Games Cheats and Reviews

Putting Resonance of Fate up against the biggest RPG of the year might not have been the soundest decision from well-meaning folks at Sega. After all, competing with a highly-anticipated, years-in-the-making RPG blockbuster like Final Fantasy XIII is a tall order, especially when you’re a quirky game designed with significantly less mainstream appeal.

But while releasing this newcomer in the face of an ongoing franchise behemoth might not give Sega the biggest return on their investment, if anything, Resonance of Fate’s debut a mere week after Square’s money magnet provides a vivid example of two schools of game design in direct opposition. If you’ll excuse the analogy, it’s almost as if all those gamers disgruntled by Final Fantasy XIII’s slow burn and constant hand-holding wished on a monkey’s paw and somehow caused Resonance of Fate to materialize into being. But, as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for…

At the end of the Game Developers’ Conference, Will Wright gave a surprise presentation under a fake name. It was titled "The Metaphysics of Game Design." For 70 minutes he discussed absolutely everything about the past, present, and future of gaming, the way we play, and game design.

Jaffe writes "Playing GOD OF WAR 3 this weekend and really, really loving it.But it being a great game aside, it is an AMAZING and RARE game design learning opportunity. To play a game based on your initial design formula that you had nothing to do with is eye opening! Because for the first time, I can actually see how the game/God Of War formula feels to a normal player!"

In an interview with french magazine Joypad, David Cage tells that he "had originally designed a game design three times longer which would have generated more than 120 scenes". It had to be cut off because of the costs it would make.

The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) held the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (IAA) show on February 18, 2010. The 13th Annual IAA recognizes the best games of 2009, as well as lifetime industry pioneers.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves swept many awards including Game of the Year. Brutal Legend was distinguished for its strategy gameplay elements and Soundtrack. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was recognized for its online play and action. Scribblenauts swept the portable game awards categories, as well as Outstanding Innovation in Gaming. Batman: Arkham Asylum received a fair share of awards as well, including Outstanding Achievement in Game Design.

See the complete list of winners here, as well as the three distinguished game industry pioneers.

Glow Artisan, the first self-published game by Powerhead Games, was awarded the Best Mobile Game Design award by the Independent Games Festival. Glow Artisan is a unique puzzle game for DSiWare that requires the user to recreate a design using a blueprint of the design and matching colors and coordinates. It has been highly lauded by fans and critics alike, receiving a 9 out of 10 stars from Nintendo Life.

As a result of this win, Glow Artisan is now eligible to win the Best Mobile Game prize at the March 11 Independent Games Festival Awards in San Francisco. “Glow Artisan represents a lot of hard work by a lot of great people,” said Jason Schreiber, CEO & Chief Creative Officer of Powerhead Games.  “It’s one of those rare games that anyone can pick up and play and get right away but also has depth, loads of features, and, with the picture-to-puzzle tool, is a fun gadget too.”

VGArabia: No one can argue with the fact that FF XIII is one of the most anticipated games this generation. But since the game was released in Japan, criticisms have had started to pop up on the internet regarding some aspects of the game. FF XIII new design ideas in reinventing the JRPGs genre are the same points that will bother the most devoted fans of the series. We take a look at both of the good side and the bad side of those points.

Split-Screen: "Aaron Butler, a former Senior Game Designer at Guerrilla Games responsible for the SixAxis systems and gameplay mechanics of Killzone 2, got his hands around Bungie’s Halo 3: ODST around the time of launch. Surprisingly, he’s found many of the intended new features as plus points in the overall scheme of the game’s design. He especially approved the use of two separate discs for single- and multi-player modes, which had become a point of criticism for Bungie’s inclusion of all previous Halo 3 MP content."

Dennis Zopfi former Guerrilla Games developer joins Kojima Productions to work on the upcoming stealth game Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Zopfi, a senior designer during Killzone 2 development was responsible for game design, level design, storyboards and communication between game and level design. He is now working for Kojima Productions on Metal Gear Solid: Rising as a level designer.

Terminal Reality, the studio behind the thoroughly enjoyable Ghostbusters on PS3 and 360, has posted a couple of job positions online, looking for people to work on an "exciting AAA Natal Title" with a slant towards open-world game design.