Tuesday 30 March 2010

Skate 3 = Skating + Creating , This Dev Diary Shows Us Why

Skate 3 Dev Diary - User Creation video via me on YouTube

I love to skate. I haven’t picked up my board in a while though because I’ve been too busy playing Skate 1 & 2 to recap before the 3rd game is released. Plus, skateboarding video games offer all of the tricks with none of pain, or the pressure to ‘own that sick gap’ (bro’!). Most skaters skate for the thrill of skating and for the community as skateboarding is classed as one of the most social sports in the world, I mean, it really is no fun to bail by yourself, especially when you can hang around with a bunch of mates who’ll laugh at you when you (literally) break a leg! See, you’re having fun just reading about it! (Eww…)

The Skate games have often encouraged users to team up with the multiplayer modes being a lot of fun to play as every match was never the same but the multiplayer modes were just there. This time around, with the sequel, it really feels like EA Black Box are forcing players to team up with friends. Frankly, if you don’t have online available on your console you’re going to be quite disappointed with this game as you’ll miss out on some excellent and maybe even key features.

*NOTE* – The graphics in Skate 3 are looking a lot better this time round, with noticeable improvements. Also, the skating seems to be more refined and flows more freely throughout the new map of “Port Carverton”.

NOTE #2– The demo for Skate 3 will be released on Xbox 360 and PS3 on the 15th of April – mark your calendars folks!

Related Posts

Team Up.Throw Down. Skate In A Quarry?

 

Comment Questions

1.What creation feature do you like the look of the most in Skate 3?

2.Do you think the game has improved a lot since Skate1/2?

Monday 29 March 2010

This Week On…System Fail News

Jasmino924 Avatar

Don’t you just love the things at the beginning of TV shows that say “This Week On…” , yeah me too, they’re so helpful because those little ‘mini-promos’ tell me exactly what’s coming up on the show and whether or not I should keep my eyes glued to the screen. Hence the title for the post. This week on… System Fail News!

  • I have a brand new dev diary from the team behind Skate 3 highlighting the massive effect that user creation will have in the game >>> (You can find the post here).
  • A live-action trailer for Ghost Recon : Future soldier. The game looks amazing and the trailer plays out like a real hi-spec movie trailer. Great work Ubisoft.
    You can witness the awesomeness that is the trailer now
  • The results to March’s monthly poll where I asked you wonderful readers “Which technology is your favourite”. (Just posted the results!)

Also, because I have a few days off from school this week (as well as an extra 2 weeks holiday for Easter!) I will be able to post some other fabulous gaming goodness, provided that I find it!

So stay tuned to, err… I mean keep reading System Fail News for some of the totally awesome (must-read) posts that I’ll be posting on here soon!

 

Keep On Gaming!

From Jasmino924 (Jasmine) :D

Related Posts

Skate 3 = Skating + Creating , This Dev Diary Shows Us Why
The Results Are In (March Poll)

Sunday 28 March 2010

System Fail News EXCLUSIVE! New Feature of Red Dead Redemption Uncovered?

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For a little site like System Fail News, exclusives only happen every one in a million posts (rough estimate) but I’ve been doing some digging and I’ve been scouring every inch of the gaming world to bring you a new bit of 100% EXCLUSIVE info about Rocktar’s upcoming Western-shooter, Red Dead Redemption.

Red Dead Redemption is one of THE hottest upcoming games right now because it has been titled by some as a Grand Theft Auto/Western hybrid and holy mother of Kratos does it look good! So good, in fact that recently, when I was watching the brand spanking new trailer for the game (which can be found here) I may have discovered a brand new feature that will be included in the game.

For a moment, please direct your eyes to the screenshot I took of the trailer which features a tiny bit of text (enlarged underneath) that for you glasses wearing readers like myself, says “you are now an enemy to both sides” . As there’s action in the screenshot it does suggest that this is part of a mission however, I have a hunch that making friends and enemies could be a huge part of the game.

We already know that the main character, John Marston will have a moral compass that will affect the game, e.g in one side mission a police chief needs help rounding up some escaped prisoners; you can either be a good guy and round up them baddies or be a rebel and aid their escape. Perhaps by being a hero or a rebel you will indeed be able to alter which groups of people you will be involved with i.e will you hang out with the “Gentlemen” or the “Vagabonds” ? (the homeless people). I would just like to point out that “Gentlemen & Vagabonds” is the very title of the game's latest trailer.

Do you have a bit of exclusive gaming gossip? E-mail me at GamingLowdown@hotmail.co.uk with “SFN” in the subject line to tell me what you know :D

Related Posts

System Fail News: Packed With Action : Red Dead Redemption ...

Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption Rears Its (Rather Attractive) Head

Hold Onto Your Cowboy Hats and Prepare For Some Serious Heat

System Fail News: SFN Exclusive! Alan Wake Release Date Confirmed?

Comment Questions

1.What do you think about this new feature?

2.Are you looking forward to Red Dead Redemption?

You can pre-order Red Dead Redemption from Amazon using the widgets in the sidebar today, ready for its May 18 (North American)release date 

Saturday 27 March 2010

[SITE LINK] F1 2010 + Coolest Video Game Character…

That Video Game Blog logo 

It’s starting to become a recurring theme here on System Fail News ; me ranting on about how SFN isn’t a big,well-name blog and to be honest if you guys are anything like me, you’re pretty fed up with my ranting! To be honest I really don’t care, although I’m  a little bit jealous, that larger sites like That Video Game Blog (TVGB) are more famous than mine and I don’t even mind linking to them. Earlier this week they posted a hands-on article for the Xbox 360 version of Codemasters’ upcoming Formula 1 racing sim, F1 2010. Words can’t describe how excited I am for this game so I definitely think that you should visit the site.

Hands-on / F1 2010 (Xbox 360) – Via That Video Game Blog (TVGB)

 

Split Screen Logo

The other excellent post is from the blog that SFN is partnered with, Split Screen. It’s a big world here in the blogosphere so it’s good that all of us bloggers can be friends. Recently the guys have kicked off a series of posts called “The Coolest Game Characters of All Time” featuring some of the most awesome and well-respected video game characters of our time. They always write excellent posts (we have that in common :D) but these posts really show how great a blog Split Screen really is. And I’m not even biased, despite the fact that Split Screen is the first site System Fail News has been partnered with…(See the note in the sidebar about them)

The link to the latest entry in the series is posted below.

The Coolest Game Characters of All Time: Gordon Freeman (Half-Life series) – Via Split-Screen

 

Related Posts

Split Screen

Army of 2 :The 40th Day TVGB Update

Hmm Funny That….

Are you fed up of me ranting about SFN’s popularity? Use the Share This widget below (the little green button thing) to tell your friends about System Fail News! Please?

Wednesday 24 March 2010

Dr Jasmine’s Surgery : 5 Must Have Downloads

Dr. Jasmino924 Avatar 

I’m always looking for new ways to improve my (mad) blogging skill(z) and so I always read up on how to do so and one of things I read recently was that I need to be more “personal”. WTF?! I write about video games for crying out loud I could post awesome gameplay videos with a tiny,tiny description and you guys would still watch it! Anyway I like to stay true to my blogging roots so here’s something to kick off this new post.

My 2 main aims for the future are to

  1. Become a doctor (hence the pic of me as a cartoon doc…)
  2. Become a successful blogger

Let’s just say that I’m working toward no. 2 but no. 1 is a long way off as I’m only 14 and my name’s not Dougie Howser (brownie points if you get the reference :D ) however while I can’t sew up your cuts, mend your broken bones or diagnose you like a Dr.Gregory House (bonus points again!) I can recommend a healthy dose of download-a-rama!

Download 1-Heavy Rain-(PS3 Only)

Heavy Rain Boxart

First off, the cream of the download crop. Sorry non-PS3 owners! In the demo you get to play as Private Investigator and asthma sufferer Scott Shelby, experience the incredible graphics and see exactly why I love the game so much. If any demo showcases how great the final product is, it’s this one.

Download 2-Splinter Cell Conviction-(Xbox 360 Only)

Splinter Cell Conviction Boxart 

Get your own back now 360-only owners, this one is only available from the Xbox Marketplace and is highly regarded as a must-download. That’s right, as if brutal executions, over the top action and getting to play as Sam Fisher, the original badass (after Chuck Norris of course!) weren’t enough to make you download the game, tons of video game journalists (like myself) recommend it :D

Download 3-Just Cause 2-(PS3 and Xbox 360)

Just Cause 2 Boxart

Here’s a game for all of you people who have finished GTA IV and are looking for a game in between to quench your gaming “thirst”. JC2 lets us run around attach EVERYTHING to your grapple hook, blow stuff up and jump off cliffs.

With the help of the main character's nifty parachute!

Download 4-Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing-(PS3 and Xbox 360 and Wii too)

Sega Racing Boxart

This is by far one of the best demos I have EVER downloaded, EVER! What I look for in a demo is something that I can play over and over again. The demo for this is absolutely amazing, I actually played it for over an hour even though only one track was available so if that’s not an indication that this is a fantastic demo, I don’t know what is.

Download 5-God Of War 3-(PS3 Only)

GOW 3 Boxart

As far as PS3 owners are concerned this is THE demo to download. In fact I already bought the game on Saturday (read about it on my Twitter page) but if my entire PS3 hard drive got wiped, this would be the only thing that I would re-download. Yeah, it’s really that awesome.

Related Posts

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Why Heavy Rain Is the Best Movie I've Ever Seen

Comment Questions

1. What great demos have you downloaded?

2.Which is your favourite demo on the list?

Sunday 21 March 2010

So, Hey Guys..

So guys, you know that my main aim at SFN is to make the world more awesome one post at a time but that can be a little difficult and my power to make the world totally awesome is runing out. It's been a whole week since I posted anything and you're all probably mad at me. Don't hate, I can't help it. IT'S IN MY GENES! Ok, so maybe not, but I do find it really hard to maintain the site all the time. I'm only one woman so cut me a little slack, love the posts that are already up and I'll add more content when I can, k?

From Jasmine :D

Saturday 13 March 2010

Mafia 2 GDC Trailer, Will Make a Made Man Out of You!

Mafia 2 GDC Trailer via me on YouTube

Ok readers, let’s take a minute to think back to when we were younger…

Some wanted to be an astronaut when they grew up, others wanted to be doctors and well, some, namely Mafia 2’s Vito Scaletta wanted to be in the Mafia. As the Game Developers Conference (GDC) trailer above shows, being a “made man” isn’t all fun, games and enemy shoot-outs (ok so maybe the last one is frequent) and it takes a man with a strong stomach to do the job well. Why have a half-cooked lasagne when it could be belissimo?! Sorry, that was a really bad Italian joke.

From the look of this trailer, the 2K Czech developed game is shaping up quite nicely. I have concerns with the ‘snap to cover’ system that you can see in the video, I think it could be more fluid and could be ‘snappier’ and also where are the guns’ crosshairs? Apart from those little issues I’m really liking the look of Mafia 2.

Pre-order- you can pre-order Mafia 2 from Amazon ready for its release (there’s a link in the sidebar)

Related Posts

Random Ramblings Of A Video Game Blogger : 2K Czech’s Mafia 2

System Fail News: Mafia 2 E3 Trailer

Comment Questions

1. Do you like the look of Mafia 2?

2.What would you like to see in the game?

Saturday 6 March 2010

The Results Are In! (Feb Poll)

Last month, in the monthly poll I host in the sidebar>>>>>
I asked you which console is your favourite and now after a full month of voting the results are in!

It seems that most of you who visit SFN are Xbox 360 fanboys with about 66% of you voting for the console. In second place was the PS3 which recieved 26% (about a quarter) of the votes. And finally, in 3rd place, none of you showed much of a love for the Nintendo Wii which only recevied ONE VOTE, poor guy...

This month the new question is : What Technology Are You Most Looking Forward To?

You've got till the end of the month to choose so go vote!
The poll is over there>>>

Keep On Gaming!

Jasmine :D

Why Heavy Rain Is the Best Movie I’ve Ever Seen

Heavy Rain Logo

It’s March now. Although I’m writing this and it feels like the very beginning of the year and I’m still a little tired from that killer New Year’s Eve party last night[*see footnote*], I am going to address one of my goals for 2010  > to get out more. It has been said many times that I don’t get out much, I’m the type of girl who would rather hoover up trophies and achievements like nobody’s business than go outside and bust up my knees playing sports, however this year I aimed to go shopping all the time and hit the movies at least once a month. Let’s just say that it’s March now and I have been to the cinema a total of 0 times, though I can be found cooped up inside chomping on Blockbusters bought popcorn, watching a rented Blu-Ray film almost every other week. So all in all, while I may not be a movie expert I have seen my fair share of epic and not-so-epic movies.

Simply put, Heavy Rain is not a movie. Don’t get confused. It plays like a game, looks like a movie and uses drama like a TV show, which exactly why I love it. I sort of rambled on a little bit about my lack of a social-life but I had to do that in order for you to really understand how little I go out and have non-video-game related fun but it will sort of prove my point… Graphics for one, are sort of expected to be at a high standard  for the current generation’s games and anyone who has played Alien VS Predator will know that even in this day and age the animation isn't always up to scratch but the graphics in HR are SO good that I can compare them to a movie. A shot in real-life MOVIE! for crying out loud. Why on Earth would I spend a ton of money going to a place full of frustratingly long lines, foul-tasting popcorn and rude staff just to watch a movie when I could experience the same Hi-Def visuals in the comfort of my own home by playing Heavy Rain? Plus everyone knows that Orville Redenbacher's microwave popcorn is delicious!

Have any of you seen the film Year One? That caveman-themed film featuring Jack Black, Michael Cera and Olivia Wilde? That movie is atrocious! I would rather be put in a human-sized microwave than watch that film again, which needless to say would be rather painful. The film is about as funny as being water boarded and is a prime example of how films SHOULDN’T be made. I don’t care how great or funny the director, Judd Apatow is and I really don’t give a flying monkey about how awesome Olivia Wilde is in House. The movie SUCKED.Big time. What I don’t understand is why a video game is a better representation of what a film should be than AN ACTUAL FILM. The game conveys drama like a conveyor belt of tears and :( faces. Heavy Rain was by far one of the most uplifting and depressing things I have ever played. I felt pure emotion when it came to rescuing Shaun Mars (Ethan’s son) and I wanted nothing more than to rescue him alive. I even found it difficult to babysit a 9 year old because I had just finished playing Heavy Rain (in which Shaun Mars is around the same age). I felt genuine heartache when Shaun was captured by the Origami Killer, joy when I got one step closer to finding him and most of all I felt connected to the characters and to the game, which is something that I have never experienced with a movie.

I admit, I don’t know everything or even a lot about films though I do know this : Heavy Rain is how every film should be made and film makers should definitely take note.

*FOOTNOTE* I spent my New Year’s Eve eating pizza from Domino’s while watching the disastrous Year One. Let’s just say my start to 2010 wasn’t a happy one!

Related Post

A Good Nintendo Wii Game? Wait, what?!?

Comment Questions

1.What game has made you feel emotion?

2. Did you enjoy Heavy Rain? (DON’T POST SPOILERS!)

 
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