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Archive for May, 2008
With two racers just a few feet ahead of me, the race is about to end. I plan to make a dash for the finish line on the penultimate corner. Maybe I’ll manage to squeeze in and beat them to first place. The second-last corner is looming ahead; now’s my chance. But before I can even understand what’s happening, the driver in the second position suddenly spins out of control and crashes into the side wall. As I whiz past, I look back to see him still spinning and crashing into the trailing pack of cars, leading to a satisfying pile up. I grin in amazement at how the AI racers are more realistic than the previous racing games I’ve played. No more rubber band AI. Nice touch there - AI racers that don’t always follow the perfect driving line.
With just one driver separating me from the finish line, it’s time to concentrate. In the excitement of the previous crash I failed to overtake him. The last corner is my only chance to overtake him. As I approach it with just a few feet separating us, I try to overtake him from the inside line. Much to my disappointment, I completely misjudge the turn and crash to my left. The screen goes crimson red. Front bumper crumpling in, windshield glass shattering - the car is wrecked beyond repair. It’s the end of the race for me…or is it? This is where the Flashback Feature comes to my rescue, which allows me to rewind up to the last ten seconds before my fatal crash. I can select any point from those ten seconds from which I can restart the race! I roll back to the point just before the crash, adjust my turn and shoot past my rival towards the finishing line and a thrilling victory.
All of this happened in the last twenty seconds of the race. That’s how exciting and adrenaline pumping this game can get.
It’s enough to have a grown man weep and leap in joy. Beyond Good & Evil was a multi-platform action-adventure game not too unreminiscent of the Legend of Zelda series, one that earned kisses and applauses from critics on its overall execution, but suffered in sales at the hands of other UbiSoft published titles (Sands of Time and Splinter Cell). But now it’s back. Jade is back! Pey’j is back! And even though the teaser trailer doesn’t give a whole lot of information, there’s theorizing to be had - because I’m just that bloody anxious. Will the series receive a reboot, ala the new Prince of Persia? Does Pey’j still have that you-know-what on his hand? Is Michel Ancel on board? Say, how do pigs have hands, Mr. Ancel? And where exactly are Jade and her chummy uncle, anywho?
Either way, here’s hoping UbiSoft has learned from its mistakes and doesn’t decide to clump BG&E2’s release date with the new POP. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate deja-vu FU? Acronyms are silly.
Every so often, I entertain the thought of giving a licensed game a crazy whirl, preferably based on some popularly, hyped motion picture. The most common perception being that a game specifically made to use a movie brand as a backdrop will most likely reek of fungus bread drenched in spoiled-egg stew, and that the accompanying vice-versa (movie based on a game franchise) will also hold true. Which is what’s so weird about Speed Racer for the Nintendo DS; despite being tailored in mind for people interested in the current-running, heavily-stylized reinterpretation of the Japanese-animated show from the late 60s, the DS version doesn’t borrow many assets from it – especially when compared to its console-counterparts. There’s virtually no story-line to speak of, and signature facets such as the Mach 5’s many whacky gadgets are nowhere to be found (Well, except for the one that makes the car jump – but every car in this game has that!). Even more bewildering, is that it’s a capable, if somewhat derivative, arcade-racer to boot.
More after the jump.
Life can be cruel at times, especially when it decides to throw a spanner in your plans. We have been sulking in a corner ever since a cruel twist of fate laid to rest our plans to be in Paris for the upcoming UBIDAYS® 2008, Ubisoft’s annual event that showcases the best that the publisher has to offer. But it seems like a couple of our Gods from the whole plethora of them have decided to be a little more kind towards us. So what if we can’t be at Paris? We can always watch it live through Ubisoft’s new portal, Uplay.
Bah, too much hate going around lately. But like an every-so-often intoxicated Robbie Williams once said, “Let love be your energy.” Nothing better to loosen up with the recently released soundtrack to whats easily the best original side-scrolling 2D beat ‘em up since the days of Guardian Heroes and Mischief Makers. Yes friends, Noitu Love 2’s got the groovy beats to keep this mangy mofo from vindicating through extreme hyper-ventilation. And I don’t even need no stinkin’ paper bag.
.. Anywho! Scroll all the way down to find the appropriate link. Stick these in your AudioSurf playlist, and let the good times roll.
Whenever we catch breath of “news” like this, our somewhat attempts at analyzing it usually draws to the same conclusion. Indian developer announces or shows off game project. Indian developer assures that the game will hold significance when released to the masses. The Angry Pixel pans Indian developer, with the sort of reasoning you get after getting being butt-whipped with a wet towel in the boy’s locker room while changing. Rinse, lather, repeat. And trust me, I don’t like it coming down to that. I want India to grow as a viable platform for game development. But this is just making it too easy, that even Ravi decided not to comment about it. And he wrote the book on Bollywood bashing around these parts.
UPDATE: Apparently, these screens are from an in-house engine test and are nowhere near the current version’s visual representation. Expect to see some real hard facts, and less PR blunder. Thanks to Sanjit for the coolly, collective clarification. Gosh, aren’t I the bumbling douche bucket now. I don’t suppose anyone from the Rocking Pixels team would be interested in dressing up as a ninja, eh?
With Ninja Gaiden II sneaking just around the corner, the uber-awesome-crazy ninja dogs here at The ANGRY Pixel are all set to unleash our unique brand of ninjitsu on all you unsuspecting folk living your mundane, bloodless lives out there.
With crazy contests being our forte (and the secret behind our enchanted ninja superpowers), we’ve teamed up with our dark bretheren at Microsoft yet another time to bring you the all-new, all-black Be A Ninja! contest. Just in time to celebrate the launch of Ninja Gaiden II and the fact that we’ve managed to ninjassassinate 10,001 people that dared to look at us or ask us for the time.
Now since we’d like to take a breather from all this senselessly sensual killing and play some NG2 ourselves, we’re taking applications for ninja trainees who we’d like to slaughter virtually in the game before we turn them into sushi with our katanas. That’s right, no codes to break, no brain bending puzzles to solve and the best part is, you don’t even have to kill your family and bring us their still-beating hearts!
All you have to do is, quite simply, be a ninja. Show us how good a ninja you are, by sending us a photograph of you in all your ninja-awesomeness. Make costumes and props from whatever you can find, have a friend click you in your secret ninja identity (remember to kill him once he’s done) and then send the photo over to iareninja@theangrypixel.com along with your full name, your contact number and your complete postal address. This way, if you win, we can send you some awesome Ninja Gaiden II prizes. If you don’t, we’ll be sure to send a midget ninja in the envelope to kill you for being such a miserable failure in life.
That’s it for now. I’m going to go and make me some ninja noodles. They’re just like regular noodles, but we boil them just by staring at them and use poisoned kunai knives for chopsticks.