Impressions of Halo 3: ODST campaign -- Life in a sandbox
Bungie's Lars Bakken commandeered "the rookie" -- the character you'll basically use as a vehicle through New Mombasa's variety of flashback missions -- introducing us to the character in an opening cutscene rather reminiscent of previous Halo games from a style perspective. We are introduced to "Dutch" early on, the subject of our one guided flashback mission of the walkthrough, who's a bit of a fast-talking hardass, as ODSTs are wont to be.
Gallery: Halo 3: ODST (6/1/09)
Hands-on: Brutal Legend (the umlaut breaks our RSS feed, sorry)
Because, you know, it is.
Gallery: Brutal Legend
Lake: 'Remedy is not a factory,' team fortunate to spend time on Alan Wake's debut adventure

"We have been in the fortunate position where we've had time to do research and do prototypes ... keep the quality bar high and explore, until we find the right combination of different elements," Lake said. "Things have evolved along the way. This is an action game, but there is a lot of variety." Lake also explained that Alan Wake will feature segments of gameplay during daytime sequences, which will allow players to explore and interact with the "quirky locals" of Bright Falls. According to Lake, the day and night cycle is governed by the game's linear storyline.
Lake also made it clear his team is no stranger to the perception that Remedy Entertainment had been taking their time bringing Alan Wake's debut adventure to players. "Remedy is not a factory," Lake said. "We take our time and try out different things until we feel have found the right combination and a good balance for the game." Alan Wake is scheduled to release in Spring 2010.
Gallery: Alan Wake (06-01-09)
Hands-on: Samurai Shodown: Edge of Destiny

During our quick match, Ignition's Shane Bettenhausen described it as "Samurai Shodown meets Soul Calibur meets Bushido Blade," a classification that aptly encapsulates some of the changes in the game.
This Brutal Legend trailer renews our faith
Seriously, look at the thing! Look at how hard the game is rocking! You think mere lawyers can stop a game like that? ... No, we thought not.
Impressions: Just Cause 2
Sporting a completely overhauled engine and intelligent design decisions, Just Cause 2 isn't your average sandbox action game -- it's what Grand Theft Auto would be if it made sweet love to Bionic Commando.
Gallery: Just Cause 2
Alan Wake 'levels' structured like episodes of a television series

"It's not a level based game," Lake told the group. "We have a large game world, but the story guides you. So, there is a logical pathway for the player." Lake also explained that, while Alan Wake will tell one linear story, the game will feature "a lot of exploration" for players interested in "digging deeper" into the back story of the universe.
Gallery: Alan Wake (06-01-09)
E3 2009 press conference winners and losers: The Joystiq reader poll
You already know what we think about this year's E3 winners and losers, but we want to know what you think, Joystiq Biomass™. Did the inner speed hair teaser in you get all giddy when EA dropped Charm Girls Club on us? Was James Cameron's treatise on Avatar at the Ubisoft presser (sans any gameplay whatsoever) making you chomp at the bit for more? Or maybe Nintendo's announcement of a Team Ninja-developed Metroid game reminded you of when Nintendo used to make game announcements at E3? We've dropped the big three (Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo), and the various major publisher conferences, into two polls, found after the break. Vote away!Big Surf Island will wash $12.99 out of your wallet

.It's certainly not as costly as some on the Joystiq team feared, but it's also far from an immediate impulse buy. While we understand Criterion wants to "make money" and "feed the family," we lament the long-gone days of free Burnout DLC.
Gallery: Burnout Paradise: Big Surf Island
Hands-on: The Saboteur
Lead designer Tom French calls this world "Disneyland Paris." That's not exactly what came to mind as I jumped from rooftop to rooftop dodging Nazis, machine gun fire, and rockets, but French wasn't characterizing this bleak, occupied (and dangerous) World War II-era recreation of the city. The Saboteur features a scaled down, open-world Paris with oversize landmarks splitting the skyline (like Disneyland!) that trails off into countryside connected to parts of Germany.
The entire world has been stripped of color, save for those blood-red symbols of Nazism and oppression. As Sean Devlin (inspired by the real Grand Prix star turned SOE special agent William Grover-Williams), I attempted to bring a little color -- what Pandemic calls "Will to Fight" -- back to Paris as I took on a demo mission to destroy a pesky BFG.
The entire world has been stripped of color, save for those blood-red symbols of Nazism and oppression. As Sean Devlin (inspired by the real Grand Prix star turned SOE special agent William Grover-Williams), I attempted to bring a little color -- what Pandemic calls "Will to Fight" -- back to Paris as I took on a demo mission to destroy a pesky BFG.
Gallery: The Saboteur
Microsoft kills 'coffin' policy, time to pack your RRoD Xbox yourself

Apparently Microsoft's accountants were getting tired of that budget line item signifying thousands of dollars spent on providing cardboard boxes to the millions of consumers with defective units (often multiple times). We likely should have seen the writing on the wall when we recently contacted Microsoft to find out what recourse customers had if customer service wasn't offering coffins.
Our advice: Mail it to Microsoft in whatever packaging you've got lying around (remember: they're going to fix it regardless) and save the special, custom-fit packaging they mail it back to you in. Odds are you'll use it again.
Here's what Last.fm on Xbox 360 looks like
Click for the first of many Last.fm images
One of the more interesting questions that arose from Microsoft's keynote during last week's E3 was just how Last.fm would be implemented. Well, let Joystiq help clear the air of confusion, as Microsoft has dished out some screens depicting the interface for the soon-to-be Xbox 360-compatible music service. It looks pretty streamlined, if we may say so, with easily identifiable links to tags and artists similar to what you're currently listening to. What we didn't know, however, is that Last.fm will also be a bridge between the Xbox 360 and its closest competitor, Sony's PS3. See the "Play Station" above? When the service releases, you'll be able to play Infamous on your Xbox 360. For reals!
Gallery: Last.fm (Xbox 360)
Gears 2 Combustible map pack is Xbox's insulting deal of the week
Major Nelson brings word of another bad deal for Xbox's "deal of the week." The latest laughable offer is that the Gears of War 2 Combustible map pack is discounted from 800
($10) to the jaw-dropping price of 560
($7). Hold on, let us get the Sham Wow to absorb the drool of shock dribbling out of our mouths.
So, basically, if you haven't downloaded any of the new Gears of War 2 map packs yet, going online and downloading them breaks down like this:
($20) when it releases July 28. It's a sucker punch (not the good kind) for this content to go on sale now.
[Add the Gears 2: Combustible Multiplayer Map Pack to your download queue ... although we recommend you don't.]
($10) to the jaw-dropping price of 560
($7). Hold on, let us get the Sham Wow to absorb the drool of shock dribbling out of our mouths.So, basically, if you haven't downloaded any of the new Gears of War 2 map packs yet, going online and downloading them breaks down like this:
- Combustible maps (560
/ $7) - available now - Snowblind maps (800
/ $10) - available now - Dark Corners (1200
/ $15) - available July 28
($20) when it releases July 28. It's a sucker punch (not the good kind) for this content to go on sale now.[Add the Gears 2: Combustible Multiplayer Map Pack to your download queue ... although we recommend you don't.]
Gallery: Gears of War 2: Combustible Map Pack
Pachter: Project Natal and PlayStation Motion Controller won't topple Wii
Sony and Microsoft both had something up their sleeves when it came to motion-based controls at this year's E3, revealing a new controller and Project Natal, respectively. Nintendo has been doing it since late 2006, but this year, both Sony and Microsoft have hopped on the waggle bandwagon. Games analyst Michael Pachter told Edge that despite these new product announcements, Nintendo really has nothing to worry about.
"We do not expect either to displace Nintendo's Wii from its leadership position," Pachter said. He went on further to say that Microsoft's Natal is really only aimed toward interface improvement, and that Sony's new controller is simply "Wii-nis envy," justifying his company's opinion that the Wii will still be the top console for a long time. We're inclined to agree, mostly because Sony and Microsoft's new products won't be on store shelves for quite some time.
"We do not expect either to displace Nintendo's Wii from its leadership position," Pachter said. He went on further to say that Microsoft's Natal is really only aimed toward interface improvement, and that Sony's new controller is simply "Wii-nis envy," justifying his company's opinion that the Wii will still be the top console for a long time. We're inclined to agree, mostly because Sony and Microsoft's new products won't be on store shelves for quite some time.
Borderlands planning on October release
Gearbox has confirmed its casual E3 mention to Joystiq that it plans to release Borderlands this October. A company representative told us today that it's looking forward to breaking new ground this fall when the "role-playing shooter with strong co-op and split-screen gameplay" is released. The rep also confirmed that the post-apocalyptic action game will launch simultaneously on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Borderlands had been banging around for a while, then disappeared for an awkward period of time before ultimately reemerging – think: butterfly – with a new art style, which freshened up the title and removed it from "Fallout clone" territory. We'll have our E3 impression of the title up soon.
Borderlands had been banging around for a while, then disappeared for an awkward period of time before ultimately reemerging – think: butterfly – with a new art style, which freshened up the title and removed it from "Fallout clone" territory. We'll have our E3 impression of the title up soon.















