A Brief Updated Look at all the Upcoming Spore Games.

We all know that Spore is coming out pretty soon (if you don't you must have a pretty nice rock to live under) but, until know, we've known little about the spin-off games that will be accompanying it. E3 has given us a lot of new information so I've took some time to go over it and posted the most important things here. Stay informed!

Spore (PC/Mac)


First up there's been new information about the main game itself, especially as it was available for play testing at E3 this week. Most of the coverage seemed to concentrate on the tribal and space exploration stages of the game but there was also new information about the advanced editors.

The space exploration stage allows you to design your own spacecraft using an editor much like the creature creator already released. After your civilisation has celebrated the spacecrafts creation you go through a brief flying tutorial and then off into space it is! In space you can do various missions that extend from discovery (such as finding a downed spacecraft) to diplomacy with other races. Let's not forget the previously seen tractor beams that can abduct other lifeforms, which can then be dumped on other planets. Once you've completed your primary goal (to discover the centre of the universe) you have half a million other planets to explore according to EA. This all sounds well and good but I'm wondering if it will have enough depth to keep you interested in the long-term. There's only so many weird creatures you can take.

The advanced editors include the vehicle editor, which works the same way as the creature creator and allows you to morph and stretch your vehicle's chassis and then add wheels, wings, weapons etc. IGN, for instance, flew around in a spaceship which looked like a magic school bus. There seems to be no end to the creativity allowed and, apparently, this was also extend to buildings allowing you to create magnificent (if you're creative) cities.

There's a lot more to get into so you can check out these previews and impressions:

IGN - 'Next I discovered a world that had a fairly advanced society. It still hadn't reached space stage, but it did have cities full of tiny little Chinook people (the demo was using user-created content pulled from the Internet, and someone had actually made a creature that looks like a Chinook helicopter).'
Gamespot - 'When we first made our jump into space, we noticed that our home planet had a small moon orbiting it. By heading straight to this moon, we were given a brief mission to follow our onboard radar (a toggle-able power in one of our ship's ability menus, which also includes weapons and miscellaneous tools, such as tractor beams that can be used to abduct other life-forms) to a crash-landed spaceship, which we then scanned for data.'
Gamespy -
'For instance, our tribe was prospering and making new friends, but it was time to start dressing like future world leaders. The tribal clothing editor allows players to outfit their creatures with primitive attire. I decided our fish creatures needed a giant gold ring through the nose. And some feathers. With armored shoulder-pads. So far so good: My creatures started to look like extras from the "Road Warrior" movies.'

Spore: Origin


Spore: Origin is the name given to the iPhone version of Spore. With the iPhone apparently as powerful as Sega's old Dreamcast it's fast becoming the perfect casual gaming platform (most portable games are played on a mobile phone) so it makes sense that EA would want a piece of the pie. This is where Spore: Origin comes in and it seems like it will be a decent casual game for those away from their PC's/Mac's or even for those who aren't aware of Spore.

The game itself is a bit like the primordial stage in Spore, in that you direct a cellular level organism around and gobble up the smaller creatures. Controlling your little cellular creature is done by using simple tilt controls on the iPhone. It also infuses the creativity available in the main game you get to evolve your creature every few stages (the game allows you to use the iPhone's pinch controls to morph your creature). However, you have to watch out for the bigger creatures that will reduce the DNA metre you have to fill to complete the stage.

Spore: Origin sounds like Sony's previously released PS3 title flOw but with a little more customisation. While the iPhone will sport the best graphics and the tilt controls the title will also be available for other mobile platforms - meaning that they'll always be a way to get your Spore fix!

For more info check out this short IGN preview.

Spore Creatures



The DS version is taking a unique approach to the creature creator aspect of Spore. Due to the DS' inability to host a creature creator on the advanced scale of the PC version the solution is to piece together body parts. You can still stretch and move these parts around the body but it's nowhere near the freedom allowed by the main game. You can also colour and texture these parts so you're still allowed a fair deal of creativity. Your 2D creatures then move around in a 3D world (similar to Paper Mario) and more body parts can be found through exploring and taking on quests.

The stylus is put to novel use by being used in fights with other creatures. Creatures are taken out by effectively 'slashing' the monsters with your stylus. If you want more creatures to 'slash' you'll also apparently be able to share creatures with your friends over wi-fi.

For a bit more information check out these short IGN and Gamespot previews.

Anything Else?

Despite the insistence of a rather annoying girl on Livejournal there has been little information about what's happening with the Wii version (that means there's NO release date yet). It's not a port so this was not the reason for the PC delay but Will Wright did say they're currently in the planning stages.

Other than the Wii Xbox 360 and PS3 versions are still under consideration.

The Sims 3 E3 Trailer

While this trailer for The Sims 3 may look like an episode of Laguna Beach I'm surprisingly looking forward to the game. You see, not only does the game allow your Sim's access to the entire town without those pesky loading screens (and the ability to see what's going on elsewhere at any moment) but it also deals with the problem of one family aging while the others stay frozen in time - something which has always annoyed me.

I'm the kind of guy who loves to create stories so The Sims franchise has always been a favourite of mine. Unlike other people I don't actually care about the constant expansion packs because, hey, it's new content and at least EA are continuing to support the game. Couple that with an excellent community with literally millions of creations and you can have endless fun! Although that endless fun is sometimes pretty mundane...

The Sims 3 E3 Trailer - YouTube.

Morning Coffee E3 Edition - July 15th 2008

E3 has begun and there's no shortage of news, so here's a round-up of some of my favourite links from the conference:

• As you're probably aware (you can't call yourself a gamer if you aren't!) Square Enix has announced Final Fantasy XIII will be released for the 360. MTV Multiplayer attended the Square Enix press conference where a Q&A session was held. Here are some of the questions and answers.
• Major Nelson discusses some of the new features of the planned Xbox Live update. These include; storing a game on the hard drive so it'll run smoother, the ability to purchase stuff on the Xbox Live marketplace from any web enabled device, and (YES!!!!!!!) 1680x1050 support through VGA and HDMI.
• Portal: Still Alive is coming to Xbox Live Arcade!
• Gamespy has an excellent Fallout 3 preview.
• ...and more on EA's Dead Space.
• If you missed it here's Gamespot's coverage of the EA press conference.
• ...and here's what Will Wright said about Spore at that very press conference.
• Gamespot has some impressions of the intriguing Xbox Live 'MMO' quiz game 1 vs 100 (we have a version of the TV show over here in the UK, done by the National Lottery).
• Sim Animal? Ok.....

Um, we'll finish on that last one. More news coming your way soon!

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Gameplay Footage.

I have little to say other than this game looks awesome. If you combine grappling hooks with explosions and the ability to approach a mission in any way you wish then you're on to a winner!

I've been looking forward to this game for a while now and this video just cements my excitement. You may wonder why I'm that bothered about Mercenaries 2 but I loved the first one and this one just looks ten times better. I just hope that destroying absolutely everything doesn't get too boring.

Roll on August!

Sporepedia Is Now Live!

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Spore was vaporware because, after-all, we haven't been hearing all that much about it lately. This makes it all the more surprising when, seemingly out of the bloom, the previously announced Sporepedia is suddenly released by EA.

The Sporepedia is basically an encyclopedic collection of the millions of creations that players have made in their own copy of the Spore universe - well, that is what it's supposed to be eventually. For now the Sporepedia is only populated by the creations the people of Maxis have designed but, once the game is released, you'll eventually be able to easily download them and add them to your own copy of the game.

The release of Sporepedia comes just a week before the Spore creature creator will be in the players hands (on June 17th). I for one can't wait - especially now that the system recommendations show that my aging PC can handle it!

Sporepedia - Maxis/EA

More Spore Goodness!

It's only a few days after EA officially announced the release date of Spore and the Internet has literally exploded with a tonne of new information about the most anticipated game of the year.

First-up Kotaku gives us a video of a new look at the creature editor. More is revealed about the parts that make up a creature, what they do, and what's needed to gain the parts. Creation extends to air, land, and sea vehicles as well as buildings, accessories and UFO's (although the fauna creation option seems to have gone). Also shown off is one of the community aspects of the game - the content browser - called the Sporepedia. Here you can share your creations and download more with other Spore players. You can also comment on creations, track how many times yours has been downloaded, and limit content being added to game to buddies. Of note is the ability to record your creations and instantly upload a video of them to YouTube.This section also shows off some incredible creations, which confirms the amazing flexibility of the editor.

Next-up is 1UP's new preview of Spore, where it's revealed that players will be able to play any phase (Creature, Tribal, Civilization, and Space phases) straight out of the box. This does defeat the traditional format of progression in a game but highlights Spore's sandbox nature in which you make the game for yourself (much like The Sims). There's also an interesting video interview with Will Wright, part two of which will be coming our way soon (if you'd rather read than watch then Newsweek has another interview up with Will Wright, in which he explains the reason for such a long delay. Here's an interesting quote from Will: "If I took a building from my city, the program can look at other content that thematically matches that City Hall, and suggest that to me.").


Moving away from the PC IGN has a look at the Nintendo DS version of Spore. The game will be called Spore Creatures and while it will still retain some aspects of the creature editor it's a much linear product than its bigger brother. It's more of a adventure game in which you form relationships with other creatures, attack hostile creatures (using the stylus to slash) and explore the world for new body parts. The sharing aspect comes in the form of DS to DS. There's also a look at the mobile phone version of Spore. This is just the cell stage of the game but does include community aspects as you can register you creation online to battle against other players creations.

More Spore info:

Joystiq - '...we got too preoccupied gathering some fish and didn't leave any tribe members at home. While deserted, a large feral creature -- he reminded me of a monster from Where the Wild Things Are -- lumbered in to snack on our food stocks.'
- 'Spice is still the game's resource, but different planets harvest different colors of Spice. You can take advantage of these varieties with trade routes through the galaxy.'
- Also includes an incredible 81 new screenshots.

CVG - EA will release the creature creation editor a few months before the arrival of Spore (much like the body shop was released before The Sims 2).

Wired - "For any city, for any colony I make, a [musical] theme will be generated for it," he said." the music generator allows users to jump in and create their own themes by clicking and dragging musical notes. "I could put in the Star Wars theme if I wanted to," Wright said.

DS Fanboy - Europe will get Spore two days before the US release date (which is great for me!)

Gamespot - 'We chose to use a flying-saucer-shaped vessel as a template, and from there we altered the proportions, applied different colours and patterns, and adorned our creation with various cannons and lasers. Although there was no way that an advanced civilisation would be caught dead in such a monstrosity, it's clear that the tools will let players create pretty much anything they can imagine.'

There's your lot!

Spore Release Date Finally Announced!

The Gods have finally seen fit to grace us with a Spore release date, leaving their masses of worshipers moaning in ecstasy (I should so write erotica). One of the Gods, of course, is the legend himself, Will Wright. From EA and Will comes the official release date of September 7th for PC, Mac, Nintendo DS and mobile phones (I wonder if every single version can make the same day).

"We're in our final stages of testing and polish with Spore," game designer Will Wright explained. "And the team at Maxis can't wait to see the cosmos of content created by the community later this year." - Gamespy.

The biggest game of the year? It better damn well be!

Spore Release Date Announced. - Gamespy.

Analyst Believes Spore Will Be Delayed.

Mike Hickey, an analyst at Janco, believes that Spore may be delayed due to recent share underperformance at Electronic Arts. I didn't mention this before but the game was reported to be roughly ready for release around March/April. Potential delays would mean the game wouldn't see the light of day until the second half of 2008.

I think the popular saying 'No shit, Sherlock!' applies here. I say this because we've pretty much grown accustomed to seeing Spore being delayed and, hopefully, all these delays can only be a good thing. Personally I wouldn't mind if the game was released after Summer because I will have finished university then and, thus, have more time to spend gaming and creating a race of male genitalia.

Analyst: Spore To Be Delayed To Fall/Winter 2008? - Gamasutra (Via CVG)

Spore to be Released on the Mac. Still no Sign of it.

Yesterday it was announced that EA are 'bringing its highly anticipated game Spore to the Mac sometime in 2008'.

"We couldn't be happier to bring Spore to the Mac at the same time as the PC version. Spore is a highly creative game and I look forward to seeing what the players come up with to fill the universe they design," said Wright in a statement. - Macworld

I don't really care much for this news but I would if I owned a Mac. So few developers both to bring out a version of their game for Mac's so this is exciting for people who own a Mac.

So why did I bother blogging this news if I don't really care? Well, it says 2008 so, even though there's not an official release date yet, it makes me more confident the game will be out this year. I'm getting increasingly worried about whether or not my rig will be up to it so I'm hoping the system requirements are on par with The Sims 2 (and providing smooth gameplay of course). Also, let's face it, we hear very little news about Spore so I'm taking it upon myself to report the news that does appear.

Mac owners shouldn't get too excited though. Considering how long this game is taking I wouldn't be surprised if it slipped into 2009. Still, fingers crossed eh?

(Via Kotaku)

Stupid News of The Day!

Or rather it's my attempt to actually post something this week and not actually spend a great deal amount of time writing. Yes, I've been a bad blogger but university work and...um...Team Fortress 2 (it works now) must come first sometimes!

Rockstar are supposedly pissed at the 'Grand Theft Scratchy' section in the upcoming The Simpsons game.

"I was always under the impression that when you do parody, it's a sign of respect... If we make fun of Grand Theft Auto, we're not going to hurt the sales of Grand Theft Auto... But yeah, we've definitely had some reactions - we've had to pull stuff from the game", The Simpsons lead designer Greg Rizzer revealed to us in an interview earlier this week. - CVG

Isn't Rockstar being a bit hypocritical here? The GTA series makes parodies of everything but when it comes to someone making a parody of their game it's not allowed? Also I was under the impression that parody is legal in the USA.

It's probably just some lawyer who doesn't know much about the content of either game but, still, it's the principle of it all. Won't somebody please think of the children?

EA upsets games companies with The Simpsons - CVG (Via Kotaku)

Review: SimCity DS.

Before we go any further I’m just going to come right out and say it; SimCity DS is a highly addictive game. If a game keeps you up to the wee small hours playing it (in this case, around 6am) then you’d be hard pressed to argue that the game has no redeeming qualities. Redeeming? You ask? Well, as addictive as this game may be it, like many other games, suffers from a number of problems that annoyingly snatch a ‘must own’ title out of it’s cowering hands.

For those of you who have never played a SimCity game before - which, if this is the case, you deserve to be shot – the game is all about building a city. Of course, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out but it’s not as simple as it may sound. Your city planning will be split into three different zones; commercial, industrial, and residential – and it’s up to you to come up with a plan that will hopefully present you with a working city and a nice amount of profit coming back in return. Still sound easy? Well, on top of that you have to supply the basic necessities of water and power, figure out a good transit route consisting of roads and railways in order for your Sims to get to work without being stuck in traffic all day, and keep Sims happy with police stations, hospitals, parks and schools to name but a few. If you haven’t played a SimCity game before and are trying to figure out how this can possibly be fun then let the detailed tutorial guide you through the basic aspects of the game or you’ll find that being in constant debt doesn’t make for the most entertaining gaming session.

So, now we’ve got the basics out of the way I’ll lead you on to the first frustration of the game. It doesn’t say so on the box but you’ll probably want a spade handy if you’re going to play this game. No, you won’t be digging any holes with it; you’ll be whacking your advisor repeatedly over the head. After the random personality test has matched you with an advisor you’ll be, at first, happy with the company. You see, the advisor can be pretty helpful at times. You’ll be notified about what your city needs through the advisor and the various ‘important’ guests she calls you back to the office for. At first you’ll be happy that some Grandma came and informed you that the city needs more hospitals but, after the hundredth time and having just placed ten hospitals down, it can get annoying – especially since your advisor tends to agree and makes you feel bad like shooting them when you decline. Unfortunately you can’t fire the advisor but I suppose the game would be a lot harder without some kind of guidance.

When the advisor isn’t bothering you with some Fireman who thinks the city needs yet another stadium they’re screaming that there’s a fire or similar disaster somewhere in town. Blowing into the mic can put out fires but, in my experience, there’s little point because the fire tends not to spread if you’ve got a few fire stations. This leads me on to the various mini-games that will constantly interrupt your labours. Whether it’s tapping fireworks to make them explode or poking Santa in order to make him drop presents it makes you wonder just why these are in the game. Sure, the developer is probably just making more use of the touch screen ability but when the whole game is built around touching the screen there’s little point in them being there. I say this because SimCity DS is simply too hard for kids. The game retains the basic aspects of expenditure, income and taxes that will seem very much alien to children. For anyone else the mini-games are fun at first but quickly become pointless. I realise the DS is all about innovation but the game would have been fine without them.

A game like SimCity may sound perfect for the DS but touch screen control does have it problems. For some unknown reason the developers put in a undo action for building things by accident but opted not to let you undo demolition. Anyone who’s played on a DS knows that it can be easy to slip from time to time, especially if you’re traveling in a car or on a bus. Due to this it’s quite easy to destroy half your city just because a sudden movement made you slip. This means you have to be extremely careful when you want to demolish something or, as the games advisor unhelpfully points out, plan your city well enough that you don’t have to demolish something in the first place.

Your first few attempts at building a thriving city may end in disaster but you can be safe in the knowledge that you can come back to an older city later on to improve it with your new found skills, that is until you realise that you can only save one city. It’s probably down to memory constraints but the ability to only save one city is pretty ludicrous. One part of SimCity I always enjoyed was the ability to go back to an earlier city and be proud of my creation. Now any previous cities will become ghost towns lost in your memory, which severely depletes the games lifespan.

Stylistically the game isn’t the best-looking DS game out there but, as you can see by the screenshots, it isn’t terrible. The zoom function isn’t that great so don’t expect to see immense detail on the buildings yet some of them stand out well enough to give your city an air of originality. Don’t expect skyscrapers either. Although the game has as number of tall buildings these tend to be around the size of an apartment block or a small office, I suppose anything bigger would have filled the screen and blocked off anything behind it.

Once you’ve tired of the build-a-city mode there’s save-the-city. In this mode you have to accomplish tasks like rebuilding a city after a major earthquake or, on the more mundane side, solving a cities traffic problems. Save-the-city games can’t be saved and, as a result, are relatively short so perfect for a ride in the car. There’s also a mail mode that allows you to swap landmarks with other people who have the game. Unless your friend owns the game it’s a pretty safe bet that you won’t be using this mode as the likelihood of coming across anyone else who has the game (since you have to be near them) is pretty slim and the benefits are probably only fun for about five minutes.

At first glance putting SimCity on handheld sounds like an idea worth slaughtering a pig or two in sacrifice for and, for the most part, it is. However, SimCity DS is more likely to have a chicken slaughtered for it. While the ability to play SimCity on the move is amazingly cool you’ll often get frustrated through simple things such as trying to demolish a building. That said the game does offer a decent amount of playtime, even if you’re only allowed to save one city. SimCity DS is one of those games you’ll take with you on a long journey. For SimCity veterans – like myself – the games incredible amount of mothering will probably not appeal to you but it’s addicting enough to hold your interest for a few days and a welcome distraction from the PC versions. Is it worth a look? If you can get past it’s faults then it’s probably the best management sim fix you can get on the DS. If a game can keep me entertained enough to play for hours at a time then I'm willing to forgive some of it's faults.

Seven-out-of-ten.

Buy From Amazon.com!

New Spore Information.

Whatever happened to Spore? I hear you cry! Well, the game was notably absent from last weeks E3 and the throngs of journalists hoping to play the game were denied. In comes IGN with the reason.

IGN has a new video, screenshots and an interview with Maxis VP of Marketing Patrick Buechner. If you don't want to bother reading it (although if, like me, you're so interested in this game that you devour every last piece of information then you will) I'll summarise it here:

• The game is in the Alpha stage of development, meaning most of the games main features are done and it's coming down to tweaking and polishing.
• The team are getting extremely positive feedback from play testers (to be fair wouldn't a guy who's job is marketing say this anyway?)
• There are so many genres mixed into the game that the player has to adapt their play style and gaming experience of each genre to fit each one.
• Since the team are already committed to making the game playable at the Leipzig Games Convention in August they didn't want to fit it into multiple events by showing it off at E3 as well.
• The press will be able to play the game at the Leipzig Games Convention but it will be behind closed doors.

Patrick also talked about the DS version of Spore:

• The DS version of Spore will be out around the same time as the PC version.
• You won't be playing the whole evolutionary arc on the DS version but the main focus will still be customisation.
• It won't interact with the PC version in any way.
• Both versions should be out sometime shortly after April 1st 2008.
• The creature editor portion of Spore will be released several weeks in advance of the core game.

So, sorry Spore fans but it looks like we're going to have to wait until August for new information on the game. Let's hope it will be worth the wait.

E3 2007: Spore Update - IGN.

Yet Another Sims 2 Series On The Way.

The Sims 2 is everywhere these days; PC, consoles and portable consoles. Go in any reputable game store and it's a guaranteed impossibility to avoid seeing any iteration of the series stacked up neatly on the shelves (unless, of course, you like walking around with your eyes shut). So, it comes as little surprise that EA are eager to further cash in on the best-selling series. This time, it's laptop friendly!

These stand-alone, "laptop-friendly" entries in the franchise are set to feature a whole new Story mode with two central characters - Riley Harlow and Vincent Moore. Your goal is to guide either protagonist through the perils and pitfalls of romance over 12 different chapters. - IGN

The Sims Life Stories will fill up another eager space on the shelves, probably jostling off some low budget ignored game in the process. Will I buy it? Considering I only own the PC version (and all the expansion packs) and I don't own a laptop (although it is an idea for the future) then, no, most likely not. At least those who don't own a a powerful laptop can get in the God act too!

Wait, that's not it? Do you expect anything more from the powerhouse that is EA?

Following after Life Stories, 2007 should also see a release for The Sims Pet Stories, with The Sims Castaway Stories arriving in 2008. - IGN

EA owns your money, that is, if you're gullible enough to part with it. Knowing the UK game market, however, we have plenty of sheep!

The Sims Lapping it up - IGN

EA Launches Digital Distribution Service.

EA has jumped on the digital distribution bandwagon by launching EA Link, a new service that allows you to download EA games straight to your PC. It works a bit like Fileplanet by downloading a download manager to your PC and downloading through that. The service will also offer 'bonus' content along with games such as Battlefield 2142 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07.

To be totally honest I've never been a massive fan of digital distribution because I prefer to earn something physical. It's the same reason what kept me from trading in any of my games, even if they were awful (New York Race anyone?). Is this the future? Not for the moment but like we see with Xbox Lives Marketplace demo downloads (and the PS3/Wii service) publishes are currently tapping their foot in the tepid water and getting a pretty decent response.

I don't see digital distribution replacing physical games anytime soon but I have to admit it's a lot easier for the gamer who can't be bothered hitting the shops. The console aspects of these downloads are far more pronounced lately but I'd always rather buy the game than download. I'd be more likely to do it with the PC because of it's whole nature. I suppose I'll get used to it when I actually splash the cash for a next-gen console.

Damn actually leaving the house!

(Via Clickable Culture)

EA Link.

EA Confirms The Sims 3, Next-Gen Black, And Other Titles.

Sometimes I'm a bit late on the ball but this time I have an excuse! NaNoWriMo, the ultimate endurance test for writers which sees you trying to complete a 50,000 word novel in a month, is underway and I've been spending a lot of time trying to get my characters to actually do something interesting. Blogging is extremely good for procrastination, although not good for getting my actual word count up.

Anyway, keeping up with the news is easier when you have the help of Google Reader (Bloglines can piss off) so I at least have an inkling about what is going on.

EA released it's earnings report yesterday and, as with every terribly boring earnings report, they always hide a few little details in them that makes it at least worth pouring over. The games? Some were expected, while others are a bit of a surprise.

Several other new titles were unveiled during the call. "There will be another Lord of the Rings [game]... There's a new SimCity game in the pipeline and the next-generation version of Black. Those things alone are all new, relative to fiscal '07," said Jenson. It was unclear whether Jenson meant the games would arrive before the end of EA's 2007 fiscal year, or were just new to the company's financial plan for the 12-month period. - Gamespot

Right, so a new LOTR game was pretty much predicted by anyone with two brain cells to rub together, and a next-generation Black makes a lot of sense (Remind me to play that came sometime). However, a new Sim City gets me very interested. A PC version is a must but with todays emphasis on strategy games swapping over to the consoles does this mean versions on the next-gen consoles, especially since The Sims have made various transitions in the past. If Sim City was on handheld consoles and could interact with the PC version I might be interested in something like that, although I'm not holding my breath unless it was a Playstation 3/PSP type deal.

Speaking of The Sims the third game in the series has been confirmed to be under development:

During the same call, Jenson also confirmed that several sequels to EA's most important franchises are in the works. "Yes, there's a Sims 3 in development and it's likely to be a fiscal '09 title," said Jenson, meaning the game would hit stores before April 2009. The executive also confirmed that the Sims franchises will also be coming to two next-generation platforms--the Wii and the PlayStation 3. - Gamespot

lthough it was probably coming sometime in the future I didn't expect it yet. How exactly can you expand on The Sims 2 at the current moment in time? You've got excellent graphics and enough expansion packs to keep you going for a while. It'll obviously be taking full advantage of DirectX 10 and Windows Vista but does this rule out a lot of the casual gamers that have made The Sims such a staple game? I doubt the majority of people will be on Windows Vista even in 2009 as it always takes a good few years for the majority to switch, unless Microsoft really push it. Yet I could be wrong since cheap computers like Dell may be including it as standard packages pretty soon. I think I need a crystal ball sometimes.

Or maybe I just make a lot of false predictions. As has become the common thing to say around these parts, who knows?

Battlefield 2142 Review.

There’s a cliché to start video game reviews describing a scene that grabbed the reviewers attention and then proclaiming that they are, indeed, playing a game. For example, the reviewer is ‘under heavy fire by enemy troops with only his trusty sidearm for company, while air transports scream overhead and the distant approach of a tank can be heard’. When it comes to a game like Battlefield 2142 it’s hard not to describe the feeling you get in situations quite similar to this. The thought that you are on an enormous battlefield with real-life players slugging it out in a variety of guises is quite exhilarating. Except, on this battlefield, all sense of tactical awareness and the common sense mantra that shooting your teammates in the back isn’t the best idea of the century, seems to be thrown out of the window and crushed by a passing steamroller.

Battlefield 2142 was always inevitable, not only because EA tend to churn out a long line of games part of the same series, but also because a future Battlefield was the only logical step forward. The World War II aspect has been done to death, Vietnam was a failure (both in real life and in video game world), and the modern aspect screamed ‘war on terror’. Also, having a Battlefield set in the future allowed Dice to throw a bunch of creative ideas into the pot as they were unconstrained by the limitations of Battlefield games based on real-world events. However, it’s good to see that Dice didn’t go overboard when they were presented with a completely blank slate in which to scratch out a new Battlefield – lasers and teleportation are out of the picture here. Dice took the Battlefield 2 engine, modified it a bit, and came out with a Battlefield that, although set in the future, allowed us to relate it to reality in a way that Star Trek cannot. Combined with a new blank slate and the realisation that players would probably like something more than Conquest mode for once, the Titan mode emerged.



The plot is unimportant but it needs mention to introduce the Titan mode. The Northern Hemisphere has frozen over and billions are forced to flee to the warmer lands far south. As a result wars break out over what little land remains, as is typical of Human nature. Two factions, the EU and Asian PAC, are fighting over the African lands with no indication to where the North Africans or USA have got to (possibly a future expansion pack?). Due to this you get rugged ice covered maps while occasionally jumping over to desert style maps. The two factions –having been used to transport refugees to the south – have adopted the Titans as command centres and, as such, the aim of the Titan mode is to attack and destroy these floating behemoths.

The Titan mode is a combination of conquest (which also returns) and the new aim to destroy the Titan’s. Players much capture missile silos, which, in turn, launch regular missile’s that will eventually destroy the enemy Titan’s shields. After the shields are down the players can either land on the Titan in an airships or launch from pods in an APC. They must then take down four-control console’s, which gains access to the Titan’s core. Destroying this means your team wins the round. It also means a great deal of teamwork is needed, especially when both Titan’s shields are down. If most of your team are attacking the enemy Titan this leaves your Titan undefended, leading to a quick defeat, but this also means that their Titan may be lax on defence, unless the opposing team is pretty clever that is. It can lead to pretty close stalemates if your team is working together by defending and attacking at the same time. You also have people running around on the ground holding the silos continue to pound the enemy Titan and take more damage off the faltering hull. The Titan mode can fill you with sheer utter joy, topping up your flask of gaming goodness, especially when you all run laughing and screaming off the exploding Titan, the opposing team’s impending doom finally realised as they frantically scramble for the escape pods or airships.



Of course, teamwork always comes down to the players on the server. If you’re playing with a group of friends then the match can be pretty fun. It’s not to say that the match can’t go fun without friends. The squad system encourages players to work together, that is, if they actually join a squad. Squad leaders can place spawn beacons and also act as mobile spawn points, providing they are still alive. This means the squad leader can instantly get backup when left alone, as squad members re-spawn on his/her position. You now gain experience points by completing squad objectives set by your squad leader, something missing from Battlefield 2. In fact, experience points are gained from pretty much everything, which is most likely why teamwork is far more preferable this time around. As a medic, which has been combined with the assault class, you gain experience by healing people and reviving them. Cue players running around healing their comrades for experience, not because of companionship. All this experience adds up to the returning rank system and a variety of unlocks you can gain to improve your soldier. It gives you a sense of something to fight for; something to while away the hours helping your team gain the upper hand. This doesn’t mean your team will always work together, quite the contrary, many players have little sense of tactical awareness and will continue to throw themselves at the same objective without thinking of alternative ways to accomplish the same objective without constantly dying. The response to losing the round is to start a mutiny on the commander, whom returns with his usual artillery and aerial scans, even though it’s often not his fault. Like any war the commander is only as good as the troops, and if his troops refuse to follow orders without any passion or refuse to follow them all-together, then they are the ones who are to blame.

When it comes to vehicles Battlefield 2142 has an interesting bunch. Big mech type walkers will scare the hell out of you when you first witness one stalking towards you, while hover tanks can move sideways quickly across your field of view, before making a nice little carpet of you across the snow. Most of the other vehicles are revamped versions of the ones you’ll have employed in Battlefield 2 but some, like the APC, are more integral to the round then before – if you’re playing the Titan mode. There’s an issue with air support however. The gunship is far slower than the jets in Battlefield 2 and they seem far easier to take out when launching an EMP from the ground. Still, it all depends on the pilot, as one stalking you can be pretty annoying when you don’t have anything to take it out.

You can’t review an EA game without mentioning a few bugs, and Battlefield 2142 has its fair share. Amazingly some of the bugs from the beta make their return in the final game, and when any game has to be patched on release day you have to wonder just what the testers have been doing. Bugs will always be rife in Battlefield games since there are so many things the players can do that they’ll always find a bug somewhere the developers never even dreamed of. The game sometimes crashes at the start of maps, and the screen can go all funny when you try to choose an unlock during a game. Corpses still slide around on board Titan’s, which can make it awkward to revive them - eventually falling through it towards the ground. Lag can also be pretty horrendous during the Titan mode, but it’s more due to the server than anything.

The bugs are minor niggles in the end and hopefully you won’t experience anything horribly annoying that would take your enjoyment away from the game. Annoyance will come more from running into an enemy walker that promptly blasts your body into a billion atoms, or being hit in the face by a team-mate in the closer quarters of the Titan’s corridors. With the unlock system and two fun-filled modes there’s always plenty to do in Battlefield 2142 and, being a Battlefield game, making your own fun has always been the aim of the game. Whether you choose to be a pilot ferrying your team-mates into battle, or a sniper nestled in your own little high spot, or whether you decide to flank an objective instead of meeting it head on. Battlefield has always been a series where every round will be something different, a splurge of amazing moments you’ll remember for the rest of your gaming life. Although the engine is showing it’s age Battlefield 2142 can still impress with the sheer amount of flexibility you can employ, which, is of course, all depends on whether your team wants to work with you or pursue their own vain interests.

Eight-out-of-ten.

SimCity Coming To DS In Japan.

A DS version of SimCity 3000 is set for release through Electronic Arts, according to Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu. SimCity DS will feature "full stylus-based controls, mini games and a new adviser character who helps you out when designing your city."

Three modes will be included in this magnificent package: Build a New City, Save the City and Sister City. Sister City is said to make use of Nintendo's Wi-Fi Network in that you'll be able to chat to other players and share landmarks.

As of yet no official US annoucement has been made but, to be honest, I find it strange that this game would be announced in Japan first. Since it's an EA product it'll almost certainly hit our shores in the future. Until then this is just another gem to add to the DS' growing library.

Sim City Set for DS - IGN

(Via Joystiq)

Battlefield 2142 Beta.

I signed up for a Fileplanet subscription (Actually Founders Club at $5.00 a month which, at exchange rates, set me back around £35 for the whole year. Not bad for the amount of benefits you get) the other day and, as such, got to grab my beta key for the upcoming Battlefield 2142. Being a beta the game is rife with bugs at the moment but from what I've played so far it's shaping up to be an enjoyable experience.

To be totally honest it doesn't feel a whole lot different from Battlefield 2, barring the futuristic setting of course. Specs are, my pc breaths a sigh of relief, more or less similar to BF2. Although my rig can't run the game on high without frame rates going into the minus it still looks good enough to play comfortably. There is some talk that it could pass as a BF2 mod, coming out so soon after BF2 it's not wrong to have some doubts. Yet I feel as though it offers enough of a change to at least warrant a play.

Take the Titan mode for example, a nice little change from the now tiresome conquest mode. Granted, you still have to capture points but this serves to weaken the shields of the enemy's Titan, a hovering behemoth in which your commander and air support usually reside. After the shields are out of business you can then bombard the Titan with all-out air assualt or, for a more exciting day out, directly assualt the Titan with infantry. This means you have to balance your support between holding the capture points, assualting the enemy's Titan, while defending your own. This is sure to result in some hetic battles.

There's a few aspects I haven't had chance to try out yet, like the much sought after Mech's. Since the beta is only one map there's still much left to see, I expect.

A few more polishes here and there and probably a few changes to the Hud (it's a bit complicated at the moment) and I think it'll be well worth playing.

Can't get into the Beta? Feast your eyes on this trailer.