Hotline Miami has one of the most fun and original video game soundtracks of the past year (or several, in my opinion). Both the visuals and the music of the game were inspired by the movie Drive, which I also loved. Before watching Drive or playing Hotline Miami, 80s culture kind of, well… creeped me out. Both Drive and Hotline are creepy in their own right, but surprisingly, they actually stimulated my interest for this kind of music. I wanted to listen while working on other projects, so using Spotify, I began compiling music from the game and movie.

Unfortunately, I found that some of the most iconic music from Hotline were just unusable in the playlist, namely, anything by Sun Araw. If you’ve played the game, these tracks will be instantly recognizable. Unfortunately, the songs are extremely repetitive and 10 freaking minutes long, which is totally unnecessary, and ruins the flow of the playlist. A real pity, because they really are iconic songs from the game. Also, Sun Araw is “War Anus” backwards, which made it even more difficult to eliminate them from the list. Fortunately, I began finding music that, while not directly featured in Drive or Hotline Miami, fit perfectly in the playlist, and were more interesting standalone tracks. Check out the link to my “Spotify and Rdio Playlist Inspired by Hotline Miami” after the jump!

I compiled an enormous playlist from the best tracks of this genre which I can only describe as “modern 80s electronic” and whittled it down to to this 25 track playlist. I tried to come up with a diverse order that 1) prevents you from getting sick of one type of song too quickly, and 2) scatters my favorite songs throughout the list. It’s also good if you just play on shuffle. I’ve really enjoyed listening to the list for days, and I hope you will too! Both the Spotify and RDIO links are below. I recommend the Spotify list, as it includes several songs that I couldn’t find on Rdio:

Spotify Playlist Inspired by Hotline Miami

Rdio Playlist Inspired by Hotline Miami

The post Spotify and Rdio Playlist Inspired by Hotline Miami appeared first on Twinfinite: Video game news, reviews, opinions, and community..

Whether classic or modern, chip-tune or orchestral, I love music from video games. If you love video games, but haven’t tried working or browsing the Internet to your favorite video game music, it’s definitely worth a try. It’s like a loophole that allows you to enjoy games while doing something more productive. There is a debate over whether video games are truly art, but the music alone qualifies them- in my opinion, video game pieces encompass some of the most powerful music of our time. It can also help your focus (like classical music), stimulate your creative juices, and instantly put you in a better mood.

However, if you’re like me, your productivity may wane as you begin to compile playlists of the best video game music. Luckily, Spotify makes it easier than ever before to find music and compile playlists without having to buy a bunch of music (or resort to less savory methods). It also lets me share the fruits of my labor with you (if you haven’t downloaded Spotify yet, it’s well worth it). Link to the “best video game music playlist” after the jump!

Twinfinite’s Best Video Game Music Playlist on Spotify

My methodology for creating this playlist is as follows:

1. Chiptunes tend to be more action-packed and nostalgic. Orchestral compositions tend to be more beautiful, and explore a song’s potential as a standalone show piece. I chose to go with exclusively orchestral compositions for consistency.
2. I tried to both incorporate the most important pieces on Spotify, while eliminating excessively long compositions (I don’t like really long pieces that dominate playlists, you eventually end up skipping over them entirely).
3. When in doubt between orchestral compilations of the same music, I erred on the side of 1) short length, 2) familiarity, 3) dense and exciting rather than subdued, and 4) non-live versions (no applause). Examples of where I had multiple versions to choose from are Sonic The Hedgehog, Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and “One-Winged Angel” (Final Fantasy VII ).
4. Unfortunately, my bias towards music from the Final Fantasy series betrays itself in this playlist. Nobuo Uematsu is a master. I have tried to eliminate any that I felt didn’t truly belong. Even if you dislike the series, I urge you to give this music a chance.

Unfortunately, I was limited to music which existed on Spotify. There is other music that I would have surely included, given the option. There were other cases where the music may have existed on Spotify, but I didn’t feel that the version was strong enough to include. There are just a few on the playlist which I feel could better celebrate the music.

If there are other pieces or games which you feel need to be added to the playlist, or if you’re looking for more information about one of the songs, please list them in the comments! Special thanks to Video Games Live, Nobuo Uematsu, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Play!, the source games and composers, and all others who have contributed music to this playlist. Thank you for taking the time to listen!

The post [Chipfinite] The Best Video Game Music Playlist on Spotify appeared first on Twinfinite: Video game news, reviews, opinions, and community..

Sound: The stereo sound is extremely crisp; better than any headset I have used. The lack of surround sound is a disadvantage, but for most applications it’s unnoticeable. The sound of music and most games on the PX3 will be roughly indistinguishable to the sound from a surround sound headset, but there are situations in which surround sound can come in handy- namely, a game like Call of Duty, where surround sound may enable a player to better identify the direction of a sound’s origin. The technology will also automatically amplify chat sounds when the game audio gets louder, and will diminish loud noises (like explosions) to avoid deafening the user. The headset sports 18 interchangeable audio settings, and users can add their own if they don’t find an option appropriate for their task. These audio settings can be used to enhance, amplify, or diminish certain sounds. Sometimes, these presets can even give a player a tactical advantage. For instance, a player can amplify the sound of footsteps or reloading in Call of Duty to get a jump on his enemy. In FTL (Faster Than Light), a player can amplify the sound of a raging fire or the air rushing out of a hull breach to identify potential hazards in an invisible section of the ship. They might want to amplify a sound indicating that Terrans… are Zerging… their additional pylons. Basically, use of the presets is going to vary wildly between players, dependent on the games that they play. Some may not use them at all- the default setting is great for most applications, and it is by no means necessary to mess with the presets if you aren’t interested. If a player can’t find the preset that fits their needs among the 18 available out of the box, they can make their own using the online tool. However, this should rarely be necessary, as there are a number of user-made presets available online as well. I haven’t explored beyond the 18 available presets, but it’s clear that there’s enough available for pretty much any application. The sound isolation/cancellation technology is very effective. To the listener, it is difficult to hear outside noise. It will sound muffled and quiet. The sound emitted from the headphones is difficult (but not impossible) to hear for someone standing near the listener. The headphones can get very loud however, and at higher volumes (probably uncomfortable volumes) it will be audible to parties in the vicinity of the listener.

Battery Life: The battery life on the PX3 headset is fantastic. Unlike many other headsets (including the PX3′s big brother, the PX5), the PX3 does not use double-A batteries. It has a lithium battery that can charge directly from your computer or console, which was a huge selling point for someone like me, who hates batteries. At maximum charge, it boasts a 15-hour battery life, although most sites will rate it at 10 hours. Of course, you can also keep it plugged in while you’re playing, and it comes with an extremely long mini-usb cable, so you can charge it from the comfort of your couch.

Connection: There is no bluetooth in the wireless headset, but I haven’t found it necessary. It’s more of an issue in initial setup, where you need to mess with cables and the transmitter box. After that, it should be fairly simple to get connected. However, the headset may occasionally have some difficulty connecting to the computer. You won’t be able to hear anything or use the mic, or see it in the list of available audio devices. You usually just have to unplug and reconnect the device to fix the issue, but on very rare occasions I’ve had to restart my computer. I’ve seen this issue appear on the forums, but it’s difficult to tell whether it’s an issue on the end of the headset or the PC- I was using Windows 7, and I haven’t had the issue on my PS3. Once successfully connected, it’s easy to switch between the device and the PC, simply by flipping the switch on the transmitter box. Occasionally the headset would start ambiguously beeping, and turn off a minute later. I took this to mean that the headset was low on batteries, but after checking online, I’ve found that it’s likely due to inactivity- after a few minutes of no sound output, the headset will beep a few times, and power off later. For forgetful people (like me), this can be a useful feature for saving batteries. However, just like an overenthusiastic screen saver, it can also be mildly annoying. I have not investigated whether or not there is any way to limit or disable this feature; it’s more of a minor inconvenience caused by an effective means of saving power. UPDATE: It seems to use beeping to indicate everything, and it can be confusing and annoying. The wireless signal is fantastic. Compared to the Sony Wireless Stereo Headset, the signal is much stronger. I can wear the headset and walk all around my apartment and beyond, and both the audio of the headset and my voice on the other end are consistently crystal clear, making it phenomenal for multitasking while talking to someone over Skype or watching something on Netflix (our sponsors… I wish). I can even go two floors down, directly under my apartment, and still talk and hear the audio (although less consistently). I found this out by accident, trying to do the laundry while talking to my girlfriend.

Comfort: The headphones are more comfortable than any headset I’ve used. Admittedly, my exposure is limited, but they feel fairly lightweight (but not cheap), and feel even lighter due to the super comfortable mesh cushions. They squeeze a bit to hold them in place, but compared to the Sony headset, it is much more comfortable. My head doesn’t feel nearly as constricted wearing the PX3; it feels like the pressure on my head is well-distributed between the ears and the strap. It is possible that the microphone could get in the way, but it is constructed in such a way that it could be repositioned to be further away from your face, or even up to the side, parallel to the headband if you don’t need it.

Style:They look great, especially for a heavy-duty headset, which can often look clunky. The black headphones have a clean, even professional look. Some might have problems with the looks of the long, positionable microphone. It looked a little unusual to me at first, but I think the benefits easily outweigh the small sacrifice in fashion. It does not have support for custom faceplates like some new headsets popular with the pros. The band is thin and rests back on the skull, and therefore will not mess up the player’s hair as much as comparable headsets. This may sound vain, but for those who livestream for long periods of time (like me), it may be important to have a headset that will not excessively mat down your hair. My girlfriend tells me they (the PX3s) make me look like a sexy air-traffic controller:

 While the Sony headset makes me look like a Tie Fighter from Star Wars:

Price: The headset retails for $149.95, and has since launch. This may seem like a lot to the uninitiated, but it’s actually reasonable for headsets in the same class. The Sony Wireless Gaming Headset is similar in many ways- wireless, multi-device, charges via mini USB, and close in price range. The Sony headset, however, is only $100, and features 7.1 Dolby surround sound. Neither headset have dropped their price since launch. This is somewhat disappointing, but price drops like this more commonly occur with consoles and software, and less often with hardware that can’t make back money on software sales.

Conclusions: Overall, the headset is a great value. From what I’ve seen (which is limited, and I’m sure many might disagree), it’s the best headset you can get for the money. It has a few flaws, and I think that the price could still be lower, but overall, I find it quite worth the money, and I wish that I had picked one up sooner. The Sony headset manages a lower price point, and I will likely still use it for situations where surround sound is important. However, I find that the high sound quality, wireless range/consistency, and the style/comfort of the Turtle Beach headset make it superior to most, if not all headsets in the same class.

[+Programmable presets] [+Support for most systems] [+Rechargeable using PS3 mini-USB cable] [+Comfortable] [+Stylish] [-No price drop] [-No surround sound] [-Occasional issues connecting] [-Ambiguous Beeping]

The post [Review] Turtle Beach Ear Force PX3 Wireless Gaming Headset appeared first on Twinfinite: Video game news, reviews, opinions, and community..

(Updated with more prizes!)

We’ve made the announcement, now is the time to talk about the items you can win for donating to Extra Life.  As you all know, you have the chance to win an Xbox 360.  I think that rewarding charity with big incentives is only fair.   However, the list grows even longer for games given away.  Keep up to date with our progress throughout the day at our Extra Life team page.

First, big thanks to Roppy Chop Studios, 5th Cell, Fruit Bat Factory, Runic Games, Ratloop Asia, Trendy Entertainment, Indie Royale, Bethesda and Lukewarm Media. These developers stepped up and donated some games/prizes for us to raffle and we can’t thank them enough.

Now, the master list is as follows:

• War of the Human Tanks (Gamersgate Code X3) generously donated by Fruit Bat Factory
• Hybrid (Xbox 360 Codes X11) generously donated by 5th Cell
• Rekoil (10 T-Shirts and 10 Beta Keys) generously donated by Plastic Piranha
• Torchlight 2 (Steam Code X5) generously donated by Runic Games and Perfect World Entertainment
  
• Roppy Chop Collection (3 Xbox Games) generously donated by Roppy Chop Studios
• Primal Carnage Beta codes (a lot of them) generously donated by Lukewarm Media
• Dungeon Defenders (3 Steam Codes) generously donated by Trendy Entertainment
• Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken (2 Steam Codes) generously donated by Ratloop Asia
• Ravaged (2 Steam Codes) generously donated by 2 Dawn Games
• Indie Royale Bundle (7 Gift Codes) generously donated by Indie Royale
• Manga Game Bundle (3 DRM Free Games X2)
• Dustforce (Steam Code X2)
• Bundle in a Box (Gift Code)
• Minecraft Skin Pack 3 (Xbox DLC Code)
• Sanctum (Steam Code)
• World of Goo (Steam Code)
• Hitman Collection (Steam Code)
• Broken Sword Collection (Steam Codes)
• Space Giraffe (Steam Code)
• Deus Ex Human Revolution + Missing Link (Steam Code X2)
• Just Cause (Steam Code X2)
• Just Cause 2 (Steam Code X2)
• Quantum Conundrum (Steam Code X2)
• Hitman: Blood Money (Steam Code X2)
• Supreme Commander 2 (Steam Code X2)
• The Last Remnant (Steam Code)
• Alien Breed 2 and 3 (Steam Codes)
• Battlegroup (Desura Code X2)
• Worms Crazy Golf Fun Pack (Steam Codes)
• Saints Row 3 (Steam Code)
• F.3.A.R (Steam Code)
• Half-Life 2 (Steam Code)
• Dead Space 2 (Steam Code)
• The Longest Journey (Steam Code)
• Escape Goat (Desura Code)
• Dark Scavenger (Desura Code)
• The Wreckless (Desura Code)
• Vessel, Torchlight, Rochard, Shatter and S.P.A.Z. (Steam Code X2)
• Wizorb, Gratuitous Space Battles, Jamestown and Bit.Trip Runner (Steam Code X2)
• Bethesda Dishonored Swag Bag (includes paper mask signed by the studio, Dishonored shirts (M – XXXL), paper speaker set x2, paper Corvo Attano WANTED poster), US-only, donated by Bethesda Softworks
• Civilization V (Steam code) generously donated by community member Travis Weadock

And don’t forget, this Xbox 360 with a 320gb hard drive (UPDATE: A good friend at Reverb Publishing donated Michael Phelps, Twister Mania, Zumba Fitness, Best of Rocky & Bullwinkle Vol. 1, and Gardening Mama DS to our 360 Prize Package):

So you might be asking yourself numerous questions like how to win yourself an Xbox and my god aren’t you overcompensating?

Well, here’s a little guide for you:

How to donate and enter the raffle:

Click on the link below:

Donate to help Sick Kids

Fill out all your information and the amount you want to donate. Even if you can only spare a few bucks, we will gladly accept it and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Next, make sure to check the little box that says “Allow participant to see my e-mail address”

This allows me to track who donated so I can enter you in to the raffle. You can choose to donate anonymously, but that means I won’t know who you are and I can’t enter you in to the raffle.  I have too many games. Make sure to remember to click that button. Note that only one donation will count in the raffle so don’t try and flood it with a million small donations.  Donate what you can and we’ll enter you.  For anybody trying to be funny, I’m going to personally look at all donations so if you donate a penny I’m going to frown a bit.

When does Extra Life happen?

From October 20th at 11AM EST through to October 21st at 11AM EST, we will be gaming. We’ll have a more up to date schedule by Friday.

Want to watch us play?

Many from the staff will be taking turns playing on our Twitch channel throughout the event.  Come keep us company!

When will the raffle take place?

Since we’re going to be streaming during the event, we’ll be drawing codes to give away through the entirety.  We’ll make announcements on the twitch stream, but if you want a chance to win the most prizes be sure donate early.  We are finalizing the stream schedule right now, but we’ll be giving away prizes hourly.  The Xbox 360 will be raffled on Sunday since we have to take in to account everyone that donated here and during G3.

Want a specific game?

There is a comment box where you can write anything you want.  Put your preferred system, game or any other relevant information you think will get you a prize in to the comment box.  Not saying you are guaranteed the game, but we have a lot of prizes to hand out.

Any stipulations for winners?

If you win a game and don’t want it for whatever reason, tough.  It’s yours.  Don’t try and give it back.  Instead give the game to a friend or find some other way to unload it.  We got these codes as a reward. Your code will be sent out in an email within a day or two of winning.  If you never receive the email, then check your spam folders.  We are emailing them to the email used copy paste, so just make sure you typed it in correctly.  This is our way of thanking you for donating.

The Xbox 360 will be shipped out to the winner in the United States free of charge.  If the winner lives elsewhere, you will need to cover shipping.   Sorry, but this is coming out of my pocket and my pockets aren’t very deep.  Also, if I don’t get any response from the winner within 30 days after the event, the console is being turned in to one of the many game stores around me and I’m donating whatever I get back to Children’s Miracle Network.  I would hate to do that, but I am not going to be sitting on a perfectly good Xbox come Christmas time.  Please check your emails so you get it instead of Gamestop.

Where are the donations going?

Children’s Miracle Network has set up an international grant for the 170 hospitals they run around the world.  We at Twinfinite think that sick kids around the world need all the help they can get. If this is able to buy some extra tongue depressors or reduces the down payment of a new CT machine, it’s going to help those families that need it.  Anything we can do to help raise the standard of care is important to us and that’s why we are doing this.

The post [Charity] Extra Life Raffle List Exposed (UPDATE) appeared first on Twinfinite: Video game news, reviews, opinions, and community..

First Blood- this is for making fantastic games and then having the nerve to be super approachable!

This post is mainly just designed to chronicle the two times I’ve met Tim Schafer (founder of Double Fine Productions) at gaming conventions. He is a terrific guy, and even had the heart to approach me when he saw me awkwardly standing near him. He also makes cool adventure games. It’s important to note that this post is completely reflective of the quality of all posts on our site.

LOL I feel just like Perez Hilton

As I was sneaking up on him, Tim sensed something... a presence he had not felt since...

Fun fact- Tim learned that move from Rafiki

The first picture was his idea (after I asked him for a high-five picture); what an awesome dude. Anyway, thanks for reading my shitty gallery post! Do you like how I crammed some extra pictures in there, just so this wouldn’t feel like a total waste of time? If you’re feeling sassy, enter our third of four big weekly Steam game giveaways and hook yo’ self up with one of ten games (the odds of winning aren’t bad at the moment)!

The post [PAX] My Slow War With Tim Schafer (Shitty Gallery Post) appeared first on Twinfinite: Video game news, reviews, opinions, and community..

I recently received a review copy of the SteelSeries Sensei MLG Edition pro gaming mouse, and it’s taken me a while to explore all the features and try the mouse on a variety of games and applications. Without diving too deep into technical details that would be incomprehensible to most gamers, I’ll say this about the mouse: it is completely accurate- as accurate and precise as you can be. The hardware ensures this (and remember, a good mousepad is just as important to accuracy as your mouse).

You can customize any aspect of its software to your exact specifications- sensitivity, path correction, acceleration, lift distance, the button mappings, the colors- you can macro them to buttons to change all of these on the fly if you want. The only issue is that many gamers may be ill-equipped to take full advantage of these features, unless they know exactly what sort of acceleration/speed they need to be most effective in a given scenario. Fortunately, the default settings feel intuitive to me, (and to most gamers, I expect). Despite the software enabling you to modify the software, it is all onboard- no PC/Mac drivers necessary. You can even store multiple customizations (profiles), and trigger a different profile when a given application is active (increase sensitivity when Counterstrike is active, glow blue when Starcraft II is active).

Like all worthwhile pro gaming mouses, it has a button that lets you swap between low and high sensitivity. These can be modified through the accompanying software package, but the default specs were more than refined. Unlike my previous mouse (Logitech MX518), I didn’t find the high sensitivity setting to be uncontrollable. It is definitely the setting you’ll want to use on a twitch shooter, and you will be used to the higher sensitivity in 5-10 minutes. You’ll find it fairly easy to stop your cursor on small targets across the screen- don’t rest your palm on the mouse when accuracy is important; I recommend a bit of a claw grip for highest accuracy.

You can tell that a lot of thought went into each component of the mouse to maximize effectiveness; the shape conforms well to your hand without favoring righties like many high-end mice (it even has a left-handed mode built into the software). the weight is well-balanced, the material is smooth, and the bottom enough friction to keep it from slipping on smoother pads, but not enough to inhibit movement. The scroll-wheel is grippy and precisely notched, and the double-braided cord is unlikely to break under the yanking force of even the most angry gamer.

It has a few visual perks that some may be interested in; the leds on the scroll wheel & body may not be necessary for most people, but they’re tasteful and customizable- you can change the colors or turn them off. Personally, I was planning on immediately turning them off, but after switching to a deep purple hue, I find that I kind of like it. The LED screen on the bottom is slightly overkill- it’s unlikely most people will see it, but I suppose it might be a desirable place for would-be pros to put their gamer tag. That being said, it certainly doesn’t detract from the mouse in any way- it can also be turned off if a gamer isn’t interested in the extra bling. However, several of these perks could certainly contribute to the price point.

The price is the “make-or-break” point of the device. At $99, it is at quite a high price-range for mice. However, it consistently ranks near the top for gaming mice in its class, and is well-under the most expensive mice out there. However, it is likely that many of the features may not be necessary for most gamers, and thus the price point may not be justifiable. However, unless you want a weightier mouse at the extreme end of the ergonomic spectrum, this mouse will do everything you want it to do. If you are a gamer who feels bottlenecked by his hardware (and can afford a hundred-dollar mouse) I give the Sensei my full recommendation.

[Final Breakdown]

[+Optimized Hardware] [+Extremely Precise] [+Great Customizability] [-High Price Tag]

4/5: Good

The post [Review] SteelSeries Sensei MLG Edition Mouse appeared first on Twinfinite: Video game news, reviews, opinions, and community..

I had the opportunity to meet with Harrison Pink, lead designer for The Walking Dead: Episode 3 at Pax, and he was gracious enough to answer a few questions for us. He went into detail about the process of writing each episode, the motivation behind making a story-based game series based on the Walking Dead, and how they stayed true to the source material.

I have tried to keep this interview spoiler-free. Personally, I was trying to avoid spoiling Episode 3 even for myself, as I will be waiting until November so that I can play the game with my girlfriend (if you haven’t tried playing the game with two people on the couch, I’d really encourage you to give it a try).

I’ll also take this opportunity to say that the TellTale PR crew are some of the nicest, most helpful PR representatives you will find at a game convention. They are just as excited about the games as we are, and they are extremely gracious to their fans. Although I spoke a bit slowly, I think that we got a lot of insight into these games- fans of the series will really enjoy what he has to say. If anyone is interested in a written transcript of the interview, let me know and I’ll write one up.

The post [PAX] The Walking Dead: Telltale Interview appeared first on Twinfinite: Video game news, reviews, opinions, and community..

Nvidia was one of the few hardware booths that we were able to attend at PAX 2012, where we got a hands-on demo of some upcoming games running on Nvidia graphics cards. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as we were mainly engaging with software companies at the event. Still, I hoped that my software background and my (very) recent foray into building my own PC would equip me to carry on a conversation about graphics cards, and it actually went really smoothly. They were showing off a diverse array of games, including WoW: Mists of Pandaria, Borderlands 2, Sim City 4, Hawken, and some fairly advanced Android games. They all served their own purposes in the context of the interview.

The PR representative I interviewed discussed many of the challenges faced by graphics card developers. We’re currently at the period in the console/PC cycle where PCs are becoming more favored than consoles in many circles, due to developers pushing beyond the processing limitations of consoles. This results in a lot of PC ports, and gamers are demanding extreme scalability from their games. Mists of Pandaria is an example of a game that has low minimum settings, but can be scaled up to settings that are quite high, and can effectively take advantage of high-end graphics cards. Borderlands 2 as well; you don’t need a great computer to run it, but if you do, you can enjoy awesome particle effects through Nvidia PhysX, which manifest themselves in many forms (exposions, gas, liquid). Even free-to-play games like Hawken and Planetside 2 have become very computationally and graphically intensive.

While not all scalability issues need to be addressed by the graphics card, there are certain issues that can only be addressed by changes to the fundamental hardware of the card. The big bottlenecks for computer parts are space, power consumption, and heat production. Nvidia’s new GTX 680/690 graphics cards reportedly deliver increased power with twice the efficiency. Less heat and less power contribute to a small form factor, addressing the three big bottlenecks at once. I’m really happy to see these issues addressed by graphics cards companies, as it’s becoming more and more difficult to mitigate the problem using fans and complex cooling systems; and even then, most people would agree that an optimal solution doesn’t involve raising the room’s temperature by several degrees.

The major issue for most consumers is still price. Even cheaper high-end graphics cards cost upwards of $300. The new Nvidia 660Ti graphics card delivers performance comparable to many other graphics cards for $299. While many would agree this is still expensive, it could really help put brand-new powerful graphics cards into the hands of more frugal gamers. Overall, I was pretty impressed with the entire booth, and the upcoming lineup of graphics cards.

The post [PAX] Nvidia Hands-On Impressions appeared first on Twinfinite: Video game news, reviews, opinions, and community..

Although I’ll do my best to stay vague about the competition, the post below contains minor spoilers about the proceedings of the Starcraft MLG Anaheim Spring Championships. At the very least, the results of any given series should remain ambiguous.

Back in March, Lynn and I had never attended an MLG tournament. We were, however, all huge Starcraft fans and players, and because the location was in Columbus (and we had press passes), it was an easy decision to go. It’s a good thing we did, because we had an amazing time. Because we had never attended before, we could not compare it to anything. Therefore, we weren’t sure what to expect from the MLG Spring Championship at Anaheim.

Upon entering, I noticed that the setup in the convention hall looked almost identical to that of Columbus. Many of the same sponsor booths were there (in the same locations), and the stage and seating areas looked completely identical. In fact, on several occasions, I even found myself occasionally forgetting that I wasn’t at the Columbus Convention Center.

There were, however, several major differences between the two events. The first difference was that instead of Halo: Reach, the event featured League of Legends alongside Starcraft 2 and the fighting games. The LoL crowd was positively electric for the entire tournament, and even rivaled the energy of the Starcraft group much of the time. The top-down DoTA-like game lends itself very well to casting, and the game has grown tremendously in popularity due in no small part to Twitch.tv. The Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime came to the event, and seemed to be enjoying himself immensely- you’ll all be pleased to know that he was very nice, despite my awkward compliments (I admire you… and your company… I love all Blizzard games).

Another main difference was the inclusion of Husky as a host (for some reason, Day[9] wasn’t hosting this year; he was there only briefly for some small featurettes). Tasteless was always the comic relief in the past, but Husky stepped it up by bringing the humor from his Youtube casts to the event. One night, the event went later than expected, and, thinking the event was had concluded for the night, the vast majority of the crowd left. The remaining crowd, slap-happy from sleep-deprivation, clapped and cheered at inappropriate times (starting at about 5:40). Husky and Rob did a hilarious job casting and egging the crowd on.

I know, I know. The semi-professional journalist within me was constantly at odds with my other half: the shameless fanboy.

The event was also much bigger, and unlike Columbus, it was split into two events: the American MLG Championship, and the International MLG Championship. I’m not sure what inspired this change; it was perhaps that the Americans had many entrants, and none of them seemed to have much of a chance to win against the best of the South Koreans. The proceedings on the main stage were as they had always been- foreigners vs. Koreans. It may sound a bit blunt that way, but it’s how everyone refers to it. It’s difficult to ignore that almost all of the best players are from the same geographic location; Starcraft is South Korea’s national sport, after all.

In the pro circuit, “foreigner” refers to anyone who is not Korean or American (often from Europe). The distinction is important, because those from the same geographic location tend to train with one another, so Koreans often have different strategies from foreigners. It was really interesting to see foreigners play Koreans, as they often have strategies that the others aren’t familiar with. In particular, Stephano vs. MarineKingPrime was an outstanding series (check it out on Twitch if you haven’t seen it). Socke vs. DongRaeGu was also really interesting, and Sase had several great matches.

The other main difference was the Kespa Invitational. This season, many of the pro Kespa players who have dominated Starcraft: Brood War are moving to Starcraft 2, including Bisu, Jaedong, and Flash (seemingly the fan favorites from Korea). Now, obviously they have only been playing Wings of Liberty for 2 months, so they aren’t at the level of the current pros, but the tournament between them was extremely interesting, probably the highlight of the entire event. It was anybody’s match, as no one knew who was most proficient with the new game. One player defeated an opponent with half of his keyboard keys malfunctioning by rushing with his workers and managing to contain his opponent within his base. It was interesting to see what strategies easily carried over directly from Brood War. Obviously, the Kespa pros weren’t as proficient at the build order, but their micromanagement was incredible. Unlike many of the other pro matches, these games were easily as much (if not more) about the early game than the late game. The map control was unparalleled as well, and there were often 3 skirmishes going on at once at different parts of the map. Hopefully MLG learns from the warm reception the Kespa players received, and continue to feature them at future events.

I had expected the event to be very similar, but it turned out to be pretty different. We were even fortunate enough to see all three races near the top of the event. This was really interesting, as the top is usually dominated by Terran and Zerg. Lynn, Sam, and I had a great time, and I look forward to attending again.

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Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time was on display at one of the booths at E3, and two levels were playable for attendees. I was a big fan of the previous titles in the series, so Yami and I decided to try it out. The series was originally created by Suckerpunch games, but this newest iteration is being developed by Sanzaru games. The Sly Cooper HD collection was well-received, so the new title will definitely benefit from the collection’s success.

I was partially concerned that the game was being developed by a company other than Suckerpunch. I was pleased, therefore, to see that the mechanics, art style, and voice acting felt totally familiar. The mechanics feel smooth and intuitive, and the game retains (as one would expect) the cell-shaded graphics of the previous games. In fact, due to the cartoony art style and cell-shading, the upgrade to PS3 technology is not that apparent. The primary thing that’s noticeable is the high definition (one reason that the Sly Cooper collection was so appropriate to move to an HD re-release). This is not to say that the graphics are bad- it’s just that both the originals and the modern ones are both beautiful. Those that have played the earlier games will also be pleased to know that the original composer is returning, and the original voice actors will reprise their roles for Thieves in Time.

The story line of the game is that the Thievius Racoonus (the family’s instruction manual of thievery) is sent into the past, and Sly must follow it, enlisting help from ancestors in the Cooper Clan in order to retrieve it. I played a circus level, with rings, wires, and cannons. In this scenario, the only costumes available were original Sly and the “Robin Hood” Cooper. When Sly is in the Robin Hood costume, he can shoot tethered arrows across the room towards predetermined targets. If he hits them, he creates a long tightrope that he can walk across. It’s somewhat of a pity that the tethered arrow ability is limited to using targets placed around the room, but I can understand that it would be very difficult to prevent that mechanic from breaking other puzzles. It is used in unique ways, however, through moving targets. The resulting tight rope will move as well, and sometimes Sly will have to keep this movement in mind as he avoids obstacles along the way. He ultimately saves another Cooper, who seemed to be wearing knight’s armor and a jester’s hat.

Yami’s level was set in feudal Japan, and she actually played as an ancestral Cooper, rather than Sly himself. He was a red raccoon dressed in ninja garb, and had an ability that allowed him to leap to other areas, similarly predetermined by the game. There were some interesting-looking traps in the level, but I was unable to investigate in-depth.

Overall, neither of us saw enough of the game to make much of a judgment. What we can ensure is that the game will be very similar to previous SC games, so if you are a big fan of the series, you will definitely like this iteration. What we can’t yet say with certainty is the extent to which the game differs from the others. Personally, I had a great time with it. Look for Thieves in Time in Fall 2012.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Borderlands 2 is (as one would expect) the second iteration in the popular series by Gearbox Software, and it was recently showcased at E3 2012. Although this preview will be more comprehensive than others that I’ve published from the event, I will still primarily focus on what is new about the series- my impression of the game based both on our gameplay demo and interview with lead BL2 writer Anthony Burch at the event.

A quick summary for the uninitiated- it is a humorous and sometimes dark FPS looter with RPG elements. The player can select one of four heroes as their champion, each with their own special abilities, including one that more-or-less “defines” the character. I will not go much into depth with the character classes in this preview, as it has been extensively covered elsewhere. Special, diverse, and even hilarious guns frequently drop from enemies, and a player can equip up to four guns at once into their quick-select.

The environments in Borderlands were interesting and expansive, but repetitive. You went from hilly grasslands to hilly desert to hilly junkyard- probably because they were conducive to procedural animation, unlike cities. It was, admittedly, consistent with the world that the game was set in, but many gamers were hoping for a more diverse world in the second game. Fortunately, it seems that Gearbox has delivered. There are arctic tundras, high cities, the classic desert and grassland environments, (it is a wasteland, after all) and more to be revealed at launch. Burch has also assured us that, while the game will be a similar size to the first game, areas within the world will be significantly more detailed and interesting. From the small section of the game that I’ve seen in previews and demos, this seems to be accurate.

Anthony Burch (known for “Hey Ash Whatcha Playin” on GameTrailers) was given the task of writing the main story for Borderlands 2. The story in the former game was heavily criticized. The storyline itself could have used work, but one of the main issues was the way it was delivered. In an emphasis to remain unobtrusive, Gearbox delivered the story through tape recorders that the character would find on their journey. Unfortunately, because the recordings would play over the gameplay, it was simply too easy to ignore the story entirely. Burch has made interesting observations concerning story in games in his podcast, focusing on morality and rich player choice. While these elements likely don’t have place in Borderlands, I’m really interested in seeing what he brings to the game.

Fortunately, Brett and I had the opportunity to play Borderlands 2 late on the last day of E3. As we are both big fans of the first title, we had been waiting the entire event to play the game (fortunately, we had an appointment). A PR rep informed the 30 people in the walled-off area that players who completed the mission within the allotted time would receive a prize- a redeemable code for any of the guns we used in the mission. We could play as any class (including Axton and Zero, who were unavailable at Pax East). The scenario was that we had to destroy statues of a tyrant (Handsome Jack) in a pretty white city, somewhat reminiscent of Mass Effect. Unfortunately, our guns weren’t strong enough to damage the statues, so Claptrap advised us to power a laser-shooting turret and guard it as it floats around the city and destroys the statues. There were both mechanical and biological (armored) units to worry about. It was a co-op mission (awesomely), so Brett and I partnered up to trash the mission. We chose Axton and Zero, and sunk all of our 40 available points into offensive modifications (to maximize our throughput in the mission). We kept getting incapacitated, and either reviving each other or obtaining a second wind, and we were one of few teams to beat the mission.

I was really impressed with the mission. It was everything that I liked about Borderlands, but the environment was more interesting than most of the areas in the first game, and the quest was fairly unique as well. Axton and Zero seemed really interesting, but I was only able to really experience one of them (Axton), who, from what I could tell, was extremely similar to the soldier in the first game. I’m sure they’re actually very different, but I was unable to investigate with the time limit on our demo. Zero seems versatile and fun. He has a stealth ability that allows him to sneak up on enemies and do brutal damage. His combination of short-range sword attacks and long-range sniper attacks make him a unique addition to the franchise.

Overall, I was really pleased with what I saw. I wasn’t able to fully investigate the new classes, and obviously the story elements in a demo mission are limited (which is the case for most games), but what we’ve seen so far is really promising. Look for Borderlands 2 on September 18th.

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We saw The Amazing Spider-Man at the Activision booth on Wednesday. A free-roaming game set in Manhattan, the game takes place after the events of the upcoming movie, but Activision worked with the movie studio to ensure that any spoilers would only be minor. Despite working with the movie studio, they really tried to make the game a standalone game (rather than a supplement to the movie), and I got the impression that they succeeded. Although the development team tried to minimize the HUD as much as possible, it is possible to view a miniature version of Peter Parker’s smartphone map in the corner of the screen. We were really impressed with the web-swinging mechanics; as the PR guy told us, you really get a sense of acceleration and vertigo when he swings. He seems to do a variety of acrobatic flips at the peak of every web swing, which is cool, but maybe not necessary for literally every jump. We weren’t totally sold about some of the acrobatics, namely the low level lamp post to wall to lamp-post progressions. He seems to strangely scramble off of one surface and blast to another one, defying gravity, and it didn’t quite look like something spiderman would be doing.

The combat system is reminiscent of Batman: Arkham Asylum, as you jump or glide from one enemy to another. There is a new feature called web-rush, which can be activated at any time to freeze time. From this state, the characters can perform a number of unique and cinematic actions. In a number of scenarios, there seem to be a lot of quick-time events, which, in conjunction with the web rush ability, I’m concerned might make parts of the game too easy. I’m excited about the cast of characters- the main threat is an outbreak of human animal hybrids, so we’ll get to fight enemies like Scorpion and Rhino, as well as many others that you might recognize from the comics. We also saw Black Cat in the trailer, and there are also a number of robotic enemies designed to hunt down the hybrids that you will fight. The game will be out in stores July 3rd, 2012, for PS3 and Xbox 360.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Hell Yeah! is an amazing new game by Arkedo studios. Made by a studio of only 6 people, the staff at the booth described the game as a sort of “MetroidVania” style game, presumably referring to the vertical and horizontal progression and combat. Twisted, vulgar, hilarious humor is emphasized in the game. In fact, the entire premise of the game is that you are the rabbit spawn of rabbit satan, and you after being caught fornicating with a rubber ducky, you set out to murder every monster (over 100 unique monsters in total) who laughed at (or even simply witnessed) your humiliation.

The combat involves riding around in a giant chainsaw jetpack device, and shooting a variety of guns from your vehicle. Each of the 100 enemies have unique attacks, and there are many unique (and hilarious) quicktime event finishing moves as well, which include timing-based button presses to arbitrary trivia questions, and usually reduce your enemy to some sort of pulpy mess dripping down the screen.

After hearing a ringing endorsement from one of Yami’s friends (“best in show E3 2012″, in her words), we made sure to make our way to the booth to try it. The staff around the booth were extremely nice to us, and one was even kind enough to offer me a review code for Limbo (another game he had helped ship) after hearing that I had not had the opportunity to play it yet (although this was after I gushed a little bit about their new game). They all seemed genuinely excited to be involved with the title, and to tell us more about it. Other than some occasional quirks with the jetpack, I found the combat to be very enjoyable and intuitive. The humor was hilarious, and the art style was fantastic and colorful, a nice contrast to many modern games. Unfortunately, we didn’t ask about the price, but I would imagine that it would be less expensive than a normal release title, as it is being released exclusively on PSN, XBLA, and Steam. One of the representatives from Arkedo mentioned that the game would likely be released in the next few months.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Ni No Kuni is an upcoming cell-shaded JRPG by Level-5 Studios for the Playstation 3 system. The art was done by Studio Ghibli, famed Japanese studio responsible for movies like My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo, and Howl’s Moving Castle. Their signature art style is very visible in Ni No Kuni.

IGN has this to say about the game:

“Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is an epic tale of a young boy, Oliver, who embarks on a journey to become a master magician and bring back his dead mother from the parallel world of Ni no Kuni. Along the way he encounters some extraordinary characters, many of whom become helpful allies. They guide Oliver as he explores the vast world and learns the magical skills that will make him strong enough to face his most deadly foes, and ultimately survive an encounter with the White Witch herself.

The world of Ni no Kuni actually runs parallel to the real world. Players will be able to travel between the two. Characters who appear in one world appear in the other as well, but with different roles in this unique RPG experience.”

We had a chance to play it at the event and it seemed very fun, especially if you like Studio Ghibli movies. The story seemed engrossing, and hopefully it will be up to par with the full-feature films that they make. The best part of the game was the graphics and art; the cell-shading is flawlessly executed, and the game actually looks like an interactive Ghibli movie. The combat was interesting- the different characters seemed to procure tiny monsters that battled the enemies. Their regular attacks and special abilities were based on available stamina. The combat seemed to have a bit of a learning curve which is hard to immediately grasp, but some online sample videos imply that it becomes much easier to manage. Although the part we played seemed extremely polished, the game will be released in January 2013.

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[GENERAL]

• Playstation Vita and PS3 cross-compatibility. There will be DLC for different games released that allow use of the PS Vita as a controller for the PS3 which provides a different perspective to that displayed onscreen.

• New upcoming “free” content for Playstation Plus members including Infamous 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, and Saint’s Row 2.

• Wonderbook- Taking advantage of augmented reality to allow players to interact with “books”. Diggs Nightcrawler- a cartoony Film Noir Wonderbook. Book of Spells- J.K. Rowling’s spell-casting game allows you to use the PS Move as a wand to cast spells. The impression that I got was that It was more of an interactive story than a game. It could be interesting for fans of the Harry Potter series.

• Playstation Mobile (formerly Playstation Suite) for mobile devices; announces HTC as first partner with Sony.

[PS VITA]

• PSone classics, as expected, coming to the Playstation Vita. Hopefully we’ll see more PS2 titles soon- that rich well of content would be enough to propel the handheld throughout its lifespan as a mobile console.

• Hulu Plus, Youtube and Crackle are joining Netflix and Amazon Instant Video on the Vita.

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified is coming to PS Vita this holiday season. We’ll see how the first person shooter mechanics handle on the handheld system.

• Assassin’s Creed Liberation is coming to the Playstation Vita. Set in colonial America, it features the first female assassin (Connor) lead in the franchise, and looks damn good. When paired with Assassin’s Creed 3 on the PS3, it unlocks items in both titles. There is a new crystal-colored Vita bundle that includes the game.

[PS3]

• God of War: Ascension: Looks very familiar to the previous installments in the series. Gameplay seems identical, but more graphically beautiful and cinematic. The environments and enemies seem a bit more interactive, as well, and the player can often trigger quicktime events to quickly and spectacularly end a fight- release date of March 12, 2013.

• The Last of Us: players will see extreme similarities between this game and the Uncharted series. In fact, seeing the over the shoulder camera angle and the similar-looking main protagonist, some may easily confuse it for Uncharted. It seems to share the same action-adventure, story-driven, voice-acted style. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The game looks even better than Uncharted, and is significantly more mature. The gritty realism makes the game more brutal than even the God of War live demo. You hear necks breaking and hear enemies scream as they are lit ablaze. This may be the most violent, brutal game I’ve ever seen. Despite being mildly unsettled, I’m still pretty damn excited for the game.

• Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale: Looks pretty much identical to Super Smash Brothers, so some people might call Sony’s ethics into question, but it looks great. If you like Smash Brothers or characters from popular Playstation franchises, it looks like you might like Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. Popular characters include Kratos, Fat princess, Sly Cooper, and Sweet Tooth, and two new characters were unveiled: the Big Daddy from Bioshock, and Nathan Drake, from the Uncharted series. Dynamic maps are impressive and seem to progress through a number of familiar scenes. For instance, a player may start in a futuristic city from Ratchet and clank, only to have the Hydra from God of War blast out of the water and begin wreaking havoc.

• Assassin’s Creed 3 will include Sea locales, where you control a ship with fully-functioning cannons. The water and destruction mechanics looked great in the live demo, and if there was clipping between the ship and water, it was only minor.

• Far Cry 3: alongside the single-player campaign, there will be 4-player co-op as well. It looked amazing, similar to a Call-of-Duty campaign with beautiful foliage. In the live-demo, each player seemed to be doing their own thing; one would be seemingly riding a zipline while shooting down at the enemy, while others might be welding a structure or planting a bomb, and of course, all shooting enemies and covering each other. Free Exclusive DLC for Far Cry 3 for PS3 gamers.

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Recently, Twinfinite was invited to cover the NISA annual press event in San Francisco. Freelance contributor and friend of the site Kenny Redublo was able to cover the event. He filmed and edited his interview of NISA Producer Jack Niida, who had some words about the most exciting upcoming NISA titles.

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Some news has surfaced about PixelJunk 4AM, the upcoming DJ/rhythm game for the Playstation Move. The article in Shacknews revealed the release date (May 15th), and elaborated on some of the gameplay details. I have also exchanged some e-mails with Rowan Parker, the lead developer for the game, who has elaborated on the details. With his permission, I have shared the e-mail in my article.

Originally called PixelJunk lifelike, PixelJunk 4am finally has a release date: May 15th. The app will be available in two flavors: a full release, and a free viewer that allows you to watch–but not create–live performances.

If you just like to listen and watch, 4am also functions as a standalone music visualizer for music stored on your PS3′s hard drive. “You won’t even need a Move if you just want to fire up and run a playlist to the visuals,” the PlayStation.Blog notes. While you won’t need to play to enjoy the app, you’ll need to if you want to unlock some of the “rarer visualizers.”

You may have read my recent article about PixelJunk 4AM, wherein I explored the information available on the game, and made some speculations based on my impressions of the game and other games in the rhythm / DJ genre. Well, soon after that, I was contacted by Rowan, the lead developer for the game. He provided a lot of information about the game, and addressed pretty much all of the concerns I had about the title:

Heya Keith, ^^/

Thanks for the cool article on 4am. That picture made me laugh! I saw a few questions in your article that I wanted to answer, but thought it better to mail you than spam your comments section.

–The sample set available per song is quite wide. You actually have 8 samples per colour per song (32 samples), with up to 16 DSP filter effects that you can apply at any time.

–Songs can certainly be changed on the fly! In fact, when you change songs, it seamlessly moves to a new palette and lets you slowly blend into the next track so you don’t ruin whatever you’d been building (we wanted to capture how DJ’s always blend the back-half of their last song with the front-half of the next). There is a variety of different events to be unlocked that contain different song and visualiser sets, each with their own theme.

–In the PS Blog video, I only showed some of the basic controls, but there is quite a bit more. In particular, you can even dub Baiyon’s samples from the same track into their own layer, creating new compositions with them that he originally unintended.

–We’ve been doing a number of club and DJ events around the world since development started, and as you’d expect Baiyon doesn’t DJ a full 2-4 hours with 4am. He usually mixes into the PS3 live during his set and plays with 4am for 20-30mins or so as a feature point. Some of the crowd often don’t even know that he’s playing with purely 4am in those sections. They just love the cool visuals projected on stage and that he’s waving a glowing stick.

If you have any other questions, feel free to mail me here. Thanks again Keith!

Cheers, ^^b

Rowan.

It sounds like there are a lot of features in place to ensure diverse and dynamic music, which is essential for realistic DJing. I’m reassured that it could really stand out as a party / music creation game, and I’m excited to play it for myself.

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In a recent article for GamesIndustry International, 20-year industry veteran Richard Browne has stated that he would “hope and would actively encourage Microsoft and Sony to embrace [prohibiting used games] and put an end to this”. I would encourage you to read the article first, as his argument is at least interesting, and there is some healthy discussion by members of the industry/community in the comments. To summarize, he gives a number of reasons why the trade of used games is hurting the industry, including the death of single player gaming, and lack of variety in the industry. Basically, he says that the industry implements multiplayer gameplay and stops taking risks in order to prevent the resell of games, among other arguments. As many of you probably imagine, I disagree with his premise, and I strongly disagree with his solution.

First, each of his arguments state that used games inadvertently cause problems like lack of variety and death of single player, because publishers are forced to create games with more longevity to prevent them from being sold. First of all, some would argue that being forced to build longevity into your game is a form of natural selection, and I would argue that a game company would naturally want to build a long-lasting game regardless of used game sales. Also, let’s go over some of the most popular games/series of the past few years: Assassin’s Creed, Skyrim, God of War, Uncharted, LA Noire, Dark Souls, Demon’s Souls, Starcraft II, Mass Effect, Batman: Arkham City- although several of these games have multiplayer, they all have incredible single player campaigns, and there is a ton of variety within them (although, of course, the most popular games are always combat focused- but that’s another issue entirely). I think incorporation of multiplayer is a natural step for the industry. Whether the single player campaign could have been improved with the removal of the multiplayer elements is unknowable, and some would disagree that the off-chance is worth sacrificing the multiplayer, which, in some cases (Uncharted, Dark/Demon’s Souls, BF3, Starcraft II), is pretty damn fun.

I noticed that Browne’s main argument against used games is that the industry is negatively affected by the measures taken by the industry to ward off the sale of used games, like online multiplayer- the problem is not caused by the consumer. Maybe our efforts should then be targeted more towards the industry? The key here is that if a game has more longevity, players are less likely to sell it. I agree that I tend to prefer when companies focus on single player in games that were originally designed around single player campaigns, but I am not going to argue that a company should cater to us single player gamers, who now, unfortunately, may well be the minority. I would also argue that a game with little replayability deserves to be sold off. If the game stops selling after 100,000 copies, there’s probably a damn good reason for it- the player has no reason to continue playing it. If we force players to buy it new, we are artificially inflating how many copies of the game actually need to be on the market. Sure, digital downloads don’t allow you to resell your games, but services like Steam compensate by often drastically reducing prices on games. Experience shows that we will likely not see this behavior by Sony and Microsoft.

Is there no concern about what is best for consumers? Publishers use the argument that digital piracy is particularly bad because gamers can generate unlimited duplicates of a game, rather than just lending one copy of a game around, like a library might do. I agree with this argument, but by the same logic, prohibiting the sale of used games is going too far in the opposite direction. If you purchase a game, it should be treated as a permanent, physical copy of that game that the gamer can keep, trade, or sell as he wishes, like a physical copy of any other product on the market. Prohibiting used games is overcompensating for piracy (which, frankly, is not that big a deal on consoles). It’s an unjustifiable move by publishers made only in the name of greed. Although hardware companies often sell their hardware at a loss in the hopes of making a profit off of software sales, Sony and Microsoft should understand that severely reducing the utility of their consoles in this fashion may well hurt both their hardware, and therefore their software sales overall, and will ultimately reduce customer loyalty.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a compilation of our footage from the MLG Columbus 2012 Championships. 

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Day[9] (e-famous Starcraft 2 caster, and co-host of MLG Columbus 2012) was signing autographs and hanging with fans after the event, and spontaneously started a group Fusion Core Dance. We were lucky enough to get a great shot of it happening.

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MarineKingPrime In His Sith Lord Hood

Having had an amazing time at Day 2 of the MLG 2012 Columbus Championships, we were excited for Day 3. We would really have to hustle to complete the work that we wanted to achieve by the end of the day, but the most exciting matches of the tournament were still to come, as well. This article will focus a lot on pictures from the event, as I’ve covered many of my impressions in the other articles, which you can read here: Day 1, & Day 2. From here on, I’ll presume that you know a bit about the event.

DeMusliM Playing a Match

The main focus on the third day, as one would expect, was watching and covering the intense matches. We would have been remiss if we had missed any of the major matches, but fortunately, we were able to keep it to a minimum by rotating between our seats and the pressroom, and getting work done in between matches, and at our chairs. On the third day, at a certain point, those who are still in the tournament play best of 7 matches, rather than best of 3, and the final two play best of 9. There is an additional rule for extended play, however: if the two players have originally played each other, their previous score carries over to the new game count. This is a fairly big deal, as you’ll see in the following match descriptions.

EG HuK had lost to Heart earlier in the event, 2-1. This was extremely surprising, but fortunately for HuK, he was still in the tournament. However, on the third day, HuK was scheduled to play Heart again, as they were the third and fourth ranked players. Because of the extended play rule, HuK started off at a deficit of 1 game, and ended up losing 4-1. The front row, loaded with players from team EG, was pretty grim.

Idra and others from Team Evil Geniuses

DRG dispatched Heart fairly easily, although Heart took a game off of him. If Heart’s goal was to catapult himself into the MLG spotlight, then he certainly succeeded, and finishing in third ensured that he brought home a nice chunk of change, as well.

Later on, MarineKingPrime beat DRG 2-1, and played him in the finals, with DRG starting at a deficit of 1 game. This extended play rule seemed to be a divisive issue, and for good reason. I can see both sides of it- on one hand, if DRG had beaten MKP after MKP beat DRG, some would say “so what? Now they’re even”, and the champion would be disputed. On the other hand, some argue that this rule results in players being punished twice for the same loss, as they are already moved to the loser’s bracket after a loss, and most people don’t want to watch a championship match where one player starts out gimped. I don’t know what the correct answer is, but I do feel as though MarineKingPrime definitely showed that he deserved to win that tournament.

Set aside his undefeated record against others throughout the tournament- MKP proved his worth solely in his games against the normally indomitable DRG. DRG took a few games off of MKP, but MKP’s wins were diverse and interesting. He used unusual combinations of units, including thors+medivacs+hellions. Hellions took out zerglings, while MKP skillfully used medivacs to micro weakened thors away from the line of fire. He stated after the match that he had to use every strange strategy that he could think of to beat DRG, just to stay unpredictable.

After the event, some of the players and casters met fans in the lobby to sign autographs. In particular, Day[9] was extremely gracious in meeting fans, signing autographs, and even doing the core fusion dance with the crowd (to be seen in an upcoming vid).

There was also an after-party hosted by Twitch.tv, and I had the opportunity to meet a few players, casters, and sponsors. I was happy to find that everyone really unwound after they got away from most fans and press. In particular, some of the casters are truly nice, approachable people.

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Day 1 was a little rough. I had taken my master’s exam that morning, and was running on 2 hours of sleep. It wasn’t easy to strike up conversation with people, and by the end of it, I was falling asleep in my chair. Day 2 started at 8:00 AM, but It was just warm-ups until 10. Matches started at 10 AM, but they didn’t start casting on the main stage until 1:00 PM. Lynn and I opted to get a decent night’s sleep instead, and I’m glad I did- I felt way better than I did on day 1- I’ve been getting a lot of writing done, and we’ve been able to watch a lot more matches than we did yesterday.

The tournament is casted by a number of different Internet personalities, including Day[9], DJWheat, Artosis, Tasteless, and two others. They are about as popular as some of the players- I’d imagine that even they are surprised by the incredible reception that they get at these events, when they spend most of their time casting alone in their homes. There was a brief feature on the main stage where Clutch interviewed Day[9], who is fantastic at public speaking. He can get the crowd at least as much as any of the players. He had some kind words to say to people trying to do independent game sites, and that really resonated with me. He said what most in the business would say: if you want to work in casting, games journalism, or streaming- just start now. You don’t need anyone’s permission to do it. It’s good to see industry favorites giving encouragement to their fans. I would say the same, adding one addendum- have a day job in the meantime.

 



 

I had a lot of material to talk about on the first day, so I decided to wait until my day 2 article to talk about the tournament setup- there are 256 entrants: 16 top-ranked guys that play their bracket on the main stage, and 240 entrants (anyone can sign up), and they play in a roped-off players’ area. You can watch over their shoulder as they play, but understandably, it’s not as fun as watching on the main stage. There’s a winners bracket and a losers bracket, so if you lose a match (or even more than one), you’re not necessarily screwed. For instance, Grubby was in a funk, but had to lose 5 matches before being eliminated from the tournament, because of his high original seed. Over the course of the weekend, you slowly start to new entrants filter into the main stage arena.



 

There was an exciting (and mildly depressing) upset match between HuK and Heart, from team Complexity. Heart has streamed competitions online before, but this was his first trip to MLG. They have a system where you can text in who you think will win the match, and 95% of people thought that Huk would win.

In the first game, Huk was staying fairly reserved, with a small army. Heart’s army was designed to counter stalkers. He was harassing Huk’s base like crazy with a cloaked banshee, and Huk occasionally moved forward a few stalkers to shoo them away. To his detriment, he ignored the banshee more than he should have, and the banshee killed enough probes to cripple HuK, ultimately costing him the match.
In the second game, HuK was on the defensive from the start, but managed to survive long enough to amass a decent army, and won in the following push (with, of course, some nice sentry micro). In the third game, however, HuK ended up losing to Heart’s well-rounded anti-stalker army, in the biggest upset in the tournament thus far. Heart’s record was 5-0 at the end of day 2.
Another really exciting match was JYP vs. DongRaeGu (DRG). The Zerg vs. Protoss battle of the macro-champions was intense, but DRG ended up winning 2-1. We’ll be back tomorrow with a Day 3 update! See you then.

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]]> http://www.twinfinite.net/blog/2012/03/25/featurama-mlg-day-2-wrapup/feed/ 0 http://www.twinfinite.net/blog/2012/03/24/featurama-mlg-columbus-2012-day-one-wrapup/ http://www.twinfinite.net/blog/2012/03/24/featurama-mlg-columbus-2012-day-one-wrapup/#comments Sat, 24 Mar 2012 19:07:56 +0000 Keith Chima http://twinfinite.net/?p=3953 We just finished our first day at MLG, and it was a lot of fun. Neither I nor my friend Lynn have been to MLG before, or any gaming convention for that matter, so a large part of these daily recaps will be our impressions of the event, and learning the best way to cover … [read more]

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We just finished our first day at MLG, and it was a lot of fun. Neither I nor my friend Lynn have been to MLG before, or any gaming convention for that matter, so a large part of these daily recaps will be our impressions of the event, and learning the best way to cover it. Before the event, I tried to prepare as best I could by looking up the venue online, and trying to find videos. I actually had a bit of difficulty learning exactly what to expect there, other than the obvious.

Because it would have been expensive for other “Twinfiknights” to attend, I enlisted the help of my friend Lynn to help cover the event. Lynn is a cinematographer, and has a wealth of experience covering events and doing camera work and cinematography, so I thought that he would prove helpful. Also, he’s less of a coward than me, so with his encouragement, I was actually willing to approach people for interviews. We arrived at the convention center, which, fortunately, is 15 minutes away from my place. Once we had entered the building, it took less than 5 minutes to get our press passes and drop our gear off at the pressroom. They treat the press really well at MLG- the pressroom is guarded the entire day by a security guard who checks badges, and on the first day, there’s a VIP section with free food and drinks, and private gaming machines with all games featured at the event installed for free play. The first two rows of the three main stages are all reserved for press/VIPs, and press are allowed access to private areas where games are cast, and the technicians are mixing/streaming the event.

 



 

Players compete in several games at MLG. Of course, the most popular event is Starcraft II, which draws significantly more fans than any other game. The second-most popular game is Halo Reach. In the past they’ve had Call of Duty: Black Ops, Gears of War, and some others, but this year, the third main stage is shared by three fighting games- King of Fighters XIII, Soul Calibur IV, and Mortal Kombat 9. The fighting game crowd area was a little sad; a few diehard fans and friends of the players sat and supported them. I would be happy to watch people compete in fighting games, if only there weren’t intense games of Starcraft II on the giant screen in the middle of the room. The game has strategies, counter-strategies, thinking several steps ahead; Starcraft II is the new chess, and it’s a hell of a lot more fun to watch.
Other than performing our journalistic duties (writing, gathering footage, and hustling for interviews mainly- we have a few leads), and doing some minor exploring, we pretty much just watched SCII all day. Some of the press was very serious compared to us, and for good reason; they had been to these events before, they may have had people paying for their airfare, room and board, and their benefactors expected enough coverage that they would make a net profit. We, on the other hand, did not require airfare or accommodations, due to our location. Our primary responsibility was to ourselves, and to the kind MLG PR reps who approved us for the event. Most of the other press worked for sites that primarily cover competitive gaming news, so there was usually a barrier in explaining what we were doing there. After I explained that our site primarily focused on editorials and general gaming news, and that we would mainly be writing interest pieces, they seemed to understand.
If you aren’t familiar with esports, it’s a bit strange at first. You will hear a lot of inside jokes that you don’t understand. You get the idea pretty fast, though, and you’re in on most of the jokes by the end of the first day. You might be surprised to find that the competitors are actually treated like pro sports players (or rock stars). Anywhere else, the pros would be average people, but here, they can’t walk ten feet without someone asking for an autograph or an interview.



If you’re unfamiliar with Starcraft, you will probably not have any idea what’s going on. Even if you are well-versed with the game, you slowly begin to realize that the players are playing several levels above you- every scenario is thought out in advance. Several times during a match there will be a moment where a crushing trap comes together, oftentimes a trap that neither the audience or casters saw coming, and the crowd just loses it. On the flipside, a blow that would cause many players to GG is a relatively minor inconvenience for a pro- through some combination of quick retaliation, macro, or adapting their strategy, they can even the odds.
In particular, the match between HuK and Violet was really fun to watch, and they seemed very evenly matched. If you don’t play Starcraft, you won’t understand the next 3 paragraphs, so I’ll try to keep the play-by-play concise. In the first game, HuK went primarily warp stalkers and sentries, and the micromanagement was a treat to watch. He won 3 or 4 small skirmishes with Violet’s roaches, by skillfully dividing the army with force fields, and warping the stalkers backwards when they got too close. Unfortunately, Violet’s macro allowed him to recover his army each time, and he consistently stayed several supply above HuK until he was able to take him out.
HuK modified his strategy almost imperceptibly in the second match, but was somehow able to turn the tides in his favor by harassing a bit more. The third match was especially interesting. HuK strategically harassed Violet’s expansions by warping in zealots to proactively-placed pylons. HuK used proxies to trap a third of Violet’s army into a small peninsula, where he could take them out with stalkers and zealots. He was able to clean up from there, and won the match 2-1.
The other really interesting match was between Polt and Stephano, the last match of the night. Both players favored big macro, and the entire map was taken up by Terran mech and Zerg infestors, corruptors, and zerglings. They alternated severe blows between thors and sieged tanks decimating large groups of zerg, and these mechs being incapacitated by fungal growth, and surrounded by speedlings.
I really look forward to seeing how the community entrants stand up to the top 16; it’d be really interesting to see a dark horse competitor emerge. I’ll be posting updates for days 2 and 3, and potentially a end-tournament wrap-up, or something similar.

 

(images provided by Lynn Padetha, www.lynnpadetha.com)

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]]> http://www.twinfinite.net/blog/2012/03/24/featurama-mlg-columbus-2012-day-one-wrapup/feed/ 14 http://www.twinfinite.net/blog/2012/03/13/news-pixeljunk-4am-ps-move-demo-or-drugs/ http://www.twinfinite.net/blog/2012/03/13/news-pixeljunk-4am-ps-move-demo-or-drugs/#comments Tue, 13 Mar 2012 23:22:03 +0000 Keith Chima http://twinfinite.net/?p=2912   [EDIT: Lead developer Rowan (from the video) contacted me via e-mail and elaborated on the game mechanics. Suffice to say that the mechanics are much more extensive than you see in the video, so take any speculation about the mechanics with a grain of salt. It sounds really cool- I will be posting an … [read more]

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]]> Click here to view the embedded video.

 

[EDIT: Lead developer Rowan (from the video) contacted me via e-mail and elaborated on the game mechanics. Suffice to say that the mechanics are much more extensive than you see in the video, so take any speculation about the mechanics with a grain of salt. It sounds really cool- I will be posting an update article in the near future, so look for it!]

 

PixelJunk 4AM is the first game in the series overtly about music, and is a collaboration with Baiyon, a Japanese multimedia artist who created the graphics and composed the music for PixelJunk Eden. The developer, Q-Games, has a habit of innovating within densely-populated genres (shooters, platformers, etc.) with the series. They often emphasize pretty environments, music, and ambience, so this is a step in a natural direction for them, and they bring a healthy amount of experience to the project.

The game is hard to explain, but the first video does a decent job- you use the playstation move controller to add, remove, and manipulate any of 4 music tracks (drums, bass, etc.). There are a number of hand-held mechanics that allow you to manipulate the sound of any of the tracks in real-time, and the graphics on the screen change accordingly. The controls look natural and appealing, and the concept looks fairly simple, once you start playing. If there is more depth to the game, the developer is keeping it under wraps for now.

4AM’s website is even more subtle! It’s hip and cryptic! ”Perform, create, share, live”- it sounds like a quote from a highschooler’s Facebook profile. Check out their more stylistic trailer from Tokyo Game Show:

Click here to view the embedded video.

 

If you could afford a laser light show and a professional DJ for your big party, wouldn’t you be pissed if the guy pulled out a rhythm game? I think developers of music games always hope that the game will be the centerpiece of a big dance party, but that’s rarely the case, at least from my experience. This game introduces an online aspect where users can listen to others manipulate tracks in realtime, so they’re really banking on the game being fun to experience from a third-person perspective (if you get a DJ rather than a Top 40 playlist for your party, he had better be interesting).

Hey, wait- I think I recognize someone… They invited Rowan, from the first video!



Don't disturb him, man- he's "in it"

 

“4am is that deep night hour. In clubs, the music drifts to a new level entering a deepened state that often seems removed from reality. Whether you’re in a club or not, 4am always feels like the night has gone on forever, where there’s still that little bit of time left before dawn.”

(What? Someone’s taking house music too seriously? On MY Internet?)

 

While there’s a void in the market for a successful DJ party game, it’s hard to capture the dynamic creativity involved in DJing within a game using pre-programmed tracks (bleh, now I’m sounding like a DJ). If they have methods for swapping in new tracks or palettes into a song, this game could have the diversity necessary for a music game to be interesting, but I’m not convinced that modulating the same four tracks will do the job.

 

On the other hand, I can understand why they say “The game needs to be played to be understood”- the game looks pretty fucking cool. On the surface, the music creation tools seem a little shallow; but it could be deceptive. I am quite impressed with how the game seems to take advantage of the Playstation Move- it really engages three senses in a way that most other games cannot, which is important for a music game. The feeling of reaching out into space and feeling a track (via vibration) that you can pull into your song is totally appealing, and you can’t fault these guys for being creative. At the very least, I’m interested in seeing more of 4AM, and I’m definitely eager to play it for myself.

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]]> http://www.twinfinite.net/blog/2012/03/13/news-pixeljunk-4am-ps-move-demo-or-drugs/feed/ 1 http://www.twinfinite.net/blog/2012/03/02/news-psblogs-first-look-at-sly-cooper-4/ http://www.twinfinite.net/blog/2012/03/02/news-psblogs-first-look-at-sly-cooper-4/#comments Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:16:47 +0000 Keith Chima http://twinfinite.net/?p=2407 PSBlog released a video documenting their hands-on time with the new Sly Cooper game. This game, made by Sanzaru Games, is the first game in the series not made by Sucker Punch. The game will feel familiar to veterans of the series, and features a number of new additions, like the ability to play as … [read more]

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]]> Click here to view the embedded video.

PSBlog released a video documenting their hands-on time with the new Sly Cooper game. This game, made by Sanzaru Games, is the first game in the series not made by Sucker Punch. The game will feel familiar to veterans of the series, and features a number of new additions, like the ability to play as ancestors in Sly’s clan, set in different time periods, all with unique abilities (Sly Cooper meets Assassin’s Creed?). Sly will retain his own unique abilities, however, and some will be associated with a variety of outfits that he can wear. For instance, a Robin-Hood-esque outfit will contribute the ability to shoot traversable tight ropes across the map via a bow-and-arrow.

Read the full article here.

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