Posts in category galleries
by Zack Stern Oct 10th 2007 12:29PM
Filed under: Nintendo DS, Action, First Person Shooters, Galleries
The PC-and-console version of
Call of Duty 4 rocks as much as expected. But at a recent hands-on session, the DS take also impressed. The 3D graphics look surprisingly good; after a few minutes of settling in, I stopped scrutinizing textures and focused on the gameplay. And that gameplay carries the title.
COD4 switches between FPS sequences, helicopter-gunner modes, bomb-disarming moments, and
AC-130 gunship sections. The DS version feels full of care and craft, from thought put into controls, to the segmented sessions that play well on a handheld.
Continue reading Joystiq hands-on: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (DS)
by Zack Stern Oct 10th 2007 12:00PM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, First Person Shooters, Online, Galleries
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, literally rocks with action. In an early stage, a freight ship that you siege pitches and rolls, like a giant movie
set-piece. While playing a close-to-shipping version of the title, I felt like the action game used these special-effect focal points to drive its frenzied pace and huge scope.
Because of the "modern" setting, I had assumed I'd be plodding slowly with a squad of soldiers, tactically (and tactfully) knocking on doors to root out bad guys. And while there are sometimes AI-teammate elements, I never felt like I had to slow down and proceed with caution. Instead, I often had to speed up and dive for cover; depending on the situation, snipers, RPGs, and essentially armies of enemies are firing at you at the same time.
Continue reading Joystiq hands-on: Call of Duty 4 single-player (360, PC, PS3)
by Jason Dobson Oct 4th 2007 1:56PM
Filed under: Features, Sony PlayStation 3, Peripherals, Galleries
One of the most interesting, and certainly most unique video games coming to the PlayStation 3 this year is Sony and SCE Studios Japan's
Eye of Judgment, which combines elements of a physical collectible card game with that of a traditional video game for an experience that is, if anything, wholly its own.
While the influence of card games like
Magic: The Gathering and
Pokemon has long been felt in video games,
Eye of Judgment represents the first time to our recollection that the marriage of the two mediums has evolved beyond gameplay to take on a more literal meaning. With real cards you hold in your hand, and a playing mat unfolded on the table, it's entirely possible to play
Eye of Judgment with no PS3 involvement whatsoever, and even have a good deal of fun doing so. However, as the game comes bundled with the PS3's new PlayStation Eye camera, it seems a shame to leave such shiny new hardware ignored, so when the game showed up at Joystiq proper, we were inclined to put the new device through the wringer.
Continue reading Joystiq hands-on: PlayStation Eye
by Andrew Yoon Sep 30th 2007 8:00PM
Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Fashion, Galleries
Click for high-res image.
The newest
Zelda game,
Phantom Hourglass for the DS, launched a day early to the surprise of Nintendo World Store shoppers today in New York City. It's not every day that a new
Zelda game graces the Nintendo faithful, and the World Store housed some rare memorabilia from the series' long-running legacy. In addition, cosplayers flocked to the store for a chance to nab the game for free.
Excuuuse me, but this
Link from the original Saturday morning cartoon wins the cake from us.
by Zack Stern Sep 28th 2007 8:50AM
Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Portable, Rhythm, Casual, Galleries
The dancing-puppet game,
Boogie, launches on the DS this "holiday" season. The portable version of the title has more game in it (read: objectives and losing conditions). But after briefly playing, it still seems
aimed close at the casual market Boogie (Wii) courted; rhythm fans might want to pass.
Boogie (DS) copies rhythm game techniques, but it comes off as a casual, unfocused
Elite Beat Agents. Maybe after hours of playing -- or a better fit with a gamer who's never tried a rhythm title -- it would feel more unique.
Continue reading Joystiq impressions: Boogie (DS)
by Zack Stern Sep 27th 2007 3:30PM
Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Portable, Adventure, Casual, Galleries
LucasArts recently showed off the in-development DS version of
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. The company tried to remain positive -- or at the very least, civil -- about the previous DS
bomb,
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. But this showing was clearly to prove to journalists that the DS version of the new game won't follow the murky fate of its predecessor.
Lego Star Wars creator, Traveller's Tales redeveloped the game for the DS instead of re-using the old DS engine, and it shows. The new game more closely resembles
LSW on other consoles. In my brief play session, I was impressed with the top-screen 3D graphics;
LSW Complete could be the graphical leader for 3D DS games with its November 6 launch.
Continue reading Joystiq impressions: Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (DS)
by Zack Stern Sep 27th 2007 9:00AM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Driving, Online, Galleries
I recently got sucked into
Burnout Paradise, playing about a half-hour of the racing game due for release this Winter. While a half-hour may not seem like much, at hands-on gaming events, we writers rarely have the time or interest to play more than about fifteen minutes of a title before moving to the next.
Criterion creative director, Alex Ward chatted while I raced through the realistic city; he was clearly proud and excited by the game's
deviation from previous
Burnout franchise titles. And I was also impressed.
Admittedly, a half-hour isn't enough time to make a complete
assessment of a game. But I'm optimistic that the new version of the title will be a smash even if it breaks
Burnout traditions.
Continue reading Joystiq hands-on: Burnout Paradise
by Kevin Kelly Sep 25th 2007 3:45AM
Filed under: Culture, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Fighting, First Person Shooters, Galleries
Boy, we didn't expect the crowds in line for the
Halo 3 launch at Universal Citywalk in Los Angeles to start screaming like little girls when
Zac Efron appeared, but they certainly did. We'll be hearing those shrill screams in our ears for days to come. Unless we pump up the volume on
Halo 3 while we get into some fragoffs.
So, having attended the
Halo 2 launch at the same spot, this launch was incredibly lackluster. There was no music, no local radio DJ pumping up the crowd, no bikini-clad babes handing out samples of Mountain Dew, no one hurling t-shirts into the crowd, and no big countdown and fanfare. The most noise made by the crowd was whenever Master Chief would stroll by, and everyone would go nuts trying to take a photo of him. Then there was the guy handing out free swag for ...
The Kingdom. Everyone mobbed the poor guy, thinking it was
Halo stuff, but they were bummed when it turned out to be notebooks and pins from the upcoming movie.
Continue reading Zac Efron turns Los Angeles Halo 3 launch into teeny bopperazzi fest
by Zack Stern Sep 20th 2007 2:21PM
Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Portable, Casual, Galleries
EA Playground for the DS follows the general theme of the Wii game. Players compete in nine games to become the king of the schoolyard. While up to four players can battle on a local network, every competitor is forced to buy a copy of the game. I recently sampled all of the activities; a few stood out, but I anticipate that playing them mostly against AI opponents would grow boring over time.
If you've got three other friends with a DS and copy of the game,
EA Playground might be fun. Younger gamers might also like it. The rest of us? The longevity is questionable.
Continue reading Joystiq hands-on: EA Playground (DS)
by Jem Alexander Sep 19th 2007 3:25PM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, TGS, Galleries
Where else would Sony host their pre-TGS cocktail party but at their Corporate Headquarters in Shinagawa? Sony opened their doors to the non-Japanese media today for the first time and we got to see what their lavishly over the top interior designers have done with the place. The room was full of journalists, Sony executives (from both sides of the pond - SCEI were surprisingly absent) and more food and drink than you could shake a stick at. Trust us, we tried.
Check out the gallery below to see the huge screens that showed off Sony's multiple first party trailers as well as the smaller screens which allowed us another wee glimpse into those upcoming 2007 games (for the upteenth time). There were people there too, apparently.
by Zack Stern Sep 12th 2007 7:00AM
Filed under: Culture, Nintendo Wii, Action, Fighting, Simulations, Sports, Exergaming, Galleries
With a projected late-September U.S. release, Wii-only
Victorious Boxers: Revolution dukes it out for the best Wii sports title. I recently played a nearly complete localization of the June-released Japanese original, and
Victorious Boxers is clearly different than
Wii Sports Boxing. While Americans may think the manga art-style should appeal mostly to kids, the animation and physicality are viciously pitched to an older crowd. You're not trying to bowl over your opponent with
kindness after all.
The boxing mechanics were harder to gauge than the catchy art. I relied on the two-fisted, motion-only control scheme, although the game offers five other ways to play. After a lot of wild flailing, I felt like I had a general sense of my character. But I never felt like my swings were perfectly interpreted. Hopefully, after an hour or two, players will learn how to move. But while
Victorious Boxers easily held my interest, I couldn't predict if this will be a perfect translation between physical moves and game action. At some point, I wonder if the Wii controllers can handle one-to-one motion mapping for fast games.
Continue reading Joystiq impressions: Victorious Boxers: Revolution
by Kevin Kelly Sep 12th 2007 5:02AM
Filed under: Culture, Microsoft Xbox 360, TGS, Fashion, Galleries
You might have heard by now that Microsoft
announced a date for the *gasp* new pink and blue Xbox 360 controllers that we
saw at E3. Well, here are even more photos of the pastel playthings for you to gawk at. Unfortunately the women holding the controllers don't come with them.
Even more unfortunately, when is this color madness going to stop? You've got the original Xbox 360 in eggshell white, the ebony Elite, the military green Halo 3 model (with multi-colored and graphic-ed controllers as well) ... so where will it all end? A color-changing mood 360? Heat-sensitive, thermal transfer model? Maybe a clear version. Or better yet, the invisible-I-swear-it's-around-here-somewhere-just-listen-for-the-loud-fan-and-feel-for-the-radiator-like-warmth version.
At any rate, we digress. Check out the pictures (courtesy of
Engadget Japan) of the pink and blue Xbox 360 controllers, and pre-order some for your boy, or girl, today.
[Update: According to
Xbox.com, the pink and darker blue controllers are hitting the US on October 2nd. If you've really got your heart set on that baby blue controller (it'll match our Ice Blue DS Lite!) you can pick one up in Japan on November 1.]
by Zack Stern Sep 6th 2007 2:50AM
Filed under: Culture, Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, Galleries
EA introduced a new parody section of
The Simpsons Game called "Big Super Happy Fun Fun Land," if we're transcribing our notes correctly. In a brief video presented to journalists, the game-and-culture send-up mocked
Pokemon,
Engrish, and other intersections of East-meets-West. While just a small piece of the game, the inclusion of
Mr. Sparkle meant we had to post the otherwise light news.
Check out the updated gallery for more images. There's your answer,
fish-bulb.
by Zack Stern Sep 5th 2007 7:30PM
Filed under: PC, Business, Galleries
As previously
leaked, HP has just launched its
Blackbird 002 PC, the first team-produced product between HP and previously
acquired VoodooPC. This high-end computer fits in the question mark of HP's
food product pyramid, one step below the VoodooPC luxury treatment.
The Blackbird 002 is a customizable, built to order system that offers customers a choice of Intel or AMD motherboards and processors. Options from graphics rivals ATI and Nvidia are also available. Buyers even pick between Vista and XP.
HP touts the user-upgradeable design as a main selling point; PCI cards, drives, and other parts can be swapped without tools, and the wiring elegantly runs though the back of the aluminum case to avoid tangles.
Continue reading HP Blackbird 002 PC springs from nest
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