VG Tribune

People have already begun creating excellent new videos using the Source Filmmaker beta, and in this case, the Meet The Heavy video has been updated to be less offensive to the modern Team Fortress 2 player, if you catch my drift. All the hilarity aside, Source Filmmaker is already shaping up to be the next big innovation in Machinima production, no longer will we have to see poorly-animated stop-motion videos created in Garry’s Mod. In the near future we will be seeing much more of these kinds of videos, even though currently, the program is only made for Team Fortress 2 models and maps.

Once again, you can sign up for a beta invite from the official site at http://sourcefilmmaker.com/

Jesse and Zack discuss the week’s news and more on VG Tribune Roundtable.

Since the podcast plug-in isn’t working yet, you can choose to download the file from this link and listening it in your player of choice, or to use the embedded player at the bottom of the post. The iTunes subscription feed will not be automatically updated at this time. Thank you for your patience.

Links to articles referenced in this episode:

• Nintendo offering “insane incentives” to publish on Wii U eShop
• Order Up eShop Download More Than 300 Megabytes
• Wii U Will Support External USB Hard Disk
• Valve Gives Away Portal 2 for Free to Teachers with ‘Steam for Schools’
• The Megas Release New Megaman 3 Album

Let us know how we’re doing by entering comments below or writing an e-mail to us at tips@vgtribune.com.

You can subscribe to us on iTunes here and listen to the show at the bottom of this post.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Pokemon Black & White 2, which launched just a few days ago in Japan and has already sold 1,500,000+ copies, has finally been given an official release date for North America. Pokefans can get their hands on the sequels, as well as the Pokemon Dream Radar 3DS tie-in application, starting October 7th. Our Editor-in-Chief Will Thompson is already playing through the Japanese versions of the games and based on early impressions, Black and White 2 are shaping up to be some of the best games in the franchise. I’ve included Nintendo’s full press release below.

REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Dive into the world of Pokémon like never before when two new Nintendo DS Pokémon games and a downloadable Nintendo 3DS title arrive this October. The successors to the acclaimed Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version games, Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2 are set to launch for the Nintendo DS family of systems (playable on Nintendo 3DS in 2D mode) on Sunday, Oct. 7. Pokémon Dream Radar will also be available for purchase in the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS on the same day. This downloadable Nintendo 3DS title allows Nintendo 3DS owners to catch their favorite Pokémon, including some very rare ones, via the Nintendo 3DS camera, motion control and augmented-reality technology, and transfer them into Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2.

“Fans will want to count the days until Oct. 7, when they’ll not only get to play the successor to one of the biggest Pokémon adventures ever, but also expand their Pokémon experience to the Nintendo 3DS withPokémon Dream Radar,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “No matter whether people are playing on Nintendo DS or Nintendo 3DS, they’ll be getting an incredible Pokémon experience that expands upon the beloved Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version games.”
Read the rest of this entry »

With video games like Skullgirls and the soon-to-come Dust: An Elysian Tail, it’s been fascinating seeing how hand-drawn animations can be incorporated into gameplay with today’s technology. Since mobile devices are part of the new frontier, check out this game, The Act.

Or rather, interactive animation drawn by animators who’ve worked with Disney at some point. You wouldn’t be able to tell from the trailer, but in every scene, you’re tasked to help Edgar keep up appearances by sliding your finger across the screen to shift his emotions, affect his actions, and the intensity of such.

You can get this roughly 30-40 minute game in the iTunes store for $3, other digital stores getting it later.

Valve has finally released the tenth and final installment of the Team Fortress 2 “Meet the Team” videos alongside their heavily anticipated movie making software: Source Filmmaker.

Source Filmmaker has been used by Valve to make the Meet the Team videos and all trailers for seven years now, and as of today, they have released it to the public via a beta invite system, as they have been doing with their two most recent games. Watch their trailer for it below and go here for the official site.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today Capcom announced that Noisia and Combichrist have worked to create the music of DmC ‘Dubstep May Cry’. Working in collaboration with Capcom and Ninja Theory, to create unique tracks for the games cinematic sequences and fights. Along with original music, Combichrist’s catalogue tracks, were also licensed to add to the game’s already adrenaline-pumping soundtrack.

“It’s been an awesome experience working with Ninja Theory on the game. We had great freedom but were also bound by certain criteria typical in the game world. These are challenging boundaries (for example; consistency in sonics over 180 minutes of music) but also lots of space in terms of dynamics & progression and instrumentation being able to create soundscapes without having to worry about holding the attention of a dancefloor. Their music director was great to work with, good vibes. It’s great when you get to play to your strengths. Also, the game kicks ass! “ – Noisia, June 2012

“As an avid gamer myself I was honored to be asked to work on this project. I had a lot of fun digging myself into Dante’s psyche in order to create music to match the battle scenes and am equally as excited to license existing Combichrist music. I’m looking forward playing the finished game when it comes out.” – Andy LaPlegua, Lead Singer Combichrist, June 2012

Is anyone excited for this polished gem?

If you had caught the Nintendo Direct video announcement that happened a few hours ago. You would of learned about a few interesting announcements regarding fall lineup for Nintendo, as well as a new hardware release for the Nintendo 3DS. Yet, the news of the night came straight from Nintendo of America’s very own Reggie Fils-Aime. Where he announced that New Super Mario Bros 2 would be receiving Downloadable Content Pack(s). These packs would include challenge levels for the new “Coin Rush” mode, which is a mode where players play through 3 random levels with 1 life to try and get the high score by collecting coins.

While Reggie Fils-Aime danced around the price point and the release date for the DLC pack(s). New Super Mario Bros 2 is said to be released in August of this year. So DLC packs should probably come within a month or two after release.

Its nice to see such a widely respected company, such as Nintendo, sticking to their word about providing a fun complete experience for the consumer. Now we can just expand on that complete experience for the price of a few dollars.

Announced during tonight’s Nintendo Direct presentation, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask is officially coming to the U.S. this November. The game actually launched with the 3DS in Japan and American gamers have been waiting nearly two years for the localized version of the game to hit our shores. Thankfully, the wait is almost over.

In case you guys weren’t watching our live stream of tonight’s Nintendo Direct conferences, Satoru Iwata announced that the new Smash Bros. titles for Wii U and the 3DS will be co-developed by Namco Bandai Games and Namco Bandai Studio in association with Sakurai’s studio Project Sora. Of course, Masahiro Sakurai is still directing the project.

Namco’s Masaya Kobayashi, who’s worked on Ridge Racer, and Yoshito Higuchi of the Tales games, will be the head of development on the Namco’s side.

Keep in mind, Super Smash Bros. Brawl was co-developed by Monolith Soft, Game Arts and Paon so this wouldn’t be the first time that Smash was being developed by an external studio. If anything, this just cements the fact that Pac-Man is pretty much a shoe-in for the next big playable 3rd party character slot(especially considering Miyamoto loves Pac-Man).

Namco’s Masaya Kobayashi had a few words to say about the upcoming title:

In order to make Mr. Sakurai proud, we will take on this project with NAMCO BANDAI’s best staff! Yoshito Higuchi, the producer and the director of the “Tales” series, Tetsuya Akatsuka, producer and director of “Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs.,” the art director/sound director of the “SoulCalibur” series, the main development team staff from the “TEKKEN” series…and that’s just for starters. All the top creators from NAMCO BANDAI are gathered here to create a never-before-seen dream team for this project. We will fully utilize our experience and knowledge in action/fighting game development, technical capability, and organizational strength, and we hereby promise you that we will develop the best and most powerful “Super Smash Bros.” title ever! Don’t miss it!

Be sure to check out Sakurai and Kobayashi’s full statements here.

Japanese Nintendo Direct starts at 11PM EDT / 8PM PDT, with the North American Nintendo Direct starting an hour later.

Both live streams will be viewable, including our live blog of both events, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »