EA Layoffs, Xbox Attaches, LucasArts Crashes: News The Prodigious Way

The world of gaming moves just as quickly as any other force in this world, and with such speed and grace, events tend to pass us by without use even noticing certain events.

So in an effort to keep everyone up to date on the recent stirrings in the gaming universe, I compile these news events worthy of knowing in your every day life.

Behold the wonders of the News the Prodigious Way:

The Force Wasn’t Strong In this One:

Many gamers know by name alone that LucasArts just so happens to be a company that was once known for their amazing, groundbreaking titles mainly revolving around the Star Wars universe.

As the public generally knows, as of October 2012, Disney bought the LucasArts name from George Lucas himself and people began to curiously inspect the implications of this buy out. Whether that be the Star Wars movies would be continued (which they are in the works) or if the property licenses would be ripped apart and made more child friendly, better known as Disneyfied.

I was one of many who was at first against it, but warmed up the potential being held in Disney’s big white gloved hands. As of a few days ago, that potential was soon realized as Disney made a major announcement regarding it’s LucasArts game department. With a single swoop, the department was closed down and the developers, 150 in current counting, were laid off. Now while some developers were kept on and the name LucasArts will be kept as a branding tool on future games but will no longer be a development company itself.

Here is a quote from LucasFilm about this decision:

“After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games,”  “As a result of this change, we’ve had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles.”

So essentially to avoid financial risk if more LucasArts games fall short of expectations, they have pulled them as a development team all together. Hey LucasArts had some great games in the past, Grim Fandango, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, The Sam & Max series and Star Wars Kinec-.

The horrible thing about this closure is that one of the more anticipated games, Star Wars 1313 is now officially dead in the water. Yeah that amazing game we got glimpses at not to long ago will not be coming to life. LucasFilms did say that the license for the game would possibly be up for sale but many people are speculating that this will not happen.

 

I speak for all of us when I say truly we are going to miss LucasArts and all its fantastic projects that never will be now.

Well here’s to you LucasArts, R.I.P

 

Xbox Wont Spill the Beans, so “Sources” do it for them:

In recent developments, Microsoft is being very coy with their information on their next console. Sadly the sources to most media outlets can’t stop the news worthy notes from slipping out of their mouths.

The latest rumor is that all the “Internet Always Needed” feature is not going to be included in the next console at all. It was all for a new, mini Xbox 360 for those who can’t afford the original as the price would be a lower price. Yep you heard right, what’s even better about the news of this mini Xbox is that it might not even have a disc drive at all, making all content used on the system digital.

So this all sounds as good as a game of Russian Roulette with all bullets loaded. I can’t help but feel this is just something that might go terribly wrong if not done properly. Who knows it might be a major success if the rumor proves true. We will have to wait and see when Microsoft finally drops the console bomb on us.

Side note: The same sources mentioned that the next Xbox may feature a backwards compatible option for the Xbox 360 games, but at a cost. This would be done with a side peripheral. Want to play the older Gears of War games?

Well just pull out your 360 expansion port and slap that sucker in the disk drive. Seamless entertainment. My bet is that this is a rumor that spiraled from some random murmuring in the Microsoft headquarters but we shall see.

Go check out the full article at the link: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/400389/durango-always-online-not-required-360-bc-provided-via-add-on-report/

Roller Coaster Rides Continue to be an issue for EA:

Now EA has been under much scrutiny lately with it’s recent release of SimCity 6 and the horrific issues with servers and bugs. Well it appears that problems are still arising for the company as they begin layoffs company wide after CEO John Riccitiello stepped down. The company hasn’t been overly open with who the layoffs will effect in the whole scheme of things but at this point we know EA Montreal’s mobile division was hit.

The company released this statement in regards to the recent layoff decision:

“EA is sharpening its focus to provide games for new platforms and mobile,” reads a statement from the publisher. “In some cases, this involves reducing team sizes as we evolve into a more efficient organization. These are difficult decisions to let go of good people who have made important contributions to EA, and whenever possible we retrain or relocate employees to new roles.”

It’s easy to see they are gearing up for the next console cycle but the question that comes to mind is: “Will they keep enough team members to maintain a quality in their next gen products?”

Sure, I could be just kicking the company after recent games, but EA has a history of working well on many gaming titles but as time has passed, the quality seems to have been lacking. At least in my eyes.

We will just need to see how these new turn of events will impact the company as a whole in the coming months.

Wrapped up with a nice little bow on top

That’s all the news I have for the moment, many other events have hit the pipeline as I have been writing, I’m sure but I’ll need to catch up on those in another edition of News the Prodigious Way.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the next article, some news stories you’d like investigated, please leave a comment below or shoot me an email at jaytheprodigious@gmail.com. Who knows, they may get mentioned in the next installment.

Injustice Gods Among Us Demo: Prodigious J Plays

In a world where all our favorite heroes are now considered a threat, is anyone safe to trust?

That’s the question we must ask ourselves in this latest fighting game from Netherrealm studios, the creators of Mortal Kombat 9. Injustice of Gods Among Us takes the super heroes out the normal role as protectors and pits them against one another in a frenzy of fast paced action and intense battles.

With the demo recently released for the public in anticipation for it’s April 16th release, I decided I would take some hands on screen time with the game and give you my impressions. See the video below to watch as I venture forth into the fray of heated combat.

Life Cycle of Party Chat: Why Social Gaming Frightens Players

I want to take you folks on a quick walk through our past. Join me wont you?

Let’s start off when the original Xbox was released and the idea of online multiplayer for console gamers was new and exciting. Remember how with the setup fee and the fancy new account with our new fangled GamerTag we were also give a big headset?

I sure do, and at first I wasn’t entirely sure what it was supposed to be used for. Soon enough, I was online with my school chums, blasting away on Halo/Halo 2 while reporting battle stats and instructions via this microphone. Sure, for many who had played on a PC before and had the same level of connectivity, this was nothing new. To me, it was this concept that I thought could potentially revolutionize gaming and how we all played cooperatively.

 

That dream sure did die quickly.

In many ways, the microphone was both a gift and a curse to the console gaming community. On the bright side, we finally had a vocal approach to strategy instead of typing out long winded commands to our team mates. Though lurking in the shadows, a horrible blight sat and watched on waiting for its time to strike. This blight has gone by many names but I only know it as… Internet Anonymity.

Being some avatar or name online is interesting, handing us the ability to be whoever we wanted knowing we’d never see this person in real life. We could say whatever we wanted, be whoever we wanted. On the original Xbox Live we could even have any voice we wanted! Had we seen the warning signs, maybe the horrible transformation from useful tool to horrible death machine could have been avoided. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking.

The anonymity began growing as more competitive games filled the mainstream market, player against player matches went from a simple test of skills to something a little sinister. Trash talking because common in the gaming realm (sure every sport/competitive group has this element) and was found relatively harmless at the time. As the years went on, the known lack of fear of repercussion  settled into the minds of certain players, who then decided it was time to takeit to the next level.

Fast Forward to now, Xbox 360 lobbies filled with those who can hold microphones get cozy in their lazy boys and get ready for the battle to begin. What was once seen as a harmless game of Capture the Flag becomes a shouting match of “your momma” slams and homosexual name calling.

The main perpetrator of this was none other than the man behind the curtain. Someone who for years had a history of bullying, inferiority complexes, or just those who might have even been bullied themselves. If you listen closely, you can hear one now, screaming his lungs out because somebody “cheated” as his character was disposed of quickly.

I could sit here all day and call people out who have done this or my thoughts on why they do this but that isn’t the point. The reason behind this article is a warning of sorts to the future of gaming and how some gamers may not exactly be thrilled by the new share/social technology on the next gen systems.

 

Live streaming from your PS4 will be fun and amazing, as would making the network more social oriented. Players like myself enjoy being social with others. Unfortunately this also brings up risks from the same plague that has been found on many a Call of Duty lobby to a World of Warcraft raid group. Unless new security features can find a way to condition this behavior as bad and unwanted, say punish those who are more than one time offenders, the new gaming systems have a higher risk level than we’ve ever been at before.

For my sake, as well as the sake of gamers everywhere, I do hope that we can find someway around this. If we don’t, the next generation of consoles maybe all but ruined for us.

Shenmue 3 Could Be Coming Via Kickstarter

This is something that could possibly make gamers like me squeal with delight. I am hoping for some truth to this.

My Nintendo News

Yu Suzuki, the acclaimed developer behind the Shenmue franchise, could well be considering starting a Kickstarter project to fund development of the long-awaited game. Sebastien Abdelhamid who works with an independent French TV channel and is part of the Monaco Anime Game Show revealed the news on Twitter. Would you back a new Shenmue project?

Yu Suzuki just said that he is thinking about a Kickstarter to fund the Shenmue 3 developement ! #MAGS

Thanks, DiGiTaL

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PS4 Announcements from Sony Make the World a bit Brighter

On Wednesday February the 20th, Sony held a 2 hour press conference that had been teased for weeks. Many gamers had been hyped about the event, all speculating many different outcomes, most were inclined to believe it was the reveal of the Playstation 4. While some felt it was a bit early in the year to announce a new console, some felt this was the most logical outcome.

With these suspicions in tow, many waves of the press (myself not included) crowded into the hall and waited eagerly for the festivities to begin. The time passed with idle chit chat and seemed to be the calmest press event in a long time. When the lights dimmed, music began to play signaling the beginning of the event.

Across the enormous screens above the center stage flashed a video in which  showed us all the history of the Sony Playstation, from the original Sony PS1/PSX commercials and other adverts showcasing many of Sony’s finest works that I had ever seen. From the live action Crash Bandiccot commercials in which they Orange hero calls out Mario in terms of branding. Showing the gamers playing PS1, PS2, and PS3 games on the respective consoles as well as text flashed upon the screen that held some very deep messages. One line included “Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality” and “Playstation wants to win the war on reality.”

A lot of what flashed on the screen within these three minutes didn’t have too much audio from the games themselves minus the ones on the PS3 and a few of the commercials (see the Crash commercial built above.)

This was definitely something that had been prepared for a while, as the clips and messages all were fixed together so well, which some could say flawlessly.

Once finished, the announcer calls on the stage Andrew House, one of the biggest names and people on the Playstation team. He began by welcoming everyone and then just as quickly started talking about the event, saying they would be changing the way Playstation handles the gamer ecosystem, going so far as to saying “The Living room is no longer the center of the gamer ecosystem, the player is.” He then announced the next step in gaming, the long awaited PS4

I wont go into great detail as this event was just over 2 hours long and I would have 15 pages at least so I will give you the run down of what was announced.

Hardware was talked about first, though sadly no screenshots of the console itself were shown nor was the design even mentioned at all through the press conference.

With Sony/Playstation stepping up their game, here is what they are bringing to us:

A Supercharged PC Architecture

X86 CPU

Enhanced PC GPU

8 GB Of unified memory

and Local Storage HDD

 

Now some of this maybe a bit confusing for those of you who don’t know you tech, so let me break it down for you.

This console is an evolved powerhouse in which almost mirrors a nicely built PC, it will run smooth, handle simple tasks and even multiple tasks without any slow down and also gives the developers the best possible processing power to create worlds in which they had always wanted to and with the new tech are even told they can now go further.

What does that mean for you, the gamer?

The gaming experience will be supremely  enhanced far beyond what it has been able to and will possibly give us more freedom and flexibility in games in not only environment but also game-play as well. I could just imagine an Uncharted title on the PS4 being one of the biggest adventures ever played through.

They event also made mention of how when designing the console, back in the early days of the PS3, they felt the need of simplicity be integrated  in such a way that it was simple for the player to use. In my opinion the controller are easy enough to use, but I suppose with the new controller, the Dual Shock 4, the added bonus of a touch screen, a share button, and colored sensor bar of sorts might just make things easier for us. Check out the picture of the new controller while I move on to the next subject.

Welcome to the Touch Pad Future

 

 

Another thing mentioned when designing the PS4 was immediacy, the want of the player getting their content immediately. Which is where the suspend and resume game feature comes in, allowing you to suspend or resume game-play with the press of the power button. Game boot up time as well as loading saved games will practically be eliminated with this feature, as the console will enter a low power mode, so that with another press of the power button, you resume from the exact spot you stopped at before. Downloads will be now handled by it’s own processing chip, so you may play other games or movies in the background with no slow down from the download. The real kicker on these downloads though is they are instantly playable even while downloading. You download a fraction of the game and continue playing while the rest of the content is being downloaded in the background. A good idea if I ever heard one.

Social is a concept in which the designers focused on as well in the development phase. Shown was a screen that looked similar to the Xbox Box Live main menu only it looked to be a game title selections screen, we a few other games available (see below). The main focus was the seamless streaming or sharing of game-play to friends, like one would do on Halo, but now console to console on all games. You can even spectate your friends playing a game, leave comments for them, and even taking over their controller and helping them when needed. You can even browse live game-play of others as it happens, which makes for something very unique in terms of what we’ve been able to do before.

So here we have the games menu.

 

 

The PS4 Friends Network Looks a little like this:

It’s like Facebook… but Playstationy

 

Alias and online Names will be kept for online multiplayer, we like to be unknown during these  segments of play, but the main network focus will be all about you. That’s right, all your real world info, that you choose to share with normal social networking sites will serve as your friends network info. Just like a Facebook or Twitter, but this time around you get to showcase your trophy collection.

This feature will not only be accessible on the PS4, but also the Vita, and through other 3rd party items such as smartphones and tablets and maybe PCs that will have apps that allow you access while on the go. It will even allow you to communicate with PS4 friends or allow you to stream live video of those around you.

 

Personalization is a big element in the design of this console, the console pretty much learns who you are and reacts accordingly, from interactions from friends, the games you like, games you don’t. Eventually you will find new content pre-loaded (not pre-purchased) on your console based on what the PS4 predicts you would like with the information you have provided when it comes to games you have played or videos you have watched. The console pretty much wants to design an experience all for you, the customized gamer. It just wont be a generic experience any longer.

Sure it scares me to know my console will be following my decisions, makes me paranoid for when the robots rebel but I do find it very interesting to see the prediction matrix and what games it will possibly recommend.

The Playstation network is being overhauled from what it was before. One of the biggest features that will be changing is that all games, Downloadable, will all have demos, not even just basic level type demo but the game itself. You only pay for what you want. This was definitely surprising, allowing for all games to be tried, making more titles open to you.

The network is also going overly social, attaching such social networks as Facebook and Ustream. All the actions you do on the PS4 and some of the information from the PS3 will carry over, showcasing your previous trophies, but will share with your friends all your activities.

The network also announced remote play will be used between the PS4 and PSVita. Remote play was coined by the WIIU and the game pad but Playstation is bringing this tech to the PS4 and takes it a step further allowing you to take that epic battle with you on the road. You are not limited to console connectivity anymore, you are now given freedom to game anywhere and everywhere.

That is a staple the team has been focusing on as they also want to introduce a cloud storage of games in which they someday hope to see PS1, PS2, and PS3 streamed to not only the PS4 but to all mobile devices. Loading any game from where ever you are and being able to play it with no issues makes for an exciting prospect for not only Playstation but for gamers all over the world.

This is the future of gaming folks! We have many surprises ahead of us at E3 I’m sure, but this information alone was enough to get me pumped for the next Playstation. There were a few titles announced at the event as well, but I will hold off on that for another article where I can better dissect them in depth.

Tell me what you guys think of the future of gaming! I want to hear it, like this blog and post a comment or follow me at @jtheprodigy on twitter and tweet me your response.

Also!

I have some Aliens Colonial Marines Swag to giveaway this Friday, all you have to do is go check out this video here and just follow the instructions in the video for your chance to win.

 

 

Sleep Deprived Drivel #1 (Here be Clichés)

Hey Guys, sorry for so little updates, I’m in the middle of doing a  video review of Dead Space 3 at the moment so I I will have that up soon enough. However I wanted to give a shout out to one of my fellow bloggers. He has been wearing himself ragged and has little time to blog but he finally put something up in the small free time he has had. Go check it out at the link below.

 

Sleep Deprived Drivel #1 (Here be Clichés).

DICE 2013 Prodigious Opinion AKA Journey goes home with Everything But the Kitchen Sink

DICE 2013 Results and the Prodigious Opinion

As 2013 rolls onward, we all have certain things we can set our calendar by such as certain expo and rewards shows. So when I saw the 16^th annual DICE award nominees and winner tweets flood my Twitter feed, I once again realized that the time for the awards shows had come again. It also reminded me that, once again, I have failed to actually set my calendar by this and missed out on watching the live stream.

I am always late to the party, I try so hard to keep updated with these giant events but life has a funny way of making me look like a complete jerkbag and makes me feel ignorant when I begin a game discussion days after the event. But enough of my self-loathing, that’s an article for another time.

I truly was astounded by some of the winners of DICE awards, some were great news whiles others just made me ask who exactly made the final decision for the winner. I will do my best to keep my personal opinion from this writing, though don’t worry fans of my rants, I will certainly let you know how I feel about some of these wins/losses.

So, as my main man Mario would say, Let’s A Go!

This list will go in no particular order, so please do not shout at me for any odd line up I present.

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

• Journey (winner)
• Dishonored
• Far Cry 3
• The Unfinished Swan
• The Walking Dead

 

Prodigious Opinion: I must say I have never played Journey (which I really should), but as I have heard the game direction is very original and does stand out among these other titles. I have played 3 out of 5 of the nominees and I have to say that The Walking Dead didn’t have a specific direction, the story was the focus and Dishonored had decent direction and was matched with a great gameplay element but I have to wonder if they would match up to Journey, well that is if I had played it to compare. I’ll take this one from the judges with my lack of game experience.

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming

• Journey (winner)
• Nintendo Land
• Sound Shapes
• The Unfinished Swan
• The Walking Dead

Prodigious Opinion: Ok, so I see a trend here, innovation within a game is something I always look for and unfortunately I have only played The Walking Dead and innovative it is not. Sure it was a great game, but nothing new came from it. From what I have seen of Nintendo land, it’s low level innovative yet some interesting new things came out of it. I can’t say I know much of the other title but I have to wonder just how innovative it needed to be to enter this list. Either way, congrats to Journey for another win.

Downloadable Game of the Year

• Fez
• Journey
• Mark of the Ninja
• The Unfinished Swan
• The Walking Dead (winner)

 

Prodigious Opinion: This wasn’t much of a surprise for me, sure I am partially biased, but as far as this category goes, we all knew what would win before the award was announced. The Walking Dead by Telltale Games was one of 2012’s biggest hits and was downloaded so much that a full  episodic release for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. It was a title in which brought back the thrill of point and click adventure games, it also held such a great and compelling story. How could it not be the most downloaded? Ok biased attack over.

Handheld Game of the Year

• Gravity Rush
• Paper Mario Sticker Star (winner)
• Resident Evil Revelations
• Sound Shapes
• Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Prodigious Opinion: Ok, I’ll be honest, I’m not much of a handheld player, but I wished I had the most recent handheld consoles. Most of these titles, however I have played or tested all but one of these titles and have to say that out of all of the most creative and interesting of these had to be the winner, Paper Mario Sticker Star. Don’t get me wrong, I love Uncharted and Gravity Rush is very innovative and interesting to say the least but Paper Mario Sticker Star came out swinging and holds its own candle in this section.

Mobile Game of the Year

• Fairway Solitaire
• Hero Academy (winner)
• Horn
• Rayman Jungle Run

Prodigious Opinion: I’m going to get a lot of flack but I don’t mobile game so my input is null and void so instead of commenting, here is a picture of a Banana Phone!

 

Web Based Game of the Year

• Bingo Bash
• Burrito Bison Revenge
• CityVille 2
• Sim City Social (winner)
• Song Pop

Prodigious Opinion: Do I really need to say anything about this category? Web based games are great for those who like these simple games, I just can’t stand games like CityVille or FarmVille. So the fact that something other than any game ending in Ville won is a milestone in my opinion. NEXT CATEGORY!

Action Game of the Year

• Borderlands 2 (winner)
• Far Cry 3
• Halo 4
• Hitman: Absolution
• Sleeping Dogs

Prodigious Opinion: This category is a tough one as all the nominees were very tough contenders, all brought in their A Game. Halo 4, and Far Cry had to be my top two choices for this category however. Borderlands 2 was an all-out action title,  but the action felt too over the top to win a straight forward action. Too much action? Didn’t think it was possible for me to say that.

Adventure Game of the Year

• Assassin’s Creed III
• Darksiders II
• Dishonored
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii U
• The Walking Dead (winner)

Prodigious Opinion: Ok, Adventure Game of the year is a fairly lofty title. Many games these days all have the air of adventure, and it becomes hard to tell just who would qualify for such a lofty award. The nominees above all deserve the spot, and as much as I love The Walking Dead game, I feel that this award was not given to the true winner. I know, shocked to hear me say that, save your gasps for another time though. I personally thought TWD was more of a story based game, something that did have adventure elements in it but was more or less driven by the narrative. My choice for this category? Dishonored is my only choice in this category, that is only because I have no experience with AC3. Dishonored had a great adventure feel, while lacking in locale, it was a straight forward adventure title.

Casual Game of the Year

• Fairway Solitaire
• Journey (winner)
• Puzzle Craft
• Rayman Jungle Run
• Sound Shapes

Prodigious Opinion: So Journey wins again! Ok, that’s three for Journey, anyone else seeing there is a favorite amongst us? I can’t state an opinion about any of these games honestly, though the only true competition Journey had was probably Rayman Jungle Run from the titles. I just hope that this Journey train doesn’t keep moving down the line .

Family Game of the Year

• Dance Central 3
• Just Dance 4
• LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
• Nintendo Land
• Skylanders Giants (winner)

 

Prodigious Opinion: This category is a really interesting one to pick from, the nominees have to have great single play experience, while at the same time be safe and fun for the whole family. While I believe picking a dancing or rhythm game as a nominee is a cop out, I feel the winner was well deserved. I have never played with Skylanders before, but I enjoy the premise. It holds a since of interactivity, growth, and even humor inside a tiny shell, though I’ll never accept Spyro being part of this cast, it shows to me that there is some real creativity behind this title.

Fighting Game of the Year

• Persona 4 Arena
• Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale (winner)
• Soulcalibur V
• Street Fighter X Tekken
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2

 

Prodigious Opinion: Ah the brawler of the awards. I heard the night of the ceremony who had won. I have to say, I was disappointed. Sure, I like Playstation All-Stars with all its flaws, but when placed up against big hitters like Soul Caliber, Tekken, and even the new IP Persona 4 Arena, I don’t see how it could last even one round. I can’t say for certain who I would pick, but I can say I’m just a bit disappointed by this awards winner.

Racing Game of the Year

• Forza Horizon
• LittleBigPlanet Karting
• MotorStorm RC
• Need for Speed Most Wanted (winner)
• Trials: Evolution

 

Prodigious Opinion: Can I be honest? I dislike racing games. There, it’s public knowledge now, so no secrets from me on these games. This award normally wouldn’t hold much for me and I’d be ok with the winner no matter what, however due to my sudden interest in LittleBigPlanet Karting. I wont say it deserves to have won the award, but I would think it a close second. Otherwise this category really holds  nothing for me.

Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year

• Dust: An Elysian Tale
• Guild Wars 2
• Mass Effect 3 (Winner)

 

Prodigious Opinion:  What can I say in this situation, we have only 3 nominees and out of the 3 only one really feels like it doesn’t belong even in the race. Mass Effect 3 doesn’t really fit with Dust or GW2, I haven’t really played the other two, but I know when the games don’t match the category. Sure it is an RPG but it is not an MMO, GW2 is, and Dust is an arcade title for XBL and has a different feel than that of a RPG. This is a very convoluted category and I really wonder how this one was put together.

Sports Game of the Year

• FIFA Soccer 13 (winner)
• MLB The Show 2012
• NBA 2K13

Prodigious Opinion: No Comment Found. Next Category.

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

• FTL
• Minecraft 360
• Orcs Must Die 2
• Total War: SHOGUN 2- Fall of the Samurai
• XCOM: Enemy Unknown (winner)

Prodigious Opinion: So just at a glance at this list and of the winner, I’m both sad and proud of a few things. I’m proud of the fact that on this category, the majority of the nominees were either smaller end titles, ports, or Expansion packs. It is saying something when a developer can craft such a great item in a small package and get close to a win for game of the year in your field. However, I am sad to see that the only full packaged game had been named the winner. Sure it probably earned it, but I would have loved to see the other titles win.

Game of the Year

• Borderlands 2
• Far Cry 3
• Journey (winner)
• The Walking Dead
• XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Prodigious Opinion: This one confuses me so.  The nominees are so mix matched and some even should have been left out *cough*borderlands2*cough*. That being said, these games are not even the best or the brightest our year had to offer yet here they are, lined up for game of the year. I can’t help but feel that Far Cry 3 was robbed if these are the nominees. Oh yeah and.. JOURNEY WINS AGAIN!

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

• Assassin’s Creed III (winner)
• Far Cry 3
• Hitman: Absolution
• Mark of the Ninja
• Uncharted: Golden Abyss

 

Prodigious Opinion: This is a touchy one, but I have to say this one was probably well deserved, Far Cry 3 is a runner up in my opinion but again was handed to the right game.

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

• Borderlands 2
• Dishonored
• Far Cry 3
• Halo 4
• Journey (winner)

Prodigious Opinion: JOURNEY WINS! Art direction though, I agree with this award as the others were pale in comparison. I do believe Halo 4 had good art direction but to me art direction has to be original as well, and Halo has been done before and only some things can be tweaked on something preexisting. With the introduction of the Prometheans and their weapons, new designs were brought to light. Still, Journey won outright.

Outstanding Character Performance

• Borderlands 2: Tiny Tina
• Far Cry 3: Vaas Montenegro
• Halo 4: Cortana
• Mass Effect 3: Female Commander Shepard
• The Walking Dead: Lee Everett (winner)

Prodigious Opinion: When I begin to think about my review of this game, it must seem like I was more in love with The Walking Dead than I do now as I keep fighting them in the awards department. I love the game, it was amazing in every way in my opinion but for this award I think Cortana was honestly robbed. Her performance in Halo 4 was nothing short of spectacular and more emotional than it has ever been. Jen Taylor, voice of Cortana, had the deepest effect on me in the latest entry and I feel so strongly that she was robbed. I am happy for Lee for winning, don’t get me wrong, I just believe he deserved 2^nd.

Outstanding Achievement in Connectivity

• Call of Duty: Black Ops II
• Halo 4 (winner)
• Nike+ Kinect Training

 

Prodigious Opinion: Not too sure what to say here, still recovering from Cortana’s loss…. Though at least we can say it wasn’t Journey!

Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering

• Dishonored
• Gravity Rush
• Journey
• The Walking Dead
• XCOM: Enemy Unknown (winner)

Prodigious Opinion: The engineering in gaming is a difficult one to master and yet we have been pretty damn close this year. While I cannot vouch for XCOM’s engineering, I can say that Walking Dead, Gravity Rush, and Dishonored were all unique and deserve the praise they received, as well as the nomination.

Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay

• Borderlands 2
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II
• Diablo III
• Halo 4
• Journey (winner)

Prodigious Opinion: Wait… Journey… *Throws stack of papers in the air*

 

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

• Diablo III
• Far Cry 3
• Journey (winner)
• Mass Effect 3
• World Of Warcraft Mists Of Pandaria

Prodigious Opinion: Mass Effect 3 and Far Cry 3 both had a great mix of music and atmosphere, however Journey toppled them in this category. Again I have never played Journey but for this article I have taken the time to listen to some selections from the game. Color me impressed, the quality is just magnificent.

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design

• Assassin’s Creed III
• Diablo III
• Journey (winner)
• Medal of Honor: Warfighter
• Syndicate

Prodigious Opinion: I think I’ll just retitle this piece “Journey Needs A new shelf for all its awards” I have to say I can’t call from experience, but I know Assassin’s Creed holds a great amount of work done just one sound design alone, and has impressed me majorly. The Fact That Journey won can only mean it was the best of the best. I mean who would rig an award show right?

 

Outstanding Achievement in Story

• Dishonored
• Journey
• Sleeping Dogs
• Spec Ops: The Line
• The Walking Dead (winner)

Prodigious Opinion: Finally an award that is handed to the best candidate in the lineup. You may have read my Walking Dead review for the PS3 and watched me go on and on about just how amazing this story truly was. This right here is the proof. I have never been so ensnared by a story inside a game than I was with The Walking Dead.  It draws you in, gets you invested and then cuts your heart strings at the last minute.

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering

• Call of Duty: Black Ops II
• Halo 4 (winner)
• Hitman: Absolution
• Need for Speed Most Wanted
• Total War: SHOGUN 2- Fall of the Samurai

Prodigious Opinion: While I do believe the choice was great for this category, however I would like to say congratulations to Total War. An expansion pack made it into the finals of this category and that is an amazing feat. Just saying.

 

After all is said and done, I have a few words for this entire award show…. Journey Wins. It stole the hearts, and possibly money, of the gamers and made it the biggest winner of the show. I say my congratulations and that I guess I’ll need to play Journey at some point.

JOURNEY WINS!!!

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As a heads up guys, I have recently placed my order for a capture card and a mic so I will soon enough have videos up such as video reviews, vlogs, and much more. Keep your eyes here for me, and also please follow me on twitter @respwnpoint as well as my personal page @jtheprodigy.

Prodigious Jay’s Developer Roundup, Round 2!

Hello fellow gamers! I am proud to announce the next installment of Prodigious Jay’s Developer Round Up, an assortment of gaming news and rumors that I found while digging through the dark reaches of cyber space. Now note that not these either are standard updates or rumors I found while peeking through twitter or through press releases on the developer’s site.

 

Enjoy!

 

EA: EA Studios announced a new game in the mobile sector dubbed TMi Trivia. TMi is a trivia game that will update daily with new questions, tailored to your interests.  The game will sync with players Facebook and iTunes to stay current on your interest and friends interests. TMi will allow for friends to play together (up to five players) in timed rounds where players will compete for highest score. TMi Trivia will be exclusively on Iphone, Ipod and will be released in the Canadian App Store next week, it will launch nationwide in Spring 2013.

 

Square Enix: Focused on The upcoming Tomb Raider title, highly anticipated, as well as some other games within the Final Fantasy universe, including a Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (Video http://youtu.be/riLLp8YnRWM) and Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Lightning Returns is another XII title with protagonist Lightning, the trailer gives little to know information about the game other than the world ends in 13 days. Yeah… 13. Sounds like a familiar number doesn’t it? A Realm Reborn is Square’s attempt at another MMORPG within a new Final Fantasy style realm. I feel this is just another rehash when it comes to what many people thought as a failure known as XI. Square also is talking about Continuing the Sleeping Dogs campaign on through five DLC that all will take place after the main story. No firm release dates on these downloadable packs but they are confirmed.

 

 

The Sleeping Dog DLC is as followed:

YEAR OF THE SNAKE

Wei Shen’s story continues in Year of the Snake as he rejoins the ranks of the Hong Kong Police Department in a series of new missions set immediately after the main game. A vicious end-of-the-world cult is taking root in the back streets of Hong

Kong… the Cult of the Snake. Hell-bent on cleansing the city of its evils, they cannot be negotiated with as they pursue a path to their righteous salvation. With an arsenal of weapons, including teargas guns and electroshock pistols, new outfits and abilities, Wei must enter a race against the clock to bring the cultists to justice before Judgment Day.

                                                                                                                          MOVIE MASTERS PACK

With three powerful new outfits, the Movie Masters Pack empowers players to become their own kung fu hero. Don the outfit of the lone Vigilante, become a heroic legend with the Unknown Warrior outfit or coat yourself in armor and take on all manner of attacks while wearing the Bronze Warrior outfit.

WHEELS OF FURY

Drug smuggling is big business for Hong Kong’s triad gangs and Wei Shen’s longtime friend Dr Tang has created the wheels to give the Sun On Yee the edge over their rivals. A weaponised supercar, the prototype DZS-90 will give Wei Shen enough armour and firepower to take control of business. Seize the streets back from the 18K with a series of upgrades and add-ons available on completion of each mission, building into the ultimate supercar available both in missions and in the open world.

 

LAW ENFORCER PACK

No criminal in Hong Kong is safe from justice. The Law Enforcer Pack gives players their most comprehensive access yet to police department gear, including two cop outfits, a new weapon and five police vehicles.

 

MONKEY KING PACK

Voted for by the SLEEPING DOGS community and created bespoke by United Front Games, the Monkey King Pack lets players take on the form of the mythical Sun Wukong.  Bestowed with the power of the immortals, Wei can wield a powerful two-handed staff against the demons of the Hong Kong underworld. The Monkey King outfit includes its own buff, signature weapon and vehicle.

 

RockStar: Focused mainly on GTA V, being released 9/17/2013 not much else being said

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remedy entertainment: It has been fairly quiet from the Alan Wake Company as of late, their last release was American Nightmare: Alan Wake. However, Sam Lake early 2013 mentioned the company had been working on stuff and would be excited to announce information coming 2013, see Tweet below:

 

Text verbatim due to blur “Happy New Year, all you lovely people! In 2013 we can finally start revealing what we’ve been up to. Can hardly wait. It’ll be cool.”

 

 

I have been scanning the tweet pages of writers a developers over at Remedy and nothing new has popped up this year, in fact some of them seem to have a lot of free time this year. Bad Sign? Well, I did find that Remedy is hiring, no idea for what but that does mean they are needing someone, possibly to work on a new product.

You can Barely see it, but it is the last tweet stating “Remedy is Hiring – check out our new video and apply away!”

 

 

 

 

Naughty Dog has been focusing on The Last of Us, with their announcement of their demo packaged with God of War Ascension and their Survival Edition of the game, which includes a full-sized hardcover art book by Dark Horse Comics, Steele book case for the game, A Last of Us comic, Sights and Sound DLC, and a Naughty Dog sticker sheet.

While they are busy pushing everything on this title, no hidden updates about future games could I find, but one of the devs did tweet earlier today with raw footage from a level from the game. While it’s not much, the footage shows some

great gameplay. Enjoy: http://youtu.be/5roVr2Ya0DY

 

Lionhead Studios had recent releases in 2012, Fable: The Journey and Fable Heroes for the Xbox 360. Well on the surface, the guys over at LH are still coasting after their 2012 releases, however David Eckelberry the Game Director at Lionhead, tweeted towards the end of January, this:

 

“Today has been a fantastic day, looking at awesome prototypes of our title and sharing the game with the studio.”

 

So this is indeed interesting news, the team seems to be working on prototype builds of a new game. Also goes to say this game has been in works for at least some time,

to have many prototypes on hand to be able to show it off. I can’t begin to speculate when this game may come out, but I can say some possible news may arrive later this year (don’t hold me to that, it could be sometime later).

 

Namco/Bandai is resting after the release of Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch on the 22^nd of January, they also have a beta out there of Tekken Card Game, I haven’t looked into it but I assume the idea of the game is directly behind the title.  No new news could be found no matter how hard I dug, but it does seem like they are currently content with the release figures with Ni No Kuni. Let’s hope this leads to more projects soon from the team.

Dead Space 3 To have New Story DLC

You are probably saying to yourself, “You know Dead Space 3 isn’t out yet right? How can there be any DLC released now?”

Well this news comes from developer Visceral, who has plans for DLC with additional story elements to be released in a quoted “few weeks”. Now, this isn’t a confirmed few weeks from when mentioned or if it is actually a few weeks after Dead Space 3 is released but we’re said to be getting “disturbing” story content.

“The team is hard at work on a top secret additional story that will be coming in a few weeks… We’re not saying much, yet – but think ‘disturbing’ to get your imaginations going.” Says Steve Papoutsis, executive producer over at Visceral.

There is also some announced Day 1 DLC, including various bonus suits for Issac to don, most interesting of all an N7 armor just for having a Mass Effect 3 save file present on your console once you finish the main Dead Space 3 story.

Sounds like the reasons are piling up for everyone to pick up Dead Space 3, which gets released Februrary 5 for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Let me hear what you are thinking about Dead Space 3, follow me on twitter @JTheProdigy and tell me what you are thinking.

Prodigious Reviews: TellTale Games The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead

Developer: Telltale Games

 Platforms: Xbox 360/PS3/PC

Hard Copy/Download

Rating: M for Mature

Release Date (Retail): December 11, 2012

Genre: Point and Click Adventure

Zombies have always been a staple of video games, harkening back to the days of Capcom and their token franchise Resident Evil. Throngs of gamers still go crazy for the undead buggers, just see those who swarm to the Call of Duty: Black Ops games, many of those fans shout how much they love the zombie modes. The most recent DLC for Blackops 2 introduces you becoming one of the zombies too!

However like with many trends, it becomes overplayed and overused, I refer you to the past couple years vampire sensation. It started with Anne Rice and her Vampire series, which wasn’t considered mainstream, then boomed with the introduction of the Twilight series that spawned many other copycat books and game series until the subject matter was bone dry.

I am fortunate enough to say that my Zombie craze hasn’t exactly been quelled by the rush of zombie releases, though the movie release Warm Bodies isn’t convincing me there is much room left for me to go before it gets old. That’s why I was lucky to play TellTale Games The Walking Dead before the idea had gotten tired.

Let me start by prefacing this article by saying this: I have not read the comic series or TV series by the same name. That being said, this game offers zero spoilers in any way towards the cannon of the series. So if you were worried about any spoilers to the series, and you’re like me who wants to get into the series but just hasn’t yet, then this game is safe for you.

The Walking Dead begins the same way a spin-off always does, setting you in a different location during the same outbreak. You begin as Lee Everett, a man who we find handcuffed in the back of a police car on the way to prison. Within the first 5 minutes, we are already questioning our entire situation as there is no back story handed to you. You progress through a series of multiple choice answers (a la most Bio Ware Games), though you are only given a small window to answer them before the ability to speak is all but gone. Talking to the police man driving the car, you begin to discover that Lee isn’t exactly denying he was guilty of whatever crime he committed, given the cop a better opinion of you as the drive goes on. Soon enough your chauffer loses focus on the road, forcing the car to hit a Walker, sending you crashing into a nearby ditch.

From this point on, it is all about survival and the choices you make along the way. A survivor story in the world of zombies is a bit cliché but I’ll let it slide this time.

The first thing you’ll notice, beside the quick time answer segments, is that there is no free gameplay. The Walking Dead is centered around a linear path of progression, you can only explore what the developers wanted you to explore but nothing more. In fact, one of the issues I had was, that when trying to get a look around, I’d hit invisible walls that freeze my character’s movements, forcing me to turn back. Quick Note: If you hit these invisible walls and try to move at another angle against the wall, Lee’s character model will then freeze in his position and move around like a developer is dragging the model around the map. It’s humorous but an oversight on the developers part.

Sticking to this linear path, the story progresses in one direction, but can have varied outcomes depending on the choices made throughout the game. Even just choosing whether or not to go out during the day or night to look for help changes drastically. One scenario will have you help a guy make it to safety while in the other he is a zombie and must be dealt with accordingly. The choices come often in this game, from what we say to certain characters, who we save and who we don’t, all greatly affects the entire stretch of the game. Want to lie about your past and going to prison?

People will remember that, and if the truth is found out, and trust me it can be, they will remember you lied at the very beginning and distrust you the entire game. Choose to sacrifice someone to get what you want? Some people will praise you, others will look at you in disgust and avoid talking to you.

No matter what you do in this game, it is remembered. So choose your path wisely.

As I’ve said, gameplay in this game is a linear path; you will be going one direction and have limited choice in actions. The combat style is just the same, when attacked by Walkers, you are only given a cursor and single action to use, sometimes two but it won’t always be wise to choose the second. Besides this, combat is almost nonexistent, except in later episodes where you are able to manually aim and shoot your weapon to kill off Walker hordes. I didn’t particularly enjoy the lack of free combat, but this did add a level of intensity as there were moments where in seconds you could die with one poorly timed action.

Graphically the Walking Dead was not the next Halo 4 or Uncharted, however it held the air of Borderlands style graphics that not only look passable but have a certain charm to it. I noticed many times were facial recognition and audio mapping of the characters were off what they originally intended and the range of expressions in some of the characters were very limited. I couldn’t help but feel that some more time and polish could have been used to tighten these areas up, but as Downloadable gaming goes, this game met expectations.

In the audio field, the voices were great, some of the actors were even nominated for awards for their work on this game. The music wasn’t exactly spectacular, but it only existed in certain moments to build up the tension. It did its job, as I was always on my toes during my time spent through these games. I would have to say, for all the work done on the audio, it was well put together for this masterpiece.

Hitting it home for me was the story; this game had lots of it. In my recollection of recent games played, not in a long time have I experienced such an engaging and emotional story since the earlier Final Fantasy titles. The main story, no spoilers I promise, revolves around Lee and his need to survive with an abandoned girl he meets up with named Clementine. From the very beginning, your choices affect the way you and Clem move and act within this world now infested with zombies. She becomes just like a daughter to you, and you find yourself constantly trying to protect her in every situation.

The interactions between Lee and Clem are almost the centerpiece of The Walking Dead, not a moment goes by that we aren’t talking to her, giving her advice, or having to worry about her as she does something dangerous. Sure the game does have many other interactions with the other survivors you find yourself with, but I always find the bulk of the conversations carry on with or are about, Clementine. She is so central to the story, Twitter blew up on initial release with a #ForClementine trend that is still blowing up now as I write this.
Overall, The Walking Dead was a great game, it was emotional and engaging. It may have had some bugs or issues in certain areas, but TellTale made this game so powerful that even a few bugs could dampen the spirit of the game.

Cons:
• Linear Play styles are always hard on me, as I love my freedom of choice.
• Character Model lip sync issues/facial expressions limited
• Invisible Game Walls
• Some graphical hiccups that could have been polished
Pros:
• Engaging story
• Memorable characters
• Decisions Make a difference
• Voice actors on a professional level
• Clementine (‘Nuff Said)

Scores:
• Personal: 9
• Technical: 9
• Final: 9

The Walking Dead reminded me what it was to play a game that had a great story and linear gameplay that actually kept me entranced. Most games these days fall under short on the Story element and focus too much on the gameplay, or vice versa, leaving one aspect ignored and therefore lacking. I had to sometimes remind myself that this was a game I was playing, not a well-crafted movie or tv show. I fell in love with TellTale’s creation and find myself looking forward to the rumored Season 2.

The Walking Dead is both a Downloadable game as well as available now in hard copy with all 5 Episodes for both Xbox 360 and PS3. I highly recommend you go and pick up a copy, or download the episodes today and fall in love with it just as I have.