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Archive for April, 2008


   
 

Playing Unleashed

Having worked in the video game industry for closing in on a decade, I’ve heard a lot of common misconceptions from my friends and family regarding exactly what it is that I do as my job.  The most common one seems to be: “You just get to sit around and play video games all day, don’t you?”

The short answer is no, I don’t — not even close, unfortunately.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t get to play games at all; on the contrary, most of the time I’ll get to play one of our titles well before it hits retail shelves.  Today, as an example, I got to play Sonic Unleashed on the 360 for about 15 minutes.

The game is far from complete, but most of the game elements are in place, and in some cases it’s just a matter of polish and tweaking to get the gameplay to work correctly.  In other cases, there’s more development that needs to be done, but since the game’s not due to ship until late in the year, there’s still a ton of time to iron out the details, both large and small.

I got to see three different levels being played, and then got to try one of the levels myself.  Here are my initial impressions, keeping in mind that there are still aspects of the game that we won’t discuss until a later time:

  • There’s speed, and lots of it.  Those of you wanting 2D — you’ve got it.  Those of you wanting 3D, well, you’ve got it too.  Each perspective brings its own challenges.
  • The gameplay itself on the level I played really felt like classic Sonic.  There’s rings, there’s bumpers, there’s loops, there’s jumping … but there’s also a few other things in there as well that add to the experience.
  • The level I played had multiple paths so you’ll be encouraged to play each level several times over and try to find the fastest path or the most rings you can.
  • There was a cool section in 3D perspective where Sonic has to use a quick-step to the left or right to avoid multiple obstacles in his path.  This is done with a button-push, not with the stick, so it’s an almost-instant jump left or right without breaking stride.  Pretty cool.
  • The landscape and environments look great and there are some things there that Sonic can interact with.
  • A couple of the sections felt a lot like a roller coaster.
  • Not all the bumpers work in Sonic’s favor.
  • Overall, even though it was one level, it was a blast and I would have played it a lot more if I’d had the opportunity.  The gameplay style of this particular level — a style that comprises a good portion of the overall game — is going to make a lot of old-school Sonic fans really happy.  The little blue guy gets going so fast sometimes that it’s truly difficult to keep up…!

    That’s all I can really say at the moment, but I wanted to throw it out there to wet your whistle on a Friday afternoon.  Have a good weekend!

    EDIT Saturday 4/26:

    It’s a gorgeous day in the Bay Area so I don’t want to spend too much time on work stuff, but after seeing the flurry of comments here and on various boards and blogs, I wanted to clarify some things.

    One: I know you guys have a ton of questions about the game, but please keep in mind that there are aspects of the title — ranging from environments to characters to gameplay — that haven’t been officially announced yet.  There’s a lot about the game that I still don’t know about myself.  So, don’t take it personally, but please understand that your questions will be answered in due time, and for various reasons I can’t address some of the things that are being asked.  (Not to mention that if I did answer every question, I wouldn’t have enough time to do all the other work on my plate…!)

    Two: I only played one level.  I played for 15 minutes, mainly because I kept dying over and over.  Right now the controls are ultra-sensitive (this will be refined in the coming months) and not having played before, it was really easy for me to mis-time a jump or fall off the path to my doom.  But for the 15 minutes I played, I had a lot of fun.

    Third and perhaps most important: Yes, I am a SEGA employee.  This means that of course there will be a bias in whatever I write about any of our games.  And yes, as someone else commented, early builds of games almost always get positive reviews, at least in the gaming press, to say nothing of reviews from employees of the company that makes the game…!

    That said: You Sonic fans are a very loyal and rabid fanbase, and you deserve a great game.  Unleashed, right now, has the potential to be that game.  Thing is, it’s not going to ship for a half-year at least, which is a long time… and that means your hands-on stories from the gaming press won’t show up for quite a while.  But I work here, and I got my own hands-on yesterday, and I had a good time with it.  I figured giving you guys a few tidbits to tide you over, even if it’s from an official company source like myself, is better than just giving you complete radio silence until our next big PR announcement.

    So — take it for what it is: one man’s impressions of an early build, nothing more.  I haven’t seen well over 90% of what the game has to offer, and when I do finally see the rest (and I get the go-ahead from our execs), I’ll tell you a lot more.  For right now, feel free to keep discussing what I wrote, and again, trust that your questions will be answered in due time, in most cases long before the game is due to ship.  But there’s still a long way to go, so please keep that in mind.

    Happy gaming!

     
       
       
     

    Iron Man Video Game: Q&A with Production Team

    So let me start off by saying that working on our blogs has been a lot of fun. It gives us the chance to have a little more fun with everyone, and come up with some cool and/or different materials. So now, we’re pretty thrilled to be posting an Iron Man production team interview with questions from both the SEGA Community team, and the experts from Marvel.com on all things Super Hero related.

    We were very fortunate to get the opportunity to reach out to our production team and grill them on some of the questions beating around in our heads. Big thanks to Andy Alamano, Associate Producer on the Iron Man video game, who was kind enough to sit down and discuss what makes the Iron Man game great.

    Check out the first part of the interview at http://www.marvel.com/news/vgstories.3347.

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    SEGA Community: How much freedom did you have when crafting the story for the game? Did you work with the movie or comic folks for input/info?

    Andy Alamano: Working with Marvel’s rich comic history allowed us a lot of freedom to pick and choose elements from within the comic run. Marvel had a great deal of visibility every step of the way.

    SEGA Community: The game looks beautiful, but if you could pick, what one detail do you think fans are really going to be blown away with?

    Andy Alamano: I think the greats detail within the Iron Man game is Iron Man himself. Every suit included in the game has amazing detail. Each time you gain access to another armor set, you can’t help but just use the game camera to examine it.

    IronManJan17_5IronManJan17_6

    SEGA Community: You guys have some of the film’s cast locked in for voice talent. How was it working with them on the game?

    Andy Alamano: Everyone we worked with was very excited to reprise their roles from the film in the game. Robert Downey Jr. is so excited about the role that he actually took a lot of his time to go over our game script and help iterate on specific details to make sure our Tony was the same as the film’s.

    SEGA Community: Any obstacles that were especially tricky in overcoming when developing the game? What did you find about Iron Man and his world that was difficult?

    Andy Alamano: One of the biggest challenges was creating a world that was big enough for Iron Man. Because he moves so fast, we had to have a world where he could navigate quickly but not feel cramped. The end results are some massive landscapes that allow for total freedom of flight.

    IronManJan17_4IronManJan17_2

    SEGA Community: During the development process we all know aspects of the game get removed, were there any features in particular that you wish made it into the final game?

    Andy Alamano: I think Tony Stark outside the suit is a great character; it would have been awesome to have been able to include some Stark-esque “mini games” revolving around his lifestyle outside the suit…

    SEGA Community: Are there differences between the different system versions?

    Andy Alamano: Each version has unique aspects about it. The PS3 and 360 feature huge environments and include exclusive suits. The PS2 and PSP feature more tight quarters fighting and adventure elements. The Wii includes all sorts of Wii themed control abilities and the DS has a great classic top down shooter vibe.

    SEGA Community: What are the major differences for the Nintendo DS and PSP versions? Are players encountering the story from a side scrolling perspective, or is the game fully 3d?

    Andy Alamano: The game is fully 3D on every platform. The DS is more of an overhead shooter style but we still cover the same story concepts across all platforms the same.

    SEGA Community: Do the Wii and Playstation 3 systems take advantage of the motion sensing technology from these consoles?

    Andy Alamano: The Wii features full control of view via the Wii Remote. Also some attacks and other special features will require some Wii actions.

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    Thanks to Andy Alamano for his time answering these questions! If you haven’t already done so, please read the rest of the interview over at Marvel.com.

     
       
       
     

    New York Comic-Con- Photos from the Show Floor

    So last week SEGA sent a few select people out to New York to show off The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man at Comic-Con. The community team wasn’t able to attend, but in an effort to get in on the show, I had a friend in PR smuggle my camera over state lines to show off what all the fuss is about.

    NYCC- Iron ManNYCC- Welcome Banner NYCC- Giant Hulk StatueNYCC- Even More Comic Books

    What I got back was great, and I want to share it with everyone here. SEGA had a great showing of both Incredible Hulk and Iron Man, with playable versions of both games on the floor within the Marvel booth. You can see people enjoying both titles, as well as the huge Incredible Hulk display.

    In addition to the great Hulk and Iron Man photos, we also got a lot of great fan costumes and some of the other booth set ups. Big thanks to Jay in PR for grabbing all the good photos, hope everyone enjoys them!

     
       
       
     

    Enter to Win Incredible Hulk and Iron Man Toys!

    Hasbro was very generous and sent over some Incredible Hulk and Iron Man toys and we thought it best thing to offer them to the fans. Starting today, anyone can register to win one of these fun toys in a drawing on June 19! To qualify, you must live in the US (sorry, it’s a legal thing), and you must be over 13 (again, the legal thing). If you meet these requirements, head over to our Contest Page and sign up!

    Enter the Legendary Super Hero Giveaway

     
       
       
     

    DS Buttons

    So as a pretty big DS fan, I am totally hooked on the WiFi capabilities. I received my DS Lite as a gift from one of my friends a while back so that we could play Mario Kart and other games across the country (he’s based out of NYC). We spent many a glorious hour zooming around corners and foiling each other with the dreaded red shell while dodging banana peels and baddies. While I was visiting he talked me into us both purchasing a copy of Animal Crossing as even when I returned home to San Francisco, we could virtually visit each other through Animal Crossing and trade foreign fruits and items with each other.

    Shortly after getting home I began noticing more and more people carrying their DS’s around with them in the city. In San Francisco I tend to rely heavily on public transportation to get from place to place, spending a lot of time at bus stops, sitting on trains, and walking up and down hills. The DS (paired with my trusty iPod) is a great way to make the downtime more bearable; and from the looks of it, I wasn’t the only one with the same genius idea.

    So I got to thinking, wouldn’t it be cool if I hopped on the Muni across town and grabbed a pick up game of Elite Beat Agents with the person sitting across from me? What if the guy who I see waiting at my bus stop every morning is also an avid fan of Tetris and is sitting there satiating his addiction with a quick speed game? How cool a way to start the day everyday would it be to get a little friendly game going? Well, I’m not one to invade someone’s personal space, even if I’m the creepy guy with the pink DS Lite sitting next to them trying to see what they’re playing.

    DS Button

    So where am I going with this? Yea, yea, we’ve all been in these awkward situations before. What does it mean for me? Well, recently I was cruising one of my favorite blogs and discovered a callout to a website that creates DS Friend Code buttons. Well, how does that work? Essentially these guys over at DSbuttons.com have created a bit of a social lubricant for DS gamers who find themselves in the awkward position of chatting up a complete stranger for a game.

    DS Buttons

    These guys have created what they like to call “An Invitayion to Play”. Simply grab some DS buttons for the games you play the most, slap them on your backpack, your jacket, your hoodie, whatever, and hit the pavement. If you come across a fellow gamer you’ll know they’re up for a game and you can consider the ice broken already. Grab a friend code and get your game on.

    EggShen

     
       
       
     

    So you want to work at Sega? (Part 1)

    In all honesty, it’s a fairly daunting moment.

    Those first few steps as you exit the elevator, cross the stretch of carpet to the other side of the floor, and enter – heart racing just a little bit more now – into the SEGA of America lobby. Sign the guestbook, take a nametag, please have a seat. They’ll be ready shortly.

    I’ll admit it – I’m kind of a SEGA fan boy. I grew up on titles like Sonic the Hedgehog 3, NiGHTS into Dreams, and Phantasy Star. I treated my Dreamcast as if it were my child (in retrospect, I would have been a terrible parent – I literally played the thing until it died), and shared in every DC owner’s disappointment when SEGA finally announced they were pulling out of the console race. Even after the third-party transition, I was still a huge fan – for the most part – of a number of SEGA titles.

    Given this history, I had always thought it would be awesome to work for SEGA – though if you had asked me two months ago what I thought the SEGA of America offices looked like, I probably would have painted a picture more akin to the Holy gates of Heaven than to the reality of office cubicles, deadlines, and group meetings.

    Then one day that little dream suddenly became a reality, and after a number of e-mails and two flights later, I found myself sitting in the lobby of Sega of America, nervous, excited, and wondering if a little man in a Sonic suit would soon run up to show me to the interview room. (Sadly, there is no such man employed here. Yet.) It was a little nerve racking at first, having back-to-back-to-back interviews with people I had only really talked to online, and in some cases never even met before. Things became more comfortable as the day went by, I avoided doing anything too stupid, and the next thing I knew I had left the offices to catch my plane back home.

    Two and a half weeks later I stepped off of the San Francisco plane again, this time with a considerably larger amount of baggage, and a single thought process firing in my brain:  I had left everything (Including my Wii, God bless it) behind me to work at SEGA. I was pretty excited, but even finding a temporary location to stay was an experience in itself – San Fran is a pretty big place, especially compared to the small, Midwest town that I grew up in. Major props to Chillaura here, who not only saved me some major headache trying to find a place to stay on day one, but also showed me around town. And then, one week ago, I officially began work here in the SEGA offices.

    It’s been an experience already, and I’ve no doubt there’s much more yet to come. If it’s your dream as well to enter the gaming industry – and I know there are a lot of you out there, because I was among you not one month ago – my advice is to never give up trying and to get as involved as you can. You never know when doors may open – and that’s it for this week’s dose of sappy inspirational blog lines.

    Other titles that I’m a fan of include Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, old school Sonic, anything Smash Bros, PSO, and most recently PSU, where you’ll be able to find me in-game as the newest Game Master for the series. This is also a good chance to mention again our live support during PSU’s Max Attack G event starting this Friday, where we’ll be talking to players on all servers for a few hours each day to discuss issues and help out with questions.

    Normally I’ll be blogging about PSU, but if people are interested, I may also continue to blog here about working at SEGA and about some of the challenges that come with the territory. It won’t be a reality T.V. show (I can’t stand those, sorry), but if there are enough of you out there listening, I’d be happy to make it a more regular thing.

    Nice to meet you everyone, and all the best here in the world of SEGA.

    - Ruby

    P.S. – If you’re interested in finding out emplyment opportunities with SEGA, this page may be of interest:

    http://tbe.taleo.net/NA4/ats/careers/jobSearch.jsp?org=segausa&cws=1

     
       
       
     

    What I’ve Been Playing – March/April

    MLB 2k8/MLB: The Show 2008 (360/PS3)

    Always a sucker for a good baseball game, it appears that with the season once again starting we see the release of new video game fare as well. Last year saw a couple really solid titles come out including MLB 2k7, the arcade style The Bigs, and MLB: The Show, which could possibly be my favorite baseball game of all time. This year we see slight modifications to these titles but no major overhauls, which in a way is probably a good thing for the most part. I’m still not super fond on the pitching/hitting controls on 2k8, although the game looks and animates beautifully. One of my favorite features that sucked me into The Show last year was the engaging and intuitive career and fantasy modes. I’ve been in love with the ‘role playing’ elements of building players and teams since the early Baseball Stars days, and this game has taken it all to insane levels without making it so complex that it takes too much effort to navigate. With the current MLB season starting up, I look forward to having both these games at my disposable in the coming months as I continue to nurse the thought that the Giants will once again be contenders.

    Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS)

    Days of Ruin is a really cool RTS tactics style game that Clumsy turned me onto recently. Another staple in the Advance Wars series, Days of Ruin comes from the same guys that brought us NES classics like Metroid and Excitebike (two of my very early favorites). As an avid simulator, tactic, and RPG nerd, I was way into this game almost immediately. The gameplay is surprisingly easy to get into, and once you dive in, you realize the limitless possibilities utilizing the map builder and WiFi to pick up games against friends or just random players. Although this is my first experience with games in the series, it definitely has me hooked and I’ll probably pick up some of the others as well. I’m a huge fan of WiFi capable strategy games as you can usually find a decent challenge as opposed to just running against the CPU AI all the time – nice way of mixing it up.

    Dead Rising (360)

    Although this game was released quite a while back, I recently revisited it as the legal controversy surrounding the theme and setting of the game has been making headlines recently. It’s pretty much a straight forward 3rd person action game with the traditional surrounded-by-hordes-of-zombies-in-a-mall-who-want-to-eat-your-brain storyline. What I do always love about this game (aside from the fact you get to create piles of bloodied zombie bodies) are the ridiculous items and weapons you get throughout the course of the game. I mean, who can resist launching golf balls at zombies in the parking lot, pinging frisbees off their faces, full-on squirt gun assaults, or just beating the undead silly with a toy light saber? Plus, I can never keep a straight face when I get to see my character in a cut scene wearing a lego helmet and short shorts.

    Guitar Hero III/Rock Band (Wii/360)

    This game doesn’t really need an introduction, I suppose. I was always a bit of a skeptic of this whole ‘guitar game’ fad and the potential negative effects its popularity may have on music in general. Yea, yea, I know – its totally cliché and likely will promote a lot of music or drive interest in people to learn real instruments than it will deter them, but there was a legitimate question to be had there. Anyway, back to the game – I love this thing. I’ve yet to actually sit down and play this one by myself for hours on end, but it’s a great game to throw on with friends to play simultaneously, or watch as individuals take turns. On a recent trip to Austin, the big selling point for a lot of us staying in instead of going out until the wee hours of the morning were Rock Band tournaments at my friends house. It’s not every day you have enough people around and willing to fill out the entire Rock Band musical lineup (including vocals) but we were able to get it done and had a blast doing it. I’m pretty sure my friend’s neighbors were less excited about hearing Weezer’s Say It Ain’t So being blasted full force at 2am on a Tuesday night complete with scream-along harmonies from the entire crew on the chorus. Oh well, I suppose they’ll survive to tell the tale.

    Viking: Battle for Asgard (360)

    Kind of a different game for me to be stoked on in general, but its got all the ingredients I needed to peak my curiosity. Vikings, blood, gore, and well, more gore. When I got the chance to take a first look at this one a while back, it honestly looked pretty cool, but I didn’t think for a second it would be a consoler that I would honestly invest any time in. As the development continued though and I got to see a better direction of the actual battle dynamics and it reminded much more of the cool arcade style action games I grew up playing. Better yet though, this game was like a pure bloody onslaught complete with beasts, giants, the undead, magic and all sorts of other ‘totally sweet’ Viking type stuff. I hopped into the game once it was finished to get a real feel for the gameplay and just a better grasp on the game itself. I have to be honest, once I trudged through learning the battle system, offensively and defensively the game really took off. It’s definitely a hack-n-slash, but the battle system is complex enough that developing skill is necessary and will keep you from dying 8,000 times and re-running certain missions. What I really love about the game’s playability are the task-based achievements and leveling that keep it from being entirely one-dimentional. So instead of just bashing through the hordes to gain levels, you actually earn bonuses and skills through completing tasks and missions successfully.

    Gauntlet (XBLA)

    What? So Gauntlet is almost older than I am. Big deal. It’s still just as awesome and frustrating and ridiculous as it was 20 years ago. Not only that, but now you can play it on the Live network. What a better way to kill time when you’re all burnt out during the week than grabbing one of your friends online and suiting up the Warrior, Elf, Valkyrie, or Wizard and slaying a few ghosts and barbarians before bed. I never really did take this game all that seriously when it was in the arcades and then was ported to the NES when Reagan was still in office. However, now revisiting, I’ve actually found that the impossible challenges aren’t so impossible and that with a little strategy and hours logged in, I’ve been able to unlock levels I didn’t even know existed in this game. Sure, they’re all essentially the same basic blocks moved around, but its more varied than you would expect with challenges and puzzles built into the design of each level (warp zone mazes anyone?). So yea, Gauntlet on the Xbox Live Arcade has been getting some love from me recently, and I’m happy to say it has been giving the same love back – Elf needs food badly.

    Up Next:

    I just recently grabbed a few new games as well that I will hopefully get the chance to dig into over the next few weeks. Plus there are some releases just around the corner that definitely have my attention (GTA IV anyone?). I’ve been tracking the progress of Warhammer as well as they seem to keep unloading bundles of screenshots and videos as the prject continues to get pushed back. What has everyone else been playing? Any hearty recommendations?

    EggShen

     
       
       
     

    What I’ve Been Playing – April Edition

    So in the SEGA offices, there are quite a few gamers and we’re usually discussing the top games we’re playing, or not playing. We thought it would be fun to take this conversation to the blogs and let you everyone know what we’re playing when we’re not in the office. Also a good Friday distraction, while I’m starting to plan out my weekend time and thinking about some of the games on this list.

    We started to compile our games, and the list was too long, so I’m posting mine solo with other postings to follow from the rest of the community team. If you like (or dislike) something you see, let us know :) .

    Audio Surf (PC)
    Best game ever, seriously. This is the game I wanted Vib Ribbon to be, a game where your music creates a new space to play in and every song is a new experience. Audiosurf is essentially an on-rails shooter and has you picking up colored blocks to score points. The track is generated on the music in your mp3 library, and the blocks you collect appear as parts of the song. It’s a great experience, with a lot of different methods of play that can be really mesmerizing.

    What’s really fun is that there’s a competitive element to every track you play. Each song is added to a global ranking system based on the mp3 identifying tag. The game also has a friendslist system so you can battle between your buddies, even if you don’t hit the number one spot on a song. Each time you get dethroned, an email is delivered announcing your defeat, and urging you to reclaim your score. Anyway, enough rambling, if this sounds like fun, I recommend picking up the demo on Steam.

    Here’s a video to show of the game, I uploaded this to test out my youtube account, but it’s a good representation of one part of the game.

    YouTube Preview Image
    If you do pick it up, friendslist me and we’ll battle on some tracks, my username is Clumsy.

    Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Xbox360)
    If there’s a new shooter out, I’ll generally pick it up and see what it has to offer. So Rainbow Six 2 is sort of a no-brainer for me, I like the look of the guns, the tactical shooting, and the precision of sniping. Online or off, the game is fun, even when frustrating. I don’t have much more to say on the game, it’s kill or be killed.

    Universe at War (360)
    So before I talk about Universe at War (UAW), I should admit something, I’m terrible at real-time strategy games. I want to be good, but I’m bad, and I know it. With that in mind, I’m playing UAW and having a good time so far. I’ve only played the first few missions and I’m enjoying the controls and digging the combat. There was already a moment when I thought I’d hit that barrier of frustration, the moment when I’m torn between two different objectives and failing at both remarkably well. This situation actually reverses itself and gives you the power to completely overwhelm and destroy your opponent with great satisfaction. So I’m having fun, and if this continues, I might have found my RTS home.

    Co-op Games (multiple)
    I live in a game-centric house, I play lots of games in my free time and so does my fiancé. Between the time sink of both TV and the Games, it’s hard to get in and play games for extended sessions on our TV. This is why we really enjoy co-op games, and have pretty much been playing anything that has a local or split screen co-op option.

    Normally, it’s pretty hard to get my fiancé behind a shooter for any extended period of time, so I’m pretty excited to be playing Gears of War with her. Not really an FPS, but still immensely satisfying, and the game is really well designed for a co-op experience. Lots of sections are broken up to have distinct co-op elements, like having player one supporting on the high ground, with player two advancing below. We’re a good team too, she’s quick to pick up a sniper rifle, and I much prefer pushing forward and providing suppressive fire. The tactical elements of flanking and setting up attacks can be great when you have a real person working alongside you.

    Once we wrap up Gears it will be on to Army of Two. If anyone has any good coop games they can recommend, let me know!

    Condemned 2: Bloodshot (360)
    It’s sort of weird when you work for a company and the game you’ve been waiting to play for the last year or more is literally a sign-out sheet away from being in your cubicle. I really wanted to get my hands on Condemned 2 and see a lot of the features that I was hearing from our producers, but I couldn’t ruin the experience in a brightly lit corner of the office with headphones. So now that the game is out, Condemned 2 was well worth the wait and genuinely enjoyable in the 10pm to 2am time I reserved on my couch. The combat is intense, the settings are very creepy, and the forensics are nice change of pace over the original.

    Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS)
    This is another coop game purchase I picked up to play some PSO-style dungeons and get my level on. I’m not too keen on the single-player game, as it’s much too hard to control the AI and do some of the more advanced spells. The ‘online’ content is pretty good, and satisfies the need for some real-time dungeon crawling. Still, not a replacement for what I was looking for, but a good distraction on DS for a multiplayer game.

    World of Warcraft (PC)
    Old addictions never die, and I’m back leveling my warrior alongside some old friends in Azeroth. I’m a big fan of WoW, I really think Blizzard is a genius at mmo design and enjoy the game on so many levels (no pun intended). One great example is their daily quest system that was introduced a few patches back. Their daily system allows players to play towards some greater reward over time, while disguising the grind of it, and not over populating the area so everyone can enjoy the missions.

    It’s easy to get in and do a quest or two quickly, and before you know it, you’ve got a daily rhythm going that’s pulling you back to level some of the more mundane game elements, like fishing. I don’t consider myself much of a fisherman, but in Warcraft I’ll happily sit in front of my monitor clicking away at digital fish for daily quests. Of course there is the draw of dungeon-running and item-gathering, fun too, but it doesn’t have the same rewards as a fishing hat that produces beer at the click of a mouse.

    Peggle (iPod)
    Yea, so Peggle is pretty much digital crack for me. I reluctantly played it over Steam after getting a demo copy and was instantly hooked. If you haven’t seen the Peggle, imagine a pachinko style game with power ups; part Arkanoids, part Bust a Move, it’s essentially playing of the trajectories and bouncing a little ball to get big scores. Perfect mindless fun to accompany a podcast on the train and soak up my commute time.

     
       
       
     

    Facebook Updates – Hulk, Viking, Happy Tree Friends — Action on Demand!

    I guess the theme of our latest page updates would be best summarized as ‘vicious’. With a demolition-filled trailer for The Incredible Hulk, a behind-the-scenes look at the demented Happy Tree Friends, and a bloody cinematic portrait of Viking: Battle for Asgard, we have successfully made our Facebook Community Page the place to go to let all your aggressions play themselves out on screen.

    SEGA Facebook

    In addition to the recent video uploads, the Facebook Community has quietly been growing and growing with recent screenshot additions, more videos, a discussion board, and most currently a fresh new comment wall. If you are on Facebook and havent been over to the SEGA Community Page yet, swing by and drop us a comment or just say hello.

    When you join the group you will receive updates about more cool and exclusive media and special announcements regarding SEGA releases. How can you go wrong with that? With all the random and (at times) annoying application invites that seem to invade our Facebook inboxes, why not mix it up with something actually interesting?

    EggShen

     
       
       
     

    The Incredible Hulk Voice Actors Announced

    A heads up to all Hulk fans out there- Last week we announced the voice actors that will be featured within the upcoming Incredible Hulk video game. As with Iron Man, all Incredible Hulk movie actors will be returning to voice their video game counterparts! If you are unfamiliar with the upcoming Incredible Hulk movie, the game will feature Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, Tim Blake Nelson and William Hurt.

    With this in mind, the new Incredible Hulk video game is looking to be pretty good. We’re excited to see and now hear the game when it releases this June.

    For the full press release, visit the SEGA website!

     
       
       
     


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