Warp Zoned Presents
Author: Andrew Rainnie - UK Correspondent
Confirmed… Link is the main character in Legend of Zelda Wii U
The Internet was in a bit of a tizzy yesterday when Legend of Zelda Wii U Producer Eiji Aonuma hinted that the arrow-wielding warrior in the game’s teaser trailer may not be the series’ standard protagonist, Link.
However, it seems it was a a small joke that exploded out of proportion. Aonuma has now clarified matters by confirming it was indeed Link that featured in the video segment.
Actually that comment I made jokingly. It’s not that I said that it wasn’t Link. It’s that I never said that it was Link. It’s not really the same thing, but I can understand how it could be taken that way. It seems like it has kind of taken off where people are saying ‘oh it’s a female character’ and it just kind of grew. But my intent in saying that was humour. You know, you have to show Link when you create a trailer for a Zelda announcement.
Given how much flack Ubisoft is currently taking for its sexist attitude towards a playable female character in Assassin’s Creed: Unity, and how much of a buzz there was that the new character may be Link and Zelda’s daughter, Nintendo could certainly do worse than play with the idea of a female lead for a future installment. However, Aonuma deftly side-stepped the issue with an explanation as to what Link represents.
I don’t want people to get hung up on the way Link looks, because ultimately Link represents the player in the game. I don’t want to define him so much that it becomes limiting to the players. I want players to focus on other parts of the trailer and not specifically on the character because the character Link represents, again, the player.
Well said.
[Source: Nintendo Insider]
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2014, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
BioWare updates us on Mass Effect 4 and a brand new game in E3 2014 trailer
In what was more of a talking head, corporate sales pitch than the trailer many had hoped for, BioWare’s developers talked about how the story and characters of their beloved Mass Effect trilogy has shaped the next installment, the currently untitled Mass Effect 4. The most telling quote came from Project Director Casey Hudson:
We start by asking fans what they want, what Mass Effect means to them? One of the things that fans have told us most about what they want in the next Mass Effect game is to go somewhere new and move forward.
Given that Hudson and his team pretty much reworked the entire ending for Mass Effect 3, it would suggest that BioWare is on the level about building a game that the fans want to play. “We’re taking you to a whole new region of space,” he added later. But how new can it be? The jargony “conceptual prototype” featured a character dressed in the N7 Armor, which indicates the game will take place in roughly the same time period as what has come before.
One thing the video does confirm is that BioWare staff in Montreal like to stare into the darkness, and work in really dark rooms. Hudson also revealed that BioWare’s Edmonton studio is cooking up something brand new, but their words were chosen well so as not to reveal anything beyond that.
Posted in News
Tagged E3 2014, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Shadow Realms
Is Link the hero of The Legend of Zelda Wii U?
When Nintendo finally revealed the latest iteration of The Legend of Zelda franchise for the Wii U, many were focused on the open world aspects described by Producer Eiji Aonuma, or the cel-shaded graphics that the art team has settled upon. However, it seems that while the audience lapped up the brief battle between the game’s hero and the laser-wielding tentacle monster, they may have missed the obvious…
The hero may not be Link.
This is straight from Aonuma, who was quoted as saying, “No one explicitly said that that was Link.” Now, no one said it wasn’t either, but his big tease would indicate that Nintendo is taking a massive step away from the core formula of the series.
A key indicator seems to be the sky blue tunic worn by “Link” in the trailer, a departure from the game’s characteristic green uniform. In fact, it is remarkably similar to the clothes worn by young cel-shaded Link in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker; could the two games share a continuity of some kind?
Another, more fantastical theory is that the hero is the son, or daughter, of Link and Zelda. This would certainly push the franchise into fresh, new territory, both in terms of history and storyline. What do you think, readers? Is Aonuma just teasing, or does Nintendo plan to expand their hero roster in the Zelda-verse?
[Source: Venture Beat]
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2014, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Kickstarter simplifies their campaign rules and adds “Launch Now” feature
If you follow our monthly Kickstart This! feature, then you will no doubt be aware of the trials and pitfalls associated with launching a Kickstarter campaign. Now, the popular crowdfunding platform is making it easier for creative types (including game developers) to give birth to a new project.
The first step is by simplifying the rules for what can, and cannot, be deemed an acceptable project:
- Projects must create something to share with others.
- Projects must be honest and clearly presented
- Projects cannot fundraise for charity, offer financial incentives, or involve prohibited items.
If you can follow these three conditions, then you are halfway there. If you are making a physical working item, like an Ouya, for example, then you must show some type of prototype.
A more exciting new feature, “Launch Now,” is being rolled out in the next few weeks. According to Kickstarter, it will make it easier for project creators to know when their vision is ready to be shared with the online masses.
The feature uses an algorithm incorporating thousands of data points to check whether a project is ready to launch — things like the project’s description, rewards, funding goal, and whether the creator has previously launched a project. If the project qualifies for Launch Now, the creator can go live whenever they’re ready. If the creator wants to connect with someone at Kickstarter, we’ll review the project and offer our feedback and advice. If a project doesn’t qualify for Launch Now, the creator will need to share the project with us for a review before it can launch.
If you are launching a new video game-related Kickstarter campaign in the near future, let us know so we can feature it in the next edition of Kickstart This!
Posted in News
Kickstart This! New Home Office Edition
Hello gamers and philanthropists, and welcome to Kickstart This! New Home Office Edition, which (as the title suggests) comes direct from my brand spanking new home office. I’m surrounded by unpacked boxes of books, games, and most importantly, Legos, but like the Death Star, it is armed and fully operational. With that in mind, let us turn our aim to the spectacle that is Kickstarter, and the handful of recent video game projects that have risen above the fold in vying for your affections, attentions, and well-earned remuneration.
First up is point-and-click adventure thriller The Mystery of Oak Island, followed by side-scrolling beat ’em up Rudo Resurrection. As if that was not enough, there is also FPS action horror A New Reckoning, and monster mayhem in Kaiju-A-Gogo.
Let’s rock and load! (more…)
Evolve welcomes four new Hunters to the fray in new gameplay trailer
The newest gameplay video for Turtle Rock’s multiplayer shooter, Evolve, serves as an introduction to a host of new characters. The first is Maggie, a Trapper, who does not enter the arena alone. She has her Trapjaw companion Daisy to help her hunt, essentially an alien hunting dog that looks a bit like a raptor. While the previously revealed Trapper, Griffin, was armed with a mighty harpoon gun, Maggie has harpoon traps, which she sets on the ground, anticipating the Monster’s path.
Next up is Lazarus, aptly named as the Medic character can resuscitate his fellow Hunters when they’re injured. As a result of undoing the Monster’s handiwork, Lazarus will draw the ire of the Monster quicker than the other Hunters. To help the character hide while the Monster is miffed, he has a special cloaking ability.
Hyde is, in the words of Senior Producer Michael J. Boccieri, a “salty dog, who is crass, uncouth, and he just brings the pain.” As well as screaming expletives at the Monster in a cockney East-End London accent, Hyde is armed to the teeth with a chaingun in one hand, and a flamethrower in the other.
The last new character revealed is Bucket, a Support robot. Unlike the rather passive Hank, the first Support character shown, Bucket tends to be aggressive, and like Hyde, is sporting a British accent, although a Received Pronunciation with a robotic (and humorous) tone. “Detaching my head for recon. Please do not be alarmed.”
Publisher 2K Games also revealed that gamers who pre-order Evolve will receive the first DLC, the Monster Expansion Pack, featuring Goliath’s “Savage Skin,” for free.
10 Actors (and Actresses) We Think Could Play Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect Movie
BioWare’s Mass Effect series has proven so difficult to bring to the big screen that, according to Screen Rant, it turned screenwriter Mark Protosevich from ever attempting to tackle a video game adaptation again. Legendary Pictures producer Avi Arad has hinted the film could still be five years away. His boss, Legendary CEO Thomas Tull, explained to Ain’t It Cool last summer, “If you’ve played it and you know the universe, you know it is not uncomplicated. To try to hone that, to bring that down to a place that will translate into screen storytelling… we’re pretty close, closer than we’ve ever been. We’re committed to it, but it has to be great or we’re not going to do it. We’re treading on sacred ground. We’re not going to be the guys to screw up Commander Shepard.”
Yet, who could the filmmakers cast in such a highly respected role? They’ll need someone with Shepard’s rugged gravitas. Someone who can carry the weight of the world upon their shoulders. Someone who can sleep with half the universe.
While we wait ever-so-patiently for Legendary to pull its metaphorical finger out of its alien orifice, we thought we would scour the galaxy for an actor worthy of donning the N7 Armour. But just imagine for a moment that some bright producer within Legendary had an idea, an idea that blossomed into something unprecedented in the history of film: they film the same film twice. One version would include a male lead, while the other would place a woman (popularly known as “FemShep”) in charge of the Normandy. I’m not talking about a sci-fi version of Sliding Doors here. I want them to actually release two versions of the same film, and the audience can choose which gender of Shepard they wish to watch, just as they do in the game. How many fans would go see both?
This, I’m afraid, is likely the only way we will ever see a cinematic version of FemShep. Yet, if the producers set the casting directors to task in finding the right actress for the role, who would they choose? Bearing in mind that the character’s appearance is fully customisable, it could really be anyone, but taking the game’s FemShep alternate cover as a template, let’s also have a look and see which starlet could save the galaxy.
So here we go, two Sheps (and two films) for the price of one. (more…)
Kickstart This! The Gruesome Chocolate Death Edition
By the time you read this, I will be dead. It will have been a gruesome death, as I am buried under an avalanche of Easter eggs. Death by chocolate, if you will. Like Christ, it will take me three days to rise again, carrying the weight of my guilt in my stomach. So before I get so fat that I can’t reach my keyboard, let us turn our attention to the games and projects you could help fund in April and May.
This month, we have the mesmerising and beautiful adventure puzzler Source, 2D hedonistic shooter Shots in the Dark, isometric RPG detective thriller Pixel Noir, sci-fi planet conquering RTS Hextraction, a returning Kickstarter project in the Lovecraftian 2D adventure game Mark of the Old Ones, and last but not least, sci-fi noir adventure Last Life.
Nom, nom, nom… (more…)