Every Single Article Written by N - All 1343
Can Warren Spector Make Great Games Again?
Is the magic gone, Mr. Spector?
The last time I got to shake hands with Warren Spector was almost ten years ago. He was on-stage at IGN’s booth at E3 explaining that what many perceived as flaws in Deus Ex: Invisible War, like the simplistic circular interface, were actually long part of the plan he had for the game. He would’ve even put them in the first game if he could. Warren was friendly, but it was obvious that after Invisible War’s mixed reception, he was on the defensive. We could relate, considering the pedigree of the original and how much of our opinion of Warren hinged on that series.
Just days ago, Disney Interactive, which has its own troubles, announced the closure of Junction Point Studios, which Spector had co-founded after leaving Ion Storm and Deus Ex. Unfortunately, the two Epic Mickey games the studio shipped also debuted to mixed reviews.
A free agent again, one has to wonder: will Warren need to keep playing defense forever?
Lamborghini’s Sesto Elemento Is The Coolest Car I’ve Seen Today
If it were a little smaller, I could imagine it sheathing knives.
I didn’t used to like cars. Learning to drive them, caring what they are, their models or whatever, none of that. I still don’t know how the steering wheel transfers power to the driveshaft from the alternator, but after Project Gotham Racing 2 came out, I kept an eye open for beautiful cars thereafter, particularly exotic supercars those Europeans like building. The latest on my list is Lamborghini’s Sesto Elemento, unveiled in 2010, but finally hitting production this year. Ain’t she a beaut’?
Finally, Warner Brothers Brings Us An Entourage Movie To Send The Series Out In Style
Eight seasons and a movie!
It’s been nearly a decade since Entourage took to HBO’s airwaves (or cable waves?) to bring us a slightly fudged story of how one gets big in Hollywood. Following rising star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his friends from New York through all the misogyny, drug use, and frenzied movie deals that reportedly come with the rise of a blockbuster actor, we were left with a pretty dull thud of a final season. Loosely modeled after Mark Wahlberg’s real-life adventures of moving on up through the celebrity mosh pit, there were hopes that any last dollars in the Entourage bank would be put towards a film to tie up all the loose ends. Well, it’s finally coming.
EA Stops The Medal Of Honor Train, Reminds Us That It Was Our Fault It Failed
“YA CAN’T POLISH A TOID.”
Dear Peter Moore,
I’ve loved your bravado and showmanship all the way back through your Xbox days. You’re a lovable guy and, no offense to Don Mattrick, but I’d give up Don Mattrick to have you back at Microsoft. But please, don’t insult us. During an investor conference call today, you, now COO of Electronic Arts, confirmed that after completely blowing your second huge attempt at rebooting Medal of Honor in some desperate, hopeful tackle at Activision’s Call of Duty juggernaut, you’re just gonna stop trying. Then, as a kind of a slap on the ass, you suggested we rated it too low and probably hated it too much. Not us personally, but the plurality of gamers and media.
No, that’s not going to work.
Zynga Gets Worse: Rise Of Nations, Alpha Centauri Designer Brian Reynolds Leaves
He’s so happy!
Brian Reynolds is a name you’ve probably never heard of, but he’s easily one of the most important designers in the gaming industry. I even met him at E3 and asked him a question. I can’t remember the question or the answer, but it happened! Reynolds doesn’t quite get the attention that Molyneux or Miyamoto do, but his games are some of the finest to ever be crafted. When Civilization II is one of your first credits, you know you’re going places. Nearly four years ago, Brian was snapped up by Zynga after he left Big Huge Games, which was snapped up by 38 Studios (and we know how that went) and he went to work on Frontierville and Empires & Allies for Facebook. To pile on Zynga’s woes, he’s now leaving.
SimCity Beta Impressions: The FleshEatingZipper Crew Weighs In
It’s so pretty.
This past weekend, a few of us got our grubby mitts on the new SimCity beta release. Capped at an hour of play before your design was lost forever, the more-of-an-extended-demo-than-a-beta beta was a bit of tease, but it also provided a lot of insight into what we’re waiting for in early March. N and Rob watched far too many of their cities wash away into the digital dust, but have some firm impressions about Maxis’ and EA’s new city builder. Check it out!
Newgrounds Wants You To Convert Your Flash Movies To Real Ones, Releases Swivel
You too can take your old crappy (or perhaps new and shiny) Flash movies and convert them to high-fidelity web video!
In a previous life, I used to make Flash movies. In fact, for most of my graphic design (and yes, the video work as well), I still use Flash on a regular basis, but the biggest problem with Flash-based content is that unless it’s a still image, it’s virtually incompatible with any other editor. You can’t just dump a Flash animation into a video editor like Final Cut Pro or Sony Vegas and have it work, it just doesn’t work like that. Even After Effects, another Adobe product, has issues with Flash content, nested movie clips, and so on. I’ve searched for years to find a way to efficiently move my Flash content away from its vector-based roots to something I can actually use.
Enter Newgrounds and their new Swivel tool, unleashed today.
‘Cosmopolis’ Review: Everything He Wants And Nothing He Needs
It’s lonely at the top.
I can see why people can’t stand Robert Pattinson: he gets to be with Kristen Stewart every night. It’s okay, I know the feeling. I haven’t even seen the Twilight films and I know. I simply know. As the hyper-arrogant CEO of a financial institution, Pattinson does well to portray a young man living in a world just beyond his reach where every obstacle is merely some complex math equation away from resolution. Here, Pattinson’s Eric Packer just wants to get across town for a haircut. Too bad everything just seems to get in the way.
Facebook’s New Graph Search Missing Critical Component: A Point
Let’s find something cool.
At a major event, Facebook recently unveiled Graph Search, a new discovery tool that would take advantage of your friends’ data to provide better recommendations and results from, well, your friends, rather than the anonymous mass that is the average Google inquiry. The tool just opened to early registrants yesterday and is still relatively early, meaning it lacks nearly all the data from third-party apps. But placing all that data in this tool can’t solve the simple fact that Facebook’s new Graph Search is fundamentally useless. Underwhelming is the word I’ve seen across a swath of reviews to describe Facebook’s new toy and it’s one that fits aptly here. It could not be more underwhelming.
Today We Say Goodbye To THQ
I guess I’ll see you, see you on the other siiiiide…
Well, it’s been a long road. While THQ had originally planned to sell itself in its entirety to investment group Clearlake, the courts decided that they would get more money selling off their properties and studios individually. As widely reported, many of these studios found homes and THQ ultimately raised $72 million. But while Relic goes to Sega, Volition goes to Deep Silver, and South Park, plus a number of other properties, go to Ubisoft, our sources in THQ have confirmed that today is the final day for the employees of THQ proper and Vigil Studios, whom you may know for the Darksiders games. Yeah, it’s all done now.
