Gaming – Page 24 – rgbFilter

Rock Band Network Gets Sub Pop

July 23, 2009July 23, 2009 Doug Groves Music, rock band2 Comments

Last week, MTV Harmonix unveiled its Rock Band Network, which allows artists to upload their music for playing on the popular music game. Acts will have multiple options in porting their music over for the game. They can choose to directly hire Harmonix-trained devs to come up with the note tracks, submit it to a community of freelancers, or actually take the work in-house. The Network is in a closed beta for now, but should become an open beta in August, starting first on the Xbox Live platform. In that…

Gabe Newell Floats Micro Investment Game Development

July 22, 2009 Doug Groves Steam, Valve0 comment

Valve founder Gabe Newell suggests the idea of having fans pay in advance for a new title, during this video interview (relevant bit starts at 7:20) with Australian video game show Good Game, Basically the player would pay somewhere in the neighbourhood of $30-40, and have a say in the direction of the title as well as get a copy of it when it’s released. Another perk would be if the game became a success, you would actually have a chance to make some money when it’s all done. I…

Killer Video Games And Cash Grabs?

July 13, 2009 Doug Groves Toronto, Ubisoft, video game myth5 Comments

The following was originally intended as a “Letter To The Editor” of the Hamilton Spectator, in response to an article about the Ubisoft Toronto studio deal. You can read that column here… but here’s what stuck out to me. If using tax dollars to assist a foreign private-sector company is an iffy proposition, the thread becomes even more frayed when you look at some of the games in Ubisoft’s roster. Assassin’s Creed enables players to experience the thrill of murdering people in Renaissance Italy. Red Steel allows you to feel…

Ubisoft Expands Canadian Presence In Toronto

July 6, 2009July 7, 2009 Doug Groves Ubisoft3 Comments

I guess Ubisoft really likes Canada! Besides their locations in Vancouver and Montreal, as well as thed the CG film studio in la belle province, the French game maker today announced that they plan on opening a facility in Toronto. The new studio will be headed by Yannis Mallat, who also heads the Montreal facilities. “Today’s announcement marks a strategic move for Ubisoft as we continue to expand our internal development force,” said Yves Guillemot, president and chief executive officer at Ubisoft. “We are in an excellent position to grow…

The Beatles: Rock Band opening cinematic is a trip, daddio.

June 8, 2009June 8, 2009 Danny X rock band2 Comments

There’s no way around it; Rock Band’s cool. Getting together with some friends on a random evening and banging away on our toy plastic instruments is a pleasure that transcends guilty. But beyond an awesome gaming experience, one thing Rock Band has always done well is the opening cinematic, and it seems The Beatles: Rock Band is not only carrying on that tradition, but taking it to a whole new level. Check the video above to see what I mean, or see the original here. I have only 2 questions…

Mass Effect 2 has beefed up combat system

June 5, 2009June 5, 2009 Doug Groves E3 2009, PC games, Xbox 3604 Comments

Joystiq managed to get a hands one with Mass Effect 2 during E3 this year, and in the really good news department, they’re reporting that the combat component is a lot more ‘combatty’, or in their words, a it IS a shooter. The game is once again being made by Bioware Edmonton, and this time round there’s a supplemental team at EA Montreal. The original Mass Effect was the first RPG game I had played in a long time, as I had all but forsaken every other gaming type after…

Left 4 Dead 2: November 17

June 3, 2009 Doug Groves E3 2009, L4D, PC games, Xbox 3604 Comments

From the category of “out of left field” during E3 week, is the announcement by Valve that they’re coming out with a sequel for their hit slaughterfest Left 4 Dead. After all the first one was just released last year, and Valve has a great reputation for supporting games for years with free updates. So, is this a quick cash grab, or something more?

Assassin’s Creed II: November 17

June 3, 2009June 3, 2009 Doug Groves E3 2009, PC games, PS3, Xbox 36010 Comments

Mark your Julian calendar, because this November Assassin’s Creed II hits the shelves. Gameplay footage was shown off at the Sony presser today at E3. This time round you’re fast forwarding through time to play Rennaisance man Enzio (I’m only assuming he’s a relative of Altair’s). Playing Q to Enzio’s Bond is none other than Leonardo Da Vinci, tricking the surprisingly flashy assassin with flying wings and a gun… it’s at least somewhat era plausible though. That, and if the footage from today is any hint, Enzio will be able…

Sony’s E3 Conference: A little more of the same

June 2, 2009June 2, 2009 Danny X E3 2009, PS312 Comments

Sony’s Jack Tretton took the E3 stage today to tell us all about Sony’s new offerings for 2009. After bragging about the upcoming ~350 games (including 35 exclusives) for the PS3, PS2 and PSP, and the (fact?) that the PS3 is the only console powerful enough to make use of the stage’s 40×80 foot screen, and the usual “we’re doing awesome” rhetoric, he cut to the chase.

XBOX gets all 3008; Controllers are so 2000 & late

June 1, 2009June 2, 2009 Danny X E3 2009, Xbox 3602 Comments

E3 is in full swing* doesn’t even start until tomorrow, but the boys & girls at Microsoft are wasting no time in getting geeky gamers all worked up for the distant immediate future.

FrankenGame inFAMOUS looks like it might be fun

May 21, 2009June 2, 2009 Danny X PS36 Comments

Far be it from the lads at rgbFilter to pander to the whims of the game development community, but since we freely admit that we have yet to accept dime one from ANY game developer (or to be honest, anyone at all, much to Alex’s chagrin), I can honestly say that this preview I’m about to write comes from a place of total discretion and honesty. And that preview is simply this: inFAMOUS looks fucking awesome. InFAMOUS Channels the essences of some of my fave time-wasters of the past few…

Punch Out for Wii – Little Mac hits the Streets of Toronto

May 17, 2009May 20, 2009 drsquid Nintendo, Wii4 Comments

On a cold Sunday night near Bloor and Bathurst in Toronto, Nintendo set up an outdoor projector and a wii showing off the new Punch Out! for Wii….I shot this a little late, so the crowd was small… As for the quality of footage…well one thing for me to remember in the future with an HD capable camera is when you leave the memory card in your computer it records to the camera’s miniscule internal memory – at QVGA resolution only 🙁