Tokyo Game Show 2008 Video Showcase

The Tokyo Game Show is in full effect! And you know what that means, GAMES! GAMES! and more GAMES! Here we’ll compile all the latest new footage of upcoming games dropping in the near future. So check back often for all the latest videos while the show goes on. [Read more]

Don’t Hate The Pro Gamer… Hate The Game

You know those commercials, the ones that are on late at night (or all day on G4) that ask you, “Do you want to get paid to play games all day?” Sounds awesome, and like a dream come true right? Go ask any QA tester how awesome of a job they have and they may point out how their job isn’t all that those kids on the couch make it out to be. Well, as misleading as those commercials are, it isn’t impossible to live the dream and actually get paid to play games all day, and over 200 of America’s best gamers are throwing down this weekend in an attempt to make it their life.

Starting tomorrow, at the E for All Expo in Los Angeles more than 200 gamers will be competing for 25 spots on TEAM USA, that will go on to compete next month at the World Cyber Games Grand Final in Cologne, Germany. TEAM USA took the championship last year, and, should, again, be a force to reckon with. However, they will be going up against 700 competitors from around the world – where they take competitive gaming more seriously than us Americans.

Hopefully America can kick some ass again, but it beckons the question, why hasn’t competitive gaming caught on in the U.S. as much as it has in other countries? I’ve compiled a short list of possible reasons, and rebuttals. [Read more]

300 Mega Pixel Picture Management (3D Galleries)

Okay Kiddies, Microsoft has a habit of doing a lot of good at times, and sometimes they do even more. First lets take a look at these fully HiDef 1080p images that I pulled straight from my PS3 all managed in this unique program called MS Synth. MS What? As if they didn’t have enough software titles. I know I know you can’t keep up, but for anyone who is into photography, and thought that it was impossible to manage photos that pass the 100 MegaPixel barrier, think again. I’ll let the boy from Redmond tell you all about it.

Okay, what’s the big deal, my PlayStation 3 Image Galleries just got a little more interesting. Expect me to take full advantage of this feature in the future. Big up to “Big Daddy Cain” for sending me the email on this.

Must See! New 007 Movie Trailer, Quantum Of Solace

007 is back! In this new trailer for the upcoming Bond sequel, we’re once again reminded of how badass Daniel Craig is as the new younger 00 agent. I remember when he was first announced to replace the excellent bond Peirce Bronson, the internet fanboys were up in an uproar. But once Casino Royal was released and everyone saw it , the fans and others were blown away. I personally reserved judgment until seeing the finished flix and knew he would deliver and that he did. And with this latest bond flix it looks to be a repeat performance. And for the first time in bond films, this movie is a direct sequel to the previous bond film, Casino Royal. It literally takes place one hour after the events in the last film! November 14 can’t come fast enough. My ass is there day one on release! Check out the trailer below.
Unit out…

20th Anniversary Nintendo Power Event And A Night Out With Gamecock!

Friday night was one hell of a night as yours truly got a chance to swing by Nintendo World’s 20th Anniversary event celebrating 20 years of Nintendo Power. The event itself was pretty tight as free drinks and chill people were abound. Any night with free drinks around is my kinda night! If you never had the privilege of going to Nintendo World, the store was converted from it’s usual layout to one that had a lot of open space for party goers to chill and log in some time on upcoming Wii games such as Mushroom Men(which is looking like a sleeper hit) and Rayman: Raving Rabbids 3. I also had the pleasure to meet some big names on the Nintendo side of gaming and that would be RMC (Raw Meat Cowboy) of GoNintendo fame, Triforce (Empire Arcadia and Tetris DS Guinness World record holder), Mike Wilson of the Gamecock crew and the Mushroom Men devs themselves, Red Fly Studio!

Gamers, press and industry folks hammed it up with free drinks and finger food. One of the popular attractions was a photo booth which was constantly packed with people waiting to snap a shot of themselves acting the fool. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do so, but it was all good as I got to chat a bit with RMC along with Mom Brain. It was pretty tight talking with the creator of perhaps the biggest Nintendo fan site on the net. And really interesting to hear about his day to day maintaining (you really learn to appreciate a little thing called sleep) the site. Mom Brain was funny too as she had some jokes for my boy 2.0 as he was holding a drink in both hands (one for his lady) as we chatted it up, but that didn’t stop the jokes from coming his way. It was also funny to hear about some of RMC’s biggest fans. You all would be surprised as they are some of the biggest names in the Nintendo circle of gaming and news. Yeah, he’s pretty popular!

And then there’s the Gamecock crew. They were on hand to help promote their upcoming Wii title Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars from Red Fly Studio in which I have to say, has come along way from early video previews of the game. On the visual side, the game runs along at a pretty consistent 30 frames and the textures and character models are on point . The game supported widescreen which is always a welcome as it helped to make the levels look even bigger for your small mushroomed hero. Also what stood out pretty nice was the partial effects which had a alot of flare and vibrant colors which helped to give your attacks and telekinesis powers some punch! What was a bit disappointing was the fact that because of the party atmosphere, you couldn’t really hear the audio. But if you want to get a vibe of the direction it’s taking, I suggest you peep this little video diary on the music and audio behind the game. Shout out to Matt Piersall (who became a new fan of New York). He’s the kat behind the audio in the game which takes a unique approach to your typical game music. Most games like to claim how they use the environment to influence the audio’s direction. But in Matt’s case it isn’t just a claim. Literally the world of Mushroom Men is the music. Just take a look at the video I mentioned before and you’ll see!

After the Nintendo World event was said and done, I ran into Tracey John of MTV Multiplayer fame and so we rounded up both the Red Fly and Gamecock crew and headed on down to Manhattan’s Ace bar. We capped off the night with some good drinks , a few rounds of The Dark Knight pinball machine (yeah they have one apparently) and some good old Buck Hunter. LOL! These guys know how to have fun. In all it was good times to be had and the guys behind Gamecock and Red Fly sure know how to live up to their names and philosophy. I look at them as the Adult Swim of the gaming world which to me, is a breath of much needed fresh air . I could go on about that, but I’ll save it for another post (hopefully). To all you kats who chilled that night, It was a blast and I look forward to many more!

Could Activision Enter The Console War?

With the console market already a very crowded place with three different consoles serving the needs of three (mostly) different demographics, what would happen if a fourth company released another console? It seems like the answer simply would be that the market isn’t big enough for four consoles and it would be destined to fail. However, what if that company was already one of the biggest companies in gaming, and that already has a firm hold on a sizable percentage of the gaming industry? What if that company was Activision Blizzard?

Around since the late 1970s, and founded by defectors from Atari, Activision currently sits atop the list of third party publishers, and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger everyday. Since the completion of their merger with Vivendi earlier this year, the moniker Activision now adorns multiple franchises at the top of their genres - “Guitar Hero,” “Call of Duty,” “Tony Hawk,” and the biggest of all “World of Warcraft,” just to name a few. Take a look at your game collection, and see how many of your games either have Activision, Blizzard, or Vivendi on them, and then think back to the Atari 2600, and how many quality games over the last 29 years have been released by this one publisher. [Read more]

Warhammer Online Preview With Mark Jacobs

“Premium games for premium players.”

Those are words from Mark Jacobs, CEO of Mythic Entertainment under EA Games, and the force behind “Warhammer: Age of Reckoning” (W.A.R.) or simply Warhammer Online. Those five words can be used to answer many of the questions that W.A.R. encountered since it was announced as a MMORPG. Most of these questions are born in the aftermath of the World of Warcraft phenomenon and are unavoidable to any serious MMORPG developer.

While the rest of the internet community has already made their thoughts known and disputed, we are still eager to hear what the W.A.R. people have to say. All of us have been through the days of the “WOW killers” MMOs (“Lord of the Rings Online”, “Age of Conan”, and “Dunegons and Dragons Online” to name a few). I personally want to know if W.A.R. can be another excuse to keep me away from my level 51 Undead Warlock; amongst other characters in recent MMOs from Asia.

So I was feeling pretty good right after Mark Jacobs finished showing us the newest high-definition cinematic trailer for W.A.R. Thankfully, this isn’t a meeting with a Public Relations person or we will never get to ask the questions we want. I’ve been out of the loop with Warhammer Online since it’s cancellation in 2004 and the pickup by Mythic Entertainment in May 2005. The story is pretty easy: the good guys (Dwarves, Humans, High Elves) are being attacked by the bad guys (Orcs/Goblins, Chaos, Dark Elves). The player is to help either side.

Before we started asking about what makes war in W.A.R. (an acronym that Mark Jacobs made a point to the name the game after) so much fun, we asked if the team was worried about fighting for attention from other popular titles (Starcraft II, Diablo III, Dawn of War II, etc.). Right off the bat, Mark Jacobs answers, “We’re the only new MMO”. He elaborates that that while WOW is a powerful and good game in its own right, “Things get old.” The second expansion to the game, “Wrath of the Lich King” is still part of a game that is three years old and counting. The CEO of Mythic Entertainment explains his relatively humble ambition: he doesn’t care if W.A.R. isn’t the number one game of all time. He’ll settle for being the top five or top ten. Not so much for toppling giants as opposed to standing on the shoulders of titans.

This is when we start hearing about his efforts to make a game that is fun for as many people as possible. Now, normally if I were hearing this from a Public Relations person, we would be overly skeptical. But with the man himself in front of us, we decided some benefit of the doubt is due.

At this point, he brought us into what makes waging war worthwhile in W.A.R. The Realm versus Realm combat which features lessons learned from their earlier MMO “Dark Age of Camelot” and more. The attractive idea behind Realm vs Realm is to participate in a war campaign across four zones until you are literally at the enemy’s gates. Pillaging cities is a series of quests in addition to being a reward to the whole war campaign. You don’t need to be at the frontlines to make a difference either; you can fortify, change, and enhance your home front by fulfilling quests at your own city. This is a welcome change from other MMORPGs in that there is a real war effort going on.

For those of you who are worried on the relationship between the original tabletop Warhammer and W.A.R., Mark Jacob reassures us that they “cared more about making a great game than continuity.” Coupled with the fact that he used to work at Game Workshop (origin of the Warhammer tabletop), the relationship between W.A.R. and Games Workshop is a pleasant one that seems to focus more on great gameplay than licensing wrestling.

I also got to see their unique public quests and casino quest reward system. But before that, we saw the minor skirmish in Realm vs. Realm blossomed into a full-fledge offensive on their Beta server. It is an awesome thing to see the faction population helping each other to reach a global game goal.
In the end, I left the meeting with the rest of the guys excited about the prospects of W.A.R. Everything they promised is already working and ready; no promises of “next patch add-ons” or such. I can be a casual PvE player whenever I’m not at my regular job while not worrying about losing too much to the more hardcore player.

Best of all, W.A.R. sounds like exactly what it promises to it’s players: this is war and you are part of it.

You can also check out the full cinematic trailer here.

Tiger Woods Pga Tour 09 Nyc Launch Party

Last week the TrueGameHeadz crew attended the Tiger Woods PGA tour launch party in NYC. The event was cool and alittle disappointing. I say that because the only time you got to see the man himself, Tiger was when he walked in on the green carpet. And like wise for the others stars that came through, but that wasn’t a big deal. It would’ve been nice if Tiger stepped outta his super private area and waved to the masses or at least said something to the likes of “Thanks for coming by, or check out my game and hope you enjoy it!” cause you know it was for him and his game. Plus the music was ridiculously loud and some point. People thought their ears were gonna burst! Anyways peep the video of the event below…and did Anthony Anderson say “F@#K Tiger Woods????!!

2 free to play mmo’s you probably haven’t heard of…

It offers hotkeys for both health potions and skills. There are five classes to choose from which are Mage, Ninja, Archer, Warrior and Blacksmith. Takes place in the medieval time period. There are different type of battle to choose from which are Stage, Team Death match, Solo Death match, Boss War and my favorite Golem War. In which one must attack the other teams Golem mean while trying to protect yours from the opponents attack.The team that kills the other teams Golem wins the match.

Leveling comes by beating opponents, whether it is by soloing or team effort. You will also receive Gold and bonus points so you can build your character by buying armor, weapons and accessories.

What I like about Rakion is that no matter what level one is, you will be able to compete with other player who may be a higher level that you are. One of the striking features of this game is that as you can summon your inner creature as your rage meter hits critical point. This feature can turn the tide of the game. It doesn’t last long but it can be useful.

If you are looking for a fast paced get in and get out type of game and that is free and fun, I would suggest going to Softnyx website and download your free copy. be warned that this game is bandwidth hog, some servers won’t let you in due the speed of your DSL or Cable.

If you ever played Lineage 2this game is a clone of NCSoft’s MMO. The graphics seem dated and just like its counterpart you grind like there is no tomorrow.

This being an RvR (realm vs. realm) or light vs. dark the quest are rather bland, kill x number of lizards, orcs and oh yes monkeys, OMG no, how has it come to this. Oh well, you can level and get gold faster by doing the quests. The armor and weapons can get very expensive at the shops.Since this is a free to play MMO one can purchase potion to help you level quicker.

Can’t say much about the skilled based system, as you gain points thru each level your character can acquire ever more powerful skills. There are six classes to choose from on the light side, there are the Archer, Ranger, Priest, Defender, Mage and Fighter. The opposing faction has similar classes as well but just with different names Assassin, Oracle, Hunter, Warrior, Pagan and Guardian if you choose the dark side. Not much in terms of character uniqueness, everyone just looks like your clone.

The only time I had fun is when you reach about lvl 15 or so, you go and battle the opposing faction. You will enter the portal where the war is ranging and that is where the fun really lies in this game. You can party with other members of your faction at any time and try to defend the castle. The opposing faction are always trying to attack and ambush you while you are finishing quests.

Since I’ve only played and Elf mage, this review is only based on that particular class of the light faction. I will give a longer review of this game in future posts. If you like RvR then Shaiya has some features that can hold you in the game for a certain amount of time. 1500 vs 1500 , Arena Fights, and Guild Events. Want to give it try? the web site is Aeriagames.com

First image of Astro Boy from his new cg movie!

Alright all you Astro Boy fans! Here’s your first glimpse of what the little robot boy will look like from his upcoming cg film. These spy pics show Astro Boy in his final rendered form and they are on point! Also below is a teaser movie poster plus some concept art. I can tell ya that I’m very excited for this flick and know it will deliver. These are the types of cg films that are needed in theaters today. The market today is crowed with to many animal friendly adventures. Although some are good, it would be nice to see some different types of cg films more often. For those that don’t know about this upcoming flick, check a brief synopsis below [courtesy firstshowing.net]

Set in futuristic Metro City, Imagi Studios’ “Astro Boy” is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist to replace the son he has lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving father’s expectations, our hero embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators, before he returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the man who had rejected him.

For more info on AstroBoy himself, check here. AstroBoy hits theartes in 2009.

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Capcom vs. Tatsunoko video blowout!

Capcom is back with their latest tag team brawl fest, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. In these latest videos courtesy of Gamemanx from EVO 2008, we see just how the gameplay goes down. And from the looks of it fighting fans are in for a treat! That’s if this game manages to reach U.S. shores. For now peep the insane combos, air juggles and slick gfx’s in the videos below.

Phat Intros: Warhammer Online

For this entry we bring you the hot new cinematic trailer for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. In it we see some sick animation,detail, special effects and what not. Whether you like fantasy or not, it’s hard to dislike the level of quality burst from this trailer. And this is one of the main reasons i love cg animation! I’d like to know why the hell don’t we have movies like these coming out every now and then? Instead we get animal adventures in space,cities, jungles and so on. People will pay to see stuff like this! i for sure know i would. Peep the sick ass trailer below.

Unit out…

Mega Man 9’s Opening Cinematic

If you didn’t know … the Blue Bomber will be returning to his truly greatest form when “Mega Man 9″ is released in the next couple months. In case you doubted just how good the game is going to be, the opening cinematic showed up today on GameTrailers, and it’s pure, retro-gold. I don’t want to ruin it for you, but it looks like Dr. Wiley is up to his old tricks again, and he apparently has a Swiss Bank account. Go figure.

I’m fairly certain that no one has as high hopes for this game as I do.

Star Trek online trailer!

Ok i’ll admit i’m not a big PC gamer or MMO player but this game has got me thinking of upgrading my computer! This is one of those properties where you thought would’ve had been done years ago. Well folks you’ll finally get an MMO in the Star Trek universe and from whats been shown, this looks to be a big hit. Of course it all comes down to how well it plays but for now, it looks sweet. Peep the official trailer below, and as stated on their website, the gfx’s you see are 100% in game. BEAM ME UP!….sorry had to say that.

Unit out…

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