Daily Digest - DMC Contest

February 27, 2013 3:56PM PST

We are giving away copies of DMC! Also we have a new episode of GameCribs to check out.

To-Do List

- WATCHEpisode 2 of GameCribs
- ENTER Reboot Review Contest
- Discuss What makes a good horror game. - COMMENT on the emotional price of making games

Tip: Who has the most likes?

Did you know that now you can sort comments in news, reviews and feature stories by "most liked"? Well you can! Simply click the "Most Likes" section located under the comments module and TA-DA, like magic you can filter the insightful from the cellar dwellers.

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Sins of a Dark Age - Now Playing

@dhiahop @WolfSerbiaThe game has quests-live events that change the game, like bosses appear and minions stop spawning and when you've beaten the boss, you get to have a capture the flag type of game with the treasure loot that dropped. Though I bet you've heard it anyways.
I myself won't be playing it, I liked the most only Loco, but that had some bad match making.

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EA undecided on next-gen pricing

Electronic Arts has yet to decide on next-generation pricing. Chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen said during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference today that he expects software costs for consumers to follow past trends.

"I think typically at the start of a cycle you've seen the pricing raise to $69 for a core piece of software and then over the life of those it's drifted down to the introduction price, typically now around $59," he said. "We haven't yet set pricing on our [next-generation games], but you'll probably see a similar trend during the start of the next cycle."

An EA representative confirmed with GameSpot that Jorgensen misspoke during his presentation, meaning to use examples of $59 and $49, not $69 and $59.

SCEA CEO Jack Tretton said last week that PlayStation 4 titles will max out at $60, putting to rest any speculation that games for Sony's future platform may cost $10 more than PlayStation 3 titles.

Microsoft has yet to announce its rumored next-generation platform.

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Next-gen consoles will offer unprecedented gameplay, says EA

Electronic Arts believes the arrival of next-generation consoles will be a watershed moment for the gaming industry. Speaking today during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference, EA chief technology officer Rajat Taneja said the new wave of consoles will usher in a new era of gaming.

"The console technology itself is a gigantic leap for our industry," Taneja said. "Any which way you look at the specifications, it is step function over what exists today. The new consoles are between 8 and 10 times the power of the current generation."

Taneja said EA is well-positioned to succeed when the PlayStation 4--and the rumored Xbox 720--arrive for three reasons. The first of which is that gamers simply will not be able to stay away, due in part to the advanced capabilities of these new machines.

"First, we no longer have to constrain our games or ration graphics or memory or bandwidth. We can let the games really flourish. 1080p, 60 frames per second, character physics on a much broader canvas, color saturation, lighting, particle effects; it will be a level of gameplay experience that is unprecedented, not been imagined before," he said. "It's going to create playing conditions for our gamers that are just going to be phenomenal."

"We no longer have to constrain our games or ration graphics or memory or bandwidth. We can let the games really flourish."

The second reason Taneja said he believes EA will succeed on future-generation platforms is due to the company's existing technology smoothly scaling to the new systems.

"The architecture of the consoles is based on standard PC components and technology. So our own investment in our backend engine…and our libraries, our tools, will very smoothly run on these and make it easier for us to innovate to the new console technologies themselves," he said. "What used to take months in the past, will now take days."

Lastly, Taneja said the fact that next-generation platforms have been built with social features and components in mind align with EA's existing ambitions in this space.

"The connected and sharing capabilities of the new consoles actually fits very directly with our strategy…of multiplayer gaming, connected gaming, social gaming," Taneja said, adding that it "helps us accelerates those features into our games."

Outside of the Wii U, Sony's PS4 is the only announced next-generation platform thus far. Microsoft is heavily rumored to be developing an Xbox 360 successor, which could be unveiled as early as next month. Both the PS4 and Xbox 720 are expected to launch this holiday.

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The Emotional Price of Making Video Games

Making games can be a grueling, all-consuming process. John Davison talks to developers about the significant emotional challenges of this creative and commercial endeavor.

When you fire up a new video game, some elements are easy to appreciate immediately. Pretty graphics, a rousing soundtrack, or fluid animations can leap off the screen and make you thankful for all the hard work that went in to the game's creation. However, beneath that veneer lie untold hours of struggle and sacrifice. As six industry veterans explain, creating an amazing game takes more than your time and technical prowess. It requires a bit of your heart as well. Despite occasional media flare-ups triggered by complaints about ridiculous working conditions or inconsiderate executive teams, the game-playing populace doesn't often hear about the mental burden shouldered by game creators. Executing on a creative vision, and doing so both on-time and on-budget, imposes an enormous amount of pressure on those involved.

"Making anything creative relies on you putting yourself out there and totally revealing yourself; it's scary," says Greg Zeschuk, who co-founded BioWare with partners Ray Muzyka and Augustine Yip in 1995 and retired last year. He is currently taking some time off from anything to do with games and is producing a YouTube show called The Beer Diaries about the other love of his life. "You need to be willing to be vulnerable in a very public sense. This experience changes when teams get larger and larger; if you're running part of a project, it's pretty natural for it to feel like an extension of yourself."

This sentiment is common among those in creative leadership positions. Ryan Payton is the founder of Camouflaj, a new studio working on the iOS game République, which was successfully funded on Kickstarter in 2012. Payton previously worked as assistant producer on Metal Gear Solid 4 at Kojima Productions, and later spent time as creative director on Halo 4 before leaving 343 Industries in 2011. He concurs with Zeschuk, stating, "In order to make an unforgettable game, I believe the onus is on me to find something I believe in and inject as much of that into the game as possible. I feel that the games I work on are an extension of myself, making game development a very personal and emotionally charged endeavor. I worry that I take a dangerous approach by investing too much emotionally in the development, but this stems from my belief that games should be more than mere 'products.'"

"The emotional journey, for me, looks like a seismograph," says Greg Kasavin of Supergiant Games. Before the success of his game Bastion, on which he was creative director, Kasavin was an associate producer at Electronic Arts on Command & Conquer 3, the producer of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, and later a producer on Spec Ops: The Line at 2K Games. "It's not a curve with peaks and valleys; it's a violent jagged series of near-vertical lines. I don't know how emotionally stable I appear to be, but I know I'm less so than I appear to be. My emotional state changes from day to day, if not multiple times a day. I don't have sustained periods of high or low morale. Small imperceptible things affect me in significant ways."

"In every case the precise emotional journey is different," explains Zeschuk, "though there are a few similarities. When you start a game, it seems like anything is possible; the future is bright and the possibilities are limitless. Fast-forward to the actual production phase, and you suddenly realize that if you want to finish on a reasonable schedule, you need to jettison some stuff; it's helpful to be harsh and cold to do this, even if it's painful. Then, when you're finishing, even if you think what you're making is great, I always felt a bit of trepidation around what people would think of the game. You never really know. We'd always try our best, and put forward our best work, but there's always that risk that folks wouldn't like it. The most likely outcome is that you'd end up with some mixed response, though with varying degrees of happy and unhappy people."

"When you talk about the pressure that individuals at studios go through, most people just think of the EA spouse story," says Pete Hawley, co-founder of Red Robot Labs (disclosure: John Davison currently works alongside Pete Hawley at Red Robot Labs). He is referring to Erin Hoffman's LiveJournal post in November 2004 under the pseudonym "EA Spouse," where she criticized Electronic Arts' poor treatment of employees and the expectation that they work extremely long hours.

The blog prompted a great deal of debate within the games industry at the time and triggered class-action lawsuits against EA, which weren't resolved until 2007. Hawley served as both executive producer and vice president of product development at Electronic Arts in the years after the controversy, where he worked on a number of games, including Burnout Paradise. Prior to this, he worked as development director at Sony Computer Entertainment, was head of production at Lionhead, and was a producer at GT Interactive. "The notoriety of that incident wasn't necessarily a bad thing," he says, "as it brought an aspect of the challenges to light. What everyone focused on at the time wasn't the whole story, though. Most people fixated on the lawsuit and the legal wranglings. What it really brought to light, though, was that studios and individuals go through hell when creating something as awesome as a video game. The emotional journey it takes you on is really, really hard."

"My emotional state changes from day to day, if not multiple times a day."Regardless of the best intentions of those involved, executives or otherwise, the care and attention required means that work-life balance becomes a major issue on any game project. "It's exciting and energizing, but it's almost a reality-show-type environment," Hawley explains. "You're stuck in a room with a bunch of like-minded individuals, 20- to 30-something dudes. It's just not healthy. It definitely develops these Lord of the Flies-type situations. You've spent so long together that you develop a group craziness. You witness the very pinnacle of sleep-deprived in-jokes, and songs that are unique to the group. To this day I can't hear Journey without thinking of Burnout, because Alex [Ward, Criterion's creative director] would play it every single morning."

Payton is struggling with similar issues and has become increasingly aware of struggling with a healthy work-life balance since starting to work for himself. "I've worked a minimum of 70 hours per week since République began development in November 2011," he explains. "As I did with Halo 4, I only play games, watch movies, and read books that are relevant to République--that's my hobby. Making games is my hobby; it's my passion, and it's my lifeblood, as I liquidated everything I had to get this sucker off the ground. I even sacrificed my relationship with my girlfriend, ending a five-year relationship."

"Thankfully she later took me back and has helped me disconnect a little bit from the emotional demands of my games, which was something I very desperately needed." That disconnection has come in the form of finding something a little more balanced in favor of "real life" as well as game development work. "I still work 70 hours a week and still dream about the game," he explains, "but daily exercise and turning off email after 8 p.m. is actually making me a happier person. Does that mean my emotional investment in game making is waning? I sure hope not. That's probably why I'm afraid to have children."

Jake Kazdal spent much of his career as a designer, illustrator, and artist before forming his own studio, 17-Bit (formerly Haunted Temple Studios). His career includes time working on some cult classics like Space Channel 5 and Rez, as well as working on UI design for Boom Blox at EA and as a concept artist for Command & Conquer 4. His first release as an independent developer is Skulls of the Shogun, which was recently released on Xbox Live as well as for Windows 8 and mobile. Kazdal, like many of those interviewed for this story, has grown up with the games business, and has had two children since his career began.

On the subject of work-life balance within studio culture, he has a lot to say. "This is a serious topic," he states earnestly. "I don't get to spend nearly as much time with my family as I would like or need to. I have two young boys. They're 1 and 3 years old, and the fact is, I need to work a lot to get things done. Regardless of how busy I am, I've started going home and having a normal dinner and bedtime prep with the family twice a week. If I don't, my wife is going to kill me."

"Some nights I'll go back to work from home after the boys go to bed, and unless there is something major burning, I try to spend every minute of my weekends with the family as well," he adds. "Of course, there is always an hour or two of email and the like to distract me in the mornings, but I'm working very hard to spend more time with my family. The boys are growing so fast, and it breaks my heart to only see them a few minutes a day, but I'm sure I'm not alone in this situation."

James Mielke is one of the lucky ones. Previously an editor at Electronic Gaming Monthly, he moved to Japan to work as a producer on Child of Eden at Q Entertainment, before moving on to be both the producer and musical director on Lumines Electronic Symphony. He is currently a producer on two different projects at Q-Games in Kyoto, Japan. "I can only speak from experience, and my particular case isn't that dramatic. I always make sure my home life doesn't suffer as a result of my professional life."

"I visited Neversoft one year, when they were still working on Tony Hawk in the early 2000s," he recalls. "They made a big impression on me because they ran strict 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. hours, with a little more time put in during crunch. They were adamant about getting better results out of refreshed staff, and not grinding them down. In Japan, a large percentage of dev teams here famously work their fingers to the bone, and I don't think that's healthy. I'm lucky to have worked for two very progressive companies in Japan where I haven't had to burn the midnight oil."

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Gaming Meme History - Lost In Translation

There is no way fail came from blazing star. Memes develop based on source material, so the meme would have started out as "you fail it" and then evolved into "fail", but I don't remember anyone ever saying "you fail it" online or off. IF it were from a game, I would say Smash Bros when it says FAILURE, but really I think it was just developed like the word "joshing"..someone said it, someone laughed, someone spread it and it just took over. I heard EPIC years before it was proliferated, but it just took that much time to spread.

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AU Shippin' Out February 25 – March 1: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Platinum Games' hack-and-slash action game Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is officially released this week. A spinoff title based on the Metal Gear universe, the game features cyborg ninja Raiden as he takes on a private military company known as Desperado Enterprises.

Originally, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was intended to take place before the events of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, showing how the character of Raiden made his transformation into the cyborg ninja of the 2008 PlayStation 3 hit.

However, when Platinum Games was attached to the project, the time frame was moved to several years after Metal Gear Solid 4, to a period when cyborgs are becoming more commonplace in the world. Konami also dropped the "Solid" from the title to distance itself from the particular brand of stealth action that people associate with the Metal Gear Solid series.

Gaming site Kotaku reported that the game broke its street date last Friday, and is being sold early at selected retailers. Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance was originally scheduled for release in Australia on February 21, but was delayed till February 26 due to shipping delays.

Sony has announced that the PS3 version of the game will be receiving exclusive "virtual reality" content. Thirty new missions inspired by the original VR missions from the first Metal Gear Solid will be available as downloadable content for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. No release date has been announced for the DLC.

The game was positively received in GameSpot's review, praised for its fast-paced combat and balance of depth and complexity. Although Kojima Productions is considering a PC port of the game, producer Yuji Korekado has revealed that there are no plans to bring Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance to the Wii U.

For more details on the games available this week, check out the list below.

February 26, 2013
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (360, PS3)

February 27, 2013
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds (360)

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Kojima says MGS: Ground Zeroes may be too 'risky' to release

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes may be too "risky" to ever see release. Designer Hideo Kojima explained in a roundtable interview session attended by Videogamer that the game's focus on mature and taboo themes may make it too controversial to sell, even if it does release.

"That's precisely what I want to try to tackle with Ground Zeroes. Honestly I'm going to be targeting a lot of taboos, a lot of mature themes that really are quite risky," Kojima said. "I'm not even sure if I'm going to be able to release the game, and even if I did release the game then maybe it wouldn't sell because it's too much. As a creator I want to take that risk."

Kojima said games have not matured much in the past 25 years--including Metal Gear Solid games--, saying "It's always about killing aliens and zombies." He said he thinks these games are fun, but claimed they have "a long way to go before they can mature."

Kojima does not seem too worried about hitting sales targets for Ground Zeroes. Ultimately, he said creativity trumps sales.

"I'm approaching the project as a creator and prioritizing creativity over sales," he said.

For more on Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

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New Releases: February 24th - March 2nd

This week we check out Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Crysis 3, Assassin's Creed III: The Tyranny of King Washington - The Infamy, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Hearthfire and Capcom Arcade Cabinet. Beats provided by DJ VInroc.

Posted Feb 15, 2013 | 2:10 | 34,545 Views

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New Releases: February 24th - March 2nd

This week we check out the Halo 4: Majestic Map Pack, Might & Magic Heroes VI - Shades of Darkness, Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires, Brutal Legend, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus, Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Revolution and more.

Posted Feb 22, 2013 | 2:58 | 2 Views

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GameSpot Writers Round Table - Meet the Justicars

Introducing the newest ranking GameSpot volunteers. The few, the proud, the prolific, the Justicars!

You might be asking yourself what exactly is a Justicar? First and foremost they are the authority of the GameSpot Writers Round Table, a union dedicated to written contributions by the GameSpot Community. A GameSpot Justicar is also trusted member of the site, as well as a user who has also proven their writing skills to the GameSpot community. They have a solid grounding on advanced writing skills and are in regular practice. Some of you may already know the following to be amazing writers, but we thought we should take some time to get to know them a little more.

About me: I've been a member of Gamespot for the last 6 years now and slowly making towards my 7th year on Gamespot. Over the years I've learned a lot from writing reviews and blogs on Gamespot and it is nice to hear feedback from everyone. I do try and make my blogs and reviews good for anyone to read and view online. I do try and keep myself busy outside of Gamespot by taking on voluntary work, doing course work and finding a paid job on office/admin.

How long have you been gaming?: I've been gaming for the last 13 years now from the Sega MegaDrive to the PS3 and 3DS.

What is your favorite subject to write about?: I always liked to talk about what games I've been playing and what have been my favourite games over the year. And of course I do special blogs on various Anime Conventions I've been to like SUNNYCON and Nemacon.

Share your favorite editorial piece that you've written? I've got at least 2 favourite pieces- this one and this one

Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumbler, or Deviantart? Of course Twitter- LegendHeroBen

Deviantart- www.benleslie5.deviantart.com

What is your "Golden Rule" for aspiring writers? Be as creative as you can, try and surprise your friends and fans on Gamespot when it comes to making blogs.

About me: Name's Callum Rakestraw. I started writing back in 2007 because it seemed easy (man, was I wrong). Always wanted to work in the games business, and writing about them seemed like the best option. Since then, I've begun writing for a couple of small sites you've never heard of while also perfecting my craft here at GameSpot. Currently unemployed, keeping myself afloat however I can while I try making something out of this writing thing.

Share some of your writing strong points: Descriptive, succint, critical.

How long have you been gaming? For 17 years.

What's your favorite subject to write about? Music is a subject that fascinates me, mostly because it's such a difficult subject to talk about. Love me a challenge.

Share your favorite editorial piece you've written? Haven't written too many here, actually. Though this piece on Demon's Souls and its music is one of my favorite works.

Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumblr, or DeviantArt? I'm on Twitter (@c_rakestraw). Don't use it as much as I ought to, though.

What is your "golden rule" for aspiring writers? Don't be afraid to use I in your work -- or just seem human, for that matter. Too often I see reviews or articles that sound like they were made by robots or printed off a production line. All because people are too often afraid to mention themselves in their work. Don't let that happen to you. Oh, and clutter -- root it out. Don't use fancy words because you can; use them because they have meaning.

About me: Born in New York, moved to Virginia, where I now live and work. Currently claiming to be an IT professional, I also enjoy the occasional movie, book or game to eat the time away. I am aspiring to succeed, in something.

Share some of your writing strong points: I read a lot, so my vocab is pretty impressive most of the time. The more you read, the more you learn and understand how certain words work better than others.

How long have you been gaming? Since the mid-1990s…fifteen years or so What is your favorite subject to write about? I love writing fiction, making up people, places, things that happen, and inspiration for that is truly everywhere. Here on Gamespot, I like to post topics that are polarising to get a good range of feedback

Share your favorite editorial piece that you've written? This one was funny and flippant, and about Cool Whip!

Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumbler, or Deviantart? orangeyHina on twitter, I'm not on the other two.

What is your "Golden Rule" for aspiring writers? Proofread! The easiest errors to find are those you read after writing!

About me: Budding games journalist from the UK, PC enthusiast and all round creatively minded. Has a strong passion for the written word and respects the English language. Has been known on occasion to appear outside. Could be Batman (so clichéd but I love it)

Share some of your writing strong points: Great with sentence structure and descriptive language. Alliteration aficionado. Have plenty of experience with creating engaging opinion pieces as well as more investigative articles.

How long have you been gaming? 17 years

What is your favorite subject to write about?: anything that requires heavy research, journalistic approaches or in depth looks into 'hidden' themes and sub plots. Current events are a close second.

Share your favorite editorial piece that you've written?: This one

Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumbler, or Deviantart?: @SuperMassive20 on twitter, supermassive20.tumblr.com, search SuperMassive20 into just about anything and it should be me.

What is your "Golden Rule" for aspiring writers?: Don't stress, write in peace, concentrate on putting one word in front of another and keep going. Always have a general message and make sure you stick to it.

About Me: I'm a thirty-four year old CSULB alumni with a Studio Art Bachelor's Degree. My main goal is to one day find a career in character design for video games and other media. I also have a deep love for writing, drawing, art and art history. And I have a profound love for video games, a hobby I've enjoyed since I was about five years old. I wouldn't call myself a hardcore gamer, but I enjoy gaming to have fun, indulge in escapism every once in a while and find inspiration.

Share Some of your Strong Writing Points: My strongest writing points involve thinking objectively, and using as much of the English vocabulary as possible without complicating my message. I also refer to the Rogerian argument style because I typically try to avoid bias, as I want to convey my opinions and acknowledge the points of the other side as well. The goal of my writing is to invite both sides to the table for a legitimate, healthy debate.

How Long Have You Been Gaming? I've been gaming for thirty years, from the time of the Atari 2600 my older brother owned.

What is Your Favorite Subject to Write About? The Golden Age of 16-bit gaming is something I love discussing, as I've lived through it and had the most fun during that time. Outside of gaming, I like writing about Art History and often delve into creative storytelling.

My Favorite Editorial Piece? "The art of Stealth in Gaming". One of my first Soapbox entries. I'm very proud of that.

Can I Follow You on Twitter, Tumbler or DeviantArt? I currently do not yet have either of those accounts, but I do have Coroflot and Facebook. Yes, you can follow me once I start said accounts, however.

What is your Golden Rule for Aspiring Writers? Always write from your heart. Don't worry about being perfect -- nobody is. The important thing is to convey your message loud and clear, be objective and avoid bias so as not to arouse hostility--regardless of how strongly you feel on an issue. Work hard to hone your craft, and never give up--even when it gets hard or if you suffer writer's block every now and then.

About Me: Whenever I get away from my busy lifestyle, I like to spend my time on GS and games. I've been a Ranger since 2007 and still have a strong interest in games, despite my time for them being squeezed. This is why I find reviews, not just from the professionals, but probably even more importantly from all gamers, whoever they may be, to serve a common interest we all have: to find out which games are good and which games are bad. We don't have an infinite amount of time and money, so this is why we need to spend it wisely on games we perceive to be worthy of it.

Strong Writing Points: Always critical and skeptical, even of my favorite games - I detest fanboyism. Never take anything for granted and appreciate a well made game for what it is, even if I don't like it.

Favourite Subject to Write About: Underrated Games

Share your favorite editorial piece that you've written?Could it be the end of Koei's Warriors series?

Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumbler, or Deviantart? You can follow me on GameSpot - I write blogs and use Fuse to disseminate useful GS information.

What is your "Golden Rule" for aspiring writers? Think outside of the box - don't parrot what's already out there.

About me: I was born in the UK and now I'm living in the Kansas with plans to move to San Francisco by the end of 2013. For my full time job I am a lead developer for a major group of websites but the gaming industry is where my heart lies. I love all types of games, writing reviews and creating videos. For a while I was even making video reviews for the popular Android website AndroidSPIN.com

Share some of your writing strong points: Because I have such a vast experience with gaming I can talk about just about any game or genre with experience.

How long have you been gaming? My parents bought me a ZX Spectrum +3 when it came out, but before that I was derping around on the Commodore 64, so I'd say at least 28 years.

What is your favorite subject to write about? I love to review games, any game, good or bad.

Share your favorite editorial piece that you've written? Most of the things I'm the most proud of are videos, although in their own way they were written. I was humbled by the popularity of my Grow review, even though I believe I have written better: You can see it here

Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumbler, or Deviantart? I'm madelk on Twitter, but you'll find me on GameSpot's Fuse site just as often.

What is your "Golden Rule" for aspiring writers? Enjoy writing for the enjoyment of writing, not the popularity.

-Share some of your writing strong points: I have a decent grasp of grammar, even though I'm an engineer! I had a solid technical writing background and appreciate critical thinking beyond the nuts and bolts of most standard essays or editorials.

-How long have you been gaming? I have been gaming for over 26 years now, since I was 7 years old.

-What is your favorite subject to write about?: I enjoy writing emotive vignettes that are more about describing a state of mind or stream of consciousness than an essay or editorial.

-Share your favorite editorial piece that you've written? This one here (I tend to write emotive pieces more informally with no capitalization.)

-Can I follow you on Twitter, Tumbler, or Deviantart? I'm not an active member of any social networking, pictorial or artsy sites, sorry!

-What is your "Golden Rule" for aspiring writers? Write what YOU would like to read and stay true to your style without letting your writing get bogged down by grammatical errors. Using big words simply because you think it makes you look smart is rarely successful; if you can explain your message well to an 8-year-old I'd say you have an excellent grasp of your message and are quite effective in its delivery!

All are welcome at the writers round table simply stop by and create a topic including the phrase "evaluation" that lets the Justicars know that you are looking to have your work critiqued. If you are interested in becoming a Justicar you can send an email to community@gamespot.com with the subject "Justicar Application" for your chance to join the ranks.

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Daily Digest - PlayStation Rumor Mill

February 19, 2013 4:19PM PST

Remember to tune in tomorrow for Sony's big announcement!

To-Do List

- TUNE IN Super Awesome PlayStation Announcement!
- WELCOME The GameSpot Justicars
- WATCH Escape from Mount Stupid - PlayStation 3
- JOIN GameSpot's Official Steam Community

Tip: Rumor Mill PS4

With less than 24 hours standing between you (the gamer) and Sony's new announcement it's time to get the rumor mill turning. Comment below on your favorite, fictitious, or famed PlayStation 4 rumor for a boost in profile points. If we get over 50 comments we will choose our favorite 3 rumors to be the Rumor Mill Champions those winners will get this nifty poster!

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Bungie's Destiny not coming out in 2013, says Activision

Activision has warned not to expect Bungie's Destiny in 2013.

"Although Bungie's amazing new world was revealed today, Activision has not included the launch in its 2013 outlook and there should be no speculation or expectation of a different result," said the publisher today in a statement.

Destiny is scheduled to be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and all future console platforms, with the new Xbox and PlayStation expected on shop shelves before the end of the year. This means it is unlikely Destiny will be a next-gen launch title.

Destiny is billing itself a "shared-world shooter" in an always-connected world. Players assume the roles of Guardians in the last safe city on Earth. Bungie has yet to release any in-game footage of the game.

"For all the unknowns, Destiny still feels very much like the product of Bungie," said GameSpot's Shaun McInnis after glancing a first look at the game last week. "More specifically, it feels like Bungie taking what they've done well over the years and moving in a new direction, with new technology, toward something well beyond Halo. I know I can't wait to see what else Destiny is."

For more information on Destiny, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

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Bungie's Destiny a 'shared-world' shooter

After years of secrecy, Bungie today officially announced Destiny , its first post-Halo project. A first-person shooter for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with elements of open-world sandbox and persistent world, Destiny is described as the world's first "shared-world shooter." And Activision has big hopes for it.

"Very few games transcend their medium and their genre to truly become a part of popular culture; to belong in the time capsule as something that we can all share. And we believe Destiny could become one of those games," Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said, describing its title as the "worst-kept secret in the history of secrets."

Bungie cofounder Jason Jones said Destiny will be the ultimate first-person shooter and even something grander.

"If you enjoy shooters, Destiny is going to be the best game you've ever played," Jones said. "Destiny is Bungie's next great shooter and is set in an amazing new world that we're building. In Destiny, players get to build their own characters and grow them over time. We're really putting players in the center of the world and giving them control over their experience. From the ground up we've built this game to be social and cooperative."

Bungie and Activision are not yet talking release timing, but past legal documents said Destiny would ship first for Xbox 360 (and the Xbox 720) later this year, with a 2014 release for PS3. Could Destiny come to PC or next-generation platforms? It's plausible, but Activision would not comment.

"We're really putting players in the center of the world and giving them control over their experience. From the ground up we've built this game to be social and cooperative." --Bungie cofounder Jason Jones.

Though Destiny will feature a persistent world, the game will not carry a monthly fee. Hirshberg confirmed the publisher has "no plans" to charge gamers a subscription to play Destiny and would not got into further detail about the game's business model.

Destiny aims to break molds by throwing away the traditional playbook, including the idea of main menus, Jones said. In addition, Jones said everything that's fun to do is more fun if friends are around, and this is why Destiny's campaign will not be a solitary experience.

"Think about the gym, think about college; imagine those places empty. That would be crazy; no one would would like that; it would be creepy. But that's the experience we've all had for decades playing these campaign games in a solitary way. That's not what we want," he said.

Playing solo is a "totally valid" way to experience Destiny, Jones said, though he argued it's more fun to play with other people. For more on Destiny, check out GameSpot's just-published extended coverage of Bungie's new universe.

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Destiny ViDoc - Pathways out of Darkness

Our weekly video game news discussion show with John Davison, Brendan Sinclair, and Tom Mc Shea. Topics: Activision calls for Destiny in 2013, Street Fighter's opportunistic 25th Anniversary bundle, and more on this week's Quoted for Truth.

Posted May 25, 2012 | 34:56 | 11,003 Views

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AZUBU Collegiate Champions Grand Finals

February 16, 2013 1:57PM PST

Watch as the Grand Finals makes it way to Los Angeles on February 16th-17th for both StarCraft II and League of Legends.

THE AZUBU Collegiate Champions Grand Finals is finally here and will start on Saturday, February 16th with StarCraft II at 10am PST casted by Sean "Day[9]" Plott, Tricia "megumixbear" Sugita, and CSL's own Daniil "Cheeseheadlogic" Pauley and Ferguson "Alphaferg" Mitchell. On Sunday, February 17th League of Legends kicks off at 10 am PST and will be casted by Steve "RiotJaws" Jaworski, Reid "RAPiD" Melton, Michelle "silverdirge" Lim, and Brent "Phrank" Riberdy. The event will be held at Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, California. Stay tuned this weekend for the live stream and more.

CSL StarCraft II Stream

Saturday February 17th, 10am PST

CSL League of Legends Stream

Sunday February 18th, 10am PST

For more information regarding the Grand Finals check out cstarleague.

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Blacklight: Retribution Onslaught! - FPS Friday

Hey guys, great show and thanks for the codes, really looking forward to the anniversary update.

But a little feedback is in order:

You shouldn't stage the DM/TDM matches in favor of the person playing, just because the person is on TV/Live-Stream. 
Yes, we all saw what you did there... way too obvious and I actually found it annoying to watch.

PS: The new maps/items look awesome, can't wait to try them out.

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Valve responds to layoffs

Valve cofounder Gabe Newell has responded to the reports of layoffs at the Half-Life and Counter-Strike developer today. In a statement sent to Engadget, Newell said the developer is not canceling any ongoing projects or changing its priorities.

"We don't usually talk about personnel matters for a number of reasons. There seems to be an unusual amount of speculation about some recent changes here, so I thought I'd take the unusual step of addressing them," Newell said.

"No, we aren't canceling any projects. No, we aren't changing any priorities or projects we've been discussing," he added. "No, this isn't about Steam or Linux or hardware or [insert game name here]. We're not going to discuss why anyone in particular is or isn't working here."

According to reports this afternoon, Valve laid off as many as 25 developers in its hardware and Android divisions as part of the company making "large decisions" about its future.

Prominent hardware developer Jeri Ellsworth said she was fired, while business director Jason Holtman has reportedly left for unknown reasons.

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Anodyne Review

Few games spend as little time hiding their inspirations as Sean Hogan and Jonathan Kittaka's Anodyne. Mere minutes in, you can see its obvious debts to The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening in the design of the trees that adorn the top-down environment, though it adds contrast by way of hefty helpings of surreal encounters and disturbing imagery. Ultimately, it emerges as a memorable game in its own right, even if it struggles at times to overcome the limitations of its own ambition.

That ambition manifests itself most prominently in the seven or so hours of disjointed narrative, which hints at our reluctantly changing relationships with gaming concepts as we age. More to the point, subtle hints littered throughout the narrative suggest that the protagonist is using gaming as an anodyne (or painkiller) for his emotional suffering. Here we find no quasi-elven protagonists in the vein of Link; in their place, we're presented with a white-haired fellow with the perhaps symbolic name of Young, whose Coke-bottle glasses serve as his only possession remotely resembling a shield and who uses a prosaic broom in place of a sword. The action takes place entirely in his unconscious mind--Young is a closer relative of Braid's Tim than of Zelda's Link. Gone, too, is the simplicity of a story that focuses on saving a princess; in its place, we're left with an unfocused story about saving the world that transpires through fragments of Young's dreams.

Young's struggle to enjoy the classic dungeon-crawling role-playing game that unfolds around him is never so apparent as in the many moments when flashbacks from "real life," as it were, butt into the gameplay. Young may spend several hours swatting bats and energy-belching frogs with his broom amid fantasyscapes and postapocalyptic freeway ruins, but we find him most haunted by memories depicted in fractured vignettes that reference family struggles and the pain of leaving home. At times, such as when Young tries to converse with a fisherman only to push him to his death in a whirlpool or when he encounters a strange man muttering incoherently, Anodyne assumes an air better suited to horror than to lighthearted action adventure. This isn't the first instance of developers using retro environments normally associated with 16-bit fun to explore darker themes--the first Corpse Party, for instance, used it to greater effect--but Hogan and Kittaka effectively use the contrast to tackle lightweight philosophical questions.

Indeed, these moments are the backbone of Anodyne's appeal. As it is, the promising ideas of the thin narrative's first couple of hours lose their power long before the end, and the haunting vignettes themselves devolve into a heap of broken images increasingly bereft of meaning. In its worst moments, it becomes pretentious nonsense.

The combat excels in a simplistic Zelda-circa-1991 way thanks to commendable hit detection and a wealth of simple but satisfying single-screen puzzles, but the core gameplay never advances far past Young's basic broom swatting, which you encounter within the first few minutes, despite three upgrades. Later on, a rapid succession of often frustrating jumping puzzles feels forced and ill-suited to the top-down design, and the absence of a means of playing with a gamepad is disappointing in light of Anodyne's obvious affection for early consoles.

Still, if you take the time to explore all of Anodyne's nooks and crannies, you'll find hours and hours of gameplay in store. The problem is that much of this exploration centers on the careful and necessary hunt for 50 collectible cards that serve as the keys for new content all the way up until the final boss, and the ages' worth of backtracking involved at times feels like an artificial means of extending the running time. Many cards drop from the fun but generally easy dungeon bosses, but finding other cards involves performing maddening jumping puzzles and retracing your steps throughout an entire zone in search of the single chest you missed. A system of warp portals makes this process easier than it could have been, but the whole concept ends up feeling like exploration for the sake of exploration rather than the hunt for gear upgrades that makes Zelda games so memorable.

Anodyne rarely feels like a waste of your time despite these shortcomings. It makes up for the deficiencies of its narrative through the beautiful visuals you encounter as you trudge through everything from unsettling suburban neighborhoods to crumbling temples, and the poignant musical score surges with emotional power. At the most basic gameplay level, as you swat slimes and scoop up dust for use as a raft across bodies of water, it maintains a degree of fun. Above all, Anodyne never lets you forget that it's a game more concerned with the journey than with the destination, and at 10 bucks, it's a journey worth taking.

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GameSpot GamePlay Episode 28: Eat My Dead Skin

February 12, 2013 4:34PM PST

Destructoid reviews editor Jim Sterling stops by for a nice long talk about Killzone, Kinect, and how much he hates being called "nugget."

This one's a doozy. Destructoid's Jim Sterling stops by again to get his nuggets and meatballs in order and join the GameSpot team on its first bug hunt. Tom Mc Shea takes little notice, however, given his preoccupation with the great anti-breast crusade of 2013. Meanwhile, Carolyn Petit makes 38 drops, simulated; Chris Watters makes spores in the creepy science lab; and host Kevin VanOrd considers the problems of scale between a mouse and a donkey.

Also, we talk about games. Be warned: mature language within.

You can access all previous episodes on GameSpot here.

Click here to subscribe to GameSpot Gameplay via iTunes.

Click here to subscribe to GameSpot Gameplay via Zune.

Subscribe to this RSS feed to receive new episodes of GameSpot GamePlay through your favorite RSS reader.

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 28: Occupy Animal Crossing

GameSpot GamePlay Special Edition Spoilercast: Ni no Kuni

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 27: Vibrate Your Molecules

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 26: The Soup is a Problem

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 25: Tap Tap-a-Roo

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 24: Rubbing the Cow Gently

GameSpot GamePlay Episode 23: Shame Stack

By Kevin VanOrd, Senior Editor

Kevin VanOrd is a lifelong RPG lover and violin player. When he isn't busy building PCs and composing symphonies, he watches American Dad reruns with his fat cat, Ollie.

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Australian retail games industry slips 23% in 2012

Industry organisation the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (iGEA) today announced that Australian game sales achieved A$1.161 billion during 2012. The number represents a 23 percent decline on the previous year, according to market research company NPD Group Australia.

The number is based on console hardware, game software, and game accessories sales made through Australian retailers. It does not include mobile or digital sales (Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, Steam, Origin), mobile in-app micro transactions, game subscriptions, or purchases made through online retailers. In 2012, the industry suffered a 12.8 percent slide on the year prior, down to A$1.5 billion from A$1.7 billion in 2010.

iGEA CEO Ron Curry commented that while the figure paints a picture that the industry is slowing, the methods of consumer purchase and consumption habits of game content by players is changing, and is not representative of the industry's broader health.

"As Australians consume video games across a broader range of mediums, it's becoming harder to get a true indication of the value of the industry via a single source," said Curry. "While there is a decline in traditional sales, the gaming industry as a whole remains buoyant as people shift towards a 'hybrid' model in their consumption of interactive entertainment."

Curry also attributes declines at retail to the current console generation--the longest in history.

"Apart from the increasing move towards digital content, the figures released by NPD show a drop in physical sales due in part to the ageing gaming consoles, a trend we saw back in 2005 at the end of the last console cycle."

It's a sentiment echoed by analysts at technology firm Telsyte, who are forecasting 18 percent year-on-year growth for digital games, subscriptions, and virtual goods to A$730 million in 2013, up from A$620 million in 2012.

"The growth in digital gaming is driven by mobile app gaming on smartphones and tablets, which is offsetting the decline in physical purchases and even pushing the overall games market into growth," said Sam Yip, senior research manager for Telsyte, in a statement.

Financial services company PricewaterhouseCoopers confirmed that it anticipates similar positive trends. Its four-year Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook 2012-2016 report predicts growth of the Australian interactive entertainment industry by 7.4 percent over the next four years. The company pegs it as the largest consumer spend area in the country, surpassing music, film, and pay television, and beaten only by online commerce.

Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCEA) has used the release of the industry numbers to assert its claim as the highest-selling game device for the 2012 period. According to SCEA, the PlayStation 3 achieved a 27 percent share of total hardware sales, and held the number one spot for software in the region, with its 28.9 percent share.

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Gaming Meme History: Leeroy Jenkins

I was hoping that this was a video about all the gaming memes that have sprung up over the years but it was a good video, I guess ;)

And yes, Leroy Jenkins is classic and forever will be - whether you like/liked WoW or not, that raid video was so funny and epitomized the pain-in-the-ass of grinding that could still be fun, even when you got wiped out. I'm pretty sure this meme's going to be the one that will be commonly referred to in the future when people look back at this time period that we live in.

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With Connor Gone, Where Could Assassin's Creed Go Next?

February 9, 2013 9:52AM PST

Martin picks out the places he wants to travel to in the next Assassin's Creed.

As Assassin's Creed III ended, Connor's storyline felt like it had come to a fairly natural close. But Ratonhnhaké:ton's time as the series' main protagonist seems to have passed: Ubisoft confirmed yesterday that the next Assassin's Creed would feature a new hero and a new setting.

This is an important announcement on Ubisoft's part. The next Assassin's Creed marks a rare opportunity, and with both Connor and present-day conduit Desmond presumably taking a rest for while, the series now has the biggest opportunity for a blank slate and a fresh start since the first game launched in 2007. And with a new batch of consoles on the horizon, it seems particularly fitting for Ubisoft to transition into the next generation (perhaps literally, considering the series' genealogy-obsessed narrative) of Assassin's Creed.

A new beginning would also give the series a chance to refocus its core mechanics. Assassin's Creed III was a complicated, conflicted game--its final chase sequence was honestly one of the worst things I played in the whole of 2012, but I still ended up quite admiring much of the ambition in the overall game. There's clearly a lot of potential across the multiple studios developing the game, and a fresh take could allow that talent to be laser-focused.

But while Ubisoft's "new setting" doesn't exactly help narrow down the entirety of history--and I'd also say it's unlikely Ubisoft would want to abandon all the time and money it poured into making 18th century America--there's a few places I'd really like to see the series head.

Victorian London

You can't write anything about a new Assassin's Creed setting without mentioning London. It's the law. Though in the interests of full disclosure, I am English, and over here we like to think we're still living in the nineteenth century anyway. ACIII briefly dipped its toes into London in its opening, but imagine the possibilities of an Assassin's Creed set in the dark, smog-laden city in the full throes of the Industrial Revolution. It would be like Dickens, but with more even pocket watches, big hats, crossbows, and Templars.

Paris in World War I

Taking Assassin's Creed to Paris could mark as a homecoming of sorts for French publisher Ubisoft. France was a key location in World War I, with the Battle of the Marne in 1914 establishing the Western Front across Belgium and north-eastern France. This would allow for Ubisoft to develop a few show-piece scenes of trench warfare, similar in sorts to the epic musket battles of ACII. The politics behind the war would likely allow Ubisoft to elegantly weave in the Templars and Assassins, and Paris' artistic spirit and gorgeous architecture would bring a vibrancy to the series.

India under the British Raj

The British Raj, which ruled over India from 1858 to 1947, was the engine of The British Empire and also a politically complex period in a geographical area of extreme beauty. Imagine an Assassin's Creed in Calcutta, or replacing Assassin's Creed III's Frontier with India's jungles and wildlife. Themes of capitalism, corporation, and oppression would work well with the Templars, and the game could even head back a little further and overlap with Assassin's Creed III, showing The East India Company appealing to British parliament to pass the Tea Act of 1773 as a way of offsetting the company's severe financial woes, an event which would serve as one of major moments leading up to the American Revolution.

Ocean piracy in South Carolina

With sailing the high seas one of the most celebrated (and enjoyable) new additions in Assassin's Creed III, there's a certain sense of logic for Ubisoft to continue down this path. And what better way than with the most famous pirate of them all, Blackbeard, in an adventure that features his famous blockading of Charleston in 1718? Or a game that spans multiple decades and could bring in Jean Lafitte and the War of 1812, which should at least let Ubisoft reuse those redcoat models. To make the piracy angle even more tempting, one Reddit poster claims to have spotted a marketing presentation for an Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flags.

Feudal Japan

Assassin's Creed: Embers, the disappointing short film made by Ubisoft to end Ezio's storyline, spoke of the Assassin order in China during the Ming Dynasty. Shrouding Assassin's Creed in the exoticism of a historical Eastern country would likely appeal to many, with Japan's Sengoku period of particular interest to me. This era of Japanese history was laced with political intrigue and constant conflict as the country attempted to remain separate from the rest of the world while establishing unification across Japan's various clans, all of which would serve Assassin's Creed well.

Any of those five settings would be absolutely fantastic, if you ask me. Elsewhere in the GameSpot office there's a suggestion from Cam for Ubisoft to tackle the War of Scottish Independence (think Braveheart) and Mark would like to see what happens when you set the Animus for 65 million years BC. But what about you? Where do you think Ubisoft will take the next Assassin's Creed? And are you ready to unwrap another wristblade for Christmas this year, or do you think it might be time for the series to take a rest?

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The Neverwinter Live Stream Extravaganza

February 8, 2013 2:59PM PST

It's a beta weekend for Neverwinter, so Kevin is jumping in to see what's happening in the Forgotten Realms.

It's been a while since we got to visit the city-state of Neverwinter. Thankfully, Cryptic Studios has been hard at work crafting the upcoming online role-playing game of the same name. Senior Editor Kevin VanOrd has received an invite to the beta, and is ready to share the experience with you--live!

Join him on Saturday, February 9, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Pacific Time. (5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Eastern / 10:00 p.m. 2/9 - 2:00 a.m. 2/10, GMT)

Watch live video from kevinvanord's channel on www.twitch.tv

By Kevin VanOrd, Senior Editor

Kevin VanOrd is a lifelong RPG lover and violin player. When he isn't busy building PCs and composing symphonies, he watches American Dad reruns with his fat cat, Ollie.

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Retrovirus Review

In the real world, cleaning out the digital crud and viruses mucking up your ailing computer is rarely a fun ordeal, but Retrovirus' sci-fi-heavy approach to tech support is far more satisfying. This "six degrees of freedom" first-person shooter sends you hovering, scanning, and blasting through a vast microscopic computer realm to purge a rampant virus from the system through brute force. Though a thick, meandering plot and massive difficulty spikes make for an uneven experience, Retrovirus marks a mostly welcome return to the twitchy, sometimes disorienting style of subterranean combat and exploration made popular by Descent in the mid-'90s.

Storytelling isn't Retrovirus' strong suit. Played solo or cooperatively, the campaign throws you right into the action amid a deluge of tech-speak, offering a confusing introduction to the world and its metal inhabitants. Taking place within the confines of a desktop computer, the game opens with a boot sequence that reveals a bustling society of microscopic robots going about their routines. That is, until a nasty wormlike virus infiltrates the system and unleashes hell. You play as a heavily armed antivirus bot dispatched on a seek-and-destroy mission--one that leads you down a winding path through the system's inner workings and requires you to annihilate tons of volatile purple gunk.

You sporadically uncover emails throughout your trek that fill in a few blanks on the bigger conspiracy that's afoot, but the dry dialogue and hollow exchanges between the game's disembodied cast of robotic characters don't bring much personality to this harsh electronic landscape. Simply put, the narrative hook is lacking. Even by the end, it's hard to feel any lasting connection to the shaky plot or its characters, but the journey itself is a wild ride nonetheless.

As you move from one area of the computer's system to the next, exploration and combat are inextricably linked by the need to clear away the nasty trails of purple corruption left behind by the virus. Playing clean-up duty is both challenging and fulfilling, since the large pustules join with snaking tendrils to form a foul network that houses spawn pits for a bevy of alienlike foes. From bulbous beasts that spew heat-seeking charges to flitting critters that multiply when killed, the vile menagerie is formidable in large numbers. Taking down their infrastructure quickly is crucial, and the attacking creatures aren't pushovers. Among their many traits, they can all infest and re-infest friendly droids to turn them against you. Their tenacity proves equally thrilling and harrowing at times, so emerging victorious to purge each area of its pestilence delivers a level of satisfaction that's on par with scratching a stubborn itch--over and over again.

Thankfully, your antivirus drone is largely up to the hefty task. It's extremely maneuverable, letting you move in six directions and rotate your angle a full 360 degrees. While this "six degrees of freedom" makes moving and fighting through twisty corridors and larger obstacle-filled rooms disorienting at first when enemies are coming at you from all directions, it's an exciting way to play that hasn't been done this well in a while. Along with the ability to cloak for a short time, boost to escape danger, and send out a scan ray to detect nearby foes, your scrappy little bot has a versatile assortment of perks to draw from. As you level up, you can cherry-pick helpful plug-ins from three loadout categories that boost your abilities, enhance your arsenal, and assist in other ways. What's great is that you're never locked into your decisions either. You can reshuffle your plug-in points to adapt to different combat situations, which is necessary for surviving everything Retrovirus throws at you.

A limited-yet-rechargeable power supply that ties in to your weapons and abilities keeps the balance of power in check. If you fire too frequently or use other abilities in tandem with your guns haphazardly, you rapidly deplete your reserves and have to wait until they recharge. This adds tension to most combat situations, since you often run out of juice while battling in close quarters. This balance is necessary early on; however, it works against you in the game's larger, tougher confrontations that throw massive swarms of foes at you. Frequent checkpoints and quick saves help counter most of this frustration, though some stretches are particularly brutal. The fact that these killer areas are sometimes sandwiched between quieter zones offers some relief, but they tend to blindside you as a result.

The organic nature of your foes provides great visual contrast to the tech-heavy environments you explore and battle through. Retrovirus' impressive visual design and frequently changing environments help carry some of the more repetitious combat sequences that pop up. Sporadic boss battles, light puzzle sections, and some optional objectives to boost your experience further flesh things out too. Beyond the main campaign, several multiplayer options are worth exploring despite an anemic online player base. Group co-op is functional but hampered by various glitches, such as doors not opening for all players. Deathmatches against bots or other players are fast-paced and use a cool weapon upgrade system that triggers new perks as you amass kills.

The MOBA mode is by far the most interesting option, however. It pits opposing teams against one another to push through their opponents' base defenses and destroy their nexus. Mobs, turrets, and other players add to the chaos, as you battle alongside human comrades and drones alike. The push-pull flow of these battles makes for some hotly contested matches. They're a lot of fun when you have enough human players to fight against and alongside. It's just a shame there aren't many players online with whom to take advantage of these multiplayer features.

As a revival of classic Descent-style exploration and combat, Retrovirus masterfully revamps and improves on the winning formula that hooked players almost two decades ago. A weak story and other fumbles make it hard to fully embrace the experience, but this unique, fast-paced shooter is still worth digging into for its distinct setting and intense virus slaying. Overlook a few foibles, and you'll find blasting bugs a sporadically blissful time.

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Reinventing the City of Your Imagination - SimCity

Is there a facial hair requirement to work at Maxis? I imagine promotions are based on beard size the head must have a massive beard. Does Gandalf work at Maxis?!

Anyway, I'd love to buy this game and I would in a second if it wasn't for two things, The DRM and, most importantly, EA involvement.

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Abandoning Tradition to Keep Castlevania Relevant

The man in charge of Castlevania reveals that forging a new path for the series was the only way to keep it alive. "I don't want it to die."

Even the most cherished series needs a kick in the pants from time to time, according to Konami Producer David Cox. He recently sat down with GameSpot to discuss Mirror of Fate, the upcoming side-scrolling Castlevania for the Nintendo 3DS, and why fans of Koji Igarashi's games shouldn't fear the series' new direction. Along with developer Mercury Steam, Cox wants to focus on the origins of the Belmont's curse, and the ramifications it has on their offspring with each passing generation.

There are a lot of 2D Castlevanias out there, and fans have pretty clear expectations. Can you explain some of the core concepts that went into developing Mirror of Fate as a 2D Lords of Shadow game?

I'm probably going to get murdered for saying this, but like we said with Lords of Shadow, forget everything you know about Castlevania, because on the surface, it seems like a traditional 2D side-scrolling Castlevania game, but in many ways it's just a continuation of what we did with Lords of Shadow. If people really enjoyed Lords of Shadow , then they'll love Mirror of Fate. It's really like a squeezed-down version of that game.

Our idea with the series is to tell Dracula's story. Ultimately, that's the overarching storyline. Lords of Shadow is Dracula's beginning, Lords of Shadow 2 will be the ending, and this kind of sits in the middle. The purpose of Mirror of Fate is to explain the blood feud between Dracula and the Belmonts. How did it come about? What drives it? It has always been about going to Dracula's castle, killing Dracula; that has really been it. Dracula has always been a one-dimensional guy who just turns up at the end of the game. We really want to explore that character and explore the motivations of that character. How did he become Dracula? Why has he become Dracula? Why are the Belmonts the ones that have to go after him? That's the kind of story we're trying to tell.

Obviously, with a title like Mirror of Fate, it's about how fate and destiny are intertwined with our actions. You know, Gabriel made the decision to become Dracula because of the events in Lords of Shadow and the DLC. Going down this darker path has consequences on his son Trevor, and the things he does have consequences on his son Simon.

I know that you are a big Castlevania fan. How hard has it been trying to balance the game's identity and trying to keep some familiar elements, while mostly going in a new direction?

That has probably been the trickiest thing, honestly speaking. You've got a fan base that's dedicated to Castlevania, just as I was as a fan, but at the same time you've got to do something new. You've got to drive the series forward. You know, I don't want it to die. I want it to stay relevant and popular. Getting that balance right has been pretty tough, but at the same time with respect to Lords of Shadow, I think we took a risk. Even when the game came out, we weren't sure if it was going to be successful or not. It's kind of why we went to handheld because we didn't know what the next step was going to be. We didn't know if the game was going to be popular, so we said, "Let's make a handheld game; you don't need much money." We could do something small in order to carry on the series if necessary. Luckily, the game was successful, and senior management said, "You need to make a sequel." That was great, but we already started the 3DS game, so it was like, "OK, right." Luckily, we had a very rough idea about the arc, but we didn't have the detail, if you know what I mean. So we've got the beginning, and we've got the end, so let's develop the ideas and make it fit within the arc. That's how Mirror of Fate came about.

How do you respect the past while doing something new?

I think you've got to be brave and say we're going to put our mark on it. We are going to do what we think is right. We are going to try and be respectful to the past because I think you've got to, but at the same time, I think we were brave with Lords of Shadow. Some people liked what we did, and a lot of people didn't like what we did, so I think this time it's a bit easier because people kind of know what to expect. They kind of know that it's not going to be like it was before. They know it's going in a different direction, and they've accepted that it's a new universe, that it's a different timeline outside of the traditional timeline. I think it's a little bit easier this time to get that message across, you know, that we're going our own way.

I think we tried, particularly with Mirror of Fate, to meet some of those detractors a little bit further and meet their demands. We felt exploration wasn't as good as it could be in Lords of Shadow; we felt that was a weakness of the game. So when we were designing Mirror of Fate, exploration was much higher up on the list of things we wanted to achieve in terms of the final product. At the same time, we wanted to make sure the combat focus of the title, which is what Lords of Shadow was…we wanted to make sure that element was at the forefront. We don't want people who bought Lords of Shadow to suddenly get something different. They go, "I remember that Lords of Shadow game. It was awesome. But this game, what the hell is this?" We wanted to give them a true sequel, something that felt like it fit within the Lords of Shadow universe. So I think we're trying to straddle, and it's a very fine balancing act, but we aren't slaves to it. If a decision is made that we are going to take this in a different direction, we're just going to do it, you know? That's liberating.

So, Lords of Shadow freed you up to take some liberties with the series' storyline. Do you think that fans are going to be surprised with some of the events that take place in Mirror of Fate?

Yes, I think so, especially the story side of it. I think having a bad guy who has some depth to him, where you can kind of understand how he got to this place…at the end of this game, it's a WTF moment--it really is. We show Dracula how he has never been shown before, and I think people will go, "Shit, if I was him, I would be the bloody same." You know what I mean? So we're trying to give a perspective on it. Good and evil is not black and white in real life. Having characters who aren't black and white is really important to this game. I think that's something we've achieved, certainly with Dracula, with Simon, and with Trevor, because they are nuanced characters that have stories to tell, and it's a really interesting story that's really emotional. When you finish it, because you play the game backwards, starting with Simon, then playing as Alucard, then Trevor, it all becomes clear right at the end. That's the reason we did it. The very last scene, you click, and you want to play it again. You'll notice things that seem offhand or you didn't really notice before, and you go, "Aw shit!" It gives the game more depth. That's something we're really proud of with Mirror or Fate. The replayability is fantastic. I can't stop playing it, and I've been working on it for two years.

Is this arc going to come to a conclusion in Mirror of Fate, or is it going to carry over into Lords of Shadow 2?

There's a satisfying conclusion to the arc in Mirror of Fate, but the overarching arc is still there. You can play this game without having played the other. That's something we think is very important. In the first game, you have the story about bringing Marie back, about the god mask. That was the key thing, and it came to a conclusion, but you know there's the arc about how he became Dracula. That's going to be explained a little bit in Mirror of Fate, but more so in Lords of Shadow 2. I hate the word trilogy, but people are already saying that to us. It's going to feel like a whole. There's going to be a satisfying conclusion in Lords of Shadow 2, and everything's going to make sense.

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IGN sale closing soon – Report

February 2, 2013 3:26PM PST

Sources say Ziff Davis parent company J2 Global on the brink of closing bargain deal to acquire gaming label from News Corp.

Sources close to ongoing discussions have told The Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD that News Corp. is on the brink of closing a deal to sell IGN (and its network of sites) to Ziff Davis parent company J2 Global.

Exact terms of the reported deal were not disclosed, though sources said J2 Global scored a deal on IGN.

J2 Global is reportedly picking up the gaming unit for "considerably lower" than the $650 million News Corp. paid for it in late 2005. A report from October said News Corp. was hoping to get around $100 million for IGN.

IGN has been up for auction for the past six months, with past bidders reportedly including Break Media, SAY Media, and unnamed private equity firms.

IGN president Roy Bahat left the company in August.

By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.

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Introducing the Writer's Roundtable!

February 1, 2013 5:24PM PST

We reveal a new program dedicated to creative writers on GameSpot

We have an exciting new program and volunteer dedicated to GameSpotters who enjoy publishing editorial blogs and user reviews on GameSpot. In the past month we've recruited prolific writers to assist with a new program called the GameSpot Writers Round Table (GSWR). Starting today, you can share your written work in GSWR prior to publishing it.

In addition to being an ideal place to get insights about your writing, the GameSpot Writers Round Table is the perfect place to gain recognition from GameSpot Staff. The experts who will be examining your work are volunteers known as "Justicars". If you wish to become an official GameSpot Justicar, simply submit an application to the community@gamespot.com email with the subject "Justicar Application" with a brief introduction, examples of your work, and why you should be considered.

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Fire Emblem Character Battle

February 1, 2013 5:47PM PST

Who is the best Fire Emblem character? Show off your favorite character and get a chance to win a Fire Emblem: Awakening art book.

Fire Emblem: Awakening comes out on February 4th and to celebrate the new 3DS release we're having a character battle contest! We want to see who you think the best character is from the Fire Emblem series and more importantly why.

To participate create an image that contains the following information:
- An image who you think is the best character, this picture can be from a screen shot, game art, or a custom drawing
- Include the character name, the game they appeared in, and the starting class.
- Briefly describe why this Fire Emblem character is the best character
- Share one "Fun Fact" about the character.

Rules and things you should know:
- Entry deadline is Monday February 11th at 10:00am PST.
- The social voting round will take place on February 11th at 12:00pm PST. The voting round will take place on Facebook and the winning characters will be determined based on the number of Likes, Shares, and comments.

Prizing: Based off of the list of top voted entries via the tally of Facebook Likes, Comments, and shares we will be awarding to the top 10 entries, each will be receiving a Fire Emblem: Awakening art book.

If you need some help, or are looking for some inspiration you can check out our "Tips and Tricks" page.

← Contest Index

By Synthia Weires, Community Manager

Community Manager for GameSpot.com. Fan of all things gaming and a second generation gamer, she is a social butterfly and lover of bacon, Magic the Gathering, D20's and pie.

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Sony inviting gamers to 'see the future' February 20

January 31, 2013 3:31PM PST

PlayStation maker releases teaser video for event next month.

Sony is inviting gamers to "see the future" next month. The PlayStation maker has released a 45-second teaser video (embedded below) suggesting the company will make a significant announcement on February 20 at 6 p.m. EDT.

The teaser video does not share any concrete information as to what may be divulged at the event. A previous report suggested Sony would hold an Apple-style press event in March to unveil the PlayStation 4. It is not clear if this is the same event.

Analyst consensus is that the PS4, along with the Xbox 720, will be announced in the coming months and released during the back half of this year.

Speculation about the PS4 has run rampant. Previous and unconfirmed reports suggest the system may block, or in some way inhibit, users from playing second-hand games. Still other speculation suggests the console will introduce a new controller that could feature a rear touchpad and a Share button.

By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.

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