3rd-party News and Announcements

[Da Robot]

A nice positive preview of Zombi U.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfltWviMqmQ&hd=1

[The Qu]

It's just a rumor right now, but the German magazine Game Reactor has reported (Apparently a bit back) that the next SEGA Heritage games are Shemnue 1+2 HD, Burning Rangers HD and Skies of Arcadia HD.

[Da Robot]

Iwata Asks . . . Zombi U edition?

www.nintendo.co.uk/Iwata-asks/Iwata-asks-ZombiU/ZombiU/1-Two-Zombis-And-U/1-Two-Zombis-And-U-676539.html


This is the first time Iwata has interviewed with a a western 3rd party developer (with the interview taking place in Paris, France at Ubisofts headquarters).



Iwata talking about his past . . .

Iwata:
"We were exactly the same in that sense. Ubisoft was named after Ubiquity because you wanted to be everywhere in the world and HAL was named as such because each letter put us one step ahead of IBM! "(Laughs)

[The Qu]

You guys want another Megaman game? Well, somebody at Capcom listened. This is what resulted. And its free.

[Arcadenik]

Oh my god... a Mega Man / Street Fighter crossover for the 25th anniversary of both series? That's awesome! Now if Capcom puts this on Wii U eShop, that would be great! This game is the pain relief lubricant to soothe the fans' hurt butts.

EDIT: At this current time, how can this video have 313 views but 2,816 likes?

[Leon]

Wow, now Capcom is making their fans make Megaman games. What a world.

[Da Robot]

Dec 8, 2012 19:08:51 GMT -5 Arcadenik said:

EDIT: At this current time, how can this video have 313 views but 2,816 likes?

It's the norm for all YouTube videos but it usually stops around 301.

This video explains the answer.

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oIkhgagvrjI

[8bitretroshit]

HOLY SHIT WHAT

Apparently though this is actually an expanded version of a fan-made game from 2010, made by the same guy. I knew I've seen some of those sprites before.

[Nester the Lark]

Dec 8, 2012 21:39:53 GMT -5 Leon said:

Wow, now Capcom is making their fans make Megaman games. What a world.

Actually, maybe this is something we should be applauding. After all, there have been so many good fan projects that have been shut down by big publishers, like Square Enix and Sega, despite that their creators may have poured years of their life into them, and even sought official approval. Sure, it was the publisher's legal right to take action and protect their IPs, but it always comes off as cold and just a bit hostile.

But here is one instance of a big publisher not only approving of a fan project, but embracing it by officially licensing it. Maybe this is something we wouldn't mind seeing a little more of.

Capcom hasn't exactly been getting on gamers' good sides lately, but I'm willing to give them some credit for this.

[Da Robot]

Slightly related, Gamasutra mentions the lack of celebration over Mega Man 25th anniversary as one of the 5 biggest disappointments of this year.

gamasutra.com/view/news/183227/The_5_biggest_disappointments_of_2012.php#.UMfFX6z4KSp

This was a quote I thought was interesting.

This is a sad testament to how politics can actually kill a beloved character; how we, as an industry, still suck at celebrating our past; and how potentially powerful franchises are left on the vine in the search for the next big thing.



Now people, how the fuck "should" the game industry celebrate franchise anniversaries/milestones?

[nocturnal YL]

What lack of celebration?

[Da Robot]

Disney INFINITY has been revealed!

It's pretty much Skylanders meets Minecraft and Little Big Planet.

You buy Disney/Pixar* characters in toy form and place than on a peripharal to use them in the game, in your own custimisable Disney worlds that can be uploaded to servers and played online with others and such.

( * There's no Marvel or Star Wars characters in there . . . yet)


The characters have been "stylised" to have a similar art style (and possibly for making simpler, cheaper toys)

Character are also capable of using items from other Disney series, (eg Fry pan from Tangled, Luxo Jr ball from Pixar, Buzz Lightyears jetpack/wings)





kotaku.com/5976190/disney-infinity-is-disney-skylanders-more-or-less







(No Vita version)



- Brings players into the worlds of their favorite characters from the past, present, and future
- Coming to all platforms
- Mobile, console, online
- Like Skylanders
- Brings players into the worlds of their favorite characters from the past, present, and future
- Coming to all platforms
- Mobile, console, online
- Like Skylanders
- Captain Jack, Sully and Mr. Incredible confirmed as figures
- Figures unlock unique experiences for players
- Cross-platform experience
- First three worlds: Monsters University, The Incredibles, and Pirates of the Caribbean
- More franchises will be at launch
- Phineas and Ferb are among the playable characters
- Game confirmed for at least Wii U and Wii
- Comes with 3 play sets
- Launch in June
- “Will allow you to play with all your favorite Disney characters, without limits.”
- “Quality is the best business plan.”
- Disney Infinity came out of the Toy Box mode in Toy Story 3 game
- Lasseter is a huge fan of the vinyl figure market, so that’s part of what he loved about making vinyl figures with the game
- “it’s one of the most creative things I’ve ever seen in the interactive world. I’m really proud of it.”
- Toy Story and Cars characters will be in Infinity
- All of the Disney characters are stylized and look like they belong in the same universe
- They made sure all the play sets within the game modeled and felt like the worlds in the films, and true to property
- Infinity has “playset” action game levels
- Can only use a certain franchise in these levels
- Toy Box lets you mash everything up
- ‘Monsters University’ sees the rivalry between Minsters U and Feartech; college hijinks game
- Pirates playset takes place during the first three films
- Can customize gameplay
- Logic Editor: create video games
- Games based on Donkey Kong, Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off-Road shown
- Can edit the camera for your games: side-scrolling, top-down view, etc.
- 4-player, drop-in/drop-out multiplayer
- Goat-like character Mike is riding on in the screenshot is called Archie the Scare Pig
- In Toy Box, can make buildings, road, terrain types, sky colors, and more
- One designer recreated Mario Kart’s Bowser’s Castle
- Power Discs: get extra interactive characters that you can’t play as, but interact with

[The Qu]

It's in French, but have an apparent announcement for Flashback HD. Not my cup of tea, but I know Flashback is well loved classic. So, kudos, Ubi, you're doing damn fine recently.

[Da Robot]

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Directors Cut is coming to Wii U with all new features/fixes. "It's more than a simple port."

- A full slate" of GamePad features including touch-screen hacking, interactive map editing, augmented sniping, grenade throwbacks and "many other neural hub enhancements."
- Includes DLC Missing Link DLC chapter and pre-order mission Tongs's Rescue.
- Boss fights are being overhualed. Improved AI, new graphics, and rebalancing.
- Developer commentary (Half Life 2 style)
- New Game +
- Co-developed by the team that helped port Wii U version of Mass Effect 3.

www.computerandvideogames.com/396958/deus-ex-wii-u-features-overhauled-boss-fights-new-game/#


EDIT: Here's a better list from GoNintendo.

www.gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=198500

- described as the "ultimate edition of the game"
- in collaboration with Straight Right
- boss fights have had their map layouts reworked
- new hacking challenges are available
- stealth options are available to those who focus on stealth
- you can now kill some bosses without firing a single bullet
- Barrett boss battle hanger now has a second additional layer so Jensen can hide
- the energy system has been made more forgiving by allowing for two energy cells to recharge by default on all but the hardest difficulty
- AI has been improved to include the tweaks made for The Missing Link downloadable expansion
- enemy cone of vision was made more consistent
- all the visual effects seen in The Missing Link were applied to the main game
- new fog system that "makes the atmosphere really stand out"
- shadows that were choppy have been smoothed
- these improvements aren't possible on the 360
- improvements to anti-aliasing
- Neural Hub via GamePad lets you use Smart Vision augmentation, which allows players to see enemies through walls
- use the GamePad to see enemy health, armor type (heavy, medium or light) and loot
- use the GamePad to navigate the menus, to display the map, the augmentation system, the inventory and all the rest
- grenade throwback allows Jensen to equip a proximity detector that alerts him to a nearby grenad
- if an enemy chucks a grenade at you, the GamePad will vibrate, and you can swipe the touch-screen to pick it up and lob it back
- by default, the touch-screen is Jensen's radar
- open the 2D map on the GamePad and use the stylus to scribble notes
- these are reflected on your main screen radar
- use the touch-screen for the hacking mini-game
- precision aiming mode on touch screen
- includes all of the DLC
- The Missing Link DLC is now included in the main story
- director's commentary, which is roughly eight hours of chat from Eidos Montreal developers
- icons dotted around the world can activate this voice over
- no comment on director's cut heading to other platforms

[The Qu]

I haven't got anything else to say about this than "Holy crap."