LUCID FORGE

Nothing beats lazy summer days procrastinating about how you’ve still got a full month left to do summer stuff as you watch the days fly away and sit on your couch in front of the TV. Why not take the opportunity to go outside and get some fresh air as you head out to the video game store and see what their latest offerings are. Look below for previews, reviews and release dates; this is the August edition of Lucid Gaming.

In the News


World Cyber Games return

As the eyes of the world turn to Beijing this Friday for the Summer Olympics, the thumbs of gamers will be tuned in to Cologne, Germany for the World Cyber Games starting November 5th. Similar to the Olympics, a digital torch relay is being run leading up to the games this fall, and just in time for the Olympics, the Christian Science Monitor is pondering e-gaming’s chances for respect as a legitimate sport.

“Video games are only getting bigger and more pervasive,” says Michael Kane, author of the book Game Boys: Professional Videogaming’s Rise from the Basement to the Big Time told reporter Gloria Goodale. “So the question is, what about the kids who are the best at it? Will they be rewarded for their ability? That’s the attempt being made now, and they are moving forward with baby steps.” He points out that as recently as two years ago, some 15 young aspirants were making roughly $20,000 each. Today, as many as 90 full-time professionals make as much as $90,000 a year, he says. That includes e-athletes like Johnathan Wendel, who began is career at the age of 18 in 1999 and last August was the first recipient of the lifetime achievement award from eSports, a group devoted to promoting cybercompetition. To see the full article got to http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/08/04/video-gaming-strives-for-respect-is-it-a-sport/ And for more on the World Cyber Games and to follow the torch relay go to: http://www.worldcybergames.com/

Can gaming heal you?

A healthcare start up in San Francisco says it’s got a novel new way of helping to ensure that young people stay on their meds during cancer treatment: video games. And if successful, they can adapt their program to help ensure general healthiness in patients.

Dr. Steve Cole, vice president of research for the company called HopeLab said such games could someday become prescribed elements of a treatment plan covered by medical insurance. "Insurance companies, health maintenance organizations, the government, all are interested in how to prevent disease in large numbers of people at low cost," he said. They developed a game called Re-Mission to motivate those in cancer remission to look after themselves and keep up with their medication. A clinical trial of 375 subjects found that Re-Mission players were more likely to take their drugs regularly than a control group that played a commercial video game. Re-Mission's positive influence varied, however, depending on the drug and the patient subgroup; the reasons why will be explored in future studies. The Re-Mission study singled out cancer patients about 13 to 30 years old, who often fail to take their medicines regularly. That may mean a higher rate of relapse or death, scientists fear. Re-Mission was developed with the Serious Games Initiative, a consortium of game producers trying to achieve everything from better disaster management to world peace.

GTA pulled after copycat in Thailand

Asia’s distributor of Grand Theft Auto IV have pulled the game from sale after a Thai teenager confessed to having robbed and killed a taxi driver after being inspired by the game, reported The Times Online. The company, New Era Interactive, sent a note to all stores selling the game, having them pull GTA-IV from the shelves following the arrest of a 19-year-old high school student in Bangkok. The Bangkok Police said that the accused, “had wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game.”

The accused, Polwat Chino, was described by his parents as polite and diligent. He was arrested late on Saturday after he was found trying to steer a cab backwards out of a Bangkok street with the severely wounded driver in the back seat, according to local newspaper reports. He was playing the game at the local video game shop and ran out of money. He said that he needed more money to keep playing and that the taxi driver looked like an easy target. A police spokesman said Mr Chino was an obsessive player of Grand Theft Auto and showed no sign of mental problems during questioning and had confessed to committing the crime because of the game. He went on to say that he “needed money to play the game every day” and that his parents didn’t give him enough, though they were, in his words, “poor civil servants.” The Thai Cultural Ministry called this a “wake-up call” for authorities and continued their call for tough restrictions on violent games. "This time-bomb has already exploded and the situation could get worse," the official was quoted as saying. "Today it is a cab driver but tomorrow it could be a video game shop owner."

Previews


Guitar Hero World Tour/Rock Band 2

It was announced a couple of weeks ago that Jimi Hendrix would be joining the line-up of the new Guitar Hero game when it’s released this Fall. Experience Hendrix, the company that owns the rights to the late rock legends catalogue, have signed off approval for publishers Activision and Red Octane to use two tracks for the new title: “The Wind Cries Mary” and a live version of “Purple Haze” that was recorded in 1969. Hendrix’s likeness will also be featured as a playable character in the game, joining Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins and Travis Barker of Blink-182 and +44. Not to be outdone, Harmonix and MTV Games, publishers of Rock Band, announced that the upcoming sequel, Rock Band 2, will feature a cut from Guns ‘N’ Roses off their 14 years in the making album Chinese Democracy. Guitar Hero World Tour will be released on October 27th. Rock Band 2 is expected to be released sometime in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game

For gamers and Ghostbusters fans at E3, there was a first look at the long-awaited adaptation of the film series that asked: Who are you gonna call? Unfortunately, there was some bad news following not long after as rumours flew around that not only was the game not going to be released in 2008, it might not even be released at all.

Ghostbusters has been in development for some time. The game, which was written by film creators and co-stars Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis and features their voices along with those of Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson, was one of the hotly anticipated games for the year with an October release date. When Activision Blizzard released their list of upcoming games for release, several name games, including Ghostbusters, were not on it, leading to much speculation on the game’s status. A statement from one of Activision’s PR reps merely said that the game was not cancelled. In Variety, video game reporter and review editor Ben Fritz said that Sony, who owns the film rights to the movies, told him that "this has presented [Sony Pictures Consumer Products] with an opportunity to re-evaluate the game release marketing strategy to potentially coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original film in '09."

Fritz went on to say that both Sony and Activision are “in talks” with other publishers with an eye of getting a deal in place that will not only secure an ’09 release. “Given the strength of the brand and the marketing that has already gone into the game, I can't imagine the studio will have any trouble finding multiple interested partners,” wrote Fritz last week. “The only question may be whether that new publisher can reach a deal with Activision Blizzard to pay for the millions already spent on development.”

In the meantime, to tide you over, the trailer can be seen at Game Trailers here: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36298.html


NBA Live ’09

“Along with presenting five real-life NBA stars (Andre Iguodala, Rudy Gay, Brandon Roy, Andrea Bargnani, and Live 09 cover athlete Tony Parker), on hand to check out the game, record some motion capture, and chat with the media, EA once again gave a quick presentation of the DNA feature, which looks to capture the real-life tendencies of both individual players and entire teams. Players are broken down not just by their hot spots on the floor, but by their tendency to move left or right on a defender at any spot on the court, as well as their propensity to shoot.

“In addition, the DNA data will record what kind of play a particular player prefers to run--everything from isolation, to pick and roll, to off-ball screens. Combine all these tendencies and you'll have a pretty complete picture of how a player competes. For example, in NBA Live 09, Tony Parker is noted as a pick and roll ball handler, one who rarely shoots from outside, instead preferring to shoot from the left side of the baseline and who likes to move left at the top of the key. Like Parker, Brandon Roy's DNA pegs him as a pick and roll ball handler; unlike Tony, however, Roy is more dangerous on the right side of the baseline, but is liable to go left or right on a defender when playing on the left side of the hoop down low.” – Gamespot.com

Wolfenstein

“At first, combat seems like basic first-person-shooter fare. B.J. blasts his way through the German defense using authentic WWII weaponry like tommy guns, emplaced MG42 machine guns, and his trusty flamethrower. There's no dedicated squad-command mechanic; instead, your allies will fight, and sometimes die, beside you. Raven is trying to give you as many choices as possible, so you can take multiple paths to eliminate your enemies. In one instance, Raven had B.J. take to the rooftops and flank a German machine gun nest while his Kreisau allies fought in the streets below. Or, Raven says, B.J. could have descended through a manhole into the sewers and popped out behind a very surprised German squad. Or you could go the traditional route and take cover behind walls and sandbags in the streets, picking off foes one by one.” – Gamespot.com

Reviews


Soul Calibur IV – PS3

“SoulCalibur is a fully 3D fighter as you might have figured out. So the movement of the characters and how they look and react is very important to the gameplay. The characters movement is very smooth and the game leaves very little for fighting fans to desire. The number of moves each character poses is huge and the time it will take for you to master them is very long, giving the game a big plus in the value department. “The set of characters is extremely diverse. Take Maxi for example, the fast and active fighter (personal favorite)who will knock you out before you even think twice about your next move. Larger characters such as Nightmare and Rock are also at your disposal. Playing and finishing the arcade mode with each character will reveal some info regarding that specific character. You also have a whole museum filled with unlockables that reveal more and more about the game and series overall. For every fight you play and finish (win or lose) you will rewarded with golden points which in turn can be used to purchase museum’s items, new characters and items to be used in the character creation/modification mode.” – Megamers.com

“Character creation is a heavy focus for SoulCalibur IV, and the game offers nearly limitless options. You're restricted to the main characters' fighting styles, but beyond that you can make your custom fighters male or female, choose everything from their build to their hair color to their voice pitch, and dress them in seemingly limitless clothing options. Even if your female wolf-headed ninja dancer clad in chainmail fights exactly like Yoshimitsu, the appearance is so radically different that she does feel like a fresh character.

“The only downside to customizing is that there seems to be no way to take your badass custom characters over to your friend's house to compete against his superpowered custom characters. Unless you feel like leveling up your favorite fighter's style and earning items to deck them out on your friend’s save file, you’re on your own against his custom Ivy. Most players will probably just opt to play Standard Versus, which disables custom skill effects. You can use your custom characters online, but this presents its own set of problems.” – G4TV.com


Final Fantasy IV - DS

“Interestingly enough though, the game isn't frustratingly hard like previous Final Fantasy games have been on other platforms. The days of "two step random battles" seem to be gone, and rather than being difficult because it's overwhelming, it proved to be a tough game based on the strategic element of it all. The dungeon map system helps a tremendous amount, though it also had me wanting to stick around in caves rather than making mad dashes out of them. And while easy to use, the auto-battle system was thrown out in a matter of hours, since I found I needed exact control over my party to pull off the moves I knew we needed to survive. Final Fantasy IV will have you begging for mercy, but when you finally beat that boss, or uncover that dungeon, you'll know it was skill that got you through, and not just the luck of the draw.” – IGN.com

“Is FFIV really just that amazing? I don't think so. What it has going for it is the same thing as VII, in that it struck a chord with a segment of dedicated fans who will always swear by its classic story and gameplay. While Final Fantasy IV was a solid early SNES RPG, I can rattle off two dozen better fourth generation RPGs with little effort. To the game's credit, it has certainly had a big impact on the genre, with scores of games copying its narrative style (characters with unique talents coming and going) and battle mechanic. Still, the game was hardly revolutionary in its time, and considering how much it has been copied and how little has changed, you're likely to find the game tedious if you are not already a big fan of old-school RPGs.” – RPGFan.com

New Releases

Legend:
Name (Genre/Publisher) - Platform

August 1st

Legend: Hand of God (Action/ValuSoft) - PC

August 4th

Summer Athletics (Sports/Conspiracy Entertainment) - Wii
Ys I + II (Role-Playing/Falcom) - Wii
King of Clubs (Puzzle/Crave) - Wii
Wild West Guns (Action/Gameloft) - Wii

August 5th

Puzzler Collection (Puzzle/Destination Software) - DS
Little League World Series 2008 (Sports/Activision) –DS, Wii
The Cheetah Girls: Passport to Stardom (Puzzle/Disney Interactive) - DS
Quick Yoga Training (Puzzle/Ubisoft) - DS
Baseball Mogul 2009 (Sports/Strategy First) - PC
Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour (Action/Disney Interactive) – PS2
GRID (Driving/Codemasters) - DS
Crash Time (Driving/RTL) – X360
Beijing 2008 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games (Sports/Sega) - PC
Ford Racing: Off Road (Driving/Empire Interactive) -PC
B-Boy (Action/SouthPeak Interactive) - PS2
Monster Madness: Grave Danger (Action /SouthPeak Interactive) - PS3
Braid (Action/Number None Inc.) –X360

August 8th

Fate: Undiscovered Realms (Role-Playing/Encore Software, Inc.) - PC

August 12th

Madden NFL 09 (Sports/Electronic Arts) - DS
Bangai-O Spirits (Action /D3) - DS
Line Rider 2: Unbound (Action/Genius Products, Inc.) - Wii
Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm (Sports/Navarre Corp) - PC
N+ (Action/Atari) – PSP, DS
Line Rider 2: Unbound DS Action Genius Products, Inc.) – DS, PC
Imagine Teacher (Puzzle/Ubisoft) - DS
Madden NFL 09 (Sports/Electronic Arts) – XBOX, X360, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii
Dracula 3: Path of the Dragon PC Adventure Microids
Space Siege (Role-Playing/Sega) - PC
Sinking Island (Adventure/Encore Software, Inc.) - PC

August 13th

Fable II Pub Games (Action/Microsoft Game Studios) – X360
Bionic Commando Rearmed (Action/Capcom) – X360, PS3

August 19th

Commando: Steel Disaster (Action/XS Games) - DS
Rebel Raiders: Operation Nighthawk (Simulation/XS Games) - Wii
Super Pick Ups (Driving/XS Games) - Wii
Smash Court Tennis 3 (Sports/Atari) – X360
Two Worlds: Epic Edition (Role-Playing/SouthPeak Interactive) - PC
Too Human (Action/Microsoft Game Studios) - X360
Shattered Suns (Strategy/Clear Crown Studios) - PC

August 21st

Galaga Legions (Action/Namco Bandai Games) - X360
Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty (Action/SCEA) - PS3
Anibus (Action/Tommo) - Wii

August 25th

Mario Super Sluggers (Sports/Nintendo) - Wii
MLB Power Pros 2008 (Sports/2K Sports) - DS

August 26th

Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 PSP Sports Electronic Arts – PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, X360
Time Hollow (Adventure/Konami) - DS
Digimon World Championship (Sports/Namco Bandai Games) - DS
From The Abyss (Action) - DS
Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli (Driving/System 3) - DS
PictoImage (Puzzle/Sega) - DS
DT Racer Refueled (Driving/XS Games) – PS2
The Sims 2 Apartment Pets (Strategy/Electronic Arts) - DS
Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli (Driving/Activision) - Wii
Kidz Sports: Crazy Golf (Sports/Destineer) - Wii
B-Boy (Action/SouthPeak Interactive) - PSP
Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility (Action/Natsume) – Wii, DS
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice (Strategy/NIS America) – PS3
Tales of Vesperia (Role-Playing/Namco Bandai Games America) – X360
Vampire Rain: Altered Species (Action/AQ Interactive) – PS3
Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli (Driving/Activision) – PS3
Margot's Word Brain (Puzzle/Zoo Games) – Wii, DS
Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli (Driving/Activision) – PS2

August 27th

Penumbra: Requiem (Action/Paradox Interactive) - PC
Castle Crashers (Action/The Behemoth) – X360

August 29th

The Sims 2 Apartment Life (Strategy/Electronic Arts) – PC, DS
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky (Action/Koch Media) - PC
Prison Tycoon 4: SuperMax (Strategy/ValuSoft) - PC

August 30th

Hacker Evolution - Reinsertion (Strategy/exoSyphen Studios) - PC
MindHabits (Puzzle/Got Game Entertainment) – MAC, PC

August 31st

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (Action/EA Games) – X360, PC, PS2, PS3

Also in August

OPERATION Mania (Action) - PC
Galactic Civilizations II: Endless Universe (Strategy/Kalypso) - PC
FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage (Driving/Empire Interactive) - PC
Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals (Adventure/Got Game Entertainment) - PC
Code of Honor 2: Conspiracy Island (Action/City Interactive) - PC
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Action/Aspyr) - MAC
Brothers in Arms: Double Time (Action /Ubisoft) - Wii
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People (Adventure/Telltale Games) – Wii, PC
Ford Racing: Off Road (Driving/Empire Interactive) - Wii
Project Powder (Sports) - PC