Er…easier I mean.  As in easier to make…not sleep with.  Sorry for the misleading title dendraphiliacs…

SpeedTree is a multi-platform tool that allows the foliage in a game world to look super real.  I mean how did we ever enjoy games in the past without the trees dancing to the caress of the wind?!

Games in the past that have used the tool are Call of Duty 3, Tiger Woods PGA Tour and Resistance: Fall of Man.  Yeah that's right.  Those games were easily 5.0's until the trees started waving.

In all seriousness, this tool is a nice way to help speed up development (at a price).  This tool alone won't make amazing games come out faster, but at least developers can focus more on gameplay instead of how treelike the trees are in the forest that you're blowing up. 

[Source: QJ] 

Is this post just another excuse to post a Picard picture?  Nope!  (Yep!)

The next iteration of Nokia's N-Gage system was recently unveiled to quite an all-star lineup of developers.  Also at the unveiling was the devkit for the N-Gage system.  Whether or not the attendees are actually going to develop for the system is anyone's guess.  The list is fairly extensive considering this is the N-Gage we're talking about here…

Of the bigs guns attending, the most notable were: Square Enix, Vivendi, Capcom, SEGA and SOE.

Gaming bets:

N-Gage revolutionizes handheld gaming: 50 to 1
N-Gage looks ugly as nuts: 2 to 1
N-Gage commercials involve samurai at the laundromat: 1 to 1

[Source: Eurogamer]

Was checking out GameTrailers.com when I came across this interview with the main man himself talking about his upcoming game: Stranglehold.

For those of you who haven't heard much about this game, go do yourself a favor and watch some gameplay videos.  It's as if Max Payne was on crack and LSD at the same time, and had sugar pumping through his veins.  The gameplay just looks that over the top (read: awesome).

John Woo is famous for his elaborate actions sequences and his signature white doves.  This game includes both.

Hit the jump for the interview with his Woo-liness.

Read the rest of this entry »

Katamari Damacy Online.

Do you really need to know more?

Roll up some trash, get bigger, roll up even bigger trash.

Greatest game ever.

However, only in Korea, late 2007, PC only as well so far, :(

[Source: PS3FanBoy]

…or at least that is the line that Microsoft and Nvidia will tell you.  With Windows Vista hitting store shelves today, the Microsoft PR machine is in full swing.  Their target in this interview is PC gaming, and how it will revolutionize the market.

Rick Wickham, director of Games for Windows, fire the laser! 

"I think that the 2007 [top ten] list is going to look very, very different [from 2006's] and it's going to have a number of million sellers just in the US…I would not be at all surprised to see five titles on this platfrom sell a million units."

The games he calls out are what you'd expect: 

-  Spore
-  Crysis
-  Age of Conan
-  Hellgate: London
-  Supreme Commander
-  World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

The curious part of the interview is when they imply that casual gamers are going to see the most early benefit from Vista.

My first inclination was to that was:  Early adopters won't be casuals by a long shot.  An OS upgrade is something that people usually get when they buy a new PC.  Vista isn't going to be the casual users savior, simply because it requires an ass ton of PC power to run (well).

The article then says:  Nvidia estimates 13 to 14 million DX10-compatible GPUs will ship in 2007.

Shipped, but still a staggering number, considering there are only 10.4 million 360's shipped after a full year…

I'm not convinced to part with $2000 of my money just to build a solid rig for all this quite yet, but you've got my attention Microsoft. 

[Source: Next-Gen] 

Eurogamer has posted an article from the utterly amazing Tyra Banks reality show!  …

Anyway, it seems that once again, WoW is to blame for somebody being a complete retard. (Paladin suicide jumper come to mind? No gay shield for him that time) 

This form of stupidity comes in the form of needing a quick fix, while your wife is in labor at the hospital. From the article

"Also, when I was in labour with my daughter it took a while," the
wife told a concerned Tyra Banks. "So he went home to take a shower and
he ended up getting on the computer and playing for about three hours,
and then came back to the hospital before I gave birth."

Mister husband claimed that he didn't want to get too emotionally attached to
his daughter in case Sudden Infantile Death Syndrome (SIDS) struck.
Utterly speechless."

Wow, just, WoW.

I really don't know what else to say, besides how could an obvious basement virgin like this husband somehow father kids?

[Source: Eurogamer]  

At least the rumors surrounding each next-gen current gen consoles haven't stopped. This time, it once again follows a Capcom franchise, but at least it isn't about Microsoft buying out Capcom.

So people are saying that Devil May Cry 4 may leave the Playstation 3 and head over to the Xbox 360, making it a multi platform release. Whats strange about this one, is the source of the rumor seems to be the Official Playstation Magazine who says Capcom is looking to release the upcoming game on both consoles.

I'd take this one with a grain of salt, considering all the rumors surrounding Capcom and every other game thats coming out as a exclusive. Or at least wait until Capcom denies or confirms this rumor.

[Source: PSU] 

Well, it's been happening all over the console side of gaming for years now, so it comes as no surprise that Quake Wars has been delayed.

According to Activision it seems that the game has been put off until 2008 to fit with their fiscal year. Not a good sign since PC gaming is in dire need of a big title, and this is one I was looking forward to.

[Source: Computer and Video Games] 

Yeah, another Monday. Which means we all have to go back to work, damn it. But it also means Nintendo graces us with more Virtual Console games!

• Contra III
• Comix Zone
• Bonanza Bros
• Mario Kart 64

  Wow, last week A Link to the Past, this week Mario Kart 64. It's about damn time Nintendo puts some good games up on Virtual Console.

For those who had problems with the freely downloadable Call of Duty 3 Valor pack on Xbox Live Marketplace. You'll be pleased to know that it's fixed and there is also an auto-update patch available that addresses some issues in online play.

Though I don't have this game, nor have any interest in it. It's still nice to see that developers are taking an active interest in getting things fixed as quickly as they can. 

[Source: Xbox360fanboy]