G4TV is offering a bunch of features related to Heavy Rain today including an interview with developer Quantic Dreams, an exclusive extended Blue Lagoon gameplay video and a Bad Days Gameplay Video. We could sit here and talk about it all day or you could just hit the links below. Since I’m out of time, I recommend the latter:
As you probably know from countless news stories and interviews this week (and last week) Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto was recently in New York doing a press tour and answering questions about his newest game - New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii. It seems like every Tom, Dick and Seth is hanging out with the man behind such hit franchises as Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong, playing games, asking questions and getting Miyamoto’s odd little autograph.
In this latest interview Popular Mechanics talks to Miyamoto the origins of Mario, the mythological nature of Zelda and why blowing into your NES cartridges actually works. Thank god we don’t have to do that anymore. Here’s an interesting exchange about:
PM: A lot of your characters started out as villainous in earlier games, such as Bowser and Donkey Kong and Wario, and in later games they became more sympathetic and almost goofy. Is there a conscience effort to “de-villainize” evil characters in later games?
SM: One thing I’m not really good at is creating truly heroic characters or truly villainous characters, with the one exception being maybe the Zelda series, where I think we did a pretty good job of defining the roles in that series. I think we never really see anything all that serious come about in the Mario series, and then we have games that fall somewhere in between the two.
Yup, next thing you know Ganon will have his own racing game on the Wii. Be that as it may, you can check out the entire interview by visiting Popular Mechanics now:
Exclusive Interview With Nintendo Gaming Mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto
In part II of our interview with Runic Games (you can check out the first part right here) we talk about what went wrong at Flagship Studios and what the future holds after the single-player part of Torchlight is released on Oct. 28.
This week on Sessler’s Soapbox, G4’s Adam Sessler discusses The Beatles: Rock Band, and how it was difficult to properly review the game when it almost had to be looked at more as an experience than a game. You can catch it below or at G4TV.
Speaking of experiences, G4TV also has an interview with Bungie’s Brian Jarrard about Halo 3: ODST. I’m not a big Halo fan but ODST looks like an experience that, while still very Halo at its core, tries to create somewhat of a different angle into the Halo universe. You can find that interview at G4TV.
In Part 1 of Going Free-to-Play: D&D Online Unlimited I talked to Turbine PR Director Adam Mersky and Executive Producer Fernando Paiz about some of what players can expect with the free version of the game.
In Part 2 I get a chance to see some of those concepts in action via a guided tour of the world with a high-level character and Executive Producer Fernando Paiz as my tour guide and (for all intents and purposes) protector. Along for the ride are Senior Producer Kate Paiz and Turbine PR Director Adam Mersky, who provide some facts about such things as how to change the color of your hair, the in-game store and the new areas and adventure modules available to players.
Last week Turbine Entertainment announced an industry first: it revealed that it was retro-fitting a commercially launched, subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game and relaunching it as a free to play game with micro-transactions via an in-game store. The game in question is Dungeons & Dragons Online, which, along with The Lord of the Rings Online, is Turbine Entertainment’s bread and butter.
But the privately held MMO company isn’t just grasping at straws here or committing an act of desperation with this move, because many in the industry believe free to play is the future. With games like Free Realms and Runes of Magic garnering millions of subscribers in a short amount of time after launch, there is no denying the viability of the free to play model. But how will a commercial game like D&D Online hold up in this brave new environment? We wanted some answers from Turbine, and answers we received.
For those answers, we turned to Dungeons & Dragons Online Executive Producer, Fernando Paiz and Turbine Entertainment Public Relations Manager Adam Mersky. They filled us in on the future of the Dungeons & Dragons Online MMO, henceforth known as Dungeons & Dragons Online Unlimited .
Now that Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios has pulled Big Huge Games out of the fire (see today’s announcement), we have a few questions on what all this means to the future of games like Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends, Brian Reynolds’ level of involvement, and the future of the role-playing game being developed by Ken Ralston. To get those questions answered, we turn to Brett Close, President and Chief Executive Officer of 38 Studios, who was nice enough to answer some questions about the deal.
Crispy Gamer: what did 38 Studios acquire when it purchased BHG from THQ?
Brett Close: The acquisition includes: All rights (including associated code, development tools, and trademarks) to Rise of Nations, Rise of Legends, the unnamed RPG and other products in process, and all BHG’s rights and interests in Catan and Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasties. All BHG IP, including registered IP, corporate name, and other non-specified development tools and code. Various software licenses, including Havok , PS3 dev kits, and Xbox 360 dev kits.
Crispy Gamer: How much did it cost?
Brett Close: 38 Studios is a privately held company and does not reveal terms of deals. All discussion of specific terms and conditions of this deal are mandated confidential by contract.
Crispy Gamer: Was Brian Reynolds be part of the deal?
Brett Close: Brian will continue to work with Big Huge Games in an ongoing consultant role.
Crispy Gamer: Will 38 publish the RPG Ken Rolston was working on for THQ?
Brett Close: 38 Studios is not a publisher. The company is an entertainment and original IP creation company. There is much planning and discussion that needs to occur in the wake of the acquisition. But rest assured that the BHG team is working on a number of great products. Look for announcements in the future about releases and dates.
Crispy Gamer: Will BHG return to its roots under 38 and make strategy games again?
Brett Close: BHG is working on a number of great products. Look for announcements in the future about releases and dates.
