Inside the Dragon’s Lair Documentary Teaser January 11, 2012

As a recent Dragon’s Lair fan given the game series resurgence with the iOS and HD ports, I had been following the pre-production of director Martin Touhey’s documentary on the cult phenomenon that is the game Dragon’s Lair.

Originally designed as an arcade game in the early 1980s, Dragon’s Lair was an interactive laserdisc game.  Programmed by Rick Dyer and with animation by the one and only Don Bluth, the game revolutionized arcades forever with its animation and gameplay.  Since its release in arcades in the early 1980s, Dragon’s Lair has seen over twenty home releases ranging from Sega CD to Blu-Ray Disc.  It has the honor of being one of only three games kept by the Smithsonian.

What is it about this game that has kept it popular for thirty years?  Well, this documentary intends to find out.  Inside the Dragon’s Lair is in production and has released its first official teaser trailer which you can watch on their Facebook page.

No release date has been given yet but the director promises you can keep informed on their progress on the documentary’s official twitter feed.  I thought the scene depicted in the teaser was phenominal.  If the rest of the movie is like that this could be the next major gaming documentary.

Most Disappointing Games of 2011 December 21, 2011

I would consider Wired fantastic at making up some pretty good end of the year lists.  They have been doing it for over ten years.

Well, the Vaporware Awards aren’t out yet for 2011, but they have posted up their list of the 9 Most Disappointing Games of 2011.  While they may have included some games on the list that I personally enjoyed, I would agree with Wired that I certainly had higher hopes for them, and from the sounds of it, so did they.  It’s an interesting nostalgic read for the year, and I recommend giving it a look.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare Extended Trailer December 19, 2011

This is an extended version of the trailer for Alan Wake’s American Nightmare which was originally released at the VGAs.  In it, you get to see a bit more gameplay from it to show indeed that all the original gameplay from Alan Wake will be retained.

But what’s most important is this extended trailer shows the first glimpses of a new arcade mode.  You’ll just have to see that for yourselves.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is coming Q1 2012 exclusive to Xbox Live Arcade.

Club Nintendo Updated December 19, 2011

The Nintendo Fun Club…er… Club Nintendo, has been updated this week.

Club Nintendo is Nintendo’s official rewards program for their loyal customers.  By creating an account on the site, gamers who purchased Nintendo’s games and systems can register the serial numbers from their consoles or handhelds and the included PIN numbers from Nintendo games for coins.  These coinss can be redeemed for unique Nintendo Merchandise.  These items can range from the physical, like posters or collectibles, to the digital, like screensavers and even downloadable games.

Well, the Club Nintendo site has just recieved a major upgrade.  The site’s interface has been changed and a whole new slew of rewards are now up for grabs for anyone with the coins to spare.  Downloadable games can now be redeemed on your Nintendo system including (as of the time of writing) games like Super Mario Kart (for the Wii).

If you already have a Club Nintendo account, just log into it as usual, you won’t need to modify your user name and password.  If you haven’t signed up for a Club Nintendo account yet (and you have some Nintendo hardware and games) there’s no reason you shouldn’t sign up and register your stuff.

A major update to this is that Nintendo is now offering coins for hardware, something they had not done previously.  At most they would just offer to extend your manufacter’s warranty for a few extra days.

What Happened to Metal Gear Solid: Rising? December 15, 2011

Metal Gear Solid: Rising was first announced in 2009 at the Microsoft E3 press confrence.  In it, all we saw was just a teaser but the Kojima Team’s Official Podcast did confirm the game would be coming to the Xbox 360, the Playstation 3 and the PC at the time.

One year later at E3 2010, more of the game was shown off, including a pretty fun looking technical demo of what the game’s signature cutting everything gameplay mechanic would look and play like in the final version of the game.  We also knew by this point that the game would take place in the space between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4, which I thought was a pretty good idea since it gave them the chance to detail just what had happened to Raiden between the two games.

Well, this past E3,  I had been really looking forward to seeing something Metal Gear related at the first E3 I attended in seven years.  Alas, while there were Metal Gear related games being shown, they were just 3D ports and HD updates of games that had already been released.  Rising was a no-show, and people became worried about just what happened with the project.

Well, that question has been answered.  A documentary, which looks as if it had been made for TV broadcast, has been released on one of Konami’s YouTube channels.  In it are interviews of the developers of the project, including Hideo Kojima himself, and several of the game’s producers.  I recomend watching it to anyone interested in the behind the scenes of game development.

Curious about the new game?  This is what aired very last at this year’s VGAs.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengance is coming soon!

The Last of Us Announcement Trailer December 14, 2011

A secret reveal this year at the VGAs included this Playstation 3 exclusive which is in development at Naughty Dog, the company responsible for the hit Uncharted series.

When I first saw the game trailer during the VGA’s I was reminded of Namco’s Enslaved, which also took place in a colorful post apocalyptic world where the vegetation reclaimed the cities.  The game released in 2010 for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and I considered it an overlooked little gem worth whatever price you may find it at right now.  Apparently the similarities in style between the two games is no coincidence, I heard one of the designers of that game is working on The Last of Us.

The Last of Us is coming to the Playstation 3.

Duke Nukem Forever Single Player DLC Released December 14, 2011

The first single player downloadable content for Duke Nukem Forever has been released to the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game.  “The Doctor Who Cloned Me” follows our hero Duke Nukem as he faces with his longtime mortal enemy Dr. Proton, who is planning to unleash a clone army of Duke Nukems with the intention to use them to…take over the world (of course!).

For those of you who may remember when I talked about what had been cut from Duke Nukem Forever, this synopsis may sound familiar to you and that’s probably because this was included in the original design document for Duke Nukem Forever, written way back in 1998 or so.  Still no mention of Bombshell in it, but rumors have it that one more DLC for the game is expected.

The Darkness II Co-Op Trailer December 14, 2011

From the looks of it, 2K Games is no longer on a “no comment” policy when it comes to asking questions about multiplayer in The Darkness II, as they have just announced that the game is shipping with an entire cooperative campaign.

Four new characters have been introduced, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and each with their own axe to grind against the evil brotherhood which endangers Jackie Estacato.  Want to know more about them?  Well this new trailer breaks it down perfectly.

The Darkness II is coming Feb, 2012 to PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare Announcement Trailer December 14, 2011

First shown at the Spike VGA Awards this year, here is the full trailer for the next story in the Alan Wake universe.

Its exciting to see where the series is headed.  The character of Mr. Scratch was first introduced towards the end of the first Alan Wake game.  He has the exact same appearance as Alan, and it is said that, “his friends would be meeting him soon.”  Originally, Scratch’s name was not spoken clearly.  When his name was said, a scratch sound effect was played over it, almost like it was being censored by something otherworldly.  When interviewed about him later on the developers made it clear that the name Mr. Scratch was another name for The Devil, teasing just what would be in store for us in future Alan Wake games.  Did anyone else notice that when Alan saw Mr. Scratch on the drive-in screen he almost looked as if he was Max Payne standing over his wife in the prologue of the first Max Payne game?

Well, what we have in store for us looks just fantastic.  It looks like all the gameplay of the original Alan Wake game is intact but we will be seeing just a major expansion of that.  The signature light versus darkness gameplay (a staple of the first game) remains, with Alan using flashlights and flares to harm his enemies before firing on them.  We also see Alan firing his first ever automatic weapon in the trailer.  Since all the weapons in the first game were semi-automatic, this hints that there will be new weapons in this game.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is coming Q1 2012 exclusive to Xbox Live Arcade.  No price has been confirmed yet.