Final RAGE Behind the Scenes Video Posted August 15, 2011

The sixth and final episode of RAGE Behind the Scenes has been posted up on Bethesda’s YouTube Channel.  This episode focuses specifially on the sound aspects of the game.  Interesting tidbits in the documentary include the notion that sound can be just as important to good gameplay as visuals are.

They also say why John Goodman was chosen as a voice actor in the game, I knew he had done voice roles in the past (He played the killer robotic Santa Claus in Futurama) but actually he was chosen because his in-game appearance matched closely with his character appearance in a popular film he did.

Just be aware some very minor story elements early on in the game get teased.

RAGE is coming for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 October 4th, 2011.

Resistance 3 Multiplayer Beta Test Schedule August 14, 2011

Resistance 3 has started its multiple phase multiplayer beta test.  The third entry in one of the first exclusive launch properties for the Playstation 3, Resistance: Fall of Man has been a killer app for the platform, and it’s multiplayer component has been widely successful in getting people to sign up for the Playstation Network as it was being launched.

Anyone who currently has a copy of SOCOM4 will be able to download and play it as we speak, but forutnatly, they will not be the only people granted access to the beta test.

Starting August 15th (tomorrow) and going to August 19th, people who pre-ordered through Amazon.com will be granted access to the beta test.  Access codes should be sent out in e-mail to anyone who ordered the game.

Between August 22nd through August 26th, Playstation Plus subscribers will be granted access to the beta test.  You should be granted access to download it through the Playstation Store.

Finally, the beta test will be opened to the entire Playstation Network userbase between August 29th and September 4th.

Resistance 3 will launch September 6th, 2011 exclusive to the Playstation 3.

RAGE Release Details August 13, 2011

In the aftermath of Quakecon 2011 some important information about RAGE has been released, particularly about the game’s release details.

The PC version of RAGE will use Steamworks.  A lot of people think this is just used as a Digital Rights Management system, but in truth Steamworks offers the players a DRM that enhances functionality opposed to traditional DRM, which takes those rights away.  Unlike DRM, Steamworks games by default do not have an installation limit.  You will be able to install games on as many systems as you wish for as long as you want.  Heck, you can lose your original CD/DVD AND your install key and still be able to install and play the game on any computer with an internet connection.  Other Steamworks features that are possible for the game’s release but not confirmed for RAGE include cloud saves which can be shared across computers, in-game achievements, and a multiplayer browser.

New copies of RAGE will also come with unlock codes for sewer transit.  Sewer transit is a feature of the game separate from the main plotline.  Without a download code, you will not be able to use this functionality, and could possibly have to purchase it through your platform’s marketplace.  This is in a similar vein to putting in arbitrary restrictions in copies of the game to prevent used sales.  Most of the time they remove access to the multiplayer component of the game and charge extra for people who purchase used copies of the game to regain that access.  They said they chose to remove sewer access because it was a feature most people didn’t use in testing, and didn’t take away from the main plotline.  Still, this anti-used campaign in general has been a really bad idea across the board and I really wish publishers would stop doing this.  If they want to promote buying new copies of games, the best option is to do what Remedy did with Alan Wake and offer free advance download codes for upcoming DLC bundled with all new copies of a game.

RAGE will release for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 in October, 2011.

Playstation 3 Firmware 3.70 Released August 10, 2011

A required firmware update has hit the PSN this week. Not much extra has been added unless you’re a Playstation Plus subscriber, but they did add support for 3D photo display on 3DTVs.

If you are a Playstation Plus subscriber, you’ll be able to auto sync your trophies and sync your gamesaves online so they can be used on multiple systems.

Am I the only person who thinks the playstation plus service is a waste? Trophy AutoSync and cloud gamesaves are two features that should’ve been added to all PS3 owners. Portal 2 for PS3 supports cloud saves (and it works just fine), and the Xbox 360 has no need to sync achievements.

If Sony wants the Playstation Plus service to work, they have to offer new services their competition doesn’t already offer for free. Autosyncing of Trophies alone should’ve been added when the feature was released two years ago! When Portal 2 came out, Cloud saving was a feature that Sony could hold over Microsoft to peg the PS3 version of Portal 2 as the superior version of the game! This was pegged as a discount service for DLC and downloadable games. Keep it as that.

Sony Buys Sucker Punch August 7, 2011

In a suprising move, Sony has bought out Sucker Punch Studios, who have been an exclusive Playstation 3 developer for several years now.  Recently, they were responsible for creating the inFamous series, which was Sony published as a Playstation 3 exclusive, and Sly Cooper, which was a Playstation 2 exclusive.

The inFamous games, first released in 2009, could be considered another one of the important exclusive series to the Playstation 3.  When it launched just before E3 that year it was a huge boon to the Playstation 3 market, which wouldn’t have another major exclusive release until that fall.  With Sucker Punch now Sony owned, all further games they develop will remain Playstation exclusives.

In honor of the event, I will include this video clip from inFamous 2, which I consider to be a perfect analogy to this news.

Quakecon 2011 Keynote August 6, 2011

Ladies and gentelmen, John Carmack.

Quakecon 2011 in Full Swing August 5, 2011

The Quakecon, a convention to celebrate all things id Software has done, is in full swing out in Texas.  It was orignally designed by the fans so they could get all together in one place to network their computers together to play Quake without any latency.  Now it is major commercial press event where id gets to show the fans what they’ve been working on, and give the fans the chance to meet the developers who made the games they love.

It’s in full swing in Texas right now, and you can be sure that plenty of RAGE news is probably going to be coming out of it.  For right now I haven’t been able to find any videos of the initial festivities, but there is an official up right now which is a good canadate for getting some good videos up.  In fact they already posted some videos of the convention’s setup.  If you ever wanted to know what it takes to host a giant LAN party, here’s a peek.

To celebrate this event, I’ve noticed that RAGE related Avatar gear has gone on sale on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

TV Length Documentary on the History of Bungie Released August 4, 2011

With Bungie’s ties to Microsoft very close to being completely severed, Bungie has gone all out and released a broadcast television length (55 minutes!) documentary about their company’s twenty year history.  It includes interviews from all the major current and former Bungie employees.

I have to say a lot of this footage was not shot for this documentary, I definatly saw some of it from a bunch of previous Bungie documentaries including the “10 steps to world domination” documentary that was exclusive to the Halo 3 Legendary Edition, as well as inteviews going back as far as Halo 2’s development.  That said, that makes this very much in the style of a “Behind the Music” documentary, as there are current interviews in it with these people, cut together with earlier interviews.  It’s a very good choice.  If you’re a gaming history buff like I am, its a great watch, and if you’re a Bungie or Halo fan, you owe it to yourself to see just what went into making that game.

Nintendo 3DS Price Dropping to $170 July 29, 2011

In a shocking move, Nintendo has announced they intend to drop the price of the recently released Nintendo 3DS handheld from its launch price of $250US to $170US, a price drop of eighty dollars!

The 3DS is the successor to the extremely popular series of Nintendo handhelds, starting with the Game and Watch, moving to the extremely popular Game Boy series, and finally the Nintendo DS series of handhelds.  Since the Game Boy, Nintendo has been the clear market leader of the handheld generations, defeating such rivals as Atari, Sega and even Sony in the previous handheld generations (based upon unit sales).  It was expected by many in the gaming media that the 3DS would continue this trend and meet with massive initial sales, but once the handheld launched, sales petered out.

The 3DS has not had the initial sales that Nintendo was hoping for.  Since it’s launch it is still shy of selling one million units.  Many third party exclusive games for the platform have either been delayed or outright cancelled due to the currently low install base.

Nintendo has admitted the new price for the unit is no longer profitable for them, but they do expect it to not stay this way.  My guess is they intend to increase production of the units, which will bring costs down, but this would be a double edged sword if they exceed demand for the handheld.  They also said the reason for the price drop so soon after launch is due to harsh memories over the GameCube, and the belief if they had dropped the price of the console sooner, they could’ve had better sales in the earlier years of the console’s lifespan.  As such the GameCube finished last in the previous console generation, behind the PS2 and Xbox, and did not get the total amount of units sold they needed to consider it a success to themselves.

The price drop is expected to come in August.  I believe Nintendo is hoping to have a good price for the unit lined up before the holiday season in an attempt to become more affordable to customers in time for Christmas.  This drop is also timed to come before Sony launches their handheld, the Playstation Vita, which is expected to launch this fall at a price of $250 for WiFi only and $300 for a 3G/WiFi model.

Anyone who currently has a 3DS and bought it at the initial launch price will be given free access to a bunch of exclusive Virtual Console downloadable games.

RAGE Behind the Scenes Part 5 July 28, 2011

The fifth part of the RAGE behind the scenes series has been released on Bethesda’s Official YouTube Channel, and this one focuses on the game’s enemies.  You get to see the different types of enemies, how each will react to you, and what went into creating them.  It really was interesting to see that id Software is is using motion capture this time around, with thousands of unique animations possible in the game.

The behind the scenes series for RAGE will have one final part to go.  RAGE is coming October, 2011 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.