Exploring Stuff That Makes Life Great
The Wachowskis faced a bit of criticism for their sub-average Speed Racer. This was pretty disappointing from the guys behind V for Vendetta and of course, the The Matrix series. It looks like the Wachowskis are willing to strike back, and they’re doing it with a movie that should in all respects, be as awesome as its title hints: Ninja Assassin.
Oh yeah. Hit the jump (except all you pirate-lovers).
In Part I, we covered the games whose release dates we knew for sure. Now it’s time to head into the more obscure territory, by covering the games whose quarters we know, but not their release dates.
Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
Genre: Driving/Racing
Mario Kart Wii is, well, the Wii version of the ultra-famed Mario Kart series that you must know if you call yourself a gamer. A new system of balancing things out between newbies and experts will be featured, along with an online racing mode. Also of note is the Wii Wheel that will be packaged with the game – yet another Wii accessory to make you look silly in front of your TV. As for the rest – It’s Mario Kart! Hop in and have fun!
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Clear Sky is the prequel to the surprise hit of this year, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. Clear Sky will explain a lot of things that happened before SoC, as its protagonist is one of the reasons why the radioactive world of Chernobyl is the way it is. An armour/weapon upgrade system and improved AI has been promised, as well as a very atmospheric environment. A must-buy if you’ve played and liked Shadow of Chernobyl.
Worms: A Space Oddity (Wii)
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy (Action elements)
The Wii’s serving of the legendary Worms series takes us back to its 2D roots as our beloved Worms continue their eternal war in a brand new setting – space! A brand new interface, multiplayer and six different planets to play on are up for grabs. If you’ve never played the fantastically addictive Worms series of games before, this seems to be as good a place to start as any, especially with its unique Wii controls.
Sins of a Solar Empire (PC)
Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Perhaps winning the award for the most unique title of 2008, Sins of a Solar Empire is a sci-fi RTS that will feature seamless, real-time integration of epic strategy and close-up strategy. This means that you can check out your massive ships in space and zoom in to see your individual units, vehicles etc., all in real time! You also get to conquer planets, moons and the like, while the game’s impressive new engine is touted to be able to render lots and lots of space bodies. This might be a surprise hit in the RTS field, folks!
Frontlines: Fuel of War (PC, XBOX 360, PS3)
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Frontlines takes us to a near-future where an all-too-predictable war for natural resources (specifically fuel) has begun, causing chaos across the world. You must fight for your nation to find and defend fuel in this title! The game’s specialty will be its large-scale conflicts, which should make war more realistic than a dozen soldiers on each side fighting it out. A lot of depth in gameplay can be seen here, which makes this one first-person shooter you want to look into.
To view the large Quarter II and the other two quarters, hit the jump, babeh!
2007 has been a very good year for the gaming industry, with dozens of spectacular titles that we shall play for quite a while. StuffWeLike has decided to compile a list of games we should expect for 2008. With this year being so great and all, we hope the next will be equally exciting and we aren’t wholly disappointed (yet)!
In Part I, we cover the games whose release dates have been announced and hopefully will not be delayed. Of course, we may have missed a few games here and there. If so, be sure to tell us in the comments! So here’s Part I!
[Update #2]
We would like to mention here that “Half-Life 3” is speculation, as we only have confirmation that Half-Life 2: Episode 3 will not be the last Half-Life game. It has been confirmed previously that Episode 3 will end the current Half-Life story arc, but not the franchise, nor the episodic medium.
There is perfect chance that there will be a series of episodic Half-Life games after Episode 3 (but unconnected to the current story arc). Then again, we cannot deny the possibility of a full-fledged title like Half-Life 3. Hell, for all we know, it might even be a prequel!
[Update]
We have had a number of comments wanting a confirmation of our sources. While this should not be required, the writing credits of the StuffWeLike.com staff can be confirmed. The writer of this piece Ted Stokes is the main game reviewer for Ireland’s main PC magazine PC Live! In the magazine’s current issue he has an interview with Assassin’s Creed Producer Jade Raymond.
The Founder and Editor of StuffWeLike.com, David Rodriguez, is known for his contributions to the independent video game community with his indie game publisher Packom Interactive. He has distributed several titles such as Ethereal Darkness Interactive‘s Morning’s Wrath and Wadjet Eye Games‘ The Blackwell Legacy.
StuffWeLike.com was created back in 2002 as a website that dissects and entertains the internet generation.
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[Original Post]
In an exclusive interview we at StuffWeLike.com have had official confirmation that there will be a Half Life 3.We are not talking about Half Life 2: Episode 3 but a Half Life title after that one.
Our confirmation comes after taking with Doug Lombardi the guy responsible for all those PR pieces you have seen and read recently about Half Life 2: Episode 2. While discussing the game mechanics that run the Orange Box Portal game the topics of future games came up. These interview pieces are below and we do have permission from Valve to release it to you guys. Even though its not much in terms of details even getting a confirmation that there will be another game is a first!
TS-SWL: With the ending of Episode 2 going directly to help the feeling of “must play Episode 3 now” could you give the current estimated date for Episode 3’s release?
DL: We haven’t announced a date for Ep Three just yet.
TS-SWL: Are there any current plans after Episode 3 to have a Half Life 3?
DL: We haven’t announced anything specific, but Half-Life won’t end at Episode Three – hang on to your crowbars!
TS-SWL: For Portal, can you explain in layman’s terms how the engine allows the mechanics to make it so you can go from one point to another? Does it duplicate the room after a portal location is selected or is it something else?
DL: A portal is two planar rectangles in 3D space. When both portals are placed we build a mathematical formula that converts position and angle values from one portal to the other. Rendering the portal is done in a separate pass where we use that formula to covert the player’s view position and angles to the view they see through the portal.
We also generate special collision data to represent the portal hole by grabbing collision data near each portal, combining them, and carving a rectangular whole through the center. When the player is near the portal they use this collision data instead of the standard data, allowing them to pass through the wall. We then use the conversion formula to teleport the player to the proper position after they’ve gone more than halfway through the portal.
It’s of course a lot more complex than that, but that’s the basic idea.
[Extra Reading]
The UT3 beta demo is something of a mixed bag. It gives you everything you would expect from the old UT games with the closed in environments and a few larger ones. The game play feels more like UT 1 than the yearly update versions with its quick pace but the demo does feel like its cut in two. The larger maps feel like they have had parts of the HUD taken from other games, messed about with and then ruined. The smaller non vehicle game areas are much better and faster paced giving exactly what you would expect.
The beta demo has a usual file size for this kind of game but the interesting thing is when trying to connect to servers there are a lot of phantom ones listed. This means most likely you will end up playing against the AI and its one of those cases where the AI seems to know exactly where everything is and has a single purpose of targeting just you and ignoring your team mates on the vehicle map.
Is the beta demo worth trying? Yes. If you like the quick Quake style multiplayer then the demo will keep you busy. If you approach your FPS’ more like a strategy player, slow and calculated then this will not be too your liking.
Remember, this should not be considered a review of the full game just an opinion on the PC beta demo.
With the summer blockbuster season over the studios have now started releasing trailers quietly for their next releases. Even though November is just around the corner some films are just having the trailer release now
While we cannot know if the films will be great or just plain rubbish until they come out below are some of the big and small movies and ones to watch until March 08. Since everyone and his dog should have seen the great Iron Man trailer that has been left out this time.
We have every trailer except for Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead in The Pipeline below.Click here to watch Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead’s trailer.
Jumper – Aliens vs. Predator:2 – Be Kind Rewind – I am Legend – Southland Tales
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