Champions Online, the upcoming superhero MMO from City of Heroes (and Villians) developer Cryptic Studios and publisher Atari, has been given a worldwide PC release date of July 14, 2009. We know that an Xbox 360 version is in the works, but nothing official has been said on that front.

The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf is a console remake of the hit 2007 RPG, The Witcher. On the latest GRTV, CD Projekt Red and Atari debuted the first combat gameplay of the title showing some very cinematic aspects, if you ask me. The camera system is very different in this game for an RPG.

CD Projekt says that in the console version, they are “taking the best of the The Witcher, like the storyline, and we are doing everything else like user interface, combat system, new animations, new boss fights, some new music, a new engine, and we are aiming to create and ultimate console RPG coming out Fall 2009.”

Sorry, sir, but this game has nothing to do with you. She can stay.

I’ve been looking forward to Alone in the Dark for some time now.  I’ve watched probably several hours worth of gameplay videos and developer interviews, each one making my itch for the game that much harder to scratch.  Unfortunately, the game left me battered and bloody along the side of the road after it had its brutal, uncaring, but somehow (at times) exciting way with me.  It’s definitely not as bad as the movie, but the game does come close at times.

This Alone in the Dark is actually a continuation of the story started in the original Alone in the Dark that came out in 1992. Even though it’s something like one hundred years after the originals, the story centers around Edward Carnby, a man who wakes up in an unimaginably horrible situation made even more unnerving when he realizes he not only has no idea what’s going on, but he’s forgotten who he is.

Alone in the Dark is set up like a DVD of a hit TV show, you can skip back and forth between levels, though when you do this you start off with no inventory except the essentials the game forces you to carry, like your gun and flashlight.  When you load a saved game or skip to a chapter, there is even a brief sequence of “Previously, on Alone in the Dark” that makes the game feel even more similar to modern television shows like Lost or Battlestar Galactica.  Strangely, when you first start the game you can skip right to the last episode if you wanted to, though you’ll have to do a bit of running around to just finish the game from that point.

Things start out pretty good for the game.  Your character wakes up and the game forces you into first-person view mode, allowing you to look around and try and figure out what’s going on.  In a short time, the story progresses and you get to play in third person.  Pretty much right away things get exciting as quite literally all hell starts breaking loose and you are forced to just try to survive the destruction of the building you found yourself waking up in.

Once out of the building, you have to flee in a car as hell or something destroys the ground behind you.  Think giant groundhog chasing you through the streets of New York city.  It really started off pretty awesome as buildings were exploding all around and hell was pretty much tearing itself out from the bowels of the city.

It becomes quickly apparent, however, that the designer of the vehicle physics must have called in sick most of the time, or else was part of an outreach program because the vehicle controls are HORRIBLE.  See that?  All caps HORRIBLE.  You’ll find yourself spinning out for no reason, flipping around for no reason and getting stuck on curbs… for no reason  What started out as a pretty exciting car chase turned into an exercise in frustration.  I received the achievement for driving ten miles before I even finished the first driving sequence, if that tells you something.

Unfortunately, things don’t tend to get better after that.  One example of the apparent laziness of the developers is the names of the bad guys.  The fissure-controlled zombie people are called, of all things, Humanz.  With a Z.  Okay, whatever, stupid name, but I’m sure it was just a bad choice, right?  Wrong.  The little headcrab dudes are called Ratz and the flying demon bat things are, get this… Vampirez.  I thought maybe they were Batz, but I guess they wanted to be original or something.

In general, the controls for the game are okay, especially considering the innovative nature.  The left stick moves your character, and the right stick moves the camera around a little bit, unless you have a weapon like an axe or hammer.  In this case, the RS moves the weapon around.  Move it slowly, and you can use it for some puzzles or, if it’s on fire or emitting light in some way, it brightens up certain areas as you explore.  Move the stick around quickly, and you swing fast, almost a simplified Fight Night-type deal.

This is pretty neat at first, but is a bit twitchy and prone to be unresponsive at the least convenient moment.  It does feel satisfying at times, like when you’ve knocked a Humanz down and just keep pummeling him with a baseball bat to try and keep him out long enough to get some fire on him.  Further complicating the controls, however, is that to fire a gun or use Aqua Net flamethrowers, you must switch to first person, with standard FPS controls.  It wouldn’t be to bad but through the course of a fight, jumping from one to the other because you need to use different weapons can be disconcerting.  It can just get confusing in a heated battle and never feels intuitive.  You’ll be fighting the controls right up to the end of the game.

Further complicating matters of combat is your extraordinarily sparse inventory.  You’ll get a few slots on the left of your jacket for things like bandages, batteries and bullets, and a few more slots on the right for larger objects, like bottles, cans, and flares.  I sort of let it go at first, as this is survival horror and things are supposed to be this way.  You shouldn’t have an arsenal of weapons to attack the enemy — you should be forced to play it smart, but it just doesn’t work in this game for a few reasons.

First, nothing is as good at killing most enemies as the picked-up melee weapons like axes or steel pipes, which you can’t keep.  The only melee weapon you can opt to keep is the knife, but that thing blows so fucking hard that there’s no point using it as a weapon.  Secondly, there just isn’t enough stuff laying around to even bother using them as weapons unless you absolutely have to.  It is just infinitely easier to save the gas in your bottles until you knock all the enemies down than to try and blow them up.  Blowing them up probably won’t kill them, and it uses the whole bottle, while pouring a bit of gas on them while they’re knocked out only takes a few ounces of the stuff, and you still have the bottle, which can be refilled by puncturing a fuel tank.

This also is a pain, though, because the “A” button is also used to pick up objects, including dragging dead bodies, as well as to use some items in your hand.  More than once I tried to dump fuel on a beat up Humanz and was rewarded with dragging his body around instead, only to have him then wake back up and smack the shit out of me before I could catch him on fire.

Also, first aid spray gets incredibly hard to get as you go along in the game.  In the beginning, you find them everywhere — it’s like everyone who was in central park was throwing this stuff around instead of frisbees, but right around the mid-point of the game, it just disappears.  Yeah, you can go back to some places and pick it up again, but it’s a lot of backtracking, and the monsters that were there have probably respawned, making it pretty much not worth the time or energy to bother. You’ll likely come out just as beat up as before and end up using the spray you just worked so hard to get.

This wouldn’t be too bad if you could just stock up and just use it later, but with the other stuff you’ll want to keep, you’ll be lucky to ever have two on you at a time. Towards the last few episodes you’ll probably be forced to carry only a half full can with you, if you can even find one.  I finished nearly two episodes, including a boss battle, without finding a single can of first aid spray.  It got to the point where one hit from anything and I was dead.  It was just more difficult than it needed to be, especially when any first aid spray you find is probably falling out of a Humanz’s pocket or surrounded by Vampirez or Ratz.

The inventory problem only gets worse as you go along, as you’ll get another object that you have to carry around with you, eating up another slot in your jacket.  Not only does this object take up a space, but it’s completely useless except for in a few puzzles.  Unlike the lighter, it won’t help you in a single fight.  The whole situation revolves around a useless “key” and really makes me wonder what pants Carnby is wearing that he doesn’t have any pockets.  Furthermore, where does he keep his phone then if his jeans are pocketless?

It’s just very frustrating when you have to make decisions on what to carry in basically three pockets when there are things that, I feel, you just need, like a screwdriver/knife.  I can’t put that in my belt or something?  Again, I understand this from a survival/horror perspective, but I feel it’s just taken a bit too far and detracts from the gameplay.  Even just making a knife holster where the gun and flashlight are would have made a huge difference.  As it stands, I feel that being forced to eat up my super-limited inventory space with story-related objects is a slap in the nuts.  Let me put my god damned Zippo in my pants pocket!  I have to choose between batteries or bullets because I have to carry around some kind of flashlight key?

Most of the time in Alone in the Dark, unfortunately, is spent wandering around Central Park.  To me it just felt tacked on, not only to prolong the game’s fairly short play time, but to go with the whole open-world environment that is oh so popular these days.  I think the game would have been better served with more linearity so that the story could be more focused.  As it is, whenever I was forced to spend a significant amount of time wandering around the park, I somehow managed to feel both frustrated and bored at the same time.

Once again, the driving comes up as a major flaw in the game.  Luckily, you don’t have to drive if you don’t want to, and most of the time I avoided it as much as I could.  On top of the crap physics and controls, the monsters in the game seem to be all but made to kill you if you’re in a car.  Try to run them over and they will jump out of the way or just jump onto the car.  If you do hit them, it actually damages the car, and it hardly seems to hurt them at all.  When they jump on the roof or hood of your car they’ll basically get a few free punches off right into your face.

The only way to get rid of them is to speed up or run into something, and sometimes it just seems to take a long time to gain enough speed to scare them off, and more than a few times I’ve slammed into a tree, damaging myself and the car, only to have the Humanz punch me a few more times.  The Humanz also have the ability to kick the car several yards or just rip the door off and drag you out of the car like you’re Reginald Denny, making running into stuff even more of a losing proposition.

Furthermore, there is no way to carry along the melee weapons in a car, and fighting without them is difficult at best.  That means that most of the time when I was playing I was running around Central Park carrying a hammer or axe just in case I saw a bad guy I had to fight.  This also means that, thanks to the way the sticks are used for melee, any time I’d run up a hill I was basically blind as I couldn’t move the camera “up”.  I also had to stop and look left and right if I thought I heard anything, as if I was Ram Man and neckless.

Now, if all you had to do was run from Point-A to Point-B all the time, this wouldn’t be all that frustrating, but things are not so easy when the forces of evil take over and make game design decisions.  At some point in the game, you’ll see weird little circles of static on your GPS.  If you’re like me, you’ll think What the hell is that? and go check it out.  Well, later on they explain that it’s evil roots and you have to kill them to increase your vision power, which lets you solve some puzzles and see enemies’ weaknesses and the like.  The problem is that they start appearing fairly early on and nothing is explained about them until much later, when more and more have already appeared.

Further frustration is caused when they tell you that you have to destroy them in order to progress the story, which just happens to be approaching the climax.  I was spared this frustration a bit as I had already run around killing them as they popped up, which I recommend anyone else do as they play the game.  Otherwise, you’ll have to spend at least a few hours before you can continue the story.

To be perfectly honest, I have not finished every section of each of the episodes.  Eden must have realized that there were some downright shitty areas in the game because you can skip ahead whenever you want, which I did at every single stage that had me driving for more than a few seconds.  These driving stages are like timed races and, thanks to the physics, are some of the most infuriating stages of any game I’ve ever played.  Thank you Eden for at least realizing how crappy it was and letting me skip it.

Maybe I missed some great gaming moments because I skipped these stages, but if I was forced to play them, I would be writing this review from prison after using my 360 to bludgeon innocent neighbors to death.  Also, maybe skipping some of the stages gave me some kind of different ending, but all the endings I managed to get were horribly disappointing.  I won’t ruin anything for the few of you that decide to play the game, but the “good” ending is four seconds long and the “bad” ending is probably six.  Between the sudden abeyance of the story because of the roots and the crap ending, I was more than a little disappointed.

The truth is that I’m glad I played the game.  It was different than most games and had more than a few moments that were truly amazing.  Like so many great ideas, it was brought down by it’s own innovative design.  There just hasn’t been enough people doing this type of thing to get the kinks ironed out.

If there is a sequel, I’m sure it will be much better, but as this stands, I just can’t recommend it for anything beyond a rental, if that.  The ability to skip sections of the game that are frustrating is a boon for this though, and a casual gamer should be able to knock out the game in a solid weekend of play — that is if they skip the god-awful driving stages.  Otherwise, this game may turn into your very own version of hell.

What does this score mean? Check out our review scoring breakdown.

Okay, so this isn’t really porn in the traditional sense.  It just happens to be some truly amazing ATARI artwork done in neon awesomeness.

Once again, I stumbled upon some neato videogame-related artwork while trapsing through the deviantART world.  These pictures were created by Surround, an artist whose profile describes him as a Venezuelan political writer.  If this is what politics are like down south, I may have to migrate there and run for office.

Click images for a larger view:

You can check out the rest of Surround’s artwork at his page on deviantART.

Atari has announced that the PC version of their upcoming survival-horror game, Alone in the Dark, will ship with the SecuRom anti-piracy system.

After the game is installed, players will go through an “activation” process, which requires connecting online to unlock components that will allow the game to be playable.

Once the process is done, players will be able to play the game offline — but if you’re planning on playing the game on a different computer, you’ll have to uninstall the game, which causes the serial number to be revoked, and forces you to repeat the entire process all over again.

Sounds like a bunch of hogwash to me, but I’m sure it’ll work out for Atari seeing that it’ll keep most people from being able to duplicate multiple copies of the game.

Source: blog.wired.com

German videogame site 4players.de claims to be involved in apparent legal battle with Atari stemming from the sites review of “Alone in the Dark”, a multiplatform horror/action game published by Atari due to hit US store shelves on June 24th, 2008.

Keeping in mind that the original article is in German, and it is well beyond the “normal” business hours we would utilize to obtain a comment from Atari, we were able to loosely interpret the following information from the public complaint aired on the German gaming site:

• Atari pulled advertising from site after receiving a less than satisfactory review.
• Atari tried in some way to influence their reporting (review) of the game.
• Atari is claiming that their review is not based on a final copy of the game.
• Atari is claiming some sort of illegal download of the game took place.
• Atari is seeking damages in the form of a monetary value (50,000 euros).
• Site claims in P.S. format that Ubisoft did not pull advertising despite Haze receiving a 66% overall.

Not sure what that last point has to do with the current issue at hand — maybe the website is attempting to show their maturity by kicking a little dirt in the direction of Atari.

Infogrames CEO David Gardner reveals that the company may forge on ahead under the Atari banner.

Regarding the possible rebranding, Gardner says:

I’d like to consider that, I think that would be the final mark of the transformation from Infogrames to Atari. We have a new board of directors, a new management team that’s less than a year old – so yes, it’s really continuing.

We like to think of Infogrames, instead of being the tired, old company, we like to think of it as the best-funded, best-branded, most energetic start-up in the history of computer gaming.

This transformation will apparently see big budget titles take a backseat to online titles, which president Phil Harrison believes can succeed due to the increasing quality of in-browser flash games and ubiquity of home broadband for digital distribution.

“We are absolutely a start-up,” says Harrison. “We’re just a start-up with 25 years of history.”

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

The sinking ship known as Atari has plugged a hole by becoming part of the Steam initiative. They’ve added 9 games that are available right now, and promise more in coming weeks.

The list of currently available titles includes – Act of War: Direct Action, Act of War: High Treason, Arma: Combat Operations, Atari: 80 Classics in 1, Death to Spies, Desperados 2: Cooper’s Revenge, Indigo Prophecy, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Platinum, and Tycoon City: New York.

Nothing too appealing, besides Indigo Prophecy, which from what I remember didn’t have too great of an ending. Although it’s definitely worth a look, if you’re into psychological/paranormal thrillers, especially at the price of $9.95.

However, it’ll start to spice up within the “coming weeks.” They plan to release The Witcher, Neverwinter Nights 2, and its expansion Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer. All three were well-received RPGs.

Although Nizzi Renaud, VP of Online Entertainment for Atari is quoted as having said, “Atari is excited to team up with Steam and deliver great games through a digital platform that our fans have asked for,” the cynic in me is wondering how much involvement Phil Harrison had to do with it, considering that Infogrames, who recently acquired Phil, runs Atari.

Either way, smart move for Atari – and the Steam library just got a little sweeter.

Source: Steam

Atari has today confirmed that Phil Harrison, originally of Sony Computer Entertainment, has joined mother-company Infogrames as president. Read what he has to say about the move after the jump.

Phil Harrison resigned from his presidential position at Sony’s Worldwide Studios last week, creating an uproar on the inter-webs as to where he’d possibly go next. Gamesindustry.biz revealed dubious information that Harrison might be moving to Atari to reinvigorate the company’s software business. This is precisely the case.

“This is the perfect time to join Infogrames and help shape the future of Atari – one of the industry’s legendary brands. As the game business moves rapidly online I believe we have an outstanding opportunity to create amazing network game and community experiences for players the world over,” said Harrison.

Harrison will be working alongside new CEO David Gardner, who welcomed Harrison with warm words:

I am pleased to welcome Phil to Infogrames. He has an outstanding reputation in the industry, as one of the key leaders behind the success of PlayStation. We have been seeking an opportunity to work together for some time and I am certain he will be able to make a significant contribution to the publishing strategy of the Group.

Drawing upon Infogrames’ strong financial foundation, Phil will have the means to attract new talent, develop studio and online capabilities, and drive forward our publishing activities. I want to work with people that understand fun for consumers and fun in the company culture. We’re going to have a lot more of both around here with Phil!

Harrison’s online expertise (he’s the brain child of Gamer 3.0 – Home, LittleBigPlanet, Singstar) is sure to help with Atari’s new online direction; this interest is explained by Gardner:

The business and the industry is moving online on a global basis. It’s moving at different speeds in different countries, but it’s pretty clear to me that the whole way that people are going to want to buy their games, play their games, interface with their games is network-centric.

Commenting on this appointment, Michel Combes, Chairman of the Board of Infogrames had this to say:

Having spent their entire careers in the video games industry, David Gardner and Phil Harrison bring their vision, their passion and a proven track-record of success in this arena to Infogrames.

Phil Harrison is a great business developer, with an outstanding ability to innovate great products in the games industry. He brings with him an impressive track record from Sony, one of the leading technology, media and entertainment companies in the world. We are delighted that he has decided to join Infogrames at this transformative moment in its history to spearhead our publishing, game development and studio activities.

Good luck to Harrison, as he’s sure to be missed at Sony Computer Entertainment. If anyone can bring Atari back, Phil can. SEGA next please!

Source: Eurogamer

Sony has surprisingly announced that Phil Harrison, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, will be resigning from his position this week on February 29, 2008.

Kaz Hirai, former head of Sony Computer Entertainment America who is now filling the shoes of the previously departed Ken Kutaragi, will assume Harrison’s duties along with his current responsibilities.

Not the first big name to leave one of the industry’s major hardware developers, Harrison has been at Sony for pretty much the entire life of the PlayStation brand and has been a very visible face for the company in the last couple years.

While there is no word on the catalyst for this move, maybe it should not come as such a surprise given some of Harrison’s recent comments at GDC concerning his frustrations with certain voices inside Sony.

Speculation aside, while there is no word on Harrison’s reasoning, Gamesindustry.biz is reporting that he may be joining Atari in the near future. Press release in full below.

SCE WORLDWIDE STUDIOS PRESIDENT
PHIL HARRISON RESIGNS
SCEI Group CEO Kazuo Hirai Assumes Responsibilities

Tokyo, February 25, 2008 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today announced that Phil Harrison, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS), will resign from Sony Computer Entertainment Group as of February 29, 2008. Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of SCEI, will immediately assume responsibilities as president of SCE WWS, in addition to his current duties.

Prior to the launch of the original PlayStation®, Phil Harrison joined Sony Electronics Publishing, Ltd. in 1992, which later evolved into Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, and since then, he has made a tremendous contribution to the company playing a strategic role in the launch of four PlayStation platforms, as well as building strong relationships with game developers and publishers throughout the world. Since his appointment to the position of president, SCE WWS, Harrison applied his considerable skill, knowledge and expertise to lead SCE Group’s first party game development as well as aggressively pursuing the development of new online entertainment experiences.

“As one of the founding members of SCE, Phil played a key role in the development and growth of the PlayStation business and our industry,” said Kazuo Hirai. “It is sad to see him departing from SCE, but I wish to express my gratitude for his many invaluable contributions and also wish Phil the very best of luck in his future endeavors.”

“The past 15 years at Sony Computer Entertainment has been the defining journey of my life so far,” said Phil Harrison. “I am grateful to all the PlayStation family for their incredible support, guidance and friendship. It has been a privilege to serve as part of the team and be inspired by them on a daily basis. I am so proud of everything PlayStation has achieved and will continue to support its future in every way I can.”

Source: SCEI, NeoGAF, Gameindustry.biz

As well as announcing its website’s launch, Atari have released several screenshots of the new entry to the long-running survival-horror series Alone in the Dark.

The shots are predictably dark and atmospheric, one showing more of long-time series’ hero Edward Carnby with a next-generation face, and the other demonstrating a creepy location within the game.

Cryptic information will be leaked about the game each Thursday up until its May launch, so fans of the series should stay tuned.

Currently the game seems infatuated with Central Park, the famous New York landmark. It questions why such a valuable piece of land exists free in a money-focused city, but all is not as it seems.

Form your own opinion on the images below.

Recently Street Fighter 4 demonstrated some gorgeous cartoon-like visuals, so the prospect of having Akira Toriyama’s classic work vivified on next-gen hardware is a tantalising one. Especially when players will be able to battle over the internet in this latest offering.
Fans have enjoyed the Budokai Tenkaichi in the past. Recently, however, the series has lacked any innovative movement, so let’s hope a new set of formats will inspire developers to take the series to new heights.

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit will be released later this year. Enjoy the screenshots below.

After initially delaying a formal announcement in June while the company calculated their “goodwill impairment charge” Atari of America, headquartered in New York, has released a financial statement today reporting a net loss of (cover your ears Pac-Man) $71.3 million. An impairment charge is the new term for writing off worthless goodwill, in case you were wondering.

New York-based Atari has released a statement regarding its annual financial figures today, after delaying the announcement in June as it calculated a “final determination regarding a goodwill impairment charge.”

The Infogrames subsidiary also confirmed that their goodwill impairment charge would be $54.1 million and that their net revenues would be $121.6 million give or take a power pellet or two.

Source: CFO.com