Summary: A 2D platformer from an independent developer that lets you flip the game world around and lets you run away from a photograph of a hamster (with horns).

Setting: Bizarre world made of low-budget and paper.

Systems: PC

Genre: Platformer

Mood: Well, if you’ve got to ask, I was pretty bored.

Read the full review by Max Salnikov

More Brutal Legend goodness for you folks. A little Jack Black, Theodore Meatbones, and game footage to spice up your afternoon.

One of the most anticipated Wii games of the year, The Conduit, has gone gold, meaning thousands of disc drives are burning copies of the game at this very moment. On Tuesday, June 23, the game will be shipped to stores, awaiting your hard-earned moneys to be set free onto the world and loaded into your shiny white trapezoids. As the Sega/High Voltage press release says, “Soon you will be able to arm yourself with an arsenal of sci-fi gadgets and high-powered weapons as you fight against aliens, rogue agents and other enemy forces.”

But what about the hype? What’s your take? Sure, the game looks pretty good (and not just “for a Wii game”). It won awards at E3 and other game conferences, and it’s been talked about around the gaming community since it was first revealed over a year ago. But are we looking to a third-party answer to Metroid Prime 3, or will we be stuck with another Red Steel?

I’m seriously hoping that The Conduit turns out to be a good game. Original IPs have it rough from the get-go these days (see No More Heroes, Mirror’s Edge, etc.), but if the game is good enough, it’ll break through those bounds and make its way up the sales charts and into your home.

So, fellow Lemony gamers, are you looking forward to The Conduit? Will you be buying, renting, or passing? Let us know!

The Conduit official site

Thanks to Games Press for the press release and IGN for the pic.

Now that E3 has come and gone, and the gaming buzz is starting to settle back down to its usual levels, it’s time to grab a cup of coffee and do some even-tempered analytical thinking about the show’s biggest announcements: Microsoft’s Natal and Sony’s Motion Controller. (Just in case you spent the beginning of June under a rock, Microsoft and Sony both announced new game control technologies based on full body video capture.) What can these technologies really do? Who will they benefit? How will they change the face of gaming? What are the two companies really after? Let’s take a closer look at these seemingly simple questions and see if we can’t glean some truths that lay not on top, but rather below the surface.

Read full article.

So a couple of weeks ago I did something a little unusual (for me) and, at the behest of a friend, went to check out a local indie game developer gathering here in a New York. The event (Demo Night of the local chapter of the IGDA) took place in a small college auditorium on a Thursday night, and, to my complete surprise gathered upwards of 100 people. Believe me when I tell you that in a city like New York, on a party night, that is no small accomplishment.

There were some cute games demo-ed, but the most interesting experience of the night was a social one (this is completely shocking for a gamer, I know!), when we striked up a conversation with two guys sitting next to us, Austin and Brian. Austin and Brian work for a small game startup called Muse Games, working in the budding field of 3D web browser games. Thanks to some new technology (the Unity game engine), it is apparently now possible to do some pretty decent 3D in a browser window, and of course games are a prime target.

Good conversation breeds good karma, so today I thought I’d introduce you guys to Muse and their new 3D game called Elementia. Elementia is a single and multi-player strategy game where you harness the elements of fire, water, land, wind, and ether to do battle. Check it out, and support these guys if you can. They are the only real life game developers I know, and - more importantly - incredibly nice people.

A small preview video is below:

Elementia Trailer from Muse Games on Vimeo.

What fresh hell is this? Game developers are not whining because they’re not getting a cut of used games…are they? What’s the date? Is it April Fools Day again? Ashton Kutcher’s birthday? Nope, according to the SF Chronicle’s Ryan Kim who wrote this article, some giants of the gaming industry are acting like giant pussies:

“We would prefer to participate in the sale of our products, especially when we spend years putting one of these things together and we have to continue to provide support for all these new customers without creating any new revenue from it at all,” said Pete Hines, vice president of Bethesda Softworks. “We’re not big fans of that.”

Whatever, Pete…I think you should consider yourself very lucky that you haven’t been jailed for pushing the heroin in game form that has enslaved every able-thumbed man under the age of 45. Who the hell takes a copy of Elder Scrolls to GameSpot? Don’t you have to put down the controller down long enough to put on pants?

Oh, and then there was this little gem from Silicon Knights president, Denis Dyack:

“It’s a real problem right now, and it’s a loophole that people are using, and we’re getting cut out of that model.”

Okay, Denis. I’ll send you the cash I cut you out of when I blought my used copy of Sanity’s Requiem, if you pay the bill to clean my couch. (What? That game was freaking scary, and I have a weak bladder, deal with it, haters.)

Jebus, I hate sticking up for GameSpot because, while I don’t think they are the Devil, I think they certainly do his work and get invited to all of his BBQs. But, developers…sigh…you need to do three things before I can even begin to see your side of things: 1. Lower your prices. The reason I bought a used copy of Sanity’s Requiem was because it cost about 20 bucks less than a new copy. 20 bucks. I can use that scratch to buy yet another used game. 2. Stop making crappy games so bad that I would not want my worst enemy to play them, but would have no qualms letting a total stranger spend 14.95 on.  And 3. For the love of God and everything holy, let us return crappy downloadable content. I’m talking to you, Cocoto Fishing Master. J’accuse!

So it seems like this is the E3 of new controllers (or lack thereof). The buzz coming off Microsoft’s announcement of Natal hasn’t even reached its peak (much less began to dissipate!) when Sony came out and announced their own vision for the controller of the future. Now, unlike the Microsoft thing, the Motion Controller is still indeed a controller, but Sony Playstation CEO Jack Tretton took stabs at Microsoft and Nintendo, claiming this technology was “not some vision of the future, but here and now”, and did a lot more than get “some folks in retirement homes to pick up a video game”, respectively.

Like the Microsoft technology, Sony’s controller is also rooted in real-time video capture and processing. Although Tretton claimed the technology will go into production in Spring 2010, the tech demo still had very much a “lab test” quality to it. The demonstrator had trouble hitting things with his virtual racket/baseball bat, and there clearly plenty of quirks still to be worked out. Moreover, one can argue that the Motion Controller is little more than the Wiimote finally done right (without the lag and the limitations on possible gestures). On the other hand, unlike the Microsoft demo which largely focused on the sheer “wow factor”, Sony did not shy away from demonstrating the technically hard to do things, like writing, and the ability to make very small precise movements accurately, so it’s plausible that their technology is indeed closer to being market-ready than Microsoft’s.

Regardless of which technology impressed you more, the bigger and more important message in my mind, however, is the one that BOTH companies seem to be sending to Nintendo: “yes, motion based game controls are the wave of the future, but you’ve jumped too early and picked the wrong technology to do it: it’s not about gyroscopes; it’s about video.”

So given the rapid pace at which games are being announced, I thought I’d throw together a quick list of my noteworthy announcements and demos from this E3 that’s I’ve had the opportunity to catch. A little googling guide for us working folk, if you will Feel free to add your favorites!

Rock Band Beatles - Ringo and McCartney might have had that “I am just being paid to be here” look when they briefly presented the game at E3, but that doesn’t take away from the awesomeness of having playable Beatles tunes in your living room.

Shadow Complex - This XBL side-scrolling action game from the creators of GOW actually looked pretty cool, with great graphics, awesome-looking big bosses, and inventive mechanics like the foam-gun creating serious potential for a new XBL-style Contra.

Left 4 Dead 2 - More zombie fun! All right!

Splinter Cell: Conviction - Although I was not a big fan of the earlier Splinter Cells, this title looks truly re-invented in terms of graphics, gameplay, and just about everything else, so I am actually eager to check it out when it comes out this fall.

Halo fans will obviously rejoice at the news of not only Halo: ODST, but also another new title entitled Halo: Reach

Full integration of XBL with Blast.FM, Facebook, Twitter, SkyTV (soccer fans just went to heaven) - the best of the internet media comes to your living room. Funnily enough, you can start seeing how this is a living room version of the very strategy that Apple has been pursuing for the iPhone. Which begs the question: will ex-bitter rivals Apple and Microsoft have to work together some day to converge the living room/portable application spaces?

Full integration of XBL with NetFlix, and upgrade of all movies to full 1080p with no download - die, cable companies, die!

And, of course, the unbelievable Project Natal, on which there is a whole separate post. Definitely the biggest news of this E3.

Not too much from EA - the company still hasn’t shaken nearly enough of the trappings of a financially-driven publishing behemoth), - having said that, EA is still the publisher of a few of my most anticipated titles, namely, Mass Effect 2 and Brutal Legend, both of which revealed new trailers and gameplay. Sabateur also looked borderline interesting, although there is only going to be so much room in people’s stealth action budget come this fall.

There also two very notable MMO titles on display this E3.

The first, of course, is The Old Republic, which delivered a sweet-looking FMV - we will see how the actual gameplay stacks up.

The second, a new announcement, looks very interesting indeed. It’s called APB (which strangely stands for “All Points Bulletin”), looks like a GTA3 MMO, and is very notably (for an MMO, at least) - level-less, which means that progress is entirely measured in items, equipment, and bling. Perhaps most importantly, this one is scheduled not only for the PC, but also the Xbox 360. Here is hoping consoles finally get a blockbuster MMO that they deserve. Definitely one to watch over the next 6-9 months (shipping date is currently early 2010).

Ubisoft featured Joel McHale, arguably the only person at E3 so far that is a polished professional presenter. Kudos!

Ruse - this new strategy game looks great, and unlike other strategy games, places its main focus on battlefield deception tactics.

Assassin’s Creed 2 - this sequel looks to fix the repetitiveness issues of the first title, and takes place in one of the most stunning locations possible - Renaissance Italy. The new playable demo looks awesome.

Nintendo didn’t offer much that I personally was excited about, but fans will probably appreciate the new multi-player Mario, Mario Galaxy 2, and a new Metroid title.

God of War III - there are many titles this E3 that are trying to capitalize of GoW’s awesome formula (Bayonetta, Dante’s Inferno), but I am still most excited about this new installment of the original.

Lost Planet 2 - squad based gameplay, and my game one favorites, mech suites and grappling hook - I’ve been sold on this one since it was first announced a little while back. Of course, there is a new awesome trailer coming out of the E3, so google away!

Borderlands - another one of my watchlist games, this FPS/RPG combo continues to look cool with its attractive art style, thousands of guns, and strong storytelling. New trailer available.

Two new episodic games from Lucas Arts based on the Monkey Island series!!! - any fan of classic adventure gaming just peed his pants. Now I gotta go shower and change, so I will wrap up here for the time being.

— Update —-

Ahh, dry pants, that hits the spot. So where did I leave off? Ah, yes, here are the rest of the games that got me semi-excited this E3.

Alan Wake, an action-adventure thriller looks interesting in terms of its storytelling potential.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is obviously exciting to fans; more importantly, it looks like the series has finally stepped up to reinvent itself in terms of gameplay, taking on a more modern look and feel reminiscent of God of War. While there will certainly be loud cries about Konami doing away with the classic Castlevania flavor, as far as I am concerned that aroma has long grown stale, and I am glad to see some changes for this next iteration, even if they aren’t 100% unique. Names like Patrick Stewart and Hideo Kojima, which are lending their efforts to this title in terms of voice acting and design, respectively, give me all the more confidence that this may be the best Castlevania in a while when it hits consoles in 2010.

The live demo of Uncharted 2 looks pretty compelling (though still not compelling enough to make me buy a PS3, since no price cut has been announced).

The PSP is getting an installment of the always solid Jack and Dexter, subtitled “Lost Frontier”, and the equally solid Ratchet and Clank: a Crack in Time is coming to the consoles.

Finally, a follow up to Eco and Shadow of the Colossus entitled The Last Guardian, featuring a boy and his giant birdo-dogo-dragon pet rounds out my list of noteworthy games for this year’s show.

Overall, much of the excitement still surrounded the well-established, previously announced titles - there weren’t many notable new original games announced at this E3. For better or for worse, that is a reflection on where the game industry has evolved to in the last 5 years. The main theme for this upcoming batch of games seemed to be continued emulation of the recent proven successes in game design - visceral, over the top action of God of War, “climb everything” mechanics of Assassin’s Creed, and the cover mechanics of Gears.

Bungie overload!

In the midst of all the mind-boggling announcements at Microsoft’s E3 press conference today, there were 2 huge presentations for Halo nuts like myself.

First was the reveal of some actual gameplay footage from the upcoming Halo 3: ODST - plus a release date: September 22, 2009. That’s 113 days and counting for the slackers out there. The game looks fantastic, playing off of Halo 3’s strengths and not really messing with what ain’t broken, plus adding in some cool new visual enhancements to the standard HUD. Also, Firefly nerds will love hearing Nathan Fillion at the beginning and Adam Baldwin about halfway through, continuing their awesome tradition of being part of the Halo universe.

But wait, there’s more! Bungie and Microsoft then went about blowing our minds just a little bit more by unveiling Halo: Reach, an entirely new game for which we have absolutely no frickin’ information, other than the precious hopes of millions that it takes place during the events of the novel The Fall of Reach and that it includes Spartans (as evidenced by the “Sierra” call signs heard in the brief, gameplay-free trailer). Halo: Reach, as the trailer says, “Falls 2010.”

Everything can be viewed and downloaded at Bungie’s site. Enjoy.

So there I was, sitting in front of the TV with my trusty notepad, writing down all the new game announcements and release dates. And then came the end of the Microsoft press-conference. I was expecting one last yeehah! type speech before I could go and update the blog, and then it came.

Project Natal. Full body motion capture gaming.

No controller. Just a set top box and some amazing software that’s recognizing everything you do - your movements, your surroundings, your voice. Game control has never been more direct.

Now this isn’t coming in 2009. But when it gets here, if the technology indeed holds up, this will be very, very major.

Microsoft demonstrated the technology in 3 ways.

First, Ricochet - a 3D breakout-type game where you move your hands, feet and everything else to deflect balls at a platform of blocks. Nothing special game-wise, but pretty rocking as a technology demo - the girl on the stage was jumping around wildly, no controllers, no gadgets attached to her body anywhere, and she was translating onto the screen in a pretty darn snappy manner. Cool.

Second - a painting program controlled with simple voice, hand and full body commands. All right as a tech demo, not something I would ever actually do.

And third, came the real stunner - a demo created by Lionhead, presented by Peter Molyneux, where a boy game character named Milo interacts with a player - a girl named Claire. They hold a fluid conversation across the TV screen. Milo reacts real-time to things Clair says and the way she says them. He throws her a pair of googles - she makes a catching motion. She draws a picture for him - and passes it right into the game world as it is instantly scanned and processed by the Natal hardware/software magic.

Needless to say, it is a pretty stunning demo. Now go search YouTube for “E3 2009 Natal” and be amazed for yourself.