me– my average Time Alive score is 2 minutes). Even better, there's a natural social game element to it because you find yourself asking your friends how long they survived and which addresses they used as starting points.
Seems like I have an advantage over some of my suburban-dweller friends because I get to use the GamePro San Francisco office as my starting location, which is right by a freeway onramp that the zombies can't seem to spawn on. My Oakland apartment location (pictured, right), on the other hand, is a death trap. Curse you, street gird city planning!
Check out Streetview Zombie Apocalypse for yourselfhere.
I want to be mad about"Pretty Princess"mode in The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile because I know it's using gender stereotypes to make fun of bad gamers. But I can't be mad -- because it's just so funny. Did I just hurt the movement?
The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is an Xbox Live Arcade game that's enormously proud of its moderate-to-high difficulty level. The game is so proud of this that it shames players who can't cut it (get it? 'Cuz... he's a samurai?) by unlocking a Pretty Princess mode that ranks below Easy on the difficulty-settings menu. Activating the mode not only makes enemies easier to beat -- it also reskins the game with pink and lavender hearts and replaces the visceral blood sprays with rainbows.
I have to ask you to use your imagination here because the developer didn't have screenshots or video of the mode for me to use -- but check out this gameplay video and make a mental swap of rainbows for blood.
If you can imagine a dark and gory game like this spouting rainbows and hearts and pretty-girl things, it's pretty absurd right? You think it's funny, right?
I don't blame you. But I do blame myself a little. Rainbow blood sprays. Pink hearts. Easy difficulty level.... This game mode is so blatantly sexist that I ought to turn in my feminism card right now for having laughed aloud during the demo when I saw it. And if you don't see it that way, I'll spell it out for you: The mode implies that only girls are bad at video games, and because you game like a girl, the game should treat you like a girl.
This is an outdated gender stereotype at best. The days when the female population of gamers ranked so low we didn't even have representation in the International Game Developers Association are way, way done -- and I've alreadytalked at lengthabout how a girl's biggest enemy in this industry is herself. At worst, Pretty Princess mode is a mean-spirited joke that alienates not only female gamers (who may or may not be into unicorns and rainbows and stuff) but also gamers who maybe aren't good at classic arcade-fighting controls that The Dishwasher builds its gameplay on.
I should be against this. Even if I enjoy a game or a joke or a comic strip, I have a responsibility to call out developers who seem to forget that I'm a woman and I demand entertainment from them just as much as their male audience. I, like them, am paying for a good time and have every right to it without being made to feel dumb or weak or less valuable than my male counterparts. I, like them, am a gamer with needs.
But I also have a sense of humor. Everyone in the video-game industry does -- it's a playful medium that attracts playful people. A lot of the humor also winds up being self-deprecating because so many of us are insecure at heart. We traditionally started out as geeks who got beat up in high school, fat kids who retreated to in-game fantasies, misfits with insanely high Pac-Man scores, and generally disenfranchised youth attracted to bright lights and happy-sounding noises. So we get a little silly, make a little joke, and get defensive when we think somebody's making fun of us.
So maybe I shouldn't give myself such a hard time about not immediately being angry with Pretty Princess mode. Yes, it's derogatory, but it is a good joke, right?
I say that and I think of Dickwolves -- the one-word name fora scandalwhere Penny Arcade squared off against several feminist bloggers over an off-color rape joke. That started out as something funny/sexist, too– but when the defensive mode kicked in (for both the feminist bloggers and for Penny Arcade), it got ugly. So ugly, a woman developer whom I respect pulled out of attending PAX East after Penny Arcade started selling Dickwolf shirts.
The Dickwolves incident is an example of a joke that went too far. I don't think Pretty Princess mode in The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile goes too far– but the same arguments you make for one, you could make for the other. Dickwolves and Pretty Princess mode are expressions of free speech contained in a medium that's meant to entertain and reflect on the state of something. Dickwolves and Pretty Princess mode also make fun of something in a waythat belittles women. They're both relatively small, inconsequential things on their own -- but the audience they reach grows bigger every day and includes more people than the ones for whom the joke was originally intended.
I guess it all comes down to the conventional wisdom of jokes: It's only funny until somebody gets hurt.
Hot off the Bulletstorm media storm (see what we did there?), this week's show brings back PC World's Patrick Miller for more competitive gaming talk and we welcome another PC World editor to the show for some crude humor love.
Episode title:The GameProCast Episode 6: Bulletstorm and dick kills
The GameProCast is now available on iTunes. Check outThe GameProCast's iTunes page here, and leave a rating if you enjoy the show! Apple-averse listeners can stream the episode below, download the episodehere, subscribe to the RSS feedhereand leave opinions in the comment section below.
And here's a sample of Protrozz's limerick StarCraft 2 commentary:
Blog Andriasang reports that the iOS version of Final Fantasy III is a port of the 2006 Nintendo DS version. That, ladies and gents, is your top story for today.
Andriasang's report comes from the latest issue of Famitsu -- that same issue that introduces the mag'snew Nintendo 3DS review scores system. Famitsu says thatFinal Fantasy IIIfor the iPhone is getting a high definition visual makeover, a sound update, and the virtual d-pad treatment in addition to attack-taps for the battle portions of the game. The release window for the port is still"March"for Japan.
Is it news? Not really -- more like a second hand preview. Still, good to know we're getting a port of the new hotness and not the old spites. True, there's something to be said for nostalgia; but the 2006 gamewas pretty good.
STAT CHECK -- 5:10PM PST, Feb. 23, 2011
Chances You Saw This Story:40%
Calculated by number of times we saw it divided by the number of sites we visited today.
GamePro Forum Views:365
GamePro Comments:0
Top Story is an analysis of a topic that seems to be on everybody's mind for the day -- it could be the most important story in our industry, or it could be a dumb story that got a ton of comments. You, the reader, vote with your attention by viewing and commenting on stories in ourNew Flash section.
Nintendo recently revealed the games will be available on day one for their 3DS platform. We polled our Twitter community to see what they thought of the launch slate.
Earlier today, Nintendofinally revealedthe dozen-plus games that will be on store shelves alongside theNintendo 3DSon day one. With the launch-day games now public knowledge, we put the following question out to a large segment of said public--our near-26,000 Twitter followers:
The general consensus was that of ambivalence, as most respondents came away from the launch list unimpressed. Here are the fans that want more out of the 3DS:
@GameProWTF where's Zelda,Kid Icarus and Star Fox and the launch titles are Asphalt 3&Steel Diver I thought they wanted 3ds to sellless than a minute agovia webRay J Chronorayven
@GameProZelda should've been ready on day one. I could care less about the current lineup. Still buying system before demand goes up thoughless than a minute agovia webSean Madson DHGFMadson
A few members of our community expressed aslightamount of interest about the 3DS' first games. Here are the folks that have a twinge of anticipation for Nintendo's upcoming portable:
@GameProActually, the only game at launch that excites me is SSF4 and I already OWN that, sooo...Gonna be waiting a while.less than a minute agovia webEddy Fettig D3stiny_Sm4sher
Even though a large amount of our community came away from the launch list with reservations, Nintendo is by no means doomed to suffer a dry spell upon the release of the 3DS. The company has rebounded from lackluster launches before (see the Nintendo 64 and DS), while the popularity of its previous two platforms portend to a system that will have the casual crowd frothing at the mouth. In a little more than a month, we'll start to get an idea how successful the system can be at selling to hardcore and casual alike.
What do you think of the responses above? Do you have an opinion on the matter that you'd like to share? If so, please add to the conversation by responding in the comment section below or replying toGamePro on Twitter.
This week on Culture Club, Ben PerLee and AJ Glasser try to respect the literary merits of tie-in book Deus Ex: The Icarus effect in the face of PC World editor Patrick Miller's excitement over the upcoming game, Deus Ex: Human Evolution.
This year's BAFTA video game award nominations are mostly predictable, but Limbo's inclusion could mark increased recognition for small-scale indie developers.
Thenominations are infor the prestigious BAFTA games awards, and it's mostly business as usual. A predictable range of games have been nominated and small, lower-budget titles have, with one notable exception, been left by the wayside. In fact, the only surprising thing about the list is that industry darling Red Dead Redemption is up for just one award: the publicly-voted GAME Award of 2010.
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood leads the pack with seven nominations, closely followed by Call of Duty: Black Ops and Heavy Rain with six nominations each. Mass Effect 2 trails slightly behind with five, while Super Mario Galaxy 2 has four.
These are all great games, sure, but looking at nomination lists for ceremonies like this makes it easy to assume the industry goes no further than high-budget triple-A titles. In actuality, 2010 arguably played host to a far broader spectrum of games than we've ever seen before. Titles as diverse as the adorable Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale and the terrifying Amnesia: The Dark Descent showed that small-scale independent development produces some of the most creative ideas out there -- games with something to say rather than games that are designed with profit as their primary focus. Where is the high-profile recognition for these titles?
There's a small glimmer of hope for the underdogs, though: Limbo. The arty XBLA platformer is up for four BAFTAs, including Artistic Achievement, Use of Audio, Gameplay and, particularly notably, Best Game. It also has a position on the shortlist for the publicly-voted GAME Award 2010. Its chances of victory are probably slim when pitted against the combined might of Black Ops, Reach, Mass Effect 2, Heavy Rain and Red Dead Redemption, of course, but the fact it's on the list at all is an important step in the right direction.
The growth of the downloadable sector has meant an explosion in what could be termed"single-A"titles -- short-form, affordable titles that do their best to do things a bit differently. Will one of these titles ever win a high-profile Game of the Year award? Perhaps not this time. But who's to say what the future holds?
You've probably played at least one Bizarre Creations game in your gaming career. Their emotional farewell to fans is a Top Story today.
Liverpool-based developer Bizarre Creations closed its doors for the last time today, and its video editor Eamon Urtone paid his respects with a touching video tribute. Bizarre had been in the business since 1994 and had the successful Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars franchises under its belt. But disappointing performance of its recent titles Blur and James Bond: Blood Stone forced current owner Activision to seek a buyer. Activision claims that no suitable buyer came forward, and as a result recommended the studio's closure in mid-January this year.
Developers come and go all the time, but Bizarre Creations holds a special place in the heart of many gamers. Its flagship Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars franchises were of such high quality that people were willing to forgive less commercially-successful forays into other genres such as The Club and Boom Boom Rocket.
Ultimately, though, it was the poor commercial performance of Bizarre's most recent titles that led to their demise. The excellent powered-up racer Blur was crippled by Activision's questionable Mario Kart-aping marketing campaign which led some gamers to misunderstand exactly what kind of game it really was. And James Bond: Blood Stone was released to rather mixed reviews. Activision, it seems, wasn't willing to take a third risk on the studio's output.
Coddy Johnson, Activision Worldwide Studios' chief operating officer, toldDevelopback in January that Activision's"first choice was to try and keep this group together and find a buyer for the studio."He added that the company had"explored a lot of leads -- pretty much anyone you can imagine in the industry"but that they had"not been able to find any interested parties."
The closure of Bizarre comes, ironically, as Microsoft is seeking a new developer to revive the Project Gotham Racing series. The PGR property remained with Microsoft when Activision swallowed Bizarre back in 2007, leading many to question why they didn't step forward to rescue the ailing developer.
Hopefully the guys and girls of Bizarre Creations will land on their feet and move on to greater things in the coming months.
STAT CHECK -- 9:45AM PST, Feb. 18, 2011
Chances You Saw This Story:100%
Calculated by number of times we saw it divided by the number of sites we visited today.
GamePro Forum Views:506
GamePro Comments:2
Top Story is an analysis of a topic that seems to be on everybody's mind for the day -- it could be the most important story in our industry, or it could be a dumb story that got a ton of comments. You, the reader, vote with your attention by viewing and commenting on stories in ourNew Flash section.
The NPDs for January 2010 revealed a third-straight month of sales dominance for Call of Duty: Black Ops. With Activision still swimming in sales, we asked our community which game they thought could take the crown from COD.
TheNPD sales figures for January 2010dropped yesterday, showing that the Call of Duty juggernaut is displaying no signs of slowing down. With giants of industry like Assassin's Creed and Dead Space unable to dethrone Activision's blockbuster, we asked our near-26,000 member Twitter community to weigh in on the top contender to Black Ops' sales title:
Black Ops has notched another month as the top-selling IP. What game do you think will finally dethrone COD? Best answers posted.less than a minute agoviaTweetDeckGamePro GamePro
Two games seemed to have the most support in taking down Black Ops. The first game is looking very similar to Activision's shooter, and its multiplatform status makes it a very strong contender given the way the organization measures sales:
@GameProthe only thing I can think of is BattleField 3 if not there's always Cod MW3 so it's basically Activision a win win for themless than a minute agovia webRay J Chronorayven
@GameProClosest thing will be Battlefield 3, but dethrone I doubt, I think the CoD Cow will eventually dry out and we'll get a GH incidentless than a minute agoviaTweetDeckSkram Skrammas
The next major contender may be a single-platform release, but given the fact that it's one of the year's biggest releases, one console may be enough to push it past a game that will be almost four months old by the time it sees release:
@GameProI believe that Killzone 3 has a strong chance. That and when Battlefield 3 is unleashed to the public. COD is dead in most eyes.less than a minute agovia webAdam Auditore Stardan
And then there are the dark horses (or cats) that a few fans think might have an outside chance at taking the sales championship from COD. Here are the underdogs in the sales game:
As these responses make clear, many video game fans are as invested in the sales race between top titles as they are for playing the games themselves. It should be interesting to see how long Black Ops can remain atop the sales charts. We'll find out if it can snag a fourth straight month in less than 30 days.
The best package for this week's biggest game is up for grabs, and you have multiple ways to enter. Read on to learn how you could score the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Collector's Edition on 360!
WINNER'S UPDATE:We have picked our winner, and it's one of our Facebook friends -- a fellow by the name of Sim Sondh. Congrats, Sim, and the best of luck to the rest of you for our future contests!
ORIGINAL TEXT:We just got our grubby little meat-hooks on a Collector's Edition of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 for Xbox 360, and we can't help but pass the awesomeness onto you. That's why we're running a day-long contest in which you can take the game for a ride yourself.
Here's the skinny on how to enter our contests. For the next 24 hours, users will be able to enter once time each via GamePro's three different social networks, meaning you can enter up to three times total. To enter, please post a comment below, in the official GamePro contest post onFacebook, and from your Twitter account with the following message, putting your reason for entering in the blank
I want to win the @MarvelvsCapcom 3 Collector's Edition from @GamePro&@Capcom_Unity at http://bit.ly/gYb9vg because ____
The contest is open only to residents of North America and will close at 1PM PST Thursday, 2/17 with the winner being announced and contacted shortly thereafter. Good luck, everyone!
The best package for this week's biggest game is up for grabs, and you have multiple ways to enter. Read on to learn how you could score the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Collector's Edition on 360!
We just got our grubby little meat-hooks on a Collector's Edition of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 for Xbox 360, and we can't help but pass the awesomeness onto you. That's why we're running a day-long contest in which you can take the game for a ride yourself.
Here's the skinny on how to enter our contests. For the next 24 hours, users will be able to enter once time each via GamePro's three different social networks, meaning you can enter up to three times total. To enter, please post a comment below, in the official GamePro contest post onFacebook, and from your Twitter account with the following message, putting your reason for entering in the blank
I want to win the @MarvelvsCapcom 3 Collector's Edition from @GamePro&@Capcom_Unity at http://bit.ly/gYb9vg because ____
The contest is open only to residents of North America and will close at 1PM PST Thursday, 2/17 with the winner being announced and contacted shortly thereafter. Good luck, everyone!
No doubt about it -- gamers love a good hacker story. Today's special comes from Malaga, Spain where somebody thought it'd be a great idea to blackmail Nintendo.
The BBC reportsthat Spanish authorities arrested a man who allegedly hacked into Nintendo's (or some third party data storage company's) records to steal data on 4,000 gamers. The story says that the man tried to blackmail Nintendo by accusing the firm of negligence in data protection. When Nintendo didn't respond to the threats, the man leaked the stolen data online.
We live in an age where data is more exposed than ever, but the laws protecting that data are pretty cut and dried. It's not newsworthy to use that the guy got himself arrested -- only that he thought he could get away with what he was doing. Seriously, this is Nintendo. Do you knowwhat that company doesto hackers and pirates?
STAT CHECK -- 5:20PM PST, Feb. 15, 2011
Chances You Saw This Story:100%
Calculated by number of times we saw it divided by the number of sites we visited today.
GamePro Forum Views:680
GamePro Comments:8
Top Story is an analysis of a topic that seems to be on everybody's mind for the day -- it could be the most important story in our industry, or it could be a dumb story that got a ton of comments. You, the reader, vote with your attention by viewing and commenting on stories in ourNew Flash section.
With Marvel vs. Capcom 3's imminent release, we polled our Twitter community to find out more fantasy matchups that have been percolating in the dreams of gamers worldwide.
You're excited,we're excited, theMango Sentinelis excited. Marvel vs. Capcom 3's release is mere hours away. While the game is sure to settle a few hypothetical dream matches, we know far more exist in the minds of gamers. With that in mind, we polled our 25,000-plus Twitter followers for the crossovers of their dreams.
There's no sense in breaking these up into distinct categories--they're all just crazy match-ups we'd give our left eye to take part in. Here's the best of the best:
A little offbeat choice for @GamePro: shooter/adventure characters in a fighting game: Master Chief, Kratos, Snake, Duke Nukem, etcless than a minute agovia webNorris Boothe norris_boothe
@GameProMarvel vs DC vs Image vs Mortal Kombat vs Street Fighter vs Blazblue vs Tekken vs DOA vs VF vs everyone else ran out of space :)less than a minute agovia webRay J Chronorayven
While some of the crossovers listed above mayseemfar-fetched, publishers and developers are willing to go to great lengths to satisfy crossover urges. With an increasingly competitive market forcing former rivals to work together to create the likes of Tekken X Street Fighter, it seems like there are few fights that can't be arranged.
What do you think of the responses above? Are there any match-ups you'd like to suggest? If so, please continue the conversation by responding in the comment section below or by replying toGamePro on Twitter.
With Activision Blizzard making major business decisions public today, we polled our Twitter community to gauge the reaction to the end of Guitar Hero game development and the cancellation of True Crime. Here's what they had to say.
Shortly after Activision Blizzard revealed its decision tocease production on new Guitar Hero games and cancel True Crime, we decided to find out what the gaming public thought about the major moves. Here's the question we posed to our 25,000-plus Twitter followers:
For many of the respondents, the move was a long time coming, given the apathy the world has shown towards both franchises. Here are the more pragmatic replies:
@GameProIt had to be done. Activision's uncanny ability to drive an IP to the ground has killed off yet another great series.less than a minute agovia web8-Bit Jay 8bitJay
@GameProAs long as they focus on making new games that are worthwhile it is a good move. I am tired of the recycled genres they push.less than a minute agovia webJet Set jetset82
The fact that the majority of the replies were apathetic to the final fates of these Activision IPs may serve as proof that the company made a sound decision, but it also reflects the fact that the world can lose interest in hot properties if they're not properly handled. Could Call of Duty fall victim to this fate? It should be interesting to see how the company handles that franchise going forward.
What do you think of the replies above? Do you have an opinion you'd like to add? If so, please continue the conversation by leaving a comment below or by replying toGamePro on Twitter.
From special sales to premium in-game content updates, here's Valentine's Day love you won't want to miss in all kinds of games.
Much as we wish we could get every game with a Valentine's Day gig up on this list, some sites haven't announced anything special (yet), and many massively multiplayer MMOs are hosting one too many events to count. Be sure to shop around on your favorite sites this weekend in case anybody updates with any last-second sweetheart deals.
