Archive for March, 2009

Watch GTTV from Bioware Featuring Mass Effect 21 Comment

blog-biowareWant the latest news on Bioware? You can now watch this week’s episode of GTTV, which we filmed last week up at Bioware in Edmonton, Canada.  We have brand new footage of Dragon Age: Origins, and the first information on Mass Effect 2 from project director Casey Hudson.  When it comes to Mass Effect 2, watch the segment very carefully as Bioware drops a lot of hints in the footage you see.  Is that the Illusive Man in some of the concept art?  What about the Mako vehicle — does it now hover? And Casey drops a pretty big hint about the storyline when he says there’s a good chance you play Mass Effect 2 from multiple perspectives. (Yes, that brings back memories of Metal Gear Solid 2 and Halo 2, or even Knights of the Old Republic).

I’m really excited to learn more about ME2. All the speculation about the storyline shows that the fiction is very deep and compelling, and I have no doubt there are more surprises yet to be revealed.  On Monday we will be posting an extended cut of my interview with Casey on GameTrailers so you can see what didn’t make the half-hour show.

This episode also contains a number of world exclusive trailers such as RATCHET & CLANK: A CRACK IN TIME, BATTLEFIELD BAD COMPANY 2, GI JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA, the opening cinematic from TERMINATOR SALVATION, and news that you can download the interactive Killzone 2 commercial this Thursday for free on PSN.

[GameTrailers TV Episode from Bioware]

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  • Another great GTTV! I can't wait for Mass Effect 2! More»
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Sneak Preview of This Week’s GTTV from Bioware3 Comments

Below you can view a sneak preview of this week’s GameTrailers TV we shot up at Bioware in Edmonton, Canada.  We’ll be focusing on both Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2.  For Dragon Age, you’ll get a glimpse at a new part of the game and meet the undead!  And for Mass Effect 2, project director Casey Hudson gives his first interview about the game, the teaser trailer floating around on the Internet, and yes, even drops some hints about what to expect from the story.  You might even see some new characters and vehicles for the first time.  When it comes to our Mass Effect 2 segment, you’ll want to watch it very carefully….so set up your TIVO.

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  • Walking in the presence of gtains here. Cool thinking all around! More»
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OnLive – Coming to Xbox 360 or PS3? It’s Possible7 Comments

blog-onliveBy now you’ve probably seen the news about OnLive, the new “cloud game computer” that streams a game to your TV/PC in real time from a server. (It’s basically the PS3 “Remote Play” technology done on a grand HD scale).  The technology is impressive over a good broadband connection for the PC, Mac, or via a “microconsole” that hooks up to a TV.

But could OnLive work on a gaming console?  That’s a question I posed last week to Steve Perlman, the founder.  His answer? Yes, OnLive could work on PS3 and Xbox 360 with no additional hardware required.  You’d just have to download a small client on Xbox Live, and then “stream” games to your 360 much like Netflix streams movies.

Since Perlman has a previous relationship to Microsoft (he sold WebTV to them), I asked if he’d approached Xbox with the idea.  Nope, he said.  OnLive hasn’t spoken to Microsoft or Sony. In fact he expects execs at both companies to be shocked by the announcement.

While OnLive certainly doesn’t need the power of the PS3 or 360, adding this as a “service” on top of an existing console platform might be the gateway OnLive needs to reach a wider audience.  (Nothing would prevent them from releasing their “microconsole” as well, which is expected to be quite inexpensive). Partnering with a console would also help OnLive with one of its biggest challenges: Marketing and distribution.

Of course the bigger question is whether Microsoft or Sony would ever allow such a service on their respective platforms — or see it as a huge threat.  If OnLive works on the Xbox 360 or PS3, it would, in effect, make a “PS4″ or “Xbox 1080″ pointless.  But as the old saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer? If Xbox was to buy the 100-patent-strong technology, it could make “cloud computing” only possible on the 360 or PC.  Or even release a dirt-cheap Xbox “Microconsole.”

Part of me wonders if we will ever see “OnLive” hit the market in its current form, or if we’re witnessing the birth of the $49 Xbox and we just don’t know it.

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  • If I were Sony or Microsoft, I'd try to make the technology work without the need for a PC. When … More»
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Bonus Round from DICE, Episode 2 Now LiveNo Comments

Over at GameTrailers you can now watch part 2 of The Bonus Round from DICE 2009 with N’Gai Croal, Mike Snider, and LittleBigPlanet’s Alex Evans. In this part we continue our discussion about downloadable content, user-generated levels, and the future of the gaming industry.

This week we will be filming another episode of Bonus Round at GDC 2009 in San Francisco.  I think you guys will be excited to see who is scheduled to appear.  I’m happy to confirm David Jaffe’s blog post that he will be appearing on this episode.

[Bonus Round from DICE, Episode 2]

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GTTV: Wolfenstein Unveiled, Watch the Episode NowNo Comments

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BJ Blazkowicz is back!  You can now watch this week’s episode of GTTV on the return of Wolfenstein, which we filmed out at Raven Software in Madison, WI.  You’ll see the first gameplay, in addition to a brand new trailer, boss reveal, and a look at how Raven is approaching this long-in-development sequel. If you listen carefully you’ll also hear why the game has been in development so long. It first started as an open-world first-person shooter, an idea which has been significantly scaled back in the final product.

I’ve always been a big fan of Raven and co-founders Brian and Steve Raffell. (Little known fact: I launched GameSlice back in 1996 with a first look at Hexen, the sequel to Heretic that was produced at Raven).  After the shoot I played Wolf for a couple of hours at their office, and was impressed with how much is layer on top of the raw action.  The veil powers add a unique element of strategy, and the third person story/cutscenes add significant production value — something I wasn’t expecting from id and Raven. Even the opening of the game, with BJ arriving on a train, reminds me of the opening of Half-Life.

The singleplayer game on Xbox 360 feels very polished, which makes me think the rumored summer release won’t be a problem. Although we haven’t seen anything yet on multiplayer, which is being developed externally by some ex-Splash Damage folks.  One tidbit: Brian Raffell did disclose that veil powers will be featured in multiplayer, so I’ll be curious to see how slow motion works online.

Make sure to check out the show — Raven provided us with a ton of new gameplay footage and assets, so you get a really good overview of the game, storyline and details.

[Watch GameTrailers TV Episode 206 in HD]

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Sneak Preview of This Week’s GTTV: Wolfenstein1 Comment

Here’s a sneak preview of this Friday night’s GTTV, where we head to Raven Software in chilly Madison, Wisconsin for a first look at Wolfenstein.  I remember first talking to Todd Hollenshead of id about this game back at X05 in Barcelona, Spain!  It has been long in development, but I think you will be very impressed by what you see.  The guys at Raven always do solid work, but I was blown away by the attention to detail and the storytelling, which is something new for id and Raven.  Yes, Wolfenstein contains a ton of real-time cutscenes and we’ll be showing them off during the show.  And that’s not all: We also have 10 minutes of gameplay, a great new trailer (told from the Nazi perspective), and the reveal of a boss you’ll face off against in the game.   So far it looks like Wolfenstein will be worth the wait — but you can judge yourself when we world premiere the first gameplay on Friday.

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  • Looking forward to it. Also next week's episode will be cool at GDC 09, I hope you ask Reggie some … More»
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