Thursday Morning Video: Giant Bomb - Let's Tap Unboxening

Let's Tap for the Wii sounded really stupid when it was first announced. I'm glad it appears to have lived up to the hype.



-K.

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Bustin' Doesn't Make Me Feel Good

UPDATE: Atari came out with a bit of shocking honesty, basically saying, "Yeah, we pretty much phoned it in."

Original post: So I spotted this disconcerting story a couple nights ago over on Kotaku, stating that the PC version of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, releasing tomorrow, requires an internet connection for DRM authentication. That's a little irritating, but the worst part about that is that the PC version will not have multiplayer. Internet connection required, but only to make sure you aren't a pirate. That isn't the most non-sensical part, because taking a look at the image of the back of the box, the game apparently does not support dual-core processors or video cards that have 256MB of memory. I half expect to hear it also does not run on computers facing east or will not run for people with mustaches (except Ernie Hudson).

-K.

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What is Game? - Grand Theft Auto IV

Been bit by the Grand Theft Auto IV bug again. Rockstar really did create a world that is just fun to run around in and explore, with the option to cause some mayhem if you're feeling bored. Here's some gameplay footage of one of the missions and some more stupid videos after the jump.







-K.

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Good News, Everyone!

Came across this story while bombing around the intertron, now if only Sci-Fi (Soon to be "SyFy." Yipes.) would quit dumping money into worse knock-offs of bad movies and pony up some dough for a Firefly revival it could really make up for many of the boneheaded Fox cancellations. At least that's a damn sight more likely than revivals of Keen Eddie and The Lone Gunmen. Anyway, good for Groening and co., I guess I should get around to watching those movies.

-K.

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Four Blocks Away from the Iron Curtain

I'm still working on a worthwhile compilation of E3 media, with some interesting pieces still trickling in, but it's been mostly rough going. As I stated before it was kind of a boring E3, unless you're really into God of War-style brawlers or motion controls, which, unfortunately, I am not. But I'll knock it out eventually, there were still a couple of games that interested me that I haven't mentioned yet.

In the meantime, Tetris turned 25 over the weekend and to celebrate I'd like to share the BBC-produced Tetris documentary From Russia With Love, which I learned about and watched myself by way of Offworld.













-K.

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Sleepy Time in Gamesville

Even though I've dragged myself into work today I've been feeling a bit under the weather since yesterday, so I didn't feel up to casting my net and dragging in the choice catch from E3 so far, but it looks like it may be slim pickings at any rate. I'm going to wait for everything to wrap up (today is the final day) and try to put together a selection of highlights.

-K.

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E3 Day Zero Talkabout

I guess yesterday didn't really count as a real day of E3 for some reason, even though there was a very long procession of announcements and demonstrations. Microsoft kicked things off with their press conference that everyone but myself seems to be raving about. I guess I had to be there. The major buzz seems to be surrounding Project Natal, Microsoft's latest attempt to outdo the Wii. Project Natal is a camera peripheral that senses gestures, voice and facial expressions to control games. I remain perfectly comfortable with a controller. They also had Felicia Day come out and tell us there would be integrated Facebook and Twitter support for the 360, because why the fuck not. Hideo Kojima emerged from the depths of his shattered psyche to inform the world that the 360 would be getting a Metal Gear game, not the port of Metal Gear Solid 4 everyone was expecting (and hoping for), but rather a brand-new title featuring Raiden, a character that, to my knowledge, is the most hated of the franchise. Thanks, Hideo. Towards the end, Peter Molyneux had a discussion through Project Natal with a "digital boy" on-screen that was created by Lionhead, and by all accounts was apparently an intensely creepy experience.
There was very little in terms of new game announcements or developments, or at least ones that I care about at any rate, but there were a couple of note:

• In a somewhat surprising announcement that has, obviously, sparked anger on the internet, Valve announced Left 4 Dead 2. The argument is that many people believed Left 4 Dead would receieve free, continual gameplay updates, like in Team Fortress 2, and that Valve announcing a sequel that, I assume, will be a fully-priced retail product, is some sort of betrayal. I, too, felt that pang of entitlement momentarily, but quickly reconciled that with knowing I probably got $50 out of the first game, and also never recalled Valve promising additional content at the game's release. In this interview with project lead Chet Faliszek, he says that support for the original game will not suddenly disappear, though whether this translates to more content remains to be seen. Anyway, it's more Left 4 Dead except in the south, with new characters, a stronger focus on melee weapons, and other new improvements. I'm excited. You can check out the trailer and also take a look at this hands-on preview.
• Max Payne-creators Remedy finally emerged from their underground lair in Finland to show off Alan Wake, which has been MIA for a couple of years now, a game I've been excited about without knowing what the hell it actually is because they've never shown any gameplay until now. And it looks like a video game, thank god for that.
• It feels weird that I'm only going to be talking about three games and one of them is a downloadable release. Produced by Epic and Chair, Shadow Complex is a game I didn't bother digging any deeper into until I read "Metroid-like" somewhere. So it seems.

I trust that tomorrow, the first official day of the show, will provide more visual stimulation.

-K.

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