Thrik

They remade it from the ground up? That is weird. I'd have thought they'd at least use the original build as a foundation, seems like madness to do it all from scratch. They probably salvaged a lot of the assets though (environment models, characters, etc) so they didn't have to literally remodel everything in 3D.

Speaking of which, was it just me who got scared absolutely shitless by the bubble that'd follow you in Magic Pockets?

This is a more extreme case of crunching than is typical and to be honest I think the focus is more on the general crappy treatment of staff rather than the crunching, but regardless of why they chose to focus on these guys all I care about is that this shit is being spotlighted so that employers are discouraged from engaging in it due to the media hellfire that'll potentially come their way. If it happens enough times hopefully things will improve.

Gamers are borderline nuts when it comes to things like this. When a development team messes around with a classic game too much they go crazy (eg: Metal Gear Solid), but when a classic is faithfully updated to run well on modern machines with minimal visual changes (eg: Metal Gear Solid) they similarly go crazy. The obvious solution is to kill all video gamers.

Apparently this includes the 'master quest' version of the game from the GameCube release, which includes significant changes to the dungeons to make them harder — as well as mirrors them. Would be interested to hear what that's like if anyone finishes the game to unlock it.

Yes, McNamara is basically the definitive asshole boss. I'd imagine anyone who'd ever had a bad boss can see at least a few parallels.

Some of the things described in that article are frighteningly similar to things I've experienced in the web design industry, so I can totally believe all that stuff went on and truly have sympathy and empathy for the staff who had to endure such conditions. The impression I've got from the various industry people here and on my own forum indicates that things are getting better in the games industry, largely due to employees now realising they have the option of fucking off if they're abused; employers are also learning that retaining quality staff is optimal. I guess in places like Australia things remain a bit worse due to the relatively slow evolution of the industry, resulting in less options for dissatisfied staff.

Well you see it when simply using stairs and stuff, but I have to admit while walking back to the station from an attempted murder scene I accidentally knocked some poor guy down a flight of steps and he broke his neck.

I don't think it's RAGE. While LA Noire certainly feels like a game using Rockstar's engine, everything I've seen during and after the game's release indicates it uses Bondi's own engine (at this point it may be worth showing a clip of ). Also I don't think LA Noire looks like RAGE — it's hard to put my finger on what exactly I mean by that, but it lacks the lighting characteristics and detail that Rockstar's efforts have featured (this could be down to art direction but I suspect not).There's no doubt about the fact that Rockstar will have had considerable influence over how exactly certain mechanics look and feel so it's in line with GTA4 and RDR, but that's not really an engine thing — don't forget RAGE was also used for Rockstar's tennis game, which certainly didn't have a GTA4 or RDR feel. I mean, you don't just switch from one engine to another. There's no way Rockstar came in at the stage they did and started the game's development again using their own engine. I do think Murdoc's right in saying that some code was probably shared, but not to the extent that it could be anywhere near considered a variation of RAGE. Euphoria definitely goes a long way towards making it feel decidedly Rockstar though, as their games are probably its most prominent test cases thus far. That was one of GTA4's biggest advanced for me and I've been overjoyed to see it also implemented in RDR and LA:N.

Mm, yeah. Euphoria is non-Rockstar middleware that can theoretically be integrated into any game. It basically makes animations dynamic and intelligent rather than being fixed and scripted. Interestingly enough its debut was with LucasArts' cancelled Indiana Jones game for this gen. But yeah, a lot of effort has been clearly made to make this feel like Rockstar's other efforts. I think this detracts in some ways; I personally could have done with the camera being a bit closer to the player. I guess it shows that Rockstar's design is more philosophical rather than technical, though. With some relatively minor work (crosshairs, camera distance, control bindings, mini-map) it feels decidedly Rockstar despite not actually being that much Rockstar.

Yeah I'd definitely say GTA4 and RDR were better from what I've seen so far, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's my biggest disappointment of the year as in all honesty I had very low expectations for LA Noire. Right from the outset I saw it as an over-hyped, graphically unappealing adventure game, and that remains a fairly accurate perspective. However it is more fun than I was expecting, even though I'm not convinced I'll ever summon the energy to finish it. One thing I do find very interesting about LA Noire is how much it looks and feels like a Rockstar game even though it was developed by another team, uses a completely different engine to GTA4 and RDR, and doesn't really have anything in common with them formula-wise. It's like they took a really cool game concept and stuck it into the 'Rockstar mould', but it doesn't completely fit which is why there's been so many complaints about unengaging gameplay, an unnecessarily open environment, etc. I can't help but feel that without Rockstar's influence it might have actually ended up a bit better, because that core vision would have been realised more strongly rather than all this other clutter surrounding it. You can see the same kind of treatment of Max Payne 3 coming a mile off. Hell, the bullet time is already there in RDR.

Yeah, and the same story goes for those other random products on the page. The games that are mentioned only 'exist' so he's been able to take down shit on Apple's app store and stuff. So shameless it makes me want to just slap the crap out of him. I agree that more punishment is necessary for such brazen assholery. Ideally I'd like to see him not only lose any and all money he's made from his various lawsuits, but also lose a considerable amount beyond that and end up in prison for a short while. I want him absolutely ruined.

What an absolute dickhead. I've been aware of this character for a long time but I never realised how ridiculously extensive and blatant his lying was. I mean, to do all that shit in court — it's incredible. I mean, even when you look at the EDGE Games home page you can see how it's literally been crafted to do nothing but provide a platform for his trademark bullshit. Even the top menu just does nothing.

What’s hilarious is the original 2001 trailer still looks a thousand times better and more tasteful than what we’ve ended up with: TDlB2P1leRM

Oh yeah I immediately looked it up on YouTube, and while it's easier to imagine something far more graphic it's still pretty disturbing and exceedingly tasteless. The moaning and sobbing is truly horrible to listen to, and it's relentless. Also jokes about abortion, losing pregnancy weight, etc are just not funny. Basically it's just not funny, but because you feel like it's meant to be it comes across as completely wrong. I know Duke 3D had a fair bit of female objectifying, but in Duke Nukem Forever it's become downright weird — like the developers genuinely hate women or some shit. I don't like it.

Haha, that was an amazing phenomenon for sure. Regarding Duke Nukem, I still feel compelled to play it considering its history but I'm not giving them any remotely on-release sales — I'll wait until it hits rock bottom prices, ideally pre-owned. It sounds like the game is a ginormous pile of shit, completely lacking the excellent level design and gameplay that made its predecessor so great and instead choosing to focus on tasteless, depraved humour (rather than just using an edge of risqué like Duke 3D). To be honest I knew it was beyond repair when they were using trailers of throwing pieces of shit around, but these confirm everything I suspected: http://www.destructoid.com/review-duke-nukem-forever-203658.phtml http://arstechnica.com/gaming/reviews/2011/06/duke-nukem-forever-review-barely-playable-unfunny-and-rampantly-offensive.ars I mean: Piss right off.

I suspect the reality is that nobody has spent any time playing it.

This is where personal taste starts to make things a bit unpredictable. I personally would take a large SD screen over a small HD screen due to the enhanced cinematic experience. But then I know some people who opt to use a tiny monitor over their TV because it's HD. I personally think the resolution of the pad is perfect for its intended purpose, which I still see as more a way of accentuating a regular console experience (ie: the main game is played on the TV and the controller screen is used for things like inventories, scores, touch interfaces, etc) — I'd never want to use it to actually play an entire game as the Vita will most likely tear it a new arse for that.

There's only GameCube I want re-released and that's MGS: Twin Snakes. Still can't believe that's not included in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid HD pack.

You say it like the 360 and PS3 have any kind of reasonable degree of backwards-compatibility.

It doesn't prove he was there, but it makes it very likely considering the boot was full of hay/evidence of a pig and the receipt had his name on it. I'd worked out that they almost certainly pretty much the moment I saw that, so the rest kind of just fell into place logically. No detective knows for absolute sure whether or not something is the case, but if the evidence highly suggests it they act like they're sure to get a confession. That case was fairly straightforward IMO.

Not really. Obviously I can see how it'd emulate the pointing, but then how would you simultaneously hold the pad, aim with the stylus, and press buttons to do things like shoot, jump, etc? Unless the stylus actually has buttons built into it I can't envision how it'd work for a lot of games that the Wii and Move are excellent for.

Are they anything substantial or just generic throwaway moments like in Red Dead Redemption?

I'm pretty underwhelmed by this. While the Wii burnt me pretty hard by disappointing me in almost every conceivable way, one thing it did get right was introducing a proper mouse-like cursor to console games without having to use a mouse in your living room (which is shit). I was really hoping the next generation would take that technology — because Nintendo's infared approach isn't particularly reliable — and improve it, which is exactly what the Move has done. However it looks like the Wii U is doing away with the pointer controllers (even if they're maintained for backwards compatibility) which is just bollocks. Wii U... more like Wii U-Turn!

What kind of missions are the street missions? What happens? I've not encountered a single one yet.