Rejoice! Rockstar San Diego Is Doing Things

People are talking out there in the gaming world. They're saying Rockstar San Diego is doing things, like working on a new title. You know Rockstar San Diego, right? The guys responsible for Red Dead Redemption. Okay, now you may commence the fellating.

Sometimes I feel like a man alone when it comes to the harsh judgement I rain down on Rockstar. It's not because my contrarian view makes me feel like a trendy hipster, nor is it that I enjoy writing off the successful top dogs, in all honesty, I just don't like the extent of a simulation all Rockstar branches are turning open world games in to. 

Grand Theft Auto IV and Read Dead Redemption are great games. You know what's an even better game though? Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It wasn't afraid to have fun and take itself lightly, and it turned out to be one of be most memorable and unique experiences of my gaming career. And the action wasn't too bad either. Not only do games like GTA IV and RDR feel like they're trying to be more of a sim than an action game, in the process they lose a bit of charm that were set by the sandbox trailblazers such as the original Grand Theft Auto, which had more personality in one city block than GTA4 did the entire campaign mode. Except for Little Jacob and Brucie, those dude saved the game. 

Sorry, I'm getting off track. Back to the topic, Rockstar San Diego says their new project is going to "blow gamers away", their words. Good to see you're tempering people's expectations Rockstar, that's always a good thing. I predict a new open world game that mixes American history and the Tamagatchi, called Underground Railroad, where you lead Abraham Lincoln against the confederate armies of Cold War Russia. And remember, if you don't feed your Abe every 8 hours, he'll die and you'll lose your save! I'm sure that idea would blow a few gamers away, no?

Duke Nukem Next Gen? Yes, Please

Here is a testament to the power of the fans. Duke Nukem 3D, in all it's glory, is a classic. And by classic, I mean it's old as sin, and as ugly as Rosemary's baby. So Frederik Schreiber (aka Fresch), a dedicated fan, decided to pretty much reskin the whole Duke 3D world and make it run on the Unreal 3 engine, just for fun. 

Well, people were impressed by Fresch's work. So impressed that he had no problem contacting the people at 3D Realms, Duke 3D's old home, and Gearbox Software, Duke Nukem Forever's new home. He got the blessing of the head honchos at both studios and just like that, we'll be getting a Duke Nukem 3D remake very soon. 

Fresch says a multiplayer demo will be on the way sooner than we think. If you're as excited as I am, keep it locked for updates on the coming demo. And make sure you check out the Gearbox Forums for up to date progress reports on how the game is coming along.

NYCC10: Look Ma, No Controller! Our Kinect Adventures

Standing off to the side, we watched a couple play Kinect Adventures' River Rush while the possibly coked out Microsoft PR guy barked out commands and directed traffic with an unstable energy. He was a cool dude. 

After almost being bored to death watching the team in front of us jump in place for the duration of the River Rush gameplay, without the very important peripheral mind you, it was our turn. I asked Honkey (this was the emcee's name, no lie) to let us get a crack at something a little more exciting. Unfortunately, Microsoft was limited to what they could let us play due to sponsoring (go figure) so we were stuck with Kinect Adventures, Kinect's very own Wii Sports. Like Wii Sports, there is nothing special to be seen, but it gives you the gist of how the system works.

Team OBG had it's go at Rally Ball, a type of brick-breaker and soccer mash-up, that was a decidedly more exciting mini-game than River Rush. After a crash course in the controls, wait, what controls? Keeping 6-8 feet in front of the screen, leave the space of about one person between each other, and getting more points for using your head (such is life), we were ready to Rally Ball! 

My reflexes were as responsive as a cat's, my movements as calculated as a ninja's, my strikes as precise as a surgeon's. If only the Kinect were able to detect them that way. Unfortunately, every move we made was a split second or more delayed on the screen. So while I was reacting to the ball at just the right time, my avatar was swinging and missing, badly. That ain't good.

Once we took the lag into account, we got ourselves into a groove, albeit it a silly looking one. We were using our arms, legs, and yes, even our heads for extra points. I'll admit it was fun, but that's it. Kinect Adventures, like Wii Sports before it, is the girl (or guy) you hook up with for a night of anonymous fun. No long term potential at all, sorry. And that kind of sums up how I feel about Kinect in general. Milo looked awesome, until they dragged the poor kid into a back alley and offed him. Though even if Milo persisted, how long would you see yourself playing it? Me, not long at all. You gotta impress us, Kinect. Make believers of us, don't expect us to drink the Kool Aid. 

Here's a protip, start off by making a zombie Milo game. I'm with that. 

NYCC10: X-Men Arcade, No Quarters Necessary

One of the fondest memories from my childhood was taking vacation with family down to Florida, where the local pristine and hi-tech arcade was home to the much sought after 6-player X-Men Arcade. A world of difference from the local arcades I haunted in Queens New York, which were mostly found in the back of pizza stores and comic book shops. Even then, the best we had were Sunset Riders, Street Fighter: Rainbow Edition, WWF Superstars, and a Neo Geo 4-in-1 cabinet. Don't get me wrong, I loved the ghetto games of my ghetto arcade in the back of the ghetto pizzeria, but damn son, I get to play as Wolverine with five other people? That's what I'm talking about.

When the trailer for X-Men Arcade started rolling at Marvel's Saturday morning video game panel at New York Comic Con, and I realized what it was, my childhood came rushing back. I remembered taking family trips down south, swimming in the pool with with girls more mature than I, being fascinated with their boobs, playing Simpsons Arcade, Tekken, and of course, X-Men Arcade. I also remembered just how much I hated this particular game. Well, hate is a strong word, it was more like I was at odds with it. 

I loved X-Men, and I loved arcades, so it's obvious that the joining of the two would be a dream come true for a snot-nosed punk in the early 90's. And it was for a while, until I couldn't beat it with the quarters allotted to me by my father. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how many people who teamed with me, I could never conquer this damned game.

I remember coming close once, really close. I must have spent around five bucks to get to the point I was at, me and one other kid holding it down long after the rest of our team had succumbed to renegade mutants and mutant hunters. The level was epic, the enemies were vicious, and the life was draining quickly. Magneto was the next boss, I could feel it! Boy, was I wrong.

I don't remember the stage, or the boss, but we beat it, and him. Only to move on to the next stage, and die, quickly. Well, I died. My compatriot valiantly fought on, lasting a good 5-10 minutes after me, but he met his inevitable end as well. Dejectedly, we sighed and bid our final farewells as our parents dragged us off, back to the real world.

X-Men Arcade is an awesome throwback to the arcade glory days of my, and probably your, childhood. Unfortunately, Konami says nothing new will be added, so don't expect to be playing as Bishop via DLC. Yes, someone will still be forced to play as disco reject, Dazzler. Not it, I've got infinite dibs on Nightcrawler. That was my man! All things aside, this is an excellent re-release. With six player drop in online support, the fun of the original will be upheld, and you'll be able to save your quarters for laundry. 

So Marvel, what's good with the re-release of Captain America and the Avengers?

NYCC10: Hands On with Mega Man Universe

Since the announcement of  Mega Man Universe, I've been struggling with how to feel about the 'open source' platformer. I had a chance to give the game a shot on the New York Comic Con show floor, and to be honest, I'm still not sure what I think.

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NYCC10: A Few Minutes with Dead Space 2 and a Developer

We had a chance to sit down with Dead Space 2 producer Zach Mumbach and ask him a little about what makes his game tick. In true developer fashion, he doesn't reveal too much, but we get enough out of Zach to make it interesting. 

Before watching him play, I was able to log 10 minutes or so with the demo on the floor, which is "very close" to being an end product. I liked what I saw and enjoyed what I played, the build was polished and handled tightly. The graphics are sharp and detailed, and the environments seem to exist to haunt the player. The sterile and cramped confines of the stage I tried really messed with my head. Blood and severed limbs strewn around the floor panels should have really alerted me, but I was still rightly spooked when a necromorph burst through a panel from behind and forced me into a gruesome retirement.

The experience was topped off by entering an eerily beautiful cathedral area where I fought a boss who has a stinger with a fetus growing on it. Dead Space 2's art designers are sick sons of bitches, I love it. The stinger makes for one of the sickest death animations we saw, and you will too in the video below.

I'm very excited for Dead Space 2, which for a player should be all about ambiance. It's all fun and laughs on the Comic Con show floor, with plenty of lights and a flood of people around, but when the game releases, and it's just you in a dimly lit room with no one home, that's where the real fun begins. 

Dead Space 2 releases January 25th, 2011.

NYCC10: Cosplay Revue

 

We here at Otaku But Gangsta appreciate the fine art of cosplay. We appreciate the effort most people put into it, but to truly earn our respect, your cosplay has to be done right. You need to bring your A-game cousin, because you're in public, thus you're on film, and therefore, you are on the interwebz. So don't screw this up, you only get one chance to shine!

New York Comic Con Cosplay gallery
Photography by Ernie Deeb, David Irlanda, and Eric Blackwood

NYCC10: Hands On With Undead Nightmare

I make my feelings for Rockstar no secret; I enjoy and respect their work and the effort they make. Their games are always so full of life and brimming over with content, however the departure from their light-hearted roots concerned me. C'est la vie, you can't please all of the people all of the time, but Rockstar aims to please however many as possible with their games. So is Undead Nightmare a six feet under snooze or a howl at the moon?

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NYCC10: In Depth With Captain America: Super Soldier

We got a chance to chat with Morgan Roberts, a producer at Sega of America, who was kind enough to demo Captain America: Super Solider and give us some insight into its development.

Morgan was playing a pre-alpha build of the game, which is a stage before in depth testing and finalizations. Even in this early point of its development, what we saw had tons of promise. Be forewarned, the video is lengthy, which speaks volumes for the product on the floor, complete or not. The pre-alpha demo had to have been a good 6 to 8 minutes, which is better than a lot of demos on PSN or XBLA marketplace. 

Good stuff. Captain America: Super Solider is definitely one to keep your eyes on. 

NYCC10: Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Reveals New Challengers!

So, I was finally able to get some hands on with Marvel vs. Capcom 3 today, and I'm impressed. I mean, it looked good on it's first few trailers, but something about it didn't excite me. After getting to play, and kicking the ass of two random challengers, I'm sold. You want impressions? I got 'em.

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