David Hayter is Snake no longer! Enter 24’s Kiefer Sutherland, who will now provide the voice of Snake from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and forward into the future! Could you think of any better replacement?!
This was confirmed at the Konami Pre-E3 Press Conference, and creator Hideo Kojimi goes into detail on what it was like working with Kiefer, where he sees the franchise heading, what he thinks about the new technology available and coming soon, and how a new watermark and threshold has been reached in videogames with the next generation.
Sadly, it seems that David Hayter was not even told that he’d no longer be reprising his role as Snake, and he was somewhat hurt and bewildered by the decision. He says it was NOT up to him, but to Kojima himself, and that if it was up to David, he’d play Snake forever. He says it makes him a bit ill to hear a new voice coming out of Snake, but that he’ll get over it and move on. He enjoyed the ride immensely, and considers it a great blessing that he got to work for so long on the Metal Gear franchise. He says he is not lacking in employment, and wishes everyone well for the new game and the future.
Hayter further elaborates with his thoughts in this extended video.
Here are further details on Metal Gear Solid 5 from Kojima himself.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will be released later this year or in 2014 for Xbox 360 and PS3.
Are you excited about this development or pissed? It’s a bold and drastic move to replace David with Keifer, yet somehow I think it was a good decision. I personally had grown tired of Snake’s voice, and I think he lost a lot of his luster. Just my person opinion, I still think he sounded best in the original Metal Gear Solid, where his voice was so iconic. But I digress. It will be interesting to see whether or not this decision effects sales of the game. I think it will still be a huge hit for Konami either way, and is MAJOR proof that the current gen consoles are anything but dead yet.
Paul Ryan sits down with veteran political analyst and former Special Report host Brit Hume.
This Brit Hume Paul Ryan interview from Fox News is the first solo interview that Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential Candidate gave to the media.
Just by watching it you’ll learn more on how Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney plan to take Barack Obama on over Medicare, how they plan to balance the U.S. Budget, where they stand on taxes and tax loopholes, how they plan to trim the deficit and significantly cut spending, how they will repeal Obamacare and why it needs repealing, and more.
Hey everyone. I got a job interview at McDonalds on Tuesday. Its been a LONG time since I had a normal job. Previously I have worked at an Electronics store (Fry’s Electronics), a restaurant (Denny’s, as a Dishwasher) and a movie theater (Harkins), but I havent worked any of these types of jobs since 2008 or so. Thus it has been years.
Im somewhat nervous, but I generally do fairly well in job interviews, so Im confident it will go fine. Please say a prayer that I get the job! Me and my family could desperately use the money. Thx!
… Nintendo President Iwata sits down with the developers behind NSMB2 for 3DS. Releasing on August 19 2012.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 for 3DS releases on August 19, 2012 and seeks to give the 3DS a big push leading into the all-important holiday buying season. Get a much better idea of the game in this NSMB2 Iwata Asks interview.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 is one of the most highly anticipated for Nintendo’s stereoscopic 3D portable, and, for the first time ever, takes Mario on an adventure that is entirely focused on collections Coins!
Every Mario game has involved Coin collecting, however this is the first Mario game where collecting Coins takes on a whole new meaning and the game was built from the ground up with uber-Coin Collection in mind! Everything Mario does is related to Coins, including new Power-Ups like the Gold Flower, which turns Mario into Gold Mario where he shoots Golden Fireballs. What do these do? You guessed it!
Each Gold Fireball turns enemies and objects into COINS! Basically, speed-running with the highest amount of Coins collected will be the name of the game in NSMB2, and the game even challenges players to collect a mind-boggling ONE MILLION COINS!
You’ll get a greater insight into the game by reading the New Super Mario Bros. 2 3DS Iwata Asks interview.
* The interview starts out with the developers who worked on the project discuss a new company-wide “school” that trained new level designers on how to create courses for Super Mario Bros. games. As a result, several new developers got their hands dirty in actually creating courses, pumping new blood into the development of a new Mario game and allowing for some new ideas from new people.
“I heard Tezuka-san believes that the course design plays a key role in determining the fundamental elements of 2D Mario games, so he opened the cram school in hopes to spread that knowledge across others within the company. Alongside Tezuka-san, (Toshihiko) Nakago-san was also deeply involved with this project….
Some knew a lot about games and some didn’t, but the Mario Cram School we mentioned earlier came in incredibly useful. Participants got a firm grasp of the basic ingredients of what makes 2D Super Mario enjoyable and experienced actually making stages, so we were able to begin this project with a solid foundation.” – New Super Mario Bros. 2 Director Amano.
* They discuss how the experience of the developers who worked on Super Mario 3D Land were able to help turn their “flat” environments into stereoscopic 3D ones and add polish to the game.
“I believe so. For the first prototype, we had only made the character models in 3D, so it looked three-dimensional, but the landforms were flat and just slapped on. However, the staff from Tokyo Software Development Department improved that nicely. To be exact, the background landforms are a flat image, but it came to look a little three-dimensional, and if you turn on the 3D Depth Slider, it doesn’t just gain depth, but gradually blurs.” – Ishikawa
* They discuss how new night scenes have been added, something that hasn’t been seen in Mario since the original Super Mario Bros. for NES and perhaps Super Mario Bros. 3 for NES.
“Super Mario games in 2D have always had a traditional graphics style, but in addition to extending and developing the gameworld from games past, did you try anything new?” – Iwata
“This time, we added some night and evening scenes. It feels very different than before.” – Ishikawa
“It was always a blue sky.” – Iwata
“Yes. But this time, the designers had a desire to change that a bit. Design-wise, it’s an extension of what has come before, but the night scenes make a slightly different impression.” – Ishikawa
* They discuss some of the new features that will make this Super Mario game feel fresh. Such as the new “Dash Mario” levels!
“But I get the impression from when I actually played it that if you think it’s the same and don’t take it seriously you’ll run into trouble.” – Iwata
“That’s right. The staff had a strong desire this time to think of tough things that people might even get angry about. And we’ve changed some things with regard to the setup to make a fresh impression. For example, this time you can play special stages called Dash Mario. You go into a cannon and get fired out. Then Mario’s dashing from the start and you press the A Button at the right times.” – Amano
* They then switch gears and go into an indepth discussion on how the theme of this game, COIN COLLECTION AND GOLD, came to being!
“All right. It started early on in development when we were determining the structure little by little in order to make the stages fun, and for some reason Nakago-san and Tezuka-san kept talking about coins. They were both going on about how good it felt to get coins. It was just about the time that Super Mario 3D Land was finishing up, and in that game Mario can put a Question Block over his head… Only a few coins came out at first, and I thought, “That isn’t very satisfying,” so we made it so that if you dash, coins come out like crazy. I had Tezuka-san try it out and he was thrilled, saying, “This is great!” and “You can make all kinds of stages like this! (laughs) But that was something adopted from Super Mario 3D Land, and I didn’t like just copying it, so I made a golden Koopa Troopa. If you stomp on and toss one, coins scatter around… Around that time, when Tezuka-san and Nakago-san had one of their usual lunches. He came back from one of those lunches absolutely brimming with joy and said, “How about one million coins?!” – Amano
* Next they discuss the “Coin Rush Mode”. This mode came about in order to make it much easier to hit the One Million Coins threshold. They also discuss how Mr. Miyamoto was not a fan of the Coin Block that gets stuck on Mario’s head and shoots out Coins (see the actual interview).
“It was before we decided that the theme this time would be collecting coins. I wanted to make a Super Mario game that you could play over and over again. Rather than making large-volume stages, I thought about how I could make something fun for customers to play a little in their free time. It started by wondering if we could pull together something a little light, like playing three stages in a row and if you mess up once, it’s over. But the ones we made in the beginning didn’t look like players would proactively approach play it.” – Amano
* Next up the developers discuss the all-new co-op mode. This is the first handheld Mario game that you can play through the whole single-player campaign with two players in cooperative play. However they had a dilemma, the game’s were not just right-scrolling, but went in different directions with the level design more convoluted than previous games. This made implementing two-player hard. To overcome this, they came up with the idea of “Bubbling”. The camera follows the “Leader”, the player who is out in front, and if the second player falls behind, they get sucked into a Bubble and magically teleported to the point where the leader is. This adds extra incentive to have players competing to be the leader. Or to hamper the leader. Additionally, the levels are designed in a way that you can’t get every Coin by playing single-player in all the levels. Thus playing with two-players can give you twice the Coins, which the developers hope will encourage players to try the two-player mode.
“With the previous game, New Super Mario Bros.12 for the Nintendo DS system, they were special stages, but with the Wii game, you could play all the stages of the main game, and we wanted to do the same thing on the Nintendo 3DS as on the Wii. We decided that if we couldn’t do that, then we would abandon it.” – Tezuka
“Competing to be leader is fun.” – Ishikawa
“For example, Mario could ground pound Luigi to become the leader, or he could get into a pipe leading to the next area sooner to become the leader.” – Amano
“So you can compete to become leader, get in your opponent’s way, or be mischievous with each other. On the other hand, you can enjoy purely cooperative play, such as a good player becoming leader and helping out someone who isn’t so good.” – Iwata
“And this time, an impossible amount of coins appear, so if a single player can’t get certain coins, two players playing cooperatively can get them all.” – Amano
“What’s more, we made it so that when two people play, you can get twice the number of coins, so I think people will want to play with a partner.” – Ishikawa
* Next up, the developers discuss the use of the 3DS special features, like the StreetPass mode, where you can swap times with someone you’ve passed who is also playing the game. You will then be encouraged to try and beat their time. If you do, you will earn a special Crown Coin worth tons of Coins. By passing someone who is an expert, you can earn tons of Coins this way. They also explain how SpotPass allows players to see how many Coins different regions have collected, so different states or even countries can compete against each other! Last but not least, they discuss how New Super Mario Bros. 2 will be the first Super Mario game to include additional downloadable DLC! They are still figuring out if it will be paid downloadable content, or free. One of the developers talks about how he worked on Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, which used the eReader and eCards to add extra difficult stages you could play by scanning the Game Boy Advance cards. However few people bought an eReader or took advantage of the peripheral to play the extra stages. He has been wanting to do something similar ever since, and finally gets to with NSMB2!
“Using the StreetPass feature, you can exchange Coin Rush mode data. You can play Coin Rush mode repeatedly within a short time and collect more coins the better you know the stage. In some ways, it’s like a concentration of typical Super Mario elements. You can try to beat the best time of someone you passed in the street, and if you beat them, not only do you get the coins you snagged, but you also get a bonus Crown Coin. ” – Amano
“And via the SpotPass feature, you can learn how many coins others have collected.” – Amano
“Different regions and countries can compete with each other.” – Tezuka
“Like, “Look at how many America has! Japan better not lose!” – Iwata
“Actually, this isn’t the first time for a Super Mario game to have additional stages. I was on the staff for Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 315, and it had a way to add extra stages. By using the Nintendo e-Reader, you could play additional stages. So for Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3, we made really sharp—really difficult—stages to add later. I played them myself and had a ball. I thought, ‘I wish more people could enjoy this.’ At that time, it was necessary to buy the Nintendo e-Reader separately. For that reason, not as many people as I had hoped enjoyed the additional stages, but personally, I loved them! That was about nine years ago, and ever since then, I’ve been thinking I want to do that again sometime.” – Amano
“In the case of 2D Mario games, the play contents can be significantly changed by adding new courses. Luckily, because we had opened the Mario Cram School, this time we had about twice the number of staff who were able to design courses. In that sense too, I thought Mario games and the idea of additional courses worked well together. I started by telling the staff early on that this has meaning since it was for Super Mario, so we should come up with something.” – Tezuka
* Finally, they discuss how New Super Mario Bros. 2 recalls classic Super Mario elements and yet reinvigorates the franchise with fun new ideas.
“We wanted to make a solid, classic Super Mario game, so first we reconstructed the Super Mario stage elements, and then made 80 stages—no, more than that—and added in a bunch of the coin elements mentioned by Tezuka-san, and reconstructed the stages yet again…and I think it turned out to be a game that is fun to play.” – Amano
“It feels rewarding because multiple ideas came together, bringing the game to a place that each idea on its own never could have reached.” – Iwata
This is what they imagine the Ouya videogame selection process to look like in the main menu.
Ouya has shattered Kickstarter records by reaching over $5 million dollars, the most for any Kickstarter Project in any category EVER.
Beating out previous highs, both of which were videogames. These include Double Fine Adventure which raised $3 million ($3,336,371 to be exact) and Wasteland 2 from inXile which raised nearly $3 million (or $2,933,252).
This is a huge deal because of all the complications that come from building and producing a videogame console, as well as the cool fact that videogame-related Kickstarter Projects have proven out to be the most popular and the ones that draw the biggest numbers of Backers! No small feat on a site with thousands of projects and new ones, big and small, going up every day!
The Ouya Android videogame system.
In addition to becoming the biggest Kickstarter Project of ALL TIME, Ouya also shattered and set two other records:
* Fastest-ever Kickstarter Project to reach $1 Million Dollars, achieving that benchmark in a slim and extraordinary eight hours and 22 minutes!
* Most money ever raised over the period of a single day (24 hours), with $3.2 million raised! Shattering the previous record of $1.9 million dollars.
Sadly though, all this incredible amount of money so quickly may have the developers behind Ouya reeling. Certainly none of them could’ve ever dreamed they’d raise so much cash, with their goal being set at $90,000!
Doubts about the console and the makers ability to create it have surfaced after founder Julie Uhrman recently contradicted herself in two separate interviews. First saying that they would seek to find funding outside of Ouya Kickstarter, but then saying that they would not be seeking additional funding outside of Kickstarter.
The exact quotes, respectively,
1. “This is a really big undertaking and it’s going to be expensive. We’re looking for additional funds of money but more importantly we wanted to take it to Kickstarter regardless.” – Ouya founder Julie Uhrman to MCV’s sister site Develop.
2. “Let me be clear, Ouya is not seeking additional funding outside of Kickstarter. Our intent in going to Kickstarter was to raise money that would take us from functional prototype to product on the market.” Julie Uhrman to Eurogamer.
So which is it? These and other inconsistencies have sowed seeds of doubt and worry in some people. Although to me, I think maybe they changed their tune from the above two statements once they realized exactly how much money was coming in from the Kickstarter. Maybe they were planning to get outside funding, but the Kickstarter money train keeps barreling ahead with no end in site!
Either way, I still think Ouya is a breath of fresh air, and I hope it’s a raging success!
Here is the announcement video for Ouya from the Kickstarter Project’s main page, be sure to go there and read the Updates the developers have posted, including the fact that Ouya has secured their first exclusive game. Robert Bowling (of Call of Duty fame) and his upcoming “Human Element” title will get an exclusive Ouya prequel!
There is some resemblance, especially in this pic of a younger Barack Obama.
Now this is absolutely awesome. President Obama and Will Smith together in one video!
Sitting with his wife Jada Pinkett Smith (now divorced, or so the rumors say. I honestly couldn’t confirm the truth), both rockstar celebrities ask President Obama different questions. Unfortunately the camera cuts between them so you don’t get to see all of them in one shot.
It’s really interesting to see President Obama engaging with the Smiths. Obama has reportedly stated that, if there were ever a movie about him, he’d want Will Smith to play the role of Obama. Can you picture that? Granted, he does have the ears as Obama says.
Imagine a future where videogames were streamed into your TV. Kinda like OnLive.
Imagine if playing videogames was as easy as changing the TV channel? What if there were no videogame consoles, and instead of a dedicated videogame console from one of the big-three manufacturers (Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony), games were streamed to your device?
Does this sound like an exciting future to you? Do you think we’ll reach that point within ten years? God of War creator David Jaffe does, and he recently spoke out about this future in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz.
To quote:
“Look, consoles are going away. I think in 10 years – probably sooner, but 10 years is always the safe thing to say so you don’t sound like an idiot – but here’s what I’ll say: I’ll go on the record and say that the next generation of hardware will be the last consoles. And they should be. It doesn’t mean you won’t buy a piece of hardware from Sony, but you’ll probably buy a television that streams the stuff. And you’ll still have Sony, loud and proud and strong making these great, big, epic games like God of War and Uncharted, and they’ll be making great little games like Sound Shapes, but they’ll become more like movie studios for video games. I’ll be able to stream in the next Uncharted and Plants vs Zombies and you won’t even think about it. It’ll just be like I can watch a public access show on my TV or I can watch Avatar.”
You can kind of get this already with OnLive, which allows you to purchase new videogames to play using the OnLive Console or your PC; but OnLive has in no way replaced the current crop of consoles…
In this future that David Jaffe is talking about, videogames have not gone away in the slightest, to the contrary they are bigger than ever, but the medium and the way you get them has changed. Imagine if you will, that every videogame was like a movie studio, and everyone’s device, like a TV, can get all the same movies from these same studios. So the focus would be on the brandname of said entertainment (just like the brand name from movies like The Expendibles or TV shows like King of Queens) and its content, and not on the delivery device….
I am not sure that I agree at all with David Jaffe. In fact, I think half the fun of videogames is the console itself… which is probably why I am not in any way much of a big PC gamer… But this is definitely an interesting idea.
It’s also worth noting that 10 years will arguably be the next systems after the next-generation, as Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft are doing their best to push the current-generation to last a whole 10 years. I don’t think they’ll quite make it, but they got hella close, as the current crop of consoles launched in 2006, 2005 for the Xbox 360.
Face off against a titanic boss in the third game in the Penny Arcade RPG series!
The third On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Penny Arcade game, Episode 3, will be released early, on June 25th, as part of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Xbox Live Indie Games section, as well as a legit release on Steam.
This is a much earlier release than was originally intended, as the game was supposed to hit in July. But since the game is done now, the developers thought it’d be dumb to sit on their hands until later. Cool right?! :D
Additionally, fans of the Penny Arcade comic-based videogame who purchase On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 3 on Steam will get an extra goody! Buy it on Steam during the first week of its release will net you a full copy of the Indie darling “Cthulhu Saves The World”! The Steam version also supports SteamPlay and Mac gamers will be able to play the game once it hits Steam.
Here is a video of the game in action, which features a completely different style from the former two games in the series, and was made by Indie Developer Zeboyd Games, makers of Breath of Death VII and Cthulhu Saves the World, as well as other retro-style modern RPGs.
On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 3 is also scheduled to hit Android and iOS in the future.
A Miyamoto FPS making use of the Wii U GamePad could be a reality in the future. HECK YES!
Shigeru Miyamoto making a first-person shooter? THAT’S RIGHT. The Nintendo mastermind has revealed that an FPS is a genre of videogame that he is really interested in pursuing.
It isn’t too hard to imagine actually, because it has, in some ways, ALREADY BEEN DONE. Miyamoto was behind many of the decisions in the Metroid Prime franchise developed by Retro Studios, including the decision to turn it into first-person from a third-person viewpoint; early on in the development of the very first Metroid Prime game. And the rest is history.
Although technically Nintendo dubbed the Metroid Prime series a “First-Person Adventure” and NOT a First-Person Shooter.
So… that leads to today. Miyamoto says he specifically wants to create a first-person shooter game that utilizes the Wii U and it’s Wii U GamePad Tablet Controller to its fullest. One can only imagine the possibilities. And if Miyamoto were to do an FPS, you know it’d be much different, very creative, innovative, and unique from the girth of gritty, FPS games that saturate the market. And it is very likely that it would be a family-friendly game.
Sadly, this project idea only exists in the mind of the Nintendo master, and is not something he is yet working on. As he is currently to busy with other projects. But it is a very interesting prospect!
To quote:
“I actually do kind of want to make a first-person shooter, but I don’t have time. Rather than necessarily the question of ‘What kind of weapon do I have?’ in a first person shooter or ‘What kind of effect does that have on an enemy?’, I think that the structure of a first-person shooter is something that’s very interesting. Having that 3D space that in theory you are in and being able to look around and explore that—particularly being able to do that in conjunction with another person—is very interesting.”
Miyamoto also discussed how the Wii U GamePad Tablet Controller could be used as a new “window” into the game, allowing you to see aspects around you that aren’t presented on the screen; and how interesting it’d be to have two players doing this at once within a first-person shooter world. *the mind wobbles*
Here is a video of the Wii U Panorama View Demo, which shows off how you can look away from the TV and see another window into the action, in this case with a real-life actual video! IMPRESSIVE.
All of this was revealed in an interview with Kotaku, be sure to read the full interview. It’s very interesting!
The Joker and Harley Quinn land on Wii U with Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition.
Batman: Arkham City – Armored Edition for Wii U was one of the biggest games Nintendo was touting for the next-generation console at the E3 2012 Nintendo Press Conference.
The game takes the best game of 2011 and expands on it by making extensive use of the Wii U GamePad’s tablet controller and its touchscreen, allowing the player increased functionality, new moves, and streamlined accessibility to Batman’s weapons and gadgets, all at the touch of a button. This also frees the main screen from clutter and menus, as all menus now take place on the Wii U GamePad controller, meaning you do not need to ever pause the game! This is the same type of streamlining that developers are bringing to other games like ZombieU and Rayman Legends.
Here is the E3 2012 announcement trailer and video for Batman: Arkahm City Armored Edition.
SYNOPSIS
Developed by WB Games Montreal, Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition is the enhanced version of the award-winning blockbuster videogame created by Rocksteady Studios. The Wii U version delivers the same impactful story and gameplay as the original title, this time with enhanced gameplay mechanics and features made possible with the Wii U and the new controller.
Batman: Arkham City is based on DC Comics’ core Batman license and is set in Arkham City, the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. Featuring an incredible Rogues Gallery of Gotham City’s most dangerous criminals including Catwoman, The Joker, The Riddler, Two-Face, Harley Quinn, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze and many others, the game allows players to genuinely experience what it feels like to be The Dark Knight delivering justice on the streets of Gotham City.
Here is the E3 2012 Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition Official Trailer.
Key Features of Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition For Wii U Include:
Battle Armored Tech Mode (B.A.T. Mode)
A new upgraded battle suit for both Batman and Catwoman gives players an additional power-up by allowing them to build up kinetic energy during combat. When activated, Batman enters B.A.T. mode, whereby he doles out more damage and has a heightened sense of enemy locations.
Wii U New Controller Functionality
The new controller’s touch screen allows players to truly be The World’s Greatest Detective with the newly designed, wrist-mounted Batcomputer. Players can select their gadget, track evidence, upgrade their gear, set and detonate bombs, and more, all without ever leaving the game.
Reimagined Gadgets
All gadgets have been reimagined to utilize the power of the new controller. For example, players can now use the new Sonar mode that enables Batman to quickly probe his surroundings to develop the tactics needed for success. Players can then select, customize and equip their preferred gadget loadout, as well as access a real-time map of Gotham without ever leaving the action of the game. The new controller also allows for an unprecedented level of accuracy when using the Batarang and scanning for clues.
Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition Content
Included on disc are all previously released downloadable content: Harley Quinn’s Revenge Pack, Catwoman Pack, Nightwing Bundle Pack, Robin Bundle Pack, Challenge Map Pack and Arkham City Skins Pack.
Here is an interview with the developer about Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition.
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