Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
The Final phase of our plan has begun; Release the Laser-Shark-Bees! (By Robert Bruce) The first thoughts I had after roaming the floors of E3, were toward the bafflingly huge booths dedicated to social gaming and mobile gaming companies. These companies must be making a fairly sizable profit to be able to afford the large swathe of floor space on the E3 floor. The other thing I noticed was how small the big game prod companies booths were in comparison to years before. Who dis!? EA’s booth was the most anemic, and their primary game push was Madden; along with some other EA sports titles. Other than a DOTA-esque Lord of the Rings game, that was it, really for EA. (Edit; thanks to Chris for pointing out the inaccuracy) They were also showcasing Dead Space 3, but unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to check it out; the line was intense for this one, however my point stands that in years past there was a larger section for EA, with more unique titles. Activision was focusing on Skylanders, which is smart cause that’s a cash cow that keeps on giving. Also, obviously they were focusing on Black Ops 2, because that is the game people seem to buy in their sleep. Spiderman 15: the reckoning 2 (not sure of the current title) was somewhere in there as well, but I wasn’t interested. Nintendo and Sony’s booths were about as large as ever, with a plethora of play-ables. I had the most fun in these sections. I got a feel for the possible promise of a Vita system, but after the glow of the show wore off, my cynicism returned. I gotta’ say the two coolest things I saw at the Sony area were 3rd party, small time developments –or semi-small time in the case of the Portal Expansion. Retro City Rampage, one of the two, has that poise to blast off in a big way. The polish and detail on that game was so intense, and the people I talked to about the game seemed like some of the most sincere guys; which if you don’t know is a sentiment that’s slowly disappearing at E3. You can switch the view mode to CGA guis!- also a game boy view mode, replete with the vomit grey and green that was so signature of that system. That is dedication to old-school-ness that really should be a legend in the making. The game -unlike many lip-service old school motif games- really tries to capture the feel of a game from that era, with a little bit of the sensibility of this era. Pure fun, that’s all I gotta’ say. If you want to see more about this game, check it out here. How many Kart Racer ripoffs this year? …at least 3 I also got to check out the new Portal Move based expansion “Portal 2 In Motion”, and I got the same feeling from the guy I talked to as I...
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So this is happening fast. An Angry Birds theme park in China. It’s part of a larger park, but there is a section where people can practice catapulting in person. Undoubtedly it started without any permission as the article says, but from hearing experiences, sometimes in China you have to play with the piraters or else you’ll be getting nothing. This goes for film as well. They’ll do it regardless and you can stop them once you get injunctions and so forth and who knows how the Chinese legal system works. There’s merch too. (ABC – Angry Birds)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Game Night at Giant Robot 2 Game Night 5 – Skullgirls, Skulls of the Shogun, Nintendo 3DS StreetPass Saturday, June 25 2011, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. GR22062 Sawtelle Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90025gr2.net(310) 445-9276 In conjunction with the Attract Mode videogame culture shop, Meat Bun apparel, and Angry Bananas, Giant Robot is proud to host Game Night, an event that takes place at GR2 every two months. Each evening will feature a different developer and its games in a relaxed, community-building setting. For the fifth Game Night, we present two games, Skullgirls and Skulls of the Shogun, both by separate developers. Skullgirls is a fast-paced 2D fighting game that puts players in control of fierce female warriors in an extraordinary Dark Deco world. From Autumn Games and Reverge Labs, Skullgirls uses advanced graphical technology to feature the unique art of Alex Ahad, whose work has appeared in Lava Punch,UDON’s Tribute books, and Scott Pilgrim; in collaboration with renowned tournament champion Mike “Mike Z” Zaimont. Calling to mind old-school arcade fighters – with a high-definition twist – it’s a one-of-a-kind, action-packed competition complete with awesome combos and an intriguing backstory. Skulls of the Shogun is an invigorating cocktail of 1960′s flavored sorcery and strategy – in development for major gaming platforms. Washing up on the shores of the afterlife, players meet and join forces with vibrant ghost-samurai warriors, magical animal-monks, and mustachioed samurai generals on the way to capture Skulls of the Shogun. With its roots in classic turn-based strategy gaming, Skulls of the Shogun retains depth and adds a smooth, simple interface that makes it accessible and enjoyable even to players new to the genre. Players immerse themselves in battle with fun and unique game play features amidst lush, eerie environments. Also featuring 4-player local and networked multi-player and an original score inspired by old samurai films and dub, Skulls of the Shogun offers simple-yet-deep, refined and offbeat game-play. Nintendo 3DS StreetPass: Meetup Everywhere is a simple-to-use online platform that enables an organization’s fans or followers to coordinate local, real-life meetups based on shared interests. Nintendo 3DS users who are interested in sharing content with others via StreetPass are invited to visit http://www.meetup.com/nintendo3ds to find events in their area or to plan their own StreetPass meetups. Users are also encouraged to use the “#streetpass” hashtag within social media to promote Nintendo 3DS StreetPass events throughout the year and attract even more participants. While gathered together in the same location, anyone can use the Nintendo 3DS system’s built-in StreetPass feature to share content such as Mii™ characters, game stats and custom characters. Users can control which kinds of information they exchange, and they can trade data from multiple games such as nintendogs™ + cats or Super Street Fighter® IV 3D Edition at the same time. Giant Robot was born as a Los Angeles-based publication about Asian, Asian-American, and new hybrid culture in 1994, but has evolved into a full-service pop culture provider with shops and galleries in...
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Here is a little treat for you, a website chock full of playable digital replicas of those handheld, card-shaped LCD arcade games we all played in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. There are currently 27 games in total on display, and most of them you can actually play in your web browser. A big part of the fun, which also caused a little bit of sadness, was looking at all of the crisp images of these little handheld arcades and remembering which ones we loved the best and actually owned at one time. And it may surprise you, as it did us, that not all of these games are Japanese. A fair number of them are Russian, and few are from Taiwan. One Russian game, “Nu, pogodi!” involves a wolf trying to catch eggs in a basket, and is very simple, whimsical and fun. Yep, this site is one of the best time-wasters you’ve probably seen in awhile (Pica-Pic.com – Handheld LCD Game Madness) The game arcade page was created by Polish design company Hipopotam Studio. Their website is also pretty interesting: http://www.hipopotamstudio.pl/
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It’s just games… but you can’t miss it. Q: “Hey Chang, What’s your booth called?” A: “We are From China” Q: I mean, what do I look for? A: “We are From China” Q: Are you games real? A: “We are From China” Enough said. (love to Ed Lin) C’mon!
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