Usman Ihtsham In Front of VGA Board

The video game awards season is a great time to catch up with developers out of their studio’s and in their jammies. Okay, well not exactly but you get the idea. WhatIfGaming attended (finally) the SpikeTV Video Game Awards after much participation with it already and was able to get some quality time in with: Ted Price, Alex Evans, Neil Patrick Harris (What?!?!—Yeah we know) and the master himself, Hideo Kojima. For the sake of making things brief –consider this article in a 1st person reflective perspective.

We arrived at Sony Pictures Studios HQ in Culver City, CA (flew from San Francisco). The atmosphere was timely for these awards and the weirdest part was that the security crew did not bother checking our ID’s? First off, first weird. No worries –it can only get better right? We arrive at check-in and get our exclusive passes to the “red carpet.” You will all soon find out why we have that in quotations soon enough.

Our goal was simple: Meet up with our friends on the red carpet, mingle after they passed the limited stream of media outlets on the red carpet, and then go home (no we did not stay for the show due to complications). Apparently, we did not get the pass for the show which is what we initially requested, but then it’s sort of a give and take sort of deal. Either you meet the celebs, or watch the show. Only complaint we have is that the coordination team had no idea who was actually attending the show. One manager told us:

“Even I don’t have tickets to it!”

Our question poses: Who does?

No clue apparently! But from the seeming influx of pre-pubescent teens and high school/middle school attitude and aged cheerleaders attending the event (the screening —red carpet was off limits) as if it were prom not to mention the children of someone completely random —there was something seriously wrong with the whole SpikeTV VGA 2008 Screening shindig for the taping. Clearly tickets to the actual screening were not given to people who actually gave a damn, but to family members of Sony Pictures and …who knows! Anyone?

The 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E³) will take place from June 2-4, 2009, at the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC), the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced today. The expanded E³ will welcome all qualified computer and video game industry audiences, including international and U.S.-based media, analysts, retailers, developers and business partners to preview the latest in interactive entertainment and technology.

When directly asked if “public,” meaning Timmy and his 4 parkour friends to the game lines will be able to attend, ESA stated to us rather directly:

The changes only include: increased booth sizes, increased qualified audiences, and an intensified focus on reinforcing the improved plans for E^3.

Update: Talk about the level of hate mails I just received (around 500) from posting this. This is what ESA wrote to us. We specifically asked if “non-members” of ESA meant anyone in the public, and that’s a no. It just means that people NOT in the ESA group (few companies, exhibitors, and now developers) can gain access to this event in 2009. Public is still not allowed.

Update # 2: Confirmed again. Not Public. Press/Developers/Attending Companies/Business Partners still need to APPLY to attend. E3 2009 will be like the “old” E3′s in terms of scale in the booths, not public attendance. Public cannot attend.

The PlayStation Network is on fire lately, releasing strong unique titles that truly set it apart from its competition. The Last Guy doesn’t sway from this formula of success. This “quirky” title from Sony Japan Studios is a simple yet complex little game that is haplessly fun to play.

There are so many jaded aspects of The Last Guy that the successful wackiness is riveting. Essentially, the story is quite simple: A purple and mysterious ray hits earth, turning everyone outside into a zombie leaving everyone who was indoors safe for the time being. As a zombie from the Himalayan Mountains that loves humans, it is your need to move the sparred humans through the streets and building’s safely from the hungry zombies that roam the streets now that centrally fuels the invention of The Last Guy. Partnered with the United Rescue Force to rescue the masses, you need to head towards approved Escape Zones where they can be airlifted to safety.  Once at the escape  where a United Rescue Force airship can come and pick them up. Sounds simple enough, but everyone is in for a surprise.

Spanning the Earth, The Last Guy throws players to real locales such as San Francisco, Newcastle and many more for a total of 15 gruesome zombie infested cities in all. Each locale challenges you to rescue a different amount of people and in a specific amount of time, and cleverly alters this time depending on the area you’re around. The game is played via top-down perspective very clearly like Google Maps. Features include building tops, roads, pretty much everything you would figure that belonged in a city street. Once you wander the streets and various passing structures, people will join you forming a long Mariachi line. They just do not like the idea of making things easier and staying besides you, but hey that’s what we all do when we are surrounded by zombies. Get scared.

Given the maps are not free roam, getting them to safety can prove difficult and require a great deal of strategy. The pacing itself is unique as players can increase the speed in which they move, but speed bursts aren’t unlimited so there is no way to run for the entire game. This game mechanic proves challenging, but also made us dizzy that we were walking while monsters were ready to burst our heads open 30 seconds away. Thankfully, a little bar pops up in the bottom left side of the screen that’s allows your group to sprint using the triangle button and gives you the ability to have your group pack together on your position with the circle button. Using these ability drain your stamina meter, which slowly refills over time. Also there are some power ups scattered around the levels that give you ability’s such as invisibility, power to stop time Hiro Nakamura style (do not worry, we think Heroe’s sucks). Watching your stamina meter is the key to success.

The Last Guy makes sure to come with a different vision mode, the thermal goggle ability that allows you to see how many people are in a designated building. An easy tool for accessing where to go next, and toggling between each vision is simple and can be used to your advantage and disadvantage. Use the vision view with caution because while using this mode you can’t see the zombies or monsters, providing a frigorific effect in the process.  Also remember the people following you move exactly behind you moving the same directions you do, and having 1,000 people behind you makes getting the right passage difficult and frantic. The difficulty curve can be quiet daunting in the end but rewarding in the panoramic view.

Most of the zombie AI is revealing and not the most realistic. If the monsters see the line, they will not attack it unless they bump into it. If the creatures sees the Last Guy, they’re going to get pissed and rush anyways. It is weird that they only attack when they see a friendly Zombie helping humans and not when they see humans in general, as if they had a bigger problem with a nice zombie than their priority to catch humans escaping. They’ll ram into the line and kill a large portion, sending pieces back into hiding. Getting hit once is usually enough for the Last Guy to fail his objective. Worse off is if the Last Guy is touched slightly, he dies and its game over. Protect the line and protect yourself is the main message here.

The Last Guy is not all about gameplay but it has its own personal and different style too. The Last Guy actually employs a great deal of strategy. Every city has a different lay out and escape zone, some have large escape zones and others have little ones tucked in the corner surrounded by enemies, some have groups of people that are stuck in building’s that require much more to rescue than a simple snatch and grab. Figuring out the zombie patrol patterns, micromanaging your time, and forward thinking your escape routes are the keys of victory. Obviously you aren’t going to get top notch face melting graphics, but the cities are well polished and the scope is rather large on some levels while the horror music can best be described as perky.

There’s a good level of difficulty; a few levels make you want to kill a puppy (PETA, this is a joke) because they’re tough but getting past them is rewarding. Disappointingly, you can probably finish all 15 levels in a rather casual weekend. I understand that this is a PlayStation Network game and this game gives a rather casual approach, but a longer game would have been nice too. There is a lot to come back for added play through after all the levels are done. Every level has four hidden VIP’s hidden in it, whether or not you want to go back and save them is up to you. These VIPs give you bonus points when each levels ends so if you want to better your score, rescue those VIPs. Another problem is that there are no Trophies. With the rise of a promise of a new trophy system, there is not much support around for an odd reason. Even for such a “new” title,  trophies need to be available now that the PlayStation Network supports them.

The Last Guy is an outstanding title, and it is funny and challenging. Yeah, it’s rather simple looking, but after you’ve played being humanity’s last hope several dozens of times, you’re going to be plotting your path across the maps when you put the controller away.

This video will help. Specs include: 3 HD Radeon 4870 X2′s, 8 GB Ram, DX 10.1 Vista Ultimate, and the highest clocked GPU without the need for extreme cooling at 30 fps.

Now in all seriousness, this guy has no f-ing idea what HDR is about. But he does know how to put on a nerdy voice.

Throughout our lives we meet certain people. Some Most are plain up rude, snobby, and pretentious. Then there are some pretty cool ones. For the new readers, and our old ones who give loyalty another meaning, you’ve all noticed our latest additions of Editors: David Jeffers and Danny Jeffers. While they have been behind the scenes of WhatIfGaming, making all the amazing things possible with the site production and media over the years, they’re taking more of the spotlight (yes, we got your e-mails) and apparently changing it.

So to show my appreciation for two really talented journalists for WhatIfGaming culture, I have dedicated a little video for them from our thought-to-be lost archive of footage. This whole display is out of the ordinary. If it wasn’t, we really wouldn’t be the blog you have all come to know and love. Stay classy Los Angeles, or wherever you are.

The “Late Night With WhatIfGaming” is a new series feature of ours. No, it will not have the little blue icon but it is going to be just as significant. Every week we are going to be doing either a video or post about anything we want to show or discuss on (you guessed it) very dark and late nights.

Just do not find yourself in this situation.

The “Late Night With WhatIfGaming” is a new series feature of ours. No, it will not have the little blue icon but it is going to be just as significant. Every week we are going to be doing either a video or post about anything we want to show or discuss on (you guessed it) very dark and late nights.

Don’t be lame. But you can try.

The potential for growth in this area is also substantial and this is more related to a widening of the market than a growth amongst those already committed to the paid-for online sector.

70% of women who are between 16 and 45 and live in households connected to the internet have played some form of free online game in the last year, with only 18% paying to play. Great. More orcs in the World of Warcraft realm. Just what we all needed. As for the other percentage, 59% of all women who go online between the ages of 16 and 45 play free internet flash games once a month, with the youngest being more dominant. And yeah, all tests discounted lunar cycles.

Is it a great thing that the industry sucks for females? Maybe. What’s for sure is one thing: the industry and females seem to have nothing in common. Even in the grim sector of the future.

Survey Source: Arkton

Stay away from the meds, man

What Pacman Sees [goonfleet]