Tag Archive

Foot-to-ball Head-thinks: FIFA Manager 2009

Written by Kieron Gillen on November 12, 2008.

It’s that time of year. The updates for the Football Management games are coming in. The just-shy-of-a-gig demo of EA’s FIFA Manager 2009 is now available to download. It’s only first divisions of six countries with a few stadium and no realistic 3D-noggins or commentary and similar, and ends after 90 days, but that’s still a lot of “Oooh - I think we need to go 4-3-3″isms for nowt. And, just to mix things up a little, here’s the German trailer for the game…
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Dead Space: Dead In the Water?

Written by Kieron Gillen on November 7, 2008.

Okay, that’s just going for the fancy pun-based headline as is RPS’ wont - it’s not dead, dead. But I’ve been thinking about EA’s recently released Dead Space’s chances, and this post was prompted by Yahtzee’s Zero Punctuation annihilation of it - which I’ll embed beneath the cut. He takes it apart - which is his wont, obviously - but it’s a game that seems to be slipping past everyone’s attention. Which seems somewhat odd. I mean, big-budget, hyper-slick action/horror game. It’s not exactly Dwarf Fortress.

I’m saying “wont” a lot in this post.
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The Sims 3 “Create-a-sim”

Written by Jim Rossignol on November 7, 2008.

The physiognomy-warping face sliders of the character creation screen are one of my favourite things about modern videogames. Needless to say, The Sims 3 does not disappoint in its capacity to inflate the cheeks or rotate the ears of our simulated caricatures. EA meanwhile are even more keen on getting across just how much you can do the same kind of fiddling with the personalities of your Sims. How you generate the persona will define the goals they have in “life” and give you various power ups as they achieve their ambitions. One of these, the trailer explains, is “Steel Bladder”. This means that your Sim will never have to use the toilet again. A lifetime of excreta pressurized into a small bladder? Your Sim had better not getting into any violent accidents…
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Born To Run, Etc

Written by Jim Rossignol on November 5, 2008.

More Mirror’s Edge exposition has turned up in the form of another animated trailer. Quite stylish once again, but discussing something that we kind of understood already about the game world: that the point of Faith’s job is not to get caught.
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OMG Spoilers! Dead Space Launch Trailer

Written by Jim Rossignol on October 15, 2008.

Holy wow, I’m stunned by how many plot spoilers and visual giveaways EA have managed to cram into their Dead Space launch trailer. Half the game seems to show up in this two minute edit-splatter. I’d suggest you only watch this if you have have zero intention of playing this (rather good) ultra-violent space shooter.

The reason I know how spoilery it is, of course, is because I’ve played the game in question. My review is in the next issue of the best PC gaming magazine there has ever been: PC Gamer UK. It has their Fallout 3 review in there too. The magazine is out on 23rd October, and Dead Space comes out on the 20th of October on PC.

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The Sims 3 Footage: “The Open World”

Written by Jim Rossignol on October 1, 2008.

This huge new trailer looks into the development of the new Sims title. It illustrates the open world neighbourhood angle, and the development team talk about how that effects the story you’re creating. It also looks at the ways in which you can build in the game world - from fabricating houses and neighborhoods right through to designing personalities for the Sims themselves. (I look forward to the RPS competition to build the most disturbing neighborhood when the game is released…)

Yep, it’s looking genuinely impressive, just from the point of view of the massive, versatile systems they’re building for this title. If you want a bit more depth on The Sims 3 then have a read of John’s interview with the lead designer, Rod Humble.
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And More Mirror’s Edge Footage…

Written by Jim Rossignol on September 26, 2008.

Overkill, perhaps, but it’s a fairly intense piece of in game footage. Watching this one kind of suggests that you’re immune from bullets as long as you keep moving. I wonder how that will stand up to prolonged play, and whether the sense of flow/danger will be sustained. I hope so!

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Mirror’s Edge Cinematic, Part Two

Written by Jim Rossignol on September 26, 2008.

EA have released another snippet of animated backstory for highly-anticipated urban gymnastics simulator Mirror’s Edge. It illustrates a little more about the dystopian utopia, the surveillance society, and the attractive protagonist’s personal battle against the regime. It’s brief, but it bodes well.
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Interview: Spore’s Lead Designer On Spore’s Design

Written by Kieron Gillen on September 22, 2008.

Much like everyone else, we’ve been thinking far too much about Spore recently. Alex Hutchinson, the game’s lead designer, has been thinking about it for years. With the game released, we grabbed the opportunity to talk candidly and extensively with him about its design choices. From high level decisions like the actual in-game effect of customisation to basic technical elements like the lack of autosave to the question of the sudden difficulty spike in Space (And the lack of difficulty elsewhere), he reveals Maxis’ thinking. Whether you adore or abhor it, after reading this, you’ll understand exactly why Spore is the game it is.
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RPS Verdict: Spore

Written by RPS on September 19, 2008.

We’ve all had a go at that Spore game, so it’s time to bang the hammer of judgment and sound great horns across the internet. Spore: What is it good for? Absolutely something.

Jim: Right, shall we discuss Spore? Everyone ready?
Kieron: Well, the trad way to start would be to say how much we’ve played, yeah? I’ve taken two races up into space, and reached the centre of the galaxy with one. A load of minor fiddling too, obviously.
Jim: I’ve played it through to the space stage a twice, and then a third time at the space stage as a start. I’ve probably spent as much time again the various editors.
Alec: I got an achievement the other day saying I’d spent 50 hours in space with a single species. This somewhat horrified me.
Jim: Blimey. Where is John, by the way?
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