Gamernode: Latest Game and Console News

Kyle plays indie game levelHead at E3

Independent games looked great at this year's E3 Media & Business summit, in a few cases outshining nearly all of the "popular" stuff in terms of creativity and design. One such title was the Linux-only levelHead, created by artist/game designer Julian Oliver.

This game was so impressive that we couldn't help but to shoot some footage on the lowest-fi recording equipment we could find (my point-and-shoot digital camera). Kyle is playing the game while I describe what's going on. I apologize in advance for the amount of background noise on the show floor, but this game is just too cool not to show off.

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Dead Space feature-length cartoon trailer

I think it's safe to say at this point that EA is not interested in making another ho-hum clone out of their upcoming survival horror game, Dead Space. A great showing at E3, good marketing support, an animated comic series, and now a feature length cartoon that acts as a prequel to the events of the videogame all tell us that EA is standing firmly behind this product.

That's good, because from what we played at E3, the actual game looks to be a fine gaming experience. Here is the official trailer for the straight-to-DVD Dead Space: Downfall. Surprisingly, it doesn't look terrible at all.

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Hirai counters "360 will outsell PS3" statement

Sony Computer Entertainment president Kazuo Hirai recently chatted with MCV, and in between discussion about PlayStation 3 SKUs and Home, he countered Microsoft senior vice president Don Mattrick's E3 claim that the Xbox 360 would outsell the PS3 this console generation.

Hirai's response was simply that Microsoft's definition of the term "generation" may be different from Sony's, and he reiterated Sony's plan to support the PS3 for a long, 10-year lifecycle.

"The key word there is this 'lifecycle' or 'this generation.' As you probably know, we're working on a ten-year lifecycle, we've said that since day one and we've proven it with PSOne and PS2. I guess Don is saying they're also going to be embarking on a ten-year lifecycle, then? If they are then that's terrific, but I've never seen them...

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Mattrick: Sony and Nintendo have been on vacation

Microsoft's senior vice president Don Mattrick obviously feels pretty strongly about his company's products, and he isn't afraid to tell the press about it. What's more is that while talking to MCV, he not only claimed "victory" at this year's E3 Media & Business Summit, but was also quick to take a few jabs at the competition.

"I think we got more than 12 months' work done, and others went on an extended vacation. Hopefully they got some good vacation photos, because they sure weren't showing up at work.

Of course I'm going to be biased, but so far what I've heard is that Sony and Nintendo have disappointed. And Microsoft has been leading, innovating and driving a very comprehensive global program.

We're building momentum and we're on a scale that no other consumer electronics company or en...

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The "Don't Tell!" Award - Nintendo

Welcome to You Win! This GN feature has been put together to honor not only the best and the brightest in the videogame industry, but also the most useless, incompetent, and just plain foolish.

GN will be looking at industry news, announcements, game releases, retail, politics, marketing, corporate shake-ups, critics, and anything else that could possibly inspire us to create and bestow a brand new (and extra shiny) custom award as often as possible. The frequency of new "winners" is entirely up to how consistently awesome or despicable everyone chooses to be.

Today's award goes out to a company that is infamous for it's closed-mouth/tight-lipped/keep-it-secret philosophy regarding upcoming games and company announcements. Nintendo's history is full of secrets, big and small, but sometimes (...

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E3 Preview: Too Human

Allow me to be perfectly clear; There is a lot wrong with Too Human; the camera is difficult to control, the graphics are a bit sub-par, the graphical style is way more than sub-par, the animations are of the worst level of quality, the music is generic, and the voice acting is quite bad (though in the videogame business that means it's pretty average).

However, when playing the game there is an inescapable, pervasive sense of fun that you just can't put your finger on. Why am I enjoying this so much? I think to understand this I needed to purge myself of two things: my impressions of how good Too Human was based on past previews, and also my preconceived notions of what an action game is in today's market.

Read the full preview HERE.

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Molyneux feels sorry for Denis Dyack and Too Human...

Peter Molyneux knows what it feels like to be chastized for getting a little too excited about his in-development work and making bold claims that don't quite come to fruition. He even touches lightly on the subject in his upcoming autobiographical essay, How I Promised Too Much For Fable And Made Everyone Hate Me.

That's why Sir Molyneux is sympathetic toward Denis Dyack and his game, Too Human, which is just under a month away from release. Molyneux says that since Too Human made an underwhelming appearance at a past E3, it has become popular among members of the gaming community to bash the game.

"...what I realize over time is that talking about a game before it's released is a dangerous game. You can just say a few things wrong and then it's like an avalanche. I feel sorry for Denis Dy...

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New release date for Geometry Wars sequel

We've waited too long for the sequel to Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. What started as a side project while producing Project Gotham Racing 3 turned into the best launch title the Xbox 360 had going for it. While it wasn't a Halo, it certainly gave people a reason to justify their hefty console purchase. Sorry Perfect Dark Zero.

So why haven't we had a direct sequel sooner? Beats me, but I for one am just glad that we are actually getting a second chance to enjoy the controller breaking, eye melting, and sweating inducing gameplay of GW all over again. To say the wait has been unbearable would be a drastic description, but it sure hasn't been easy.

While we were scheduled to receive Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 next month, Microsoft has decided to bump up the release by a full seven days, ...

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Is Bungie making an iPhone game? Halo?

Here in the videogame industry, everyone loves the occasional (frequent?) dose of rumors and speculaton, especially when it's related to big-name titles and developers.

The latest bit of gaming gossip comes from little-known website allaboutiphone.net, who "have it on very good authority that Bungie is handing out free iPhones to all its employees." Of course this means that the Halo developer is bringing the uber-popular franchise to Apple's beefed-up cellular phone sometime soon.

Possibly.

The assumption is that Bungie wouldn't give such generous gifts without some reason other than to say, "Good job. We appreciate your hard work." Already, a number of big gaming companies have jumped onboard the iPhone bandwagon, making it easy to envision a full-blown three-man race in the handheld are...

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Lead designer Hal Milton explains The Agency

GamerNode met with Hal Milton, lead designer of Sony Online Entertainment's The Agency, last week at the E3 Media and Business Summit in Los Angeles.

We wanted the GN readers to be able to hear all about the game directly via Hal's most eloquent description, so we managed to convince him to get on camera and give us a quick, yet comprehensive rundown of everything you'll be doing inside this secret agent/spy operative persistent world when it hits the PC and PlayStation 3.

Click HERE to watch the video.

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MS: Windows Live marketplace, GFW fees cut

First discussed a few months back, Microsoft announced today that a Windows Live marketplace, similar to the Xbox Live marketplace, will launch this fall. In addition, all associated subscription fees for its Games for Windows Live Gold service have been permanently removed.

Once the Windows Live marketplace launches this fall, the Games for Windows Live service will be redesigned, namely the system's user interface to properly accomodate the PC crowd. Chris Satchell, Microsoft's Entertainment Business Division CTO, talked about why that change was necessary.

"The first UI was good but it was too console-centric. It wasn't really what Windows gamers wanted. We have a new UI that's consistent with the way Windows gamers want to interact. It's free to you as a developer, and we're reducing the...

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Wrath of the Lich King goes Beta...productivity pl...

The productivity of a few thousand people just took a nose dive. Forget about asking them to take out the trash, get the kids to bed, or maybe *gasp* go outside and enjoy summer. The Wrath of the Lich King Beta has gone live, and a niche of hardcore fans are now exploring the new continent of Northrend. While they aren't the first Blizzard has let loose on the snowy plains of Arthas's domain,  they will be the hot bed of testing to see what works, what is broken, and what needs improved before the expansion hits the store shelves.

Opting into the Beta was done through Blizzard's website a few days before the random process of sending out invites began. As of this writing, you can still sign up for the Beta, but don't be surprised if the quota is quickly filled.

Joining in a Beta with a game...

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Brendon, Kyle, and Eddie play Rock Band 2 at E3

GamerNode was invited to a demo session of Harmonix' and MTV Games' upcoming Rock Band 2 during last week's E3 Media & Business Summit.

Harmonix team members were on hand to demonstrate and explain all of the new features included in both the software and the hardware of this second iteration of the popular music franchise.

For Brendon, Kyle, and myself, however, the most interesting portion of the demo was when we had the opportunity to get on stage and rock out. Of course, Brendon and Kyle chose a song that I was completely unfamiliar with, but we did our best.

Watch the video HERE, then make fun of us:

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GN interviews Darkgame creator Eddo Stern at E3

Many games were on display at this year's E3 Media & Business Summit in Los Angeles, but none were as creative and unique as the independent works in the Indiecade section of the show floor.

One such title is the multi-sensory competitive gaming experience, Darkgame, designed by Eddo Stern. I had the opportunity to talk to Eddo about the game in between gameplay sessions to find out what it is all about.

Check out the interview HERE, in high-tech video format for your viewing pleasure

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July 21st WiiWare/Virtual Console releases

Another Monday, another round of WiiWare and Virtual Console updates.

Whether Nintendo adds one game, ten games, or none at all, GamerNode will be here every Monday with the official details - titles, platforms, ratings, pricing, and even a taste of some corny marketing copy - keeping you up to date with everything from the online Wii scene.

Without further ado, the games:

WiiWare

Pirates: The Key of Dreams (Oxygen Games, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Pirates: The Key of Dreams is a frantic nautical shoot-'em-up. Sail your way across the Caribbean, cannons blazing, looting booty, running blockades and ultimately battling Blackbeard himself. The player takes control of a navy captain sent deep undercover as a ruthless pirate in order to seek out and retr...

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E3 Preview: Dawn of War II

The Dawn of War real-time-strategy (RTS) series currently has three expansion packs and is critically acclaimed as one of the greatest entries in the genre to date. Naturally, a sequel, due in 2009, is on the way.

At E3 we were given a private demonstration of the game by one of the lead designers. As expected, the graphics have received a substantial upgrade while still retaining their colorful artistic style. For example, the armor worn by the space marines includes even more damage detailing and the environments accurately reflect what’s happening in the area, sometimes greatly to your advantage. Fire effects cause surfaces to appear charred, buildings can be destroyed, and the craters created by the heavy marines landing from their jetpack jumps can be used as a form of cover. Tha...

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E3 Preview: Dark Void

The original developers of Crimson Skies, FASA studio, may not exist anymore, but they live on, quite literally, in Airtight Studios. With their first title, Dark Void, Airtight might receive a bit of criticism for creating another third-person Gears of War clone. Hopefully that criticism will be retracted quickly after players see that the game has more in common with the comic book hero The Rocketeer than big burly space marines drowning in their own testosterone. No offense to the latter, of course.

For a game with a mid-2009 release date, Dark Void looked and played fantastic. Jumping in and out of cover and using blind-fire felt as natural as it does in other similar titles such as Dark Sector and Gears of War. Using the jet pack to reach higher ledges and engage in air-to-ground comba...

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DQ: What games have you started but never finished...

There are not enough hours in a day to play all of your favorite games so what games have you started but never got to finish? I'll probably have to hand in my gamer card at the front desk because some of the games I started but never finished should probably have been no-brainers. Also to the folks who are shocked and want to exact revenge on those who failed to complete a classic game should keep the floggings at a minimum.

I reckon I'm a little interested in hearing the reasons why some of these games were never finished. I imagine they can range from not enough time, work or even just being a terrible game.

So for example, I love FPS but I never finished Prey (time), S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (I'm a wuss during the underground parts and I've attempted to replay it multiple time...

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Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II teaser trailer

Here's a teaser trailer for Relic Entertainment's upcoming RTS sequel Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II. Now that the game will have a greater focus on your units and squads, I imagine the space marines featured in this trailer will settle some emotion in our hearts. After viewing the trailer below, check out Kyle's hands-on preview of the game (which I am very jealous of) after the jump. Expect Dawn of War II to hit stores in Spring 2009.

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E3 Preview: inFAMOUS

If there's one thing the nation is obsessed with right now, it's superhero stories. From the X-Men to Spiderman to Superman to Batman, we just can't seem to get enough of these superpowered men and women in tights. While many videogame companies are capitalizing on this craze by re-creating the worlds of these pre-existing characters, Sucker Punch is taking a different route with their third-person action game inFAMOUS -- they are creating a brand new, modern superhero origin story, and letting the gamer shape the star.

inFAMOUS tells the tale of Empire City, where a massive explosion leaves the urban center in shambles and effectively lawless from rioting and the elimination of the city's police force. Worse yet, the city is quarantined by the government, stranding the inhabitants in an un...

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