Posted 1/21/09 12:00 pm EST by Patrick Klepek in guitar hero, Lost, Lunchtime Video, User-Generated Content, Video
Watch me attempt to play a song a user-created for new President Barack Obama in "Guitar Hero: World Tour" and awkwardly fumble through menus. Exciting, right? At least stay for a heartfelt recommendation for why you might want to check out "Lost: Via Domus" before "Lost" premieres tonight.
(Videos not viewable by users logging in from Canada or the U.K.)
Posted 1/14/09 10:00 am EST by Patrick Klepek in resident evil, User-Generated Content, Zombies
It was inevitable that someone would take the powerful modding tools available for Valve's zombie shooter "Left 4 Dead," look at the powerful living-dead scenarios created by Capcom for the "Resident Evil" series and combine the two.
Posted 12/15/08 4:30 pm EST by Patrick Klepek in fallout 3, User-Generated Content
Even though Bethesda Softworks just released the "Fallout 3" modification kit for PC on Thursday, gamers were hacking away at "Fallout 3" before that.
It's unlikely that the user-created modifications will make their way to the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 versions of "Fallout 3," but PC gamers have no such obstacles.
There are actually several modifications already available that I'd love to have incorporated into my own "Fallout 3" experience, which ended last week.
Here are my three favorites: Read More...
Posted 12/10/08 4:30 pm EST by Patrick Klepek in Communities, User-Generated Content, Xbox 360
Microsoft has released the first sales data for their experimental Community Games endeavor for Xbox 360, providing our first glimpse into gamers' buying habits.
The looming question before launching Community Games was pricing. Developers weren't sure how gamers would react and reacted by typically low-balling on price.
The best selling games so far, as released by Microsoft -- listed alongside their price:
1. Word Soup (400 MS Points / $5)
2. Golden Royal Blackjack (200 MS Points / $2.50)
3. Weapon of Choice (400 MS Points / $5)
4. Colosseum (800 MS Points / $10)
5. ZSX4 Guitarpocalypse (200 MS Points / $2.50)
6. Sin(Surfing) (200 MS Points / $2.50)
7. In the Pit (400 MS Points / $5)
8. Head Banger (200 MS Points / $2.50)
9. Snake360 (400 MS Points / $5)
10. Swords and Monsters (200 MS Points / $2.50)
While the list seems to shows gamers overwhelmingly preferred to experiment with games at 200 MS Points, logic dictates that's because most game were priced at 200 MS Points. But with "Word Soup" coming out at on top at a higher tier, and "Weapon of Choice" following close behind, there's an encouraging trend that high-priced games will be rewarded if they resonate with gamers. Even more interesting is "Colosseum" making it into the top 5 at $10!
We'll keep watching Community Games to see how it matures, but the signs so far are promising. What have you bought on the service so far?
Posted 11/19/08 1:00 pm EST by Patrick Klepek in Music Games, SingStar, User-Generated Content
I knew little about "Lips" before a demo of Microsoft's microphone game with creator and Inis founder Keiichi Yano in a hotel last week.
An hour later, I was convinced that "Lips" is the most nuanced, well-crafted karaoke game that isn't "SingStar" -- it blows "Karaoke Revolution" out of the water -- but despite my positive impressions, a question lingered: is karaoke enough anymore?
Maybe it's just me, but since "Rock Band" came out, I've never felt compelled to just sing and not involve other people in the room.
But "Lips" has an ace card up its sleep. The problem: it's not something Microsoft is promoting well and it's the single biggest reason "Lips" is a revolution.
Posted 11/19/08 10:00 am EST by Patrick Klepek in guitar hero, Music Games, User-Generated Content
When we last looked at "Guitar Hero: World Tour"'s music maker service, GHTunes, we saw all sorts of video game music populating the charts.
That's not happening so much anymore. When we booted up "Guitar Hero" this week, the only game-related tunes we found were made this week.
It seems Activision Blizzard and Neversoft are cracking down harder than before, and people are resorting to little tricks to get around them.
Posted 11/14/08 3:00 pm EST by Patrick Klepek in LittleBigPlanet, User-Generated Content
Three "LittleBigPlanet" levels I highlighted last week should have disappeared in the recent infringing content purge by Sony.
All three are still there, though, as of this morning. They're not the only ones, either.
Even though Sony has told "LittleBigPlanet" creators that copyright-infringing content will be deleted, there are plenty of levels based on "Super Mario Bros.," "Sonic the Hedgehog," "Mega Man," "Ghostbusters" -- you name it, you can still find it.
Are players not taking Sony seriously? Maybe they're not aware they're doing anything wrong or this is a risk they're willing to take. When they wake up and find their level removed, however, they just might change their minds.
Why are people are still producing infringing content, readers?
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Posted 11/10/08 12:30 pm EST by Tracey John in activision, guitar hero, Music, Music Games, User-Generated Content
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Last week, Patrick Klepek noted that a slew of video game songs were popping up on "Guitar Hero"'s music-sharing service, GHTunes.
Though he saw that some of the "Mario," "Zelda" and other game-inspired melodies were swiftly removed, I found a few very famous, non-gaming music in the service, and not all of it has been yanked. For instance... Read More...
Posted 11/10/08 9:00 am EST by Patrick Klepek in LittleBigPlanet, User-Generated Content
When presented with a new tool, people will re-create the familiar. We saw that in "Guitar Hero: World Tour"'s music creation and it's happening in "LittleBigPlanet," too.
People are using the robust tools developed by Media Molecule to recreate their favorite platformer stages from years past.
The thing is, "LittleBigPlanet" isn't designed liked a typical platformer of yore. It has floaty physics that lead to imprecise jumping -- a no-no for old-school platformers.
I loaded up levels based on "Mega Man," "Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Super Mario Bros." to find out what works -- but mostly what doesn't -- in "LittleBigPlanet."
Posted 11/6/08 2:00 pm EST by Patrick Klepek in guitar hero, Music Games, User-Generated Content
Is it any surprise that some of the most popular tracks being created in "Guitar Hero: World Tour"'s music creation studio are ripped from video games?
When GH Tunes launched in late October, the most popular songs on the service were based on music from "Super Mario Bros." and "The Legend of Zelda."
But they aren't anymore.
Based on a recent search, those songs do not appear to be on the service any longer, likely a result of copyright infringement monitoring from Neversoft and Activision Blizzard -- but they are still on my hard drive. The creators of the game can't remotely delete material.
However, the blips and bloops of Mario and Link have been replaced with other video game jingles, ranging from "Final Fantasy" to "Sonic the Hedgehog" and even "DOOM."
Here are the video game tunes people are rocking to in the top 50, as of this morning: Read More...