Look at the treat from this year's San Diego Comic Con! While I'm sure that this will not be the only sweet bit of news we will learn about this weekend, it's good to see the Bat back in action. Well, he kind of gets his tail whipped, but beggars can't be choosers.
Enter Copperhead: The "New 52" of the original Copperhead villain: female, partially snake, and super pissed off at Batman. She's crazy fast and apparently had her fingerclaws doused in some kind of poison. I'd bet it is a copperhead snake poison, but it's a wild guess really.
Seeing WB really get creative and bring in lesser-known villains to appeal the hardcore Batman fan. Trust me, they're out there.
Batman: Arkham Origins PC, Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3 Release: Oct 25, 2013 Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Developer: Warner Bros. Games Montreal
The gameplay reveal trailer for the HD remake of both Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories gives me the opportunity to learn you about a couple of things. The first thing is: if you have a PS3, play this game. You won't be sorry. Kingdom Hearts was one of the first games I ever really connected with, there is such a strong message about fighting darkness that really sucks you into Sora's story. And there's Disney characters. You actually can't go wrong. Take the opportunity to give this a play with the HD treatment.
The second (and more relevant to trailer making) is this is a great opportunity to highlight the work of game capture artists. For trailers like this that focus on gameplay, it is very important that they are capturing action that will both flow and feel exciting to the viewer. With good variety of both Disney Worlds/Characters and Sora ass-kicking action, these artists made sure there was plenty for us to see for this remake.
I think the internet is going to be overcome with a wave of 'excited like hell' once this gameplay reveal trailer makes the rounds. Rockstar potentially showed us 15% of all of the different things you can do in GTA V, and that's a generous number. What's even better is we got a mix of work and play, all of which look like activities that I'll be spending a preposterous amount of time doing.
These are the kinds of trailers where the content really just shines above anything else, and Rockstar knows this. Where they really made this piece work was in their flow and presentation. They start with the overal game world, and then slowly focus in on characters, activities, and missions. It made me wonder how far "modern Southern California" will spread, something you can apparently explore from minute one in the game.
The shooting looked a whole lot like the way Max Payne 3 worked; you have a quick weapon select menu, the reticle shows an "X" when you hit an enemy, and it's generally pretty simple to use. Short of bullet time, we should have the best shooting mechanics in a GTA yet. The driving looks faster and more polished than ever, which is promising considering I never had a sports car last very long in past games because they're so damn touchy.
And of course you have to mention the decision to go with three protagonists in GTA V. Personally, I love it. I'll be curious to see if I tend to play with one character over others, but from this trailer it looks as though switching between characters will be necessary to complete missions. Look at you Rockstar, adding features and giving them real purpose.
Is it September yet?
Grand Theft Auto V PS3, Xbox 360 Release: Sep 17, 2013 Publisher: Rockstar Games Developer: Rockstar North
That second title was only half a joke. What's amazing about Telltales's The Walking Dead series is how each episode truly feels like a gamified version of the television show. Only in the game you get to make difficult choices that truly makes the story compelling. But who's keeping track?
In 400 Days, we get a trailer that feels more like a trailer for the next episode of a TV series, which goes along very well with the overall feel of the game. It's always refreshing to see a focus on the story above everything. If you haven't played through this series yet, it's high time to do so.
The Walking Dead: 400 Days
PSN, XBLA, PC/Mac, iOS
Release: July 2 - 11, 2013
Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
I was thrust into the fire, and this is what I did
Deadpool - Launch Trailer
Hello again! After an extended hiatus, the Trailer Jockey is back and ready to get back on that horse of trailer reviews. I bet you were all wondering where I had gone for so long, so allow me to fill you in:
I had the honor to be taken on by the production team at a high level trailer house for video games (because the confidentiality is/was so elaborate, I'm going to err on the side of caution and not name anything or really go into a ton of detail) for their work on E3 2013. Long story short, I was assisting the producers that were making all of the trailers throughout this post, along with the trailers especially made for our client at E3, happen.
Mad Max - E3 Reveal Trailer
I learned more about the video game industry in these last two months then I had in all of my experiences leading up to this one. Seeing games in development, PLAYING games in development, and observing how certain publishers operate all were openings into this world that I could not get enough of. Pile all that on top of being involved in the production of something that will represent an upcoming game to the consumer was one of the more fulfilling moments out of my time here on Earth.
Destiny - E3 Gameplay Trailer
But of course with the cool work came very long nights (that sometimes turned back into days) and a constant stream of nonstop deadlines and stress. And while I absolutely loved every second of it, I am happy to return to TTJ and really start looking at video game trailers with a refreshed look: a look that has seen a trailer being built from conception to release. So welcome back to the new world of the Trailer Jockey, glad to have you along for the ride.
Call of Duty: Ghosts- Reveal Trailer
Enjoy these trailers! They were a pleasure to work on and I feel like they all came out ridiculously well. And the best part? Getting to be "in" a multiplayer trailer because they needed extra people for capture, like below:
Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Vengeance DLC "Replacers" Trailer
