robio said:

Anarchy Reigns Delayed into 2013

Not sure if I should be incensed that what is already a finished game is being delayed until next year or if I should be happy because Sega is at least saying it's not being cancelled...

Wow, its finished. Sega is smart, they know this will sell 2 copies. Not sure what they could do to fix that at this point, might as well release it to die.

aspro said:

WARNING: GOSSIP SECTION.

Not being nasty here at all, asking a serious question.

I went over to gamespot.com yesterday....

Is it dead? Not talking about the forums at all, but like, the editorial content of the site? It seems like they are no where near what they used to be on the news and reviews front, and the new layout is terrible.

I'd love to see some site visit stats to see where IGN, gamespot and Giantbomb are these days.  It seems like IGN is leaving them in the dust content-wise.

I did visit the new GGD as well. Was disturbed by what some old school poster was contributing (he was the only one I recognized, and what the hell happened to him? He's seems like a bitter, angry man these days).  Is Raggs still officiating the GGD? Did not see him there.

Oh I did see solidsnake there, and he seemed his normal self

Everyone is bitter because the forums/blogs have been destroyed.

Oh my God. I just finished Dead Souls. The ending contains one of the most hilarious pieces of deus ex machina and a lovely twist on zombification motivation.

edgecrusher said:

No its not that....I know exactly who he's talking about and he's been like that for years now.

Maybe so, but that is the case in general.

It's definitely got the staff feel of a smaller site, yet is still trying to be a big one. The two don't fit together at all.

They should have left the forums the way they were back in 2001, then all the cool old school forumers wouldn't have bolted.

SteelAttack said:

Or at least a hammock. So you can be a pimp like in the tropic.

Bed get. What a relief after sleeping on the floor for so long you start to feel like a sub-human.

robio said:

Anarchy Reigns Delayed into 2013

Not sure if I should be incensed that what is already a finished game is being delayed until next year or if I should be happy because Sega is at least saying it's not being cancelled...

Wow, that big of a delay for a finished game. That's showing confidence in the game.

aspro said:

What happened?

Didn't a bunch of us leave end of 2007? The graph goes down from there. So it must have been Gertsmanngate. BTW personally I think 1up has gone to pot, they are so late with news they only have the odd decent editorial and not much else.

gamingeek said:

SteelAttack said:

Or at least a hammock. So you can be a pimp like in the tropic.

Bed get. What a relief after sleeping on the floor for so long you start to feel like a sub-human.

.

Sweet man...nobody should have to go without proper crashing materials.

Crash hard.

Tezuka on NSMB U 'This is what people want.'

Takashi Tezuka said:

Q: Traditionally, Mario sequels have been very different from one another, but the New Super Mario Bros. series games tend to be very similar mechanically and visually. Is that a design decision?


A:

It's intentional. That similarity in the visual style and the control style is all intentional. The things we feel like we've already promised the gamer is that Peach will be kidnapped by Bowser, and Mario will move from left to right. We know that's what people are expecting! [Laughs] We know that there are all types of Mario games, as you said. So for us, with the New Super Mario Bros. series, we don't really need to mess with it. This is what people want.

Is this what you want?!

Takashi Tezuka said:

Q: There has been a 2D platforming renaissance as of late, with games like Braid, Super Meat Boy, and Kirby's Epic Yarn. Is there any game that influenced you or that you're particularly impressed with?


The Donkey Kong game that we just had out on Wii, Donkey Kong Country Returns--I actually got a glimpse of a ROM while they were still in development. The graphics were so pretty that I thought, wow, that looks really nice. We were working on New Super Mario Bros. Wii at the time, and that really became an impetus. That really kicked us in the butts. I don't know if "influence" is the right word, but it had an impact.


Speaking of graphics, what sort of extra work is involved for you with the transition to HD?


I don't know if it's extra work; it's just that we had to focus our attention. Now that we're in HD, what's the best art style that takes advantage of that? So there's extra consideration of the art style itself, but not any extra work per se.

CVG said:

Reviews have gone live for From Software's ambitious Kinect mech game, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor - and the scores aren't particularly high.


According to one reviewer, Heavy Armor is "the worst implementation of Kinect controls I've ever experienced." Ouch. Read downwards for the review round-up...

• CVG: 3.7 - "Without Kinect this is an 8/10 game. With it, this is a maddening, brutal, clumsy mess that'll kick your ass and tie you in knots. It simply doesn't work."
• Polygon: 1/10 - "Kinect may have many strengths, but recognizing small gestures isn't one of them. Heavy Armor requires them almost exclusively, turning gameplay into unending frustration."
• Destructoid: 3.0 - "Maybe at some point, the Kinect requirement can be patched out of it. Until then, piloting these Vertical Tanks even while sober may result in a loss of brain cells."
• Games Radar: 3.0 - "Probably the most unpardonable sin here is that there is nothing in Steel Battalion that can't be pulled off a hundred times better with a controller."
• IGN: 3.0 - "Heavy Armor might be Kinect's most spectacular failure, but it's precisely because it's so ambitious."
• Kinectaku: 4.0 - "Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is a glorious failure, a noble attempt to reconcile the previously disconnected casual and hardcore camps."