VIDEO: Joe Madureira Interview

Here we have an interview with Joe Madureira Creative Director of Vigil games on their upcoming game Darksiders.

HANDS ON: MAG

Most people were shocked when it was announced that Zipper were developing a console based MMOG which supported up to 256 players. Until this announcement the concept of having so many players online at one time was completely alien to console gamers more used to 12 aside skirmishes.

Zipper are known for their highly successful and entertaining SOCOM titles which was one of the forerunners of online gaming. Their latest MAG plans to do for online console gaming what

sound did for early cinema. Most console gamers are familiar with the typical 12 on 12 battles available in titles such as Battlefield and most gamers have wished for more. MAG sets out to deliver more than any other online console game ever has.

The game supports up to 256 players at one time. Rather than a massive free for all the player are broken up into three factions, S.V.E.R., Raven and Valor. Each faction has been tailored to appeal to a certain type of gamers with the developers intention to try and appeal all gamer types including those who wouldn’t normally play FPS’s.

The 256 players are broken up as follows. Squads are made up of 8 players with 4 squads making a platoon and 4 platoons make a company. Each squad will be led by a player who has advanced through the game’s ranking system. Each faction will have one leader who directs all the platoon and squad leaders below him. This promise to make for a more organised and long term gaming experience.

From what we saw MAG is by far the best hope for MMOFPS console gaming. It’s one of the fastest and most frantic shooters around and given the number of players taking part you’re constantly on the look out. One of the games most impressive features is just how expansive the maps are. With so many players at one time you expect the map to be cramped and overcrowded but this is not the case. The scale of things is truly impressive with the effects of distant skirmishes visible on the horizon, smoke billowing toward the heavens across the map.

As expected from the number of players, completing set objectives is very much team orientated. How you play with others will determine just how much enjoyment you get from the game. Being the lone wolf will most certainly end in repeated failure.

MAG is pencilled in for an early 2010 release and after our hands on Gamestoaster are counting down the days. MAG is for all intents and purposes the game which will make or break MMOFPS on consoles and from what we’ve seen the forecast is good.

Keep an eye out for Gamestoaster’s exclusive interview with Ed Byrne the Creative Director of Zipper Interactive.

Xbox Live Summer Update

XBOX LIVE SUMMER UPDATE PUTS A WORLD OF ENTERTAINMENT AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

Dublin – 5^th August: A week from today, the Xbox LIVE summer update will arrive to more than 20 million Xbox LIVE members and with it will come the next evolution of connected entertainment on Xbox 360.  Get ready to meet the many new faces of your Xbox 360; whether it’s new Avatar clothing and awards from Adidas or “Splosion Man”, or even a private home cinema, Xbox LIVE has something for YOU.

Movie night on Xbox LIVE
Browse, select and jump right into your favorite movies from the top genres: comedy, action, horror…even a tear-jerking chick flick. There are hundreds to choose from, with many in HD.

Avatars are people too!
Now thanks to Avatar Marketplace the options for customising your avatar are endless. With an ever-expanding selection of stores, full of premium outfits and accessories from your favorite games and fashion brands, you can express yourself through your Avatar like never before. Your Avatar’s one-stop-shop will launch with a growing collection from the top names in fashion and gaming including:

· Top Brands: Adidas, Quiksilver, Roxy, Tokidoki
· Unique Fashions: Steampunk, Recessionista
· Your Favorite Games: “BioShock 2,” “Halo 3,” “Halo 3: ODST,” “Gears of War 2,” “Fable II,” “The Secret of Monkey Island SE,” “Splinter: Cell Conviction,” “Star Wars Clone Wars: Republic Heroes”
You can also earn special Avatar clothes and items just by playing your favorite games, starting with a hot logo t-shirt from “Splosion Man,” the hit Xbox LIVE Arcade title that kicked-off off the 2^nd annual Summer of Arcade. And to keep your Avatars from getting bored, we’re giving them fun new props to play with; everything from a basketball to pompoms, even a mobile phone…just try to stick with nights and weekends.

Full Xbox 360 games at the push of a button
Xbox 360 games: Games on Demand. Launching with a library of 21 great titles, Games on Demand marks the introduction of digitally distributed full Xbox 360 games: the titles you want, when you want them, straight to your Xbox 360 at the push of a button. You’ll also have the option to easily purchase Games on Demand titles directly via credit card.

From award-winning hits like “Mass Effect,” “and “Assassin’s Creed,” to family favorites like “LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga” and “Sonic the Hedgehog,” Games on Demand gives you access to a growing catalog of full Xbox 360 titles, updated weekly and available to browse and download 24 x7 from the comfort of your couch. Check out our line-up at launch:

Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft)	Need for Speed: Most Wanted (EA)
Burnout Paradise (EA)	Perfect Dark Zero (Microsoft Game Studios)
Call of Duty® 2 (Activision)	Prey (2K Games)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (Rockstar Games)
Fight Night Round 3 (EA	Sega Rally (Sega)
Kameo: Elements of Power (Microsoft Game Studios)	TEST DRIVE: UNLIMITED (Atari)
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts)	Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios)	Tomb Raider Legend (Eidos)
Meet The Robinsons (Disney)	Viva Piñata (Microsoft Game Studios)
MX vs. ATV Untamed (THQ)	Viva Piñata 2: Trouble in Paradise (Microsoft Game Studios)
Need for Speed Carbon (EA)

No more hide and seek
Now you can view, find and arrange your content on Xbox LIVE the way you want. Want to send a specific friend a message? Sort your friends list by Gamertag, status and even activity, so you can easily find the friends you want. There are also new options for viewing your Achievements and progress, improved matchmaking support and more.

Best of all, you can now rate every single piece of content on Xbox LIVE Games Marketplace using a five star system. Support your favorite XBLA game with a five star rating, or find the top-rated titles in the newly-updated Indie Games Marketplace – it’s never been easier to find the best and most beloved game content on Xbox LIVE.

Just the beginning…
The Xbox LIVE summer update brings all new ways to play games, and connect with friends or friendly rivals anywhere in the world. It’s another step toward realising the Xbox 360 promise of entertainment for everyone, and another reason why Xbox LIVE is hands down the best entertainment value in your living room. But this is just the beginning…

Coming soon, we’re bringing a whole new wave of partnerships and custom features straight to your Xbox 360 – instant on 1080p streaming video with 5.1 audio from Zune, personalised digital radio stations from Last.fm, and the biggest forces in social networking: Facebook and Twitter.

In the meantime, have fun with your Avatar, or download that classic Xbox 360 game you’ve been meaning to pick up. Sit back, relax and enjoy and stay tuned for the next evolution in connected entertainment, courtesy of Xbox LIVE.


About Xbox 360
Xbox 360 is a superior video game and entertainment system delivering the best games, unique entertainment features and a unified online gaming network that revolve around gamers. Xbox 360 has a portfolio of more than 300 games in nearly 40 countries. More information can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/xbox360.

About Xbox LIVE
Xbox LIVE connects more than 20 million members across 26 countries to each other and the entertainment they love. Home of more entertainment from one remote than can be found from any device connected to the television, Xbox LIVE is also a unified online social network bringing friends together, no matter where they are — in the living room or across the world. More information and Xbox LIVE membership can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-IE/live/

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential

Left 4 Dead 2 Hands On

Left 4 Dead 2 was one of the most exciting and anticipated titles at last months E3 but the almost instantaneous backlash from gamers has received more coverage than the game. When released last year Valve were promising to support the title with additional download content such as weapons, new infected and campaigns much like they do with their Half Life and Team Fortress games. This additional material never materialised and the announcement of a sequel to be released less than a year after sent gamers into a rage.

Yesterday Gamestoaster took a trip to London to see just how Left 4 Dead 2 holds up and to see if the outrage was justified. Upon arriving in London we set about playing through the New Orleans level on both Xbox and PC.

First up it’s important to note that in terms of gameplay Left 4 Dead 2 is pretty much exactly the same as the first game. There are some subtle change that the gamers hardened fans will notice but overall it seems that the game remains pretty much the same as it ever was. Being honest this isn’t necessarily as a bad thing, why fix something that isn’t broken.

In the game you play in a team of 4 survivors battling their way through a world in which the undead far outnumber the living. The level available to play was called The Parish. Beginning with a film poster inspired load screen with the obligatory tag line “This time it all goes South”. An obvious refrence to the games setting. The first thing we noticed regarding the game was just how much the character Nick resembled John Cusack though perhaps that was all in our mind.

The most noticeable addition to the game is the inclusion of melee weapons. The level we played offered up axes and frying pans. As you would expect these weapons re meant for up close and personal use and God damn are they fun to use. Watch as your axe makes contact with an infected ones face and it disappears in a torrent of blood.

The game now also features some additions to your arsenal. Weapon upgrades are available at certain points in the game and make a nice change of pace. The incendiary upgrade which sets fire to any infected you shoot. Each upgrade is limited so it best to save them for cutting down large groups of the infected. The new monster featured was refered to as a Charger. He runs at you before picking you up and slamming slamming you to the ground till your teammates rescue you.

When playing the game you are once more offered the ability to play the game one of two ways. The most effective way is to play as part of the team, watching each others back. This makes taking care of the infected a far easier prospect. The other option is to run off on your own all guns blazing which will usually end in your untimely death.

The difficulty has certainly been amped up. Playing through the New Orleans level we found the initial part to be quite a breeze. The second part of the level however was a completely different animal. In it you encounter what Valve refer to as the gauntlet run which features a never ending horde attack you as you valiantly try to cross the bridge to the extraction point.

While this sudden jump in difficultly is unexpected and certainly frustrating it does offer a far more rewarding experience. When we asked Valve about the difficulty out demonstration games were set to they refused to give an answer and said that we “would find out in November”.

One of the most disappointing aspects of the game was that at times there only appeared to be a dozen of so infected on screen at once. When questioned on this Valve informed us that the game will feature “dozens of the infected onscreen at once”.

As it stands Left 4 Dead 2 is really looking like one of this years most entertaining titles. Playing through the level repeatedly yesterday on both Xbox and PC against other journalists in a LAN was a real joy. While those calling for gamers to boycott the game have a point we believe that the finished game will offer a far more satisfying experience than the original and the addition of the melee weapons will certainly add an addition layer of fun.

The game is set for release in November on both PC and Xbox 360 and we should hopefully be bringing you more on the game before then.

Assassins Creed 2 Trailer and More

Ubisoft presents
Assassin’s Creed® 2

Product Description

Assassin’s Creed® 2 is the follow-up to the title that became the fastest-selling new IP in video game history. The highly anticipated title features a new hero, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young Italian noble, and a new era, the Renaissance.

Assassin’s Creed 2 retains the core gameplay experience that made the first opus a resounding success and features new experiences that will surprise and challenge players.

Assassin’s Creed 2 is an epic story of family, vengeance and conspiracy set in the pristine, yet brutal, backdrop of a Renaissance Italy. Ezio befriends Leonardo da Vinci, takes on Florence’s most powerful families and ventures throughout the canals of Venice where he learns to become a master assassin.

Key Features

EZIO, A NEW ASSASSIN FOR A NEW ERA
Ezio Auditore da Firenze is a young Italian noble who will learn the ways of the assassins after his family was betrayed and he looks to seek vengeance. He is a lady’s man, a free soul with panache yet has a very human side to his personality. Through him, you become a master assassin.

RENAISSANCE ITALY
Italy in the 15th century was less a country and more a collection of city-states where families with political and economic strength began to take leadership roles in cities like Florence and Venice. This journey through some of the most beautiful cities in the world takes place in a time in history where culture and art were born alongside some of the most auspicious stories of corruption, greed and murder.

A NEW-FOUND FREEDOM
You will be able to perform missions when you want and how you want in this open-ended world that brings back free-running and adds elements such as swimming and even flying to the adventure. The variety in gameplay adds another layer for you to truly play through the game any way you choose.

DYNAMIC CROWD
Discover a living, breathing world where every character is an opportunity for the player. Blending in with the crowd is easier, working with in-game characters provide ample rewards but can also lead to surprising consequences.

BECOME A MASTER ASSASSIN
Perfect your skills to become a master assassin where you brandish new weapons, learn to disarm enemies then use their weapons against them and assassinate enemies using both hidden blades.

Product Specifications
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Ship Date: Holiday 2009
Category: Action/Adventure
Rating: Mature (US) / PEGI 16+ / USK (TBC)
Web site: www.assassinscreed.com

© 2007-2009 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft, Ubi.com and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks and “PS3” is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. Software platform logo (TM and ©) EMA 2006.

PREVIEW: Assassin’s Creed

Developer / Publisher: Ubisoft | Format: Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Previewer: Cian Ginty

There used to be a bit of magic or mystic that surrounded the worlds of old 2D games, your imagination governed what laid in the world outside of your mission path. The advent of 3D games — and 3D games which tried to be too much — somewhat killed this. Assassin’s Creed is one of those games that brings you back, while keeping the gameplay at the edge of today.

As the name should suggest, you play as an assassin. It’s set in the Holy Land in middle east in the year 1191 AD, but there’s futuristic hints around the game – from the menu and loading systems to graphics which appear around some enemies.

“And it’s about this science company trying to, Matrix-style, go into peoples brains and find out an ancestor who used to be an assassin, and sort of locate who that person is” actor Kristen Bell, in this case voice actor, let it slip to US games site IGN.

Some type of Timecop theme? However, when we went to see the game recently at Ubisoft offices outside London, they were remaining tight-lipped, saying they want some things left as a surprise, only elusively saying it’d be revealed at the start of the game.

Assassin’s Creed is set in a free roaming environment with four main areas — three cities, the assassin’s enclave, and the open lands and paths of the ‘the Kingdom’ in the middle. There’s freedom of which city
to go to first, and there’s freedom to jump wildly across city rooftops or to slowly walk among the people.

In the backdrop is a Crusade, the third one we’re told, and in a hidden group of assassins you’re sent on missions to kill members of both sides of the conflict for the greater good. Nevertheless, as cut scenes
just before assignations will tell, moral conflict might ensue as things aren’t all that black and white.

In gameplay, there’s basically you, the civilians, the guards, more cutely aware groupings such as patrols, and your targets. Guards will for the most part ignore you unless you act up — for example, jumping around rooftops isn’t normal and the archers will literally draw their attention on you. You can attack back with throwing knifes, your sword, or your assassins’ blade — unfortunately no archery of your own.

The developers have tried to balance thing out, picket pocketing or messing around with civilians won’t get you too much trouble. The levels of danger can be lowered by, for example, hiding in plain sight in your monk-like robes, among monks or not. Patrols on the other hand may be actively searching for an assassin.

You could say the game is Hitman meets the speed and building jumping and climbing of the revived and critically acclaimed Prince of Persia games, with a dash of horse riding and open environments of Shadow of
the Colossus. Although, that’s a bit of a mouth full and Assassin’s Creed should stand out on its own. It’s not a bog standard stealth game, you’re not a prince, and your targets are not Colossi (at least not in size). It’s a unique and immersive game.

Assassin’s Creed is out in Ireland and the UK on November 16 on Xbox 360 and PS3, the release date for PC is yet to be finalised but is due before the end of the year.

PREVIEW: Halo 3 beta impressions

Halo 3 is going to break all sorts of records upon its release later
this year, that much is almost certain. The original game
single-handedly moved Xboxes from shop shelves for the best part of a
year, and its sequel topped the charts both in retail and on Xbox Live.
With the second sequel almost upon us, we’ve taken a look at the
multi-player beta.

The first thing you’ll notice is the familiarity of it all. The weapon
load-out is tweaked here and there, but remains largely unchanged. Your
avatar is still the Master Chief, and he’s still running around the
same rocky, grassy vistas and snowy tundra as in previous games.

Worse, the graphics aren’t the giant leap forward one would expect from
the blockbuster series’ debut on the Xbox 360. There are some nice
environmental effects – grenades fling up dirt, water sloshes around
you and so on – but the textures aren’t sharp, the architecture is
perhaps too sharp, and the rocky plains lack real definition. It’s not
quite last-gen, but it’s a far cry from platform-leading visuals.

For this gamer, however, the biggest bone of contention is the
community. With only the press and those who have access through the
Crackdown promotion currently able to play the beta, it is perhaps too
early to judge accurately, but on current conditions, the community is
not a very welcoming place.

As an American-produced game about a
alien-battling space marine, the audience is understandably populated
by over-enthusiastic, under-sexed teenagers, who endeavor to suck the
fun out of proceedings. Whether it’s a problem with the
matchmaking-system, the community itself or something else is unknown,
but this is a major issue for the casual gamer, and one which will
hopefully be addressed upon release.

Based on the beta, Halo 3 is shaping up to be very much evolution over
revolution. For fans of the series, of which there are many, this will
prove to be enough. For those still on the sidelines, they’re likely to
be underwhelmed, even put off by those fans who insist on taking things
so seriously.

Alan Wake – will the hype kill?

Normally we like to focus on gameplay first and shiny graphics second. But we were reminded recently that the graphics on the upcoming Alan Wake (above) are so much of a focus for the studio we’ll be disappointed if the shiny bits don’t live up to the hype.

Microsoft were smart enough to retain an exclusive with Remedy, developer of Max Payne, so the action adventure thriller game staring fictional novelist Wake will be appearing on Xbox 360 and PC, but not PS3. Let’s just hope the graphics on 360 will do, as our PC (or at least my PC) would burn into flames just trying to install the game.

A few impress videos are here, while there are screenshots here and more on a fan site at alanwake.co.uk. Now, all we need is a firm release date: maybe even a release year?

PREVIEW: Gears of War

Developer: Epic | Publisher: Microsoft | Format: Xbox 360

Previewer: Cian Ginty at E3 in LA

The blood still rushes, after a few developer sessions and video trailers, you’re left wondering will all this ‘duck and cover’ work, answers come with a controller in hand.

An eight player team death match – start, run, duck, cover: but the running isn’t norm, in third-person the camera angle is to the players left, as it is generally. There’s a feel for speed, head down, and with the angle it’s like something out of a film with a camera following a trooper across a live battlefield, then you just ram into cover.

Right trigger gives un-aimed gunfire, left allows you to aim. The some crazy developer at Epic then allow for a chainsaw in the one gun. Mounted under the barrel, once it starts to dig, the screen splatters, red fills the TV — Microsoft a keen to point out Gears of War is for adults only.

If you’re not pinned down, you can revive team mates in a short time after normal death – unless their shooters came in to finish the kill.

The single player starts as Marcus, the lead, is helped out of military prison now under attack by the enemy, ‘the Locust’; in for disobeying an order, but since then the war isn’t going well. Everyone is needed. Desperation is in the air.

The stunning graphics are somehow nearly ignoredafter a minute of gameplay (the shot above is actually like what we played), it’s immersing. Fraying way from the term ‘Halo killer’, Gears of War looks to be put on a pedestal at near height. We hope we’re not wrong.

Gears of War is due in the “Autumn” on the Xbox 360 – it is to be ported to PC sometime afterwards.

E3 2005: Revolution?

Cian Ginty in Los Angeles, CA.
At Nintendo’s pre-E3 press conference this morning the company
brought a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘backward compatibility’,
showing a prototype of their next home console, the Revolution, they
said it would allow for download of some games released up to 20 years
ago, including games from the N64, SNES, and NES — as well as
compatibility with GameCube disks.

The 12cm disk drive will be a slot, not a tray, and a
“self-contained attachment” will allow for the use of DVD films and
other content. With 512mb flash memory, and a SD memory card port for
storage. Built-in Wi-Fi will allow for online and DS connectivity.

Controllers — like the 360 and PS3 — will be wireless, and the
console will host two USB 2.0 ports. The publisher is claiming the
controllers will be somewhat ground-breaking,
but did not elaborate on such.

Square-Enix is, according to Nintendo, working on a “WiFi game” of
Final Fantasy for the new console, with Metroid 3 and Nintendo’s other
’stars’ also lined up for the Revolution.

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