Donkeys, runes, and our very first hero kill are just some of the things that happened on our journey this week as Dota veteran Zorine continues to teach Ed the basics of one of the biggest things in PC gaming.
Posted Jul 24, 2012 | 90:58 | 2,780 Views
The last time gamers heard news about the upcoming Phoenix Wright/Professor Layton crossover was way back in 2011. Despite the long silence, Ace Attorney creator Shuu Takumi has said that the development process of the upcoming 3DS adventure game Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney was still going fine, and in fact, was nearing its end.
According to a Famitsu interview (via Andriasang) featuring Takumi and Ace Attorney movie director Takashi Miike, Takumi said that his life is totally focused on completing the game. “The production of Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney is at its climax. While I still cannot say much, [the game development] is progressing well, so please wait a bit more.”
On a related note, both Takumi and Miike discussed about the possibilities of a sequel to the Ace Attorney movie. Miike said that he would rather use film as a medium to show sides of the story that weren’t present in the games, provided he has full creative reign over the possible sequel.
The last news about Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney was its announcement back in 2010 as well as an official trailer in early 2011. For more information, check out GameSpot’s coverage on the title.
August 21, 2012 1:59AM PDT
We had a quick chat with Sleeping Dogs senior producer Feargus Carroll from United Front Games about the ups and downs of the development cycle,
With Sleeping Dogs out recently, gamers can expect to wreck some triad-style havoc in a virtual version of Hong Kong. GameSpot Asia managed to have a quick word with United Front Games’ senior producer Feargus Carroll about the development process and the influences on the game’s fighting mechanic.
As the game is already out, what do you believe went right during the development cycle of the game?
We feel we have the tightest and best melee combat of any open world game, and maybe of any third person action adventure. However, that was an extremely difficult development that took the entire project to get right. We were tuning and tweaking it well past beta and almost up to gold master, just to ensure it was as good as it could possibly be.
Of course that’s one of the main elements of the game – there are many more we are proud of – the missions are compelling and way beyond what you might expect in open world; the city itself looks amazing; shooting, driving, the characters and activities you meet and get involved with by just exploring.
To be a little more specific, open world games are the hardest games to make, no question. And on top of that we aimed for class leading melee combat, gunplay, free-running, driving, racing, story and compelling narrative based missions. Any one of those elements on its own could make a game.
Conversely, what are the things you wished you could change during the development process of the game, given the game’s shaky history with Activision and the fact that the True Crimes line of games weren’t considered good?
Ideally, you don’t change publisher just around alpha! That would be good. I don’t know what we would or could change – open-world games are the hardest things to make and they only really come together right at the very end.
Until that time comes, which could mean months or even years, you have to keep the faith and be confident in your decisions until you can see them actually playing in the game.
Which schools of kungfu did the team had to research for Wei-Shen’s moveset, or even every other triad member he has to fight?
Tony Jaa’s fighting style was a huge influence our combat system and the combination of highly skilled hand2hand moves and the use of improvised weapons is a permanent blend. At any time you can use furniture and props or rely purely on your skills to defeat enemies, nothing is scripted.
We also tried to keep more to Tony Jaa’s ability to quickly beat an enemy and move on. We didn’t want prolonged bouts of one on one fighting, or the highly choreographed (albeit very skillful) fights of Jackie Chan.
Tell us about the score and soundtrack of the game?
There are two parts to this. First, we have an awesome score composed by Jeff Tymoshcuk that was written specifically for the game and features a lot of traditional instruments mixed in with modern percussion for that triad story vibe.
Second, we have lots of radio stations. Each of them play their own style of music, including licensed Canto-Pop as well as the more regular rock , pop and soul.
With the many activities in the game, some players may draw comparisons to this game with Sega’s Yakuza series. What are your thoughts on that sentiment?
Every game has elements that remind players of other games; it’s the same with movies, books, music, and any creative endeavor. Sleeping Dogs is in and of itself its own game – it features melee combat, empowering gunplay, and driving mixed in with strong narrative. It’s that combination of crafted components that makes it unique.
What made the team pick Will Yun Lee, a Korean American actor, to voice Wei Shen, a Chinese cop from Hong Kong?
Our main aim for the project was to hire Asian actors for our Asian characters. The goal was to also figure out who could capture the right tone and intonation with what we imagined them to be.
After much thought, we felt that Will Yun Lee nailed it with Wei in delivering someone believable in Sleeping Dogs’ environment and narrative.
What’s the future of Sleeping Dogs, now that the game is out?
There’s nothing that I can comment upon right now, although there will be DLC packs available.
Sleeping Dogs is out right now in stores. Check out GameSpot’s review here.
StarCraft II player Ilyes “Stephano” Satouri, North American Star League Season 3 Champion and the most consistent non-Korean player of 2012 thus far, will have his current contract to the French-based team Millenium come to an end on September 1. Rumors have swirled on what Stephano’s next move would be, with several teams–including his current one–making bids on the 19-year old Frenchman.
Millenium eSports Manager Jean-Marc “Bjoran” Gaudin has confirmed with GameSpot that Stephano has declined the team’s offer, and will not be re-signing. Sources close to the situation tell GameSpot that Stephano will sign with Evil Geniuses, which was said to have made the most lucrative offer among the professional teams, with Millenium close behind. One team executive said it’s “pretty much a done deal with Evil Geniuses”.
Stephano will play his last event for Millenium at this weekend’s Major League Gaming Summer Championships in Raleigh, North Carolina as the top-seeded Non-Korean player at the event. He has been with Millenium for the past four years, playing the majority of his Warcraft III and the entirety of his StarCraft II career with the team.
Last year, Stephano took part in a controversial new team signing that never happened. After signing a new contract and agreeing to terms with team Complexity, he changed his mind and went back to Millenium the very next day. After days of contract disputes from both teams, a settlement was reached, mediated by Evil Geniuses owner, Alex Garfield, stating that Stephano would stay with Millenium but would be penalized with a significant undisclosed fine.
The move would mark the third new and second marquee StarCraft II signing for Evil Geniuses in 2012, following the additions of Swedish star Marcus “ThorZaIN” Eklöf, and American upstart Conan “Suppy” Liu. Millenium will be making an official announcement shortly.
38 Studios founder Curt Schilling has opened up on the studio’s massively multiplayer game, known only under its working title, Project Copernicus. Speaking to Boston Magazine, Schilling said the plan was for the game to be free-to-play, with revenue expected from in-game microtransactions.
“We were going to be the first triple-A, hundred-million-dollar-plus, free-to-play, micro-transaction-based MMO,” he said. “That was one of our big secrets. I think when we eventually showed off the game for the first time, the atom bomb was going to be free-to-play. When we announced that at the end, that was gonna be the thing that, I think, shocked the world.”
Schilling said he was originally reluctant to embrace a free-to-play model for Project Copernicus, but was later convinced it was the best idea, saying he “went 180 degrees.” The former Major League Baseball ace also said free-to-play was helping 38 Studios ink a financing deal for Project Copernicus, claiming investors were reluctant to sign a subscription-based MMO.
38 Studios publicly crumbled in May, and is now bankrupt. The assets to the studio’s Amalur game world, which includes Project Copernicus, now belong to the state of Rhode Island. The only video footage of Project Copernicus–originally intended to ship during June 2013–ever released is below.