Nerdy Show

Bioware’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games, wowed players with a new precedent in multi-layered decision-based action RPGs.  When gamers judge the quality of a game with dynamic story choices these games are still a unit of measure.  Bioware went on the set the complexity of their story telling methods even higher with Dragon Age and the Mass Effect games, the latter of which famed game designer, Cliff Bleszinski called “Star Wars for this new generation”.  Excitement is building for Bioware’s return to The Old Republic, but this time you won’t be returning alone – the game is an MMORPG, and everything Bioware has ever done has been leading up to it.

Cap and Mike passed the interview duties off once again to Colin, whose experience with Bioware’s titles runs deep.  Join Colin for an in-depth interview with Bioware lead writer, Daniel Erickson, and find out why this game will revolutionize MMORPGs, interactive storytelling, how it fits into the Star Wars cannon, and how they’ll finally bring the depth of tabletop role playing to video games.  (Cap’s note: Not only is this guy super-cool, but he sounds kinda like Henchman #24 from Venture Bros).

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And don’t forget to also check out our E3 coverage of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2:

<< Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 / :: Archive :: / MORE COMING SOON >>

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The first Force Unleashed took gamers and Star Wars fans alike by surprise.  Vader’s secret apprentice, Starkiller, massive twists and turns in the plot, and the destructive capabilities of the Force like never seen before… This game was off the charts!  But Starkiller died in the end, so how’s there a sequel?  Clones, baby!  And you thought Starkiller’s wielding of the Force was brutal before – you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

Mike and Cap have become totally jaded by Star Wars so they passed the mic off to stalwart videographer Colin Peterson to aptly wield his expanded universe knowledge… but will he use his powers for good… or evil?

Oh yeah, AND we’ve got a video for BioWare and LucasArts’ Star Wars MMO The Old Republic so check that out below:

<< Hands-on High Voltage’s The Grinder / :: Archive :: / Bioware’s Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO >>

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When was the last time you played a game like Gauntlet Legends, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, or Smash TV? No, not on an emulator, a NEW game. …Uh-huh, that what I thought.  Well get ready kids, ’cause co-op arcade monster slayin’ is back!

High Voltage Software, the guys who brought you Conduit and Hunter: The Reckoning are cooking up something amazing.  The game’s called The Grinder, no, it’s not a delicious Italian-style sandwich, it’s a mining machine that’s burrowed straight to hell and it let something nasty out.  Now you, as one of four comic book-style bounty hunter miscreants must save the day for cash and glory and leave a pile of otherworldly corpses in your wake.  Check out our hands-on demo of the game and see why it’s one of the forthcoming titles we’re most excited about:

<< Cap & Mike Play GoldenEye 007 / :: Archive :: / Star Wars : The Force Unleashed 2 >>

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The classic James Bond FPS returns to Nintendo!  But how!?  How did GoldenEye make it past the legal nightmare of right and royalties and onto the E3 showroom floor again?  Simple: remake it from the ground up and put Daniel Craig in it.

The new game is an interpretation of the original shooter, both an adaptation of the 1995 movie and the 1997 game.  Can it possibly live up to the original, or is it just a pretender like the forgettable GoldenEye: Rogue Agent from 2004?  Cap and Mike have the answers.  Watch them try to kill each other (and a Nintendo representative) in an old-fashioned deathmatch:

<< Hands-on With Fable 3 / :: Archive :: / Hands-on High Voltage’s The Grinder >>

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We waited eons for the first Fable to finally materialize on the original X-Box and it took four years after that for Fable 2 to rear its head, but now, only two years after that FABLE 3 is almost here!  The Fable series has always had very lofty goals and though it’s often criticized for reaching higher than it can actually achieve each game is immersive, exciting, and innovative. 

Fable 3 needs to prove that it’s not just a clone of Fable 2, and Lionhead Studios is aware of that.  Cap met up with the game’s Senior Artist, Jon Eckersley to find out not just what makes this game different from its predecessor, but what might make it the best Fable of all:

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<< The First Templar – Historical Action RPG / :: Archive :: / Cap & Mike Play GoldenEye 007 >>

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The bulk of RPGs, particularly action RPGs have always focused on a Tolkien-inspired medieval setting and very few of them, if any, have focused on real historical settings and stories.  Goblins and elves and magic are cool and all, but anyone whose ever poured over a Viking comic or perhaps even an actual history book will tell you – fantasy’s got nothin’ on the brutality of the real Middle Ages.

The First Templar takes place during the 13th century and features 20 historically accurate locations. You take the roles of a French Templar and a noble lady who has been branded a heretic.  Going into E3 we were really excited to get the scoop on this new title from Kalypso Media and Haemimont Games (Tropico).  This is thier first action RPG and has a unique story concept that feels like an issue of Northlanders come to life (…well, different time period, but that same gritty, ball grabbing, historical realism that you just don’t see in games these days).  Even Assassin’s Creed needs a sci-fi plot to hold it together, The First Templar is the real deal.

We talked with Kalypso’s Mark Allen as he took us to the forests of Gaul and demoed for us fun action gameplay, innovative co-op, lush level design, a solid leveling system, and even found the time to trash talk Indy 4.  Aw yeah.

Now that you’ve seen that, check out the more action-packed trailer!

<< Inside the Bethesda Booth – Fallout: New Vegas & RAGE / :: Archive :: / Hands-on With Fable 3 >>

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The Bethesda booth at E3 was a fortress!  A massive rocky wall that you could only access via appointment.  No casual demos outside, nothing.  Naturally, we got in.  Inside were killer dioramas for equally killer games, we chose two of our favorites to spotlight.

Bethesda blew our collective minds with their Elder Scrolls-esque FPS RPG take on the Fallout series with Fallout 3, and there’s been some cool DLC since then… But this year we’ve got a BRAND NEW Fallout to play, and it’s back to the old desert stomping grounds with Fallout: New Vegas.  This game isn’t developed by Bethesda Softworks, but rather Obsidian Entertainment who’ve developed installments of Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, and as we recently mentioned are hoping to convince Square Enix to let them try their hands at a new Chrono Trigger.  Seems like they’ve got their sights set high, so let’s see how they’ve proven themselves by taking the reigns on the new Fallout:

THIS VIDEO IS TEMPORARILY DOWN – CHECK BACK SOON

On of the games most talked about at the Expo was RAGE, the first original game from legendary FPS studio, id Software in a decade.   The game is an FPS RPG hybrid in a post apocalyptic setting – sound familiar?  But despite the obvious comparisons that can be drawn it’s a wholly unique experience.  The only way you could see the game was one person per media group could go into a small screening room and watch a 20 minute long demo.  Cap recounts the excitement:

<< Flying Into the Future with the Parrot AR Drone / :: Archive :: / The First Templar – Historical Action RPG >>

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Last year on Nerdy Show we were continually having our minds blown by the leaps and bounds in augmented reality tech (AR) and its increasingly mainstream exposure.  We covered it on the show a lot,  including a trip to the International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality by our sci-tech guy, Jon West.  AR even made it onto our Top 20 Nerdy Things of 2009 list at number 11.  So far 2010 has been relatively quiet on the AR front… but NO LONGER!

Introducing the first augmented reality jaw-dropper of 2010, and the most incredible piece of consumer-ready AR we’ve ever seen: The Parrot AR Drone.  The AR Drone is essentially a Cypher from Metal Gar Solid but made for fun, not espionage.  Okay, maybe espionage – it’s all in how you use it.  It’s a bit light on actual augmented reality, but come on! It’s a remote flying and hovering aircraft with a camera that you control with your iPhone.  It’s incredible.  A perfect example of the future staring you straight in the face.  See for yourself:

There’s a lot of cool video games etc. coming out this holiday, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that this machine trumps all of them in its baffling futuristic awesomeness.  But use it responsibly, gang.  The Drone is an incredibly fun and amazing entertainment machine, so keep it that way.  We don’t want another General Zevo on our hands.

UPDATE: You can now pre-order the AR Drone at Brookstone.com!

<< Castlevania: Lords of Shadow / :: Archive :: / Inside the Bethesda Booth – Fallout: New Vegas & RAGE >>

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Celebrate the 4th and the badassery of colonial America with Astronautalis’ Revolutionary War jam, “Trouble Hunters” as interpreted in dance by moi.

This video has been a long time coming.  My good friendo and Media Potluck cohort, Nick Jade and I filmed this a year ago and now, at long-last, bursting into your YouTube like a firecracker of Freedom!  (Hence my long hair).

There’s an outstanding official video for “Trouble Hunters” which you can see here:

Beware and the arch-nemesis of a dancing patriot… Nazi vampires!  The real threat to the American people on ID4, not some B.S. aliens.

International folk, can’t view it on YouTube, try watching in glorious Vimeo.

Let’s face it, unless your a gothic otaku who loves emo yaoi draculas you probably haven’t given a shit about Castlevania in a long damn time.  That might change very soon. Castlevania:  Lords of Shadow is a drastically different Castlevania game.  It’s an over the shoulder cinematic adventure game à la God of War and is produced by a certain Mr. Hideo Kojima.  …Yeah, kind of a big deal.  It is cool?  Have a look:

<< Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game / :: Archive :: / Flying Into the Future with the Parrot AR Drone >>

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