Yes you read that right, Twisted Metal 2 for PC! I was surprised when I found out recently that one of my favorite PlayStation franchises made it's way to the Windows platform 11 years ago. As far as PC games go and as far as ports of hugely popular titles, this one is apparently quite uncommon to find these days. According to what I've read, Sony was afraid that their then popular but not dominating PlayStation platform, would potentially lose sales if the game was offered on more than one system. So shortly after release, they yanked the title and ceased printing. Did it work? Well TM2 sold over 2 million copies worldwide on the PS1, who's to say if PC sales would have affected it in the long run?
So to get right down to it, this would be considered an enhanced port. While the gameplay, design, graphics and sound are very similar to the console version, it does have the advantage of, in some cases, improved textures and vastly improved anti-aliasing. The greatly improved smoke and fire effects are the most obvious things that stand out. So much so in fact that they almost look too good as far as matching the rest of the game. Being able to significantly raise the resolution on a PC monitor definitely has it's advantages over the PlayStation, even the PS2's smoothing filter doesn't match what the PC version does standard. Soundwise, the game is virtually identical to it's console counterpart in every way, even right down to the menu effects and music.
Having spent many hours on the PS1 version, I can safely say I'm qualified to compare it's control to the PC version for you enthusiasts out there. The button mapping for the keyboard or a game controller has everything you'd want for a title in it's day but while playing, I find the game feels a bit more floaty controlling the vehicles, even the more nimble ones like Mr. Grimm.
As for gameplay, if you haven't at least played a Twisted Metal game once in the last 13 years, where have you been hiding? Seriously though, it's basically the same as the PlayStation version. Vehicular combat with exotic weapons and unique vehicles set in arenas and vastly different locales around the world. Addictive, colourful and fast!
Now here's where the PS1 and the PC versions part ways: multiplayer. Where the PlayStation had 1 or 2 player gameplay, the PC version has 1-8. Unfortunately, due to the game's age and it's availability, I wasn't able to easily jump into a player match as of the time of this writing. I will say however that there are small groups of hardcore fans out there keeping the game alive, and using the Kaillera client for network play. You can also run it on modern machines without too much hassle. I personally have tested it on Windows XP SP2 using a user-made patch that makes small improvements and changes and also using by using Win95 compatibility mode unpatched (though it was a bit less stable than with the easily downloaded patch).
So there you have it, a popular, memorable game that helped define one of the highest selling game systems of all time, that had a short stint on another non-Sony system. I've giving it an 8.5/10 because it's a fun title even on PC and because as a collector, I find it to be a great conversation piece and treasured item.
There was a time seven or eight years ago, when PC gaming occupied most of my leisure time. Windows ME was new, USB controllers were taking over from game port ones and optical mice were replacing ball. All in all it was a great period for PC gaming technology as precision and accuracy was better than ever.
During those early years of the Millennium, the rigorous demands of the games I had played, in particular Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance, killed many joysticks from many different brands. It seemed like every month I was returning a broken stick back to the store I bought it from. I always took good care of them but they just couldn't take the hard use. Plastic buttons snapping, broken levers, sometimes the drivers just simply sucked. It was a widespread problem that was quite common for players of that particular game. My favored tool of attrition at the time being the Microsoft Sidewinder Precision 2 and the Logitech Wingman Extreme series.
Then one day as I was returning yet another broken stick, a shiny gold and black monster was sitting on the shelf in the Saitek selection, catching my eye and begging to be held. I had never really seriously looked at a Saitek before and that should speak volumes for it's first impressions.
In celebration of the release of Stargate SG-1's final season (season 10) on DVD, take a moment and check out this trailer for the cancelled PC, Xbox and PS2 game Stargate SG-1: The Alliance.
A gorgeous game with everything a Stargate fan would ever want. In fact so much half of it couldn't even be shown in one trailer. Full voice acting from most of the cast, all the gadgets and weapons seen in the show, as well as alien races and plenty of Jaffa. Check them out:
<a href="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=6328" target="_blank">http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=6328</a> and the second one: <a href="http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=5062" target="_blank">http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=5062</a>
What a shame. I was looking forward to that game so much I was thinking about buying the PC version for online and one of the console versions just because. Then they announce they've scrapped it for a MMORPG. *sigh*
The whole issue was around an hour and a half long. Not the best press conference Microsoft has done but not the worst either. For your reading pleasure I've listed some of the more interesting announcements and things that happened during the show:
Peter Moore plays Rock Band with Harmonix team members. Hilarity ensues including some bad singing and pausing the game by accident.
Viva Pinata: Party Animals is unveiled, a collection of mini-games Fusion Frenzy style. Looks interesting but may be just another party game in a crowded genre.
Mass Effect footage that made me short out my keyboard with my drooling over it. Looks and sounds great, with that sense of adventure and wonder that always accompanys a Bioware game.
Lots of boring PR spinning and rehashing old numbers
Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe among the many new Xbox Live titles coming this year.
An announcement that Xbox Live has reached 7 million members.
Xbox Live version of "Scene it" that includes 4 fugly odd looking controllers.
Plenty of new movies on the marketplace including Disney movies. Service to be available to Canada and Europe this fall.
Xbox 360 Elite is coming to Europe on Aug. 24
Project Gotham Racing 4 footage, incredible gameplay graphics, inclusion of Bikes and nasty weather.
Viva Pinata and Gears of War both coming to PC's. In total something like 60 new "Games for Windows" titles.
Lost Odyssey footage, very impressive game, keep an eye on that one. It's looks like a grand epic RPG with huge battles and amazing gameplay
Call of Duty 4 is shown with an onstage demonstration that really caught my eye. It's shaping up to be a fantastic game. I can see why they needed to skip working on CoD3 and pass it off to someone else, looks like that hard work is paying off.
GTA IV gameplay footage is shown, not a fan myself but I can appreciate how popular this game is going to be. It does look and sound great from the footage, and there's plenty of things to see and do.
Resident Evil 5 teaser is shown, not a fan of this either but it did look and sound good. Looks like it was taking place somewhere in Africa. Trailer will be on the marketplace July 26
Jade Raymond and assistant show off Assassin's Creed. The city of Jeruselum looks amazing and the combat looks challenging and real. It may indeed live up to it's hype.
Back to Halo 3 for the last stretch of the conference, Peter Moore reveals the Halo 3 special edition 360 with matching controller and several minutes of Halo 3 footage is shown closing the show.
Most of the content is up now at the official Xbox site including many more announcments plus trailers, here's the link: Microsoft E3 2007 Conference
The Microsoft Press conference that starts tonight is the first of three big ones this week that make headlines and forum chatter every year. For those of you interested, below is the list of sites or other ways you can catch all of the action this evening at 11:30PM Eastern Standard Time.
www.gamespot.com - Home of GameSpot and traditionally one of the more reliable live streams.
G4TV - G4 will be airing this tonight on television for those of you who have it.
www.1up.com - Home of !up and an E3 crew that always has good coverage of events.
www.gametap.com - Will show this as a part of their video portal service.
As well the Xbox Live Marketplace will have all of the coverage tomorrow for download and later on in the week a HD version of the event. Check out www.majornelson.com as well for his E3 coverage. If you know of any other location feel free to post it in our ongoing E3 discussion in the forums or post it in a comment below. Also stay tuned tomorrow for my impressions of the conference and reactions to any news from it, as well as more E3 coverage because there's still plenty more to come.
As with Morrowind, I knew it was just a matter of time before a GOTY (Game Of The Year) edition of Oblivion came out. As a collector and as a consumer I didn't care for the fact that all of this neat content wasn't available on disc and that the prices for it combined was more than the original game without offering the same level of depth. So needless to say I'm very excited about this and even though I already have the Collector's Edition, will run out and buy this one too.
News of this release comes from the official press release from Bethesda's www.elderscrolls.com. Versions will be available for the PC, PS3 and X360 and will include both the Knights of the Nine marketplace content and the Shivering Isles expansion pack. The GOTY edition coming in September, will allow those with Oblivion save files to continue with their game using the new disc and enjoy the new content without having to start over, that way this appeals to both new players and old. No price has been announced at this time however, so stay tuned for updates.
Feel free to discuss this in our FORUMS Or the weekly chat starting tonight at 8:00pm Eastern time. Which is accessible through the forum link or the Community menu at the top of this page.
Interesting article over at Joystiq where Michael Kelbeugh, the head of Retro Studios confirmed no online multiplayer for Metroid Prime 3. So far by browsing the forums, websites and blogs around the internet you can see there are mixed reactions to this. Mind you I'm not a Metroid fan by any means but it does raise some important questions. Why does it matter, and why do some genres get away with it while others are never questioned for not having it.
Having played multiplayer games across several systems, both as casual recreation and competitive league play I have a well rounded opinion of it. I do think certain circumstances demand online play for certain games. A game like Metroid Prime 3 is one of those ones that sits on the fence.
The long-time gamer in me thinks Metroid and multiplayer seems odd for a series that established itself as a lonewolf game where it was you against a galaxy full of evil. The new age of gaming side of me says this game is supposed to prove once and for all what the Wii remote/Nunchuk can do for a FPS, and to a lesser extent as an online deathmatch controller as well. That also seems to be the consensus of gamers after reading this news as well. Mixed opinion on both sides, perhaps some motivated by fanboy-ism, but most just wanting an online Wii game for a change.
Has the Wii been pushed to it's limit? Or has the development team at Retro Studios been pushed to it's max as far as resources and time? Or a decision by Nintendo themselves not to allow multiplayer? Hard to say, but these days a game tends to get negatively criticized by a lack of online play.
Speaking generally, over the the last few years several genres of games have been "online or bust" across many platforms. Part of the Xbox's success has been it's online service, and Part of the Gamecube's disappointment has been it's lack thereof. The PS2 has straddled the fence and PC keep trucking along as always. Then the handheld market burst onto online gaming with games like Mario Kart DS. After that it seemed reviewers would give a game a -.5 or -1.0 in there review scores just based on whether it had online play or not.
Meanwhile RPG's, racing games and puzzle games are struggling to find a happy medium for determining whether they should include it as well. Racing games have a hard time because 30 or 60 frames per second buffering textures and whatnot with multiple cars on screen is tough for any system to do well. RPG's are hard because they rely on story as well as eye-candy which makes online difficult as well.
It's almost like creativity and project vision has to take a backseat to industry demand and the critics. Perhaps that's what has made gaming feel more corporate and stale to many people. You can get away with it in a game like Mass Effect or Okami, but heaven forbid you even try it in a first person shooter or a racing game. How many would sacrifice quality in Metroid Prime 3 to have an online mode? Probably way too many. Retro studios will get away with it this time around but they may be at the end of their rope.
No online in 2007 is almost "jumping the shark" for a series, no matter how fantastic a single-player game it is. That's the kind of pressure that makes way too many games suffer because of split resources in making online and offline together. Even a game like Halo 3 has been quoted by Bungie execs as saying it isn't the prettiest game it could be so online will run smoother. Would a trimmed down game engine for online be so bad if the single player game looked like Mass Effect or Bioshock? Wouldn't 1v1 deathmatches in Metroid be better than nothing?
The newly formed official Bethesda blog has just recently put together a list of the major previews of Fallout 3 that gaming journalists have published based on their invitation to Washington DC last month for an exclusive first look. For anyone interested in this game there is a incredible amount of new information available and plenty to make old fans and new comers alike froth at the mouth.
Purists will be happy that the game doesn't recognize Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel or Fallout: Tactics as canon and takes place 30 years after Fallout 2. Day/night cycle, various weather patterns, licensed music from the 1940's, the hiring of mercenaries, multiple endings and many more features have been revealed. So far the general consensus is that it will please the die-hard purists who have judged it to be Oblivion with guns while appealing to fresh fans who haven't played the previous 2 games in the series.
The Bethesda blog located at www.bethblog.com has all of the details on the different previews as well as commentary on each and for convenience below is each preview listed for your reading pleasure.
Plenty of different takes, opinions and commentaries on what they've seen so far. I imagine it puts a lot of the fears to rest as well as creating more questions. A game of this magnitude will no doubt have plenty more media coverage as the months/years go by. As always, feel free to start a thread and discuss this or any other gaming topic on RF Generations's forums.
In the forums of our fellow gaming site www.AtariAge.com, Curt Vendel who besides being a prominant member is also a designer of the Atari Flashback systems, just unveiled his latest project: The Atari Flashback Portable
This little beauty has a 2.5" TFT screen, a mini USB port, controller ports, AV out plus many other features, some of which are still being finalized. It runs on three "AAA" batteries with a 15 hour lifespan and is expected to be in the $39.99 USD price range. Final version will also have the infamous faux wood look the VCS has.
When this comes out I'll be all over it, the ability to play legal roms, and homebrews along with the included games it will already have for that price is a steal. On top of that the AV out and controller ports make it a very affordable alternative to wear and tear on Atari 2600 machines, not to mention the portability factor as a 2 player system.
According to an article posted last week, 2 days from now (June 28) GameTap will unveil it's gaming service for the Macintosh platform. "Turner's business is taking other people's content, repackaging it, and re-popularizing it," says Vice-President of Content Ricardo Sanchez, "The idea for GameTap was very much the same." He is speaking of course of Turner Broadcasting System who owns and operates the GameTap service
This means Intel Macs will have access to over 500 titles first starting with GameTap's "Lite" service and eventually leading into it's "deluxe pay-to play" later this summer. Mac users will also be able to view GameTap TV, which among many features includes TV shows, interviews, game trailers and more.
All of this will be possible using a new software technology known to Mac users as "Cider" which adapts windows based games for use on Intel equipped Macintosh computers. Cider which itself is a evolution of "WINE" (a linux emulator that runs windows apps) will make GameTap a seamless experience by making games virtually drag and drop without lengthy installs. The team is also confidant that the games themselves will run smoothly regardless of the fact they are being run through an emulator on an emulator. This is the same method EA Games will use to bring 6 hit PC titles to Macs later this year.
Even though the service will be restricted to Intel based Macs, Mr. Sanchez has said that using the deluxe service will enable Mac and PC users to play against one another in multi-player games.
The best part about this is for Mac users is that if successful they may expand the service into areas currently being used by PC users such as GameTap Indies where new original games are distributed, episodic games such as Sam & Max or the upcoming Grimm Tales. A lot of potential to help Mac gaming move into more of a mainstream presence than it has been in recent years.
Here's a few of the latest game releases for the week of June 24th to the 30th according to the Gamestop/EB Games website. Keep in mind that release dates are subject to change without notice:
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - PS2, PSP, PS3, 360, DS, Wii and PC (rated "E10+")
Touchmaster? Yikes that could either help or hurt sales on the name alone. You know Final Fantasy and Pokemon Battle Revolution will top the lists this week and maybe even further encourage sales of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl for the Wii/DS connectivity that game offers, not that Diamond or Pearl need any further encouragement. I think The Darkness will be a sleeper hit for both the 360 and the PS3. Sure it's a shooter but it's got an angle few others do with a deeper game-play element that requires some creative thinking.
For more information about these or any other game releases visit the Gamestop/EB Games website at www.ebgames.com or www.gamestop.com
Posted on Jun 18th 2007 at 08:55:58 PM by (Tan) Posted under Modern Gaming, PC
Seriously folks, be happy that Fallout 3 is coming. So what if it's Oblivion mixed with Fallout, would that be so bad? Isn't it better than nothing at all? Did you think a completely different company with different employees using different technology would finish Interplay's Van Buren project?
So far Bethesda Softworks has been fighting an uphill battle every step of the way with this game. Armchair critics and backseat game developers have crawled out of the woodwork to express their disdain and disgust at what I believe will be a great game. Am I a Fallout fan? You betcha! I even play Brotherhood of Steel, yes I am that hardcore. But unlike what so far seems to be the majority of critics out there I don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Interplay is dead, it's time to move on, be glad that someone of stature picked up the franchise and is bringing it back to life.
Sure you can see Oblivion in it, obviously you would since it is being built off of the same game engine. The map is supposed to be just shy of the size that Oblivion is, and they've added other features that previous game in the series had as well as made sure some of the complaints people had with games like Oblivion aren't present. It sounds to me that the team at Bethesda admires the series very much and is bending over backwards to please both fans of the old and those the new game will attract.
Have gamers become such fanboys or spiteful diehards that any kind of change is met with heavy resistance? Ironic because if Bethesda decided to make an isometric 3rd person Fallout with turn-based gameplay, those same people would complain that they are just ripping off the series and milking it at the expense of it's fans.
Myself being both a fan of Bethesda's games as well as the Fallout series am excited by what I've seen so far. It's fresh yet familiar, eye candy mixed with familiarity, and it's classic Fallout themes mixed with a created environment ripe for exploration. I just hope that the dev team doesn't get discouraged by the bad press and backlash. But for a game with 2 years before it's release, it's disappointing to see so much negativity towards a short trailer and a couple of screenshots.
So what happens when you take a much loved game franchise, turn it into a FPS with no single player campaign, charge a high price for it and restrict it to a new operating system with a small gamer userbase as opposed to it's predecessor? Well you get Shadowrun for Windows Vista of course!
Then what happens when said game sells horribly due to it's mediocrity, receives bad criticism, and charges for cross-platform gaming? Well you offer it as a freebie to entice you to buy a lazy port of a 3 year old game of course!
Opposable Thumbs which is Ars Technica's gaming subsection posted an article pointing out that retailers such as Circuit City have already begun bargain binning Shadowrun as a free game for those who buy Halo 2 for Vista. Not surprising considering the game's reception by the gaming community and several poor choices on Microsofts part. Let that be a lesson to any who use over hyped games to hawk their products and try to muscle their way into a traditionally free gaming enviroment. Boo, hiss.
Here's a few of the latest game releases for the week of June 10 to June 16 according to the Gamestop/EB Games website. Keep in mind that release dates are subject to change without notice:
Crash Bandicoot Action Pack - PS2 (Rated "E10+")
Raw Danger - PS2 (Rated "T")
Rainbow Six: Vegas - PSP (Rated "T")
PQ 2 - PSP (Rated "E")
Tenchu Z - XBOX 360 (Rated "M")
Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia (Rated "T")
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - XBOX 360, Wii, DS (Rated "T")
The Sims 2: Pets - Wii (Rated "T")
Scarface - Wii (Rated "M")
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree - Wii (Rated "E")
Call of Juarez - PC (Rated "M")
Model Train 3D - PC (Rated "E")
For more information about these or any other game release visit the Gamestop/EB Games website at www.ebgames.com or www.gamestop.com
Yes you read that right, Twisted Metal 2 for PC! I was surprised when I found out recently that one of my favorite PlayStation franchises made it's way to the Windows platform 11 years ago. As far as PC games go and as far as ports of hugely popular titles, this one is apparently quite uncommon to find these days. According to what I've read, Sony was afraid that their then popular but not dominating PlayStation platform, would potentially lose sales if the game was offered on more than one system. So shortly after release, they yanked the title and ceased printing. Did it work? Well TM2 sold over 2 million copies worldwide on the PS1, who's to say if PC sales would have affected it in the long run?
There was a time seven or eight years ago, when PC gaming occupied most of my leisure time. Windows ME was new, USB controllers were taking over from game port ones and optical mice were replacing ball. All in all it was a great period for PC gaming technology as precision and accuracy was better than ever.
The Microsoft Press conference that starts tonight is the first of three big ones this week that make headlines and forum chatter every year. For those of you interested, below is the list of sites or other ways you can catch all of the action this evening at 11:30PM Eastern Standard Time.
The newly formed official Bethesda blog has just recently put together a list of the major previews of Fallout 3 that gaming journalists have published based on their invitation to Washington DC last month for an exclusive first look. For anyone interested in this game there is a incredible amount of new information available and plenty to make old fans and new comers alike froth at the mouth.
