This is very early footage the next game from Team ICO. As with most early footage you can expect graphical enhancements for the final product. Some of these elements, such as the main character, or scenarios you see here may not make the final cut.
Further to this post all I can say (with bitter disappointment) is:
Rubbish. Just rubbish.
So it's that time again. Time for me to waffle on about how much I love a game I'm currently playing (there are much better/more important things to be talking about, I know). This time it's not from the Zelda, Katamari or Ico camps but from a francise I haven't before visited. I'm talking about the (apparently) classic games Prince of Persia.
Worryingly, I decided to buy this game having only seen one screenshot (see post about Jake Gyllenhaal) and nothing else, so it's to my great relief that I'm completely in love with it. Think of a cross between the illustrated beauty of Okami, crossed with the companionship of Ico and the broad lanscape and adventure of Shadow of the Colossus and you might have an idea of what this game is like. Oh and the cheek and borderline terrible wit of Han Solo and/or Indiana Jones in the shape of 'Prince' (you never actually learn his name and I resent having to call him that as it conjurs up images of tiny men in purple tights).
You play as 'Prince' who, looking for his beloved donkey Farah, stumbles into a drama between a Princess and her father, which ends in 'The Tree of Life' being destroyed and the subsequent release of a demon which spreads 'corruption' across the land. You and the Princess - Elika, join forces to restore peace and light to the land and ultimately banish the demon back into incarceration.
Whilst I have made comparisons to Ico, Elika is no Yorda. She is a princess with great magical power and with the ability to carry you across great distances, heal you in battle, attack enemies at will, rescue you from falling, and heal the 'corrupted' lands. In the words of Hilary Goldstein from IGN in her review: "This is a story about love. Not the love between the Prince and Elika, but between you and Elika". She is truly awesome. I have a slight crush on 'Prince' too... even if he is a bit buff and all... "These trousers were new!" (you'll get that when you've played it).
So yeah, I don't want to go on and on about it but I highly recommend this game and implore you to at list visit these sites to read more about it from the experts and then maybe buy it.
IGN review of Prince of Persia (XBox 360) - 9.3 (Outstanding)
Official Prince of Persia website - Ubisoft
This man clearly lost some marbles some time ago:
"For my keys to send to all instances of WoW on my 11 computers, I use Octopus 1.3.2. Maximizer in Octopus allows me to start up all WoW instances at the same time or any individual instance such as if a WoW instance has crashed. It also allows me to shutdown all of the computers at the same time."
<-----This guy springs to mind, and to quote the old guy at the chicken farm in Napoleon Dynamite: "Son, I have no idea what you just said." AND if I could find her, he'd be getting a 'Greta' right now.
Well having read this review, seen some swanky screen shots and a rather atmospheric trailer, I'm really looking forward to playing this game. Release date Boxing Day? Double Helix marketing: you fail.
This game looks amazing and I can't wait to play it on the XBox 360. But that's not what I'm posting about. I'm confused. The picture above shows a fairly slender man with quite well-built arms and legs, right? So how did Jake Gyllenhaal end up making the following transformation for the up-and-coming Prince of Persia movie?
All I can say is 'shudder'. A bad shudder that is.
It's been a while since I had a rant about a computer game and an even longer while since a rant about the Zelda series, but here I am again. I've been playing Twilight Princess on the Gamecube so it's probably a paler version of its Wii form but it's amazing and beautiful nonetheless. I read in a review somewhere that the game was actually originally built for the Gamecube which is quite incredible really when you look at some of the graphics; beautiful landscapes in washed-out colours not too dissimilar to PS2 classic Shadow of the Colossus, very realistic looking water, and some breathtaking cutscenes.
Twilight Princess is definitely a game for hardcore Zelda fans. Unlike Wind Waker and The Phantom Hourglass, TP has used the old tried and tested land of Hyrule but has gone one step further than The Minish Cap and Majora's Mask by revisiting all the original places from N64's Ocarina of Time. Players can expect to visit Garudo Desert, Hyrule Castle, Death Mountain, Zora's Domain, Lake Hylia and Kakariko Village. The Zoras are back as are the Gorons, as well as some redesigned Poes and Skulltullas.
But if you think this will be the same adventure, you're sorely mistaken. This time our hero, Link, is a simple goat herder living on the outskirts of Hyrule, who gets drawn in to a quest to save his fellow villagers from the encroaching mysterious 'twilight'. Upon his first visit to this twilight realm Link finds himself transformed into a wolf, which may have been a hindrance had it not been for the help of his new friend Midna, a creature of the twilight but one with seemingly good intentions. It's now up to part-time-wolf-part-time human-Link and Midna to track down the source of the twilight and with a little help from the awesome Princess Zelda stop the ultimate destruction of Hyrule.
Old weapons remain: the Master Sword, Hylian (Hero's) shield, iron boots, slingshot, boomerang, arrows, clawshot and bombs. A few new weapons are intruduced: bomblings, water bombs, and the spinner. Oh the spinner. I can't tell you how much I love the spinner. I dream about the spinner. With this new weapon you can float for as long as the momentum can take you (much like chickens do if you grab one and launch yourself off of a tall building), but much more exciting than that you can travel at high speeds along tracks such as these:
I've nick-named this the 'hover cog' and am so in love with it, I'm thinking about starting an internet phenomenon called 'Ligwit' aka 'Link is great, what is that...?!?!'
I don't want to spoil this game for anyone and if I waffle on any longer, I'm sure to, but suffice to say: this game is awesome. It picks up right where Ocarina of Time left off for giving me that feeling like I want to always be playing this game until it's completed... It's surely now going to be a tough decision choosing the best Zelda game. Recommended for sure.
Beautiful Official Site here.
Some awesome Zelda wallpapers here (Wind waker, The Minish Cap, The Phantom Hourglass style).
The oddball genius behind Katamari Damacy shows off the first technical demo of his latest project, shares insight into his creative process, and talks about the fights he has with his neighbours.
Game director Keita Takahashi took to the stage in front of a packed audience to talk about his new game, Noby Noby Boy, and immediately kicked off his shoes.
"I'm very nervous," he said, and talking through a translator, explained that he would play some soothing "forest sounds" to give the auditorium a more relaxed atmosphere. He then added that two days before coming to the UK, his favourite sandals had broken, which he had been worried was a sign that the plane might crash.
Takahashi told the audience that he didn't want to talk about Katamari Damacy, as he was "sick of it." He then fired up a PlayStation 3 and showed the assembled guests the technical build of the game he is currently working on, titled Noby Noby Boy. Noby Noby means "stretch" in Japanese, but also, like many Japanese words, has several other meanings. Takahashi explained, "In Japan, Noby Noby also means postponed, which shows this is the right name, as it has been postponed."
The game does not have a definite date for release yet and is obviously still in the early stages, although Takahashi did reveal that it would be a PlayStation 3 exclusive. He handed out controllers to the audience, showing that up to three people could play at once, taking control of the Noby Noby Boy, who can do such things as stretch, jump, eat animals, eject them from his nether end intact, and lasso creatures by circling them. He also showed that animals will be able to hop on to Noby Noby Boy and enjoy a free ride.
Talking about his latest project, Takahashi admitted, "People do not understand it yet, even my boss. I think it looks fun."
He also berated the industry for a lack of creativity. He said, "Just as people have different personalities, in terms of games, you can make your own rules to develop and play. But in reality, we rarely see such variety. I wonder why?"
Takahashi also used his forum to remind people the importance of caring for the environment and doing such things as recycling rubbish and being nice to people in the street. He said, "I don't know about the future, but we will see more of the darker side of the earth. I really think so. I don't know if we can afford to have video games in 10 or 20 years' time...video gaming is good, but also it's a luxury. You can't play video games unless you're financially well off."
A wise man. See the full article here.
This article over at Kotaku made me laugh:
"Sometimes it seems as though Team Ico are taking the 'explain nothing' ambiance of their games a little too much to heart.
When asked if Fumito Ueda’s followup to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus would be ready by thi year's Tokyo Game Show, Sony Worldwide's Shuhei Yoshida could only say "I cannot tel, but But I can say that they’ve been working very hard since the release of Shadow of the Colossus."
Well, I should flippin' well hope so. But come on, a little detail about the game would be nice. Is it long? Short? Is it 3D? Does it have corners? How does it taste? Anything?
“Soon you’ll see,” says Yoshida. Gaaah.
All we can say for sure is that it is out of critical production and will be ready 'soon'. Honestly, if they ever hold a proper press event for this thing they will probably make journalists traverse a mysterious landscape populated by mute PR reps to get to it. It will be shrouded in mist, and there will be limited internet access."
