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prima games podcast, the eighth
GameStop! Monopoly! Gamer Deals! Indiana Jones! Prototype! Lying! Listen!
The Prima Games Blog is the place to read about new video games, get expert strategy, tips, downloads,
free walkthroughs, and insider game info by gamers for gamers.
Archive for April, 2009
Apr
25
2009
Apr
19
2009
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Left 4 Dead: Survival Mode Details
Lately Valve’s Left 4 Dead blog has been a great source of information, especially for those of us still hooked on blasting zombies. Last Thursday, Kerry Davis and Scott Dalton dropped some juicy details about the Survival Pack DLC, releasing later this week…for free! The bulk of the discussion centers around the new Survival mode. Included in the post is the graph above illustrating how the various infected respawn throughout the course of a Survival mode match. If you’re having trouble making heads or tails out of these curves, let me summarize: the longer you survive, the tougher it gets. Though that might be a gross understatement. Just look at how the difficulty ramps up over time. Most disturbing is that red “Specials” line representing spawns for Hunters, Smokers, Boomers, and I assume Witches. Now I know why most matches don’t last much longer than five minutes. Still no details on which maps are playable in this new mode, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough. For more details and a greater appreciation of what went into balancing this new mode check out the Left 4 Dead blog. And be sure to download the Survival Pack on Tuesday, April 21st.
Apr
18
2009
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prima podcast, the seventh
8-bit Music! Nielsen Reports! Real Gamers! Ghostbusters! College! e-mail!
Apr
17
2009
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One track brainnnnnnn
After reading my buddy’s blog down there about the Left 4 Dead cover and zombie fiction, I simply had to add my 2 cents. Color me inspired. (Thanks, David!)
I’m a fan of pretty much zombie anything. If it ends with “… of the (Living) Dead” I’ve seen it. Be it Shaun, Dawn, Night, Day, Afternoon, Morning, Brunch, whatever. Zombie games? Yep, I love those too. Resident Evil(s)? Check. Left 4 Dead? Check. Stubbs the Zombie? Double check! (If you have a few Xbox Live Credits lying around I highly suggest downloading it. It’s a gem.) Dead Space? Not quite zombies in the traditional sense, but Check anyway. Anyhow, I think you get the point.
So when I saw David’s suggestions for zombie fiction, I thought I’d stop by to add a Zombie fiction “lite” recommendation to his magnificent list. You know, all the zombie with half the calories. Enter The Walking Dead graphic novels. Though I was a bit skeptical at first, I thought I’d give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not heavy reading by any means and there are only zombies every fifth page or so, but that’s the beauty of it. It’s not about zombies, per se, but rather about what happens to us after a zombie outbreak. In fact, the author, Robert Kirkman, begins his Introduction by stating that he’s not trying to scare anyone. Odd for a zombie story, no? He’s more interested in exploring how people press on and persevere in such extreme situations. And really, how much more extreme can you get than a full blown zombie outbreak?
So if you’re a zombie freak, appreciate graphic novels (or just aren’t into books that don’t have pretty pictures), give the Walking Dead a shot. You might be surprised. I was.
Now if you’ll excuse me I have to get back to Ghostbusting. 
PS. David was right about Dying to Live. It is an AWESOME read.
Apr
12
2009
Comments: 1
Left 4 Dead Box Art Prototypes
By now, the image of a green, thumbless undead hand has become iconic. Gamers instantly recognize it, even without the aid of a logo. But getting to that point took some time and several iterations. Jeremy Bennett, one of Valve’s artists, has posted a very interesting article about the entire process of creating the box art for Left 4 Dead. He chronicles the team’s struggle to convey the essence of the game in a single image, a task made more complex by the title’s team-based multiplayer focus. Included are several early prototypes, most featuring the game’s four protagonists.
Writing the Left 4 Dead guide and playing it since it’s release has fueled a craving for zombie fiction. Yeah, it’s actually a growing genre, especially since Max Brooks’ two bestsellers were released. Granted, most of the stuff out there is pretty awful but I found one author I really like. His name is Kim Paffenroth. He’s a professor of religious studies, giving him a rather unique perspective on the whole genre. Anyway, I was reading his first novel, Dying to Live, and noticed there were two interesting correlations to Left 4 Dead. In the novel, one of the key locations is Mercy Hospital and one of the main characters is named Zoey. Coincidence? The novel was published in 2007 so I doubt the author was inspired by the game. Maybe he has some fans at Valve? Anyway, if zombie fiction is your thing, it’s a good read. There’s a second book in the series I’m reading now. Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies looks like it’ll be a fun read too.
Apr
11
2009
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prima games podcast, the sixth
Dungeons & Dragons! Ghostbusters! Codes and Cheats! Couches! iPhones! The Godfather! Listen!
Apr
09
2009
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Turtle Power!
I was seven when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series first aired. I’ve probably seen every episode, and for a time I could sing the theme song in my sleep. Eleven years later, Super Smash Bros. would hit the Nintendo 64 and I’d log in over 200 hours in less than a month on the Japanese import. Now, ten years later, the two have merged into the upcoming Nintendo Wii title, TMNT Smash Up. You can imagine my joy when I discovered that Smash Up would be my next project.
Very little is known about TMNT Smash Up, but I’ll cover the information we have thus far. The game is published by Ubisoft and developed by the same team who handled Super Smash Bros. Brawl last year. A few former members of Tecmo’s Team Ninja (Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden) development team have also joined the Brawl team to create Smash Up. Most people assume the game will play like Brawl with a fresh TMNT coat of paint. That’s certainly not a bad thing, but it should be interesting to see if the competitive Brawl community views the game as tournament worthy.
While I would love to see Bebop, Rocksteady and Krang make an appearance, early reports indicate that the game is based around the comic book and recent CG movie where the three baddies never existed. It’s still safe to say that Shredder and the Foot Clan will be on hand to throw down, as well as all four Turtles, Splinter, Casey Jones and maybe even April.
More importantly, the game will not be complete unless they sign Partners in Kryme for the soundtrack…
Apr
07
2009
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Prima games podcast, the fifth
Crime! PlayStation Pricing! Sims 3! Bundles! Old Timey! Swearing! Listen!
Apr
05
2009
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My first galactic adventure
Last week I had the opportunity to visit Maxis for a couple of days to take an early look at their new expansion for Spore, Galactic Adventures. It was a busy two days packed with producer interviews as well as some extensive hands-on training with the new Adventure Creator. The Creator allows users to produce their own adventures from scratch, much like the Creature Creator but on a much grander scale. In these adventures your captain can beam down to planets and take on a variety of missions. After getting the hang of the Adventure Creator I put together a quick little adventure of my own.
In my first adventure the player’s captain beams down to a purple planet and is greeted by the leader of a colony under siege by hostile natives. During the siege, the colony’s deep space antenna array was damaged, preventing them from calling on their fleet for assistance. Therefore it’s up to the player’s captain to sneak past the enemy camp and fix the antenna array, located in a nearby valley. Once the captain fixes the antenna, a friendly space ship arrives and attacks the enemy camp. Upon the captain’s return to the colony he/she is greeted as a hero complete with dancing creatures, fireworks, and confetti. Originally I had the goal set so the captain had to destroy the enemy camp. But I wanted to make more of a stealthy adventure so I edited it so the captain had to sneak around, get to the antenna and let the incoming friendly space ship annihilate the enemy camp.
Anyway, that gives you a small taste of what’s possible with the Adventure Creator. There’s so much potential here that I can’t wait until the expansion releases to see what the Spore community can come up with. Like creations in Spore, adventures can be shared through the Sporepedia and the Spore web site so there will never be a shortage of adventures to keep your captain busy.
