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Top 10 original video games of 2010
Hollywood usually takes most of the slack when it comes to criticism for lack of originality, but in fact, the video game industry is even worse at creating original content, it’s a world dominated by franchises of every kind, from sports to action games, publishers and developers are usually taking the easy and safe way: sequels. And spin offs. And remakes. Etc.
We’ve compiled a list of top 10 original games that are scheduled for release for 2010 — and it was quite a challenge: out of the 130 games confirmed for 2010 by major publishers and developers, we found 19 that were original. Just 19.
10: Brink (Spring 2010)
Brink, an FPS developed by Splash Damage and published by Bethesda, centers around a two sides: Resistance and Security, and is a team based multiplayer shooter much like Quake Wars, which was also developed by Splash Damage. It looks promising as a multiplayer game, as it’s story based, much like Quake Wars, where one battle takes place over several maps, with a story connecting everything together.
9: Alpha Protocol (Spring 2010)
Alpha Protocol, developed by Obsidian Entertainment — developers of Star Wars: KOTOR 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2 — is a third person action RPG where the player assumes the role of Michael Thorton, a CIA agent who’s been betrayed and must not only fight his way through enemies, but also uncover the conspiracy that set him up.
8: Singularity (Q2 2010)
While time travel is a known concept in games, albeit underused, it’s still something that is difficult to fit in wiht the overall storyline, and the time feature never seems to be used properly. In Singularity, the player will have control over a TMD (Time Manipulation Device), a “weapon” which will be used to solve puzzles, for instance, if a door is locked, instead of looking for the key, you use the TMD and speed up time for the lock only, which will rust, and voila, door opened! Or use it on an enemy and watch him turn into a skeleton. The concept certainly seems intriguing, and offers some truly original puzzles.
7: Dante’s Inferno (February 9, 2010)
Dante’s Inferno has already caused a lot of controversy, from the fake E3 2009 protest, to gameplay elements where players can slay children. The gritty, hell based game is loosely based on the actual Inferno by Dante in The Divine Comedy, and the player assumes the role of Dante, who has to fight his way though monsters and demons in the 9 circles of hell, and decide whether he’ll be good and spare some (like children) or go reckless. It definitely looks as one of the darkest games of 2010.
6: MAG (January 26, 2010)
MAG (Massive Action Game) is a PS3 online FPS multiplayer who’s main feature is a massive 256 player online matches, with 128 players per team, divided into 8-player squads, 4 squads into a platoon, and 4 platoons into a company. With 256 players on the map, MAG is set to deliver some of the most intense and frantic combat yet, and will offer detailed stats and rankings, where higher ranked players will be able to command the battle and give orders to individual squads and platoons.
5: LA Noire (Q3 2010)
LA Noire, an open ended adventure game set in a recreated 1940s Los Angeles, which players can freely roam around, and chose to solve a number of murders around the city. The game has a great feeling of classic noir films based in LA, like LA Confidential, The Maltese Falcon and Chinatown, and draws inspiration from such works as well.
4: Rage (Q4 2010)
It’s been a while since Id Software has made an original game — actually, the last original game Id Software made was Quake, back in 1996. Id finally shows something new with Rage, a fusion between a first person shooter and a racing game set in a post-apocalyptic Mad Max styled world. It’s built with the all new Id Tech 5 engine, and shows very promising visuals, to say the least.
3: Heavy Rain (Q2 2010)
Heavy Rain has been on the radar since it was originally showcased at E3 2006, and will be released almost four years later, in Q2 2010. The gorgeous looking game centers around a serial killer known as “The Origami Killer”, and players assume roles of different characters who try and solve the murders. It’s one of the most stylish and atmospheric games to come out in 2010.
2: Alan Wake (Q2 2010)
What Heavy Rain is for the PS3, Alan Wake is for the Xbox 360. Developed by Remedy, Alan Wake is a psychological thriller inspired by the likes of Twin Peaks and Stephen King novels, where players assume the role of Alan Wake, a writer who seeks refuge at a quiet place where he can write his next novel (much like Stephen Kings “Misery“). However, when his wife vanishes, it’s up to him to get her back.
1: APB (March 2010)
APB is not only the most original MMO game to his the stores in 2010, it’s also the most original game overall. It’s the classic cops vs. robbers gameplay, but on a massive scale, with endless customizations and options, tons of missions and weapons. Created by David Jones, the original creator for GTA, APB is hailed as everything he wanted to do wince he made GTA, and while originally trying to pitch and sell APB to Rockstar as GTA Online, it’s good that APB is on its own now, we need a great, original game. And an MMO that’s not fantasy based.
Tags: alan wake, alpha protocol, apb, brink, dantes inferno, heavy rain, la noire, mag, Multiplayer, singularity
USPS worker steals over 2000 GameFly games
This will certainly add to the ongoing battle between GameFly and the United States Postal Service: a USPS worker has been caught and admitted in court that he stole over 2200 GameFly discs from his workplace.
The man was busted after surveillance showed test mailing of fake discs disappear during his shift, and found 170 discs in his SUV. It was later discovered that he was apparently trading the discs at the local GameStop.
Analysts expect game market to hit $92 billion by 2015
It’s common knowledge that the game industry is huge, much larger than the movie and the music industry. Combined.
Analysts from Global Industry Analysts Inc. predict that the market will hit a staggering $91.96 billion in the year 2015.
The current game market is at about half of that, which means a massive growth is ahead of us, despite the financial crisis.
Fathers in video games
With today being father’s day – another excuse for card companies to make tons of money – Kotaku took a look at the fathers in video games, focusing on specific genres. It’s an interesting cast, to say the least, and they even offer their take on their favorite and least favorite fathers. Here’s a bit:
Best Dad. Pankraz, because, while he couldn’t keep his son from being sold into slavery, he didn’t hesitate to take on a horde of monsters to save him.
Enjoy the good read, and go tell your old man that you still care (or something).
Tags: fathers
Gamers Get Less Sleep: Gamers Ask “They Needed a Study?”
We’ve all been there. You sit down to play a few levels of whatever you’re plowing through at the moment and the next thing you know it feels like someone’s glued sandpaper to the inside of your eyelids and the clock taunts you with an obscenely late hour. A study presented at the recent SLEEP 2009 event told the world what millions of World of Warcraft subscribers already know: gamers get less sleep.
The study also showed that people who reported their gaming interfered with their sleep got 1.6 hours less shut-eye than everyone else and those who reported being addicted to gaming slept an hour less on weekdays. Only a third of those who reported being addicted felt that it interfered with their sleep.
While it’s easy to blame this on escapist, socially inept stereotypes, it’s quite easy to get caught up in games. Sandbox games can be particularly time-obliterating since there’s no obvious landmarks to call your attention to how long you’ve been playing. Bizarrely, the easiest I’ve ever been drawn into a game without concern for time was Viva Pinata. I haven’t played it since out of fear of losing entire days to its colorful world.
Warner offers $33m for Midway
Game publisher Midway has received an offer from Warner to acquire the bankrupt company, its assets and all its debts for $33 million. If successful, Warner would take over many of the popular license like Mortal Combat.
However, the deal will not include Midway-owned studios in San Diego and Newcastle. Midway confirmed that the offer has been made and will have 30 days to consider. The company also noted that several other buyers might be interested, although no formal offers have been made.
Walmart to offer used game sales
Used game sales are a huge business — they account for well over 40% of GameStop’s — the largest game retailer in the world — revenue. So it’s of no surprise that more players are looking to enter the market, one of those being Amazon, and now, Walmart.
The mega retailer has opened used games kiosks in 77 of its retail stores, helping gamers sell their old games and buy used ones. Walmart is looking to expand those kiosks to even more stores, once the system has been fully developed and tested.
Tags: walmart
Bomberman Used In Supposed Anti-Nazi Threat
Though on occasion films like Valkyrie point out that there were some Nazis who opposed HItler’s racist ideology the fascist group is a popular punching bag for the media. Set a war movie in Vietnam or Korea and it’s impossible to escape the political and social ramifications of those conflicts, yet when you set a film in the European Theatre of World War II you’ve got an instant clean conscience for most viewers.
It seems the Nazi movement lives on to this day and not just in the thuggery and ignorance of Neo Nazi skinheads, but in a legitimate political party in Germany. Recently a German ex-politician was arrested for supposedly threatening the Nazis via a protest poster on a website. The poster depicts the classic hero Bomberman holding aloft a cake with a burning fuse and text that reads “No cakewalk for Nazis.”
While I doubt many people would lose sleep over actual violence being perpetrated against a group that still clings to such outmoded, racist beliefs which ultimately culminate in genocide, they still have legal rights and protections under the laws of civilized nations. Ironically if the sort of fascist government that Nazi Germany had was still in place violence against Nazis might go unpunished.
Study Claims One In Twelve Children Showing Signs Of Gaming Addiction
A new study conducted by Iowa State University suggests that video games might be a little too popular amongst youngsters. According to their results, one in twelve children between the ages of eight and eighteen show signs of being addicted to video gaming. Unfortunately for the anti-video game camp there’s not much going on in this study that can’t be explained by the simple fact that children and teenagers are generally impulsive and hedonistic.
The study used a survey method and since the majority of other research is laboratory based there are few pre-existing sets of survey so they simply used a set of criteria used to assess gambling addiction. The study goes on to assess the two behaviors via the same rubric although the two behaviors are quite different, especially when one considers that gambling is a behavior restricted to adults and is generally engaged in with the ultimate purpose of winning money.
Many of the more commonly manifested symptoms of the ‘addiction’ the study points to are simply common traits of children and adolescents. They did find that there was a correlation between greater signs of video game addiction and poor school performance, but there have always been kids more interested in working on cars, playing sports, listening to music or a dozen activities other than studying for tests.
Some of the other ’signs’ of addiction are laughable: ignoring chores in favor of games, suffering on an assignment or test because of excessive game playing, using video games to escape from problems or bad feelings. While it’s not commendable to spend time playing games instead of studying, the development of self control and good work habits is a crucial part of the adolescents development and is often not truly achieved until college or later in ones adult life.
When one takes into account the permissiveness of many parents nowadays combined with the self-gratifying focus of American society and the pleasure-focused existence of most teenagers, it’s not surprising that kids are playing more games than some might consider healthy.
Gaming Drives You Crazy
In the majority of research seeking to probe the link between gaming and aggression researchers use combat-oriented games like Call of Duty or Mortal Kombat. A new study coming from Huddersfield University in the UK suggests that shooting games might not be as affecting as previously thought.
One of the biggest problems with previous aggression research is that the actual measurement of aggression varies from study to study and some researchers use questionable definitions of aggression. This study sought to shed light on unquestionable measures of emotion by measuring sheer physical data (EEG, heart rate and breathing) in addition to the usual mental measures.
The participants, aged 18-45 played one of three games on the Xbox 360; either a 3-D table tennis game, an FPS game or Project Gotham Racing (the only game whose title they actually reveal). Interestingly the driving game induced the greatest change in brain activity and heart rate, while the FPS defied expectations by producing less of a change than even the table tennis game.
This certainly explains why my friends who take a sound beating in Halo quite gentlemanly rage and scream whenever we play Mario Kart. Nothing says ‘frustration’ like blue shells.
Utah Governor Vetoes Controversial Bill
Though Jack Thompson might have lost his ability to directly hassle the video game industry, his disbarment hasn’t completely stopped him from doing everything he can to eliminate the evils of video games from the world. Most recently he helped author a bill that was introduced to Utah legislation that proposed amendments to the ‘Truth in Advertising’ act.
It passed the House and Senate but the mewling, newly birthed bill was struck dead by a veto from Utah Governor Jon Huntsman (R). Speculation ranged from the Governor caving to public pressure from an email campaign started by gamers urging him to veto the bill to pressure from retailers.
Huntsman gave several reasons for his veto. He was concerned with the eventual revoking of this law, citing that although it had a noble aim, its incredibly broad language meant that it would quickly be struck down as unconstitutional. The Governor also revealed that in his discussions with members of the industries most affected they said that instead of risking liability for inappropriately labeled content they would simply stop issuing their products any sort of rating altogether. Huntsman pointed out that these labels are an important guide for parents.
Casual Gaming To Fight Obesity?
While many in the UK are pointing fingers at the gaming industry for rising obesity rates, researchers are exploring the potential of games to narrow waistlines. Casual gaming site Popcap Games launched a pilot study which tested the potential for casual games to be used as a dieting tool.
The participants took part in a a month long trial during January of this year where they played Bejeweled Twist as a tool for controlling their appetite. Presumably they were instructed to sit down and play whenever they felt a craving for a snack. Unfortunately a large number of participants failed to complete the study and removed any statistical validity to their results, but what we can take away from it still seems promising.
It was reported that those who completed the trial experienced 100% success in lifting their mood and beating cravings when they played the game. Distraction has often been used as a diet aid and video games are especially helpful since they engage not only the mind but also the hands, helping to prevent from reaching for another bag of chips. Though it’s wonderful to see gaming getting some good press, it’s also a rather silly thing to study, because the results are pretty common sense. Many overweight people eat as a comfort; whether they’re sad, stressed out or just feeling uncomfortable, the sensation of eating reassures them. Video games are just as good at relieving stress and boosting spirits (get 100% on a Guitar Hero song and tell me you don’t jump for joy). Despite the limited success of the study, PopCap say they’re excited and plan on commissioning more studies into the health benefits of casual gaming.
Nintendo denies Wii MotionPlus delay
There have been rumors lately suggesting that Nintendo is having problems with the new Wii MotionPlus attachment, and that it might even be delayed past June.
Nintendo has now officially responded to the rumor, saying that “No date was ever announced for MotionPlus — so technically it can’t be delayed”. But as 1UP points out, Nintendo did say that MotionPlus would ship with Wii Sports Resort, which is planned for release this Spring.
Earlier this week, it was reported that The Conduit would not support MotionPlus as originally planned, simply because it didn’t improve gameplay.
M Ratings Make Games More Appealing
As fond of their vices as many adults are, they often seem just as fond of taking measures to ensure that children are protected from any influence that seems harmful. There’s a campaign underway intended to restrict smoking to R rated movies with the overall philosophy that only adults should see things that only adults can do.
Unfortunately most adults seem to forget that for many children the appeal of certain things is that they’re restricted, only for adults. When your parents rented a movie that they wouldn’t let you watch, you snuck downstairs while you were asleep and watched it yourself. It might have given you nightmares for a week, but it was worth the thrill.
A study of 310 Dutch children showed that kids between seven and seventeen were more likely to rate mature rated games as desirable. When shown a list of fictional games and their descriptions and asked to rate how desirable they found them the games with more mature content were rated more desirable.
This ‘forbidden fruit’ effect could be because the game has mature content or because games intended for mature audiences have to satisfy the desires and standards of adult audiences. While younger children are more easily satisfied, those who have been gaming for a long time are more likely to want the full, complex experiences intended for adults. Most games aimed at children are poorly crafted, so a more valid study could have given false review scores as well, designed to see if a game is as desirable with a lower rating when compared with less mature games with superior scores.
NY Bill To Keep ‘Nasty’ Games Locked Up
New York politicians seem to have a fondness for creating video game legislation. Lawmakers are currently in the process of trying to get a tax for downloadable content. Earlier this month democrat Keith L.T. Wright introduced legislation intended to protect minors from games containing profanity and racist stereotypes. Now republican Brian Kolb has introduced another bill that, if passed would force game vendors to keep certain games in a sealed container or somewhere the public has no access to them.
The law would have locked up any game that glamorizes “the commission of a violent crime, suicide, sodomy, rape, incest, beastiality or sado-masochism”. This is where I start getting confused. Games like Grand Theft Auto definitely glamorize violent crimes, but I have never in my lifelong gaming career seen a video game that even featured rape or incest, much less glamorized them. I have no problem with the government regulating the sale of games as long as they don’t censor the content. What I do take offense to is when politicians introduce legislation on topics that they quite obviously know nothing about.