Randy Nelson
San Francisco Bay Area - http://www.joystiq.com
Randy's rambling ... er, writing about games dates back more than a decade. You may remember him best as executive editor of the late, great PSM: 100% Independent PlayStation Magazine. Or, if you're really old, the official Sega Dreamcast magazine. Now he's Joystiq's west coast editor, bringing you first-hand coverage from the nucleus of the games industry.
by Randy Nelson 
{ 6 days ago }
Joining games the likes of
Halo: Reach and 2K's new
Spec Ops debuting at this year's
Spike Video Game Awards is a new installment in the
Tron franchise. It's not the first time we've heard of the game -- it was
rumored to be in development back in January of this year. Still, its existence is confirmed by an all-too-brief teaser at
GameTrailers, which promises a proper unveiling at Spike's awards show on Saturday, December 12.
Based on the teaser, the game may simply be titled
Tron -- although the logo and art style found in the footage are very similar to that of the upcoming movie sequel,
Tron: Legacy. We'll find out exactly what to expect on the Game Grid in just a little over two weeks' time. For now, check out the teaser after the break.
[Via
That Videogame Blog]
Continued →
by Randy Nelson { 6 days ago } 
Soon, friends who see that you're playing
Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues on Xbox Live or PlayStation Network won't need to sit idol-y by -- they'll be able to join in. LucasArts has
tweeted that it's working on a patch that will bring online co-op play to the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the latest Lego game on the block.
What's more, the publisher has
also confirmed that the patch will let players collaborate in the game's level editor, tweeting, "
In LIJ2's new co-op, you'll be able to join others as they build and play their levels." As for timing, LucasArts says to "give it a few weeks" before the update is transported by submarine from Cairo to a secret island base Microsoft and Sony's servers. by Randy Nelson { 6 days ago } 
A DLC three-pack of tracks by French DJ
David Guetta is available today for
DJ Hero across PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. The original works
"When Love Takes Over" featuring Kelly Rowland, "Sexy Chick" featuring Akon, and "On The Dancefloor" featuring will.i.am and apl.de.ap make up the mash-up pack, which goes for 640
($8) and $7.99 on Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store, respectively (the tracks are not offered for purchase separately). Each track is sold separately for Wii at 300 Wii Points ($3) apiece.
Also out today for Wii are the two tracks from last month's Extended Mix Pack 01
: "All Of Me" by 50 Cent featuring Mary J. Blige vs. "Radio Ga Ga" by Queen, and "DARE" by Gorillaz vs. "Can't Truss It" performed by Public Enemy. Those will set living room DJs back 300 Wii Points, as well.
The knowledge that your DJ Hero controller is a million times cooler than the Tony Hawk Ride board is, as always, priceless.
by Randy Nelson { 6 days ago } 
Atari has a
new website. We know --
big deal, right? Actually, in this case it's worth checking out if you're a fan of the company's classic arcade and console games. That's because the site is offering up free-to-play browser-based versions of
Adventure and
Yar's Revenge for the Atari 2600 and the legendary coin-ops
Battlezone,
Crystal Castles and Lunar Lander.
The site's Arcade page is
at this link, should you not want to risk an encounter with
dreaded marketing materials on your way to
the good stuff. Remember: If your boss catches you blowing up vector tanks and space rocks while you're on the clock, you didn't hear about the site from us.
by Randy Nelson { 7 days ago }
According to a report by
InformationWeek, the state of New York is in the planning stages of a revamped emergency broadcast system capable of sending alerts to Xbox Live (and presumably other console online services) in the event of a natural disaster, terrorist attack or other not-so-good event. The state's deputy chief information officer says the idea makes sense "
considering the amount of time our youth spend on video games."
No specifics of how the system would actually work were provided, but we'd hope those who heed the warnings would get Achievement points for doing so. After all, it'd mean taking precious time away from griefing other players in Modern Warfare 2.
[Thanks, Nick!]
by Randy Nelson { 7 days ago }
The
Nintendo DSi LL (
DSi XL here in the West) may be big, but it's still susceptible to being dissected by anyone with the proper screwdriver and no qualms about potentially ruining a 200-plus-dollar piece of electronics. In this case, it's the daredevils at
PC Watch who had the guts (and spare yen) to pop open the Big N's newest handheld offering.
The site has posted step-by-step photos documenting the teardown, the highlights of which include a look at the system's
larger capacity battery and downright
mammoth mainboard. Rumors that a member of the site's staff fell into the device and got lost during the process remain unsubstantiated.
[Via
Andriasang]
by Randy Nelson { 7 days ago }
With
Project Natal on schedule for a 2010 arrival, it's no surprise that Microsoft's annual
Gamefest conference will offer programming tracks designed to get developers up to speed on how best to design for and implement the technology in their Xbox 360 games.
The tech summit, which runs from February 10 and 11 in Seattle will offer two types of Natal-themed sessions. The first,
Project Natal Design, promises to help devs with "creating new ways to work, building showcase experiences, divining user intent, and designing gestures for UI versus game interactions." The second,
Project Natal Technical, will "dive deep into gesture recognition, avatar retargeting, speech recognition, advanced raw stream processing, handling different player environments, and many other topics."
Avatar re-
what? Advanced raw stream
huh? $100 says Microsoft just hands attendees
Minority Report on DVD.
[Via
Gamasutra]
by Randy Nelson { 7 days ago } 
With the game pulling into the station on December 7, we visited Nintendo of America to get one last pre-launch look at
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. The
latest trailer for the game revealed the Spirit Tower, a central hub of mini-dungeons that must be cleared in order to restore the train tracks that lead to the world's main temple dungeons. What we saw was the latter -- more specifically, the second of the game's dungeons, the Snow Temple.
This dungeon made heavy use of Link's ability to create whirlwinds -- the actual mechanic behind them is blowing into the DS microphone, but, thankfully, it doesn't require you to lean in incredibly close to the system or blow especially hard for it to work. Once the ability is selected by tapping it on-screen, it stays active, and dragging the stylus around Link makes him rotate, a yellow line indicating which direction the whirlwind will go. This mainly came into play when we needed to cross pools of water atop floating blocks. Like fanning a leaf in
Wind Waker, firing off a whirlwind in
Spirit Tracks sends Link sailing in the opposite direction.
Continued →
by Randy Nelson { 10 days ago }
Harmonix and Child's Play have announced that they're banding together for a charity benefit
Rock Band night at San Francisco's DNA Lounge the night of December 9. "Ümloud!" is an all-ages event organized by
GameLife's Chris Kohler,
Gamehelper's Joe Markert and
Telltale Games' John "Seg" Seggerson, and staffed by a number of Bay Area games bloggers, including
yours truly.
The party kicks off at 7PM PT and runs through 2AM PT on December 10, with a suggested $10 donation for admission. Everyone who attends will
automagically be made eligible for a chance to win some of the
many raffle prizes that'll be awarded throughout the night, but those who wish to donate more can sign up for two different "band packages" -- which include reserved songs and the chance to play on DNA's main stage -- at
the Ümloud! site.
Proceeds from the event will go to provide toys and video games to children's hospitals nationwide, including the local Oakland Children's Hospital.
by Randy Nelson { 11 days ago }
Capcom held a university-themed event Tuesday evening in San Francisco to introduce newcomers to the
Monster Hunter universe in the runup to next spring's North American release of
Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii. We'd
already played the game at previous events, so we knew what to expect:
Monster Hunter, looking nice (especially the large monsters) but not as nice as it
could have on the PS3.
After spending some time with the three-level, English-localized trade show demo on-hand -- including a go using the
very nice
Classic Controller Pro, which is included in Japan's black
system/game bundle -- we asked Capcom staff about two unsettled questions concerning the game's US release. The first was the matter of
paying to play Monster Hunter Tri online, as the game eschews Nintendo's servers for Capcom-operated ones and is fee-based in Japan. We didn't receive a decisive answer, being told only that the publisher is "hoping" the game will be free to play in the US. We got a similar response when we wondered if Wii Speak support was 100% set for the domestic release -- Capcom's "hoping" to get it in, but couldn't promise anything.
The event
did provide taste of what trying to coordinate a successful online monster hunt would be like
without Wii Speak -- we found it nearly impossible to hear our fellow players (or the game) over the music being piped through the venue's formidable sound system.
by Randy Nelson { 11 days ago } 
Click to Big Daddy–size
If you find yourself enraptured by everything
BioShock, you're really going to love this. 2K Games has disclosed details on the
BioShock 2 Special Edition release, limited to one production run and set for retail on February 9 alongside the slightly-less-special edition we saw the cover art for
on Tuesday.
If you're prepared to sink $99 into the set ($89 for PC) you'll be the proud (but poorer) owner of the game, a 164-page hardcover art book, three posters, the orchestral score on CD and the most special goodie accompanying this edition: the orchestral score on a vinyl 180g LP. You know ... a record.
You know, big black disc DJs use? Yep, one of those.
This is great news for audiophiles and those who refuse to own a CD player because lasers are obviously some kind of witchcraft.
by Randy Nelson { 12 days ago }
As
revealed in the latest issue of Famitsu, Capcom is bringing its three
Phoenix Wright "courtroom battle" games to Nintendo's WiiWare service. Today the publisher confirmed that the releases will be making their way to the US beginning in January. Capcom intends to release the games every other month (January, March and May) for 1,000 Wii Points ($10) apiece, with "Rise from the Ashes," the extra case added to the DS
Ace Attorney, arriving as DLC in May for 100 Wii Points ($1).
The first game,
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, is a port of the original Game Boy Advance title -- and, like the two subsequent WiiWare editions,
Justice for All and Trials and Tribulations, remains unchanged from its original release (read: same graphics, sound, dialog) save for the ability to swing the Wii Remote out (as in the image above, which is one-off, non-sprite art) to object and present evidence to the court. They'll all be presented in widescreen, but the actual gameplay only takes up a 4:3 area on top of an animated background. Nevertheless, the games are still superb, and at $10 with the ability to play them on the big screen you won't hear any
objections from us.
Check out a
whole lot of screens and two pieces of art from
Ace Attorney in the gallery below.
by Randy Nelson { 13 days ago }
Not to be overshadowed by
BioWare's latest effort to depict
Mass Effect 2 in one epic cover, 2K Games has released the box art for
BioShock 2 -- and it doesn't win any points for originality
or cleanliness. Just like the first game's cover, it features Big Daddy (this time he's
you!) and Little Sister (not you). Only now, everything's behind cracked, grimy glass and the logo's covered in barnacles.
Eww.
You can lay your eyes on high-res versions of the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC covers for the sequel in the gallery below. You might want to put on some rubber gloves and grab a can of Scrubbing Bubbles before you click on 'em, though.
[Thanks,
Geoff]
by Randy Nelson { 13 days ago }
We'd usually say it's a
good thing when a zombie invasion gets postponed, but not when we're talking about
Left 4 Dead 2 releasing in the UK a couple days after the rest of the world. According to Valve's own
L4D2 blog, "copies of the game are still arriving" across the pond, with assurances from the developer that it will "have everyone in the UK playing
Left 4 Dead 2 by Friday morning." Wait --
everyone in the UK? Whoa now guys!
While Xbox 360 owners and PC gamers who still buy physical copies of software are out of luck, Valve says that everyone in the region who pre-ordered
L4D2 via
Steam can play it
right now. Of course, those left waiting can pretend they're fighting to survive the
scariest of all
Left 4 Dead campaigns: "Delay of Game" (tagline: "Patience never killed anyone --
until now!").
by Randy Nelson { 14 days ago }
Sony has revealed via
the official PlayStation blog that PS3 firmware 3.10, due "soon," will allow the console to communicate with social media site
Facebook. The news comes on the eve of Microsoft's
latest Xbox 360 Dashboard update roll-out -- which, among other features, introduces Facebook functionality to that platform.
Once firmware 3.10 is installed, the PS3 will be able to send updates to a user's Facebook wall indicating which Trophies they've just unlocked in games and what they've recently purchased from the PSN's PlayStation Store. Developers will have the ability to access Facebook functionality to send more detailed updates to the site from their games, and these options can (as was the case with Trophies) be patched into titles currently on shelves.
As foreshadowed by
screenshots leaked last week, firmware 3.10 brings with it a handful of other user interface tweaks -- demoed by PlayStation Network director of operations, Eric Lempel, in a video after the break -- but, alas,
still no
cross-game voice chat. At least the friends list is ditching the
ugliness introduced with firmware 3.00.
Continued →
