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Slap's Take: Modern Warfare 2 Review

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:56:37 -0500

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the biggest launch in the history of video games. I've covered this already so we should probably get that out of the way from the start. If sales were the ultimate indication of quality we wouldn't need reviews, opinions or any of that jazz. Thankfully they aren't and we have positive-proof in that regard taking in consideration things like the Transformers movies and the Sims games. Therefore today you get to read my impressions of Modern Warfare 2 and flame or praise accordingly.

Modern Warfare 2 is built on three gameplay modes: Spec Ops, Campaign and Multiplayer. The latter two are fairly obvious but Spec Ops is a new take for COD on a older concept which I will delve in to later. The whole package is impressive. There is quite a bit of gameplay here with all three modes bundled together though there is little doubt that mulitiplayer is the meat and potatoes of this game.

I remember when games used to have epic single-player story lines that sprawled multiple days with hours and hours of gameplay - this is not that game. Not to take anything away from the story as it is quite good, it's just short, really short. Consider it a quick way to toss away 3-5 hours depending on what difficulty you play it on. If you are buying this for single player you will surely be disappointed. I really enjoyed the story though I won't spoil anything for you. You have seen the videos, the locations and maybe this super spoilerific video (you have been warned, this link is a huge spoiler).

The single-player features an awesome musical score and graphics that will have you trying consume it all in the middle of a massive firefight. That obviously isn't the best of decisions, especially in the harder difficulties, but audibly and visual it really is fantastic. The snow-capped mountains of Kazakhstan, the scaling and destructible urban environments and the arid brown-tainted locations all provide unique battlegrounds and eye candy.

There are improvements over its predecessor that should be noted even if you barely see them within the 5 hours. First up is the "infinite spawn points" that were a corner stone of the last game are seemingly nowhere to be found. Infinity Ward noted in the past that this was something they wanted to fix and it seems they came through. A.I. has also been improved from audible cues to just being generally overall more functional. This is a welcome addition from the last game though they still aren't quite perfect.

Spec Ops is the last of the modes I managed to get to as I just got around to it last night. In a nutshell think of Spec Ops as a challenge mode so to speak. You have seen challenge maps in Batman Arkham Asylum, or historical challenges in Madden games; this is a similar concept. The mode tosses a bunch of objectives with increasing difficulty and complexity at you in stand-alone missions so to speak. There really isn't a story and it's just you, some guns, a partner if you choose and some objectives. It is MOW2 stripped down to its basic gameplay elements and I am really enjoying it so far.

Last night we got stuck on the bridge map trying to push across it on Veteran with an attack chopper trying to turn us in to Swiss cheese all while fending off the opposition that was also storming the bridge against us. It is intense, frantic and a blast to play with friends which I highly suggest. Spec Ops is a welcome addition though I would have traded it in for a much longer single-player story.

And of course we can't forget about multiplayer. This is what almost everyone buys Call of Duty and Modern Warfare for. I am not going to address features excluded from the game so if you are looking for more ranting about the PC changes then you are in the wrong place. Regardless of my thoughts on changes vs. past incarnations of the game it is still a blast to play. Is lean gone? Yes it is. Does it hurt the game? No, but it does change it and promotes faster, less-camping gameplay if you ask me.

I am horrible at multiplayer, make no doubt about it. I think I am up to Level 24 with a K/D ratio sub 1:1. Mikevercetti is amazing however, and he is great at stealing my kills as well. I still haven't adapted to using ****ty analog sticks in a FPS game and I probably never will. I caved this time around thanks to my IRL friends wanting to play this with me. With all that going against me I am still having fun getting my ass kicked and pulling off some solid kills. Much like titles including TF2, L4D2, Counter Strike, etc. it is the fun community aspect of playing with friends and some of those "oh ****" moments that keep me coming back. Rarely have I gone 4-14 in a round of any FPS game and still had a good time but MOW2 pulls it off which is a testament to how fun the multiplayer is.

MP is deep. There are a crap-load of guns to work your way through, various challenges within the mode that help you level up, give you more perks and make you a bigger badass as you progress. I am eyeballing a M16 right now but I have another 16 levels before I get there.

The MP game is not without its flaws however. Why the hell can't we choose what maps we want to play on? There should be no reason to be stuck playing maps that haven't really taken off with players. The lobby system is shoddy as hell at this point often taking too damn long to match you up, closing rooms, kicking people out for now reason, etc. The limit on players also bothers me. Some of these maps could easily support more than 6v6. The 9v9 domination maps could also handle some more players as well. I guess I really miss that aspect coming from someone who thrives on 16v16 TF2. I am not totally sold on the kill streak system as I feel there are some balance issues there though maybe people just haven't adapted to them yet. The helicopter gunship attacks are brutal and seem way too powerful. Care packages seem almost useless more often than not. And by the way, I fricken hate those gunship attacks just in case I didn't make that clear.

Even with these issues I see this becoming a staple of my multiplayer online action for the foreseeable future. There are flaws but the overwhelming amount of content in MP from maps, guns, additions, challenges is icing on an already sharp and entertaining package.

This is not a perfect game. Single player is too short; multiplayer has its own share of bugs and issues. Regardless of issues it does all come in a very entertaining package with a lot of value if you get in to all of the modes. Don't buy this for single-player alone.

Much like my next big review (L4D2) if you aren't playing this with friends I think the overall experience takes a hit. Sure there is a touch of single-player here and you can run around capping fools online all by yourself but just how much fun is that?

The game really isn't all that different from Call of Duty 4 either. Some new maps, locations, a quick storyline, and then you pretty much get multiplayer with a few changes. That isn't a bad thing because the last game's multiplayer was excellent and the game as a whole was well regarded.

I definitely recommend this as a "buy" if you are looking to really get in to some multiplayer action and am not hung up on a lack of lean or dedicated servers. The consolization of the series is here to stay and we can either embrace the game for what it is now or hold on to the glory days and play older titles. I am not denying Activison and Infinity Ward seemingly took numerous steps to piss people and change the status quo. But if you can get past gripes and play the game I think most of you will find it enjoyable if you judge it on its own merits and not the past or other games. Personally I am always looking for new quality games and this fits the bill of providing hours and hours of future entertainment.

You are welcome to "stick it to the man" if you like but based on its merits Modern Warfare 2 is a solid, yet slightly different, game in the COD series that deserves a spot in your collection.

Epic Drop 11/20/09: Arrested for no tip, Hasan the terrorist, Chuck Returns, Climate research hacked, $100 million for a healthcare vote? Avatar and Survival of Dead

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:49:32 -0500

Keeley Day is here and cause for celebration. I don't envy the Brits much but they got really lucky with that bundle of goodness. This will be a wrap on the Epic Drop for the week so bring your A-game to today's discussion and hopefully some good links as well. is definitely looking better than Diary and while not as slick and flashy looking as Land he seems to get back to his roots as far as the look and feel of the film:

Later today my MOW2 review will be up so make sure you stop by and check it out.

Sony bringing 3D to PS3 with 2010 firmware update

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:24:21 -0500

3D gaming seems bound and determined to push in to the mainstream in one form or another. While a new concept on consoles other than tech demos the concept has been use with mixed success on platforms such as IZ3D's PC monitor to Nvidia's 3D vision it hasn't quite had a chance to succeed on the console front yet. Sony seems set to change all of that come 2010.

In a investor and media conference yesterday they highlighted some goals company wide on of their key pillars for success seems to be the inclusion of 3D and how they are uniquely able to bring it home for us gamers. You check out the full PDF here but I've added slides to this post as well. If you want some more technical details there is a solid read at Eurogamer that is a few months old before today's semi-big news.

The headline image may look a bit funny but the slide on the right seems to confirm that Sony's glasses will be more in line with the offering from Nvidia, their Vision setup, they crappy glasses we have all come to ignore. The other big is is that all Playstation 3's will be upgradable to through 3D via a free firmware update. That plus the HDMI 1.3 spec supported by the PS3 and their ties to their own TV line which will surely offer 3D at some point give them a decisive leg-up if this technology ever becomes mainstream. At this point the 360 just doesn't have the bandwidth capable over 1.2 HDMI to offer quality 3D even if they wanted to.

The connection between their console and TV or down the road while the technology is sent to pretty much any idea TV with the right specs via code over HDMI could be key in to making something happen on the 3D gaming front. Lets face it, 3D isn't exactly putting the PC gaming world on fire or anything.

I am not totally sold on 3D yet. No matter how normal Sony's or Nvidia's glasses may look they are still glasses. I just don't know that I can bring myself to consistently want to wear glasses while playing games, it just seems downright annoying. The technology would probably have to be mind blowing for me to consider it and for now the cost of a capable TV would also have to be factored in. While down the road any decent-spec-having TV may work, in the immediate future it will probably require a special line of Sony TVs. You won't be required to buy and use such technology but if it interests you it should be there and available to you sometime next year.

Ideally I would like to see a day when 3D setups require no glasses. Various companies have displays like that including 3M, Pioneer and more. The displays are far from mainstream at this point and I assume quite expensive. This is probably what it will require for 3D to hit it big though a time when gaming systems can send 3D to any decent HDTV will probably help.

In the mean I will wait with bated breath on this whole 3D thing in hopes that it becomes totally awesome so I have no excuse to not merge it in to my world of gaming or that its complete trash so that I can bypass it faster than the Virtual Boy.

Call of Duty is big business - A Movie, sales and a new developer?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:35:18 -0500

Modern Warfare 2 is a bit over a week old now and it has been a resounding success for Activision and Infinity Ward both on the sales front and with the critics as well. For some fans it is a mixed bag, largely due the "consolization" of the PC version, but for most the game is a hit. My review is finished and I'll be sure to toss it up for your critical consumption tomorrow some time.

The release of the game hasn't stopped the Call of Duty news flow. First up is word from the Hollywood front. Current rumors from Kevin McKidd, aka Captain "Soap" MacTavish in Modern Warfare 2, is that a Call of Duty movie is in the works and he may be brought in to reprise his role for the feature film. Now this is obviously from an actor who has little pull behind the scenes when it comes to studios and financing so we probably have to take this with a grain of salt. Activision has mentioned a desire in the past to take Call of Duty to the silver screen so it may not be a total stretch.

I am not really sold on another video-game-to-movie adaption, especially with the budget that is going to be required to make this a faithful transition to film. There are tons of fantastic modern war films that this will be held up against like Saving Private Ryan and Blackhawk Down so whatever studio picks this up has their work cut out for them.

Rumors out of the L.A. Times has a mention of a third developer taking up the reigns of the Call of Duty series as well. According to the Times:

"Nonetheless, the publisher has aggressive expansion plans for Call of Duty. Although Infinity Ward and Treyarch have produced sequels in alternating years since 2005, the publisher now has a third development studio working on future versions..”.

Will another developer join Infinity Ward and Treyarch in making new Call of Duty games? Will they move to a new-every-three system for each studio? It could also be that we see the often talked about COD MMO coming out of these rumors or the new studio could simply be working on PSP/iPhone/DS versions.

And just in case you were curious as to how big the launch of Modern Warfare 2 was check out these figures from IGN. The game did 550 million dollars in its first week beating:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince's 5-day world-wide total
The Dark Knight's 5-day domestic total
Grand Theft Auto 4's previous hold on 5-day sales
And more sales first day than GTA4 had as well.

Check out the link for more details on the figures including some impressive Xbox Live numbers contributed by Microsoft as well.

What game could top these numbers? It would almost have to be a multi-platform release to top these numbers as I don't see an exclusive pulling these kinds of numbers. Grand Theft Auto 5 maybe?

Epic Drop 11/19/09: 10-year-old girl tased, Movie popcorn rules, Aussies know wrestling? Grossmans & Cutler, The Road director

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:35:15 -0500

Another bonus Megan Fox day? Yes, we are that lucky. . You guys know I am weary of government intervention in such a market but they have trampled over internet access and broadband access for years at both the Federal (USF), State and local level (exclusive contracts, denying competition) so it seems they may be needed to help balance things back out. The good news is they may be on top of the issues that soon may face cell phone wireless access that soon may dominate the airwaves.

Vir sent this to me late last night and while it has gone viral on the web already I figured I would post it here in case Zilea is looking for that someone special!

And in case you already saw that one here is an awesome boxing K.O.:

Slap's Take: The Motorola Droid Review, Smartphonygoodness

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:15:39 -0500

A few of you on here were interested to hear my thoughts on the new Motorola Droid so stop in and take a read if you are curious.

To run with the over-used Star Wars cliche the Motorola Droid very well may be the droid you are looking for. While not as advanced as C3PO or R2-D2 it just may give them a run for their money when it comes to computing power and features. I mean really, can you look at porn on a full-featured browser on R2's holocam feed? Didn't think so...

So how about the phone? This is my first personal smart phone so I should get that out of the way first. I'm not going to compare this to the iPhone or a Windows Mobile phone. I haven't used them enough to give a valid comparison and there are far more in depth tech sites that can give you that coverage. This is my own personal thoughts, pros and cons, over my past phones.

First impressions were "wow". I was a bit hesitant dropping the cash on a new phone only a year after my LG Dare but I was able to get it at one year pricing and I'm not tied to the phone longer than a year now, just in case. The phone is hefty. Not bulky, it is very slick looking and quite slim having a slider out keyboard but it feels a bit heavier than your typical phone. Having bigger hands though I really don't mind. It actually feels important instead of some throw away plastic phone.

The reality is that it is quite important. There is very little you can't do on this phone compared to your PC. Sure you aren't going to be encoding H.264 files or playing Left 4 Dead 2 but almost any of your day to day functions can be done right on the phone. If it can't out of the box there is likely an app (most of which are free, I've only paid for two) that will do it. And while not the size of the iPhone app store I found plenty of apps to extend my experience (at the time of launch I believe there were 10,000+).

Speaking of apps here are some must have, some of which you can see on my three home screens in the below pictures:

Handcent SMS - awesome replacement SMS client, and its free
Astro File Manager - great UI for managing files on your SD card without your PC
Advanced Task Manager - easy way to kill apps, turn off stuff you don't need
Meebo IM - IM on the go, what more could you ask for
Sports Tap - A must for any sports fan
Weather Widget - seen on my main screen, similar to the HTC Hero, $1.59 and worth it.
FeedR - Amazing RSS reader on the go for only $.99 (these are my only two paid apps)

Back to the phone. There are a couple of flaws and I will address them first and foremost. The keyboard is my main gripe. It isn't a deal breaker but for short messages at this point I still prefer the touch screen which is even easier to use than that of my LG Dare. When I am composing an email and need to see more content I use the slide-out or for long messages. They board is just a bit too small for my big thumbs. I need to press with the corner of my thumb and not the center so to speak to stay accurate. Plus the keyboard is offset left thanks to the dpad. The dpad is nice to have but it makes reaching with your right thumb a bit harder unless you grip the phone lower on your fingers when txting instead of in your thumb/hand joint.

The camera will suffice but you probably won't be leaving your point-and-shoot at home for important things. The LG Dare had a fantastic camera for the phone, one of the best lenses around and the Droid leaves a bit to be desired. Outside shots are generally solid but inside there is a bit of graininess at times. Others have also had issues with the auto-focus but both of the former issues are rumored to be addressed in over-the-air firmware upgrades.

Other than that I have nothing to complain about. The phone is sleek and stylish if that is a concern and has enough function within to almost be a portable PC.

It shoots great quality video if you are curious for those nights when you catch your friends puking in the bar and want to have it on video.

Call quality is generally very good and the speaker on the phone is fantastic. Ever put someone on speaker and have to still hold/set the phone the right way to get ok sound? Not here. I can set it down pretty much in any matter, don't have to hold it next to my ear, it is loud and clear.

Two of my favorite features hands down are tied in with Google. I am a complete Google-search *****. The phone has a built in Google-search app as seen on my widget screen. Click the button, tell it what you want to search and presto, there are your results often tagged with instant phone dial or navigation options right in the results. Very handy and I use this all the time.

And of course this comes with free turn-by-turn Google Navigation as well. No more paying for VZW's crap just use Google. It offers almost all the features of Google maps while providing excellent GPS-based directions. It does cache maps to the SD card just in case you lose signal but for long trips to where there is no signal there could arise an issue of in the directions/map I suppose. Considering the VZW network this is probably a non-issue for most.

Battery life isn't terrible, considering all that this phone does. I do turn my brightness down to the minimum and generally I leave GPS off, wireless off, etc. unless I have a need for it. No sense in wasting battery life on features not used. I may pick up a spare battery eventually but I haven't needed one quite yet, even in Vegas where I was using it quite a bit.

Cons:
The keyboard could have used some tweaking
The camera isn't quite up to par, yet

Pros:
All the apps and the robust functions of Android 2.0 (Eclair)
sleek, stylish and functional
the Google experience, email, navigation, search
Not bundled and labeled with all that VZW crap
Using Google Voice for free calls and texts right from the phone
Excellent build quality, nothings loose, doesn't wobble, sturdy phone
Incredible high resolution 854 x 480 screen
touch is responsive, accurate and doesn't lag
16GB MicroSD card included

All in all I am digging my first smart phone. This is definitely the best phone I have used or played with on Verizon at this point. For $199.99 with a new 2-year deal after rebate it doesn't get much better than this. I could go on and on about features and presentation as I am still finding new things about the phone every day. Basically if you guys have questions ask away and I'll to answer as best I can as I have already written more than I planned.

Epic Drop 11/18/09: Kick-Ass teaser! Bears fans drug Steelers fans? ATI's 5970! Hammer says don't hurt 'em, National debt at 12 Trillion!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:37:44 -0500

More Epic Drop goodness coming your way today including at an awesome teaser for the Kick-Ass comic-to-movie that I have been talking up for months. Enjoy the Drop and be sure to pass along any stories you have found for our daily discussion. for various states saying it would be too much of a hassle. Surely someone of their size could afford it and pull it off and it seems they already do on a smaller scale if you RTFA. There is little doubt in my mind they feel it offers them a slight sales advantage because lets be honest, unless you claim all your Use Tax it probably does.

Two words, Kick-Ass!

Epic Drop 11/17/09: Lesnar improving, Mark Cuban vs. Google, Superman rereturns, Walmart receipt assault, Phantom stimulus money, Batman 3

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:07:12 -0500

Sorry for the late Drop. I got a bit busy playing Left 4 Dead 2 and figured I would just go to bed and post it when I got up. Cheryl Tweedy stops in to show why she is still one of my top five hottest women. +1

. Please WB don't let this series fall to the wayside again. Returns wasn't horrible other than the stupid Lex Luthor plot and baby supes and a lack of action (I realize that is a lot, but bear with me). At least it felt like a Superman movie and it got the characters down quite nicely. I just want more, more, more. Bring on Doomsday or Darkseid. That is something I would pay to see.

A few more feet and this video could have been infinitely awesome!

Left 4 Dead 2 Launches Tonight! (Or Tomorrow)

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:07:55 -0500

The launch of one of my most anticipated games of the year of course has to happen when I am playing two of my other big games of the year (MOW2 and Super Mario Bros Wii). The good news is this is Valve, Zombies and PC gaming; all of which makes tonight's launch a priority in this gamer's eyes.

In a mere two hours, supposedly world-wide, Valve will drop the sequel to their much-loved zombie-shooter Left 4 Dead. Beyond all the boycotts, fannypacks and sellouts the game is still coming out. This will be Valve's fastest turn around for a sequel and I can't wait to get on and smash faces in Versus.

According to the L4D2 blog we have the following times for release according to the world's timezones:

"When L4D2 will go live -
* Monday, November 16th, 9:00 PM Pacific Standard Time
* Monday, November 16th, 10:00 PM Mountain Standard Time
* Monday, November 16th, 11:00 PM Central Standard Time
* Tuesday, November 17th, 12:00 AM (midnight) Eastern Standard Time
* Tuesday, November 17th, 5:00 AM Greenwich Mean Time
* Tuesday, November 17th, 8:00 AM Moscow Time
* Tuesday, November 17th, 2:00 PM Japan Standard Time"

Basically you get to play it a bit early if you are within the U.S. but not in Eastern Time and you get it a bit later if you are out of the U.S. A fair trade if you ask me.

The reality of these times is that "Valve Time" is bound and determined to show up. Is there really any doubt? Did anyone play the PC demo? Remember how that worked out? I'll have Steam loaded up and will restart around midnight here Eastern Time but I fully expect there to be delays because there are always delays when it comes to Valve.

Those of you looking to get your game on tonight be sure to add me on Steam and let me know who the hell you are. I have too many damn people on my list right now but I promise to try and remember.

Cross your fingers for a flawless launch and prepare them to grab hold of that badass chainsaw as we create piles of zombie corpses.

Final Fantasy XIII Spring Release Date Revealed

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:13:58 -0500

There was some big news last week that I skipped over while being gone but this is one tidbit I won't fail to mention even if many of you saw it already. Final Fantasy XIII finally has a release date in North America, Europe and even Australia all on the same day. Even the Aussies aren't being denied this time, call me impressed.

You can watch the snazzy announcement trailer above or you can simply skip over all of the new footage, the interviews and production to find out that Final Fantasy XIII is finally launching in come spring time. March 9th is the official date, a mere three months after the Japanese release in what is one of the fastest Japanese-to-English turnarounds that Square Enix has ever done.

This is easily one of my most anticipated titles of next year with the likes of God of War III and Gran Turismo 5. I, unlike many of you it seems, really enjoyed FF12's battle system and thought the game was well deserving of the Final Fantasy moniker. Since putting that game down months after release I have been ready for a new edition to the series.

Considering we are this close to the Japanese launch and only 4 months from the N.A. launch I don't anticipate any kind of delays that would push this back. It seems Square has all their ducks in a row and I suspect the launch should go without a hitch from here on.

There are plenty of good games to tide you over in the mean time including two great RPGs from Bioware named Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2.

Epic Drop 11/16/09: Super Troopers II, Back off of Fort Hood? Lebron says retire #23, Twitter **** to CBS, More ID4, Pissing thieves

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:44:02 -0500

Welcome to the return of regularly scheduled GR Blog programming. I am officially off of vacation, for a few months at least, and that means it is time to get back to the games, news, movies, politics and funny crap that fill the internet. I figure a good way to start is a Fox Monday, before I left for vacation so if you guys are curious about my impressions a week+ in let me know in the comments and I will write something up for your consumption.

Another one of those cute vids. Am I suffering from cute'itis? Maybe, but it is still a good video.

Epic Drop 11/13/09: Back From Vegas

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:54:48 -0500

Did you guys really think I was going to miss a Tuesday.

I'll be around back and forth this weekend though you can expect a return to scheduled programing on the The GR Blog come Monday.

Thanks to everyone that stepped up blogging the past week or so with some decent posts.

And for video's sake, one of my favorite Vegas moments in cinema history:

Epic Drop 11/6/09: Dying 6-yr old's notes, Lesnar has mono, Guys comes to own funeral, Army shooter alive, Stare at Goats, $8 gallons of gas?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:10:06 -0500

. Check the ass kicking these girls hand out (mainly that Lambert chick) rivaling the brutality we will probably see on the Fedor/Rogers fight this weekend. Via DeadSpin with my own backup link:

$60 Million Dollars makes a Gran Turismo 5 - New Screenshots

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:58:18 -0500

Gran Turismo 5 is part of my personal trinity of games that includes Final Fantasy 13 and Half Life 2 Episode 3 that still don't have release dates yet are near the top of my most anticipated list. The former two at least have Japanese dates so that is a start. GT5 is expected in Japan around March of next year and hopefully shortly there after here in the States and Europe.

In the mean time we have more screenshots and news to awe over including the current estimated budget of Polyphony Digital's latest creation. In a recent Autoweek.com interview GT mastermind Kazunori Yamauchi gave out some interesting details in regards to the upcoming title:

SCEA and marketing is holding the game up more than anything at this point
Five years of development has them right on time, same it took for GT4
400,000 polygons per car, 100 times more than were present on GT4
GT6 will not take as long as 5 as the new engine is complete now
...and last but not least, the game has $60 million dollars to develop!

$60 million! I realize other games have had budgets higher but only a handful and from this guy's figures it would be GT5 in the top five most expensive games of all time.

In other news you check out the new screenshots above or the whole gallery here from the SEMA show of past winners of the Gran Turismo Awards which are held in Las Vegas.

At the show there was a handful of sweet announcements as well. Winners at the GT Awards received custom gold Playstation 3s which will probably fetch a mint on Ebay someday. The 1970 Mustang "Trans Cammer" built by Philip Koenen and Grand Touring Garage in Oregon looks absolutely awesome and part of its award for winning best of show will be a spot in the actual Gran Turismo 5 game for us all to play. The Scion with front mounted wing is pretty impressive as well. Be sure to check them out.

By the way, that black Infinity G35 Coupe gives me wood.

Mass Effect 2 Collector's Edition sets sights on your wallet

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:31:51 -0500

Bioware isn't resting on its Dragon Age laurels. Hot on the heels of the fantasy-rpg early next year will be the sci-fi based Mass Effect 2 and with most high profile games there is also a collector's edition in the works. January 26th in North America and the 29th in Europe is the release date for this highly anticipated sequel to one of Bioware's key franchises.

The collector's edition is pictured below as is some of the exclusive goodness that comes packed within. $69.99 on the Xbox 360 and $59.99 for the PC (hurray for an actual PC CE) will land you a tin full of sci-fi action:

Snazzy tin case as seen pictured
48 page art book (whats a CE without art, like PB&J with the jelly)
A DVD featuring some making-of footage regarding the game
Issue one of the Mass Effect: Redemption comic
Limited edition Cerberus Network card granting access to bonus content
Some exclusive armor and weapons that are only in the CE
And of course the game

It should be noted that these downloads are separate from the content that will be available for pre-orders from various retailers. If this tickles your fancy you can check out the PC version here and the 360 version here at Gamestop.

This is about all that is on my "wanted list" for January so I suspect I will pick this up at some point. Finding time to play it is a whole another matter for as many of you know I still haven't found time to finish up the first game (dodges flames unsuccessfully). Life is hard being a gamer, what can I say?

Anyhow check out the cool crap down below and place your orders accordingly.

Epic Drop 11/5/09: Maine denies gays, Fedor v. Rogers, 'V' propaganda, Comcast throttles, Kick-Ass, Prejean sex tape

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:24:29 -0500

It is taser mania here on the Epic Drop tonight with two quality taserings for your satisfaction. Twice the juice for the price of one, you can't beat that. Plenty of interesting stories tonight including sex tapes and Rachel Bilson stopping in and grabbing her... crotch? , 200 votes to Alba's 180. Good thing too, I was almost just going to pick Keeley for December.

Is Infinity Ward making a point by pissing everyone off over MOW2?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:03:20 -0500

I don't think I have ever seen a string of success like this since EA was in their prime pissing people off weekly. Somehow Infinity Ward has taken one of the most anticipated game launches of the year and managed to drop a deuce all over it forcing a lot of people to question how much **** they want to put up with to play the game.

I question if it is possible to botch a release of a game that is pretty much assured of being a massive success. There is little doubt in my mind that the game will be one of the top selling titles of the year across all platforms as the game is one of the few highly anticipated FPS titles of the year and it is a sequel to the much-loved Modern Warfare.

Let us look at the recent onslaught of screw-ups in just the past could of weeks in relation to Modern Warfare 2:

Removal of PC dedicated servers
The "kill innocents as a terrorist video"
"F.A.G.S. and *******", the anti-grenade spam clip
Preventing XBL users from using party chat in various multiplayer modes
Locking mulitiplayer in at 9v9 on the PC

What is next? Some hidden form of DRM on the PC that will send gamers to IW headquarters trampling staff in protest? Maybe the rumors of charging for online play will come true causing our heads to explode in bewilderment.

I am half laughing about this as it almost seems like a test in regards to the game's hype and the communities overall desire to buy and play it. Had other lesser titles or developers done all the above in the "airing of grievances" I have a feeling it would affect their bottom line when it comes to sales and profits. Will it effect this game? I think the effect will be minimal.

For some reason it seems Infinity Ward is testing how far they can push everyone by molding the game in their image and not that of their prospective buyers who will actually buy the game. That to me is a bit disheartening considering the fans invested in these games and that have supported the developers over the long haul.

The reality is where would Infinity Ward be without the adoration and support from their customers? They would probably be worse off than Treyarch as the latter wouldn't have IW's success to leech off of. Yet at this point they don't seem to give a damn about all the negative feedback they are receiving.

Infinity Ward has laid down the gauntlet for potential customers and fans. Are you going to support their actions from this point forward or will the buck literally stop here and you spend your dollars elsewhere? Voice your opinions accordingly.

Epic Drop 11/4/09: Election night, AT&T sues VZW, Abused 4yr old, UHDTV, ATI 5970, Return of KAHN!?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:06:44 -0500

More votes people! Keeley needs your support! In the mean time you can focus your eyes on one of my favorites as Miss Miller stops in for a visit. Enjoy today's daily discussion and be sure to pass along any cool stories like a new ocean forming in Africa. "V" was pretty good last night, and lol @ universal health-care. . Can someone explain to me why girls always have to get involved in this ****? I see it almost every couple of weekends out and about and half of the time they end up getting hurt from tossing themselves in the mix like idiots.

(alt link for those that cant see it)

I post a lot of crap on these videos, some funny, some gross and some just flat-out embarrassing. Rarely have I ever posted something this touching:

It is November poll time people, place your votes!

Dragon Age: Origins - Released to rave reviews, thoughts?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:46:58 -0500

As I generally do with big releases of games I planned to spend a bit of time with Dragon Age today and pass off some reviews for you guys to wade through if you may be sitting on the fence over this solid Bioware-produced RPG. I'll get to a full review eventually but with vacation coming up and too many games I don't have time to knock one out quite yet.

I, being the smart person that I am, picked this up on PC unlike some people. Gamebynight does have a solid preview though (see last link) that you should definitely check out. I don't see how you could play something like this on a console to be perfectly honest, no matter how modified the control system. The IGN review embeded below pretty much confirms my thoughts that it is a very different game on the console thanks to the controls and pacing. Those of you with crappy PCs should probably just upgrade.

1920x1200, try getting your 360 to run that (down-scaled).

Reviews are solid so far with the game pulling a 91.21% on Gamerankings.com. The PS3 is scoring slightly below that in the 90's and the 360 is coming in around 89.

IGN - 9/10
GameSpot - 9.5/10
1UP - A
GameTrailers - 9.1/10
GameSpy - 4.5/5
Eurogamer - 8/10

Eurogamer per the usual comes in tied with the lowest review of the day so far. I'm not saying they are hard-***** or anything but let's just say Tom Cruise is a big fan of their work. They generally cut the B.S. though so I can appreciate them for that.

So far I like it. Graphically it is a sharp game though not as taxing as I would have thought earlier this year. It runs great on my suped-up rig so no issues in that regard.

Gameplay wise I can't give a full judgment in that regard quite yet not being very far in. The pause button is definitely your best friend on the PC and pretty much a must use. You can't really go hacking and slashing on in without a bit of tactic as the game moves on so taking time to pause and get situated is a key aspect to surviving. I do wish there was more of a action/combat queue and if this is something that expands later on feel free to correct me. I generally don't like to plan only one step at time.

I definitely look forward to spending more time with this in the coming weeks if I can pull myself away from Left 4 Dead 2 and Modern Warfare 2.

Thoughts and impressions? What do you guys think of the game so far?

Epic Drop 11/3/09: Poll Day! Shorter/stocky woman evolving, IP address issues, V review, Hyundai bonus, Terminator sale, Build your own wife

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:56:37 -0500

. I was just a wee little lad when the first one came out but I remember the reptilian aliens creeping me out as a kid. Variety has a review and so far things are looking up.

I wonder what was going through this guy's head as he was mid jump when he saw what awaited him on the side... besides the side of the bus.

Also, check out this one at Break which is a few days old that really makes me wonder how neither guy wanted to stop the fight.

It is November poll time people, place your votes!

DirectX 11 - What you need to know about the next graphical upgrade

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:58:09 -0500

DirectX 11 and its subset of Direct3D 11 commands has officially launched and what you need to know is that so far the graphically improvements are impressive.

DX11 officially launched with Windows 7 and then last week it was also released for Windows Vista for those of you still holding out before a move to 7. Those of you "die-hards" on Windows XP are still screwed much like you were with DirectX 10. Besides, unless you are running 5+ year old hardware there is no reason not to run 7 considering it manages resources even better than Vista did.

But wait you say, "don't I need DirectX 11 hardware to take advantage of all the cool things in Microsoft's latest graphical API"? Generally you would be correct but this time around there are also advantages for those of you on Directx 9-10 hardware. Bonus features for those of you without the upgrade bug, can you really complain? You can read some of the concepts over at MSDN for those of you into the technical aspects. Basically what you need to know is that DX9 and 10 with both support the shorter pipeline for graphics rendering possibly providing more FPS on older cards. Multithreading and a better use of resources will also back-port to older cards that support DX9 and 10.

Those of you who suffer from the upgrade bug like me will get the most benefit. The only game in town right now for Directx 11 is AMD/ATI's fantastic 5xxx series. The 5750, 5770, 5850 and 5870 are all out right now and all support the fantastic eye candy you see in the above video. Their upcoming dual-GPU cards (5970 and 5950, renamed from last generations 4870x2 and 4850x2) will also support DX11 out of the box. If you insist on holding out for Nvidia you still have a bit of a wait. Don't expect DX11 cards from the green guys until mid-to-late January at the earliest.

Graphically you can expect a much more significant change from 10 to 11 than you did from 9 -10. The new tessellation feature is one of the most notable features which is something you see within the video providing a huge bump in detail in the polygons. The new C shader will allow for better access to the shader pipeline on the physics front and for stream processing which will also make it easier to add effects after the fact. Shader model 5 is the next generation of graphical rendering and will also be included.

So what about the games? Right now Battleforge supports DX11 and later this year Dirt 2 will as well. Aliens Vs. Predator and Crysis 2 expected out early next year will also allow for those graphical enhancements previously mentioned. There are various other games like LotRO which will support it as well as D&D Online. You can expect more and more games to be added to the list as it is quite easy to change over from DX10 to 11 even mid-development of pretty much any game.

As of right now the game support is still a bit thin but that is always the case with new hardware support. The good news is that you don't need DX 11 hardware or games to make use of some of the new features and potentially see improvements.

Here a couple more previews for those you with the itch to learn more about the future of PC graphics. I realize it make take some cool new software like AVP or Crysis 2 ( see CryEngine 3 in action here) to get everyone really fired up for DX 11 but in the mean time the new features are certainly spectacular on the software and hardware front.

I have a feeling that DirectX 11 won't be as "skippable" as DirectX 10 was for many of you. How many games can you name with full DX 10 support besides Crysis without looking it up? I could only name 8 and I image many of you won't get that far. DX 10, partly due to Vista, just didn't take off like many hoped. Hopefully this time around things changes as 11 is a massive step up from the previous generation.

Modern Warfare 2 supports F.A.G.S. - then removes video

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:54:17 -0500

Philadelphia Phillies star Cole Hamels had and interesting public service announcement for all you Modern Warfare 2 fans: "".

There are bad jokes and there are funny jokes. While this isn't "laugh out loud" hilarious I did like the PSA aspect. Now if they video portrayed a guy on the mic playing MOW2 calling everyone who killed him with a grenade a "***" and then starting up a anti-*** group that would probably wade in to excessive territory. This PSA wasn't even close to that.

All this free publicity probably has Infinity Ward opening up extra bank accounts just to store all the loot. This will only further their cause towards being one of the top selling games of the year and making Bobby Kotick that much more well off. Between the "dedicated server issue", the "killing innocents as a terrorist" and now this PSA they have been dominating gaming headlines and probably laughing manically Dr. Evil-style.

Lighten up people. Life is too short to not enjoy a joke from time to time.

Epic Drop 11/2/09: Baseball bat lawsuit, New uTorrent, Google voice blocked, MIB3, Hogan Q&A, Best Picture?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:16:23 -0500

Not a whole lot going on this past weekend. No big movies unless you are in to Michael Jackson. I did a bit of bowling, a few drinks and even found time to get my drunk friends home, minus the one I left downtown. That is what happens when you chase the split-tail and don't close the deal. . Unfortunately it doesn't sound all that great at this point even with Jackie Earle Haley. Just goes to show that the continual rebooting of old-school horror isn't doing all that well. These aren't hard films to make, it isn't like they were Oscar winners, why can't they make decent remakes?

More sports tonight for laughs this time thanks to the Las Vegas Cobras in what very well may have been "betting with bookie" gone wrong.

Breasts vs. AWPs - Can strippers keep you from Counter-Strike?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:45:57 -0500

Russian teams Virtus.Pro and forZe went head to head in some Counter-Strike a while back with an interesting twist. While racking up headshots and doing Deagle saves they were being distracted by strippers to question a gamer's resolve; boobs or video games?

According to EnglishRussia:

"And when the game started, the whole room of a playground turned into a dance floor with loud music and half-naked hot girls. It seems that sponsors of the event wanted to make a surprise for boys and test them for firmness. Let’s see what was more important for hi-tech gamers, pretty girls or their score in the game?.”.

I am a bit curious as to whether or not the gamers knew what was going to happen. The article implies it may have been a surprise but if there was good money on the line I wonder if anyone complained. Then again the notion of actually complaining about tits in their faces and stinky-mouse pads may have convinced them to just play on.

Regardless of how things panned out this should almost be a requirement of all future gaming events. Everything is better with strippers and instead of watching some dudes wearing goofy looking headsets and shouting "double doors" or "ivy" wouldn't you rather focus on game screens with T&A to the side?

I really hope they provided some sanitary wipes after having those skanky ***** all over the computer hardware. And would it have really hurt for the hosts to actually get some hot girls to do this and not girls who looked like they worked a 12 hour shift, snorting lines and doing dollar dances in a local back alley? Of all the girls the only that is mildly decent looking is the one featured at the top of the post here.

You can check out more here if you are interested and a couple of more below.

God of War III Smashes Faces With An 'Ultimate Edition'

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:38:37 -0400

This might be the coolest thing you see all day. God of War news rarely slips past my radar and this is no exception. God of War III's Ultimate Edition was announced today and it is loaded with face-smashing goodies.

The other good news if you buy the Ultimate Edition within 10 days Amazon will email you a code to download the God of War III demo. That now makes three ways to get the demo, buying the God of War HD Collection, picking up District 9 on Blu-ray and pre-ordering this Ultimate edition.

The game comes packed within a collector's box designed around the infamous Pandora's Box from the game. It also includes the following goodies and digital content on the game's launch:

God of War III
An art book
Combat Arena with seven challenges
Premium Dominus Kratos skin
Documentary Titled God of War: Unearthing the Legend
God of War trilogy soundtrack
God of War: Blood and Metal EP (heavy metal homage featuring original music inspired by God of War)

The later two both come as MP3 digital downloads. There are also pre-order bonuses from various retailers including an Apollo skin at Amazon.com, a Phantom of Chaos skin at Gamestop and an exclusive skin at Gamecrazy as well.

How much for this glorious set of Greek-god destruction? A mere $99.99! I generally don't cough up for collector's editions but this one might be a must buy. This is one of my favorite modern series and this is a solid set with a bunch of content.

This is probably my most anticipated game of 2010.

Epic Drop 10/30/09: Arnold's F-You, Fat Abuse, Best zombie flicks, 16 million for stupidity, Ridley talks Alien

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:48:02 -0400

The last official lately. Instead of a direct setup to the first Alien movie Scott is saying this one will take place 30 years before that. What exactly that entails is anyone's guess. Either way, Scott+Aliens=win.

Some people go through life in a complete daze...

This has gotta be fake right? Right? Either that or the camera was running all damn day...

Grand Theft Auto 5 leaving Liberty City behind in 2010?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:10:48 -0400

Grand Theft Auto is back in the news this week thanks the solid expansion set for Grand Theft Auto 4 featuring the Lost and The Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony being bundled up in one retail stand-alone disc that doesn't require GTA 4 to play.

That isn't the only good news however as rumors regarding the series' future have also been swirling. This isn't all that new when it comes to Rockstar games or Grand Theft Auto in general but this hint actually comes courtesy of Rockstar.

It seems the manual within the retail game disc features the below ad hinting at a change of scenery for the highly-successful franchise. With the time and money that was put in to GTA 4 and Liberty City many questioned just how long we would stick around. Two downloadable content episodes later and we may have our answer.

The image notes "Liberty City, It's Over!" with a broken heart of Liberty City imagery headlining the ad. There is also a note mentioning "next stop" and it also states "Opens March Everywhere".

What exactly does that mean? Well I think it is pretty safe to say we will see a change in locales for the next Grand Theft Auto game. What exactly the next stop isn't so concrete. There were rumors of Tokyo earlier this year but nothing more has come supporting those theories since then.

Personally next time around I don't want to be restricted to one city, maybe not even one country. San Andreas still has the best layout of all the games and that is what they should model the next game on with this fancy new engine they built. Multiple countries would be kinda sweet as I mentioned in the "Top Five Features We Want In Grand Theft Auto 5". The ability to run your coke fields down in South America and wheel and deal your wares here in the states would be kind of cool.

Liberty City is cool and all but we have spent plenty of time there throughout the franchises' history. Tokyo, London, Chicago all sound like some quality options.

As far as the "opens march everywhere" statement, who knows? I don't expect a new game by then though that will be almost two years since the last game. I suspect later in 2010 is when we will see a sequel. The March reference could be for the Red Dead sequel due out in 2010 as well.

Epic Drop 10/29/09: Worst disguise ever, 24 back! Droid mania, Corrupt NBA, Jackson movie, No heart for Palin

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:06:24 -0400

Today's site of the day is Lamebook and this entry is classic. Yes Twilight fans, you just might like it in the rear end. In other news I may not be up for Nathan on the Verizon network and I am almost totally sold on picking this up next month. Check it out in action below. Verizon told me I can get one year pricing on it and after selling my LG Dare it shouldn't be all that bad:

This is one of the oddest fights I have ever seen. I thought girl-on-girl took the cake but if you toss in the elderly its a whole new bag of fun:

Spector's Disney Epic Mickey media and news blow-out

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:58:18 -0400

It seems yesterday was the day for Disney Epic Mickey news, which is now the full title of the game. There are screenshots all over, some of which you can see below and concept art galore as well plus previews by the likes of 1UP.

The game is set for launch in the fall of 2010 and yes, exclusively on the Wii. In the mean time we can ogle these images and notes of what is yet to come.

The game is based around The Cartoon Wasteland which is what Yen Sid ( the sorcerer from The Sorcerer's Apprentice) created as a location for retired and unused Disney characters and elements to go and thrive.
Mickey will have to use paint to restore the run-down world which he probably caused in the first place all while dealing with this new unknown world and the Phantom Blot which hustled him off to this world against his will.

There seems to be a couple different ways to play the game and that can either give you a Hero Mickey, a Scrapper Mickey or something in between. Hero Mickey seems to create with paint and build within the Wasteland and Scrapper Mickey uses Thinner to tear down and destroy. Scrapper Mickey is also pictured above the blog for those curious.

Screenshots below are courtesy of the Official Nintendo Magazine. They also confirm that the game wasn't originally a glimmer in the Wii's eye. In fact it wasn't even going to be on the Wii and was originally planned for the PS3, 360 and PC. It had been in development on the other platforms up until last year when Spector noted:

"At that time we were talking about a Wii port and I was begging people - no, we can't just port to the Wii, it's not going to work. It needs to be its own game. A lot of the design ideas just won't work on the Wii, we need to give the Wii its dues. Graham looked at me and said 'What do you think about a Wii exclusive?' And I went 'Holy cow - yeah!'”.

Somehow the desire to be on the Wii with a quality game left the rest of the systems in the dark. I am not complaining too much as I can check this out regardless but I imagine the same concept could have come together with Microsoft's Natal or Sony's yet-to-be-named motion controller.

You can also check out some of these images via Game Informer's new Anatomy of a Screenshot segment which highlights various aspects within each image giving you more insight to the game's art, direction, play-style and mechanics.

The full press release below and it may be one of the first press releases actually worth reading through as it contains actual talk about the plot and direction of the game so check it out:

BURBANK, Calif. - (October 28, 2009) - Disney Interactive Studios today announced the development of Disney Epic Mickey, an adventure-platforming game with light role-playing elements for the WiiTM home video game console. The game stars Mickey Mouse who has been re-imagined for videogames by luminary game designer Warren Spector and his Junction Point game development studio. In Disney Epic Mickey, Spector, a life-long Disney fan, taps into Mickey Mouse's rich history along with the characters and worlds brought to life by Walt Disney to create an edgy and unexpected cartoon adventure.

"Mickey is an adventurous and rambunctious mouse," said Warren Spector, creative director and vice president, Junction Point. "I want to bring his personality to the forefront, place him in a daunting world and connect his spirited character with video game players worldwide. Ultimately, each player decides for him- or herself what makes Mickey cool."

In the game's fiction, a sorcerer named Yen Sid creates a beautiful, whimsically-twisted world where Disney's forgotten and retired creations thrive. Originally, the powerful sorcerer from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" in Walt Disney's 1940 film "Fantasia" was nicknamed "Yen Sid" by Disney animators, although never named as such on screen. In Spector's game, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit - Walt Disney's first cartoon star created in 1927 - becomes the earliest inhabitant of Yen Sid's Cartoon Wasteland after Mickey Mouse is created. Oswald makes the Cartoon Wasteland comfortable for other retired characters as they join him in this magical land. Years pass, and as Oswald dwells in the Cartoon Wasteland, he becomes resentful watching Mickey's popularity swell. When Mickey curiously stumbles upon Yen Sid's map, he makes an innocent yet terrible mistake and inadvertently devastates Oswald's comfortable world. Eventually, Mickey's mistake pulls him deep into the mysterious Cartoon Wasteland to face the destruction he unknowingly created.

"Having Warren combine creativity and innovation with one of the world's most famous characters takes Mickey back to his creative roots and allows fans to deepen their engagement with him as a character - especially in video games," said Graham Hopper, executive vice president and general manager of Disney Interactive Studios. "In addition to Warren's lifelong love of cartoons, films and comics, his visionary approach to game design and storytelling will make certain that this heroic tale of discovery and redemption resonates with Disney fans and gamers alike."‪

Players use the Wii RemoteTM to wield magical paint and thinner to re-shape the world around them. Paint's creativity and thinner's damaging effect give the player robust tools and empowers them to make choices about how they move through the world. Each player's decisions to use paint, thinner or both dynamically changes the world with consequences that affect the environment, interactions with other characters, and even Mickey's appearance and abilities.

"The core of this game is the idea of choice and consequence, and how that defines both the character and the player," says Spector. "By putting the mischievous Mickey in an unfamiliar place and asking him to make choices - to help other cartoon characters or choose his own path - the game forces players to deal with the consequences of their actions. Ultimately, players must ask themselves, 'What kind of hero am I?' Each player will come up with a different answer."

Blurring reality and fantasy, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's role is as significant in the game as it was in real life. The Walt Disney-created Oswald appeared in 26 silent cartoons between 1927 and 1928 for Charles Mintz, who contracted with Universal for distribution. At this time, Oswald was primed to be Walt's first big animated star. When faced with daunting production costs, Walt asked for more money to ensure the quality of the Oswald cartoons. When a deal could not be reached, Walt lost the rights to Oswald and with the rabbit went much of Walt's staff. Among those who remained with Walt was animator, cartoonist and long-time friend Ub Iwerks, and together they created a new character named Mickey Mouse.

The initial concept behind Disney Epic Mickey originated within the Disney Interactive Studios' Think Tank. The Think Tank conceptualized Mickey as a cartoon character thrown into turmoil. Spector expanded and refined Disney Epic Mickey's concept and built the game for a broad audience fully utilizing the Wii and Wii Remote for accessibility and engaging gameplay.

Developed by Junction Point in Austin, TX, Disney Epic Mickey is slated for a fall 2010 release. The game currently is unrated by the ESRB. For more information, go to www.disney.com/disneyepicmickey.

I'd say things are off to an impressive start. Regardless of our feelings on the Wii I love seeing unique properties like this being developed that aren't your typical every-day game. Sure I'd love to see this on the PC or a "good" console but with the Wii's amazing sales is this really that much of a surprise?

Rumors are that video of the game may be surfacing soon here so I will keep you posted. In the mean time you probably have a year to get yourself a Wii. No, you can't have mine.

Left 4 Dead 2 Demo Hands-On Impressions

no.spam@gameriot.com (Slapnuts) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:08:33 -0400

The PC demo for Left 4 Dead 2 finally dropped this past evening after close to half a dozen delays over the course of the day, me complaining and flames throughout the Steam Forums. Valve time may have struck again but we can all rest easy playing the demo today and preparing for the launch of the full game in a couple of weeks.

This will be my micro-review of the demo which is pretty small itself but enough to give some first impressions.

The new special infected are an off-the-wall good time, I can't wait to use them in Versus. The Charger is a lot stronger than I expected and on Advanced and Expert they seem to really kick your ass. I haven't done the math but I believe when he slams you into the ground he does double digit damage. His charge has a wide target area as well so watch out. The Spitter is a bit ungainly but effective. Corner camping may be a thing of the past with the Spitter and Charger as if you stand still on her toxic spit you are screwed. The Jockey is a bit odd and I haven't been hit by him yet though watching him drag people around is pretty amusing. I suspect he will be very effective when it comes to griefing in Versus.

The characters a mixed a bag. I haven't played enough to hear all of their voice work yet but Nick and Coach both seem to be pretty amusing so far. Rochelle hasn't really said much that grabs me as "iconic" yet and Ellis gives off that smart-ass vibe. I kind of miss the heroine-feel that Zoey gave off which seems to be missing this time around. I'm sure as we move further into the retail game various catch phrases like "kill all sons of *****es" and other personality quirks will come out.

The new weapons are a pleasant surprise. I was expecting more of that re-skinned feel from the old weapons but everything has new sounds, animations and a different feel. One surprising twist was the "vomit bomb" which I hadn't read about yet. You can toss a can of Boomer vomit on to special infected and the common infected will attack them instead of you. I can't wait to see this used in muliplayer, hopefully it isn't too unbalanced if it is included in Versus. The melee weapons provide fun and satisfying action but I still find myself using the pistols more often. The good news if you get incap'ed you can still shoot your pistol(s) from the ground if you were carrying a melee weapon.

The graphics, blood and gore have all seen improvements this time around and the game is sharp graphically considering it is running on the same engine. The visuals do seem improved this time around. The daytime of The Parish still provides plenty of eerie moments and it isn't all "sun shiny days" with plenty of darker areas.

All in all this is pretty much exactly what I expected. I had hoped to like the melee weapons more (though I haven't played with the bat or chainsaw yet) but I don't know that they really fit my play-style. The further the enemies die away from me the better off I am is the way I roll so I like to avoid up close action. I may use them more in Campaign and Survival but I don't think I'd use them much in Versus unless surrounded.

Not that I was going to cancel my pre-order or anything but at this point I am confident that this should be a solid game for $45-33 and well worth my time and money.