John Harris, a writer over on the industry news site/blog Gamasutra,  writes a regular series of articles entitled Game Design Essentials. These long and exhaustively researched story discusses his position on many topics important to modern game design and the lessons learned along the way.

His latest installment discusses 20 RPGs that all designers should be familiar with and why. The feature article is interesting from the perspective of someone who has studied game design and as someone who has been using RPGs for storytelling and  enjoyment over the years. Aspiring designers could do far worse than to dig through this fairly dense statement of information covering RPGs from the classic pen-and-paper Dungeons & Dragons through the evolution of Wizardry, Ultima, Wasteland and more contemporary games like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy and the Elder Scrolls titles.

You can check out the entire article here.

OXM and Joystiq are revealing that the upcoming controversial sequel to Left 4 Dead will try and entice players who maybe aren’t quite as enthused about the quick turn around between last year’s initial release and this year’s Southern bound sequel with some nice demo shaped cookies..

It seems that the upcoming demo of the game will be available to players who pre-order the title before it hits general outlets. The details are sparse at the moment but this early access will likely be to the same content the rest of the world will get when the multiplayer demo hits Steam and Xbox Live, just a teensy bit earlier.

I understand Valve wanting to feed the L4D 2 hype, but as far as pre-order incentives go this one just seems to be a bit too lame duck to me. Offer an exclusive level or weapon or heck, maybe give us access to a member of the original game in our L4D 2 play, but giving out the same demo just earlier seems like an epic undersell of a much anticipated/debated sequel.

You may recall that in the Zero Punctuation: inFamous vs. Prototype video review, Yahtzee said he couldn’t honestly choose a winner because they were equally fun. Then he issued a challenge to the developers saying he’d base which game was best on whichever studio submitted “the best picture of the other game’s main character wearing women’s bra.”

To everyone’s surprise and delight, both Radical and Sucker Punch took up the gauntlet. The die is cast, the submissions weighed and a winner has been declared.
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While Guybrush Threepwood is returning in a new title and a relaunched classic later this week from Telltale Games and Lucasarts as Eva mentioned, today the big news was regarding the return of a number of classic Lucasarts Adventure games (The Dig and LOOM being the best news) and more than a few of their not-quite-as-old franchise action titles like Star Wars: Republic Commando, Star Wars Battlefront II and the various Indiana Jones titles are making their way to Valve’s digital distribution system, Steam on July 8th.

The complete annotated list includes:

• Armed and Dangerous™
• Indiana Jones® and the Fate of Atlantis
• Indiana Jones® and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
• LEGO® Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure
• LOOM™
• Star Wars Battlefront® II
• Star Wars Republic Commando®
• Star Wars Starfighter™
• The Dig®
• Thrillville®: Off the Rails™

It definitely looks like Lucasarts is trying to recapture the the glory days of the company before it became the “bad” Star Wars game and LEGO tie-in company. The games will be released on the Xbox 360 via Live! as well.

There are a few more games I’d love to see make this list like the Maniac Mansion games, or Grim Fandango – by Tim Schafer – lately the mind behind Psychonauts and Brutal Legend.  Till then however I think I might just consider picking up another copy of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and LOOM.

TopWare Interactive aims to raise the bar for RPGs with it’s upcoming release of Two Worlds II. This sequel to the original hit Two Worlds will take players back to the world of Antaloor to explore the deserts and temples of the East.

Two Worlds II features a brand new engine from Reality Pump that makes the most of dynamic light sources, micro-detail Parallax Mapping, 24 Bit HDR Post Processing, Space Ambient Occlusion and Human Eye Accommodation. The AI and balancing standards have been overhauled as well. The new storyline features the work of experienced authors and the active combat system puts the adventure into this RPG.

When they claim that Two Worlds II will set new standards for graphical excellence, they aren’t bluffing. Just take a look as these screenshots.

Look for Two Worlds II for the PC, Mac and Next-Gen consoles this winter.

EA Sports has released the Season Preview for Madden NFL 10. Predictions are based on a combination of individual player and overall team ratings.

You can find team roster ratings and over all team ratings for the Cowboys, Eagles, Giants and Redskins online at the Madden NFL 10 Season Preview website.

AFC North will be the next division rated leading up to the Madden NFL 10 predictions for the 2009 NFL division winners, season MVP, and more August 3rd. Madden NFL series has been uncannily accurate at predicting the Superbowl winners for 6 years running. It predicted Pittsburgh Steelers’ win over the Arizona Cardinals this years at Pitt 28, Cards 24. The actual score was Pitt 27, Cards 23. I wouldn’t bet against  Madden NFL 10’s prediction that’s for sure.

Look for Madden NFL 10 on the Xbox 360, PS2,PS3, PSP and the Wii.

MapleStory is wooing main stream American youth with videos to air on television networks and as previews for the latest Harry Potter movie this summer. This brings MapleStory into the American public eye, the realm only pierced by  Halo 3 and World of Warcraft so far. The 2D side-scrolling MMORPG is already pretty popular enjoying a 6 million strong player base in North America alone. It’s aimed at kids 10 and up, but has a very wide age range of players, most of whom seem to take their cute super-deformed characters pretty seriously.

MapleStory is a free to play MMO with a cash shop that allows players to purchase Nexon Cash to trade for premium items. MapleStory Nexon Cash cards have been available at local retailers like Target, CVS and Best Buy for a few years. The MMO has also spawned the MapleStory card game and videogames for the Wii and DS. Still MapleStory seems to be simmering just below the surface of casual gaming culture. Perhaps these new videos can tip MapleStory into the mainstream spotlight. Look for the video shorts to start appearing on tv and in theaters later this month. Until then, you can check it out for yourself at http://maplestory.nexon.net.

Grandmaster Flash has signed onto the growing list of DJs for DJ Hero. This hip-hop legend was the first to use the turntable as an instrument. Grandmaster Flash will walk you through the paces of the tutorial as you learn the turntable controls and game mechanics. He’s also created mixes exclusively for DJ Hero and will be an in-game character. Here’s the latest DJ Hero video from Activision featuring Grandmaster Flash gameplay.

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Little King’s Story for the Wii has gone gold and is prepping for launch. The game should hit retailers July 21st 2009.

This Wii exclusive title has a little of everything to offer gamers. It’s an adventure RPG that incorporates life-simulation and real-time strategy into gameplay. Usually when I hear that, I think jack-of-all-trades master of none. After watching the gameplay videos, I’m prepared to be pleasantly surprised. It sort of reminds me of a cute Heroes of Might and Magic. At least younger gamers will get some exposure to the classical music that’s part of the soundtrack.

Battlefield 1943 is coming exclusively in digital format to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace July 8th and the PlayStation Network July 9th. PC gamers will just have to wait until September to get in on the action.

Battlefield 1943 features Frostbite’s next generation destruction technology which packs full Vehicle Warfare FPS multiplayer for up to 24 people into a 560MB download. I can never argue with getting more for less. Read more about the Frostbite engine and the worldwide community challenge to unlock the Coral Sea map after the break.

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