Monday 13 December 2010
Friday 25 June 2010
Old GoldenEye dev quite likes new GoldenEye remake!
I've just finished transcribing an interview I did with managing director of Crytek UK, Karl Hilton, who used to be very high up in Free Radical and before that was one of the team behind GoldenEye on the N64. So I had to ask him what he thought about the remake, here's what he had to say:
"Well I did see it at the E3 show and it looks like they've done a very authentic job. And if there's a market out there for people who want to relive the golden days of GoldenEye then you know...
"It's very flattering that people still think there is so much value in it. It's been a while since I last looked at it, but if you do look at GoldenEye - it's an old game and it looks it! I think people obviously have rose tinted spectacles when they think about it. It's very flattering that people have such fond memories of it to such a degree that there's still a viable case to remake it and that's great! And I suppose it benefits me because as long as people keep talking about GoldenEye then I can keep riding that bandwagon a little bit longer - every time you think that people have forgotten about it finally, it still pops up.
"It's quite incredible for a game that, you know, it does get into that pantheon of classic games that people continue to talk about years and years later. And the version I saw at E3 seemed like a very nice version.
"As much as I love that game you want to move on and do the next thing, and all of Free Radical was about us trying to, well not drop the GoldenEye tag, but do something that people would talk of with the same awe 'yes that was a classic game'. We think we did some really good stuff, obviously nothing achieved that level of notoriety."
And then Karl said: "Timesplitters has a fan base and there's an online community fr it and you know... that's not a dead franchise yet."
Is that a hint at Timesplitters 4?! Well Karl laughed and said: "I couldn't possibly comment on that."
Dammit!
Anyway here's some vids of old GoldenEye and the remake (I didn't make the vids obvioulsy):
"Well I did see it at the E3 show and it looks like they've done a very authentic job. And if there's a market out there for people who want to relive the golden days of GoldenEye then you know...
"It's very flattering that people still think there is so much value in it. It's been a while since I last looked at it, but if you do look at GoldenEye - it's an old game and it looks it! I think people obviously have rose tinted spectacles when they think about it. It's very flattering that people have such fond memories of it to such a degree that there's still a viable case to remake it and that's great! And I suppose it benefits me because as long as people keep talking about GoldenEye then I can keep riding that bandwagon a little bit longer - every time you think that people have forgotten about it finally, it still pops up.
"It's quite incredible for a game that, you know, it does get into that pantheon of classic games that people continue to talk about years and years later. And the version I saw at E3 seemed like a very nice version.
"As much as I love that game you want to move on and do the next thing, and all of Free Radical was about us trying to, well not drop the GoldenEye tag, but do something that people would talk of with the same awe 'yes that was a classic game'. We think we did some really good stuff, obviously nothing achieved that level of notoriety."
And then Karl said: "Timesplitters has a fan base and there's an online community fr it and you know... that's not a dead franchise yet."
Is that a hint at Timesplitters 4?! Well Karl laughed and said: "I couldn't possibly comment on that."
Dammit!
Anyway here's some vids of old GoldenEye and the remake (I didn't make the vids obvioulsy):
Wednesday 16 June 2010
Tuesday 15 June 2010
Sony's on Coke
Well how else would it have the confidence to go around the developers at EA and buy up exclusive content for Dead Space 2 and Medal Of Honor? And snide innuendo aside Sony has launched a promotion with Coca-Cola to help get brand awareness for the PlayStation Move - the wacky, wavy, wandy thing that is Sony's latest entry to the ongoing motion control debacle. It seems fine, though the Sorcery game didn't.
3DTV was heavily promoted with 3D versions of Killzone 3 and Gran Turismo 5 being shown - but the thing is I still haven't caught up with HDTV yet, so I can't even contemplate a 3D set until... probably around 2016, at the earliest.
Kevin Butler did a fine job of impersonating a Sony executive, by being kind of scary but kind of funny too. The PSP is still just not very good and there is still nothing on it that really makes me want one, especially as it gives me really bad hand cramp after a few hours.
But the highlight for me was Twisted Metal. I loved 2 on the PSone and this looks like it'll best that by a long way especially with all the online multiplayer it's got going on.
And that would appear to be that, even though the conference was about two hours long there really wasn't much else to see. So I'm moving along - Capcom's bound to have some awesome Marvel Vs Capcom stuff to show off!
3DTV was heavily promoted with 3D versions of Killzone 3 and Gran Turismo 5 being shown - but the thing is I still haven't caught up with HDTV yet, so I can't even contemplate a 3D set until... probably around 2016, at the earliest.
Kevin Butler did a fine job of impersonating a Sony executive, by being kind of scary but kind of funny too. The PSP is still just not very good and there is still nothing on it that really makes me want one, especially as it gives me really bad hand cramp after a few hours.
But the highlight for me was Twisted Metal. I loved 2 on the PSone and this looks like it'll best that by a long way especially with all the online multiplayer it's got going on.
And that would appear to be that, even though the conference was about two hours long there really wasn't much else to see. So I'm moving along - Capcom's bound to have some awesome Marvel Vs Capcom stuff to show off!
Wii are not amused
So that's Nintendo's E3 conference over with. New Mario, new Zelda, new Donkey Kong, new Metroid, new Kirby, new Kid Icarus and the new 3DS.
Ahh there's nothing like Nintendo to bring back all the cynicism usually reserved for the most jaded of games journalists. Maybe it's the time I spent on CUBE and having to put up with Mario's stupid face going "It's-a me!" on the cover nearly every month. Or maybe it's the fact that Nintendo still hasn't come up with a new character in what seems like forever.
In some ways Nintendo has regressed it seems. Take new Donkey Kong Country - it's the same as old Donkey Kong Country. And new Kirby is old Kirby albeit with a texture gimmick. And new Goldeneye?! Really? Lets party like it's 1997!
...
But then there is the new 3DS, which doesn't need 3D glasses and has a slider so you can turn the 3D-ness up and down. Maybe I'm lacking in imagination, and having not played it yet, but I still can't work out how it's going to... work.
Overall then it was another Nintendo E3 press conference, and no one has been excited about them since 2004 when they unveiled Legend OF Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Sony's conference is on soon, I'm hoping for giant enemy crabs with weak spot that you can hit for massive damage! Etc.
Ahh there's nothing like Nintendo to bring back all the cynicism usually reserved for the most jaded of games journalists. Maybe it's the time I spent on CUBE and having to put up with Mario's stupid face going "It's-a me!" on the cover nearly every month. Or maybe it's the fact that Nintendo still hasn't come up with a new character in what seems like forever.
In some ways Nintendo has regressed it seems. Take new Donkey Kong Country - it's the same as old Donkey Kong Country. And new Kirby is old Kirby albeit with a texture gimmick. And new Goldeneye?! Really? Lets party like it's 1997!
...
But then there is the new 3DS, which doesn't need 3D glasses and has a slider so you can turn the 3D-ness up and down. Maybe I'm lacking in imagination, and having not played it yet, but I still can't work out how it's going to... work.
Overall then it was another Nintendo E3 press conference, and no one has been excited about them since 2004 when they unveiled Legend OF Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Sony's conference is on soon, I'm hoping for giant enemy crabs with weak spot that you can hit for massive damage! Etc.
Monday 14 June 2010
Post-Natal elation?
So that's Microsoft's key-note speech at E3 over with. The best bit? A new smaller, quieter, built in wi-fi, bigger hard drive, black and shiny new Xbox 360! The worst bit? Everyone in attendance got one for free.
Of course I'm jealous! Mostly because it's supposed to be "whisper quiet" and that, if true, is a real improvement over the noisy bastard of a one I own.
Anyway! Fable 3, Gears Of War 3, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, a Gladiator style action thing from Crytek, and the obligatory Halo stuff.
And then there's Kinect. The rubbish new name for the already rubbishly named Project Natal. Now I'm not usually one to get suckered into advertising, except it seems when it comes to video game and in this case a shiny new(ish) peripheral. But for moments there I really was imaging that I would play with an updated version of Dogz. And that I was a sweaty woman in her early 20s and would obviously love to do some exercises in my white painted loft apartment in upper (or lower - whichever one is the nicest) Manhattan with a massive HDTV stapled to the wall while my ethnically diverse boyfriend/gay next-door neighbour battered the pixels out of virtual stuff. And that I could honestly get as enthusiastic about things as those two ladies who presented the floaty raft game that reminded me of Toobin'.
Then I remembered that I'm not any of that.
Bother.
Still tomorrow brings Nintendo's and Sony's E3 presentations. And tonight EA and Ubisoft are doing theirs. Will EA announce a good Def Jam fighting game? (No) Will I manage to stay up til 1.00am to see Ubisoft announce something about Beyond Good & Evil 2? (probably not)
Still, it's an interesting arm flailing start to this year's E3!
Of course I'm jealous! Mostly because it's supposed to be "whisper quiet" and that, if true, is a real improvement over the noisy bastard of a one I own.
Anyway! Fable 3, Gears Of War 3, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, a Gladiator style action thing from Crytek, and the obligatory Halo stuff.
And then there's Kinect. The rubbish new name for the already rubbishly named Project Natal. Now I'm not usually one to get suckered into advertising, except it seems when it comes to video game and in this case a shiny new(ish) peripheral. But for moments there I really was imaging that I would play with an updated version of Dogz. And that I was a sweaty woman in her early 20s and would obviously love to do some exercises in my white painted loft apartment in upper (or lower - whichever one is the nicest) Manhattan with a massive HDTV stapled to the wall while my ethnically diverse boyfriend/gay next-door neighbour battered the pixels out of virtual stuff. And that I could honestly get as enthusiastic about things as those two ladies who presented the floaty raft game that reminded me of Toobin'.
Then I remembered that I'm not any of that.
Bother.
Still tomorrow brings Nintendo's and Sony's E3 presentations. And tonight EA and Ubisoft are doing theirs. Will EA announce a good Def Jam fighting game? (No) Will I manage to stay up til 1.00am to see Ubisoft announce something about Beyond Good & Evil 2? (probably not)
Still, it's an interesting arm flailing start to this year's E3!
Sunday 21 March 2010
Tim Ingham defends videogames
And the audience agrees with Julie Peasgood
She's the author of The Greatest Sex Tips in the World and (quoting from Amazon) "Julie Peasgood won Best Erotic Writer at the 2007 Scarlet Awards, beating many other established sex writers."
It seems like she hates videogames because they're addictive. I've been playing games for years and I don't think they're addictive, they're a pastime, a hobby, something to fill in the boring bits with.
The fact is my Xbox has been packed away for the last three months or so and I haven't actually been able to play anything for any length of time since then, aside from being round at a few mates' and having a quick go on whatever. I haven't been feeling any sort of withdrawal from not playing it. (Though I am kind of worried about my GamerScore getting reset if I don't sign in to Live soon.)
That whole interview seemed to rail against common sense and three of the four could be said to be grossly ill-informed about the subject. Yes it's easy to pick apart their mistakes and lack of knowledge on the subject but the way the audience cheered left me feeling dumbfounded. Why did they 'boo' the Byron Report? Why does no one but gamers believe the Byron Report?
Kelvin McKenzie throws in the murder of Jamie Bulger saying that, of Jon Venables, "he was corrupted by it". And surely that's not true. There was the Child's Play thing (though there was no evidence that either Robert Thompson or Venables had watched it) but there was never any mention of videogames during the trial. Though he was allowed to play games at the Red Bank secure unit in St Helens after his conviction.
So what was the most violent game that Venables could have played when he was 10?
Well here's Wikipedia's list: Clicky!
So Mortal Kombat II... I don't know why I'm even going down this pointless road. Peasgood doesn't know about games, McKenzie admits he's not a "war gamer", and Titchmarsh should be out in the garden getting friendly with plants. Ingham does a great job but no one there wanted to listen.
Is there anything we can do about it? Nope.
She's the author of The Greatest Sex Tips in the World and (quoting from Amazon) "Julie Peasgood won Best Erotic Writer at the 2007 Scarlet Awards, beating many other established sex writers."
It seems like she hates videogames because they're addictive. I've been playing games for years and I don't think they're addictive, they're a pastime, a hobby, something to fill in the boring bits with.
The fact is my Xbox has been packed away for the last three months or so and I haven't actually been able to play anything for any length of time since then, aside from being round at a few mates' and having a quick go on whatever. I haven't been feeling any sort of withdrawal from not playing it. (Though I am kind of worried about my GamerScore getting reset if I don't sign in to Live soon.)
That whole interview seemed to rail against common sense and three of the four could be said to be grossly ill-informed about the subject. Yes it's easy to pick apart their mistakes and lack of knowledge on the subject but the way the audience cheered left me feeling dumbfounded. Why did they 'boo' the Byron Report? Why does no one but gamers believe the Byron Report?
Kelvin McKenzie throws in the murder of Jamie Bulger saying that, of Jon Venables, "he was corrupted by it". And surely that's not true. There was the Child's Play thing (though there was no evidence that either Robert Thompson or Venables had watched it) but there was never any mention of videogames during the trial. Though he was allowed to play games at the Red Bank secure unit in St Helens after his conviction.
So what was the most violent game that Venables could have played when he was 10?
Well here's Wikipedia's list: Clicky!
So Mortal Kombat II... I don't know why I'm even going down this pointless road. Peasgood doesn't know about games, McKenzie admits he's not a "war gamer", and Titchmarsh should be out in the garden getting friendly with plants. Ingham does a great job but no one there wanted to listen.
Is there anything we can do about it? Nope.
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