E3 Countdown

Larry Hryb, eller bedre kendt som Major Nelson, har netop igangsat en nedtælling til dette års E3. Major Nelson, for at introducere ham, har været en del af Xbox-holdet siden 2003, hvorfor en nedtælling på hans side er en ganske finurlig ting. E3, som I alle ved, er et af årets største begivenheder inden for gaming og er den oplagte mulighed for de store producenter, herunder Sony, Microsoft og Nintendo, at præsentere nyt software og ikke mindst hardware. Rygterne om en ny konsol fra både Sony og Microsoft har længe hærget på interwebbet, men med denne nedtælling kan det da betyde, at Microsoft er rede til at løfte sløret for Xbox720?

Tiden vil vise, hvad Microsoft har i ærmet til det års E3. Det kan være en ny konsol, Kinect Sports 3 eller noget helt andet. Personligt håber jeg at se mere til både Xbox720 og Fable 4, for Lionhead skylder et godt spil efter de to seneste, henholdsvis Fable 3 og ikke mindst Fable: The Journey, men indtil videre er der altså blot spekulationer og intet konkret. Indtil E3 løber af stablen, kan du følge nedtællingen her!


English version:

Larry Hryb, or better known as Major Nelson, put up a countdown on his website counting down to this year's E3. Major Nelson, to those of you who doesn't know him, has been a member of the Xbox team since 2003 which is why a countdown on his website is something to behold. E3, as you all know, is one of gaming's biggest events giving the major companies the opportunity to showcase their newest software and especially hardware. The rumors about a new console from both Sony and Microsoft has long plagued the interwebs but could this countdown mean that Microsoft is finally ready to reveal the Xbox720?

Only time will tell what Microsoft has planned for E3. It could be a console, Kinect Sports 3 or something completely different. Personally I hope to hear more about Fable 4 as well as Xbox720 because Lionhead owes us a good game after both Fable 3 and Fable: The Journey. But that's another topic. So far there is only speculations about the countdown and what it could mean, but until E3 you can follow the countdown here!

"The ultraviolence has to stop. We have to stop loving it."

Dette er budskabet fra en af spilindustriens veteraner, Warren Spector, der for tiden arbejder på Epic Mickey 2. Ordene kommer i kølvandet af dette års E3-Messe, som han mener havde et for stort fokus på det voldelige element, og det var blandt andet spil som Hitman: Absolution, som fik hans edderkoppesans til at dirre. Han sagde følgende i et interview med gamesindustry:

"Well, my spider-sense is sure tingling danger, danger, Peter Parker! This is the year where there were two things that stood out for me. One was: The ultraviolence has to stop. We have to stop loving it. I just don't believe in the effects argument at all, but I do believe that we are fetishizing violence, and now in some cases actually combining it with an adolescent approach to sexuality. I just think it's in bad taste. Ultimately I think it will cause us trouble."

Har han ret i det, han siger? Det vil tiden vise. Personligt ser jeg ikke umiddelbart problemet, da spil som Flower og Journey både nyder stor respekt og ikke mindst beundring fra spillere og kritikere. Der er masser af plads til spil, som ikke fokuserer på vold, men spørgsmålet er: Bliver det en dag for meget, og hvilke problemer vil det medføre? Jeg vil lade det spørgsmål være åbent, men det er i al fald en interessant tanke.

English version:

That is the message from industry veteran, Warren Spector, who is currently working on Epic Mickey 2. These words sum up his thoughts from this year's E3, which he believed had too much focus on violence, and it was games like Hitman: Absolution that got his spider-sense tingling. He said the following in an interview with gamesindustry:

"Well, my spider-sense is sure tingling danger, danger, Peter Parker! This is the year where there were two things that stood out for me. One was: The ultraviolence has to stop. We have to stop loving it. I just don't believe in the effects argument at all, but I do believe that we are fetishizing violence, and now in some cases actually combining it with an adolescent approach to sexuality. I just think it's in bad taste. Ultimately I think it will cause us trouble."

Does he have a point regarding the violence in our beloved video games? Time will tell. Personally I can't really see the bigger issue, when games like Flower and Journey both enjoy respect and admiration from fans and critics alike, but the question remains: will this focus on violence become a problem in the long run? I'll let that question remain open, but it's definitely an interesting thought.

Watch Dogs

Ubisoft afslørede deres næste spil ved dette års E3: Watch Dogs! Det ser vanvittigt ud, og ord kan ikke beskrive det. Det skal opleves. Tjek det ud nedenfor!



English version:

Ubisoft announced their next game at this year's E3: Watch Dogs! It looks amazing and words cannot even begin to describe it. It needs to be seen. Check it out in the video above!

Tomb Raider: Voldtægt og brystkræft?

Så lægger vi så småt ud igen efter en kort pause grundet fæle eksamensopgaver, og hvad er der sket i fraværet? E3, selvfølgelig! Fik I alle set gameplay-traileren til Ubisofts kommende titel: Watch Dogs? Hvis ikke så kan I tjekke den ud her på siden! Den kan jeg varmt anbefale jer at se!

Men så opdagede jeg en spøjs lille nyhed her i dag, da jeg browsede igennem nyhederne. En artikel der handler om voldtægt i det kommende Tomb Raider, og jeg må ærligt indrømme, at min nysgerrighed blev vakt. Ser I, Tomb Raider er ikke bare en almindelig spilserie. Det er spil som Tomb Raider og Metroid, der fødte kvinden i rollen som actionhelten, for i disse spil var det såmænd ikke kvinden, som skulle reddes: Hun var redderen! Jeg går fuldstændigt ind for ligestilling, og det glæder mig at kunne dele min gaminginteresse med begge køn og opleve den samme gejst for mediet, så naturligvis bliver jeg nysgerrig, når jeg læser om voldtægt i det næste Tomb Raider, og hvad dælen sker der for det?

Sagen er den, at Kotaku havde et interview med spillets executive producer, Ron Rosenberg, hvori han sagde noget, som nok ikke skulle have været sagt:

RON: "And then what happens is her best friend gets kidnapped, she gets taken prisoner by scavengers on the island. They try to rape her, and-"

KOTAKU: "They try to rape her?"

RON: "She's literally turned into a cornered animal. And that's a huge step in her evolution: she's either forced to fight back or die and that's what we're showing today."

Jeg har hørt om mystiske ideer i forhold til Lara Croft. Blandt andet har en fyr foreslået, at hun burde få brystkræft! Hvorfor? For at skabe mere drama! Hvad kunne være mere sejt, end en kvinde der trodser alskens farer og samtidig kæmper mod brystkræft? Dette er ikke løgn, venner. Nogen har faktisk foreslået dette. Tilbage til voldtægten: Spillets udvikler, Crystal Dynamics, viste en ny trailer til spillet ved E3, hvor man ser scenen med fyren, som prøver at voldtage Lara Croft, og man kan vurdere for sig selv, om den i virkeligheden er så vanvittigt kontroversiel, men et er sikkert: Voldtægt er altid en dum ide! Men hvad kunne dog drive en udvikler til at gøre dette?

"When you see her have to face these challenges, you start to root for her in a way that you might not root for a male character.

When people play Lara, they don't really project themselves into the character. They're more like 'I want to protect her.' There's this sort of dynamic of 'I'm going to this adventure with her and trying to protect her."

Så kan vi vist vinke farvel til Lara Croft som den stærke, selvstændige og ikke mindst seje kvinde. I stedet kan vi nu sige goddag til den stereotype, sårbare pige, som drengene skal beskytte. Men studiet har imidlertid udgivet en pressenote, hvori de tager afstand fra Rosenbergs udtalelser: "In this particular section, while there is a threatening undertone in the sequence and surrounding drama, it never goes any further than the scenes that we have already shown publicly. Sexual assault of any kind is categorically not a theme that we cover in this game." I det mindste har de anstændighed. Spillet udkommer næste år, hvor vi alle kan beskytte lille Lara Croft. Man skal blot huske på, at spillet er en reboot af Tomb Raider, og alle helte skal have en begyndelse. Spillets tagline lyder jo: A survivor is born. Efter alt at dømme vil dette eventyr kræve alt af Lara Croft for at kunne overleve, og det vil kræve sin kvinde.

English version

And we're back after a short break due to exams and what-not, but what has transpired in the absence? Well E3, of course! Did you all manage to see the gameplay trailer for Ubisoft's Watch Dogs? If not then you can watch it here, and I can wholeheartedly recommend you watching it! It looks amazing!

But I did stumble upon a rather funny bit of news today while browsing the interwebs. It was an article that said something about an attempted rape scene in the coming Tomb Raider? Naturally, my curiosity was peeked! You see, Tomb Raider isn't just another action-packed game. It's games like Tomb Raider and Metroid that placed women in the roles as action heroes, where they weren't meant to be saved: they were the saviors! I care a great deal about equality and I love the fact that I can share my gaming passion with both sexes and get the same appreciation for the medium, so naturally I get interested in knowing more about a rape scene in Tomb Raider because what is going on?

The thing is that Kotaku had an interview with the game's executive producer, Ron Rosenberg, and he said something that he might regret today:

RON: "And then what happens is her best friend gets kidnapped, she gets taken prisoner by scavengers on the island. They try to rape her, and-"

KOTAKU: "They try to rape her?"

RON: "She's literally turned into a cornered animal. And that's a huge step in her evolution: she's either forced to fight back or die and that's what we're showing today."

I have heard about weird ideas for the Tomb Raider games, including one that was about Lara Croft suffering from breast cancer. Yes. The premise was that it would be awesome to see Lara Croft fight dungeons and bad guys while fighting the cancer. I am nok joking, guys. Someone actually suggested this! Anyway, back to the raping: the game's developer, Crystal Dynamics, showed a new trailer for the game at E3 where a dude is seemingly trying to rape Lara Croft, and you can judge for yourselves if this scene is controversial or not, but one thing is certain: rape is never a good idea! So what drove the developers to include this?

"When you see her have to face these challenges, you start to root for her in a way that you might not root for a male character.

When people play Lara, they don't really project themselves into the character. They're more like 'I want to protect her.' There's this sort of dynamic of 'I'm going to this adventure with her and trying to protect her."

I think we can now say goodbye to Lara Croft as the cool, independent and strong woman she really is. Instead we can say hello to the stereotypical, vulnerable girl that the boys need to protect. The developers did, however, send out a press note where they show some sense in this regard: "In this particular section, while there is a threatening undertone in the sequence and surrounding drama, it never goes any further than the scenes that we have already shown publicly. Sexual assault of any kind is categorically not a theme that we cover in this game." At least they have some decency. The game will be released next year where we can all protect little Lara Croft. Just remember that this game is a reboot of Tomb Raider and every hero needs a beginning. The game's tagline is: A survivor is born. All things considered this adventure will require tremendous effort to survive, and Lara Croft is the right woman for the job.

Løgringe og Half Life 3

Kan simple løgringe afsløre fremtiden? Er de fødeverdenens svar på Nostradamus? Eller kan de være en del af en markedsføringskampagne? For nogle måneder siden dukkede der et billede op af en løgring, som var formet efter Half Lifes ikoniske logo, men man var ikke helt overbevist om forbindelsen mellem den og spillet. Nu er endnu en løgring kommet frem i lyset, men er dette nok til at kunne overbevise folk om, at Valve har noget stort i ærmet i forhold til E3? Kan det være Half Life 3, som mange fans har ventet på med længsel? Hvis blot løgringe kunne tale, hvis blot løgringe kunne tale. Personligt er jeg skeptisk, men Valve er jo ikke ligefrem kendt for at være et traditionelt studie, hvad det så end er, så kan det være reelt?

English version:

Can onion rings tell us about the future? Are they the Nostradamus when it comes to the world of food? Or could they be used in an elaborate marketing campaign? A picture of an onion ring shaped like Half Life's iconic logo surfaced some months ago but it wasn't entirely enough to convince people of the possible connection between it and the game. Now another onion ring has come forth but what does it mean? Does Valve have something truly epic up its sleeve when E3 dawns this summer? Could it be the elusive Half Life 3? If only onion rings had a voice. Personally I'm not convinced at all but Valve isn't known to be a traditional studio, whatever that is, so could it be real?

Powered by Unreal Engine 4

Troldmændene hos Epic Games har været særligt aktive på det seneste, og via deres helt specielle troldkraft og magiske evner har de givet fødsel til noget helt ekstraordinært: Unreal Engine 4! De har nu omsider tilladt offentligheden at se nogle godbidder fra deres nye motor, der helt sikkert vil gøre udviklere overalt spændte og sende dem samt deres spil til himlen!

Wired har fremskaffet sig nogle screenshots af bæstet i aktion, og det ser absolut fantastisk ud. Det bliver enormt interessant at få lov til at se den skinne til E3, og jeg glæder mig allerede til at prøve spillene! Jeg håber blot, at udviklere vil tage sig tiden til at finpudse den, som Epic Games gjorde med Unreal Engine 3, da de udviklede og udgav Gears of War. Unreal Engine er ikke et kvalitetsstempel i sig selv: Den kræver arbejde, tålmodighed og masser af kærlighed, og Unreal Engine 4 har lige opnået min fulde kærlighed! Motoren er, som nævnt, skabt af Epic Games under ledelse af medstifteren, Tim Sweeney, og den karismatiske Design Director, Cliff Bleszinski. Godt arbejde, gutter, lyder det herfra!

English version:

The wizards at Epic Games have been particular active lately, and through their wizardry and magical skills they have given birth to something beautiful: Unreal Engine 4! They have finally allowed the public to see some treats from their new engine which will most likely make developers celebrate, sending them off to the 7th heaven!

Wired has got their hands on some screenshots of the beast in action and it looks amazing. It will be interesting to really see it shine at this year's E3 and I am already looking forward to be playing the new line of games running on the engine. I just hope that developers will give it the attention it needs to deliver its finest like Epic Games did when they developed and released Gears of War. Unreal Engine alone does not a good game make: it requires work, patience and a lot of love, and Unreal Engine 4 has just earned my love! The engine is, as you know, made by Epic Games under the guidance of co-founder, Tim Sweeney and the charismatic Design Director, Cliff Bleszinski. Good work, guys!

Intet nyt fra Valve til E3

Valve, mest kendt for spil som Portal og Half Life, har nu meldt ud, at de ikke vil komme med nogle store afsløringer til dette års E3. De vil tilgengæld snakke mere om spil, som vi i forvejen har kendskab til. Gabe Newell, Direktøren for Valve, havde dette at sige til valvetime.net: "We're not announcing anything. Really. We are not announcing Half-Life 3 or Portal 3 or Left 4 Dead 3." og "We are going to be showing stuff everyone already knows about (CS: Go, Dota 2, 10 UI',...)"

Endnu engang må de mange håbefulde fans vente på nyheder om spil som Left 4 Dead 3 og Portal 3. Det bliver i al fald ikke i denne omgang, men Valve er på en vis måde ligesom Blizzard Entertainment: De udgiver ikke et spil, før det er færdigt, så hvem ved? Måske de har Half Life 3 på programmet? Man kan altid håbe!

English version:

Valve, mostly known for games like Portal and Half Life, has stated that they will not make huge announcements at this year's E3. However they will talk about games that the gamers already know about. The president for Valve, Gabe Newell, had this to say to valvetime.net: "We're not announcing anything. Really. We are not announcing Half-Life 3 or Portal 3 or Left 4 Dead 3." and "We are going to be showing stuff everyone already knows about (CS: Go, Dota 2, 10 UI',...)"

It seems that the hopeful fans waiting for news about games like Left 4 Dead 3 and Portal 3 is in for another year of waiting. But Valve is kind of like Blizzard Entertainment in the way that they won't release a game until it's finished. Who knows? Perhaps they're working on Half Life 3 as I write this? One can always hope!

Ingen prisafsløring på Wii U til E3

Electronic Entertainment Expo, eller bedre kendt som E3, er den største, internationale begivenhed inden for gamingindustrien og løber af stablen fra d. 5.-7. juni. Det er her, hvor de store selskaber virkelig strutter med sine muskler, men det er også her, hvor mindre udviklere får en chance for at bevise sit værd. E3 danner ligeledes ramme for konsolproducenternes præsentation af nyt hardware og software, og Nintendo lader til at have trukket en uartig kanin op af hatten.

De har nemlig ikke tænkt sig at løfte sløret for prisen på deres kommende konsol, Wii U, og de siger i stedet, at prisen vil blive afsløret engang efter E3. Hvad i alverden kan være årsagen til dette? Det vides endnu ikke, men de må have noget stort gemt i ærmet. Måske et nyt navn til deres konsol? Hvad det end er, så er jeg ret sikker på, at det altså nok skal blive godt.


English version:

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or better known simply as E3, is the biggest, international event within the world of gaming during the summer (June 5-7). This is the place where the big guns of the industry really can show their muscles and also where the smaller ones get the chance to prove themselves. It is also the place where the makers of consoles can showcase new hardware and software, and it seems that Nintendo has pulled an odd trick from its sleeves.

Nintendo will not be revealing the price for their coming console, the Wii U, at E3 but rather they will be revealing it sometime after the show. The reason behind this is yet unknown but they must have something big coming our way. Perhaps a new name for their console? Whatever they're planning I'm pretty sure it'll be great!