Gamesugar

August 26, 2012

The View from FanExpo

Filed under: Features — Tags: , , , — Jamie Love @ 1:52 pm

FanExpo Canada 2012
FanExpo descended upon the Toronto Metro Convention Centre once again this weekend, and I was fortunate enough to attend the event along with legions of costumed fans, which ran from Thursday until today.

While gaming coverage fed my initial interest, my perspective has been greatly colored by a well worn quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson of all things, “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

Perhaps this is why, of all that panels offering fans a chance to meet and hear from professionals and celebrities this weekend, the panel that left the deepest impression on me was given by Ubisoft Canada’s PR Manager Jeyson Acevedo, who talked about his transition from gaming journalist to handling PR for the third party developer.

Jeyson discussed the years he spent writing reviews and covering gaming events for free, simply for the opportunity to report on a medium he was passionate about. It was easy to relate to his story given my own experiences on that front, particularly as he mentioned the need to follow your passion even when family and friends might question the countless hours being invested. His talk certainly gave me a renewed burst of energy during a weekend that reminded me of the importance in following one’s passion regardless of where that road might lead and how bumpy it may sometimes feel along the way. Where we might usually talk shop about upcoming titles, Jeyson took the time to tell me about his first year managing PR for Ubisoft, including hand-written letters from young fans which he keeps in view of his desk.

Passion wasn’t just the keyword for Jeyson’s panel, but for the entire event. Where some might question why people lined up in the heat this weekend, many risking dehydration while doing so in elaborately designed costumes, passion isn’t simply the easiest answer, but also the truest one.

Whether I was walking through the Artist Alley and seeing the phenomenal creations of local artists, watching fans excited for an opportunity to try upcoming videogames hands-on for the first time, or absorbing the artistry of countless costumes created by fans, FanExpo was an opportunity to be surrounded by people of immense passion connecting and sharing that energy and creative drive with a community of likeminded souls.

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August 15, 2012

Upsizing – Hands On with The 3DS XL

Filed under: Features — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 9:15 am

3DS XL
Hardware revisions don’t typically excite me, insofar as I could care less about what a console looks like whilst collecting dust beneath my television.

The intimate nature of handheld devices makes changes to design more interesting however, after all, this is something you’re going to carry around and clutch in your hands, giving a bit more to chew on in the balance of features and aesthetics.

For what it’s worth, spending the last week with the 3DS XL has left me resolute that if anyone wants this one, they’ll have to claw it from my cold dead hands.

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June 13, 2012

E3 2012 – Hands On with Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Filed under: Features — Tags: , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 4:05 pm

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance E3 2012
Despite being the only Metal Gear title without the word Solid since the original two MSX releases that gave birth to the franchise, Solid is the first word that came to mind after playing through the E3 demo for Platinum Games’ and Kojima Productions game with the strange name I’ve come to love.

The second word was relieved.

I was relieved to find that Platinum Games’ had found the means to balance their distinct brand of third-person action with the original premise of the Rising trailer first seen at E3 2010. No one is going to be accused of reinventing the wheel here, and as suspected, the spirit of Platinum’s Bayonetta and Vanquish shine strong in the offering, but said offering seems poised to deliver another solid action title from the developer, and fans of those previous efforts can expect the same level of chaotic polish they’ve grown accustomed to.

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June 12, 2012

E3 2012 – Hands On with Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit

Filed under: Features — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 11:08 pm

E3 2012 Hell Yeah Wrath of the Dead Rabbit
Sega’s booth at E3 finally offered me a chance to catch up with Ash, the rabbit prince of hell who has his dignity compromised when an embarrassing photo surfaces online. Learning that one hundred monsters have seen the photo, Ash promptly sets out to accomplish the only reasonable course of action, killing everyone who saw said photo.

With brush strokes reminiscent of the works from inmates at a Guatemalan insane asylum, Arkedo has created the most vibrant digital offering shown on the floor of E3. Hell is a honeycomb maze where cartoonish gore constantly splashes the screen, shiny gems glisten in the muck, and one hundred beautifully drawn monsters wait for Ash to bring about their violent end by the most ridiculous means possible.

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E3 2012 – Hands On with Nintendo

Filed under: Features — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 6:59 pm

E3 2012 nintendo Wii U
Following Nintendo’s E3 2012 Press Conference, there were plenty of voices of concern regarding the showing, particularly a lack of first-party titles associated with a yet to be cemented launch window. And while I was a bit surprised in this regard as well, given how easily a simple series of teaser trailers for Super Smash Bros., or further adventures in the Star Fox and/or Metroid franchises might have worked to lessen skepticism, I’ve become a bit Zen about the issue.

Nintendo’s Press Conference seemed to focus intently on a wider audience beyond those that had gathered in Los Angeles for the event, and if the Publisher’s showing in 2010 taught me anything, it’s that Nintendo has proven with past hardware releases that they can summon titles from the void to suddenly turn the frowns of the hardcore faithful upside down. They’ve done this on the Wii, the 3DS, and the 3DS eShop in recent memory, though there is something to be said for the lack of consistency that sometimes makes their surprise announcements as necessary as a drop of water is to a man lost in the desert.

What seemed most noteworthy this year, aside from the 3DS being pushed off the stage to make space for the Wii U, was Nintendo’s interest in multiple media streams. In many ways, Nintendo’s attempt to reach out through more channels could be blamed for lessening the showmanship people have come to expect from an E3 Press Conference that opens the show every year. On the other hand, if you’re familiar with Nintendo’s rather dinosaur-like approach to social media in the past, their growing interest in reaching out to more people through more channels is something that should be encouraged – we just need to remember that such pursuits involve continual experimentation and don’t always promise ideal results.

And now dear Sugarfiends, it is time to take a walk through the hands on time I managed to scavenge with Nintendo’s first and third party offerings. The list seems a bit light this year, but in earnest, I tried to bring back as much first hand information as possible.

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E3 2012 Interview – Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate

Filed under: Features — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 12:55 pm

Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate E3 2012
For the second year in a row, Konami got a jump start on E3 with their pre-show, which offered up a much anticipated extended look at Platinum Games’ Metal Gear Rising: Revengence.

The broadcast also delivered a cinematic trailer for the sequel to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, giving players a glimpse of Dracula pummeling an entire army and the nod that this next release would center around exploring the character who has provided the foundation for the series as a rather one-sided villain to date.

On the floor of E3, I managed to nab some hands on time with a more portable release in the Lords of Shadow Franchise as well with Mirror of Fate for the 3DS, entering an expansive castle that brought back some fond memories of a series that has had a rather extended break from portable hardware.

After whipping through some skeleton enemies and a rather large adversary that required some skillful dodges on my part, I was offered the chance to sit down with Konami’s Dave Cox and MercurySteam’s Enric Alvarez to talk more about Mirror of Fate and the Lords of Shadow franchise. One of the most important notes from the outset of that talk was that Mirror of Fate is not an attempt to continue the 2D stream of portable Castlevania releases, but rather an effort to bring the Lords of Shadow experience to the 3DS.

Since it’s always best to hear straight from the developer behind a title, I’d like to offer up the opportunity for you to hear the entirety of that conversation for yourself, which you can both stream and/or download below.

[podcast]http://www.gamesugar.net/podcast/e32012/castlevaniae3.mp3[/podcast]

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June 9, 2012

E3 2012 – Hands On with Guacamelee!

Filed under: Features — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 2:50 pm

Guacamelee E3 2012
There’s some humour in the idea that I traveled to Los Angeles in order to play a game being made in Toronto. Of course there were plenty of other reasons to make the trip, but catching up with the latest creation from Drinkbox Studios was high on my radar and necessitated a priority stop at Sony’s booth during E3.

Drinkbox’s Graham Smith was on hand to aid me in a co-op session of Guacamelee!, which puts players behind the mask of a burly luchador, but also offers the chance to transform into a chicken with the press of a button. There’s something rather joyous about running across the screen with your beak in the air – in fact Graham might have had to wait a few moments while I abused the opportunity to keep doing that.

Eventually I regained some composure though, and the demo was able to move forward.

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