MechWarrior fans find themselves a bit overwhelmed these days. With three separate MW-inspired games announced within months of each other -- not bad for a series that most assumed died nearly a decade ago. -- even hardcore fans might find the distinctions confusing. Presented below is our quick guide to the recent announcements.
MechWarrior Online
Platform: PC
Developer: Piranha Games
Genre: Free-to-play sim
Release date: TBA 2012
Retro inspiration: MechWarrior's two through four
Look up the word "workmanlike" in the dictionary and you might see a boxshot of Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War. The game earned good, if not astounding, ratings from critics and sold amazingly well -- just not enough to match Call of Duty 4. Treyarch has spent the better part of the past decade in the shadow of that game's creators, Infinity Ward, listening to fans and media refer to them as the "B-team" in charge of the "off-year" Call of Duty games, but this year's game, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, marks the first chance the studio has ever had to truly own the Call of Duty series.
Getting their start with the series in 2005 with Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Treyarch truly stepped into the spotlight with Call of Duty 3 in 2006. Receiving merely average reviews, the team couldn't quite capture the magic of Call of Duty 2. When Infinity Ward reinvented the series in 2007 with CoD 4, fans expected Treyarch's follow-up to continue on in the same vein as the early games in the series, and World at War's WWII setting enhanced that perception. WaW certainly trumped CoD 3, but couldn't quite hit the heights that IW turned out every two years.
A new Call of Duty game release is expected every year, making last week's news that, yes, 2012 will see a new game in the series come out no real surprise. With Infinity Ward and Treyarch continuing to alternate releases, this year is Treyarch's turn to bring out a game. At this point we don't know any of the specifics, but it's looking increasingly likely that it will be a direct sequel to Black Ops, at least in terms of naming.
After previously acquiring Black Ops-related domain names (from BlackOps3.com up through BlackOps6.com), Activision reportedly got its hands on BlackOps2.com not long ago. The domain acquisition on its own didn't seem like a confirmation that Black Ops would receive a follow-up; many companies purchase domains in order to simply have their hands on them so others cannot profit on their intellectual property. Other times it's done to avoid embarrassing situations where a URL based on a game's name cannot be used to promote the competition -- a situation Activision found itself in last year when ModernWarfare3.com was home to a site knocking Call of Duty and encouraging visitors to pick up Battlefield 3. Activision decided to take action against the domain owner in an effort to acquire it, which it managed to do successfully. The entire situation could have been avoided had it simply registered the domain sooner, so BlackOps2.com falling into the hands of Activision seemed insignificant on its own.
For Valentine's Day we examined 35 reasons why we love games, but we're not done expressing our affection yet. Prose alone couldn't handle out boundless adoration; we had to make a video. Watch as we discuss our personal favorite reason to love.
Responding via Twitter to a question from another developer, Prey 2 lead graphics programmer revealed that publisher Zenimax forced developer Human Head to cancel all talks relating to the game at this year's Game Developers Conference. "Yes, Zenimax forced us to pull all Prey2 related talks from GDC. I'm pretty devastated by the news. This was to be my first conf talk." He explained over a series of tweets. "We are trying our hardest to get the decision reversed but for now all 3 are canceled." The tweets caught the eye of fans who pressed for more information, "Thanks all for the kind words. Needless to say this not a good day for me." explained Karis before stating that he couldn't answer many of questions coming from inquisitive followers.
Anyone who has ever invested themselves in a project can empathize with Karis. GDC presents a unique opportunity to really show off everything a developer or team accomplished over the year. As rewarding as giving a demo to fans or press can be, only the audience at GDC can truly grasp many of the complex technical accomplishments found in games and the effort that went into them.
Most games take years to develop, but Minecraft developer Mojang plans to make one over a single weekend. Announced on Wednesday, Mojang intends to livestream a new game's creation over 60 hours and is partnering with the Humble Bundle team to raise money for charity. This latest announcement follows in the footsteps of other innovative Mojang projects which could only take root in a field as open to creativity as the game industry.
Starting Friday, February 17 at 10 A.M. Central European Time (1 A.M. US Pacific Time) Mojang will begin work on a brand new title. The company will answer questions via Twitter and promises "silly incentives" for reaching donation goals. Eager fans can even get involved now and vote for the genre and theme of the prospective game on Mojang's website. "Of course, you?ve always wanted to play a Shoot Em?Up Dating Simulator with a Candy Land World War II theme. Choose wisely!" warns the company.
Valentine's Day is all about love. This year, we figured you've probably seen enough nearly identical "Top 10 Games to Play With Your Girlfriend" pieces across the web (ProTip: Try Bubble Bobble), so we've decided instead to step back and look at a different kind of love altogether -- our love for games. What we realized is that what makes us love this crazy hobby has more to do with specific details, not big experiences. We've put together a tribute to some of the most memorable moments we've ever experienced in games -- not necessarily the big set-pieces that were carefully calculated to make an impression, but rather the little things that have stuck with us through the years. On consoles, PCs, arcade machines, and portables, these are the artful, loving incidentals and twists that have turned us into the fans we are. Some are profound, some are utterly trivial, but each one resonated with us.
Keep in mind, this isn't some comprehensive list of gaming's greatest moments; it's simply a reflection on our personal favorites. Everyone has their own, and everyone's are different -- so please, share yours!
Between DICE taking place last week and Tim Schafer successfully turning to Kickstarter to fund a Double Fine-developed graphic adventure, there has been a lot of talk recently about the role publishers serve in the videogame industry. There is the belief among many people that publishers do little more than stifle innovation, a suggestion Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg takes issue with.
During a panel at DICE, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter made the case that today's publishing model isn't good for for the industry. Publishers are opposed to risks and many shy away from bringing out games unlikely to sell millions of units, he said, also adding, "We are getting fewer choices as consumers because financial guys are taking over. Financial guys are making the decisions."
When I first downloaded God of War creator David Jaffe's PSN game, Calling All Cars, I didn't quit playing until my thumbs literally grew too sore to continue. The game borrowed heavily from NBA Jam despite its cops & robbers aesthetic, and like that arcade classic, my friends and I fought down to the wire in every round. Though Jaffe has in the past referred to the game as a "mistake," I would place it above the original God of War as my favorite game of his. I know it seems strange to value a forgotten PSN downloadable title above one of the best PS2 games of all time, but I've come to a point where I prefer experiences that don't aspire to tell a grand story, and I'm thankful that game creators like Jaffe feel the same way.
Jaffe explained his feelings to other game makers in a presentation recorded by Gamespot at last week's DICE summit, "My talk is actually a warning about why we shouldn't tell stories with our video games. I think it's a bad idea. I think it's a waste of resources and time and money and more importantly I think it actually stunts, and has stunted over the last ten years or so, the medium of video games."
Many gamers who take the hobby seriously scoff at each year's Spike TV Video Game Awards. There are numerous reasons for this, the most prominent being that the show is often filled with gags, skits, and seemingly anything that does not consist of awards being handed out and accepted. You need only look at the show this past December where certain awards were given out beforehand and others were announced so rapidly they were gone in the blink of an eye. But about what the awards themselves -- are the selections, too, put to shame by other award shows?
Last night, in the midst of the 2012 DICE Summit in Las Vegas, the 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (the IAAs) took place and were hosted by who else but comedian and BlizzCon frequent Jay Mohr. DICE (which stands for Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) is an event geared towards those within the industry and thus has a much different focus than a trade show like E3. Whereas the nominees and winners of the VGAs are chosen by a select group of those in the videogame press, the IAAs are "decided by a peer-based voting system," as the organizers, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, put it. One might therefore expect the awards to end up in the hands of different nominees than the VGAs.
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