Posts with tag epic-games
Video: Fresh Gears of War 2 footage from Gamestop Convention
Video: Gears 2's gatling gun never sounded so good
Of all news sources, Maxim posted an exclusive look behind the Gears of War 2 development curtain, getting the scoop on the voices, sound effects and music that'll grace Gears 2 come this November.
The six minute long video is a sitdown interview with a few of Epic's leads including Rod Fergusson and Cliff Blezinski where we not only learn that 85% of the game's sounds were re-recorded from the original Gears and that a phlegmy voice is a prized voice acting trait, but that getting a gatling gun sound just perfect is no easy task. Trust us when we tell you to watch two minutes into the video where Cliff discuss the gatling gun sound effect. That stuff is priceless.
[Thanks, Tom]
PAX 08: Lead GoW2 artist and writer talk Lancer polys, deaths and comics
This past weekend, during our PAX 2008 coverage, we got the opportunity to sit down and chat about all things Gears of War 2 with Epic Games senior artist Pete Hayes and lead writer Josh Ortega. During the twenty minute conversation, we learned all sorts of information about Gears 2's art, discussing with Pete the changes that were made to improve the Gears 2 Lancer. Improvements including a complete remodeling to make the Lancer nearly three times the polygons as the Gears 1 model. No joke!
During the second part of our interview, we talk about Gears comics, character inspiration and other general story related bits the with Mr. Josh Ortega who also opens up about the hype surrounding the "new and improved" Gears 2 storyline We were also promised that Gears 2 will not leave us with a Halo 2-style ending. A promise we fully expect Mr. Ortega to live up to.
During the second part of our interview, we talk about Gears comics, character inspiration and other general story related bits the with Mr. Josh Ortega who also opens up about the hype surrounding the "new and improved" Gears 2 storyline We were also promised that Gears 2 will not leave us with a Halo 2-style ending. A promise we fully expect Mr. Ortega to live up to.
Put on your reading glasses, click towards the break and read our complete Gears of War 2 interview.
Continue reading PAX 08: Lead GoW2 artist and writer talk Lancer polys, deaths and comics
Resident Evil 5 to sport Gears inspired controls
Today, team Capcom just announced some interesting Resident Evil 5 information regarding the game's control scheme. More specifically, they're looking to overhaul the current RE5 control formula by replacing the classic stop and shoot mechanic with a more Gears inspired cover system. What's the reason? RE5 producer Jun Takeuchi feels that the cover system controls will slow down the tension that could potentially bring a new horror element into the mix. Expect to see a completely new RE5 unveiling during the Tokyo Game Show in October.
Official list of Gears of War 2 achievements
You can browse the complete listing of GoW2 achievement deliciousness after the jump and, in all honesty, they're nearly identical to the leaked list except for a few name changes and additions. The best part about the achievements? The names! Seriously (pun intended), with names like "Party Like It's 1999", "Variety Is the Spice of Death", "Friends with Benefits", "Better Wrapped in Beacon" and our personal favorite "Beat the Meatflag" you can't go wrong. Make the jump, get achievement learned, get linked achievement learned and map out your 1000 Gears Gamerscore quest.
Gears of War 2 to be playable during PAX
According to the official Gears website, from this Friday through Sunday during PAX, the Microsoft booth will be hosting 5v5 Gears of War 2 multiplayer matches. And you can play too! But that isn't all. On top of the Gears 2 multiplayer gaming and the on-stage "Sinkhole" campaign demonstrations, both Gears writer to the stars Joshua Ortega and Gears artist to the stars Pete Hayes will be making a PAX appearance for a quick Q&A session and autograph signing. That said, we still think the meaty bits of the Gears 2 PAX presence is the multiplayer ... we so damn excited!
Epic Gears 2 bonus disc goodies discovered
New video game rating information has just been spotted over on the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) website and, wouldn't you know, that it's the rating and listing of all of the Gears of War 2 bonus disc's content. Fun! Admittedly, the disc - included as part of the Gears 2 Limited Edition - doesn't contain too much spoilerific content and is pretty much comprised of a few trailers, character, weapon and vehicle bios as well as some artsy artwork. If you're just too darn snoopy and need to know a bit more about the content that's on the bonus disc, hit the jump. Your inner Gears fanboy will thank you.[Via LockoutGaming]
MS brings Gears of War 2 and Halo Wars to PAX
Late last night, the Gamerscore Blog posted a list of games Microsoft plans on showcasing at the Penny Arcade Expo and if you're a PAX attendee who is huge Gears (slash) Halo fanboy, you should get excited.According to Microsoft's PAX schedule of on stage demos, they plan on demoing both Gears of War 2 and Halo Wars as well as Project Origin during all three days of the expo. Meaning that those who plan on attending PAX and dreamt about getting a chance to see either Gears 2 or Halo Wars will have their dreams fulfilled. Wish granted! Also, according to the schedule, there will a few "Gears of War 2 Signing Sessions" planned which we can all but guarantee a certain blogger will be first in line ... every day.
X08: Gears 2 DLC to ship 'soon' after game release
In a recent X08 interview with Cliff Bleszinski, our Joystiq compadres learned some information regarding Gears of War 2's planned downloadable content. Most importantly, that it's currently in the works and will ship "very soon within' the [Gears of War 2] launch timeframe."Mr. Bleszinski confirmed that the Gears 2 DLC will be "multiplayer map focused" and will make its release within the magical Gears 2 release window timeframe. As far as pricing goes, Epic isn't saying much, which is totally understandable seeing the controversy surrounding the original Gears DLC was probably a giant headache to deal with. Gears 2 DLC is being worked on and confirmed for release within the launch timeframe. Huzzah!
X08: Cliff talks Gears 2's 'Seriously 2.0' achievement [update]
While at today's Canadian X08 event, our own Xav de Matos had a chance to chit-chat it up with Epic's Cliff Bleszinski (lucky turd) and learned something very, very interesting about Gears of War 2's achievements. Specifically, Cliff confirmed that Gears 2 will include an upgraded achievement based on Gears of War's original "Seriously" achievement. The freshly new "Seriously 2.0" achievement will require a whopping 100,000 kills to unlock. Yes, you read correctly, 100,000! But fear not, the achievement task isn't what you think, because "Seriously 2.0"'s 100,000 kills come from both single and co-op campaign gaming as well as all multiplayer modes including Horde.
Dyack claims Epic 'defrauded' them and the industry
Talking with develop magazine, Too Human lead Denis Dyack expressed his continued anger towards Epic Games for putting him, Silicon Knights and Too Human through a development hell. Four years of development hell thanks to the Unreal Engine."They [Epic Games] have defrauded us, and a major portion of the industry" Dyack explained, saying that Too Human "would have been out even quicker, but we had to re-write the engine because of all the Epic stuff." Very mud slinging-like. So, you ask, how is all that legal Epic stuff going? According to Dyack, quite peachy, saying that he feels "really good" about their legal claims. Congrats for that!
[Via Eurogamer]
Gears 2 Lancer bundle selling like 'hot cakes'
Epic Games wants you to know that the Gears of War 2 Lancer bundle (the one that's exclusive to Amazon.com) is selling like "hot cakes" even at the $139 price point. They probably want you to know that so they can further fuel demand by making the product appear to be limited as its sales success soars. We can totally see through all that marketing fluff. Hot cake sales quotes aside, we also learn that the toy Lancer is in fact electronic and with the power of three C size batteries (probably not included), the 36" replica shakes and makes epic chainsaw sounds. Authentic chainsaw sounds! Sign us up for two!
Amazon pre-selling GoW2 Lancer bundle for $139
Amazon.com just opened up pre-orders for the Gears 2 Lancer bundles that cost a cool $139.99. Bundle? Hells yeah! With the purchase of the Amazon.com exclusive Lancer, all purchasers will receive a FREE copy of the regular edition of Gears of War 2. Add an extra $10 to for the Limited Edition. Simply click your way over to Amazon.com, add both the toy Lancer and a copy of Gears 2 (whichever edition you prefer) and they'll subtract $59.99 from your order total. It may not be a Microsoft sponsored edition of the game (technically they didn't lie), but it'll work just fine for us. Cliff would be proud!
[Thanks, Andrew Laychak]
Gears 2 lets mommy filter out blood and swearing
According to What They Play, they've been informed by Microsoft that the Gears 2 violence filter "turns the blood into sparks," and the language filter in turn "takes out all the swear words." Sparks replacing blood? No manly Gears swearing? Doesn't sound much like Gears to us, but if it makes parents feel comfortable enough to let their eleven year old children experience the Gears universe then we're okay with it. Whoa, whoa ... wait a second ...
Epic Games looks to comics for building new IP
When in doubt, create comics. According to Epic Games president Mike Capps creating comics is a potential solution to future IP success. Apparently not content simply pushing out Unreal Engine 3 tech and becoming a shooter factory, Capps discussed the power to generate new IPs through the low cost medium and revealed Epic Games is keeping an eye on the industry.Keynoting the Casual Connect conference in Seattle early last week Capps, one of the quieter figures at Epic Games, discussed how Epic Games may have "lost some of our nimbleness" as a studio focused on the hardcore side of the games industry that is locked in an "arms race" searching for graphically overpowering software while smaller independent studios have more freedom to create innovative and creative entertainment while still turning a profit. Capps related this feeling as one of the core reasons the studio purchased Chair Entertainment, the studio behind the XBLA title Undertow, an acquisition they feel can help them create more casual gaming experiences.
While Capps did not say Epic would be looking to comics specifically to create IPs that would later be generated into games, one could only assume that would be the final hurdle going forward.
