COD:WaW Engine to Rival/Surpass Unreal

Phahtrox: Really?

You’re sharing the engine with Infinity Ward; what’s it like to use in comparison to something like, say, the Unreal Engine 3?

Farrelly: Our team has had a lot of experience working on that engine. A lot of our guys have been working on it as far back as Call of Duty: United Offensive, which is in fact a similar toolset to what Call of Duty 4 uses. We’ve been working on Call of Duty for longer than World War II lasted and the toolset has evolved over time, so we’re very comfortable with this stuff!

And so when we got the Call of Duty engine and all the tools from IW it was like putting on an old pair of gloves. It’s great because we got this engine that has already shipped quality with all these great features, and not just gameplay features, but the lighting and the sound as well. IW gave us a really good foundation with which we can build our own level of quality, with the fire technology, the water technology, with the plane-based weaponry and so forth.

Heller: I’ve worked on plenty of engines in my career, including Unreal. And I’d say the big difference with this engine is how close it allows designers to get their vision into the game. You’ll be startled to see how close the concept art is to what was replicated in the game. If an artist wants to make a bottle in the game, he designs it and hits a button and a minute and a half later it is in the game.

Farrelly: Rapid Iterations have really allowed us to polish, polish, polish really quickly. And we’ve managed to get more content than we’ve ever managed to before, polished to a level of quality that’s astounding.

Source: http://www.developmag.com

Phahtrox: I'm not going to lie... This is really really really good news.

Call of Duty: World at War Co-Op

This article says it all...

Call of Duty: World at War will be brilliant, it could have been a modern combat game but WWII will still be very good and I am sure the graphics and gameplay will also take on a new lease of life. The Nintendo Wii will get a ported version of the Modern Warfare engine and the support for the Wii Zapper will give that arcade feel in your home.

The graphics on most Wii games might be just “OK” but we are hearing that the Wii’s COD5 will “look better than any Wii game”, according to Senior producer Noah Heller. He went on to say that World at War will be the best shooter that the Wii has ever seen and that it will be aiming for the name of “most next-gen Wii game ever”.

This has got to be good news for Wii owners that want that extra touch to graphics, but then if you are a Wii gamer you will know that graphics was never the reason you bought the console, its all about the gameplay and the Zapper, multiplayer and co-op will bring it.

http://www.product-reviews.net

Phahtrox: Wheeee!!!!

Nintendo E3 Conference Date/Time

Nintendo is going to have the their first conference on July 15 starting a 9:00am. You may want to watch it because Nintendo says this is the year for the hardcore gamer(at least for the Wii).

Phahtrox: Short post... Hope it got your attention.

VC/WiiWare of the Week

Everybody loves a classic battle between good and evil. With the latest additions to the Wii™ Shop Channel, your greatest challenge will be choosing where to wipe out the bad guys—in deep space, on mean city streets or in a monster-ridden fantasy world. Whatever the venue, be ready for outrageous enemies and memorable missions you’ll relish from beginning to end.

Nintendo adds new and classic games to the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii™ owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

WiiWare™

Gyrostarr™ (High Voltage Software, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone—Mild Fantasy Violence, 700 Wii Points): Gyrostarr challenges you and up to three additional players to pilot your ships through a series of twisting, turning technoplasma tracks while battling a variety of deadly alien foes at ever-increasing speeds. While fighting and maneuvering, you must collect enough energy to activate the ancient warpgate at the end of each track. Succeed, and you can journey to the next, even deadlier track. Fail, and the gate will slam shut, destroying your ship. Enhance your ship with weapon pickups, coordinate attacks with your friends to fire powerful combined blasts and use your grapple to snag energy and pickups in the midst of combat. Control your ship with the Wii Remote™ controller, Nunchuk™ controller or Classic Controller™, or use the “paired” control system that allows two players to use a connected Wii Remote and Nunchuk or Classic Controller at the same time. Offering 50 levels of intense action, powerful pickups, high-speed bonus levels and mayhem for up to four players, Gyrostarr is a killer arcade challenge.

Virtual Console™

Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Sega Master System, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone—Comic Mischief, 500 Wii Points): In this platformer from the 1980s, you’re Alex Kidd, looking for your lost brother Egle. In order to find your brother, you’ll have to contend with the evil Janken the Great, who will send his henchmen and monsters at you to thwart your progress. One aspect of this adventure is that you’ll have to play the classic game of “rock, paper, scissors” against the henchmen in order to defeat them. With 16 different levels to conquer in order to save Egle, this classic is sure to test your skills and your wits at the same time.

BURNING FIGHT (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older—Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence, 900 Wii Points): Released in 1991 by SNK, BURNING FIGHT is a side-scrolling hand-to-hand-combat action game. In pursuit of Casterora, leader of a huge syndicate that has escaped from New York to Osaka, the protagonists are three detectives: Duke, Ryu and Billy. Each character fights using a combination of punches, kicks and jumps, plus his own particular special move, activated by simultaneously pressing the jump and attack buttons. These lethal techniques have enormous destructive force, but they also consume a great deal of energy. For this reason, players must use their special moves with skillful timing. Luckily for the detectives, new weapons and additional health can be found by breaking things like phone booths and street signs along the way. A boss, who must be defeated in order to continue the mission, awaits players at the end of each stage. You can also take on the gang with a friend, but beware—attacks by one player can damage the other, so keep an eye on where your partner is in the heat of the battle. End Casterora’s reign of terror once and for all.

The games this week are OK...