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February 20, 2012

Q&A – Remedy Talks Alan Wake’s American Nightmare

Filed under: Features — Tags: Alan Wake, Alan Wake's American Nightmare, American Nightmare, Feature, interview, Matias Myllyrinne, Q&A, Remedy, XBLA, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade — Jamie Love @ 9:07 am

Remedy Alan Wakes American Nightmare Interview
Embracing the best of the horror genre, 2010’s Alan Wake left a fair amount of questions lingering after its conclusion, with two subsequent DLC chapters furthering the narrative while still leaving plenty of room for interpretation regarding the fate of the writer in his battle against a malevolent darkness. While the upcoming Xbox LIVE Arcade release, American Nightmare, picks up the threads with Alan and his dark half Mr. Scratch, the events that unfold serve as a spin-off tale rather than a direct continuation of the original release.

In a move that certainly caught me by surprise, American Nightmare builds an arcade mode around the combat mechanics of light and evasion from the 2010 title, offering a survival challenge that hopes to find longevity after players have chewed through the standalone pulp horror story.

With the game releasing this week, I managed to gather a few of my endless questions regarding digital content and American Nightmare’s direction, which Remedy CEO Matias Myllyrinne was good enough to answer.

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January 29, 2012

Mutant Blobs Attack Your Ears

Filed under: Features — Tags: Audio Bits, DrinkBox Studios, Feature, interview, Megashaun, Mutant Blobs Attack, PlayStation, Podcast, Shaun Hatton, Sony, Tales From Space, Vita — Jamie Love @ 8:51 am

Mutant Blobs Attack Shaun Hatton
Following up on last year’s retro science-fiction platformer, Tales from Space: About a Blob, Toronto’s DrinkBox Studios is unleashing another dose of blob mayhem and carnage this year, this time on Sony’s new handheld with the upcoming Vita release of Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack!!!

In addition to the in-game soundtrack created by musician Peter Chapman, it was recently revealed that game journalist, musician, and long-time Sugarfriend, Shaun Hatton, will be lending his audio talents to the game by contributing a song for the ending-credit sequence of the game. This weekend I had a chance to catch up with Shaun to talk briefly about that project as well as his work for the upcoming Indie game, They Bleed Pixels – which I’ve since distilled into convenient MP3 format for your listening pleasure.

Catch a rare audio sugar fix below, along with Shaun’s track for Mutant Blobs Attack!!!

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January 17, 2012

Q&A – Gaijin Games Talks Runner2

Filed under: Features — Tags: Aksys, Bit.Trip Runner, Commandervideo, Feature, Gaijin Games, interview, PlayStation Network, PSN, Q&A, Runner 2, Runner2, XBLA, Xbox Live Arcade — Jamie Love @ 11:27 am

QandA Runner2 Gaijin Games
With the BIT.TRIP series wrapped up on WiiWare and recieving a retail release on both the Wii and 3DS last year, Gaijin Games has been working away on Runner2, which intends to extend the familiar feet of Commandervideo to digital release on Xbox LIVE Arcade and the PlayStation Network later this year. As a spiritual extension, or perhaps deviation on BIT.TRIP RUNNER, fans of the series likely have a good idea of what to expect when the game releases. And yet, following updates on the Runner2 blog and wondering what Gaijin might bring to the Xbox 360 and PS3 has left me with plenty to ponder.

Since I like to get my answers straight from the horse’s mouth whenever possible, I took some questions about Runner2 to the nearest horse available, only to find it rather stubbornly silent on the subject. Fortunately, Gaijin’s Alex Neuse happened to be standing next to the horse at the time and generously agreed to help me out.

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September 3, 2011

The View From Call of Duty XP

Filed under: Features — Tags: Activision, Call of Duty, Call of Duty XP, Event, Feature, LA, Los Angeles, Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 3 — Brad Johnson @ 8:58 am

The View From Call of Duty XP LA
I arrived at Call of Duty XP unprepared for the level of loyalty the series commands, and the nature of that loyalty; if you had asked me a year ago, I might have questioned whether the fanbase was really there. Not in terms of scale, of course, but in terms of investment—everyone (almost literally) plays Call of Duty, but does it control the type of entrenched fan that seeks (or demands) an experience like this?

I wondered what niche XP filled, what need it answered.

Or, to put it another way: a lot of people watch Survivor, just like a lot of people watch Star Trek—but you can’t really have a Survivor convention the way you can have a Star Trek convention—it can’t be leveraged that way, and it doesn’t need to be. I thought Call of Duty the same.

Turns out I was wrong.

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September 2, 2011

Hands On with Modern Warfare 3’s Multiplayer

Filed under: Features — Tags: Activision, Call of Duty, Call of Duty XP, Event, Feature, Los Angeles, Modern Warfare 3 — Brad Johnson @ 3:31 pm

Call of Duty XP Weekend Event
Team Sugar answered the call and descended upon Los Angeles yesterday for Activision’s debut of Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer component at Call of Duty XP, striking fear in the hearts of decent Americans everywhere with our radical Canadian notions.

After being briefly lost in the shuffle as hundreds of Xbox’s were claimed by other raging nerd-journos, I eventually got my hands on the game—and found an equal share of the expected and unexpected.

Call of Duty has made its mark by endlessly refining a very particular product; succeeding in the science of visceral, fast-paced close-quarter combat, in a shooter where shooting is even more integral than the name implies.

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August 27, 2011

Hands On with NeverDead

Filed under: Features — Tags: Event, Feature, Hands on, impressions, Konami, NeverDead, PlayStation 3, PlayStation3, Preview, Rebellion, Xbox 360 — Jamie Love @ 9:00 pm

NeverDead Hands On
Konami has no shortage of brands to call on when it comes to keeping the pixels moving and the store shelves stocked. The majority of their mainline brands read like the “who’s who” list from my childhood, and yet still find opportunities to remain relevant with new iterations in the here and now. With that in mind, NeverDead initially caught my attention as a curious ambition – a fresh IP digging for new tricks to create an original title that didn’t immediately leave me imagining an endless trail of sequels to follow.

The chance to step into Bryce’s immortal shoes recently lent a few more insights into how that ambition and collaboration with Rebellion is playing out, so let’s finally chew on matters of life, death, and Bryce’s unfortunate position between those two points.

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Hands On with Silent Hill Downpour

Filed under: Features — Tags: Feature, Hands on, Horror, impressions, Konami, PlayStation 3, PlayStation3, Silent Hill, Silent Hill 8, Silent Hill Downpour, Vatra Games, Xbox 360 — Jamie Love @ 6:01 pm

Silent Hill Downpour Hands On
An over-turned prison bus gives Murphy Pendleton cause and opportunity to attempt a run through Silent Hill, and I was recently given some time with Konami to poke around the dilapidated buildings immediately awaiting him after the chance prison break.

Murphy’s arrival in the town where I’d like to build my dream house seems accidental, but then no one really ends up in Silent Hill by accident, do they?

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