Construed

My probable highlights for the coming month of June.

Prototype is released here in the UK on 12th June.

Out of all the videogame titles released in June, Prototype feels the brightest of the bunch. Gameplay that I have seen looks crisp & fluid but I do hope the storyline will be as entertaining as the action.

There’s no multiplayer gameplay to distract the dev’s from producing a worthy sandbox adventure for the single player. And it’s healthy to see a videogame developer deciding not to include a multiplayer element in the current climate. Let’s just hope there’s enough content in the single player campaign to make Prototype a fully realised game world.

The game diary posts in late June should have some heavy Prototype content & I expect to write a review of the game for Caught in the Crossfire, at a later date.

Terminator Salvation could be a return to form, after a rather disappointing Terminator 3:Rise of the Machines, with a UK release date of the 3rd June. I am unlikely to get to see it on release but it does follow as a close second to the new Star Trek film, as a must see on the big screen.

From what I have read, Christian Bale has had a big part in bringing this movie to life. With hints that there will be far less enthasis on the special effects, this time round, with far more focus on the storyline & characterisation.

The videogame spin-off to the Terminator Salvation movie, is released a few weeks earlier on the 19th May. But I really don’t hold much hope that this title will add anything to the swell of third person shooters.

Terminator Salvation is the fourth movie in the franchise & I am hoping it does a good job of tying the whole Terminator story together. I feel a fifth movie would be overkill.

A new era for the Dectective Comics title comes in June. Not since issue #27 has Batman not been the main character lead, in this long running comic book.

Issue #854 – available on the 24th June – will see the four part “Elegy” story begin. A storyline involving Batwoman as the central character in a Gotham without Batman. The artwork will be penned by JH Williams III whose work I have admired for awhile now. I’m quite excited by the choice of character in Batwoman, as this will be the first storyline, if my memory serves me correctly, that I have read with her as the central character.

Am curious to who will be the future central characters in the Detective Comics title while Batman takes a well earned break – there’s just no way he’ll remain dead for long…surely?

So there you have it – some of my hopes for good entertainment that I’ll be looking to cover in June. I will be highlighting more of my hopes sometime next month, with an eye on the new crop of entertainment that will be due in July.

What are you looking forward to?

DM∞

I may have been late to the party with purchasing a XBOX 360 & PS3 but when I think back over the other consoles that I have owned in the past, none of them have been of SEGA branding. At the height of the Dreamcast’s popularity(late ’90s), I was caught up in the realm of PC gaming & hungry for as much online gaming as I could devour from that medium – games like my first MMO love, Meridian 59.

The Dreamcast was unique in it’s ability to allow players a taste of online gaming, via a console, for the very first time. So my gaming habits could have been very different, if I had latched onto console gaming with the Dreamcast, at that time.

There have been plenty of rumours circulating since the demise of the Dreamcast, that SEGA would eventually return to the console hardware market again with Dreamcast 2. But the official word has always been the same from SEGA & was again reaffirmed this week, in a tweet:

Shame.

Personally, I would welcome another console into the fray. But is there space in the market between the likes of the 360s, PS3s & Wiis? Would a new console need to be significantly different from what is already in the market, to succeed?

Whatever SEGA produces in the future, be it software or consoles or indeed both, I’m sure they are shrewed enough to succeed. I just find that to dismiss the possibility of console production, in the way that they have, will probably never end the rumour or speculation from inside & outside of the games industry. Dreamcast owners of old, seem to hold very fond memories of their SEGA console – possibly the last ever manufactured by SEGA – to which, I must admit, I feel a little bit jealous of.

DM∞

I’ve had a funny few weeks of late.  Hardly touching a gamepad in that time – being uninspired as I have to play any of the titles in my videogames library. Even looking through a list of future releases has just left me feeling rather tired. Without doubt this is a period of general burnout that I hadn’t expected to affect me but it has. There’s really no point in fighting it – past experience has taught me that it’s best just to roll with it & see it out.

One demo that I did download, on this very day, was the new Wolverine title based on the recent X-Men Origins movie release. It’s a short demo, allowing just enough time to pick up the combat combos & techniques with a small slice of the storyline exposed. I don’t expect to play the full game at release but liking the Wolverine character as I do, there’s a strong chance of me picking it up at a later date.

I did have a more expectant feeling for the June release of Prototype than I did for the Wolverine title. Both have some similarities in their lead characters abilities & am sure the development team at Radical Entertainment looked over the history of Wolverine, at some point in the creation process.

DM∞

[note: the following was one of the submissions I used for a recent failed job application - I wanted to share it with you, as it still relevant]

NASA’s recently announced three-way partnership to produce a space exploration MMO, with Virtual Heroes and Project Whitecard, has now been given a slightly less-than-sexy name in Astronaut:Moon, Mars, and Beyond.

“‘Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond’ was selected because the three companies involved had a really ideal combination of qualities we were looking for,” Daniel Laughlin of NASA’s Learning Technologies Project Office said in a statement. “They have the right experience, they demonstrated their ability to engage middle school through higher education curricula, and they have extraordinary enthusiasm about working with NASA to make a fun game…”[1]

Sure, space exploration doesn’t grab the headlines or the imagination quite like it did back in the 60s and 70s. But there are high hopes at NASA that Astronaut: Moon, Mars, an Beyond, their first foray into MMO gaming, will bring a spur of interest back into the field of scientific study:

“We want to create a fun, compelling gaming experience that will give players the chance to learn about science and engineering careers while they play the game,” said Daniel Laughlin, Ph.D., project manager of NASA Learning Technologies. “NASA is committed to attracting more students to science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields of study and careers. We hope this game will inspire players to consider those careers.”[2]

So what can the player expect from NASA’s MMO? A varied choice of playable professions to choose from?

“Players will pick a profession like a roboticist, space geologist, astrobiologist or mechanical engineer and work together as a team as they explore space and complete missions, establishing bases and outposts and traveling to the farthest reaches of the solar system,” explained JerryHeneghan, founder and CEO of Virtual Heroes.[3]

Expect a demo of Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond in our solar system later this year, with full systems launch due in 2010.

DM∞

In need of a little cheering up? I did this morning & what else could put a smile on an old geek’s face than some french guy playing out Pacman in a supermarket?

Remi Gaillard is that guy. A french prankster that seems to have been playing the fool since 2001 – my french is a little rusty!

My thanks to TheDvS for the heads-up!

DM∞