Its been a few weeks since we’ve had a regular installment but this week I thought it would be interesting to talk about a few random news items along with a quick review of the Wizards of the Coast produced card and dice game – Inn-Fighting.
Inn-Fighting Price: $14.99 Release Date: October 2007
Not sure what you want to do tonight? Maybe one of your regular players has decided not to show up and you’re left holding the game on their account. Well I can heartily recommend Inn-Fighting as a great way to keep the game group focused on the fantasy RPG elements without having to break your back on story and plotting.
Inn-Fighting is a dice and card game that is meant to simulate the wildest bar fight in the world. Players draw from a small selection of adventurer cards and then abruptly begin to bash and beat the other players at the table with the table. The goal of the game is to defeat enough opponents in the brawl that you accumulate 20 victory points. Points are gained by defeating bystanders or opponents and the game does an excellent job of introducing unique characters with often humorous special abilities into the fray.
This week, after a slight delay of game thanks to rain and technology, the File-N-Forget podcast ignores the GTA IV release hype and instead focuses on two games that might interest folks who are not mindless GTA obsessed zombies. Iron Man the Game and Viking: Battle for Asgard. Sure Stephany dinged Viking pretty badly in her impression, but Ron quite likes it and talks about why.
The Rant and Rant section of the episode features Ron talking about how World of Warcraft can fail while Shawn bitches about bitchy women.
This weeks show is available by direct download here.
As always, you can get past episodes from our podcast page at http://podcast.filefront.com, and you can send your comments, questions, suggestions, or snarky comments to podcast@filefront.com.
File-N-Forget is also available on the iTunes Music Store.
Looking to play an innovative game that blends MMO elements with RTS gameplay? Well, Filefront’s got you covered. We’ve teamed up with the 1UP network and publisher Silverlode to bring you 50,000 copies of the critically acclaimed “MMORTS,” Saga. The game will have players amassing huge armies to fulfill their goals in a world created by the lead programmer for Starcraft: Brood War, Dallan Christensen. You’ll be able to build up an army of human, orcs, elves, dragons, giant mechs, and much more by acquiring booster packs of units. Units and resources can be bought and traded much like items in a traditional MMORPG, and the game’s persistent world will continue to evolve and expand even while you’re offline. Plus, as icing on the “awesome cake,” Saga is completely free to play.
Want your free copy of Saga? Well, then just click on the link below to download the game client. The client will come with a serial key, which you’ll need to use to create an account at the official Saga website. Be sure to check out the file’s description for instructions on creating your own account. You’ll have between now and May 11th to secure your copy of the game, unless we run out before then. We’re seriously giving away $1 million dollars worth of stuff here, people, so be sure not to miss out.
[Update: Some people seem to be having trouble locating their serial key. After following the link below and clicking “Download Now,” the red text near the top of the page will change to display your own personal key so you can register your free copy. Happy gaming!]
I know there’s plenty of game news out there today, but I just want to take a second to talk about something that I’m sure affects most of us. I think it’s safe to say that our sources of entertainment extend beyond video games, to films, for example. And I think it’s also safe to say that the majority of films out there aren’t worth the money it costs to go to a theater these days. Other than not throwing away our hard-earned cash on terrible flicks, there’s not much we can do about that. But this weekend, we as gamers might be able to at least eliminate one of Hollywood’s newest excuses for poor films: blaming low ticket sales on a huge video game release. And that is why, people, I implore you:
Go see Iron Man this weekend.
The thing is, Hollywood has found a new scapegoat in video games. It’s true the video game industry has grown to almost rival the movie industry, but it seems studios and analysts have found this to be a good way to excuse bad films. Last year, in the wake of Halo 3’s release, box office sales seemed to take a dip, which some film executives attributed to the game’s success. What they didn’t seem to consider was that the theaters were at the time flooded with dreck like The Heartbreak Kid and The Game Plan. As such, those same people have already been predicting poorer-than-expected ticket sales for the Iron Man film solely due to GTA IV’s nearby release date. I’m sure most of us can see the major flaw in this logic, and that is exactly why we must prove Hollywood wrong. Read the full article
Looks like I’ll have to amend my exhibitor list again. Kotaku is reporting that six more publishers have dropped out of E3 this year. Who are the missing half-dozen?
Well, to Vivendi and Activision you can add the following: Codemasters, NCSoft, Her Entertainment, and id Software. The new four have confirmed that they are not attending this year’s show, but they are remaining members of the ESA.
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has been quoted as placing at least part of the blame at the feet of ESA President, Mike Gallagher.
“Lowenstein was a very savvy industry veteran who paid attention to the goings-on in the industry and cared what the community had to say. The new person… whose name completely escapes me because I’ve never met him or heard from him, is far less knowledgeable and sophisticated about this industry than Doug was and is going to make some rookie mistakes.
Doug used to be a very visible spokesperson in congress… when you’d get these [things like] Barack Obama saying videogames are corrupting our youth or MADD saying that Take-Two should pull GTA off the shelves, you would hear Lowenstein immediately shoot back. I would guess that Activision doesn’t perceive the same value from the ESA as they did under Doug’s leadership. I criticize [Gallagher’s] lack of drive to learn about the industry.”
Thus far, the ESA and Gallagher have had no comment, but it seems to me that common sense would say that if your largest members are leaving and/or not supporting your signature event, you may have a problem on your hands.
To be fair, NCSoft has publicly stated that their decision not to attend is based soley on their game development cycles, and has nothing ot do with the ESA or its leadership. However, the rest of us are left wondering what may come from all the other companies in the coming week, especially with the news that Activision will be holding an event on the first day of E3, just not in the convention center as part of E3.
Is this the beginning of the end for E3? We’ve speculated on it for quite some time, literally every year since the format was changed. Could it finally be upon us?
We’ve all been watching the hoopla surrounding Grand Theft Auto IV this week. Heck, you can’t avoid watching it. It’s everywhere.
Like most of you, I made my way over to a local retailer Tuesday and picked up my copy. I brought it home, sat through the 4GB install on my PS3, and then leapt in. Judging from the perfect scores that have been thrown at this game like panties at a Wayne Newton concert, I expected to be completely blown away.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t. In fact, I was amazed how much like the previous editions of GTA it was. Now, I’m not one for messing up a good thing. The truth is that I like GTA IV, just as I’ve enjoyed previous iterations of the series. The problem is that it’s receiving perfect scores for a less than perfect game.
Grand Theft Auto IV is basically GTA III with a new character, a lot more voice acting, and an admittedly stunning graphics makeover. It really does little to nothing new, and leaves me wondering if perhaps the preview copies came with some sort of awesome swag we should know about.
This is why I distrust rating systems for games. Games like GTA IV (and Halo 3, etc…) are hyped into the stratosphere, given perfect scores, and then at release are found to be good, but not the shining gem of perfection we were all led to expect. Why can’t people just be content to say something like, “Wow, this game is pretty good, and it’s fun, but it’s really just the same old GTA again. I’d give it a nine.”
No, they have to spout off about how glorious it is, and wax eloquent about its majesty, only to leave us who didn’t play it prior to release feeling somehow slighted by the actual game we receive. Therein lies the tragedy: A good game leaves the gamer feeling somehow cheated because he isn’t experiencing the rapture the previewer obviously did.
Let me reassure you that GTA IV is a good game, even an excellent one. It’s just not perfect, and therefore, not a ten.
If, like me, you were wondering why Activision, Blizzard and the rest of Vivendi weren’t on the list of exhibitors at E3 2008, the answer is in.
According to Kotaku, the Entertainment Software Association has confirmed to them that both Vivendi and Activision are no longer a part of the trade organization. In a statement, Senior Vice President of Communications and Research Rich Taylor said
“While the Entertainment Software Association remains the preeminent voice for U.S. computer and video game publishers, we can confirm that Activision and Vivendi Games opted to discontinue their membership. The ESA remains dedicated to advancing our industry’s objectives such as protecting intellectual property, preserving First Amendment rights, and fostering a beneficial environment for the entire industry. Our high level of service and value to members and the larger industry remains unchanged.”
This departure is a big surprise, at least to me. I think we’d all grown used to Blizzard holding their big announcements for Blizzcon, but to see an E3 without them will be more than just odd, it’ll be downright bizarre. One has to wonder what effect this split will have on the ESA and E3. After all, it’s not just Blizzard, but Activision and Sierra as well.
Well, July is approaching fast, and E3 with it. We received the list of E3 exhibitors, and thought we’d share them with you. As usual, you can expect us to have a team from Gaming Today on site to bring you coverage right from the Convention Center.
This year’s list includes (among others) Atari, Eidos, EA, Konami, LucasArts, Square Enix, and of course the big three of the console world: Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. Contrary to popular rumor, Bethesda will make an appearance with Fallout 3, as confirmed by their blog post. Apparently they were left off the initial listing for an unknown reason.
You can see a full list of the companies currently expected to attend after the break.
Everybody who has ever played a video game can attest to the fact that the majority of the female characters in them are usually not horrid beasts whose appearance is so revolting that you want to gouge your eyes out. Usually, if a female character is insulting to our senses it is because they are either a zombie, some sort of enemy we are suppose to detest or they are the overly plump mother figure. The heroines, or the damsels in distress are usually pretty easy on the eyes – for a pixilated figure – and the fandom that surrounds Lara Croft, for example, can attest to this.For years on end, men have had their Dead or Alive chicks, Lara, the Final Fantasy babes, any female in Soul Calibur, and pretty much the whole gambit of scantily clad women in the RPG genre. This has always been okay with me, because I am not a prude and I understand that developers and the demographic that they cater too are mostly male. Men like to look at voluptuous women oozing with sexuality that can handle a broadsword with as much tender loving care as they would a helpless kitten. It is a scientific fact that men are stimulated visually when it comes to the opposite sex – therefore, if a game developer wants to include a female character in a game that wears nothing more than a thong, pasties, thigh-high boots and fishnet stockings – go for it! It does not offend me in the slightest.
I do however, have one request from developers: Why not make your main protagonists just as easy on the eyes as the women? I am not asking you to put them in a codpiece or have them in costumes that make them look like nothing more than a reject from a Village People casting call. I am not even asking for you to make them “really, really, ridiculously good-looking”. I just think it would be wonderful to have nice looking men who are just as easy on the eyes as their pixilated female counterparts. Handsome heroes in video games are few and far between and while Duke Nukem may be a bad ass, his resemblance to Howie Long only disgusts us to be quite honest. Solid Snake may be one of the most awesome heroes of his genre, but he is no Sam Elliot.
Because of the lack of hunky men in video games, I set out to find some that I personally though might fit the “handsome” mold. I shared my findings with some female friends who are also gamers, and they agreed with me on my selections. With more and more women taking up gaming as a hobby, if you are going to include a hot chick, make her counterpart just as hot. I have picked some of the hunkiest gaming heroes that have so far graced our TV screens, and while there are not that many, the ones I have chosen – to me anyway – are the ones who are easiest on the eyes.
While I’m working behind-the-scenes at FileFront & Gaming Today, I use twitter on a daily basis since I find it’s a great way to get to know people from the gaming community without actually chatting with them. During my day, I get twitters from hundreds of people. The things I read vary from simple daily going-ons, to more specific comments or ideas about gaming. One discussion in particular got me thinking. Should GTA IV be a rental or a purchase?
I personally have been a member of GameFly and other services similar to it, and I enjoyed the service until they cancelled my subscription due to too many games gone missing. That isn’t the issue here though. The reason why I decided to write this article to address a very popular trend among people who rent games: Renting GTA IV or triple-A titles altogether.
Developer: Stardock Publisher: Stardock Price: $29.95 Platform: PC Category: Turn-based Strategy ESRB: “RP” for Rating Pending Release Date: April 30, 2008 (Digital Download through Stardock’s Total Gaming.net)
The fate of the universe is in your hands yet again thanks to the latest expansion in the Galactic Civilizations II series. Twilight of the Arnor continues the excellent tradition established by great turn-based 4X strategy titles like Master of Orion and its predecessor Galactic Civilizations by expanding the options and finishing the story of the Dread Lords.
The addition of a star destroying mobile battle station has nothing to do with just how much fun it is to wipe out your enemies though, nothing at all. (OK, I lie) Especially when the Death Star-like Terror Stars become the key to freeing the galaxy from the influence of the Dread Lords in the game’s lengthy single-player campaign.
It’s hard to top the original Galactic Civilizations II for all the features and options but after two expansions, when considered together Stardock may have single handedly ended the need for any further space strategy games – ever. I’m not one to feel a game is ever absolutely perfect but Stardock’s latest expansion makes the already amazingly comprehensive series about as good as I could ever imagine a turn-based strategy game as good as it can ever hope to be. Why, you might wonder, would I say that? Well Twilight of the Arnor has everything I could possibly want in a game of this type. Read the full article
Viking: Battle for Asgard Developer: Creative Assembly Publisher: SEGA Price: $59.99 Platform: PS3, Xbox 360 Category: Action/Adventure ESRB: “M” for Mature Release Date: March 25, 2008
I have always been enthralled with Nordic legends, and anything Viking related. Far be it to call myself a Nordiphile, I am hardly that – I just like mythology of all sorts. I have also thought that Vikings were too often ignored in video games, and I have never understood why they have been largely shunned by the industry, This is why I was so excited about Beowulf until it was announced that it would be a movie tie-in – and in my opinion, both sucked equally.
When Viking: Battle for Asgardwas announced a few moths after Beowulf, my love of Nordic mythology took a back seat to the wariness in my brain. I decided it would be rented instead of purchased and while the waiting list for the game was long at my local Blockbuster – I am glad I waited. Whether Viking: Battle for Asgard was worth the wait or not is open to interpretation. On the one hand, I liked the visuals and some of the executions you could pull off, but the game had so many things wrong with it. It was repetitive, contained shallow swordplay, choppy framerates galore and so many other things wrong with it that by the time I was a quarter of the way finished with the game, I wanted my rental fee back. Of course, Blockbuster does not give refunds for unsatisfactory rental purchases.
In Viking: Battle for Asgard, you are Skarin - a warrior on the edge of death who is brought back from the brink by the Goddess Freya. In exchange for this life saving turn of events, you must do her bidding – and no, there are no sexual undertones to this despite the fact that she is a hottie. Her desire for you is only for you to prevent Hel, the Goddess of the Underworld from taking over Midgard. The plotline gives you the impression that the game would be full of hack and slash potential, and that is indeed true. The game was oozing with potential, and when playing I kept waiting for the goods to come to fruition but, alas, they never surfaced – probably because none were present to being with.
By the time this is posted, most of us will already have a copy of GTA IV in our hands. Ah, don’t ya just love that new game smell? I know I do, and nothing is more delicious to the senses than unwrapping a video game that you just KNOW is going to be worth the wait and the cost. All the hype aside, the GTA series has never disappointed us, because we always get what is advertised - the same heaping helping of vicarious, antisocial behavior that we would never be caught dead doing in public. Every time a new GTA game is released, we know what is inside the packaging only the storyline and graphics get better every year.Another thing we have come to expect with a new GTA game, is the controversy surrounding it – and this year, GTA IV was no exception. Between the back and forth from both the EA camp and the Take-Two camp, the irrelevant lawyers sending hateful letters to corporate Mothers, and the rating debacle in Australia – this year was basically just like any other year. Full of GTA drama.
This past Friday night, I had a few of my female friends over for a little pow-wow, and while we were enjoying our many pitchers of Sangria, our topic of conversation turned to gaming. You see, I have only a handful of female friends, the rest are all male, and each section of my peer world is drastically different. My male friends are all hardcore gamers; the majority of my female pals cannot really be considered gamers, save for one. Yeah, sure, they play video games – but not on a daily basis like I do, and they most definitely do not live and breathe this form of entertainment quite the way I do.
Anyway, back to the subject here, our slightly drunken conversation turned to gaming, which eventually led us to the topic of GTA IV coming out. In my half-lit stupor, I decided to record the conversation for posterity and transcribe it the best I could for you, dear readers. However, before I get to the strange tête-à-tête between drunken women, let me give you a bit of background on each one of them.
Earlier in the month, Jenni Lada over on Gamertell listed eight great video game role models for women. Jenni’s main focus was on the RPG genre, and while I thought her list was fantastic I thought it would be great to compile a more comprehensive list that would span all gaming genres. Not knocking her post in anyway, I promise - it actually inspired what I set out to do with my own. So a hearty thanks goes out to Jenni for inspiring me.
Lara Croft and Samus Aran, in my opinion are overly exalted in gamer’s eyes and many other female gaming characters could and should be considered better role models than some. Usually female characters in games can be put into the same category of those Dead or Alive girls - of course, they are not meant to be role-models but are instead the video game equivalent of soft-core porn. What I would like draw attention to, are the unheralded female heroines that grace our PCs and consoles that seem to always get the short end of the stick when it comes to being adulated by the gaming masses.
Here, in my opinion are great female role models in gaming and while this list omits many that should get the acknowledgement they deserve, they can’t all be listed - so if you feel I omitted anyone, please feel free to mention said “wonder woman” in the comments section.
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword Developer: Team Ninja Publisher: Tecmo Price: $34.99 Platform: Nintendo DS Category: Action, Adventure ESRB: “T” for Teen Release Date: March 25, 2008
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is the first title in the series to appear on the Nintendo DS, and if you think about it, the warning bells should go off in your head. Compound these warning bells with the screeching siren that is the plotline taking place between the game for the original Xbox and the sequel on the 360; most gamers would be pretty wary of playing Team Ninja’s latest foray into one of the most lauded gaming series ever.
I can happily report to you that any feelings of trepidation you may feel when contemplating giving Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword a try is completely unfounded. As a matter of fact, this game made me happy that I actually own a DS – prior to that it has sat on my bookshelf since Phantom Hourglass collecting dust. So, when I received this blessing in the mail, I excitedly recharged the battery and commenced to play.
While fans of the series may notice some of the same characters and locations in Dragon Sword, it merely gives you a since of familiarity instead of receptiveness. The storyline is very interesting as it tells the tale of a time when Dragons and Humans coexisted in harmony until the Dark Dragon decided to take over the world. The dragons that sided with the humans forged a sword from their fangs and bestowed what became known as the Dragon Sword upon them. While the name of the sword may seem a bit unoriginal, it does not matter – they could have called it the “pointy thing made of teeth” and it would still have the same effect because that awesome sword slew the Dark Dragon and restored peace to the land. Read the full article
Stephany reported yesterday Mario was going to be in New York City to promote the upcoming release of Mario Kart Wii by offering passing New Yorkers a free cab ride to anywhere in NYC. I decided to head out myself and see what all of the hubbub was about!
I arrived at the hotel 10 minutes before Mario was expected to come out. As I was standing there, I noticed there were 3 or 4 other people obviously waiting for Mario to come out as well. I can pretty much tell who’s a fellow video game journalist. It’s a 6th sense I have.
Here’s Mario giving away the first cab ride. I felt like I needed to comment on Mario’s excellent cab calling ability. But not every cab ride was as smooth as this one.
All in all, the event was a simple one that I felt not many New Yorkers took advantage of only because I believe they live by the motto “Nothing in life is free”. There were some times during the event I saw a couple of people get in cabs on their own without even approaching Mario to get a free ride.
If you’d like to see all of the videos I took and pictures from the event, feel free to hit either of the links below.
Posted by Daniel on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 10:14 pm under Hands On, Videos
This past weekend, I headed out to the New York Comic Con to see all of that latest and greatest in the Comic Book community. To my surprise, Komani was there showing off Metal Gear Online. Not only did I have to play it, but I made sure I got footage of myself completely sucking at… er.. I mean pwning the enemy! We all know that folks who play video games for a living must be good at all of them…right?!
I must say that I was completely surprised at how well the game handled. It stayed true to how Metal Gear Solid feels, while finally adding a multiplayer component to it. The game was setup as a local 4v4 LAN match. As you’ll see in the video above, this was the first time I ever played MGO, so I didn’t quite have a grasp on what the controls were yet. I did like how you can change weapons or accessories by simply press the R2/L2 buttons instead of having to hold it down in order to select what you want to use (even though I can’t recall at the moment if that was something previous Metal Gear Solid games did).
Playing Metal Gear Online was fun for the short time I got to try it out. Thanks to this hands-on impression, not only am I looking forward to MGS4, but I’ll also probably be checking out MGO whenever I have the chance.
Its a shame to see a promising game begin to falter. Last week’s announcement regarding server consolidation for the recently launched Pirates of the Burning Sea MMORPG might not be the best sign that the game is doing well. Regardless it sparked a discussion between Ron and I about why MMORPGs fail today and thus this week’s Podcast was born. Then the topic moves to my recent trip to Chicago to meet with Wizards of the Coast about the future of Dungeons & Dragons. If you’re interested in more info on D&D 4E be sure to check out The Analog Gamer.
The rant and rave section of the podcast features a rant at a very special audience and Ron implores Sony to fix the horrible problems with the Playstation Store and its downloads.
This weeks show is available by direct download here.
As always, you can get past episodes from our podcast page at http://podcast.filefront.com, and you can send your comments, questions, suggestions, or snarky comments to podcast@filefront.com.
File-N-Forget is also available on the iTunes Music Store.
Modernization is a good thing in general. Its brought us electricity, access to immense amounts of information, both trivial and important and generally has outstripped the ability for many of our hobby and leisure activities to properly leverage it.
Continuing the discussion of the forthcoming 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, it would be a mistake not to mention that even D&D is now joining the modern era with official, integrated digital features meant to make the game more approachable and manageable for players and storytellers.
The tweaks and changes for the system lie not only in the new streamlined rules, but also in the access to information and a new business strategy for its publisher, Wizards of the Coast. The addition of accessible digital tools might just change not only how the game is played, but Wizards believes, just who is playing.
Dungeons & Dragons is one of those cultural icons. While not everyone plays it, the game is a well known brand, whether as a subject of ridicule from stereotypical jocks in Hollywood cinema or as a distant memory of long nights in high school, college or on a military deployment that was spent commanding Wrothgar the Gnome Barbarian on his quest to regain the Lost Candelabra of Gorgenzola from the forces of the demon Orcus.
Sam and Max Season Two Developer: TellTale Games Publisher: TellTale Games, GameTap Price: $34.95 (free for GameTap subscribers) Platform: PC Category: Adventure ESRB Rating: E for Everyone Release Date: April 11, 2008
I actually wrote up my impressions of the first twoepisodes of Sam and Max Season Two when the games first started coming out regularly again. Eventually though, I realized that there were only so many ways I could say “if you liked the previous games, you’ll like this one.” So I decided to wait until the full second season was out and give it a full rundown then. The fifth and final episode in Sam and Max Season Two was released last week to a hungry audience, so how does the second season stack up to the first? Well, er, if you liked the previous Sam and Max games, you’ll definitely like these. Read the full article
Inn-Fighting
Looking to play an innovative game that blends MMO elements with RTS gameplay? Well, Filefront’s got you covered. We’ve teamed up with the 1UP network and publisher Silverlode to bring you 50,000 copies of the critically acclaimed “MMORTS,” 
Looks like I’ll have to amend my 
We’ve all been watching the hoopla surrounding Grand Theft Auto IV this week. Heck, you can’t avoid watching it. It’s everywhere. 
Well, July is approaching fast, and E3 with it. We received the list of E3 exhibitors, and thought we’d share them with you. As usual, you can expect us to have a team from Gaming Today on site to bring you coverage right from the Convention Center. 
Developer: Stardock
Viking: Battle for Asgard
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Modernization is a good thing in general. Its brought us electricity, access to immense amounts of information, both trivial and important and generally has outstripped the ability for many of our hobby and leisure activities to properly leverage it.
Sam and Max Season Two
