PAX East 2012: Crimson Dragon and Steel Battalion

At PAX East, Microsoft's booth was surrounded by large Kinect setups, demonstrating a number of games that had just come out such as Kinect Star Wars and games that are on the horizon.  We were unable to get any interview or direct playtime with these games, but we do have two gameplay videos for you to enjoy.

E3 2011: The Conferences, Impressions

Unfortunately, these couple weeks were full of things for us here at Third Rate Minion, and as a result, releasing these videos seems late. However, I also follow the rule of "Better Late than Never," and besides, E3 is still fresh in our minds.

So if you'd like to hear recaps and commentary on each of the big three's press conferences from this year's E3, indulge in our video goodness.

We will have a look at what predictions went well soon!

Twisted Pixel Pulls Kinect's Strings

Developer Twisted Pixel announced this week an upcoming game for XBLA which exclusively uses Kinect for game control: a shooter-platformer entitled The Gunstringer.

The Gunstringer is a combination of a shooter and platformer, in which players control a skeleton cowboy as if he were a puppet. Based on the trailer, players hold both hands outward as if they were holding puppetteer hardware, and by making a hand into a gun, players should be able to point and fire at enemies as they make their way toward the Gunstringer. The game has both on-rails segments where players can shoot and move the Gunstringer to dodge enemies and side-scrolling levels where players can use the puppeteer equipment to pull him up and make the jumps necessary to survive.

The reveal trailer opened by poking fun at gaming controllers (but not a 360 controller, oddly enough) before providing players with the Kinect gameplay mechanics. It looks a little rough right now, but we have no idea when it will release, so perhaps it has a little longer to cook.

The game will apparently feature cooperative gameplay modes, but whether the game will be retail or XBLA is unknown currently. Seeing that Twisted Pixel's last ventures have been on XBLA (some exclusive), it seems logical to assume an XBLA release. No date has been given.

Besides The Gunstringer, Twisted Pixel is currently working on Ms. Splosion Man, a sequel to the XBLA hit Splosion Man, expected for release this summer.

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OFFICIAL SITE

Avatar Kinect Connects Avatars

At CES last week, Microsoft unveiled its newest software addition to its Kinect hardware: a unique avatar chatroom program called AvatarKinect.

AvatarKinect was announced at Microsoft's CES conference, unveiled by Steve Ballmer's avatar self. He stated that Kinect, which could only take full body movements, would now be capable of showing facial expressions, including mouth movements and eyebow shifts. Not mentioned was finger movement, even though the mileage varied from his unveiling to the actual trailer.

AvatarKinect is a special chat program in which up to eight friends can come together online and communicate with one another, Avatar to Avatar. Mostly while sitting down, each person's facial movements and voices will be picked up and sent to everyone in the room. Each conversation can be put into a multitude of sets (the trailer claiming over 15) to fit particular scenarios. Furthermore, people can upload less-than-ten-minute conversations onto the Kinect Share website and then be uploaded to Facebook and perhaps other social networks.

The new software update, which will come with AvatarKinect, will be releasing this Spring.

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SOURCE: joystiq

Forza Motorsport 4 For 2011

Turn 10 and Microsoft Game Studios announced Forza Motorsport 4 at this year's VGA awards on Spike TV.

The Forza Motorsport series is Microsoft's answer to the sim racing series Gran Turismo. Developed by in-house developer Turn 10, the series has grown since its inception in 2005. Forza Motorsport 4 was originally demonstrated at E3 2010 as part of the hardcore titles for Microsoft's Kinect-focused press conference. At the press conference, a developer showed how you could physically walk around and examine each car from outside and inside the driver's seat. According to reports, the game will still feature these elements.

The trailer did not fully demonstrate what the game would have, merging both in-game and real-life footage together. One could predict that the game will feature more environmental aspects including weather conditions and muddy terrain to affect the controls and graphical effects within each realistic race.

While no specific date was given, the game is expected for release in the holiday season for 2011.

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TGS: Kinect Gets Some Japanese Surprises

At Microsoft's press conference yesterday for Tokyo Game Show, the company revealed five specific Kinect-based games developed by Japanese third-party developers.

Coming from Grasshopper Manufacture (Killer 7, No More Heroes) is a unique thriller, codename D. While only shown in a teaser trailer, the game's premise is fairly understandable. Your character enters a crazed carnival filled with a multitude of twisted beings, including people who seem to always wear animal heads. Thankfully, you have a baseball bat and exploding baseballs in your arsenal.

Grounding Inc., the company formed by Phantom Dust and Panzer Dragoon-director Yukio Futatsugi, is bringing a new dragon-filled product to Kinect, entitled Project Draco. Taking designs which will remind you of Panzer Dragoon, the game is a 3D shooter, but at the same time, players will need to move and communicate physically and verbally with their dragons in order to help survive the onslaught of enemies on the horizon.

NanaOn-Sha, best known for the Parappa the Rapper series as well as a number of other unique titles such as Vib-Ribbon, is bringing an altogether "fun horror" title to Kinect, Haunt. In Haunt, players move along the game's set paths deep into a haunted mansion, and they will have to outsmart ghosts and escape the many traps within the spooky landscape. Keep a look out for those pesky ghouls!

Capcom and From Software are collaborating to create a very "gamer-centric" project through Kinect, and one that seems odd without buttons: Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor. The original Steel Battalion titles for Xbox had players control large mechanical war machines using a special controller, using 40 buttons, levers and even three pedals! With the switch to no controller at all, how this game compares will certainly be something to see.

Finally, Sega has announced a unique IP for Kinect, an on-rails horror title called Rise of Nightmares. The game promises to provide a spine-tingling experience unseen before, all while using your whole body to feel the terrors around you. Not much else has been provided.

Other products were shown using Kinect, such as Body and Brain Connection and Child of Eden, though the latter does not require Kinect to run.

This press event was the same in which Microsoft announced Radiant Silvergun's XBLA debut, as well as a look at Metal Gear Solid: Rising and a new Fire Pro Wrestling using Avatars. So, from the looks of things, those looking for a unique way to play Japanese-developed games, Kinect may be something to look toward.

Kinect is a peripheral for the Xbox 360 in which players do not use controllers, but rather, make movements in front of a 3D camera. The Kinect was originally called Project Natal when it was unveiled at E3 2009, and it will be launching this November with an assortment of titles from a number of developers.

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codename D


Project Draco


Haunt (skip to 1:40)


Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor


Rise of Nightmares