Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Just before Christmas it was announced that EA’s Man In Charge Of The Sims, Rod Humble, had upped sticks and moved to the peculiar worlds of Second Life. Fascinated by this decision, we tracked him down to a tower made out of penises, sat on a throne of eyeballs that sing copyrighted Disney tunes, and asked him some questions. (Please note, while Rod Humble does live in a tower made of penises and sits on a throne of eyeballs that sing copyrighted Disney tunes, this is in no way reflective of his activities within the world of Second Life, nor his work at Linden Labs.) He tells us about why he made the move, ways to get around the perceived inaccessibility of Second Life, and the plans to roll out new tech that will make the world look “dramatically different”.

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Machinima has an exclusive new Homefront trailer. Yes. I’m not sure it’s quite as interesting as the more detailed alternate timeline stuff the developers have been putting out that shows how North Korea could successfully invade the USA, but it does feature many explosions. The game’s out on March 18th, you know. So soon! The explosions will be ours so soon.
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I’ve ranted about Stalker mods in this column before. The tools are now all out there! Stop just tweaking mechanics and updating the visuals! Make some new games for us to play. Finally, someone has listened to my cries. Who? Find out beyond the jump.
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Paris-based indie dev Brain Candy has announced Fray, and by the sounds of things Frozen Synapse will soon have some competition. Fray will be a “turn-based, multiplayer, real-time strategy game” where players issue orders to their squad of four simultaneously, then these actions play out in real time. No screenshots at present, but I have located a couple of positive signs. First, check out this art. You’ll notice it’s labelled “Light Armour”. Light?! Well, okay. And there’s also an entertaining video of the Brain Candy guys making use of the motion capture tech over at Quantic Dreams.
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Here’s an update to my investigating the story Fox News printed in which they astonishingly suggested that Bulletstorm would cause rape. Scott Steinberg, CEO of TechSavvy Global, and all-round industry guru, got in touch with me to show me the answers he submitted to Fox when they approached him for comment. The full answers are reproduced below, because what results is a fantastic interview on the subject of adult game content and regulation.

Fox chose to use none of Steinberg’s comments in their final piece, opting instead for the more sensational claims of those with no expertise in the subject (neither of whom have found time to reply to our emails). But seeing these answers also provides further insight into how the mainstream media coverage of gaming stories works. Far from being a reporter ignorant of the subject and twisted by naive contributors, Fox correspondent John Brandon was equipped with a wealth of factual information and informed opinion before composing his frantic article. The below, combined with our previously reported unedited response from M2 Research’s Billy Pidgeon, show quite how determined the final story was to ignore the facts in favour of scaring its readers.

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Activision, despite closing down studios as fast as they can, are at least planning on releasing some games. 2012, they promise, will feature two Blizzard titles. That’s if neither of them appear this year, anyway. Which they expect they won’t. But they still might. But they probably won’t. The two games in question most likely being the next portion of StarCraft II, Heart Of The Swarm, and of course Diablo 3. Which they’ll probably only release once they’ve got over 3 million followers on Twitter, or something equally inane.

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So it seems that relatively unknown open-ended Source-engined FPS E.Y.E. has a new trailer out. Which is convenient, because it reminds me that I am supposed to be interviewing the developers. I’d better get on with that. In the meantime, go and watch the high-speed sci-fi death-dispensing that this trailer of “Divine Cybermancy” depicts. That sure is some cybernetic superduding, apparently with Dante’s Inferno references. Intriguing.
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While rather less notable than TV fun-box expansion controller Guitar Hero being ended by Activision, it does seem a shame that True Crime: Hong Kong will never see the light of day. The city-based open world actioner has been canned by the publisher due to it not being deemed competitive with other open-world action games. We’d not seen much of it, admittedly, but one less open world game is a sad thing, in my book. Even if it did end up being a bit nob. (And yes, it was slated for PC.)

Sleep well, lost game. We never knew thee.

After two and a half years of gobbling niblets of information on Diablo III from Blizzard’s outstretched hand, I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s started to get a little aggravated. Why the need for this opaque development? Why can’t they estimate a release date? We still don’t know. But here’s something new- as of this week Blizzard has announced that for each 25,000 additional likes the Diablo III Facebook page gets (it was on some 550,000 at the time of the announcement) they’ll release one screenshot or piece of artwork. One. Here‘s the latest. Tell you what, Blizzard. If 1,000 Diablo fans mail you a kidney in a brown envelope, will you actually release the game? No? OK. If you need me I’ll be over here, “liking” games which I can actually play.

Snowstorm Entertainment, creators of games such as FightMaking, Planet of FightMaking, Devil and SunMaking, turns 20 this month. And yet no-one’s ever heard of ‘em. Oh well, good try chaps.

Ahahah. Heh. Ha. Quoth the kings of Blizzard, “In 1991, three guys fresh out of UCLA decided to start their own game company. Their goal: make cool games and have fun doing so.” Back in February 1991, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce’s studio was known as Silicon & Synapse, becoming the familiar Blizzard in 1994. A page dedicated to their anniversary promises all manner of nostalgic goodies over the coming weeks, although there’s nothing up just yet. While we wait, I thought I’d write up a little timeline of Blizzard’s greatest moments…
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The sequel to shimmeringly competent action RPG Torchlight is going to take a little longer than expected to achieve its predecessor’s blinding polish, Runic CEO Max Schaefer has told Digital Spy. Rather than arriving in May or June it’s now scheduled for July, and do you know what? It’s none other than the fiendish console toyboxes that are to blame.
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