Category: Video Games

Keeping Eyes on Track for a Video Game Future

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Tobii's PCEye in action.
Tobii’s PCEye in action.

In an age where motion-tracking is becoming all the rage, only Microsoft knew how to make the idea work right. They made it nearly hands-free. With the Kinect. players can run on the spot in order to move faster than a speeding bullet or leap tall buildings in a single bound within a virtual world. With Tobii introducing a prototype of an eye-tracking sensor at CES this week with the EyeX, people can start sniping bullets out of thin air or melting weapons with laser beam eyes.

This technology to track eye movement may well be the next evolution to bring virtual reality home to the video-gamer. No date has been announced yet, but when this device is ready, it should be cheaper than the company’s main product, the PCEye that starts at $2k (on Amazon).

Danish gaming manufacturer SteelSeries is helping to make an affordable version that can detect what a person’s eyes is really ogling at on a video screen — female avatars may want to start covering up. Or with games like Duke Nuke’em or Grand Theft Auto, they just may become a little more difficult with all those distractions slowing the player down.

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Croft – The Tomb Raider Fan Film

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

Director(s): Trevor Addie
Writer(s): Trevor Addie, Irma Leong
Producer(s): Irma Leong, Trevor Addie, Stirling Bancroft & Elad Tzadok

Cast: Cassandra Ebner, Liam Carter, Devyn Dalton, Nickolas Baric, Shaw Madson & Brad Friesen

croft2Croft is one of those fan films that can and will surprise you. It’s not the acting that will wow you (although it is decent) and it’s not the beautiful filming locations (the woods of British Columbia), no, what will take your breath away is the tight writing and the amazing fight choreography.

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LEGO Marvel Superheroes is Spidey-Centric!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

lego-marvel-maximum-overload-castThe LEGO Marvel universe did more than explode when TT Games announced development of the game LEGO Marvel Superheroes for multiple platforms. Mini-figures began appearing since 2002 with Spiderman and ever since then, interest has been a slow burn. The video game, which released Oct 22 is only testament to the fact that Marvel’s superheroes are a hot commodity. And no sooner than Stan Lee can say, “Make Mine Marvel!” the enviable had to happen: expansion into other media. Toys and an animated series are available for fans of this comic book universe to consume.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload (LMSH:MO) is a web series that can be found on Disney and Marvel Entertainment’s Youtube channel, and it’s surprisingly good. The simple reason is that it does not tickle the funny bone too much. The 3-4 minute length is perfectly suited for viewers looking for light-hearted entertainment. That’s how these LEGO videos should be constructed. Movie length LEGO films are hard to pull off. To maintain the humour needs a good wit than silly foreplay, and that’s one reason why LEGO Batman: The Movie failed.

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There’s Zelda Gold in Them Thar Hills

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Nintendo 3DS XL Tri-Force Limited Edition Package

No Legend of Zelda fan can do without lusting after the “gold” limited edition version of Nintendo’s 3DS XL. It is very nice to look at and it can make for a great centrepiece for any fans collection.

Ever since I heard about this release, I have been thinking that yes, it is time to upgrade. When The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia book is not enough to sate my appetite, this novelty release will certainly make my slowly growing collection worth displaying.

But is owning it worth the price? When considering that this package comes with a digital download of the game (or preinstalled, according to some advertisements) and nothing else, that’s hard to say.

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Sony’s PS4. On The Bard vs Next Generation Gaming

Sony’s PS4 has some impressive specs and interesting features like using an iPad for a second screen, but that’s not enough to convince me to own a unit yet.

William Shakespeare
“To PS4 or not to Xbox, that is the question:
Whether ’tis better, another console in mind —
Nay a Nintendo. Forsooth a PC?
All be it in gravitas for what
Divine Janus may offer in the New Year.”

— Ed “The Vintage Tempest” Sum

Sony’s PS4 has some impressive specs and interesting features like using an iPad for a second screen, but that’s not enough to convince me to own a unit. Even as they’re planning yet another unit–which is years away–I’m not entirely convinced to buy any new gaming device the first year of its release. When looking at Microsoft’s, Xbox One–which has an improved Kinect–I’m not convinced.

The videos of various games demos for both look great in high-def, but the list of games available during launch week are scant. They are not as wide and varied as I hoped.

The current line of exclusives are not all that interesting, and there will no doubt be some hardware and software kinks that need to be ironed out. There were reports over the weekend about the PS4’s ‘blue light of death,’ an analogy that brings to mind Microsoft’s infamous ‘red ring of death’ back when the Xbox 360 released. At least .4% of the people who bought the system were affected. I suspect the figure is larger but when considering the number of units that flew off the shelves in stores on launch day. That is not a good start.

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Is Temple Run “Doomed?”

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Geek)

images

Yes, the inevitable had to happen. Yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Warner Bros is in negotiations to bring the video game, Temple Run by Imangi Studios to the big screen with David Heymen, the producer of the Harry Potter series, on board. He can no doubt churn a fun product, but a better question is why this game?

Are audiences starving for some kind of Indiana Jones style action that will wash away memories of the fourth film, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? As fans will recall, the first ten or so minutes in Raiders of the Lost Ark made for one great introduction of the world’s luckiest archaeologist, Indiana Jones. He grabs a golden idol from some forgotten tribe and before he knows it, he triggers a trap. Poisonous darts spring from out of nowhere as he races away. Indy has to leap a chasm and dodge a spear trap. But much to his chagrin, can he escape the massive ball of stone that’s tumbling in his direction?

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