| Friday, 20 November 2009 |
 | | |
Newcomer and nostalgic Mario lover, Chad Drake, has tackled the latest Mario Bros. title, New Super Mario Bros. Wii to see if Nintendo's retroactive design nature can survive in this 3D gaming world we inhabit today.
The answer is, of course, yes. It's Mario - he can survive anywhere. And retro as it may be, the game oozes old-school charm while also very cleverly introducing innovative new gameplay elements and ideas, the biggest of which is the much touted four-player competitive/co-operative multiplayer. Wii owners really should put on their red caps and start jumping on goombahs and koopa troopers.
Click here for the full review.
|
| | |
If you don't want to watch zombies astonishingly disappear before your very eyes or deal with this anti-dedicated server fiasco, you're always welcome to jump into other, non-traditionally hyperbolised games, such as Futuremark's Shattered Horizon, which snuck out of the Steam Powered gates not so long ago.
Marrying a smashed up moon, warring factions and Zero-G is a recipe for success on many levels, and that's just what you get with this online FPS. Suffering really, only from its own dedication to sustained quality - at the end of your experience you really just want more.
Click here for our full review.
|
| | |
There's no secrets about this game anymore. Despite going up against a killer app like MW2, Left 4 Dead 2 has gained its own recognition, arguably making it a household name in Australia.
Unfortunately its notoriety is in no way based on good things; and given the nature of our business here, we've put together our review of what could have been a stellar effort, if only we didn't live in such repressed times here in Australia where censorship, the right to choose and art are things not deemed important enough for some. Our review here is based - specifically - on the un-modified version of the game in body, but the final score reflects the modified version. It's all covered within though.
Click here for the review.
|
| | |
Not forgetting the handheld market amidst this big PC and console game explosion, James Cottee took a look at a condensed version of the popular Star Wars Battlefront series, shrunk down and delivered on Nintendo's DS dual-screen handheld.
Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron has made a name for itself as a benchmark PSP outing, but good business is where you find it, and the DS is the biggest business of all. So we're left with a compromised action game that still does some things right, despite hardware and space limitations.
Click here for the full review.
|
 | | |
"It is important players enjoy seeing enemies sadistically destroyed," explains Bayonetta director, Hideki Kamiya during this second developer diary for the action title. He goes on to talk about just why the main character likes demonising angels so much, and offers context to said sadistic killing.
If you haven't jumped on the Bayonetta bandwagon yet, now would be a good time to do so. Taking cues from such games as Devil May Cry and God of War, Bayonetta offers fast, frenetic gameplay where light and dark are somewhat reversed and you find yourself playing as a witch killing angels. Seriously, what's not to like?
Click here for the full video.
|
 | | |
We have yet another tantalising "Battlefield Moments" trailer up for you, this time showcasing the game's building destructibility, along with its lush visuals and excellent sound.
So far we've really only seen one map, so here's hoping we start seeing some variety in the build up to the game's release early next year, but having both this and Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer (even if it is broken) will surely keep online FPS multiplayer enthusiasts busy for the next 100 or so years. Stay tuned for more on this as AusGamers has been handed a beta key to check out all the action.
Click here for the video.
|
 | | |
Square-Enix and Gas Powered Games have pegged Autumn 2010 (US Spring) as the release target for Supreme Commander 2, the sequel to their system-intensive 2007 real-time strategy title and spritial successor to Chris Taylor's much-loved Total Annihilation.Set 25 years after the end of the Infinite War, SUPREME COMMANDER 2 starts with the galaxy reeling from the recent assassination of the newly elected president of the fragile Colonial Defense Coalition. The members of the Coalition – the United Earth Federation, The Illuminate and the Cybran Nation –blame each other, and the early rumbles of war can be heard throughout the galaxy. There's a bunch of screenshots over on our game page but better than that is this new extended walkthrough trailer narrated by creator and lead designer Chris Taylor that features near-on 10 minutes of gameplay.
Supreme Commander 2 is in the works for both PC and Xbox 360.
|
| | |
We had some interesting analytical data come across the AusGamers desk today, with projections the PC market would grow some 30% in 2010, taking its hardware market spend from $20.07 billion in 2008 to a projected $27 billion by the end of 2010, according to John Peddie Research.
The massive leap in growth is due to videogames, according to the report, which looks at the advent of Windows 7 and DirectX 11, among other things, as driving factors behind 2010 being the PC's year to shine. It's also highly regarded PC hardware spending slowed in 2008/2009 thanks to the world financial crisis - a factor JPR seem to think won't affect hardware spending in 2010."The PC gaming market continues to be the high growth, and technological leader for home entertainment. With Windows 7 and DirectX 11, advanced and exciting physics, and stereovision capabilities, the PC platform is far and away the most advanced," noted Jon Peddie President of Jon Peddie Research. "And, the PC has the added advantage that when not used for gaming, it can be used for more practical purposes, and/or as a media centre." At this stage we have no comparative data alongside consoles, but we're currently looking into it. It's good to know there's some serious growth projected for the PC market though.
|
|
| Thursday, 19 November 2009 |
| | |
Eidos and IO Interactive have officially announced the long-rumoured Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, a sequel to their 2007 gritty action title starring the titular odd-couple death-row inmates.Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is a raw and brutal crime shooter, which takes core gamers and entertainment fans on an intense and unforgiving action story, following two of gaming's most authentic and realistic criminals through the gritty Shanghai underworld.
Introducing a new visual experience, Kane & Lynch 2™: Dog Days is inspired by documentary filmmakers and the user-generated era. Every aspect of the game has been designed to deliver a fresh perspective to the words ‘intensity’ and ‘realism’ in video games. The franchise official site has been updated for the new game, but other than a release window of 2010 for PC, XBox 360 and PlayStation 3, there's not a whole lot of info at present. For the time-being, you'll have to make do with these two teaser trailers. Burger Joint and Bowling for Shanghai.
|
| | |
Dedicated server chat is all the rage at the moment as the Internet still wobbles with the ripples of the aftershock of Modern Warfare 2 shipping without support for them on PC. Whether PC developers now begin a mass exodus away from the client/server model for game developer is now another story, but they're running out of reasons to bother.
Sadly, even those developers that do make dedicated server software often make a few mistakes, and history has shown that those sort of mistakes can seriously impact the multiplayer aspect of their game on launch - and if it's wrong on launch, then it's probably never going to recover.
Mammoth Media has managed game servers for the best part of the last 10 years and knows a couple of things about why they're important and what makes good dedicated server software. As part of an attempt to help educate game developers and publishers into why dedicated servers are important and how to make good ones, they've released the Mammoth Dedicated Server Guide, a comprehensive look at dedicated servers and how to make them work (at a high level) to best support the multiplayer component of a video game.
AusGamers hopes that by drawing attention to this document, more developers will become aware of the advantages of dedicated servers for their online games, as well as give them a standard set of guidelines to follow to ensure their server software is able to be as widely deployed as possible - allowing more gamers all over the world to enjoy the multiplayer experience. (Disclosure: Mammoth is AusGamers' parent company.)
|
|
|
|
Subscribe to our RSS feed
