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I’ve seen a lot of casemods in the past, but none of them looked like they might suddenly jump up and drag me into a swamp. At first I thought someone out there had literally skinned an alligator and used its hide to cover their Xbox 360. It turns out though that “dfwmonkie” sculpted the alligator skin out of Bondo, which he then painted to give it a more realistic look. He even sculpted a gator eye for the power switch. It’s certainly very cool, but it would’ve been much cooler if there was some story of alligator wrestling to go along with this.

Via Technabob

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They may have launched a teaser site for Quantum of Solace recently, but the one thing that Activision failed to mention about the game was that it will run on the same engine as CoD4.

While sitting here at my computer listening to the boring audio from the conference call - and wishing I had Irished up my coffee just to make it through the thing, I heard this interesting tidbit after the news that the game would launch the same day as the movie.

According to Chief Executive Officer of Publishing Mike Griffith, Quantum of Solace, “uses the Call of Duty 4 engine and technology to bring Bond games to a new level.” Since the game will be released onto multiple platforms, it will be interesting to see how it will differ from port to port. CoD4 was not released for the Wii, so I imagine (correct me if I am wrong) that either they will have to tweak things a bit or use a different engine for the Nintendo Console. Plus, a myraid of developers will be creating the game for different versions. Treyarch (Xbox 360 and PS3 developers), Vicarious Visions (handheld developer), Beenox (confirmed as the developer for the Wii) and Eurocom (PC devlopers.)

What this means, is that like most multiplatform games, you can expect each one to look drastically different from the next. Unless of course you are looking at PC/PS3/360 comparisons, which mainly just differ in matters of clarity - or so I have found. Of course, this could be because I added a bit of whiskey to my espresso earlier.

For more information on the Activision conference call, check out all the posts related to this bevy of information by hitting this link.

Activison has launched the official website for their new Bond game Quantum of Solace. There are a few screens of concept art for the game, which are not very big and you cannot zoom in on them, which sucks, but at least what they do show you is pretty decent looking.Not much else is revealed on the site except for the obvious information regarding the game being next-gen, etc.According to IMDB, the plotline for the movie is as follows:

QUANTUM OF SOLACE continues the high octane adventures of James Bond (DANIEL CRAIG) in CASINO ROYALE. Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M (JUDI DENCH) interrogate Mr White (JESPER CHRISTENSEN) who reveals the organization which blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined. Forensic intelligence links an Mi6 traitor to a bank account in Haiti where a case of mistaken identity introduces Bond to the beautiful but feisty Camille (OLGA KURYLENKO), a woman who has her own vendetta. Camille leads Bond straight to Dominic Greene (MATHIEU AMALRIC), a ruthless business man and major force within the mysterious organization. On a mission that leads him to Austria, Italy and South America, Bond discovers that Greene, conspiring to take total control of one of the world’s most important natural resources, is forging a deal with the exiled General Medrano (JOAQUIN COSIO). Using his associates in the organization, and manipulating his powerful contacts within the CIA and the British government, Greene promises to overthrow the existing regime in a Latin American country, giving the General control of the country in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of land. In a minefield of treachery, murder and deceit, Bond allies with old friends in a battle to uncover the truth. As he gets closer to finding the man responsible for the betrayal of Vesper, 007 must keep one step ahead of the CIA, the terrorists and even M, to unravel Greene’s sinister plan and stop his organization.

Since the game is based on the movie, it is rational to assume that the game will pretty much have the same plot elements to it and hopefully Activision will have more updates added to the game site soon, so just keep checking back every once in a while. You can also check back with us as well, because as soon as any assets are released, we will post them.

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 Asgard was 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.

Read the full article

Obsidian Entertainment has granted a preview of their upcoming near-future spy thriller RPG Alpha Protocol to CVG. The title should appeal to 007 and Bourne fans and hopes to push the international spy thriller to the limit with a formula combining the best of “the three JBs”- James Bond, Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer.

“Yeah, Alpha Protocol has much of the edginess of the new James Bond movie,” smiles Ryan Rucinski, one of Obsidian’s senior producers, as we mull over his new roleplayer.

“Although the development of AP actually started before the release of Casino Royale. So when the movie came out and we saw the results, we knew we had made the right decision. There have been a lot of movies that have influenced us during the conceptual creation - Mission: Impossible, the Bourne films, Ronin… However, one of the main contributors in look and tone was Syriana. If James Bond is where the action comes from, Syriana has a big influence on the theme.”

The article covers the mission and level progression, skill progression and character interactions with NPCs. You can get a good feel for the game mechanics on CVG.

There are extremely high expectations for Alpha Protocol. Comparisons to the game that set the bar for high-tech RPGs, Deus Ex, are dropped several times. That’s a tough game to emulate and too many titles have been way off target. Lets hope Alpha Protocol hits the mark.

If you have some design skills, Obsidian Entertainment is hiring for positions on the Alpha Protocol development team. Applicants must be willing to relocate to Orange County California. If you’re still interested, check out the official posting on the Obsidian Entertainment site.

It might seem like a strange concept, but in a post on Level Up, Keith Boesky provided some interesting insight into the public’s perception of gaming, and how we’re all to blame.

It could be the misconception that games are only for kids, combined with the sophisticated and sometimes violent content contained in games aimed at the average player–who happens to be 33 years old. Looking at trailers from Grand Theft Auto IV will provide no greater understanding of the feel of playing the game, or its contextual violence, than looking at a medley of death scenes from “The Sopranos” communicates the familial bond portrayed on the show. “The Sopranos” was not for kids and was not written as if it were. But if the public thought it was available on the Disney channel, they would be upset.

I think I am on to something. The majority of the public does not know what is in a game, or what goes into making one, but they still think we sell mature content to kids.

He draws some interesting parallels between the two subjects that certainly make it worth a read if you’re interested in seeing this industry make any sort of move in the general direction of respect. He’s by no means equating the games industry to the porn industry, but by all outward appearances, how is the general public NOT supposed to look at the two in the same light?

If nothing else, it’s some interesting food for thought.

The Lost Odyssey Triple Bonus Pack is now available on XBL according to the Major. This package includes three exclusive items: “Memory Lamp,” which allows you to watch the past event scenes all over again, “Shattered Bond,” an antique that will bring back the memory of a forgotten dream, and a special ring called Killer Machine.”

Content: Triple Bonus Pack
Price: 200 Microsoft Points
Availability: All regions

For more information,click here, and visit our previous posts more Lost Odyssey goodness

Comic Con is the perfect opportunity to show off your love of fantasy and the imagination. Whether your fantasies involve you being Superman, Leeloo, Prince Leia in full bondage attire, or the crazy clown lady from Condemned 2 - cosplay is inevitable at Comic Con.

There, is a limit to what is deemed attractive and beyond nerdy though, and you can check these out yourself by clicking through the link at the bottom of this post. Not only will you be privy to some pretty nice looking ladies (some of which are paid models I am sure) but an entire gallery of some of the best costumes of Comic Con. Some of these made me laugh hysterically, but cheers to all who have the guts to go out into public dressed as their favorite video game or comic book character.

Thanks: Asylum

New Downloadable Content for Lost Odyssey is coming to Xbox Live Marketplace April 25. There are three new items included in the DLC. “The Shattered Bond ” unlocks a new dream, the “Killer Machine” ring is forged to specialize in fighting against magic-powered weapons and a “Memory Lamp” for the upgraded Nautilus will allow you to view dreams.

Personally the dream sequences were something I really liked about this game. I found myself scouring levels to unlock them all.

The package is only 200 MS points so it’s not a bad deal. Check out the fine print at Xbox.com.

Shin Megami Tensei and Altus U.S.A. have released the final three webisodes for the Persona 3 FES or Festival of Persona 3 game. Although they’re called Webisodes, taken out of the context of the game, they don’t really seem cohesive. However they’re a good mix of gameplay and cut scene footage; effectively giving players a feel of what to expect from the game. Take a look at Persona 3 FES “The Contract” Webisode:

Persona 3 FES `The Contract` Webisode

The other two new offerings available are the Persona 3 FES “The Bonds” Webisode and the Persona 3 FES “Breakdown” Webisode. You can view or download these and any of the previous webisodes from FileFront. Persona 3 FES launches tomorrow, April 22.

Sierra Entertainment today announced that Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy will ship in North America June 3 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The game brings Jason Bourne’s signature combat style to life by blending a mix of hand-to-hand fighting, gunplay and elaborate escapes. To round out the action to the title’s game play, The Bourne Conspiracy will give gamers a re-imagination of the high speed pursuit through Paris in the Mini Cooper.

Through close partnership with Ludlum Entertainment, and collaboration on story and character development with Bourne screenwriter Tony Gilroy, The Bourne Conspiracy is an intense interactive addition to the films and best-selling novels. The game delivers an original story uncovering Jason Bourne’s past and the conspiracy shrouding his origins, putting players into the role of Bourne as both trained assassin and marked government agent. Core to the experience is Bourne’s definition as a “perfect weapon” with heightened combat instinct, where players use Bourne’s characteristic capabilities to recognize threats, perform take-down moves and use his surrounding environment to overcome deadly situations.

Developed by High Moon Studios, The Bourne Conspiracy not only contains a combat system based upon the very same system co-designed by Jeff Imada, who choreographed the fight scenes in the Bourne films, but the game also has a built-in camera system that captures these techniques so that the player will feel just as immersed in the game as they were the movies.

The high speed pursuit in the game is based on the car chase from the film, and has players take the wheel in an upgraded version of Marie’s red Mini Cooper while trying to evade seemingly every police car in Paris. Arcade racing-style game play and destructive stunt setups combine with Bourne instinct-based game mechanics will supposedly give the gamer an interesting driving experience will tons of action.

Fisticuffs, gun-play, sneaking around, high speed car chases… with all of those elements if they were to add in a some sexy villainous women and couple of martinis and we would have ourselves one heck of a Bond Bourne game.

Via: Press Release

This week I’m going to step back a bit from the reviews and products and talk about the concept of evil. I was reminded of this concept because I was fortunate enough to begin a new tabletop role playing game and the players as a unit decided they wanted to play evil characters. They wanted the freedom to do bad things for the right reasons as well as good things for the wrong ones. This whole discussion got me thinking about the nature of evil in games.

While many games, like Dungeons & Dragons, have a firm moral system that determines the “alignment” on the axis of good or evil there is really little evidence that most games follow this concept closely. We see evidence of evil in most game storylines or scenarios – “the power hungry dictator is trying to conquer the world and you must stop him!” or “The evil wizard has enslaved all the nubile young maidens and made them his love thralls with his magic and only you can liberate them!” These types of stories are rife in games of all kinds – from tabletop to the HDTV set.

When a game approaches the concept a little differently, like by allowing the player to be the “evil” character ,people tend to revel in the novelty but the portrayal of evil is still just the cardboard mustache twirling baddie with no real motivation or drive other than greed or insanity. Most games fail to make the bad guy anywhere near as interesting as I’d like.

The recent Bioware games – dating back to Baldur’s Gate even – often break that trend and show us flawed people with skewed perspectives. Bioware has constantly done a good job in both enabling the player to see villains as more than bullet catching, plan spewing baddies and in allowing some degree of player choice that is less than honorable in their games.

Read the full article

It’s an age old question: are the guns in games really all that accurate? Oftentimes in the process of reviewing a game, reviewers will praise a game for its realistic weapons – but realistically, the average game reviewer doesn’t know the difference between a Walther PPK and 5″/38 caliber guns. (The former is the gun James Bond has made famous, while the latter is something you’d find on a battleship.)

Popular Mechanics takes a look at this subject by diving in and taking a look at the way various games handle weapons, including Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Call of Duty 4, and even America’s Army.

[A]ccording to Philippe Theiren, an RSV2 designer at Ubisoft Montreal and the team’s self-described “gun guy,” bullet penetration now takes into account incredibly fine details, like whether the target is wearing leather or cloth. “It’s actually an excessively complex formula,” Theiren says. “If someone shoots through a plant, then a car door, then it hits Level 3 body armor, all of that effects the force of the round.” Actual ballistic data associated with the guns in RSV2, then, determine whether you can fire a burst through a wooden table and take someone out.

Except, of course, when the developers feel the need to cheat. All of the guns in RSV2 start out extremely accurate, based on factory stats and more, before game balance and player expectations come into play. A shotgun firing buckshot, for example, has significantly more penetration in RSV2 than it should. Why? “People associate shotguns with powerful, close-range weapons,” Theiren says. So a shotgun blast will punch through walls and armor just fine, even though buckshot is known for its lack of penetration in the real world.

“I take these weapons, and look at what defines them, or what people think defines them,” Theiren explains. “For an Uzi, people think it fires lots of bullets, and it’s really inaccurate.” That, he knows, has nothing to do with reality—if anything, Uzis are considered some of the most reliable and accurate submachine guns around. But the 80s (and Miami Vice in particular) offered us the Uzi as a low-life villain’s weapon, spit-fire and out-of-control. “So I make it fire faster than it should. It’s about taking the personality of a weapon, and making it shine in the game,” Theiren says.

It’s a pretty interesting feature and might go a long way in explaining why the same weapon is so dramatically different from one game to the next, even when they’re all giving off the vibe of a realistic shooter.

Now, I need to go back out to my yard so I can keep practicing with my Phalanx CIWS.

The first details for the delayed PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of World in Conflict, now titled World in Conflict: Soviet Assault have emerged. The cold war RTS game that puts you in the shoes of Soviet forces contains the following features:

• Super-Powered Warfare: Unleash the arsenals of the great military superpowers in the gripping single-player story created by Larry Bond.
• Bleeding-Edge Graphics: The latest version of Massive’s proprietary Masstech engine allows for a full 360° range of camera control and features advanced lighting and physics effects.
• Complete Destructibility: As the battle rages, the world environment pays the price - every object in the game will crumble under the force of war, including cars, buildings and forests.
• Deep Multiplayer Modes: World In Conflict: Soviet Assault will support up to 16 players for head-to-head and team-based battles in Domination, Assault and Tug-of-War gameplay styles.
• Real World Units: Players will take control of the most devastating arsenal of military weaponry ever created, including Soviet, American and NATO tanks, planes, trucks, troops and helicopters as well as nuclear weapons.
• Player Roles: Players will choose to play as Infantry, Armor, Support Forces, or Aerial specialists - multiplayer teams will need to master each role for maximum effectiveness.
• Made for Next-Gen: Optimised gameplay for the Xbox 360 controller and a new heads-up-display (HUD) that is more functional and appealing for console gamers.

World in Conflict: Soviet Assault is the expansion pack to the original PC game and is set to be released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 this October.

Thanks: Tiscali.cz

Spring was in the air this week, I could not only feel it, but also taste it upon my winter weary lips. Despite the week starting out full of snow and traffic accidents, the sun came out and melted all the pain away. Birds were chirping, bunnies were hopping through the yard trying desperately to escape the knowing glances of my dogs, a couple of horses across the road gave birth to lovely furry babies with knees too big for their legs, and the thoughts of running away with a Clive Owen look-alike sped through my brain like a corvette drifting across an empty parking lot. Such are the stirrings that the imminent Spring weather brings to both humans and beasts alike, or maybe just mentally bored and unstable women who write about video games for a living.

Unfortunately, I am stuck inside working and there is no Clive Owen look alike within a 100,000 mile radius of me so I must instead be content to give you a rundown of the demos and patches that hit FileFront this week; although my fantasy-land, in which my doctor prescribed medication to combat, sounds much more appealing right now.

If you happened to visit the site at all this week, you would have noticed that the latest demos to arrive were Sam & Max: Chariot of the Dogs, and Lost Empire Immortals. We also received Gem Quest, Light of Dreams: The Angelic Blade, and Galactic Command: Echo Sqaud

Patches were: The Witcher, Galactic Command: Echo Squad, Lost Empire: Immortals, Larry Bonds’ Harpoon, AO: Shadowlands, S.TA.L.K.E.R., and Sins of a Solar Empire.

As always, for the full list of demos and patches click here and here.

Details have been released on Obsidian’s new action RPG in development, Alpha Protocol. Game Informer featured the new title on the cover of the April issue. Here are some of the highlights of the story courtesy of NeoGaf.

“A modern day espionage focused action/RPG that takes you on a suspenseful ride in the vein of James Bond, Jack Bauer, and Jason Bourne. Take a wet-behind-the-ears greenhorn agent up through the ranks to become a bona-fide super spy.”

• Main character is Michael Thorton, a fully trained but inexperienced young operative who has the world turned upside down when a mission goes wrong.
• Title “Alpha Protocol” is a phrase that is used when operatives go underground to work off the grid. Usually reserved for senior agents.
• Battle system is similar to Mass Effect but have more in common with Uncharted. It revolves around real time combat with an emphasis on gun play and high tech gadgets.
• Third person perspective, action orientated gameplay
• Close quarters combat can be a last resort or primary method of fighting depending on how you spend skill points you have earned.
• Skill system is based most closely on Fallout. It’s classless, you have 10 skills and 10 ranks in each skill. Skills don’t simply improve things like accuracy, they improve the way your character will perceive situations.
• The game will suit all play styles from the run and gunner to the stealth assassin.
• Extremely in depth dialog system that is a mix of Mass Effect and Indigo Prophecy. Once conversations happen, that’s it, no revisiting the NPC to try to talk again and again. System is named the Dialog Stance System. You dictate your characters tone in a conversation by pressing a corresponding face button. Options can be cool and suave others can be brash/impatient.
• You can have multiple active missions in different countries and travel freely between them.
• Lots of girls and romance subplots. You’ll meet tons of different girls on missions and yes you can bag them all.
• Current control scheme for selecting powers and weapons is similar to Bioshock.

Sega has signed on as the publisher for Alpha Protocol. The title will be available for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 and is scheduled for release Spring 2009.
via NeoGaf

Editor’s Note: These scans have been removed

Remember awhile back when it was rumored that Xbox World 360’s next issue would feature some exclusive information about Goldeneye for the Xbox Live Arcade? Good times. Remember when Microsoft shot down the whole article as being “based entirely on rumour and speculation?” Not so good times. But nevertheless, scans of the article have now made their way online, making it all the more depressing that this title may never see the light of day. According the magazine though, the game was far from being complete, with only the Dam level being fully finished. The article also states that Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime supported the project, until the Japanese head honcho, Satoru Iwata, said that he didn’t want the title appearing on another console under any circumstances. Apparently, the idea of getting on Nintendo’s bad side caused Activision to pull the plug. Again though, that could all just be idle rumor is Microsoft’s statement is to be believed. A moment of silence please for the mother of all modern-day updates that will never be (*cue organ playing “Danny Boy”).

We’ve all heard the claim that violence in video games promotes desensitization to real life violence in players.

A new study by a team out of Helsinki Finland tested the immediate brain response of 36 participants to individual game events. The results, published under “The Psychophysiology of James Bond: Phasic Emotional Responses to Violent Video Game Events,” led to some interesting and unexpected finds.

While playing James Bond 007: Nightfire, the subjects reacted negatively to shooting or killing antagonists while they found their own characters’ death or wounding rewarding.

“There was no evidence for desensitization of emotional responses as a function of repeated exposures to violent game events,” concluded the study.

You can read the full summary of this surprising study at ShackNews.

With the addition of MGM to the Video Marketplace, that means you can now download James Bond flicks for your HD viewing pleasure on the Xbox 360. Currently there are only two of the most recent Pierce Brosnan Bond movies, Die Another Day and The World is Not Enough, with more in the pipelines.

Having ready access to the entirety of the Bond library through the Video Marketplace is definitely going to be a very cool thing. I mean, sure, it’s worthless to someone like me that already owns every one of those movies on DVD (and Blu-ray in Casino Royale’s case), but for anyone else looking for quick and easy access to the classic British spy films, this is pretty sweet.

Oh, and this wouldn’t be a bad way to lead up to a release of GoldenEye on Xbox Live Arcade… Please?

Once again, like the zombie chasing you through the woods, no matter how many times you shoot it in the face with a sawed-off shotgun it still keeps coming at you - this time though its the GoldenEye XBL rumors that are gnawing at our ankles.

Today, word comes that Xbox World 360 will have an exclusive feature for a “mystery game” coming to the XBL, and while they never actually come right out and say that it is GoldenEye, they provided a jigsaw picture for you to put together. This picture is a scene from your first mission as Bond - you know, where you leap off the bridge.

Here is their quote, and it is pulled directly from the site:

Next Wednesday, in Xbox World 360, you’ll find the first ever shots and definitive hands-on details behind one of this year’s biggest stories. But, for the time being, here’s two more tiles you might be able to fix to ones we’ve already released…

Yep, it’s the story the whole world wanted, but only we got - and we unleash it next Wednesday in Xbox World 360. Will you be excited? Oh yes. Will you, like us, be just a little bit angry too? Mmmm, maybe. Want to know more? The mystery unfolds - in shops - in seven days time.

First off, yes, if this is news is indeed true we will all be very excited. Big fat “duh” there - but what I want to know is, what in the world would we be angry over? The constant rumors and denials or are they omitting something that we loved about the game? Who knows really, I am so dizzy over the whole rumor mill surrounding the game that if or when it comes out it will be more or less one gigantic anti-climax for me, personally.

Thanks: M16 News