andPOP » sarge-ak47

Outer Panel Haven 27

sarge-ak47 — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:28:41 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Well lets face it none of these two items are of any particular use to me.

There has not been a good monster movie in some time as well, and the wolfman or cloverfield really were not my cup of tea.

Well that is my comic for the week- next week expect much better art since the Olympic coverage has taken its stranglehold off my mind.

Outer Panel Haven – Valentines day edition

sarge-ak47 — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:42:13 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

I know it is not entirely original, but I do like how it turned out.
I’m sure we’ve all been there!

Outer Panel Haven 25

sarge-ak47 — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:27:50 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

YAY! 25th comic!

Well this one was way overdue since it deals with the now canceled Tonight Show with Conan O Brien.

I wanted to do several Conan comics but instead chose to stick with this one. It’s sad but at the same time rather funny drawing comparisons from the finally of Metal Gear 3.

So Conan bows out respectfully and stays loyal to his fans and saves the Tonight Show brand.

I salute you Conan- can’t wait to see what you do next.

Outer Panel Haven 24

sarge-ak47 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:26:41 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

So I was watching a well known T.V show and they were doing a list of some of the most anticipated games for 2010.

As it turns out Batman Arkham Asylum 2 was on their list. If you have played the first title you would know the amount of hell Batman goes through and if I were Batman I would be just as surprised.

Outer Panel Haven 23

sarge-ak47 — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:50:00 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Oh how I loved the holidays! Yes! I am back!

Long overdue I suppose but better late than never.

So what has been happening? Well the gaming department at andpop is now a bit lonely since our Editor in Chief of Games Josh Salem embarked on his dream career. Josh now works for the Video Games Industry and we couldn’t be more proud and happy for him. We wish him all the best at his new exciting career! All the Best to you Josh!

So gaming wise expect our usual blogs and reviews to start up again. Also we have yet to announce a game of the year(seems like every game publication is doing just that) so I suppose myself and my fellow writers can blog about what we loved dearly this year.

Besides that I had a chance to sit back and finally play some long overdue titles. What kept me busy this holiday were Dragon Age: Origins, Tekken 6, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and I got a long overdue chance to finally play a bit of Rune Factory Frontier. Nothing beats the deep freeze better than chilling at home with a good game or two.

So then I will go ahead and reveal the comic for the week.

I watch a lot of late night T.V and I love watching both Jay and Conan.

Recently however NBC is creating quite a buzz by canceling Leno and trying to mess with the time slots.

They keep talking about ratings and to be honest it doesn’t make much sense.

Game Review: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

sarge-ak47 — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:24:32 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Red box means you will buy it the second you see it

Return of the king

I was very skeptical about the New Super Mario Bros. Wii. For starters it seemed like the DS game was ported over to the Wii and given a slight visual upgrade. Also when compared to its 3D counterpart (Mario Galaxy) the title seemed very “last gen” to say the least. So I questioned how a decade old game with a new paint job would ever keep my attention.

Oh boy was I in for a surprise.

Super Mario Bros. Wii is unlike anything out there. Sure the same old story of Princess Peach being kidnapped by Bowser and his Koopa Kids is far from original, but the gameplay is classic Mario at its best. Granted it’s a reinvention, but does it pack enough variety and value to merit your hard earned cash?

Gameplay
The gameplay is platforming at its purest. Which means you have to navigate 8 large worlds with ten stages each (more than 80 levels) to reach the grand finale. Each world has its own unique theme to add to the variety- my personal favourite being the tropics. You navigate each level by jumping, bouncing, sliding, and butt stomping your way to the end before the timer runs out. Along the way expect to run into various enemies that you can stomp on and create point combos. You have your classic assortment of power ups like the Red Mushroom, Fire Flower, Star and a couple of new ones like the Ice Flower, Propeller Cap, Tiny Mushroom and the Penguin Suit. The Tiny Mushroom (as seen in the DS release) allows Mario to become micro and run on water and leap great distances. The Propeller Cap allows insane leaps and momentary flight/ glide abilities as well as a drill attack from the air. Finally the Penguin Suit is much like the Ice Flower and allows you to freeze enemies with ice shots, but also adds more stability to Mario snowy surfaces and allows him to slide at high speeds on land and water.

These new power ups play nicely to the variety of levels and will ensure you have a blast finishing each world. Controls are simple and have you holding the Wiimote sideways while using the D-pad to move. Jumping is relegated to the 2 button and 1 is the action button used for fireballs and holding down for running. You can grab shells and other players by holding 1 and shaking the Wii mote and some areas even have you tilting the Wii mote to slide and move objects. Don’t worry about the waggle part since its plays out naturally and never breaks the flow. In fact lightly shaking the Wii mote becomes second nature as you pick up shells toss em in mid air or jump up and do an extended air spin. You can play with the Nunchuck connected, but you are better off playing it classic style – trust me.

Momments later Mario landed with an atomic explosion

To keep up the variety in the game play department each progression is marked by harder platforming sections and levels that defy the traditional convention. A good example is a level where you navigate the skies on flying manta rays or the level where you are thrust into the world that is pitch black save for the 3 steps in front and behind you. There are some truly insane levels here that will leave you smiling- I will not spoil them for you. And then there’s a few toad carrying challenges in every world that are only available when you play by yourself. We could have used a lot more of these missions as they are some of the most challenging ones. Good incentive to play the game alone once in a while. You will also never be away from collecting power ups to use before levels. The game lets you hold on to bonus round items in an inventory screen accessible only during level selection. With the many toad huts across each world be sure to collect you power ups and 1 Up Mushrooms.

By now there is no surprise that you have the ability to have 4 players play along. I’m honestly glad this functionality is kept as simple as drop in and out. The second player becomes Luigi while the third and fourth players are yellow and blue Toadstools. It is a shame they did not utilize other characters from the rich Mario universe to be a part of this game. Having two different Toadstools be the other characters feels rather cheap, but that’s just a minor gripe. It’s not like they function any different- in fact all characters jump and perform the exact same manner. Having 3 of your friends play along comes highly recommended. It is tremendously fun and actually makes the main quest richer and far more entertaining. If you have played Little Big Planet you will be at home here; after all the game was inspired by Mushroom Kingdoms platform action – though the platforming is much better and controls much tighter. There are a couple of new mechanics that open up when you play with friends. One of these is the ability to grab and throw your team mates which can be very useful for scaling high unreachable secret areas as well as being an annoying, destructive tactic. The other mechanic is the bubble – which is designed to help you from falling behind. Simply at any time you can enter a bubble that will leave you immobile until someone can pop it. We found some truly awesome ways to use this mechanic by tossing our friend over the edge to get that impossible to reach Star Coin- only to have him activate the bubble just before he dies thus keeping him in the alive. I believe the developers intended for such uses with novice players to keep up with the advance ones.

In the middle east we hunted piranha plants instead of foxes..

Now a feature that has gained some controversy is the ability to have an auto guide finish the level for you. This happens when you die 8 times in a row in a particular level and from what I gather only in single player. A green block pops up and Luigi then finishes the level for you. I’ll say it is a nice feature for those poor souls who have never played a Mario game. During any point of the run you can resume play and tell Luigi to beat it. This Super Guide feature is nice for the new gamer, but I doubt any of you will run into it. I had to die purposely to see it in action.

Finally you can use your hard earned star coins to watch videos of Nintendo pros doing speed runs and skill runs. These are remarkable videos that will leave you in awe. It is a shame the game has no ability to record videos of your play sessions that could be shared with friends online. I mean Smash Bros. Brawl did it so why can’t this game?

I create ice so you can tread on water

Graphics
New Super Mario Bros. Wii is not going to win any awards for its graphics. The game uses 3D characters and puts them on a 2D plane. The animation is solid for each character and the design aesthetic works wonderfully. There are nice subtle effects like volumetric clouds and sand storms but for the most part the game retains the simple feel of the classics. It is not the most gorgeous Wii game, but frankly I wish it was. Go ahead and boot up Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and marvel at how they handled 3D elements presented on a 2D plane. The graphics can definitely be a lot better, that being said the game looks much sharper and cleaner than its DS cousin (obviously) and has some truly scenic moments. Very few 2D elements are present in the game and for the most part these are background elements. Aside from the small gripes the over all package is a nice surprise because of the sheer number of locations this game visits.

Mario grabs on and recreates a scene from Die Hard

The game is pretty, but is not all that it can or should be.

Sound
No complaints here since all the classic sound effects and music are presented in such clarity. Something about hearing the warp pipe or collecting coins makes me smile. All the nostalgia you will feel is because of the brilliant sound design. The level music is whimsical and very appropriate – even changing with each new world and infectious enough to be stuck in your head. Rounding the list there is an audience clapping sound effect that plays out when you collect all 3 Star Coins or manage to pull off an impossible feat, I found its inclusion refreshing and most appropriate.

Replay
Now here is where I look over the multiplayer options. The game allows you to select Free Play and Coin Battle. Free play allows you to play with your friends from a select list of levels in the game. In the end, Free Play boils down to just fooling around in some of the games most chaotic levels while trying to get the most points and lives. Coin Battle on the other hand tasks you to collect more coins than your friends in each level. This mode is the more competitive of the two and often yielded the most hilarious moments between me and my friends. Trying to grab a hold of your opponent and tossing them into the abyss while collecting their loot was as hilarious as it was fun.

But I found one multiplayer game on the DS missing in the Wii game. It was a game of collecting Stars on a looped level. This multiplayer mode was insane on the DS and it is a shame they didn’t include it here. But lets be fair the game is all about playing the main story mode with four of your friends. Sure there are added challenges if you go it alone but nothing beats playing with your friends.

Having no online hurts but when you begin to realize the game is about having your friends over and just having a good time you understand why online play just wouldn’t be the same. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t have used some decent leader boards and other share functionality. Even an online only multiplayer mode could have been a great addition.
In the end you have 80 plus levels with tons of hidden passages and Star coins – ensuring multiple replays for the hardcore.

Tilt the Wii mote to move the light

Verdict
I have always found something very unique about how platforming is executed in Mario games. You would think that jumping on to a platform is a simple animation, but there is something about the dynamics of this action that is perfectly created here. It is the best platform game out there, a true masterpiece of 2D gameplay. I feel sorry for gamers who did not grow up with a Mario game, for them this is a chance to understand why this little plumber is king of the platform.

New Super Mario Bro. Wii is the definitive title to own this season. The game packs enough nostalgic elements to keep the fans happy while throwing in some new power ups and refined gameplay mechanics to create a very satisfying experience. The game plays it very safe by not doing some of the advance functionality we take for granted. I just would have loved the ability to record my speed runs with friends or some online functionality. Throw me a simple level designer and I would have been floored.

But in the end it is all about the gameplay and in that case this title has it in spades.
A must buy for every Wii owner. Go play this with your friends!

Gameplay 5/5
Graphics    3.5/5
Sound          5/5
Replay         5/5

Outer Panel Haven 22

sarge-ak47 — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:17:39 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Well this one is fresh off the presses. So all of a sudden something about the Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi being hit by a thrown statue is the headline of the day. I say it’s the work of Ezio from Assassins Creed 2.

I feel bad for the Italian PM, however he is lucky Al-Tair wasn’t after him. Besides, the man will make a full recovery.

So really have you seen this clip? It is pretty wild! Well that Ezio sure has a sense of humour.

Anyhow enjoy the image by clicking on it.

Outer Panel Haven 21

sarge-ak47 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:21:13 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

My review of the New Super Mario Bros is on its way.
Playing the game I couldn’t help but wonder why the other Koopa Kids got the short end of the stick.
The game is insanely fun with four players and is a true surprise this holiday season.
Oh and honestly I had forgotten how many kids Koopa had..let alone how he had them in the first place.
It is best not to think about it and just enjoy the game.

Click on the image for the full sized glory

Albert Wesker bonus for Lost Planet 2

sarge-ak47 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:36:59 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

So if you pre-order Lost Planet 2 at your local EB games or Gamestop you will get a code that will
unlock a bonus character skin. Yes, Albert Wesker will be roaming the alien landscapes with his “one shot one kill” revolver. I gotta say Wesker does stick out as an odd skin choice in the lush jungle environment but rest assure he will get the job done in style.
Still no word if this skin will later pop up as downloadable unlock for the rest of us who haven’t pre-ordered from EB games

Outer Panel Haven 21

sarge-ak47 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:42:22 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Modern warfare 2 has taken a lot of my time.
In fact most if not all the PSN friends I have are now glued to the game. Then out of nowhere came New Super Mario Bros. a game that has brought back that good old 4 player offline magic of the N64 times. Trust me the game is addictive.
I can’t really comment on sales of the game and how it’s doing in direct competition to MW2 but I will say this – don’t pass it up!
As always click on the image for the full size deal.

Game Review: Game Party 3

sarge-ak47 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:09:31 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

19 hits! It reads...

Got no game…
I’ve always feared the day when I would come across a game that would be so terrible that its very existence would torment me. Maybe I am being a bit melodramatic but trust me when I say that Game Party 3 makes me very sad. You see a while back I wrote a good editorial piece about the Wii and how there are plenty of good games available for it. The main focus was to draw attention to stellar third party games and how they need our support if the Wii is to have a bright future. Game Party series makes it harder for any third party developer to actually make a decent game when publishers can see so much revenue created by this minimalist approach.

Yes I do sound pretty jaded and with good reason- I reviewed this title.

Gameplay
Do I really need to analyze the gameplay behind this title?
To be fair it has almost 19 games that all end up being some form of aiming with the IR, chucking your Wiimote, or waggling the Wiimote like a complete moron. Excitement is ever abundant in this title with such gems like skeeball, lawn darts, darts, puck bowling, shuffleboard, horseshoe toss, and a horrible game of shooting the hoops. Apparently there have been some unique additions such as bumper pool, croquet (no way), and whack a mole- aptly titled here as smack a troll.

Why did I even go and list these horrible renditions? Honestly I searched for some sort of silver lining in the gameplay department but to no avail. Besides the sheer variety of games there is nothing that is innovative or creative about the gameplay. The only thing the game can do well is have the IR sensor appear on screen as you navigate the main menu.

The games are broken down to six different categories: country club, lounge, rec room, sports zone, family fun, and backyard. Each category houses multiple games that take advantage of their respective theme.
Controls don’t perform as smoothly as they should and feel as if these games were designed before the Wii development kits ever arrived at Farsight studios. Try playing darts or any other title that requires precise motion and you will begin to hate your life.

What it boils down to are horrible games that are more fun in real life. Video games are supposed to make even the most mundane tasks seem fun and exciting but this game makes me want to call up my buddies to actually go to a backyard and toss some horseshoes and not in a good way. Maybe I can play a game of long darts and try and see if I can nail this game with something pointy. I just can’t talk about anything that works here in terms of gameplay. I have played free flash games that are more fun.

Amongst the utter mess of a game there is one thing I did like and that is how Game Party 3 has all the games from Game Party 1 and 2. What they forgot to do was to add something new to the old games (even a new control scheme would suffice) which truly stinks for the poor souls who bought the previous versions. But it is good to know that once you’ve played 3 you haven’t missed out on any of the previous games.

Lucky troll...

Graphics
The game has some decent menus and simple navigation that will deceive you . For a moment you tell yourself there would be no possibility that this would look like an N64 game upscaled to 480p. I’m sorry even N64 games like Banjo Kazooie look more fleshed out than this and that game is almost a decade old.

The characters look horrendous and have such horrible proportions to them that you wonder if the programming team had a crack at designing them. They look as stiff as they animate and it just gets worse from there. Seriously generic looking characters and some horrible environments that lack any style or inspiration litter the entire play experience. I don’t even know if they were going for a washed down cell shaded look because whatever they tried to achieve look to have failed.

Sound
The only thing this game has going for it is the fact that it actually has sound.
Music is forgettable and often times playing this title on mute may enhance the experience a tad bit.
Go play smack a troll and tell me you want to blast that in your home.

Replay
19 games that are accumulated from the previous two titles is the ONLY thing that might be considered a positive here. No online functionality and 1 to 4 player support means you have to crack this little gem out when the crowd is passed out from too much drinking. Pray your friends don’t remember anything about this game.
The fact remains that none of these game have received any visual or control upgrades which means you just paid too much for something that could have been bought for 3 bucks. I understand this is a budget title but you will still feel cheated.

What exactly makes this "Super" Hoop Shoot?

I played this title with my brother and he punched me in the arm and walked out of the room. He is my younger brother and I had to go buy him a game for sitting down and helping me review the multiplayer portion of Game Party 3. I don’t like buying games as a sign of apology.
The real challenge is having 4 sane people play this for over an hour.

Verdict.
This is a game designed to attack the poor parents who have no idea what to get for their family Wii.
This game preys on those poor souls who want some fun multiplayer game to enjoy with their friends and family but are not well adverse to gaming information you and I take for granted.

If you are ever around some loving parent and see them pick this up, do them a favor and warn them of the horrors that lie ahead. Please don’t play games like this on the Wii- not when games like Wii Sports, Mario Party, Deca Sports2, and countless other family friendly games exist. Do your research and avoid these crappy mini-games at budget prices.
I enjoyed absolutely nothing about this game and wonder why Warner Bros. Interactive even bothered continuing this sad legacy. The best thing about Game Party 3 is turning it off.

Gameplay      1/5
Graphics     0.5/5
Sound          0.5/5
Replay            1/5

Game Review: Deca Sports 2

sarge-ak47 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:45:32 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Wii got another sports game

There are enough sports compilation games out there for the Wii, in fact one could say the sheer numbers of them rival the GameCubes lifetime library. Tons of games that deliver a sub par experience and are hampered with control issues- a shame really considering the Wii is built on hassle free controls. Today I’m going to take a closer look at a title that at may be a departure from your average third party offering- Decca sports 2.

Lets hope they expand on this for the next one

You see analyzing sport compilation games, especially on the Wii is a hard pill to swallow. You have to keep telling yourself that this title might be decent enough to play but your experience tells you that the majority of times you will be stuck with an utter travesty of a game.

I’ll get right to the point, Decca Sports 2 is not that bad. In fact I would say it worth a shot and is a breath of fresh air in the stench of Wii Sport knock offs. What makes this title stand out are three simple things.
Firstly you have a game which has much better production values and almost seems like a homage to a sports channel. It is by no mean excellent but has enough of a design aesthetic to really carve an identity for itself.
Secondly the title houses 10 unique sporting events that have a couple of variations thrown into the mix and lastly this would be the first sports compilation game out there to be online (not all of the 10 games are playable online by the way). But is that all this title has going for it?

Gameplay
I won’t meticulously go over each of the ten sports and their gameplay controls but I will highlight all ten sports and talk in depth about what works and what doesn’t. You have: hockey, dodgeball, darts, tennis, speed skating, Motorbike road racing, synchronized swimming, mogul skiing, kendo, and the odd game of petanque.

nice ice

That is a lot of sport games and then you realize that the first game had just about the same number. Granted they were different sports but I wonder if they could have fit all the games from the first one, it wouldn’t be that hard either, overall the sporting events are an interesting bunch and some of which have never appeared on the Wii.

Control wise you will need just your Wiimote and nunchuck. The nunchuck makes uses of sports like dodgeball, hockey, speed skating, and mogul skiing. The rest ask you to use the Wiimote as is. Sadly there is no motion plus support here so if you were blown away by Tiger Woods and Grand Slam tennis then prepare to go back in time where true 1 to 1 motion did not exist.

It seems like a poor mans Mii editor. Notice the official Adidas logo!

Expanding on controls you will realize that they are very simple and for the most part understandably so. Road racing utilize the Wiimote held sideways, hockey has you shaking the Wiimote and using the directional stick for a pass, darts have the IR sensor point a cross hair at the board while you throw, and synchronized swimming has you shaking the Wiimote as if it is a rhythm game. Aside from speed skating and mogul skiing- which have you using the Wiimote and nunchuck to be shaken alternatively to get more speed thus straining your arms- the rest of the games have sensible control mechanics behind them. One gripe I had is how they handled Kendo which uses the Wiimote on its side and utilizes the D pad for movement, it just feels very constraint and clunky.

What works here are games like Hockey, Tennis, dodgeball, darts, and motorbike road racing. The simple reason why these sports work is how the core gameplay is utilized. Good controls and design lead to a game that you wouldn’t mind playing with your friends and even competing in single player leagues. They are simple enough but also have enough depth to be mastered.

Probably the most fun game on the disc

The online part is a bit misleading, you see not all of the ten sports make it online. You can only play dodgeball, hockey and tennis online. There are active leader boards and it won’t take you long to rise through the ranks considering it is based on how many skill points you nab, each win you receive skill points and every loss they are taken away from you. Single player is broken up into four sections – open play, league, tournament, and challenges. League play has you facing off against other AI leagues across all ten sports and does open up its options to national and global. Tournament on the other hand has you climbing the ladders for one particular sport. And then there are the challenges which take a particular aspect of one sport and create an event of it. A good example is hockey and taking out the goalie so it’s all about the shots or syncronized swimming and trying to perfect your rhythmic timing as you do breast strokes. The controls stay the same during these challenges but the gameplay may differ slightly.

There are no real incentives to doing the challenges or league modes aside from skill points and much needed practice. I hate to draw direct comparisons to Wii Sports but that title did set the bar. You don’t get to see a graphed approach of you skills nor are you treated to a medal collection that acknowledges you pro status. I just wanted something to compete for, something that would expand the blueprint laid out by Wii Sports. I loved playing Wii Sports alone and that is not something I can say for Deca Sports 2. Leader boards are a good start but there needs to be much more. Unlockable content would have created that motivational factor as well.

Hockey and tennis were extremely fun to play, both these titles had a tad bit of a learning curve (about 5 minutes of a curve) but once you got the hang of it these games wielded the most fun. Tennis had a huge emphasis of tossing and then timing your connection when serving. By allowing forward and backward movement at the sacrifice of not being able to track the ball you are thrown into a game of risk taking. Hockey on the other hand was the most arcady fun sport on the disc. Try scoring 7 goals in 20 seconds fun. Seriously reminded me of Wayne Gretzky 3D hockey. Sure it won’t stack up to NHL 2k10 on the Wii but it beats the hell out of their arcade pond hockey mode. Shooting thankfully was allocated to a button press first which makes passing then shooting a sublime experience.
Both tennis and hockey are not to be missed if you get a chance to play Deca Sports 2.

No mogul skiing is pretty sub par.. not good

Graphics
The game has its own look and feel but you can’t help but wonder if Nintendo refused them the right to use the Mii images in the first place. Sure you can create your own team as I did(Snake, Vegetta, Reiko, Taki and Jill from RE) but the title begs for Mii integration more than anything. Its stylistic (simple and clean) approach is akin to Wii sports but instead your avatars have fully connected arms and legs. You would be mistaken to think its visual fidelity is better than a two year old sports game; reality is that Wii Sports looks much better than this. Granted Deca veers into territory that the former has not – with indoor arenas, race tracks, and an ice rink- and it does an impressive job at creating a lively environment filled with clever replay snippets and all but in the end it still falls a bit short visually. What hurts this title even more is the fact that most of the character animations are stiff and choppy. It is a sad realization to see some of these character move around like it were the early years of the N64. Sure sports like Tennis, Hockey, and Motorbike road racing are decent enough; the rest however fall miserably short and pull you out of immersion. On a cool note Adidas is a sponsor and you’ll be glad to see their brand of striped sports gear.
There are nice subtle effects like blur and some particle magic on the slopes but nothing to go crazy about.

Sound
Sound is fairly well done with a great intro and menu theme that might just get stuck in your head. Each sport often carries its own music and for the most part they sound like hybrid techno mixes. It strangely does a great job of keeping the intense competitive feel. There is no voice acting and the lack of an announcer does really hurts.
The characters for the most part are mute and don’t even have any authentic reaction sounds.
It is a standard job that could have been something much more.

I want more motorbikes

Replay
Well there is very little incentive to play this one alone. With no progress charting or different achievement style trophies to unlock your pretty much left just beating the computer AI- which has multiple difficulties thankfully. I do like the fact that there are multiple environments for a couple of the sports and the teams aspect adds to the competitive feel. I love the multiplayer as these games are meant to be played with people. Crack this open in a party and you will surly love darts and pentaque while titles like tennis and hockey may take a bit of practice but can yield the most fun multiplayer experiences. The online system is a small let down by not having all sports playable but once you see how intuitive and simple it is to get online you will begin to see the workings of what I assume will be a stellar system in Deca Sports 3. I mean you have the friend codes still but now you have the option to join various rooms and play either quick or custom matches which is a big accomplishment for the Wii. Online play was smooth and refreshingly fast paced. Of our sessions we once came across a bit of slow down while playing dodgeball. Hockey ran smoothly and so did Tennis. Heck I competed against Hudson Entertainment (for the record hockey was a tie, dodgeball I won as well as tennis- cuz andPOP got real gamers!). It may be hard during some times of the day to play anyone online but blame the lack of people connected. With the exception of Brawl and Tiger Woods every online game on the Wii has atrocious wait times.

Replay in the end will be measured by how much you play this game with your friends and online, this is not meant to be played by yourself.

Verdict
Look at it this way, this title can be found for under 35 bucks, has ten sports games and utilizes simple controls that are essential for multiplayer. Its versions of hockey and tennis are actually deeper and dare I say evolutionary in some respects. I will actually say that playing hockey reminded me of the good old days of Gretzky 3D hockey- and that’s a big complement- nowhere else could you score 2 goals with7 seconds left on the clock except here and Gretzky!
Deca Sports 2 even houses an interesting take on Tennis with a deeper emphasis on serving. This title for its price point and value is worth a look. It may even be good enough for your kid sibling. It’s no Wii Sports but Deca Sports 2 is probably as close as any developer has gotten so far.

Of all the 3rd party sports compilations this stands heads and shoulders above the rest but just below Wii Sports.

Gameplay 3/5
Graphics     2/5
Sound      2.5/5
Replay        3/5

Mass Effect 2 Collectors’ Edition

sarge-ak47 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:32:05 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

The collectors set

The most anticipated scifi game will finally be released January 26 2010 in North America. As is the standard these days, a collectors edition has already been announced.
The Mass Effect 2 Collectors’ Edition comes in a tin case, a beautiful 48 page hardcover “Art of Mass Effect 2″ book, Mass Effect Redemption comic book, and a bonus DVD with the making of videos.
Adding to the mix are going to be exclusive armor and weapons that cannot be purchased anywhere else.
This remarkable set will retail for $69.99 on the Xbox 360 and $59.99 for the PC.
If you ask me this is one sweet deal.

Activision to donate portion of Modern Warfare 2 sales for a worthy cause

sarge-ak47 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:29:03 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Activision Blizzard created an organization for charity called Call of Duty Endowment to help veterans combat unemployment. Endowment will direct resources to organizations helping soldiers transition to civilian careers.
The organization is created with a goal to raise and donate millions of dollars and help raise awareness of veterans unemployment. A portion of Modern Warfare 2 sales will go directly to CODE and since the game has already been a runaway hit it is safe to assume they are on their way to making a difference.

Gaming at a Glance: What you should be playing

sarge-ak47 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:20:03 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

I drew this.. really I did!

Hello readers, it has been a while since I’ve gone on a rant. Truth be told I have been thinking of different ideas to write about. I figured since most sites talk about what is out these days and what our dear readers played, I will go the opposite route in a segment called “What you should be playing”.

The idea is to look at whats been happening around us in the wild world of video games and then pull out a title from the past(or future if possible) and tell you why a certain game is worth your time and money.

Take Halloween for example, all the horror movies around you and the constant imagery of ghoulish characters would make you want to play a good horror game right? YES!
Hey I’m not asking you to conform! Just suggesting that with the themes around us what game takes the best advantage of that.

So if Halloween is about scary things (and candy)then a good horror game is due right? Right!
Halloween just passed I thought I would give out my person take on what you should be playing..er..should have played.

Scary games are a dime a dozen these days but finding a good one is a hard task indeed. Fall has always been an odd season in my book, just the dreary atmosphere can be quite suited for staying inside and playing a good game.
What you should be playing this week is a good scary game just because Halloween is over doesn’t mean your scary game quest should be. Here are my picks

1 Dead Space – PS3/XBOX 360/PC- released October 14 2008
This was my game for Halloween last year! Quite possibly one of the most scary games out there.
The graphics and production values are second to none, developed by the fine folks at Visceral games, Dead Space had a crew respond to a distress signal aboard the USG Ishimura – a large interstellar mining ship.

Those creatures are messed up.

You take on the role of an engineer name Isaac Clarke who arrives to find most of the ship abandoned and eerily quite. Turns out most of the crew have been stricken by a virus that turns them into monsters known as necromorphs. this virus has some occult origins and soon enough it is your task to go through this insanely large vessel and reactivating its key functions as well as trying to decipher what went horribly array.
The mood and ambiance of this game is just amazing. Truly playing this alone in the dark (after 1 am) with the sound turned way up is scarier than any horror movie out there. Whats even more cool is that you end up utilizing mining equipment as weapons to take out these truly hideously freaky creatures. Think a head shot will stop them? Think again. Dead Space builds on what Resident Evil 4 started, by decapitating their dangerous limbs you have a better chance of killing them.

Notice how the ammo count is an in game hologram

This is a true Scifi horror game- it almost feels like a dreary version of event horizon. Tons of enemies and an amazing variety of locations aboard the ship will leave you at the edge of your seat. This is survival horror at its best.
You can probably pick it up for real cheap these days since it has been a year old.

Tons of tense momments.

It is all these factors combined with a smart HUD that increases the level of immersion and forces you to be compelled by this beautiful title.
Go get this!

2. Resident Evil 4- GameCube, PS2,Wii edition(recommend) Jan 11 2005 & May 31 2007

Yea I've heard of Lord of the rings, whats your point?

Maybe you don’t want the full blown horror and want a bit of action in your gameplay. Or maybe you just don’t care for futuristic settings and weaponry. The RE series has been the true innovators of horror games and the fourth installment is a series is quite possibly the best. With a new over the shoulder view a better inventory system and some truly interactive environments this is the horror game that inspired a whole lot of next gen shooters.

You know this was actually toned down for the Japanese version.

Would you believe Cliffy B of Gears of war fame was in love with this installment so much that it is one of the games that inspired the critically acclaimed shooter.

It is true, RE 4 was a last gen title that played out like a next gen game. It had some of the most atmospheric environments ever seen in any game, dreary villages, murky swamp lands, Gothic castles, ambient cavers- the list can go on and on. The visuals still hold up today as a testament to the artistry at Capcom. Compared to this, RE 5 is a step backwards. This title had copious amount of gore and horror packed into it and an action packed campaign that lasted almost 16 hours. RE4 is the best Resident Evil in the series if not the genre of survival horror. So why don’t you revisit this gem? Play it again! If you haven’t? Where have you been for the last 5 years? Go now and play this!

Your numbers mean nothing to my rocket launcher

So which version you ask? The Cube version may be the original but I will tell you nothing compares to the Wii edition. Not only does it pack the additional content of the PS2 port of the game (released after the Cube version) It retains the stunning look of the Cube version. Oh and did I mention it uses the IR sensor and revolutionizes your aiming? Well it does!
RE4 is still the gold standard for action horror games

Honorable mentions
Hey those two up there are my personal picks, but if you don’t want to dive into them because they don’t tickle your interest then how about renting Dead Space Extraction for Wii- a co op on rails shooter take on the franchise that isn’t as scary as it is action packed. Not that? Then try out Resident Evil, the remake version for the GameCube (Now out for the Wii as well)This remake takes that old formula and uses some of the most realistic pre rendered backgrounds ever. Truly awe inspiring! Or maybe go with a game that has the autumn theme going for it like Batman Arkham Asylum, it’s one of the biggest and best surprises of this year. Truly excellent title that even has a couple of chilling moments.

Either way GO FORTH AND PLAY!

Outer Panel Haven. 20

sarge-ak47 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:49:39 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

I woke up at 6 am to realize the comic I was working on was left at a friends house.
This comic is time sensitive, so I decided to do what is the fastest recreation ever.
Forget my terrible art, know it was done in less than 30 minutes.
The point of the comic is important, since tomorrow is officially Modern Warfare 2 day!
For some reason there are people playing the game all too early thanks to a couple of retailers.
These retailers will do anything to get you to buy games from them. Anything.

Enjoy!
Oh and next week expect a MUCH better comic.

Click on the image for the full sized glory.

Game Review: Scooby Doo! First frights

sarge-ak47 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:41:15 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Oh Scooby what are you searching for?

A trick or a treat?

With Halloween just passed I can’t get enough of scary games. You see last year my friends and I all got together and played Dead Space for the PS3. Sure it was a single player experience but we took turns and only played the game after 1 am every Friday leading up to Halloween. It was an insanely fun experience.

This year I got Scooby-Doo! First frights for the Wii. Now it’s no Dead Space but if you think back to when you were a kid(like 6 to10) I’m sure you wanted a slight chill of Halloween and not the full blown horror we all seek these days.

Gameplay
Scooby Doo! First frights is developed by Torus Studios and comes out for the Wii and DS. The main quest is broken down into four episodes with each containing upwards of four levels to complete.

The best way to describe it is linear progression with a heavy dose of collecting Scooby snacks. Along the way expect to search for clues fight bosses and beat up countless baddies, it’s standard stuff, nothing here is really inventive nor innovative. That would not be a bad thing if the gameplay mechanics were solid, sadly they turn out to be more of a chore. Linear levels with tons of invisible walls are a bad start but then to add hordes of mindless enemies that are as fun to beat up as a bag of sand is just adding to the frustration. The combat mechanics are simple enough with two attack buttons and a charge up, it will get boring really fast unless you use Daphne-who does a Liu Kang bicycle kick! Now I was a big fan of the original cartoon and its half baked attempts in solving puzzles and piecing together clues yet those moments in the game are relegated to bashing items around an area to literally find “puzzle” pieces that become a clue item. I understand this is supposed to be a kids game but maybe a little more effort could have been made in creating something that could channel the spirit of the cartoons. A bit of point and click or other exploration elements in finding clues would have been amazing.

Man up Fred! You can learn a thing or two from Daphne

The other problem is with the actual platforming and camera. The game relies on a fixed camera that gives you a three quarters view from above and is relatively functional for the most part. The game however has this nasty tendency of going into a 2D view angle for some of these platform areas and often times it is just a bad choice. Especially since most of the platforming elements tend to go into the Z axis. The characters don’t seem to be designed with platforming in mind either since they jump and move in a very loose manner. This makes for some truly messy platforming.

To add to the plethora of game play experiences are the obligatory chase scenes that play out like the old Crash Bandicoot sequences, it seem the people at Torus are fans of Naughty Dog. These sequences for the most parts are fun and feel right at home in Scooby Doo!

In terms of controls the game does a decent job of keeping things simple and fun- you can play with the nunchuck or even the classic controller. I played with the Wii mote and nunchuck where you can jump with the A button and perform attacks with the B button. Your characters special moves are assigned to the Z button and C lets you switch between the two characters in each level. You can do the classic butt stomp by double jumping and pressing attack. Certain characters like shaggy can even reflect projectiles with their special attack button. The character swap mechanic isn’t as deep as you would think since it’s relegated to simple level navigation. Now here is where the context sensitive moments come in – pressing Z lets your specific character do their special ability. Scooby can go through doggy doors, Shaggy uses a Yo-Yo to swing and hit switches, Fred can push and pull large objects, Velma can hack computer switches, and Daphne can shimmy across pipes to reach far away areas. These elements help the gameplay but are not used enough or cleverly implemented. Now you wouldn’t have to do all that switching if you play co op but trust me the only way I would play co op is if my young cousin wanted help with the atrocious platforming. Again the game at its core is very simple and at times the same mindless set of actions are repeated level after level. The game after all is very linear.

Wasn't this a Loony Toons gag?

Is there a silver lining? Sure there is! The game uses costumes not as a skin but actually changes your characters visual functionality. Take Shaggy as an example, he has a space suit costume that shoots out laser blasts instead of his standard slingshot and double jumping activates the jet pack. Granted the functionality isn’t enough to be called an upgrade but I just adore the details. Then there is the solving of the mystery; you see whilst playing the episode you meet the locals of the area and by the episode’s end you have to decide of the three people you meet who was behind all the shenanigans. Choose the wrong one and there are no consequences but just having them in a line up and kids guessing “who done it?” is a nice touch.
It is small feature that makes me smile.

Graphics
In terms of production values the game is certainly packing some heat and the graphics aren’t that bad. Sure it uses low polygonal designs cleverly to create a very stylized look but you will be amazed at the versatility of the engine. Some of the stuff in this game is truly exceptional, the ambient lighting and some of the skyline vistas are just beautiful. The same could be said in the diversity of scary locations as this game skips all the typical settings and creates some truly inspired locations-granted they aren’t original settings but they are different from the usual mix of haunted mansions.

The character animations are decent but some of the important animations like jumping look as stiff as they are to control. It is evident that this is a last gen game but they try their best to deliver. The indoor areas are always littered with tons of geometry and often times you may be forgiven to try and check out an object that ends up behind an invisible wall. Again I was really impressed with some of the background work- just play the second episode that has you jumping on parade balloons to get to the toy factory and tell me you weren’t a tad bit surprised.
The entire cast of Mystery Inc has been wonderfully recreated in their adolescent form, adding to that some unlockable costumes and you have a title that will try it’s best to keep things visually interesting.

Looks like you are on your own Shaggy

I’m actually in love with the intro and menu screen since it seems to be inside a small cottage with Scooby and Shaggy, just the movement around the cottage is nothing new but it goes a long way to say that the devs made sure to keep the feeling of the series alive in every visual aspect. This game won’t win any awards for its visual fidelity but it does do a great job and packs amazing production values that we have rarely seen on the Wii (aside from the stellar first party games).

Sound
The game has the standard music selection that compliments each area very appropriately, the cinematic showcases great voice acting with the help of classic canned laughter. Sadly these do not make it into the actual gameplay where we are treated with repeated taunts by our heroes and some incredibly annoying grunts by the baddies.
I really was expecting a lot out of the audio portion of the game to enhance the cartoon’s feel but it does an ok job and nothing more. Compliments again to the cinematic voice acting with canned laughter- just make sure there is more of that in the actual game.

Replay
With about four episodes and four levels each- it’s a good kids game that is over in about 5 to 6 hours. Even young kids who have played their share of video games will manage to finish this with relative ease.
Unlockable costumes and trophies are a nice addition but fail to offer anything beyond an aesthetic change. There isn’t a whole lot motivating you to play again.

Verdict
I have to keep telling myself that this is a kids game and I then catch myself wondering if as a kid would have enjoyed this. For a scary theme game First frights does a very decent job with particularly stellar production values but it is when we take the scary theme and cartoon license away do we see the core gameplay and how it relies heavily on its license. For every great production value related moment we are treated to some mind numbing gameplay. A rental for the fans and maybe a buy for that little kid who can’t wait to play Dead space when he is old enough (yes let’s try and enforce the rating system people).

Gameplay      2/5
Graphics        3/5
Sound         2.5/5
Replay        2.5/5

Outer Panel Haven. 19

sarge-ak47 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:38:58 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

So I and many others I know have been glued to Uncharted 2 for the last couple of days. The game is simply amazing and unlike anything you have ever seen. This made me think of the common misconception the title often receives, I mean don’t get me wrong, it certainly has some of the best inspirations behind it, however Nathan Drake and his tales are much closer to the movie Romancing the Stone than say, Indiana Jones.
Don’t even get me started on Tomb Raider comparisons, the game just can’t compete. I honestly never think of Tomb Raider whilst playing since it’s a whole different beast.

Anyhow this was fun since I got to sketch Harrison Ford from a reference pic and tried my best with Lara.
Drake was hard to nail down without it looking too cheesy. In the end I opted for a real pic just because I wanted to give that “head and shoulders” above feel. Plus it just made my work easier.
And in all honesty just try and imagine telling Drake himself of that- I think his response would be something similar.
Click on the image for the full sized version
Enjoy!

Forza Motorsport 3 hits retail

sarge-ak47 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:17:04 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

I’ve said it once and I will say it again, this is the year of the racing game. Sure not all the big contenders made landfall this year but we have seen more then enough racing games hit store shelves. But it’s not until this past Tuesday did one of the heavy hitters make its long awaited debut.
Forza Motorsport 3 was released October 27th, 2009 nationwide. The hotly anticipated racer was crafted by the fine folks at Turn 10 and features over 400 cars with 100 tracks to race on. Think that’s all? Well how does downloadable content from day one sound? That’s right, the game comes out and just like that new content is readily available with the promise of more to come.

Forza Motorsport 3 is the game for car lovers, you don’t have to be a good driver to enjoy this sim game since it has community support for every facet from art to tuning. Believe me this truly is a remarkable game with an online racing system unlike any on the market.
Go out and get it!

Countdown to Forza Motorsport 3: Interviewing the Devs.

sarge-ak47 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:30:44 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Forza 3-out Oct 27 2009!

Our interview with Turn 10′s Korey Krausskopf on Forza Motorsport 3 and how it might just be the best racing game of the year.

We had tons of hands on time with the game and can’t wait to
review it, in the mean time be sure to check up and see our impressions leading up to the launch and review of the game.

andPOP- We are a media site so I’ll start with a “Pop culture” question, if Forza Motorsport 3 were a celebrity who would it be?

Turn10- Hmm.. You would have to take Stephen Hawking with some kind of super model, its deep yet pretty.

andPOP- For our music audience at andPOP if Forza were a band or any musician what would it be?

Turn 10- Tough question because we kind of got a mix of European Techno you have to include some German Industrial and then you probably have a bit of pop.

andPOP- Sort of like Dream Theater?

Turn 10- Yea! That works! Ok I’ll go with that! haha Dream Theater. Maybe not quite but I’ll go for it.(laughter)

andPOP- Focusing on the game, I was really blown away with the design elements of Forza 3. I love the new look and feel of the game, was this after receiving feedback on Forza Motorsport 2 that made the team take this new visual direction?

The new clean "show room" look

Turn 10- Not necessarily, people were ok with the design aesthetics of Forza 2. We looked at that and said hmm.. this feels cluttered, it feels busy- a little bit too “gamey”.
And so we asked what kind of experience we want people to have with Forza3? We wanted people to get in here and just geek out on our cars -love their cars- so we wanted to created a way that people could get in and look at cars- experience how beautiful it is and not be cluttered with other stuff.
This really clean design aesthetic was inspired by high end showrooms. Looking at how they showcase their cars, following their brochures, seeing how they present their cars there – High end cars- seeing how they use a lot of negative space.
So here is your focal element for what you are looking at, it’s clean, it’s wide, it’s polished, now we got the vision of what we want to go towards and so we made it happen.

andPOP- There are a lot of things that define Forza but for me what stood out was the ability to have that unique customizable experience.
It’s funny once I was reading an article (on IGN) in regards to online and Nintendo’s online plan(Back during the GameCube era) and they discussed some gamers online in the first Forza that had The Legend of Zelda designs on their cars. It felt almost as if the community- still very alive offline- graduated and expressed their inspirations through a more online centric console. Has that(creative customization) always been the defining element specially in creating the first Forza title. I don’t see much of that in other racers, sure there is tuning but nothing so visually deep.

Turn 10- If you look at our tag line for the first game which is “You are what you race”.

It was all about getting a car and making it yours by asking what do you want this car to be? What does it say about your personality? Are you going to beef this thing up to be a torque force/power monster? Or are you going to make a sleek performance machine that takes turns elegantly and gracefully? What you race says a lot about you and so from the get go personalization was huge. So painting it the way you want it to, personalize it,they ability to upgrade it, and tune it.
In every version we try and step back and ask how we are realizing that vision. Our rally and cry for this version was enable car lovers to be gamers and gamers to be car lovers. That is still around the same ideals of experiencing the game the way you want to. It is very much about personalization.

andPOP- Now with the second iteration there was this blog post I used to follow on IGN where you guys would write about the design experience. I was very impressed with the Sound design of the game.

Turn 10- Ah!

andPOP- Were you using some of the old stuff or was it a begin from scratch?

Turn 10- So this is great! Anytime we get to take people on a tour of our studio we talk about how we get our hands on one of these cars and end up getting it up on a dyno, where we would place eight microphones around it and run this thing up to the red line -get all the real sound out of it.
We capture that raw and keep that forever because we would want to go back to those files, we know how that car sounds then we mix it so it works well with our physics system but at its base it’s still that real car.
At our studio we have in the corner a bunch of these ugly looking pipes just stacked up against the wall and they’re pretty tall -six to eight feel tall pipes- people ask what sort of modern sculpture is this? But when you look at them closely they’re all tagged with car names on it like WRX etc. This is because to really get the sound characteristics out of the car we not only want to hear what it sounds like as stock but we want to hear its upgrades, so we do things such as bolt on a straight pipe and see what that sounds like. So we have all these cars with these pipes that were created just for that. Slap on a straight pipe to the exhaust and you get this totally rich sound and that’s one of the many ways we capture the sound of as many cars as we possibly can.

andPOP- Now this has been labeled the year of the racing game. I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of comparisons and what not but what sets you apart in terms of non gameplay? What do you see Forza offer that your competition does not address?

The game ran smoothly at 60fps

Turn 10- So a lot of racing games will chose once specific experience like Need for Speed shift. They say – this is the racer experience- as close as you can get to be an actual race car driver. I think they do a really good job delivering that experience. Forza focuses more on -we are going to give you a way to experience everything you want to about cars- this is about car passion, connecting with cars, its about the fact that if I am not a fantastic racer I can still have a good time with this car. We have people who will buy Forza and never race in the game, instead they spend their time painting cars and making beautiful works of art then posting them online and that’s how they want to experience their cars. We got people who are tuners and maybe are not the best racers in the world but they can tune a car like its nobody’s business. There people who are drifters who don’t care about who is fastest from point A to B; what they care about is stylistic driving and making a really cool experience for people to look at and ask how did you do that?

andPOP- So maybe you’re thinking about more of an online community experience because I don’t see a community feature in most racing games like this. I could just be doing art and design and still be connected.

Turn 10- Exactly, so now we’ve added in the director mode so if you were to make a really awesome movie about forza now you can. Get eight players together orchestrate the race. Say you wanted to go like this- maybe create some drama moments or tension moments or maybe you want people to race in this manner, then you can capture it choose your own camera angles and pick your clips that you want to showcase. You can export them into movies and splice them all together once you got them created. So that’s another way people can say- I got a unique way of experiencing this stuff so I want to share it with the world.

andPOP- Now is there a download content to expand the video capture/editor? Are there any upgrades planned in that specific area?

Turn 10- Not yet, we are very focused right now to get the game out. After we ship the game much of the people are going to take some time off. Then we are all about the content you will get on day one as there were a couple of cars and tracks that we couldn’t ship with the game. From there its about what do we want to ship next? Sure we have over 400 cars but there are always new cars that people want. There is the 2010 and 2011 models and cars that have not been announced yet. We will go find those- create them in the game so people will always have something new to play with. Anything regarding online or even editors is up in the air because we have to see what the community demands first. A lot of things that we put in the game comes from feedback we received. You know people saying, this was great but I wish you had this or this is fine but you can improve it this way. So we look at it and go yeah! You’re right! We ask ourselves, can we do that? Then figure out a way to make it happen.

art in motion

andPOP- W have heard a lot about dynamic weather thrown into racing games these days. I’m not seeing dynamic weather being implemented in the simulation racer area but I want to know what’s your take on dynamic weather?

Turn 10- Dynamic weather is something we always look at, we go how can we do this? It’s dramatic! It’s a cool moment and you go wow look at all that rain and lightening. But it always comes down to priorities, you can’t do absolutely everything, so we focus back on the core reason of what you want to be doing in the game. One of those priorities this time was to make it as beautiful as we could and that meant we had to handcraft every experience people were going to have on the track. So any track you chose or any car you take will be an amazing experience since you can get to it as close as you want to it. It’s a fully immersible experience because we focus so much on hand crafting everything.
If you’re going to add in dynamic weather then it’s a trade off. Now we have to look at if the weather changes you have to make sure the track can support that in every aspect. We prioritized by making a beautiful-visual and mechanical- experience over that.
Not to say that is not something we don’t want- we would absolutely love to do dynamic weather, it’s just a question of trade offs.

andPOP- Now is there talk at Turn 10 about expanding into any other motor sports such as bikes?

I wish that were my car..

Turn 10- Before we announced Forza 3 people who were playing Forza 2 were wondering what’s Turn 10 doing next? Rumors got so big that we announced we were doing Forza Watersports! We posted pictures of water simulation we had going for one of our tracks. So what we did is take out the whole track and just show a car floating above water.. yea Forza Water sports! But that was just all in good fun.
Our team is built out of people who really connect with cars, not to say that’s all they do. So like myself , I will never be a great tuner because I don’t know cars as deep as some of these people do. But we have really built our studio around the love of cars, connection with cars, passion of cars, so that’s the core of what our studio is. As far as what we do in the future, we got people who are in the studio who race motorcycles semi professionally (some even professionally) and their always wondering why don’t we do something with Motorcycles? We have people with all kinds of different aspects to them, so you find some stuff makes it into the game such as people on staff who are amazing photographers – it’s their passion-they formed our photo mode in the game and outlined what they needed in the game to take good pictures. In that way even though we made our studio on the love of cars, there are lots of things we can still do.

andPOP- Alright my final question, we all know there are many conventional game influences in Forza, but what I want to know is there any unconventional games or ideas that were a huge influence on this third itiration? Anything outside the norm of racing games?

Turn 10- Yea! Absolutely! First off Dan Greenwall, who is the design director for Forza Motorsport at Turn 10, he sets a lot of the experiences we want gamers to walk away with- to turn gamers into car lovers and car lovers into gamers. So some of the things we wanted to do in the game we kind of ran out of inspiration from games in general and so we had to look elsewhere. For the community aspect of the game we had to look to inspirations such as eBay, twitter, facebook, and ask how do you build a rich community app? These are paradigms that really didn’t exist in games and thus we were inspired by how well some of these things work. Asking questions like,what makes them successful? Why do these succeed where others have failed? What are the key elements of design we can pull from and put into Forza? So thats what we looked at.

andPOP- Thank you very much for the interview! We at andPOP are very excited for the game!