Posts Tagged ‘activision’
E3 2019: PrE3
In an epic team-up, GH101 and 42 Level One have joined forces to bring you our E3 coverage starting with the pre-show as we gear up for the official press briefings of E3. Fair warning, the first hour is all Google Stadia but it is followed by two more hours plus of non-stop game coverage for every title announced before the big show. Official trailers and notes can be found in links below:
- Google Stadia Notes
- Stadia Connect Presentation
- Pokemon Sword and Shield Nintendo Direct
- EA Play Presentation (starting with Jedi Fallen Order)
- Ghost Recon Breakpoint Trailer
- Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered
- Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated Teaser
- Darksiders Genesis Reveal Teaser
- Destroy All Humans! Reboot Teaser
- Modern Warfare Trailer
- Death Stranding Trailer (almost 9 minutes!)
Retro Game Night 10/14/2016 – Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines
A title with a massive cult following, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines was plagued with bugs thanks to rushed development. Once it was finally patched to good working order, the game didn’t seem to play nice with Win7+ operating systems until a recent final patch came along that makes the game easy to run and play. You can find that patch here if you own the game on Steam or GoG: http://www.patches-scrolls.de/patch/4647
Fred jumps in, makes a character (Nosferatu), and proceeds to play the opening missions. This is a quick look to get a feel for the game and was originally broadcast on our Twitch channel. This is to become a regular series with a different class character as Fred discovers the intricacies of this forward thinking title.
***NOTE: I know I suck at the game and I know Nosferatu is not a good starting point if you’ve never played. This was discovered after the fact but clearly hinted while we broadcast. A new series of Let’s Play videos will be coming with a new character class.***
Lost Treasures of Gaming – Call of Duty Black Ops (Animation Sequence)
This week was a bit different but also quite refreshing as Syd and Sean featured Kristen Sych. Kristen is a cinematics director at Activision who discussed his work on Call of Duty: Black Ops back in 2010. We take a look at one of the more heavily animated sequences (fair warning, it’s spoiler-rich) and appreciate all the hard work that goes into the story.
The Lost Treasures of Gaming podcast can be found at http://omgnexus.com
Podcast: The Keyboard is the Computer
Microcomputers were a significant part of gaming in the world for the better part of the 80s and early 90s. In the United States, they were more of a hobby at lower price points or only for those willing to shell out large sums. That all changed in 1982 when the Commodore 64 hit the market. In other countries, the C64 was present and significant, but not quite to the degree as in the US. In a time when the console world was crashing, the C64 became the go-to gaming platform for the early to mid 80s. Special guest Eric Bouchard from Everyday Gamers joins Fred to discuss their childhood microcomputer with a plethora of great games.
Transformers: Devastation Longplay
A Transformers brawler featuring Generation 1 (ie: the original 1980s cartoon) graphics and plot that’s developed by Platinum. It’s a fantastic run down memory lane in this short, but sweet commentary free longplay.
Podcast: Jukebox Hero
In 2005 a new gaming fad descended upon home consoles that resulted in lots of rock and roll appreciation, a great fusion of music and games, and lots of wasted real estate with plastic instruments both on store shelves and in homes. That phenomenon was developer Harmonix and accessory manufacturer Red Octane’s Guitar Hero. Taking from Konami’s Bemani series of games the rock/rhythm title had you playing lead guitar for influential rock bands over the decades. From there it grew into one of the biggest selling franchises (and even a second franchise, Rock Band) that helped define the last generation of consoles.
Review: Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh
Also Known As: Phantasmagoria 2, Phantasmagoria II: Fatal Obsessions (European title)
Platform: DOS/Windows PC
Released: 1996
Developer: Sierra
Publisher: Activision
Digital Release? Yes, on Good Old Games (gog.com) for $5.99 (compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8 only)
Price: $4.44 (5 discs only), $32.99 (complete), $69.00 (sealed) per Price Charting
Phantasmagoria, besides being a franchise with one of the most awesome names ever, is a psychological horror full motion video (FMV) game – a genre that was a hugely common in the 90’s thanks to the use of CD-ROMs as media. A Puzzle of Flesh is the sequel to the controversial original. Why was it controversial? Well, the original featured a crazy amount of graphic content including horrific death scenes for characters and adult scenes which caused quite the stir back in the day when it was released. This included sexual content and a rape scene, which is possibly not as controversial as the media makes it out to be. The sequel follows this trend, but on its own controversial level entirely. Being released just a year after the first game it was surprising to see this game did not receive the same attention as the original.
You play Curtis Craig, a man who loves his pet rat ‘blob,’ his girlfriend Jocilyn, and his taste in grey pocket t-shirts because he never seems to change his grey pocket T throughout the entire game. He’s living the American dream. Curtis has also been out of a mental hospital for a year and creepy things start to go down at his home and work at the suspicious WynTech Industries Corporation. Curtis very quickly starts to question his sanity, so it’s up to him to find out what’s going on or face another trip to the loony bin. It’s certainly a story I’ve not seen in a game before and contains a surprising amount of twists that most won’t see coming.
Retro Review: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty is going someplace that no other World War II shooter franchise has gone before: modern day in a fictional Middle East country. The follow up to last year’s lackluster Call of Duty 3 (created by sibling developer Treyarch), Infinity Ward is back with its iteration to the franchise and suffice to say this game is impressive. Modern Warfare comes with a slew of tactical contemporary guns, a gripping new plotline, and easily the most gorgeous graphics I’ve ever seen. Look out Halo, you very well may have competition.
From the first mission where you are literally dropped into, boarding and clearing a large freight liner in the middle of the ocean during a rainstorm, this game is faster and more covert. Previous titles in the series focused around being the hero in a clutter of large scale battles, whereas much of Modern Warfare deals with a covert black ops feel. The change comes with additional tools like night vision, a melee knife attack and a short-burst run that are all, quite frankly, badass. In addition the campaign feels more like a team effort, with each member chipping in to do their part. Mind you, the AI won’t beat the game for you, but I had several instances where a random enemy that jumped in front of me was popped off by a teammate.
Modern Warfare also integrates interactive scripted moments that make you feel even more like a black ops team behind enemy lines. Along with the impressive new graphics comes events that not only outline the horrors of war but really immerse you into a realistic experience. Without spoiling anything, lets just say you’ll never guess what happens half way through the campaign. The difficulty has also been tweaked a bit, dividing each difficulty with a much larger gap; you will immediately notice that normal difficulty doesn’t feel as tough as it did in COD 2 or 3, but the jump to veteran (hardest) seems wider. Regardless of what difficulty you play it on, it does seem that this game is on par with previous titles in terms of difficulty.
Podcast: Blue Stinger Game Club
This week Rob “Trees” (@treeslounge00) joins us to celebrate the launch Dreamcast title Blue Stinger. Our game club covers the complete campaign with gameplay elements, plot, encounters, and level design. Enjoy a fun and hilarious show that might arguably be better than playing the game itself.
Podcast: Call of Duty: Combat Evolved
Halo and Call of Duty, the two powerhouse FPS titles of this holiday season duking it out at full price amidst a sea of discounted games on Black Friday (and surpassing the sales of many of them). It wasn’t always a guaranteed hit, though, and this week we discuss the birth of both franchises including the genesis of the studios that created them.
Gaming History 101 