You have to shoot the Brumak

The first gameplay footage of Gear Of War 2, released on Friday, is actually pretty cool. It looks slightly less brown and they seem to understand how to amp things up for a successful sequel. There are a few nifty, new mechanics to take advantage of and tons more Locusts to annihilate. GameVideos also put up an analysis of the footage for those of us who want things spelled out. I can’t wait to get back to the wonderfully personable Marcus Fenix and his wacky adventures.

Lost in translation

As much as I love it, Bioshock should not be made into a movie at all. At least, the story told in the game shouldn’t. It is one of the few stories in games that works so well beacause it’s a game. That’s the entire point. Hopefully, Gore Verbinski understands this. If he makes a movie about the rise and fall of Rapture, it could be pretty cool, just leave the game’s story alone. Ken Levine has been consulting with them, which eases my worry a bit. I’m hoping this doesn’t turn in to a steaming pile of shit.

Everyone needs a vacation sometimes

To the surprise of everyone, Activision announced that Tony Hawk is taking a year off from his annual console appearances. Tony Hawk games haven’t really been relevant in a while, although they still do sell well. With skate. now on the scene, it’s nice to see that they are will to let the team figure out what they want to do with the TH series for more than just a year. They are releasing a Tony Hawk for the DS this year that, “utilizes new technology not yet seen on the DS.” That could be cool, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Worst tour ever

Part of the song list for Guitar Hero: On Tour is out now. The only thing that could have possibly saved this game was an amazing song list, and that it is not. The only interesting songs have already been in former games the new ones are boring and crap. There is no reason for a portable version of Guitar Hero to exist. A mobile version is dumb enough, why try a DS one too? Keep beating that dead horse, guys.

The new EA

After outcry from the community, EA has once again changed it’s stance on an issue. This time it is about DRM on Mass Effect PC and Spore. Originally, it would have required an online validation of the game every 10 days. Now, it just needs an online validation on the first install, and you can install up to 3 times before contacting EA about more. I hardly play games on PC, but if I do it’s through Steam. They still have the best distribution around and it will even make a consoler like me check them out.

Living, breathing world

With the internet full of cliche riddled articles and reviews about GTA4, N’Gai Croal prevails. His write up on the mainstreams coverage of the game is one of the best game related articles I’ve read in a while. While I continue to ponder the story, fiddle with the multiplayer and finish some side missions, I hope you read this and his write up from Newsweek. Some day I’ll get around to writing my own bit.

Quote of the Week

“Maybe Mario Kart is the gaming manifestation of the tyranny of progressive taxation.”

-Robert Ashley, GFW Radio 5/7/08, in a long discussion of why Mario Kart’s AI hates us. (1:01)

This week’s Defeated is brought to you by: Car fires. I don’t really recommend them.