Naughty Bear Excitement

One upcoming game that has really caught my eye is Naughty Bear. I have a strange affection for cute cartoon characters destroying each other and one such game that I have enjoyed recently is Fairytale Fights. Naughty Bear appears to be even more cute and even more destructive than Fairytale Fights so it looks like it's going to be a winner for me.

Developed by Artificial Mind and Movement and published by 505 Games, Naughty Bear is being created for the 360 and the PS3. Set on 'Perfection Island' Naughty Bear is the only bear that doesn't belong. With his rough fur and ripped edges he is far from perfect and this leads to him being picked on by the other bears. Unfortunately for Naughty Bear this bullying does not merely involve them ignoring but actively trying to rid the island of him. So what choice does a stuffed bear have but to fight back?

Naughty Bear is an open world game with several objectives to complete. The player must constantly be trying to accumulate naughty points but this can be done in any way imaginable. You can beat up bears, scare them so they call the police, vandalise property or even torture them so they commit suicide! The other bears AI will adapt depending on your behaviour and throughout the game costumes can be unlocked which will cause the bears to act differently towards you.

Naughty Bear has all the makings of a great game. Endearing characters, intriguing storyline and random creative violence. Certainly one to watch out for....

Written Podcast Substitute

I've just posted this over on the Forced Feedback blog but I thought I'd put it on here as well just in case....

Unfortunatey I won't be around this week to do a podcast but, perhaps surprisingly, I had already done some reserch for it. So, instead of letting my hard work go to waste I would put it into a written blog. Not the same, I know, but hopefully it's better than nothing.

Well this week I haven't really been playing anything new because I decided to pick up my PSP for the first time in about a year and instantly found myself addicted to LocoRoco again! I did manage to try Lord of Ultima though which went into open beta this week. Lord of Ultima is the new browser based 'strategic kingdom building simulation' from EA. First impressions are good but I'm sure we'll talk about it more at a later date.

New releases for the week of March 26th include Just Cause 2. We talked about that a bit last week and I think CW might have mentioned that he was looking forward to it once or twice. Something I'm much more excited about that is also coming out this week is Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver. I have Heart Gold on preorder so I'll let you know what I think of it in the next podcast. Multi-platform releases for next week include Prison Break: The Conspiracy, Resonance of Fate, How to train your Dragon and the Game of the Year edition of Arkham Asylum. Red Steel 2 is also coming out for the Wii and Sims 3:Create a Sim is released for the PC.

Recent game related news has been a bit short now that GDC is over but there were still some interesting tidbits out there. First off Nick Gibson, a games investor consulting analyst, claims that a lack of a games adaptation of Twilight has cost Summit Entertainment millions in lost opportunity for revenue. I'm not sure how a Twilight game would work to be honest though it would have been successful no matter what. Other people are cashing in on it so I don't see why Summit Entertainment didn't. As we mentioned last week Scene it: Twilight came out a few days ago so maybe that is the first of many. Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami is going to open a new development studio when he has finished work on Platinum Games shooter Vanquish. It will only have a team of 13 to start with and he didn't speak too much about what he would be working on but he did say he would like to see a true-3D horror game.

One of my favourite news stories this week was regarding Tommy Refenes and Apple. Tommy Refenes made a game called Zits and Giggles which was, until recently, sold on Apple's App Store. Last week at GDC he ranted about how terrible the App store was and he compared the iPhone and iPod Touch to the Tiger handhelds of the 80s and 90s. This may have been why Apple removed his game this week but it may have also been to do with the price 'experiment' he was conducting during the past 5 months. Zits and Giggles hadn't been selling too well so 5 months ago Refenes decided to increase the price to $15, surprisingly a few copies were then sold. After this the creators kept increasing the price every time a copy sold and the day it was pulled someone bought the game for $400! I find that crazy. It really shows that people assume something is good just because it's expensive. A lot of people playing 'games' on the iPhone and iPod Touch aren't really gamers and probably wouldn't even label themselves as such.

A few other pieces of news I picked up but didn't really read too much into was that Miyamoto confirmed Pikmin 3 is well underway, Playstation Move title Motion Fighter will have a calorie counter and a gamer broke two fingers whilst playing God of War 3 after rolling over them with his knee. Not quite sure how that last one could happen. What position do they play games in?! I like the idea of a fighting game having a calorie counter though so you know how many you are burning whilst beating people up.

Well I think that about sums up everything I would have talked about during the podcast. I haven't included a feature because we hadn't decided on one yet. Everything is quite brief because it's hard to have a debate on a subject with myself but just imagine it being padded out with CW's swearing and shouting!

Sources:
Kotaku
Edge
Develop

Exploring the World of Handhelds

I usually play the 360. That would be my weapon of choice. But, since I've been spending more time at EI's and away from my own house recently that hasn't really been an option. I bought myself Super Monkey Ball to play on the Wii but, although it's awesome, it's not the same as losing myself in a new world or discovering new skills. It just can't compare to curling up and getting some proper gaming done. So, with the Wii out of the picture, I was left with one option: handhelds.

It started with me picking up my DSi again. I only really bought it on impulse when it came out because it was new and exciting and shiny but now it was time for it to start earning the money I paid for it oh so long ago. So I turned it on and before I knew it I was immersed in the world of Pokemon Pearl for hours on end. It felt good to be back playing a Nintendo handheld again but Heart Gold was coming out soon and it would have been a shame to OD on Pokemon before that. So, it was time to switch games. I chose an old favourite, Henry Hatsworth, and got stuck in. Henry Hatsworth is the perfect blend of puzzle and platform as well as having some extremely random features thrown in. The character 'voices' keep me giggling and the Tea Time mode, which sees Hatsworth donning a mech suit, is just plain win. Now, around the same time as I started playing Hatsworth again I picked up Scribblenauts. Scribblenauts stretches my imagination to breaking point and even then I often find myself lacking. It is an extreme test of creativity and I feel like it's a personal failure every time I use a Pegasus one more time or, heaven forbid, something as ordinary as a rope!

So, with these two games to fill my time I felt as though my gaming needs were close to being satisfied once again. I was content in my own, private Nintendo world but, then, disaster struck. EI had been watching me play my DS for a few days and had started helping me out with levels in Scribblenauts. As his help became more and more intrusive I offered him his own profile on the game. After that he was lost to me. Well, that might be an exaggeration but after Scribblenauts he moved on to Hatsworth and then my DS was tied up most of the time. My DS was actually cheating on me! I couldn't dwell on it though and I decided that now was the time to move on. It was time to do something I hadn't done in a very long time. It was time to pick up my PSP....

Forced Feedback Episode 14

This is the Forced Feedback podcast as it will be in the future (except not the future episodes won't be so bad). I apologise for the lack of anything interesting in this podcast but we were all really tired and as we'd only done episode 13 a few days before not much had happened to talk about. This episode does see the return of Lt. Shmoopy which is good news but does have some exceptionally bad sound which is not so good.

Anyway have a listen and I hope your ears don't bleed too much....

Click here to download the MP3


Oh and I must apologise for CW incorrectly calling it the 13th....it was in fact recorded on the 15th.

Forced Feedback Episode 13

Forced Feedback are back minus Orifister. It's been a long time coming but we're back with our podcast about new releases, reviews and general stuff you just have to know about games. Although it's a Thursday today we'll be making this a regular thing on a Monday evening so listen in then. Following the same format as before CW and I will be welcoming guests on each week to help us discuss what games we've been playing, new releases, industry news and finishing with a feature. Hopefully there will be a five minute segment each week from the Orifister as well for you.

This week is slightly different as we try to feel our way back into it. There is no guest and no feature but we'll be returning on Monday in the proper format.

Nothing else to say except take a listen....

Click here to download MP3

Introducing me.......again

I've been gone for a long time. I am sorry for this. I have no good excuse. Looking at the date of my last post I noticed that it was almost a year ago. That is inexcusable. I am back now though. I will hopefully post more often. Well I promise to post at least once a year....probably.

I've started up the podcasts with CW again after almost 8 months so this week is the week for new starts for me. I'll post the first one on here as soon as it's ready and we'll be doing new ones each Monday evening.

So, stay tuned....

Introducing Forced Feedback

Forced Feedback is a project I'm currently involved with. You might have seen the podcast uploaded on here last week but that was simply a tester and an introduction. This week is the first official Forced Feedback podcast. It is presented by myself, Captain Wizard and Orifister and this week we have jacksandwich as a guest. I have nothing else to say about it just yet except listen to it. Please, and let me know what you think.

Forced Feedback Episode 01 – 19/03/09 – 1hr 6mins

Download the MP3 (64K) Here (Right Click to Save)

Oh I also have to show you part of our professional set up for this podcast. This is my microphone...
....yes that is a lamp


(oh and just so you know that the opinions expressed in this podcast are just that, opinions! We talk about what we've read and heard but there are so many rumours flying about that we can't guarantee that everything is 100% true. What I can promise is that we think it's true. We wouldn't lie to you on purpose!)