NBA 2K12: Legends Showcase DLC Launch Trailer

As if I need another excuse to keep playing this game

Unless you've been playing Skyrim so much that you haven't seen the sun for a few days, you probably know that the NBA season has been saved (for now) and will be starting on Christmas Day. And if that wasn't good enough news for you ball fans, NBA 2K12 has released some new DLC titled "Legends Showcase". It's exactly like it sounds: 150 NBA legends on a blacktop court in Time Square, cell shaded to perfection. 

With game modes like HORSE, 21, and teammate challenge, this is going to be a pretty awesome multiplayer experience for those hardcore ballers. Throw in unlockable current NBA stars, and you've got yourself one hefty piece of DLC. How many people do you think are going to make the monSTAR team from Space Jam? You can count at least one because that's the first thing I'm going to do.

Total War: Shogun 2 - "Fall of the Samurai" Expansion Trailer

Pride, honor, and a big freaking gun
 

What a strange trailer. It starts off all serious, talking about "the way of the Samurai" and how their lives are based on discipline and honor. I was expecting some sort of epic battle to follow between warring Samurai factions, but that expectation was dead wrong. The tone of the trailer makes a complete U-turn, showing Samurai getting mowed down with a Gatling gun while some jerk American talks about how awesome it is. 

Honestly, I was a little turned off after showing how lightly they took this trailer. Total War is supposed to be huge scale battles one after another, not a doomed culture running head first into machine gun fire. Not to mention that the American doing the VO sounded like a bigoted idiot. Way too goofy for a game like total war, just not feeling it.

Batman: Arkham City - Robin DLC Trailer

This time without the awkward pedophile jokes

Short but sweet, round two of DLC is here for Arkham City and we have the boy wonder himself to play as. The trailer isn't as detailed as the one released for Nighthawk simply because, well... there just isn't as much to Robin. You get two challenge courses, two alternate skins, and Robin himself to play as, but that's pretty much it. They didn't even go over his special abilities like they did with Nighthawk because he's essentially a smaller Batman with different clothes and a bo staff (Batman fans please don't hate me, I love Robin but his character doesn't really have much variety from the Dark Knight in terms of weapons and gadgets).

Needless to say, I'm still excited to take Robin for a spin (that sounds wrong) because I'm sure he'll feel a bit more agile and his animations will be different from Batman's. Arkham City is doing an awesome job with its DLC, releasing characters that true Batman fans will want to get their hands on right away. That's how you keep the gamers engaged, bravo.

Jak and Daxter - HD Collection Trailer

So this is going to be what makes me buy a PS3...

Finally, an HD remake that makes me want to drop everything and reminisce my awkward pre-teen years over and over and over. Jak and Daxter (along with Ratchet and Clank) are two of the reasons why I love and miss the classic 3D platformer. It seems my prayers have been answered because all three games released for the PS2 are coming back in a big way on one blu-ray disk for the PS3, redone in beautiful 720p. Not much more beyond that, I assume all of the gameplay mechanics will be the same considering the controllers are virtually the same. Hopefully this has a decent price tag because a PS3 may be on the horizon for this guy.

Minecraft Xbox Live Trailer

I wonder how this will look in 1080p...

Well, at least we know that the guys on the Minecraft development team don't take themselves too seriously. I have two theories on this trailer: The first is they think that this game truly is the most exciting thing since sliced bread and totally warrants running all over each other for a chance to play. The second (and more realistic) is that they understand while Minecraft is an amazing sandbox experience, it's pretty mellow and doesn't exactly have heart-pounding action at every second. So I enjoyed the fact that they acted super over the top about the game coming to Xbox Live via download, trying to create some excitement for their own creation.

Whatever their reasoning behind the trailer, the message is the same: Minecraft is coming to Xbox Live! Bring on Spring 2012, granted I've gotten through all of the insanely good fall releases by then.

Mass Effect 3 - Collector's Edition Trailer

Biggest. Tease. EVER.

Just when you think the wait until March is too long to handle, EA goes ahead and throws some salt on the would with it's collector's edition contents. I want all of it. There's a hardcover art book, bonus weapons and character appearances, a new character and mission, and much more. All I can think is it's the worst time ever to be a broke college student. Actually, it might be a good thing because I would blow so much money on stuff like this. Why do you have to be so GOOD, Mass Effect? You're such a tease.

FIFA Street - "Mashup" Trailer

Too pretty to ignore

 

Football (soccer) is truly the world's international language, and the prettiest damn sport there is. FIFA street makes the beautiful game even prettier with its fancy footwork and high paced short sided action. Granted we didn't get too see any control schemes or game modes but the trailer definitely promises that there will be sweet moves galore.

I really enjoyed the transitions between real life and gameplay; it shows how accurate the moves will be to the real thing, and shows an impressive graphics system capable of smoothly pulling off the animations. It might just be because I'm a sucker for awesome soccer, but I found myself having to contain my excitement as a player schooled multiple opponents and planted the ball in the back of the net. FIFA Street will bring the classic attitude that comes with the series along side some awesome trickery. Let me at it.

Max Payne 3 - Gameplay Trailer

Silky smooth, lemony fresh

Sure, this might be a four minute commercial for all of the shooting/AI mechanics in the upcoming Max Payne 3... but it just looks so damn good. I found myself very impressed by the 360 aiming, and very interested as to how easily these mechanics will translate to the controller. Fluidity seems to be the name of the game here, Max will be moving and shooting better than ever. And he's got some fancy diving moves to boot.

What was even more impressive was their overview of the AI: enemies react differently based on their level of training (it'll finally be harder to kill a trained operative then a regular street thug). It looks as if they'll be taking bullets more realistically as well, reacting to getting hit according to the angle at which they're shot and the power of your gun. 

Needless to say these features point to an awesome Max Payne title, it looks as if Rockstar is continuing to push how realistic it can make the physics in the game. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for more Payne videos to come out, hopefully in the very near future. 

(video courtesy of g4tv.com)

WWE 12 - Macho Man Randy Savage Trailer

Ooo, yeah

Here's the moment we all knew was coming: DLC containing classic wrestlers in some attempt to keep this game fresh and exciting after you took the 20 minutes to finish whatever it had to offer in the first place. I do have to say that the Macho Man himself is a great choice. He's just drugged up enough to sound funny and provide some decent entertainment... until the next piece of DLC comes out. I'd expect this to become a trend with WWE '12, it'll be interesting to see who they come out with next.

One little problem with this trailer: they don't actually mention how much Randy Savage will cost to download, or the fact that he's download ONLY. Don't you think that's important to let the gamers know? A kid could go out and buy the disc thinking he's going to rock out with the Man himself, then disappointedly find that he needs to shovel out another payment just to get him. That just don't seem right to me.

Also, enjoy the best thing Randy has done since he retired (it's not even really him, but it's a pretty spot on representation)

F1 2011 - Launch Trailer

Proving that slow-mo makes everything more epic

A solid 90% of this trailer is in slow motion, and I'm being very conservative with that number. There's an explanation though: I've always felt as if there is some sort of majestic undertone to Formula 1 racing, like it's a more formal and righteous way to race than most other forms of professional racing. I mostly get that feeling because it's true, compare European fans of this sport to fans of Nascar and there's about a 15 beer difference between them. That being said, the style in which this launch trailer is set shows some of that majesty in the beauty of the cars and how smoothly they seem to perform.

F1 2001 is at a disadvantage from the start. It rides in the shadow of Need for Speed, which just released a game this week with it's arcade antics and Michael Bay trailers. But it's real competition is with the Forza series, which releases racing sims that are called "the most realistic driving experiences possible" with every title. That's a high bar for F1 to live up to. But from the smooth corners these high speed racers are taking, they're sure as hell going to try to reach it.

Sunday Ramblings: Mickey Rourke on Attack of the Show

Of all the lubrications I've heard of, spit is not one of them

Video courtesy g4tv.com

Interning at G4 means there is a small TV sitting behind my cube with the channel on for as long as I'm there. This means I have the pleasure of watching X-Play (at least the days that it's on) and Attack of the Show every day that I sit at that desk. Seeing the interview of the day on Attack was Mickey Rourke, I was pretty happy about it. He was amazing in the Wrestler and now he's a general badass in Immortals (other than the movie sucking). I thought we were in for a good interview.

Imagine my dismay when within the first minute of the segment, I was regretting even bothering to turn around, but what I saw from there somehow kept me hooked. Mickey was quite possibly one of the biggest, most stuck up jackasses I had ever seen on television. 

Kevin Pereira does his best to get Mickey to talk about HIS upcoming movie, and his first question never actually gets answered. Rourke is too busy talking about how little he worked on the movie (8 days of work for 40 days on the set) and fired off awkward sexual innuendo at the female hosts. He even went so far as to spit in his hand when being introduced to the females, calling it lubricant.

I'm sure there's no way the crew of Attack could have known that Mickey was going to be so rude and idiotic, but if this isn't a new thing for him then how the hell does he still get interviews? Someone needs to pull this guy off the stage with the old wooden cane before he can do any more damage to his reputation. 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - The Vet and the Noob Trailer

Jonah Hill WOULD be the noob.

Yes, yes, and hell yes. Talk about perfect casting, Sam Worthington, the badass marine from Avatar trying to teach (significantly skinnier) Jonah Hill of Superbad fame how to not be a noob and play Modern Warfare 3 well in real life. So many awesome nods to things that drive veteran COD'ers crazy: the grenade launcher under barrel attatchment (the noobtube), using an RPG in close quarters, and generally running around and spraying without any purpose. Hill slowly learns from Worthington, and transforms himself into a badass himself.

I realize that I was complaining about nothing about the game being revealed in the trailer before this one (Need for Speed: The Run directed by Michael Bay) but there's a few key differences here. First off, way more people know about and have played the Modern Warfare series than the style in which the new NFS game is in. It also uses the "there's a soldier in all of us" montra, which enables any joe schmo to pick up a controller and kick some butt on xbox live. What I'm trying to say is that is a trailer that appeals to the audience without having to show too much of the game because it's so well known that it doesn't have to. Call it pretentious, but it's the truth.

Oh yeah, and Dwight Howard looks awesome holding an assault rifle. Looks like he's making good use of the lockout.

Need for Speed: The Run - Trailer directed by Michael Bay

And then it EXPLODES AGAIN!

Oh, Michael Bay. Honestly, there weren't as many explosions as I was expecting. Usually he has a ratio of 2 explosions every 30 seconds, and this trailer was well below the quota. But in all seriousness, using Michael Bay to direct a trailer (I'm not even really sure what that entails for a video game trailer) was an interesting, and not necessarily good, decision. First of all, did they create scenes that Bay had in his mind for the trailer? Did they show him every cutscene and other scenes and he could pick and choose what he wanted? I guess I'm confused as to how this makes the trailer any different from the others, except with the addition of a lot more slow motion. We know the story from the others, not much more new content (or any) has been revealed soon.

The game drops in a week, and I feel like I don't know as much as I should about the actual gameplay, or how the story is executed. This prompted me to take a look at an actual gameplay preview, and it looks like the game will be extremely linear. There are ten stages, and you have a goal of getting to a certain position (you start in 150th and work from there) before you reach your destination. Passing people and doing other generally awesome things will net you driver experience and upgrades, but that's pretty much it. And much like the trailers, there will be a couple on foot instances.

I'm very interested in this game, don't get me wrong. But people who are only going to see this trailer on TV or something and not research the game might be a little put off by it. It's an epic, awesome trailer, but it suffers from Dead Island syndrome. Awesome trailer, but the game is not going to be exactly like it. Even Michael Bay can't fix that.

Sunday Ramblings: A musical tribute to Super Smash Bros. Brawl

I will be humming this all week, and I apologize in advance

 

The creativity of people will never cease to amaze me. I am a firm believer that video game music can can easily be one of the best parts of the game itself. And in some unfortunate circumstances, it is the best part of the game (I'm looking at you, Tetris). Some songs have become staples in the video game community, and have even propelled themselves into the mainstream in some cases. Super Smash Bros. Brawl has one of those theme songs that have become a staple in the community, and this choir has definitely taken notice to it.

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and if that is so then the composers of the Brawl theme should be blushing their faces off. This is perfect, a beautiful arrangement and honestly it could have been the real theme if they added some percussion to it. This isn't their only cover on the youtubes, you can check out their page at http://www.youtube.com/user/VideoGameMusicChoir. 

What's your favorite video game theme song? Got any cool covers or medleys that are worth listening to? Leave it here!

Saturday Special: The Flawed Protagonist

We've all got a little darkness in us...

Seriously... BO-RING!

“Bowser took the Princess again!? Are you $^&@# kidding me? Ugh, fine, I’ll be right there.” Mario slams the phone on the hook, knocking empty beer bottles onto the floor. He stumbles out of his bed and opens his blinds to expose the haze of early afternoon, exposing himself to light for the first time in days. He takes a swig from his bottle of whiskey, looks at his disheveled overgrown mustache, and walks out the door. Once he finally can get his kart started, he swerves off to try and save the day once again. 

Not exactly the Mario that you’re used to, is it? Gamers are used to classic characters like Mario and Link to be pillars of perfection, triumphing over evil without even breaking a sweat. However, a different kind of protagonist has risen to take prominence in the video game world, and that character is way closer to the Mario described above than the one that we’re used to. Not only has a more flawed protagonist become part of mainstream video games, but some people would rather play as a character with serious inner turmoil.

“I think having a flawed protagonist allows for a better gaming experience,” said Bill O’Connel, an avid gamer from Boston since the late nineties. He noted that the first time he ever experienced a character that wasn’t the typical golden boy was in Grand Theft Auto III, released in 2001 for the Playstation 2. Grand Theft Auto III literally changed the face of video game culture because of its shocking explicit content. You control Claude, a seemingly mute guy who gets screwed over by his now ex-girlfriend in the middle of a bank heist. You’re left with nothing, and have to shoot, beat, and drive your way back to the top and get revenge.

Now that's more like it

Claude represented a character that people were not used to playing. You could take drugs, solicit prostitutes for extra health, steal cars, and use a whole wealth of guns to shoot literally everyone, including innocent pedestrians and police officers. While Claude was not the first character in the “anti-hero” category, but he was the first that made departing from the righteous path mainstream, and the flawed protagonist has only become more prominent. 

It seems as though being good has become too boring for gamers, and they are consistently choosing to play characters with flaws for the extra depth that they provide to the story. O’Connell agrees, saying he would rather play the bad guy trying to do the right thing rather than the goody two shoes fighting evil. “Having main characters with these types of backgrounds opens the gamer up to more exciting storylines and a better experience. I'd rather play a game as a scumbag mobster with a heart of gold as opposed to a squeaky clean Mario type.”

Seriously, you wouldn't mess with him.

Another reason why the anti-hero has risen to be a popular kind of character to play with is how human they feel, at times we can identify with their flaws. Evan Sigel, a gamer and film maker from Los Angeles thinks a flawed protagonist is essential in a person being truly immersed into a game’s plot. He says, “The ‘flawed protagonist’ is a pretty common motif. It's what makes heroes interesting and real. People are flawed, and in order to be immersed in a story, we need to empathize with the protagonist.” Sigel distinctly recalls his experience with another game produced by Rockstar: Red Dead Redemption. “He's the classic flawed protagonist, trying to right the wrongs of his past. He does the right thing, most of the time. And what's fun about a RPG like Red Dead Redemption of course is letting those character flaws guide your actions as a player sometimes: to save the stranded wagoners... or rob them blind?” 

Apparently if you're mean,
your eyes will glow red.

Cooper Heinrichs, a gamer from Boulder, Colorado agrees with Sigel, “After so many classic hero stories, having a flawed protagonist adds to the content of games by providing a fresh perspective, and possibilities for an interesting story.” Heinrichs cites Mass Effect 2 as the first game where he truly appreciated the flawed protagonist because you had the choice to make your character good or evil. “Kicking people out of skyscraper windows, shooting precious art, and just generally telling everyone in

the galaxy to go to hell was just incredible.”

The characters featured in these games don’t necessarily get the girls, they don’t receive fame and glory for their actions, typically they aren’t even appreciated (or hated) for saving the day. They are beaten, bruised, and spit on by the rest of society for all of the things that they do for other people. And it seems as though gamers want to keep controlling them. 

Devil May Cry: HD Collection - Debut Trailer

Here we go again, this time in HD!

Continuing the HD remake trend, Devil May Cry is coming back in a big way with a high definition collection of its own. Cue tons of cult followers celebrating in whatever way DMC fans may celebrate. Then cue their collective groans after they see that the Xbox will be getting the collection as well. Seriously, what's so bad about games going to other systems? It's a business after all, and Devil May Cry is no Halo/Uncharted so seeing it on a different platform isn't that weird. 

Anyway, there isn't much new going on here. All three Devil May Cry titles that originally debuted for the PS2 are all in one package, with some fresh HD graphics. It's yet to be seen if any actual gameplay mechanics will be changed for the remake, my guess is they're either going to take the "best" control scheme and adapt it to all the games, or change nothing.

What do you think of the HD remakes coming out? What games would you like to see get an HD facelift? Leave it here!

Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6: Patriots Target Gameplay Video

Well that was... wow
  

First of all, watch this whole video. 6 minutes and change might seem like a long time for any kind of first look gameplay trailer, but it's worth it. Classy move on the developer's part to release the target gameplay before some other (I assume) jerk does it, shows a lot of credibility from them. It should also be noted that the footage we see in the trailer is not what the real thing will look like, just what they wanted the concept to be like.

Despite this not necessarily looking like how the game will turn out, I have one word: wow. That was an intense six minutes, and I especially enjoyed being able to play from the perspective of the victim and the people who are supposedly keeping the innocent people safe. We don't know who this terrorist group is, or if they were even going to make this guy blow himself up when he got to times square. But the Rainbow 6 guys cut through the terrorists like a hot knife through butter and ultimately made a decision that saved more lives than it cost. 

The shooting looked smooth and tight, although I will say it looked like the sights on the sniper rifle had some magnetic properties towards the enemies. New footage for the actual gameplay can't come soon enough. 

Grand Theft Auto V - Debut Trailer

The wait is finally over

Is anyone really surprised that GTA V is taking place in Los Santos (Los Angeles)? I wanted to see a new city, so I honestly went into watching this trailer expecting to be disappointed, and this was not the case. The city looks gorgeous and being a new resident of LA LA land myself, I saw a lot of locations that looked familiar. The San Diego Freeway, Muscle Beach, the downtown skyline, and the Vinewood (Hollywood) sign, just to name a few. If Rockstar can give LA the same treatment it gave to New York City, then we're looking at the most detailed and epic GTA yet, and that's exciting.

Our protagonist's identity remains a mystery for now, but we at least got to hear (and kind of see? I'm not really sure) him in the trailer's narration. He sounds latino in the first couple lines, but as the trailer goes on he sounds more Goodfellas wise-guy. There's also a recurring character, the first time we see him is looking out over downtown LS, then again with a gas mask and gun, and one more time driving a car away from the police. But then again we see a latino-looking guy running from the cops, so who knows at this point. All I know is that someone is coming to Los Santos looking for a better live for himself and his family (oh hay, Niko Bellic) and it obviously doesn't go according to plan.

The little details in this trailer make me feel as if this will be a super detailed, and therefore awesome GTA title. First of all, THERE'S A DOG IN THE FIRST SCENE. We've never seen animals in a GTA before (no, bigfoot does not count and is also not real) and I really hope that animal life will be added. Imagine running into a mountain lion in the hollywood hills? The city also feels very alive, and it seems as if Rockstar is trying for a more diverse crowd of pedestrians and vehicles, which is always a good thing.

What do you think of the debut trailer? What little things did you notice that make you even more excited to play? Leave it here!

Also, gamepro did a really awesome shot-for-shot analysis of the trailer with some great speculations. You can see it at their website.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Launch Trailer

Bring on the remakes, baby

Out of nowhere, HD remakes have become a new trend in gaming. We've seen 3DS ports of Star Fox 64 and Ocarina of Time, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus go to PS3, and now Halo is getting a fresh makeover on the Xbox 360. I for one couldn't be happier about it. Halo may not have started the FPS movement, but it sure did launch it into the glory that we know today.

The first part of the trailer is actually all footage from Halo: Reach because Halo: CE is essentially a direct sequel to the latest Halo title. As Noble 6 you helped the Pillar of Autumn off of the doomed planet, and during the credits you see the ship approaching the first Halo. If I just spoiled some of Reach for you, get over it, you must live under a rock.

The second part shows the original Halo as we knew and loved it, just with super awesome graphics that come with the Xbox 360. The campaign is completely intact and the original maps will be available to play in online multiplayer (Hang 'em High, anyone?). One of the cooler features of the game allows the player to switch back and forth between the old original graphics and the current visuals, making it really interesting to see what they've changed. Halo, you had me from hello. Now get in my Xbox.