Ghost Recon: Future Soldier to include Kinect functionality
According to some leaked box art, the next edition of Ubisoft's Ghost Recon series, due in 2012, will be Kinect enabled - "better with Kinect sensor," to be precise (Xbox360Achievements.org via That VideoGame Blog). This juicy info confirms some rumor-mongering from last year, that the Kinect functionality would be optional, used for things like hand signals that would translate into game commands.
This seems to me to be an excellent use of the Kinect's impressive technology to augment the player's relationship with the controls, a way to sort of combine the precision of buttons and sticks with the added dimension of body movement. There's no reason the Kinect can't be used with a game that still requires a player to hold a controller. In fact, I could see that being the future of this technology. For now, I can imagine a seated player using arm signals to command AI allies, or perhaps to avoid the need to speak via headset in multiplayer, something they could design to be audible to nearby human opponents.
In the future, I can see how a game could operate with a player standing and using entire body motions, while still operating buttons, thumbsticks, and triggers in each hand like the Wiimote + Nunchuck or the PlayStation Move stuff. This advancement would seem to me to be a necessary one, since Kinect's full abilities - while technologically impressive - are hard to extrapolate into games beyond the minigame compilations currently available.
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood’s Fantastic New Name
Assbro
I don't usually link to web comics, but Scott Kurtz has hit on something awesome here. It's official: from now on, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood shall be referred to as "Assbro."
I still refuse to call Call of Duty: Black Ops CODBLOPS, though.
Beyond Good & Evil HD Hitting PSN/XBLA
Who's ready for another HD remake? IGN broke the news that cult classic and critical darling Beyond Good & Evil is also on the docket for a 1080p overhaul. Ubisoft has the remake penciled in for a vague 2011 release, where it will be a download on PSN and XBLA. Second chance, guys! Please buy it this time? I'm afraid BG&E2 may hang in the balance.
Also, HD remakes are officially a trend now. Who needs backwards compatibility?
Cheap Thrills: H.A.W.X 2 The 8-bit game
Cheap Thrills is a column by Chris Gampat reviewing affordable (under $20) or free games for the recession.
I remember playing the original version of H.A.W.X in alpha form back during my PCMag.com days and then the Android version put out by Gameloft. While I comfortably preferred the latter, the 8-bit version of the game is simply the most addicting. H.A.W.X. 2's 8-bit version is an ode to old-school top down shooters, with a few flourishes that test player strategies and reflexes while offering versatility in the way the game can be played.
Motion Sports trailer reveals Ubisoft’s answer to Kinect Sports
Ubisoft looks to be following Microsoft's own Kinect launch example with Motion Sports, a sports minigame compilation title set to hit shelves alongside Kinect this November. The six minigames include dodging tacklers as a football player, horseback riding, downhill skiing, hang gliding, boxing, and soccer penalty kicks. At least some of these games include head-to-head multiplayer, but the trailer doesn't indicate whether or not they all do.
Wii Sports was probably the best proof-of-concept for the Wiimote technology, so it's fitting that approachable sports-themed minigame titles would be a major part of Kinect's holiday season honeymoon. Including Microsoft's in-house Kinect Sports game, which also offers six sports minigames, Kinect now has at least two launch titles of that flavor. It will be interesting to see how Kinect is received - especially if minigame compilation titles are the meat and potatoes of its offerings. Will there even be room in the market for two sport minigame titles at launch? Interestingly, Kinect Sports won't even be pack-in with the Kinect; that honor goes to Kinect Adventures, another minigame compilation.
Scott Pilgrim vs the Review
To be perfectly candid, this may be the hardest review I ever write. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood collector’s edition has a jack-in-the-box in the box
Wasn't Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Ubisoft has just announced that Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will indeed be getting a $100 CE version of the game, complete with a large and very very creepy extra. Besides an art book, bonus disc with comic/making-of videos/soundtrack, and hard copy map of Rome, the collector's edition comes with a jack-in-the-box featuring the game's harlequin or doctor characters. The box is a mysterious black with a silver Assassin's Brotherhood logo on it, and is opened by a separate key (which itself looks pretty cool). It's creepy, classy, and creepy again.
Gamestop will exclusively offer the harlequin jack-in-the-box in its collector's editions, while all other retailers will offer the doctor jack-in-the-box. The game hits stores in both standard and collector's editions November 16.
Splinter Cell Returns To PlayStation 3?
PS3 owners who felt snubbed by Ubisoft opting to not bring Sam Fischer's latest adventure over make have cause to rejoice come November. Siliconera reports TheSixthAxis has found a listing on Amazon France for a PS3 game called Splinter Cell Trilogy. While there is a lack of further information at this time, the most obvious conclusion is that this is the newest title in the Classics HD line, a series of PS2 games remade and remastered in HD. If this is in fact true, it would be the first series that was not a Sony owned property to receive this treatment. There have been two other HD remakes on PS3 thus far: the first is the God of War Collection, which bundles God of War and God of War II; the second is the upcoming Sly Collection, which will bundle Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, Sly 2: Band of Thieves, and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, along with some additional PlayStation Move based mini-games and will also support 3D. The Sly Collection comes out in October, which would make the timing of the Splinter Cell Trilogy odd, assuming this is more than just a rumor.
Amanita’s “Pirate Amnesty” sale: Machinarium $5 through August 12
Amanita Design, the developers of the critically acclaimed adventure/puzzle game Machinarium, are holding a "Pirate Amnesty" sale through August 12. For the next few days, the game will be available for just $5, 75% off its previous $20 price. The thought behind this is to pull in some of the people who have already pirated the DRM-free indie game with a great deal. If you've already pirated the game and still don't want to drop $20 on it, you can legitimately purchase it for $5 and be certain that you supported a great indie developer in the process.
People, this is how you deal with piracy. Instead of introducing increasingly draconian measures that barely prevent people from pirating games and either inconveniences or enrages people who legitimately buy your games (I'm looking at you, Activision, EA, and Ubisoft), focus on appealing to gamers' better nature and try to pull pirates toward legitimately buying your game.
Piracy is an unfortunate reality of software. It's impossible to make a game completely pirate-proof, and to claim you have done so is inviting legions of extremely skilled code crackers to prove you wrong. You can lock down more and more features and require constant registration and authentication, but for every pirate you thwart in that manner you piss off at least ten people who actually paid for the game.
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