Hello Platform Nation!  I’ve got another video post for you today from PAX Prime of Nintendo’s Zelda: Skyward Sword. While this isn’t actually me playing here, I did get a chance to play for a short while as well. I won’t lie, I was planning on buying this game long before I got a chance to try it.  But I wasn’t let down by what I saw and played.  The controls for Skyward Sword were indeed better than in Twilight Princess, but I wouldn’t call it a huge difference. The new directional sword attacks opened up some interesting new tactics for taking down enemies; now that you have control over which portion of your foe you wish to stab or slash. I also found myself enjoying the graphics for what they were, but still prefer the darker look of Twilight.

Most of my complaints are more like matters of opinion than notable criticism, however, and I walked away feeling genuinely excited to play the game in its entirety on November 20^th. Gameplay has always been what truly makes Zelda what it is, and in that regard, I’m happy to say, Skyward Sword ought to be a blast. Here is a little taste of the gameplay from the PAX Prime show floor:

Good news 360 owners! It’s almost time to shake the dust off of your Kinect again, because The Gunstringer from Twisted Pixel studios will be hitting the shelves this September. News and screenshots have been circling around for some time now, but this year at PAX, I was actually able to get some hands on time with this quirky new title. In The Gunstringer, you take on the role of a skeletal, sharpshooting cowboy out on a bloody quest for revenge. In short, I had a lot of fun with the game and think it looks like one of the most promising titles for the Kinect thus far. But lets delve a little deeper shall we?

As you play, you will be using your left hand to control the side to side movement and jumping of the gunstringer just as you would with a real marionette, while you manage aiming and shooting with your right. After a brief acclimation period, I found this all to feel very natural and intuitive. Holding your right hand in the shape of a gun and actually having it fire on screen is a strangely satisfying experience. Locking onto and shooting targets that flash across the screen is done in a similar fashion to what you might have seen or tried in Child of Eden, only with less elbow strain. Aside from the shooting portions of the game, however, The Gunstringer will also be prompting you to take place in beat em’ up style fist fights, 2D jumping and dodging sections, and even dual pistol wielding action in which you will be using both hands to shoot down targets in rapid succession as they come at you from both sides of the screen.

I really like the character

The game is meant to be a puppet show come to life, with certain sections and boss fights being seen from the audience’s perspective (which happens to be a real life audience recorded at a local theatre in Austin, Texas). Everything starts off with applause as the curtain rises and our hero emerges from a dusty Texas grave, seeking revenge on his former gang members that shot and left him for dead (Red Dead Redemption?). Taking a cue from Bastion, a grizzly sounding narrator begins walking you through the story and basics of gameplay. As you play through the first level, you will discover that the game tries not to take itself too seriously, with the narrator spouting out all sorts of goofy commentary, and the gunstringer picking up magical tacos that power him up and boost your score.

When I asked about what sort of problems the development team ran into in dealing with the Kinect, I was surprised to hear nothing but optimism. According to the Twisted Pixel team, developing The Gunstringer for the Kinect was both fun and relatively painless, in spite of the fact that it was their first time dealing with the new hardware. The studio had apparently been planning to make a game involving puppets for some time now, but it wasn’t until their on-the-spot meeting with Microsoft that they actually settled on a character. Apparently, as the story goes, the meeting with Microsoft took place in a restaurant, and the guys from Twisted Pixel were stressing because they still hadn’t come up with a suitable protagonist for their game; that is, until they were touched by a stroke of genius when they glanced over at the bar and saw a painted skeleton in a cowboy hat hanging from the ceiling.

The graphics match the overall style of the game

Sticking with the play format, the game is broken up into four separate Acts/worlds with four levels and a boss battle within each one. We will have to wait and see how long each of these levels are, but I think it would be safe to assume that this game will be somewhere between four to six hours in length. Aside from the standard six shooter revolver, you can also expect to see a shotgun and a flamethrower. Everybody loves flamethrowers, right? There will also be a co-op multiplayer option available, where player one controls the movement and jumping, along with the red aiming reticle, while player two helps by aiming and shooting with a second (blue) reticle on the same screen.

I personally haven’t used my Kinect since Child of Eden came out in June, which was extremely short lived. But in the time I spent with it, I found myself preferring the overall control scheme and concept of The Gunstringer over my memories of Eden. But only time will tell. I am happy to say that Gunstringer will be properly priced (as Eden should have been) at $39.99 rather than the standard sixty dollars, seeing how it isn’t exactly a fully featured, large budget, game like Deus Ex: Human Revolution. However, I most certainly think it will be worth your time. I wouldn’t personally go out and buy a Kinect just to play it, but the game looks promising none the less. It seems to be tailored to both hardcore gamers and families/kids alike, so there should be a little something for everyone to enjoy with this one.

Airtight Games has been creating a pretty cool little title, called Quantum Conundrum. In QC you’ll be playing in a massive mansion that actually serves as your uncle’s lab. Your uncle is a quirky mad scientist named Professor Quadwrangle who’s now trapped in another dimension. It’s your job to rescue him using his IDS (inter-dimensional shift) device. The game has a pretty funny set up; it reminded me of what Portal might have been like if Pixar had made the game, and not the folks at Valve. The game itself plays almost exactly like Portal (not that that’s a bad thing), with just the game’s aesthetics being the only real difference. That, and its sense of humor is much lighter and sillier at times than Portal. This should all be unsurprising, as one of the main developers at Airtight Games is Kim Swift, who helped create the first Portal.

In Quantum Conundrum you’ll be faced with puzzles, both cerebral and physics based. You’ll navigate through rooms similar to the “test chambers” found in Portal, only this time you’ll get some help from a vault that spits out safes in hilarious fashion.  The safes work in a similar way to the boxes found in Portal, but here you can use the IDS to shift dimensions into, but not limited to, the “fluffy” dimension. When you do a dimensional shift you’ll not only be affecting the physics of the game (in this case making things ten times lighter), you’ll be affecting the world around you, which can be laugh out loud funny at times. One example I saw was of a picture of Professor Quadwrangle on the wall change in each dimensional shift to something different. In the “fluffy” dimension he will appear in a bunny suit.

The game has a lot of cute and funny features spread throughout.  In the very short demo I saw, I probably laughed out loud more than a handful of times at little details. When I asked about how the story was told, they said that it will mostly be doled out by Professor Quadwrangle speaking through an intercom in the house, though you will not see him (remind you of something?).

Again I’ll point out that what I did see was not that far from Portal, but the game’s look is very different, and its themes are much more light-hearted. The fact that it is so similar to Portal in playstyle can only serve the game well, and I’m sure what I did see was just the tip of a puzzle-laden iceberg. The game is supposed to run about 6 hours, and will be downloadable for the PS3, 360 and PC in 2012. Quantum Conundrum has a lot going for it, most of all it’s sense of humor and lineage. If you’re looking for something like Portal, or you love getting a good laugh, I would check this out as soon as it launches. I know I will. You can check out the launch trailer and some other tid-bits over at the official site.

FireFall is a game that you need to keep on your radar. I did a write-up about it last year when I first heard about it and when I was able to spend some time with the developers. But this year, I actually got some hands on time with the game. I’m going to tell you what I saw now.

Unlike last time where I saw some of the world of FireFall, this time I was able to experience some multiplayer action. The mode I was able to play was called Sabotage. It’s a team based mode attack and defend mode where one team has to take control of 3 points and after all 3 points are taken, the other team gets their shot to not only take over those points, but to do it in less time then you. It was a fun little mode and one that will be apart of the game when it ships, this and a team death match mode are what have been announced so far.

The mode was pretty fun, I was able to try 4 of the 5 classes in the game Assault, Medic, Recon, and the Engineer, the 5th class has yet to be announced. Each of them have their own unique abilities as well as their own unique look to them. My favorites were the Assault and the Recon class though, they were powerful and I was racking up my experience left and right with them. Probably one of the things I really enjoyed about the shooting aspect of the game was that it was skill based, not a roll of the dice type of thing so if you tend to be good at first person shooters, you should be just fine with FireFall.

The graphics of FireFall weren’t too shabby either, especially for a free game. Think Borderlands, in fact, think Borderlands about several aspects of the game which I think should be a good thing. While this post is about its multiplayer, you can read more about the world and single player from my previous post, it is a year old though, so just a heads up, some things have changed. FireFall’s multiplayer though, it seemed to be like a cross between Borderlands and Team Fortress. You need to work together as a team to really succeed here. When using the classes correctly, and together, you will dominate everyone. While the match I played probably had around 4v4 or 5v5 playing, the game is supposed to be capable of supporting over a hundred possible players. A feature that I would LOVE to see.

At this point you might be asking yourself how are they going to be supporting FireFall with it all being free and such. Well that’s going to be through microtransactions, yes, DLC. We’ve been told though that you shouldn’t worry too much about people with more money kicking more ass then others though. FireFall’s DLC is said to be more about boosts and looks then being over powered weapons and gear.

FireFall is definitely a game that should be on your radar, it’s not only suppose to be coming out later on this year, and it not only looks great and I thought was pretty fun to play, but it’s free, you really can’t beat that. Over on the FireFall website, they are currently taking sign ups for a beta that is just beginning. It’s currently only open for friends and family but it is soon to open to more people out there. I’ve already signed up for it and I’d really recommend you to do the same. Don’t ignore this game because it’s free, it’s a great game that deserves your attention. Keep your eyes on Platform Nation for more FireFall information as it comes out. This is a game that we will continue to support down the road leading up to its release. And I’m really hoping that we might be able to do some type of giveaway with its beta as well, well my fingers are crossed at least.

If you have any questions about FireFall, please feel free to ask them below in the comment section and we will do our best to answer them for you.

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What’s up Platform Nation? Today I have another video upload for you straight from PAX Prime 2011 on Joe Danger: The Movie. My buddy DD Smith has already posted an awesome write up for you to check out here, but I figured I would post this up as well for your viewing pleasure. The voices you will be hearing are Sean Murray from Hello Games and myself as I do my best to be camera man while conducting the interview. However, aside from the shaking camera, the video gives you a good sense of the game. Enjoy:

“This is not as much a sequel as it is the game we would have made if we had more resources the first time around,” is what I was told by the developer when I went in for my appointment with Hello Games.  That’s not to say that the first Joe Danger wasn’t good, it just didn’t go as far as they wanted it to.  That will definitely not be the case when Joe Danger: The Movie launches.

For those who didn’t play the first Joe Danger (what are you waiting for?), know that Joe was once a down-on-his-luck stunt man, trying to make it back to the top of his game.  In the sequel, Joe is doing the stunts for a huge movie production that will push his skills to the limit, and beyond.  In the game, you’ll get control of motorcycles (natch), mine carts, skis, snowmobiles, jetpacks, and more as you work to nail the stunts in scene after scene of movie being directed by a man who loves explosions and action more than anything else (so, pretty much Michael Bay).

As the game progresses, you’ll start to see how the scenes all tie together in the movie, and you’ll even get to go back through previously beaten levels with new vehicles that will enable you to get to places that were previously inaccessible with the default vehicle.  The game will also include a level editor that will allow you to make up your own crazy levels designed to put Joe Danger through the wringer.

The launch window for Joe Danger: The Movie is not quite nailed down, but the guys at Hello Games are working hard to ensure that they’re able to deliver the right level of Danger to re-engage fans of the first game, and get themselves on the radar of the gamers not fortunate enough to have been graced by Joe yet.

Dominick Cruz and Steven Artlip of Platform Nation at PAX Prime 2011.

The Penny Arcade Expo is a special event, you kind of have to be there to fully experience it. But if you couldn’t get there, I’ll try to bring some of the experience to you here. What you see below is all of the photos I took will I was at PAX. A few of them are a tad blurry or dark, sorry for that, I’m still trying to figure out how to do better pictures with my Canon T2i. I hope you enjoy the pictures, and if you see yourself in any of them, let me know!

To see the set in a more clickable format, click here.

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Hey facebook gamers, are you getting tired of FarmVille? Perhaps you don’t care for any of the facebook games and require something with more substance. I might have just the thing for you with Dungeon Overlord, a new ‘hardcore’ facebook game from Night Owl Games that lets you take on the role of an evil fantasy overlord hell bent on world domination and destruction. Unlike most fuzzy and cute facebook games out there, Dungeon Overlord is trying to appeal to people looking for a real challenge. Even if you don’t have or use a facebook page, that’s okay to. The devs from Night Owl Games are boasting that they have already had thousands of people create a facebook account simply to play Dungeon Overlord.

The point of the game is to create dungeons/strongholds in order to level up, increase the size and power of your army, and try to become the most powerful overlord in the land. As a real time strategy game, you will constantly be overseeing the working and fighting of your minions, while you shout out orders from the sky. As an overlord, you will first start out with a simple band of of Goblins and Orcs, -while the tutorial and starting quests teach to the basics of the game- but you will soon upgrade to bigger and better monsters. You can also protect your dungeon with an impressive array of traps, artifacts and other upgrades to keep unwanted visitors at bay.

Your enemies are both ‘evil’ NPC elves, as well as your facebook friends (other overlords) who can try raiding your dungeons to burn and pillage for their own gain. NPC elves will attack your dungeons on a standard basis, but you can take it back to them by raiding their villages and cities for materials and treasure. According to the dev’s, most casual gamers will shy away from this PvP option and will mainly stick to slaying elves. But, if you have the guts, it seems like the PvP option is really what makes this game stand out. Now you can finally hunt down all of your friends to steal their gold, kill their monsters and reek havoc in their dungeons; but you will have to be careful because sending your armies out on the attack also means leaving your own dungeon undefended.

The number of customization options for building your dungeons is rather staggering, but it should be easy enough to learn as you play. An advanced defense tactic that the dev’s gave as an example was creating a maze of traps in your dungeon that enemies would have to pass through in order to get to anything valuable while your armies are out pillaging your enemies with green skinned ruthlessness.

Just like other online games, your minions never stop working and earning resources, even while you are away from the computer. You will even be able to queue up serveral different tasks for them to carry out in your absence. As you complete quests and build up power, you yourself will be leveling up as well, to a max of 21 (although that number isn’t solid and could change before the game goes live in several weeks). The number of dungeons you can control will be directly connected with your level on a one to one ratio (thus, if you are level 12 you can control and maintain 12 dungeons at once).

I have never been big on facebook or facebook games myself, but I have to admit that this one has caught my interest. The game will be completely free-to-play, but will support microtransactions for those gamers that want to save some time over cash. You can rest assured, however, that there will be nothing available through microtransactions that you couldn’t earn on your own within the game. If you like what you see, you can even join in on the open beta right now by heading over to the official Dungeon Overlord site. The path to total domination is just before you. The elf and friend slaughter awaits, but are you truly evil enough to take it?

Have you ever wanted to learn how to play the guitar? Or, if you already play and are a gamer (like myself), have you ever had the desire to use your guitar shredding skills in a video game? If so, you are in luck because from what I saw of Ubisoft’s Rocksmith, our wish has come true. In case you missed the E3 announcement, Rocksmith is a music game similar to Gutiar Hero or Rockband, only you get to use an actual guitar that has strings and frets instead of little brightly colored buttons. The game adjusts and evolves directly with your skill level and is packed with tons of great features to both teach you the basics and keep you rocking for years to come.

The whole concept reminds me of the Guitar Queero episode of South Park where Stan’s parents try to point out that if the kids would put the same time and effort into playing a real instrument, who knows what they could accomplish. It’s true. Think about it, how often does a game teach you a real life skill that could last you the rest of your life?

In Rocksmith, you will see the game adapt to your skill level, as it attempts to make those dull beginning guitar practices fun by using an impressive variety of mini games designed to help you get better. In my hands on time with the game, I was able to play through the ‘Ducks’ mini game, which prompted me to play specific notes in order to shoot down flying ducks. Each fret and string was a row from which the ducks would emerge, and hitting each note would shoot a bullet down the row. It really was a lot of fun, and I found myself wanting to try it again as soon as it was over.

Other mini games proceed to teach you chords and scales, but you can still hop into the core of the game at any time. Just like other music games, you will mostly be playing along with your favorite songs, with colored notes shooting toward you, until you learn to play them on your own. I wasn’t able to get a number, but there is a staggering amount of bands that will be featured in Rocksmith, from The Beatles to Kings of Leon.

Another great feature will be the ‘freeplay’ mode, which allows you to use your television as an amplifier of your choice; equipped with a fully featured and adjustable line of peddles and effects. You will be able to sit and adjust the sound to your liking and then simply jam out in your living room. Sure beats buying all of that equipment yourself. Trust me, those peddles and amps aren’t cheap.

I think what impressed me the most about Rocksmith was just how much content they seemed to have packed into the game. You could literally be entertained for months or even years with this game, because it will always be adapting to your skill level. Guitar isn’t something you can expect to learn overnight, and that might be what discourages most people with this game (aside from the price). But if you feel you truly want to learn, Rocksmith seems like an awesome way to go about it. I just wish it was available when I first started playing in 5^th grade. Even if you have already been playing for years, this if your chance to finally bring your music skills into your video games. I am happy Ubisoft is breaking new ground by taking games beyond plastic controllers. It makes me wonder what else might be on the horizon.

Rocksmith will be coming to Xbox 360 and PS3 on October 11^th and on PC December 13^th. The stand alone game that comes with the special wire for connecting guitar to console/PC will be priced at $79.99. If, however, you don’t already own a guitar, the $199.99 bundle will be coming with the game, wire, and an Epiphone Les Paul Junior. I know two hundered dollars might sound expensive, but this is actually a really great deal. Drop by your local music shop and you will see what I mean. Finally, if you want to play with your friend in co-op mode, you can also purchase extra wires for $29.99. Check out my video bellow for a live demonstration.

Halfbrick Studios was on the PAX Prime floor showing off a couple new games, and we stopped by to check out the new offerings.  Let’s start with the new DLC for Fruit Ninja Kinect, titled “Storm Season.” I should begin by saying that I have been mostly skeptical at best when it comes to the Kinect; I’ve played it more than a handful of times and rarely had a good experience with it. That being said, I won’t deny I had fun playing this DLC pack for Fruit Ninja Kinect. It’s nothing revolutionary; that’s not going to be in question, but Halfbrick Studios has done a few things to fine tune the motion controls and expand the game.

In this DLC, you’ll get lightning instead of blades coming off the ends of your hands, new fruit, new achievements worth 50 gamerscore total, and what I thought to be the best addition to an otherwise flat game is PvP. Now when you have your friends over, you might have a few brews, swing your arms about and see who’s the best ninja; PvP is there for you. The DLC only cost $2, and for the addition of PvP, I’d say it’s honestly worth it to download this one if you’ve already got Fruit Ninja Kinect. It’s available now, and as I mentioned might make a good distraction at a party or get together. Check it out on XBLA.

The second game Halfbrick showed me was a new iPad release from them coming this Thursday called Jetpack Joyride, and it really is a joyride. It’s one of countless 99-cent titles available, but there is enough content here to keep you playing for quite sometime. Gameplay is pretty basic: you tap the screen to either keep your character afloat via the jetpack or to drop him back down to the ground. It’s simple, it works, and it’s fun. There’s a myriad of collectibles and upgrades which was nice to see, everything from clothing which will make no real difference in how the game plays, as well as seven Jetpacks that will be available at launch. The game does have other vehicles which is the only major gameplay altering mechanic (aside from a few power ups). The vehicles themselves are pretty cool; the one I was able to use was a Mech, which allows you to take an extra hit and offers a slightly different feeling to the way you bounce around the screen. Aside from upgrades to your various vehicles and character, Jetpack Joyride also has a nice challenges system set up, and a leaderboard to keep you interested, and addicted. I could see this being a big hit with fans of iPad games, as it’s not just a lot of fun, it’s cute, funny at times, and it has a lot of layers. Halfbrick says they will be constantly updating it with new challenges, and unlockable content. If you’re looking for a nice distraction, or you just need another 99 cent iPad game that’s worth the purchase, I’d check this one out.

Above is a developer diary (prior to the very smart name change) worth checking out. Jetpack Joyride launches September 1st on the iPad.