Features

Here we go again. It's the beginning of a new year and chance for us to look back on all the crazy stuff that happened last year. Here are my two favorite games from 2006. What are your top picks?

Gears of War

Surprise! It's the game that most everyone will pick for the best game of 2006. But we go way back with Gears of War. It won our prestigious Best of E3 2006 award. It lived up to and surpassed my expectations--something that rarely happens. Gears of War has a finely tuned single player campaign that has some of the best squad-based gameplay available. Your teammates aren't simply there to increase the number of bullets you wail at the enemy. They provide valuable covering fire and coordinate realistic maneuvers that adapt to meet the diverse requirements of each arena. The impressive graphics, clever camera techniques, and efficient controller layout make Gears of War feel like movie.

I remember when I would walk into EB Games and see shelves filled with PC Games from floor to ceiling. Now, PC Games just get two sides of a small shelf hidden in some dark and dank corner of the store, where half of the boxes have been opened already and new titles, or classic titles, are a precious commodity. Let’s face it; the only thing still on those shelves are games that never took off, like Auto Assault (sorry NCsoft and NetDevil, it did have potential, I’ll give you that), or games past their novelty phase, but aren’t quite old enough to be tossed out the window to make room for new titles yet. If you look hard enough you can find the new titles there, but they aren’t in the glory of an attractive display like they would have been four years ago, that’s the kind of stuff that I miss.

Microsoft recently unleashed the second Beta version of Windows Vista--this time on the unsuspecting public rather than just developers. The Windows Vista Customer Preview Program allows you, me, your uncle, and everyone with a punchy PC to get a sneak peak at what Microsoft will offer with the next version of Windows. But getting involved with beta software can be risky; especially when you're talking about this operating system that is (as of now) rather unstable. You may not have the time or the guts to give Vista a try yourself--but I sure do.

If you're reading this, you have Microsoft to thank in part. Space in the E3 press center is hard to come by and the Internet is usually slower than the line to play the Wii. But to assist bloggers that need to push content to the web rapidly, Microsoft invited a group bloggers onto the Xbox 360 Community bus. Parked in front of the LA Convention Center, is a large coach with a custom Xbox 360 paint job.

Wi-Fi, electricity, food, beverages, couches, and Xbox 360's make this bus a self-sustaining blogging machine. Forget the show floor. We could spend all day on the bus!

We've been busy snapping as many pictures as possible. Although we've been having some trouble with the Internet connection here, we finally got these photos up from the Microsoft Community Bus. Check them out on Flickr and check back often.

I got an Xbox 360 from Best Buy today and I'm going to share my discoveries for the benefit of the entire scientific community.

This is the box that allegedly contains the Xbox 360. As you can see, the receipt is still sticking out of the top. I had to show this receipt to a guy at the exit of Best Buy so he could make sure that I was cool enough to have an Xbox. He accepted me (with reservation).

When I got home I took a look around the surface of the box. The first thing I noticed was that it is white--not green. I was successful in not getting the Core system. So far, so good.

[image:609 align=right hspace=5 size=medium]Last week at GDC, we were told that the release date of Half-Life 2: Episode 1, the first in a series of episodic adventures with Gordon Freeman, would be delayed until May 31st. This doesn't come as a huge surprise. Remember all of the delays that we struggled through before Half-Life 2 was finally released? But there is a little bit of confusion. Pro-G is reporting that EA, the game's new distributor, said Episode 1 will be released on June 30. Although EA hasn't responded to the confusion, Doug Lombardi from Valve told me yesterday that the May 31 date was still accurate.

A dedicated user on the Xbox.com forums posted what he claims to be an exclusive article from the April issue of Game Informer that reveals details about the next game in Halo series. This is the same issue that will apparently announce God of War II. The user, known as DM Duo Maxwell, said that he typed the lengthy article word-for-word because Xbox.com prohibits the posting of magazine scans due to potential copyright issues.

Developer Interview - PART 2 OF 3

Q6: Are Special Forces on all missions, or are regular soldiers are getting missions? (not just SF)

Developer Interview

Part 1 of 2

Q1: What sets Titan Quest apart from its predecessors and competition?

A: The biggest difference is our historical/mythological topic. Offhand, I do not know of any notable role playing game with a similar topic. A second difference is the quality of the graphics in the game. The game is stunningly beautiful when played, even more so than you can see from the screenshots. Another difference is our editor, which allows you to create incredible looking levels with minimal effort.

Q: What were some of your inspirations/influences for The Outfit?

A: Obviously Battlefield and Battlefront were games we played a lot of, but we had plenty of non-videogame influences as well. The over the top action of Predator or any Jerry Bruckheimer film, for instance. In the comic book realm, Sergeant Rock was something we looked at as well. I wouldn’t say we set out to copy any of those things though - we just adopted their balls-out action and made sure we focused on fun first.

What lessons learned from Full Spectrum Warrior affected the design and development of Ten Hammers?

We weren't really sure the new style of gameplay we'd created in FSW was going to be accepted the first time around. With the success of the first game, and a great fan-based to draw inspiration from, we were all very excited to work on Ten Hammers and take the game to the next level.

Watch as Kellen eats a lemon for the first time.

You know the drill. When the latest game comes out, you've got to have it right away. You go on down to your local game retailer, fight the masses of geeks, and finally rest your hands on that must-have title. But there is a considerable amount of overhead involved with the current system. The game discs must be pressed, the booklets must be printed, and the entire package must be shipped to retailers. Once they are in the store, they still suck up money because the store must be heated, lit, and staffed. The cost adds up quickly and the expenses are passed along to consumers (that's you).

Kellen plays a "diddy" to celebrate the release of the Xbox 360.