Warp Zoned Presents
All Articles: E3 2012
Nintendo: “People are going to be pleasantly surprised” at Wii U launch price
Reggie Fils-Aime, the President of Nintendo of America, sat down with IGN during this year’s E3 Expo to talk about where the company plans to go in 2012. One of the major themes of this talk was the Wii U launch price. While Fils-Aime wouldn’t commit to a specific dollar amount, he does believe that gamers will be “pleasantly surprised” when they hear the final number:
Nintendo believes in being a mass market product. So unlike our competitors, when they’ve launched historical systems, to maybe start at a really high price and work their way down. We don’t believe in that. We want to launch at a price that’s going to represent an ongoing, great value.
You look at the Wii, we stayed at $250 for a really long time. So we’re going to give that same thought to the Wii U. How do we launch at a value that we’re going to be able to sustain for a long time? And I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised, if you will, at how we’re managing the value equation.
So it’s going to be low, but not too low. Gotcha.
Activision working on Angry Birds for consoles
For the few people who have not played Angry Birds in one of its many iterations on their phone, PC or tablet, never fear, Activision will be bringing an HD version of the game to “consoles” (which consoles, or when, went unmentioned).
For some reason, this irks me. Despite loving the Angry Birds franchise, especially the Super Mario Galaxy-inspired Angry Birds Space, I like it fine on my phone. It is perfect for a touch screen, and would perhaps work well on the Wii U GamePad, but I cannot see anyone who owns a smartphone opting to pay more money for a console version that has a poorer control interface than the one originally designed for that type of game.
Perhaps my cynicism is ill-founded, and this is a brand new game that will make full use of a standard game controller. The company best known for the Call of Duty franchise will be revealing more details in the coming weeks.
[Source: Game Informer]
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Angry Birds, E3 2012
Halo 4 live-action trailer introduces an ancient enemy
While perhaps not as artistic as previous Halo trailers, Microsoft and 343 Industries revealed their live-action trailer for Halo 4, “The Commissioning,” at this year’s E3 Expo. Featuring a combat deck that looks identical to the one from Battlestar Galactica, as well as a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her sexy bald chick, it ultimately shows what a live action Halo movie could be.
The trailer shows the commissioning of the UNSC Infinity, which we are told during a less-than-rousing speech has been retooled for exploration after the war, coming under attack by what the trailer dubs an ancient enemy.
The E3 gameplay demo showed Master Chief and Cortana battling The Covenant as well as this new enemy, a synthetic race believed to be older than the Forerunners themselves. And it appears 343 Industries is living up to their promise of moving the Halo franchise away from being a straight shooter to something that involves more mystery and exploration elements.
The Avengers: Battle For Earth trailer hulks its way online
With the 2012 E3 Expo over, the arguments over which of the Big Three “won” E3 have just begun. But no one can deny that from all the developers, it was Ubisoft who stole the show with the likes of Assassin’s Creed III and the surprising ZombiU for Nintendo’s new console. However, the company also showed a trailer for its upcoming Marvel Comics title, The Avengers: Battle For Earth.
The ambitious title is a beat ‘em up utilizing motion controls, and is being designed to be played with either the Wii U or the Xbox 360’s Kinect sensor. There will be initially be twenty playable characters, which will not be limited to those who appear in the film, as the game is instead based on Marvel’s 2008 comic book event Secret Invasion, which saw the shape-shifting Skrulls infiltrating superhero teams from the entire Marvel universe. While Brian Michael Bendis, the writer of that story arc, is not involved, the great and often hilarious Peter David, writer of the Multiple-Man led “X-Factor” comic, is working with Ubisoft on the storyline.
Since it is not attached to the movie, fan favourites such as Spider-Man and Wolverine will be involved in the action. My fingers are crossed that Wade Wilson, the Merc with a Mouth known as Deadpool, will make a wise-cracking appearance. While the full roster has still to be revealed, the E3 demo showed off the ability to tag up to two other players in, allowing the initial character to regenerate some health.
It is not known how the Wii U version will differ from the Xbox 360 game, or how it will utilize the new Wii U GamePad, but it’ll be available this Fall.
Posted in News, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged E3 2012, The Avengers: Battle For Earth
Film actors join Star Trek game, battle lizard aliens The Gorn
Paramount Pictures, along with video game publisher Namco Bandai and developer Digital Extremes have revealed the enemy of their much anticipated game based on the rebooted universe of the new Star Trek films: the lethal, lizard-like species known as The Gorn. The alien race, originally designed by artist and prop designer Wah Chang, first appeared in the famous “Arena” episode of The Original Series. Although they have made subsequent appearances, including a laughable CGI version in the last TV iteration, Star Trek: Enterprise, they are seen as an iconic villain, especially for Captain Kirk, by those working on the game.
While perhaps not as famous as the Klingons, who J.J. Abrams has confirmed will be the antagonists of the sequel film, The Gorn are every bit as battle-thirsty. The game will see several distinct types of Gorn, from infantry Rushers to hardened Brutes, while the females of the species will be more cunning, able to climb walls with stealth.Carlson Choi, VP of Marketing at Namco Bandai Games America, sees The Gorn as the perfect villain for this new title:
“Great villains give our favorite characters a chance to become heroes in the process of attempting to eliminate a powerful threat, and Star Trek fans have been eagerly anticipating the moment when the antagonists of the game would be revealed. This is one of those moments and we couldn’t be more excited to give gamers a glimpse at the challenges that lie ahead for Kirk and Spock.”
Speaking of the infamous Starfleet Captain and his pointy-eared second-in-command, it had previously been revealed that the likenesses of actors Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto would be incorporated into the game, but now it has been confirmed that the actors will also lend their voices as well. Pine and Quinto will be joined in the game by the entire crew of the Enterprise: Zoe Saldana (Lieutenant Uhura), Simon Pegg (Scotty), Karl Urban (Dr. Bones McCoy), John Cho (Mr. Sulu) and Anton Yelchin (Chekov). They will all be bringing their vocal talents to the game’s script, which was written by Marianne Krawczyk (God of War), with input from the films’ writers and producers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.
Set your phasers to stun and be prepared to beam me up in early 2013 on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360!
First details, gameplay footage of Star Wars 1313
Even after its E3 2012 “reveal,” LucasArts is still keeping a pretty tight lid on Star Wars 1313. At this point, we don’t even know what platforms it’s in development for or if it’s even the “future generation” game the publisher announced a few weeks back.
What we do know is that Star Wars 1313 takes place deep within the bowels of Crouscant, on a level reserved for the scum and villainy of the capital planet. The game, which is set between the trilogies, will star an unnamed bounty hunter as he explores a “criminal conspiracy” on the titular level.
According to an IGN preview, this will involve a lot of Gears of War-like cover fire and some Uncharted-like platforming mechanics that make regular use of the bounty hunter’s arsenal of gadgets.
Hit the jump for more video gameplay footage of Star Wars 1313’s shooting and platforming. And remember, you’ll have to do all of it (there is no try) without the aid of The Force. (more…)
Posted in News
Tagged E3 2012, Star Wars 1313
Nordic Games resurrects Painkiller franchise
Nordic Games is bringing back the Painkiller franchise with a new installment called Painkiller Hell & Damnation. The game is being developed by Polish studio The Farm 51, and will be developed with the Unreal Engine 3.
Expect lots of fast-paced gameplay and big boss fights with an “old school FPS ideology.”
Reinhard Pollice, who is responsible for Business and Product Development at Nordic Games, said player skill will be the most important part of the game, and that they will be putting “tremendous emphasis on the game’s multiplayer component.”
A first build is being shown at E3 2012, and Nordic Games promised that more information is forthcoming!
Posted in News, PC
Tagged E3 2012, Painkiller Hell & Damnation
Sound Shapes coming to PS3, Vita on August 7
Sound Shapes, the musical side-scrolling platformer by Canadian studio Queasy Games, will be coming to both PlayStation 3 and Vita on August 7. Sony made this announcement on the PlayStation Blog. Superbrothers and Jim Guthrie have provided the music and artwork for one of the levels, called Corporeal. In fact, the adorable video above shows Guthrie playing the game and using the editor, creating a level right on the spot.
The beauty of releasing this for both systems on the same day is that there will be crossplay availability from the get-go. As Mathew Kumar so elegantly wrote:
Through the magic of crossplay, you’ll be able to share content between the two systems without even having to really think about it. It’s all thanks to the “cloud” which floats above us like a benevolent data god. Save your campaign data up in the cloud, and download and resume on either platform. Maybe you’ll start creating a song at home on the PS3, but then decide that it’s not really the place to compose your latest masterpiece! Just download it to your PS Vita and make some beats on the bus. Then get off the bus several stops late, in a part of town you don’t know that well, and make some beats there! Then get another bus home, probably.
I’ve been on those buses, Mathew.
Posted in News, PS3, Vita
Tagged E3 2012, Sound Shapes