The new Turok title was originally scheduled for release in November of last year, but only came out this past week. The reason for the four-month delay? According to developer Propaganda Games, it's the PS3's fault.
Josh Holmes, VP and studio manager at Propaganda, tells Canada.com that lead development of Turok took place on the Xbox 360, due to the console's easy compatibility with the Unreal Engine 3. Though the Xbox 360 version was finished on schedule, the PS3 version took a bit more finagling to get it "up to the standard of the 360 version."
After reviewing concerns about its Xbox achievement choices, Propaganda games says it'll consider removing the "team kill" award after the Turoklaunch early next year. Although CVG reports in its headline "Turok dev to scrap team kill achievement," the quote from Propaganda VP Josh Holmes is actually, "We are currently looking at readying a patch or solution for it if it does become an issue when the game releases" (um, looks like somebody forgot to read the story before writing the headline). That's not a definitive statement that Propaganda will nix the controversial achievement, but merely acknowledgment that the developer will consider doing so after the game releases.
Actually, a few statements made by Holmes in the interview are a little frightening. For example, he says that the team kill achievement -- which gives ten points for killing one creature, enemy, teammate and yourself in a single round -- was originally created as a joke because they found that players in their first Turok match met all the criteria. That's not exactly a confidence builder.
In a show of confidence, Touchstone (read: Disney) and Propaganda games are making a pre-order demo available now for Turok -- a full two months before the full game's Feb. 5, 2008 release. The disc has "approximately 30 minutes of gameplay from Turok" and is available at Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart.com and Game Crazy. Although there doesn't appear to a release date change for the PS3 version, the pre-order demo is currently only available on Xbox 360. The PC version of Turok will begin stalking reptiles sometime in Spring 2008.
The demo disc also includes a "premium item" and at this point.... we have no idea what that means. Our short time with Turok at E3 did impress us, so we're looking forward to getting another chance to experience the hunt two months before launch. No word if a PS3 demo will be distributed some other way, but we're just happy that Propaganda and Disney had some sense to release next year instead of dropping Turok like a cow into the raptor pit of this holiday season.
Dinosaurs, as you may have heard, play an important role in Turok. They are big, scary, and seem awfully fond of the taste of human flesh. Lucky for Joseph Turok (worst. last name. evar.), he just happens to be a badass killing machine (probably as a result of the endless childhood teasing about his stupid name). We had a chance to take Turok's brand of dinosaur destruction for a spin at E3, and we jumped at opportunity like a dilophosaur on Newman.
Propaganda Games has announced that Turok will debut on February 5, 2008. The announcement was made during Disney Interactive's press conference by Josh Holmes of Propaganda Games. Turok is Propaganda's attempt to reinvigorate the ailing franchise. The game aims to do this by providing players with a variety of gameplay choices and some particularly nasty enemies. Given the absolute glut of first person shooters (and AAA titles in general) being released this holiday season, the decision to release the game in 2008 is probably a wise one.
Not to be outdone by the US military's use of video games as recruiting tool, Iran's government has begun creating "propagandatainment" as well. Tehran's "Taliya News" reports that Saving the Port, released today by Tebyan, an official "information dissemination institute," is an attempt to "replace the excessive amount of aggression seen in strategic Western game [sic] with rational thinking." Who knew Iranian news organizations were so catty? On the Snark-O-Meter, that line is somewhere between Kathy Griffin and a New York Post gossip column. Looks like we'd better raise the threat level from "Elevated" to "Sassy."
Info on Saving The Port is scant, but it seems to be a wargame for the PC set in World War II-era Iran. Players will relive all the legendary WWII battles that took place in the Middle East.
The goal of the America's Army game has always been to make military service seem more palatable to a generation of gamers. Now, the army is making that goal more explicit with a TV commercial pushing military service as "the next level" of military games.
The ad starts with a couple of gamers playing a Rainbow Six-alike game for a few seconds before the virtual soldier they're controlling taps on the glass, startling them out of their revelry. "You look like you're really into this," he quips. "You ready for a real challenge?" An announcer comes in to encourage viewers to "find out what you're really made of, and how far you can go" over a vignette of happy, action-packed military images. Viewers are encouraged to call in and get a copy of America's Army and a "special interactive DVD," whatever that is. Our military friend comes back at the end, asking the gamers and the viewer if they're ready to "take it to the next level."
Well, are you? Personally, we're plenty happy using games to get the vicarious thrill of military service without the high risk of death and injury. See if you feel differently after watching the video below.
Reuters covers the release of Counter Strike, a game that charges players with the goal of sinking a U.S. oil tanker in a critical channel, blocking the path that two-fifths of all the world's oil travels. Iran's government sponsored the game for distribution within that country.
The topical nature of the game isn't new; Kuma Reality Games mirrored real-life U.S. strikes against Iraq. The anti-American sentiment isn't even new, as seen in Night of Bush Capturing.
This trend of all sides using games as propaganda interests us. Are games more persuasive than radio broadcasts and dropping leaflets? When will bombers start dropping games over enemy states?
Are you a parent concerned that your child may have easy access to communist and pornographic materials? If so, you may be shocked, devastated and appalled to learn that your innocent children "are using a gaming device to access porn out of thin air." The PSP, which is a short for PlayStation "pornable", is a portable game console that has the capability of "magically displaying images of naked women." Yeah, that's right. Fox 9, a local news affiliate of Fox News, the world standard for balanced and fair reporting, has revealed that the PSP is entirely capable of displaying images and therefore porn. As a result, Sony and the PSP are entirely to blame if your kid sticks pictures of naked ladies onto the device. Bleurgh.
This article has it all: a sensational headline, wildly outlandish claims and a healthy dose of out-of-context quotes from family institutes. What's next? The Nintendo DS steals your precious bodily fluids? Xbox 360 responsible for failure to find WMDs? Playing too much Halo lowers exam results? Wait... that last one's true.
[Via Game|Life]
[Update: Fox 9 is a local news affiliate of Fox News, not a purely investigative news channel.]
An ad campaign from the Centers for Disease Control is pulling no punches with their tagline "Give your
thumbs a rest. Play for real." Supposedly encouraging active lifestyles rather than the way of the couch potato,
the ad features an in-game style image of obese baseball players on an overgrown field.
As Water Cooler
Games points out, this seems to have been created with no thought for its target audience. In particular, the ad mocks
rather than reaches out to gamers; not the best way to connect with a demographic. Also, as governmental propaganda
goes, jumping on the anti-gaming bandwagon is a disturbing trend--a sideline political campaign is
one thing, but a government-approved message seems overkill.
