Listen. Can you hear it? Those faint whispers? They’re the faint whispers about a new generation of home games consoles. Whispers that are starting to become steadily more audible; driven by rumor, speculation and internet job postings. When people start to talk about such matters, conversation often moves swiftly on to guessing what features the eventual successors to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will bring. Digital distribution, proven to be a hit on PC but …
Following on from yesterday’s decision to delay this week’s launch of Motorstorm Apocalypse in Japan, Sony have today also announced their decision to postpone the games release beyond its scheduled Friday launch in the UK.
There were raised eyebrows when ArenaNet first cited Team Fortress 2 as a point of reference for elements of Guild Wars 2’s Player versus Player combat. Most individuals naturally felt the influences between the games would be drawn from the core principals of class team work and players knowing their specific duties within their class framework. What has become apparent however over recent days, is that at the heart of Guild Wars 2’s crafting system …
EA’s on a roll this week! First there was the thing where it banned a user from its forums for (rather politely, actually, at least in forum terms) pointing out that, in his opinion, Dragon Age 2 was shit; the ban extended to his EA account and suddenly the dude was locked out of all EA games he owned. After public vilification the company backtracked, claiming a “mistake.” Then they refused a refund to a …
Breaking through a brick wall. That’s what at times it must feel like for ArenaNet when marketing Guild Wars 2. Outside the relative comfort of fan forums such as Guild Wars 2 Guru, there appears to be a direct lack of understanding or opposition to the fundamental changes they are making to the genre. Embracing the changes of adaptive class types and self sufficiency, coupled with the direct removal of a dedicated healer is a …
Review by Lewis B RIFT Developer: Trion Worlds Publisher: Trion Worlds Released: 04th March 2011 Available For: PC Time Played: 50+ hours (and counting) Verdict: 4/5 Thumbs Up! “A well polished and accomplished MMOG that has launched brilliantly. Although there are some minor cosmetic and game issues, it really is a pleasure to play. The class Soul System is a triumph. With fantastic server stability, great instanced dungeons and well balanced player versus player combat, RIFT deserves its good …
I’ve been feeling particularly old within the last week. Maybe it’s down to the harsh realities of adulthood. I’m due to complete the purchase of my first home within the next two weeks and will be a married man in just under three months. As wonderful and exciting as those two events are, they can also be pretty daunting; as I’m sure any married homeowners who read Tap-Repeatedly may attest to. Perhaps however it’s also because the Pokémon …
An exciting and wordy discussion has been wandering across several of Tap’s forum threads, notably here, and also in various comments on articles. Fully grokking a conversation being held by the Tap community requires a certain ability to master the art of tangential crossover.
ANYWAY, to quickly sum up: some of our debaters did not like Half Life 2, some did, but for variant reasons; everyone likes STALKER but some wanted different things from it; System Shock 2 is very scary but may not have aged well; and something to do with Neocron, plus some other stuff.
Another day, another obnoxious PS3 system update. Seriously, since when did my PC become a more convenient system to use than a console? It wouldn’t be so bad if they downloaded and installed in the background but oh-no, merely downloading them requires the full attention of my system locking me out until they’re finished. I’ve got patience, I really have, but when you’ve got a measly 1.2mb connection and just want to sign in to …
Feel free to file this one under Obvious News is Obvious, but the Nintendo 3DS has gone down pretty well after its long awaited launch in Japan. How well exactly? An entire launch shipment of 400,000 units snaffled by hungry gamers in just a few hours. Nom Nom. Predictable as this may be, those are pretty impressive figures. Nintendo are reportedly aiming to shift 1.5 million shiny new 3DS units by the end of March, …
On the 24th February RIFT began its ‘head start’ event. With 1 million Trion registered accounts, it was always highly likely as a result of a popular and successful open beta that RIFT was going to experience large numbers of players flooding onto the servers come head start. And sure enough, queue times to enter certain servers were and still are staggering…
I’m not entirely sure I believe this, but Atlus has announced – rather tersely – that its just-released-in-Japan erotic horror title Catherine will not be wading across any oceans. Specifically, they say this: Catherine is a Japan-only game and there are no plans for a NA release at this time. Sorry about that!
Review by Max “Xtal” Boone Gemini Rue Developer Joshua Nuernberger Publisher Wadjet Eye Games Released February 24, 2011 Available for PC Time Played Completed (7-8 hours, give or take) Verdict: 5/5 Gold Star “Anyone who is familiar with the adventure games that were being made 15 or even 20 years ago will feel right at home here. Gemini Rue is a classic in every sense, one that is definitely set to appeal to enthusiasts of …
Here’s a Culture Clash column I wrote for the January 2011 edition of the IGDA website. I’m happy with it, but less pleased with the fact that our theme does not allow ~ symbols above an N in post titles. So if you were to read it out loud you’d have to say “pinn-nnnnnnaaaaahhtah,” like Winston Churchill.
Who was a great man. No busting on that dude. Won us WWII!
Still, though, tildes would be nice. Also: this is the last old Culture Clash I’ll publish on Tap’s front page (I’ll post the new ones here); the rest I’ll be back-dating so they’ll appear if you look at older posts or if you visit the Content -> Editorials -> Culture Clash section in the main menu (or just click here). This article is actually older than the previous one here on Tap – The Beauty of a Living Thing – and the rest will be older still. Thus, to prevent confusion, the back-dating. You may also note subtle differences between these (my originals) and the one on IGDA (which they sometimes edit slightly). Either one can be considered Canon. In any case, click to read on!
Review by Mat C Marvel vs Capcom 3 Developer Capcom Publisher Capcom Released February 15 (NA), February 17 (JP), February 18 (EU) 2011 Available for PlayStation 3 (version reviewed), Xbox 360 Time Played Long enough to acquire thumb blisters. Verdict: 4/5 Thumbs Up “As something of a novice in the fighting genre, I found the game’s immediate accessibility and accommodating attitude to button bashers a welcome introduction. Once you learn how the game works however, there’s also a deeply engaging …