SA’S LEADING GAMING, COMPUTER & TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE PC / PLAYSTATION / XBOX / NINTENDO Vol 14 Issue 11

Anno 2070 Need for Speed: The Run Saints Row: The Third Zelda: Skyward Sword WWE ‘12

Our girl lollipop, she’s made our hearts

A typical go giddy-up example of a zombie-slaying cheerleader.

FEBRUARY 2012 SOUTH AFRICA R42.00 OUTSIDE SOUTH AFRICA R36.84 EXCL. VAT

/ contents /

Editor Opinion Michael “RedTide“ James Regulars [email protected] 8 Ed’s Note 12 I, Gamer 10 Inbox 14 The Game Stalker Technical Writer 12 Bytes 16 The Indie Investigator Neo “ShockG“ Sibeko 18 Miktar’s Meanderings 65 Hardwired Akimbo campers 82 Game Over Geoff “GeometriX“ Burrows Dane “Barkskin “ Remendes

Contributing Editor Lauren “Guardi3n “ Das Neves Features International Correspondent Miktar “Miktar” Dracon 400 24 Top 11 list of “Just a list”. Xbox LIVE Arcade is a veritable goldmine for prospective indie Contributors connoisseurs. For those not brave enough to wade through the muck Rodain “Nandrew” Joubert in order to find the precious gems, we’ve got a list of 11 XBLA games that Walt “Ramjet” Pretorius made us smile, that made us cry, that made us thankful for the creative Miklós “Mikit0707 “ Szecsei minds of their respective developers. Pippa “UnexpectedGirl” Tshabalala Tarryn “Azimuth “ Van Der Byl 26 Dude, where’s my Half-Life 2: Episode Three? Adam “Madman” Liebman Seriously, where the hell is it?

Art Director 32 Lollipop Chainsaw Chris “SAVAGE“ Savides Just when you thought slaying the undead wasn’t quite sexy and/or provocative enough, in walks Juliet and her pompoms made of zombie- Photography slaying win. Chris “SAVAGE“ Savides Dreamstime.com Fotolia.com

Sales Executive Cheryl “Cleona“ Harris Previews Reviews [email protected] +27 72 322 9875 28 Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time 38 Reviews: Introduction 30 SSX 39 Short Review: LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 Marketing and Promotions Manager 40 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Jacqui “Jax” Jacobs 42 Saints Row: The Third [email protected] 44 44 Mario Kart 7 +27 82 778 8439 46 Anno 2070 48 Need for Speed: The Run Office Assistant 50 The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Paul Ndebele 51 Trine 2 52 Cities XL 2012 Contact Details 53 Dawn of Fantasy P .O. Box 237 54 WWE ‘12 Olivedale 56 Go Vacation 2158 58 South Africa Blackwater / Michael Phelps: Push the Limit Tel +27 11 704 2679 60 Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call / Fax +27 11 704 4120 Men of War: Vietnam

Subscription Department [email protected]

Internet www.nag.co.za Hardware

Printing 62 Tech News Impress Web Printers 64 Dream Machine 32 031 263 2755 66 Dell XPS L702X 68 ASUS VG278H Distribution 70 CM Storm Trooper / WD TV Live On the Dot Streaming Media Player Stuart Dickerson / 011 401 5932 72 GIGABYTE X79-UD3 74 Samsung Series 7 Gamer 700G7A 76 Patriot Pyro SE 240GB SSD 78 G.Skill RipjawS Z F3 2400MHz Quad Copyright 2012 NAG. Channel RAM All Rights Reserved. No Article Or Picture In 79 Evetech i7-3930K-based Gaming PC This Magazine May Be Reproduced, Copied Or Transmitted In Any Form Whatsoever Without The Express Written Consent Of The Publisher. Opinions Expressed In The Magazine Are Not Necessarily Those Of The Publisher Or The Editors. All Trademarks And Registered Trademarks Are The Sole Property Of Their Respective Owners. 74 Don’t Pirate NAG!

this magazine when you’re finished with it.

6 / www.nag.co.za

/ editor’s note /

Amped

Like the hullabaloo of a thousand and one flightless birds trying to get airborne, 2012 has arrived, poked around and started moving along at a fair lick of speed. Welcome to the February issue of NAG magazine1 and in reality our first proper issue of 2012. Seeing that we’re quite possibly the best gaming magazine south of the equator and definitely the biggest gaming and technology magazine in South Africas we have to be seen to be making a decent effort each year.

More of an effort than anyone else really, or year for the human race, let’s all try something we’ll be accused of resting on our laurels and different these next 10 months. If you don’t like not trying hard enough. Of course our loyal and fighting games… too bad, go play some Mortal long-time fans will say bah to this because Kombat. Think you can’t play shooters on a they know we always approach each issue as console… load up Halo and play it to the very though it was our first date. You know how end. RPGs never tickled your fancy… get Skyrim it goes, spending too much time combing the and toss a few fireballs at a dragon. Same goes turf, hosing on dad’s Old Spice and brushing our with people who don’t play shooters. Let’s tongues while trying to avoid going too deep all make 2012 the year of trying something and barfing up our lunch. different. Hell, I might even load up Zelda on the In this regard we’re launching a few new Wii this week. Share your experiences this year projects this year, tweaking NAG a bit and of at the usual address. course rAge is going to be a monster as it’s our tenth one! I can’t say too much because when Enjoy it people. you lead the pack everyone is watching… ;) RedTide THE MADNESS OF ME [Editor] So you know how I was talking about planning to play new games in December – well, I didn’t. Like a tool sack I spent too much time playing what I had been playing during 2011 (Modern Warfare 3, Terraria and so on) – old stuff and NEW DISTRIBUTOR nothing really new. I also ate my way back In some rare NAG business news we’re saying into heart attack territory, watched some cool goodbye to JMD as our magazine distributor and movies and too much rubbish TV and socialised hello to On the Dot (OTD) this month. JMD ran into and so on, so it wasn’t a total loss overall… I some difficulties and have decided to close that felt good and happy until I got back to work and division of their business permanently. What this spoke to Dane. During a random office insulting means to you: better visibility and availability of session he asked me what I really played in NAG in your area. We’ll be on-shelf a day earlier 2011 and I couldn’t tell him anything other than in some parts of the country and overall NAG the usual suspects. I was mocked and ridiculed will just be easier to find everywhere. The new while trying to defend myself using lies and guys are putting their necks on the line and bravado. Bottom line: I needed to break the have offered all our readers a problem-reporting addiction and broaden the horizons. SMS service as part of the deal. Should any of Long story short: I downloaded and played our readers find there is no NAG in their regular the brilliant Bastion that same night and loved retailer, they can send an SMS to 36485 (at a it. I then got cracking on Trine 2 and Joe Danger: cost of R1.00) to report the problem. [The shop Special Edition as well as Skyrim and Serious name, address and area should be sent to 36485]. Sam 3: BFE and even Universe Sandbox. I loved If you don’t want to SMS but would still like to every minute of not playing MW3. Of course report a distribution or availability problem you I’ll still play MW3 and Battlefield 3 but not as can call Stuart Dickerson on 011 401 5932 and let obsessively as I used to. Quick update, last night him know or call the NAG office line on 011 704 I gave Choplifter HD a quick spin (it’s even got 2679 or email [email protected]. The good news 1 We’ll be back up to 100 is that we’ll pick a random SMS from the batch pages in March. a zombie mode). This whole interesting but pointless (or is that pointless but interesting?) each month and give that person a free 12 month insight into my personal life serves as the subscription to NAG so they’ll never have to burn 2 I just heard Avatar 2 is game time looking for NAG again. only coming in 2016 so I foundation, and lead ups to the message I want guess we’ll never see it. to get across here. Seeing that 20122 is the last

8 / www.nag.co.za

/ inbox / *Disclaimer: All letters sent to NAG are printed more or less verbatim (that’s as we get them for you kids at the back), so ignore any spelling or grammatical errors.)

Letter of the Month February 2012

From: Justin bragging about, the amount of time have felt this and perhaps you guys Subject: Game Addiction - taken to firstly get enough metal and NAG could do a special on game Experience and Opinion to even buy an item worth a lot to addiction and ways of playing a lot 5 Days. I have finally kicked the habit someone is in the order of months, while remaining healthy mentally – my addiction? Team Fortress 2, For perhaps years. I know the game has and physically and perhaps a the past 5 days, amid trying to study been out for a long time, so people critique on the extent to which the (and failing), I have been getting shot have had time to slowly accumulate game makers are perpetuating this, in the head, setting people on fire, stockpiles of items, but it is not this by increasing level caps and dripping spinning up my mini-gun and trading that bothers me, it’s the fact that it out new items or charging money for everything I could get my hands took me 5 days to realise that I was those in a hurry to get them. Only a on. My arms ache, my neck hurts addicted to a game, a game that is lighter note NAG is a great magazine, and my legs feel as though I have not really known for that, at least to the greatest in fact. just completed the comrades. Was my knowledge anyway. This leads it worth it? At the beginning, yes, I me to wonder, how badly are some In a hundred years they’ll look back would switch on the PC, join a server people addicted? Notorious games and either laugh at us for spending and not look away for a couple of like WOW come to mind, often money on things that don’t exist or hours, eventually stop, breath a deep mocked for the level of dedication praise us for starting the revolution. breath and think, man, that was fun. practised by its players. Now I am One day in the future (near) we As time went on though, that feeling not judging those who put real life will eventually be ‘living’ in our of fun went away and I began to aside to play games, in my opinion virtual worlds and of course trying The ‘Letter of the Moment’ prize is sponsored by get bored and then I discovered the there is no better escape, but the to keep up with the neighbour’s Megarom. The winner fancy new galaxy-class spaceship. extent to which trading is conducted aches and pains I felt were real and receives two games for in TF2. The sheer amount of people at times disconcerting, yet I would Human nature never changes, it coming up with the most willing to split with real money just find myself in the chair, mouse in only runs deeper. Also, who’s to say inspired bit of wisdom or to get a few hats that people could hand. I eventually began to hate the we’re not living in that game right cleverness. admire is astounding. It’s scary and I game, it became dark and I found now? Who out there owns a pair of had to get in on it. If you are familiar myself thinking what am I doing Levi’s jeans because everyone was IMPORTANT STUFF! with the game, you will know here, I am like the only person on the wearing them and secretly wants a PAY ATTENTION! that items are dropped randomly server, just stop playing, get up, and better car than Bob down the road? Land Mail: P.O. Box 237, and people will use these to craft go outside. 5 days later I did, and it Addiction is a problem so we’ll look Olivedale, 2158 Cyber mail: metal and trade this for more rear feels good to feel normal again, the at doing an article. Me personally, I letters@nag. co.za or exclusive items others may be sun is shining and my body feels don’t buy little hats and trinkets, I Important: Include your lucky enough to find. For the last 22 and not 100 years old. This may just play for status and rank – just details when mailing us, 3 days of my TF2 ride, trading was seem like an exaggeration, but I as pathetic I suppose but hey, I’m otherwise how will you ever the focus, the result? Nothing worth know there are a few people who happy. Ed. get your prize if you win…

Shorts [extracts From: Luka Needless to say, they shut up that day users in SA? And one last thing, will there be a of LOL n00b Subject: Letter and our present conversations as well as Stall at rAge this year where 3DS users can get from NAG This is short. November NAG issue, page their ignorant perceptions have improved together and do the above mentioned swaps? reader letters] 34, top right, "enough random stuff at rAge drastically and all over something so simple. :) If it is possible I think it would be a good idea this year to keep the entire population of I hope you've enjoyed the read as much as I because playing StreetQuest with hired level 1 “I know you’re Yugoslavia** glowing with glee" - I resent enjoyed revelling in the moment of that day. I kittens just sucks. Oh, and you really are doing on a deadline that comment. I'm from there and it’s not as personally think that it'd be awesome if you'd a superb job with the magazine. so I’ll make this small as you might think (or whoever wrote feature or mention something in an upcoming quick. How did this rubbish), but their values and manners issue about this still thriving stereotype; and Thanks for the kind words. I don’t know if you become make South Africa look like the 3rd world yes I do mean an 8x16 bubble nearing the Nintendo will be at rAge this year… There is editor (take country it is. end hosting some babble about a reality PK! a very good chance they will be considering your time)” I also would just like to say: Congratulations thousands of people come to the show each – No name Wasn’t ‘Yugoslavia’ dissolved in 2006? Sorry on your exemplary work and level of epic year and rAge is the biggest technology event for your loss and long live South Africa. Ed. each and every issue! Your efforts are greatly in the whole country and it’s experiencing a “Is it possible appreciated by more than just "Four-eyed, major growth spurt. ;) So, bring your 3DS to that I just saw From: Ashleigh plaid-wearing, un-defiled nerds allergic to rAge. We’ll make sure we mention wherever the girl from the Subject: A little bit of Nonsense everything but potatoes." ;) we can that people must bring their portable rAge the quest I've always been a nerd. Never been ashamed devices and get their wireless on. Ed. video buying of it, made excuses or abided by society and I’m both sad to hear stereotypes are still alive an Arkham city their connotations with "geeks". I have always and well and happy that you smashed them From: Grant sweater (the found intelligence to be very sexy. However, flat. I’m getting more and more girl gamers Subject: Overdue Letter one with cat throughout my youth I was always liked by writing in to NAG each month. Keep it coming I have no clue why it has taken me so long to woman on it) the majority of my peers but was never seen ladies. I’ve also been hearing strange rumour send these pictures through to NAG. I have at Musica? I as the "Exceptional grades-Formulating the of people who play sport now also play been a very avid gamer (ever since the NES wanted to ask second theorem to the Newton Laws" chick. games!? Ed. days), and been reading your magazine when her but if I was So recently, some newly made mates of it was NEW AGE GAMING (remember those wrong I’d look mine that didn't know much more about From: Matthew days). I married a wonderful woman in 2010, weird. LOL” me further than my incredible ability to talk Subject: 3DS stall at rAge? who gave me one choice for the wedding. The – Zaheer just tons of bullshit, came over. They found Great mag and keep up the good work. Have cake! Oh yeah. So we found a baker who was some NAG magazines and just couldn't/ my babies. Blah… Not that the formalities willing to make the cake and we ended up with “The only wouldn't believe that they belonged to me. In are out of the way, I can get to my point/slash this awesome cake. reason why their attempt to prove their very generalised, question. I recently bought myself a Nintendo Best cake I have ever eaten. Everyone at we are friends asshole theory true and "put me in my place" 3DS during the festive season and I've been NAG, you do a super job to release the best is because of they proposed I do the simple task of drawing astounded at the lack of a 3DS community mag ever; it’s the highlight of my month. I also the fact that 'NAG' in anything relevant to NAG magazines in South Africa. I take my 3DS with me hope my four month old daughter picks up on we both play and ended their full of sh1t and extensive everywhere, always on stand-by yet when I the greatest hobby on the planet. rugby or else gag reel with "... And we don't mean flowers open it up I have no StreetPass notifications. he would have and smiley faces, this isn't Home & Garden." Maybe I just live in the wrong part of S.A. and I don’t think you’re supposed to eat the cake, killed me long I've attached what I presented to them and all the 3DS users live in the Karoo. Is there Grant. Most people keep it forever until it gets ago in one of although I used very basic PC knowledge it a 3DS community in SA? Are there places or so dirty and dusty they have to toss it out for his roidrages.” made it that much more yummy to have nailed events that 3DS users can go to swap Mii's health reasons. Regardless, I wish you and – Luca them with such simplicity! and other StreetPass app data with other your lovely wife all the best. Keep on gaming

10 / www.nag.co.za NAG fan artwork prize sponsored by Phoenix software. / inbox /

have access to preview builds or unfinished NAG Fan artwork versions of the games you review. Can’t you On the Forums write a review using these, with a disclaimer This is the cream of the crop that we received at that the review is based on an unfinished NAG this issue. If you insert, use or create a piece version, possibly with a follow-up mini-review Why won’t the chickens breed? We can assist, but bring your own of gaming artwork incorporating the NAG logo outlining the changes and improvements since cooler box. Most are welcome: http://www.nag.co.za/forums/ you might also end up here for your three lines you last played the game in its pre-release of fame. Remember, don’t just stick the logo on a form? Question: Is it time for the next generation of consoles? picture – use the logo in a picture or you win squat. If you can’t find a way to get the reviews out when the games come out maybe you should Tigman_1: No! My wallet is going to burst into flames if I have to buy eliminate them entirely from the magazine another console. (Even though I don’t own a console. :/ ) and save that space for previews, interviews, opinion pieces and retrospectives. Maybe you Gammaray: No. There is no new omgmusthav!1 technology that new should only publish game reviews on your consoles need now imo. website. This way you won’t be beholden to print deadlines and you can get them up as Toxxyc: Nope. Something like the PS3 features exactly what is soon as they’re ready. I know the reviews currently being sold in the mainstream visual department anyhow are available online before the magazine is (Blu-ray, 1080p, etc.). published, but maybe that’s the only place they should be available. CyniKill: No. Next-gen needs to be exactly that: next generation. There isn’t any new technology that raises the bar yet. Grant Webster, Mario cake Barring a little drama and exaggeration, nothing you say is wrong. I say exaggeration echo: Nope, too much potential still left in this generation. Master that because you’re not the majority of the people and you can move on. and when your daughter is old enough to read, reading the magazine. Being able to buy all get her a NAG subscription. Ed. the latest games, be plugged into the Internet Shaderow: No, we have a lot of juice left in our machines and I still all day, get NAG and have a PC, Xbox and PS3 need to buy a PS3 to experience inFamous before it vanishes. From: Calvin is not the picture of the typical gamer. I know Subject: Late reviews I’m painting an extreme picture here but it’s ZoRPA: Negative. I am still happy with what we have now. Also, the Look, don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of your just to make a point. Everyone that reads library of games available for current consoles is massive. No need to magazine. I buy it every month, usually on NAG gets something different out of it: news, start all over again. the day of release, and typically finish it in one previews, reviews, hardware, humour and sitting (and yes, I do actually read everything). opinions and whatever and etc. When we Fredder: Nope, rather innovate on and improve the existing interfaces The artwork is great, especially the last few do surveys in NAG, among the positives are - stuff like full blown web-browsing & downloading should be covers (kudos to whomever is designing them, our reviews including a large percentage of standard on all consoles by now. they’ve been spectacular), the writers are readers asking for more review space. It’s a smart, knowledgeable and eloquent (mostly…), careful balance that aims to keep everyone D3zmodos: No, I’d think that it will only be time for a new generation of and the internal layout is crisp, clean and happy. An example, I’m a movie lover and I consoles when the games being developed for the current generation neatly designed (unlike some other gaming buy a particular movie magazine for exactly are consistently being restrained by the hardware on which they need magazines which are so cluttered and noisy the same reasons I’d buy a gaming magazine. to function to a noticeable level when compared to the same/similar you can’t hear yourself read). In there I look for news, upcoming movies games on PC. My only problem is with the game reviews and I always read the reviews for some of themselves. I’m starting to wonder what the the reasons you pointed out. The bottom CaViE: With the PC eleven generations ahead, the time is fast coming. point of including them at all is. Let’s use Skyrim line is I can’t tell you how many times I’ve But current generation console gaming can still hold out for a while. as an example, shall we? Skyrim was (famously) read a review of a movie I haven’t seen and released on 11.11.11. I’ve just finished reading the then gone to watch it. The system works and charly: Not Yet, The PS3 is only just beginning to reach its Maximum December edition and there’s no Skyrim review, I trust in it. Also, our policy is not to review Potential. which means that it will be in the January 2012 unfinished products because it’s dangerous edition, which hits the shelves on the last Friday recommending things that aren’t final. Thanks Chevron: Hell yes. Current gen consoles are 6-7 years old. Where’s my of December. This means that your review of for the support and I do hear you, Ed. Uncharted in 1080p? Where’s my load times that can be measured in one of the biggest games of the year will be milliseconds? published a full month and a half after the From: Robert release of the game. Subject: Choices Changsta 187: Nada. We just recently had a beating from motion What’s the point? I am a father for the second time and I really sensing technology for this generation, why bring in the next I understand what the point of a review have useful advice for younger gamers and generation so soon? is, (to review something is to make a careful was thinking about writing in more often to examination of a subject {book, film, game etc.} give advice to the youngsters. Good idea, “my Xperimance: We have so many potentially good games coming out in order to formulate and state a judgment darling the little one is crying can you please this year so what’s the point of having next-gen consoles coming out of said subject, usually for the benefit of a clean the nappy this round and I promise I will soon? consumer contemplating a purchase), but I just do the next”. Bad idea, “babe the little one has don’t see the point of your reviews. They just a dirty nappy, sort him out I’m gaming.” With DaveSlab: Hope not, just got an Xbox 360 for Christmas! So far all the seem like such a waste of effort. chicks wording is the key to having kids and new games look good and I can’t wait for the games releasing this Who are they for? still being able to game. year! I’d postulate that the vast majority of the Also handy hints on how to game and take people who were curious about, or interested care of kids: 5h@un13: Here’s the thing about new consoles: they come with new, in, Skyrim would have bought it, played it, and KFC (kangaroo father care) take of shirt, expensive gimmicks, and we don’t need any more of them anytime if not finished it, at least put in dozens upon take off kids shirt (leave nappy on) put him soon. dozens of hours of playtime. All of them would skin on skin contact and wrap him to you. Sit have formulated their own opinions on the back and start gaming, baby will be happy, The Wolf: It certainly depends on your point of view. Current game’s merits and shortcomings by the time wife will be happy and you will be gaming generation consoles are still great and has a lot of potential. Especially your review comes out. This means that the While doing KFC and you need transport the PlayStation 3. Personally I don’t think it’s time, but who knows? only reason for the majority of your buyers to use a tank rather than a LAV as tank rounds Maybe the next generation of consoles will wash our dishes while actually read your Skyrim review would be so have a lower dB rating and will not wake the we are playing “Uncharted 5: Drake’s Retirement Party Gone Horribly they can say “Yup, that’s pretty much what I baby, the 30 mm rounds in LAVs make a higher Wrong”. thought” or “No, that’s not how it was for me pitch and you will notice they start to squirm. I at all” only a tiny minority will read the review have tried every avenue to keep gaming while Jerkydarkstar: Yes. Would you play games on a 6 year old pc? and go “Hmm, maybe I should check out this being a stellar dad, some work, some don't. I here game”. am also blessed as my wife is a gamer too so Cranky: Yes. As a pc gamer we are being held back by developers There must be a way for you to get the she understands. making due with “OLD “ tech to help the consoles keep up and we reviews out on, or as close as possible to, are stuck with sh1tty console ports. Get a new console so we can get the release date. I understand the deadlines I wonder if the dB rating of different weapons better looking games please. :D you work under, and the lead-time needed and keeping baby quiet while gaming will ever to get the magazine to print, but surely you show up in a parenting book one day. Ed.

www.nag.co.za / 11 / bytes / / I, Gamer / Book by its cover Rebinding Isaac

his might come as somewhat of a shock to many, but I am a terrible person. I mean a really, very Ttotally terrible person with a tendency to pigeonhole people – grossly unfair as it may be. In my defence, however, I think this mostly happens subconsciously as it only came to light after an attitude adjusting encounter with a bloke at gym. Oh yes I, uh, go to gym as regularly as I can; I think it has to do with the fact that I spend about nine hours a day behind a desk and then feel the need to do something physical before I spend the evening with a controller in my hand. Anyway, I kind of get in there, keep my head down, try not to make eye-contact with the people who could bench-press me with one arm, and get out as soon as I feel I’ve released enough endorphins to counteract my indolent daytime activities – or whatever the opposite of “activities” is. The fact that I’m partaking in this decidedly un- gamerish activity is something I off set by wearing those rue story: The Binding of including more bosses, enemies and Isaac may have accidentally new mechanics. McMillen says that, “It was kind of like deer-in-the-headlights Tmanaged to worm its way once this expansion is done, nothing stuff : my seemingly covert gamer cover onto a NAG staffer’s “most played else can be done with the game, and had been blown by someone who I would games of 2011” list. Don’t judge he’ll let it lie. him/her – it’s a damn fine game In other exciting Binding of have considered to be the most unlikely packed with so much stuff to Isaac news, it seems McMillen is observer – a gym instructor. ” unlock and such an infuriatingly attempting to port the game to the addictive set of mechanics that 3DS – which seems like a perfect this particular person couldn’t stop platform for this arcade-style crappy video game T-shirts I’ve accumulated via “pre- playing. The game already grew roguelike. There’s no solid news order bonuses” and gaming conventions. So in order to fairly substantially with last year’s regarding this 3DS version yet, but surreptitiously fl y the gamer fl ag amongst the creatine- Halloween update – and now it’s McMillen did let loose a few choice imbibing masses, I don whichever geeky thread is sitting getting a full expansion. words about it: at the top of the pile before commencing to “klap mad The expansion is dubbed The “The only news I have on the 3DS gym, boet”. It’s not like anyone in there would even Wrath of the Lamb and will cost just is that it seems possible but it's still recognise a gaming t-shirt anyway. $3 on Steam. According to creator going through higher ups to make And so, a few weeks back, I walked into gym wearing a Edmund McMillen, it’ll add about sure there won't be an issue with t-shirt with a massive Halo: Reach logo on it. That’s when 50% new content and should arrive the ‘religious’ aspect.” With regards it happened: one of the instructors stopped whatever sometime within “the next 2-4 to the expansion, McMillen says: “If it was he was doing with an intimidating, large stack of months.” Your $3 gets you over 70 we land the 3DS port, it will include weights and asked me whether I was into video games. new items to find, unlock and use in the expansion for sure.” Even if the At fi rst I was a little dumbstruck – something he must your deranged quest, including a new 3DS version doesn’t work out, there have realised because he immediately followed up the item category called trinkets, which are apparently other avenues to question with another, this time asking me whether will provide passive bonuses. There’ll explore. “If we don't land the 3DS, I played Reach online. It was kind of like deer-in-the- be a new playable character, as well the publisher I'm talking to has headlights stuff : my seemingly covert gamer cover had as the game’s final boss (for real this expressed interest in other digital been blown by someone who I would have considered time). Basically, “more of everything” platforms and is currently contacting to be the most unlikely observer – a gym instructor. is what they’re going for here, them as well about the port.” Not in a million years would I have believed a “jock” (a moniker he’d readily prescribed to himself I might add) would be the one to spot my game-referencing apparel. I now realise that preconception was pretty stupid. After swapping favourite game titles and opinions on the merits of owning multiple platforms, he must have Microsoft and Sony to reveal seen my badly hidden disbelief at the exchange because he said, “So many people think all of us instructors are just jocks.” I had done exactly that. The Kilimanjaro-sized their next consoles at E3 2012? irony of this occurrence was not lost on me, although it took a few hours before it lolled into my consciousness re you sitting down? Got your 2012 then, but what about Microsoft’s to point out what a monumental ass-hat I’d been. “Rumour Reading Glasses” on? Xbox 360 successor? MCV claims to Not so long ago it had been me fi ghting against the AGaming industry website MCV have confirmation of the next Xbox misconception that gamers could be nothing more than reported that the next Xbox as well as reveal via third-party publishing socially awkward nerds, and yet here I was believing the PlayStation 4 will be revealed at sources. Furthermore, it’s believed a jock could be nothing more than a gym-obsessed this year’s E3. Sadly, a mere week after that Microsoft is deliberately planning beefcake. I now consider my attitude thoroughly MCV’s speculation, Sony stepped up to reveal their next console so as to adjusted and I am completely ashamed of myself. to the microphone and said, “Nuh-uh!” dampen Nintendo’s supposed E3 2012 It turns out the group of instructors are NAG readers, The Japanese console manufacturer announcement of a concrete release so on the off -chance of them seeing this, I apologise: affectively squished MCV’s rumour with dates for the Wii U. prior to this experience I’d had you pigeonholed as jocks, Sony’s Kaz Hirai pointing out, “we are Interestingly, Microsoft has yet to although I hope I’d at least had the courtesy to not let not making any announcements at E3. follow Sony’s lead in denying MCV’s that on. Hope to catch you all on Xbox LIVE soon. [I say I’ve always said a 10-year life cycle for rumour about E3 2012 reveals. Read you should still-bench press him with one arm, gym PS3, and there is no reason to go away into that as much as you’d like – either instructors, Ed] from that.” way, this year’s E3 is shaping up to be Miklós Szecsei So, scratch the PlayStation 4 from E3 pretty exciting.

12 / www.nag.co.za Yay, another zombie game...... this time it’s from Naughty Dog

Avian addiction

// This is ridiculous. Rovio’s insanely popular, time-killing mobile bird-tosser, Angry Birds, was downloaded 6.5 million times on Christmas Day last year. This number includes downloads of both the free and paid versions of the game, and is a combination of Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio. It’s been pointed out that those 6.5 million downloads are nearly equivalent to the estimated number of smartphone activations that happened over Christmas. Naturally, Rovio are ecstatic. “We’re really excited he Uncharted series has been wrapped up with to have such a Uncharted 3; now it’s just the western release of massive number TGolden Abyss on the PS Vita and whatever other of new people get bits and pieces developer Naughty Dog is expected to acquainted with deliver. What that means is the studio needs a new big Angry Birds over project, and with that, we present you with The Last of the holidays – we Us, which, as it turns out, has been under development have exciting new by a secret team of over 80 developers in the studio for releases lined up the last two years. for 2012, and can’t Set at some point in the near future, The Last of wait to introduce Us tells the story of an older man named Joel (the them to the public,” player character) and a young girl named Ellie. The said Rovio’s Ville two struggle together to survive in a world in which Heijari. humanity has been all but wiped out by a deadly fungus inspired by the Cordyceps parasitic fungus that infects insects and drives them to what looks like madness until they explode in a shower of spores. Tell that to the next person who tries to get you to eat mushrooms. // Social network- If it sounds like a zombie game, that’s because it based games is. The two will have to do all the zombie game things might not appeal to you’re no-doubt accustomed to by now: scavenging everyone, but there’s for supplies, hiding, shooting zombies and doing their no denying how big darndest to survive in numerous cities across the US, the industry is. EA’s no but the in-engine trailer shows a pace and narrative fool about this, either, that sounds more like the almost sedate yet dangerous and has employed the world in Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic book (and Germany-based EA movie, if you’re lazy) The Road than anything like Left 4 Phenomic to develop Dead or Dead Rising. Command & Conquer: The game will be played from a 3rd-person Tiberium Alliances. perspective, but not much else is known about the If you’re interested gameplay. Will it be open world, linear or a mix of both? in this simplified, Are Joel and Emmie immune to the fungus? Will there be global-domination multiple types of infected, or even boss infected? What version of C&C, head caused this catastrophe? There are many questions, over to alliances. but not many answers. The only other details we can commandandconquer. confirm for now is that The Last of Us will be for PS3 com only, and that Naughty is currently aiming for an end- 2012 / early-2013 release date.

www.nag.co.za / 13 / bytes / / The Game Stalker / Achievement Bethesda and Interplay not unlocked settle their differences

ost of the time these columns are based on things I’ve read or experienced that *gasp* I have an Mopinion on! Given the nature of my job, that’s mostly game and sometimes tech and social networking related. So, on that note, I recently read an article by Stephen Totilo about Gamerscore and the fact that, as opposed to the rather hubristic nature of trophies and achievements, Super Mario 3D Land instead applauds you for a job well done. I’m not going to expand too much on his discussion but it got me thinking. People often ask me what my Gamerscore is. Because that of course is the only way I can prove I am a true, ‘hardcore’ gamer. (That’s sarcasm. Just in case you missed it). Contrary to popular belief what it in fact proves is that I play on an Xbox (I also own a PS3 and a PC), that I try out many games even if it’s for fi ve minutes (which I do) and that ow. This legal battle back in December, and Duck and between Bethesda and Cover reported that resulting court WInterplay over the Fallout documents and anonymous sources “The fact that you can get MMO has been shambling onwards revealed that both parties had agreed achievements simply for completing for so long that it’s difficult to tell if to finally put a stop to the legal back anyone even gives a cap anymore. and forth and reach a settlement. the most basic tasks, immediately Still, according to... well, all of the A short while thereafter, the exact makes them less valid as indications Internet really, a settlement has been details were released, and this is of how ‘hardcore’ a gamer you are. ” reached between the two parties, what we now know: Interplay will not and Bethesda basically walks away be creating Fallout Online, because with all the best toys. the license to create a Fallout I care about these things (which I don’t). First, a brief history lesson. Way MMO now belongs to Bethesda. Totilo remarks that, “I’m a video game reporter. I get lots back when the original owners of Meanwhile, Bethesda owners of free video games. I pop many of them into my Xbox the Fallout brand, Interplay, sold the ZeniMax are required to pay a sizable 360 to try them out. Achievements are earned. Points license to Elder Scrolls developer fee of $2 million to Interplay. Interplay are tallied, infl ating my own Gamerscore into a number Bethesda, Interplay managed to are also free to continue selling unequal to my actual passion for good video games.” retain the rights to develop a Fallout Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics (Kotaku 17/11/2011) MMO, so long as they started work on until December 31st, 2013, at which Many people don’t understand the nature of a game it within a certain timeframe and with time Bethesda gains sole rights to reporter’s job. They think we just sit around and play a certain budget raised ($30 million, all of the games. Basically, Bethesda games all day. There’s actually a miniscule element to be precise) to finance the project. now controls everything Fallout. of truth in that, but it’s really not as glamorous as it all Bethesda eventually claimed that At present, it’s not clear if they’ll sounds. We sometimes play games that are really bad. And these conditions had not been met, use their newfound MMO rights to whilst we might not play those games for hours on end, and got to work trying to regain the actually make a Fallout MMO. All we they do ultimately land up on our Gamerscores. rights to the MMO and stop Interplay know for sure is that we’ll hopefully I disagree strongly with the fact that my Gamerscore from making it. never have to write about this legal and collecting achievements or trophies or whatever the Supposedly there was a hearing fiasco ever again. various platforms call them, is what validates me as a gamer. Yes, I am in the fortunate position to be able to have access to a variety of games that I don’t have to save up for and hope that I haven’t wasted my money. It doesn’t make my opinion any less valid however when I say to the Back to basics trolls who claim that I’m not a gamer that I don’t know my Gamerscore. I don’t play and enjoy every single genre of game and he Tony Hawk series seems to have neither do you. Nevertheless I’ll try anything once. On all but faded into obscurity, so what occasion the game is so good it even changes my mind. Tbetter way to revive it than by re- I play games because I love playing games. I play games releasing all the good content from the for the enjoyment of exploring a world. I play games for earlier games in the series with updated an opportunity for some friendly competition with some visuals? Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD will friends. I play games to experience the narrative. I play be more than a mere port, but will be an games to zone out when I’m tired and need to relax. I play HD amalgamation of the first two games games when I want to vent some frustration after a hard day. in the series. It will also return to the The fact that you can get achievements simply for gameplay of the first two games, so that completing the most basic tasks, immediately makes them means your floor-scratching Tony Hawk: less valid as indications of how “hardcore” a gamer you Ride accessory will be useless here. are. I noticed whilst playing Batman that I was awarded a Activision is calling this a reboot of the trophy for becoming Batman. Yes, well done. You became franchise, and will be making it available the character around which the game is based. as a downloadable title only for PSN I have NO idea what my Gamerscore is. Not even and XBLA. Currently, the only confirmed vaguely. I don’t know how many trophies I have collected. levels are Woodland Hills, School and And I honestly do not care. Downhill Jam from the first Tony Hawk’s Achievement not unlocked. Do not pass GO. Do not Pro Skater (although no-doubt more will collect 1 miiiiiiiillion dollars! be available), and Tony Hawk, Riley Hawk Pippa Tshabalala and Nyjah Huston as playable characters.

14 / www.nag.co.za Firaxis joins in the fray

Call of Duty wins top most played XBL games for 2011

// The Call of Duty franchise; you COM – the upcoming first-person shooter from might have heard 2K Marin – is now not the only title heading our of it. Xbox 360 Xway to bring this humble franchise into the future. gamers certainly Firaxis Games (the studio behind the Civilization series) have because recently announced that they too are working on a Xbox LIVE’s game entitled XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Major Nelson just This is the X-COM title that fans of the series have released a list of been waiting for, and will be true to the franchise’s the top twenty gameplay mechanics by combining a real-time global games played map with turn-based engagements. Players will be able on Microsoft’s to build and upgrade bases, research alien technology, console customise and level-up their squad members and direct throughout transport ships called Skyrangers to combat zones. 2011. Try to act The game won’t be a simple remake of any of the surprised: taking original titles, however. Firaxis is keen to eliminate the the top three “tedium and uninteresting mechanics” while keeping positions were the gameplay challenging and recognisable. And, unlike various iterations 2K Marin’s FPS, Enemy Unknown will take place in the of the Activision middle of an alien invasion on Earth, rather than the first FPS franchise with attacks experienced in the ‘50s. With that said, we expect Black Ops coming no correlation between the two titles, or any form of first followed by canon that either will respect from the other teams. Both Modern Warfare games should be considered entirely separate entities. 3 and Modern There is currently no confirmed release date but Warfare 2 rumours say that it’ll be out before 2K’s XCOM. As for scooping second release platforms, we can’t promise anything, but the and third place screenshots include Xbox 360 “Y” and “X” icons, so take respectively. that however you will. If three FPS titles in the top spots weren’t enough, positions four and five were held by further shooter franchises In the with Halo: Reach beating Battlefield 3 for fourth place. darkest hour So much for EA’s “COD killer” then. It’s not all e still have no idea what, if anything, has about multiplayer happened to the true sequel (or, “next however as Wseason”) to Alan Wake, but Remedy Bethesda’s Elder seems to think that a standalone spinoff is Scrolls V: Skyrim enough to keep us entertained while we wait, came in at six; and we’re inclined to agree. it was the only Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is due for game in the top release any day now (it may even be available 20, however, by time you read this) for XBLA only. The game that doesn’t features Mr. Wake who is trapped somewhere in feature any Arizona. He’s also caught in one of his Night Springs multiplayer. Oddly episodes, in the middle of a battle between light and enough some dark, and his mind is caught between a padded cell old favourites and reality. Pretty standard fair, really. managed to creep PC-only owners who have yet to taste the sweet their way onto horror/action-survival that is the first Alan Wake the list, with the will finally be able to do so. Remedy Entertainment likes of Halo 3, GTA has again estimated a release date for the PC IV and Red Dead version, which will include both The Signal and The Redemption all Writer DLC: mid-2012. taking spots on the top 20 as well.

www.nag.co.za / 15 / bytes / / The Indie Investigator / Half-Life fans grow impatient, Keep games fi t commence “Operation Crowbar”

labby game developers are the worst. Seriously. Not the physical build bit, of course, since that’s Freally none of my business. They can spend their entire lives wallowing in a basement eating deep- fried dassie corpses for all I care. But if, between rodent mouthfuls, they decide to crank out a bloated, superfl uous mass of a game with no regard for the entertainment diet of a healthy and active player base ... well, screw them. They just aren’t treating their f you’ve been keeping an eye slightly creepy: they’re ordering audience properly. on NAG Online over the last actual, real, proper crowbars online I call a game “bloated” when it’s delivered with a Itwo months or so, then you’ll and having them delivered to Valve whole bunch of extra content that adds little to the know that Half-Life 3 or Half-Life HQ. They intend to continue sending experience beyond forced longevity. They’re those 2 Episode 3 or whatever Half-Life Valve real crowbars until “Valve is inane titles which attempt to push the “countless iteration Valve is probably working up to their nipples in crowbars.” hours of fun” ticket by forcing you to kill boars in a on, has been featuring a lot in the The group has picked a particular forest for six hours after doing something interesting news. There have been rumours crowbar on Amazon, which sells for for approximately two minutes. They’re those “100+ whizzing about that all seem $7. Realising that not all fans are puzzling levels of enjoyment” with only half a dozen to stem from a Valve employee willing to fork out $7 for the crowbar being spotted wearing a Half-Life (and probably more for delivery!) 3 T-shirt, as well as eager fans they’ve pointed the more frugal “I call a game “bloated” when dissecting Valve’s Spike TV Video types to Valve’s Facebook page to it’s delivered with a whole Game Award videos. A few weeks post pictures of crowbars on the ago Valve finally broke the silence developer’s wall. If you head over bunch of extra content that adds and told everyone to get a grip – the to facebook.com/valve the chances little to the experience beyond Half-Life rumours were nothing are you’ll find a bunch of pictures forced longevity. ” more than fans trolling fans. of crowbars – unless Valve’s grown That, however, seems to have tired of the fan shenanigans and not been enough for a group of deleted all of the posts. well-considered experiences among the lot of ‘em. serious Half-Life fans. This group Operation Crowbar aims to When presented with a choice between creating has grown tired of waiting for Valve continue sending Valve crowbars a lean, short, thoroughly enjoyable experience and a to talk about Gordon Freeman’s (both physical and digital) until such tepid magnum opus that’s diluted its fun content to next outing and so they’ve initiated time as the developer breaks its homeopathic levels, they’re keener to appeal to people “Operation Crowbar” via the official silence regarding the next Half-Life. who apparently have nothing better to do than buy Steam Forums. Operation Crowbar Man, gamers can be really loopy. electronic time sinks. is simple, albeit a little insane and Creative, but totally damn loopy. Now, I enjoy throwing my life into games just as much as the next socially maladjusted wordsmith, but I don’t do this because my spare time is somehow a gaping, meaningless void that needs to be fi lled with mindless button-mashing and occasional shouts of FUS RO DAH at my cat (though the latter IS amazingly fun). If I set aside some of my ever-so-precious time 14 days later to sit down and play something, I expect it to cram as much reward as possible into every moment and not bog me down with throwaway crap. Although every developer can be guilty of this problem on some level, beginners in particular often fall into the “more is better” trap when it comes to making a fun experience – as if throwing stuff at a wall and seeing what sticks is really the best way to entertain an audience. It’s hard to blame people for this thinking, especially in an era where players whine extensively about games being too short, or shipped without multiplayer mode, or somehow lacking one hundred nother developer that’s just level system, underground exploration, completely unnecessary timewasters (I may never see wrapped up their biggest boss fights, team survival mode,” my character’s head again after he puts on his fi rst Afranchise, Epic Games, has and “rare loot,” all of which sound helmet, but I’ll be damned if I’m not going to be able to decided to step outside of its comfort like fantastic elements to include in a spend fi ve minutes adjusting his eyebrow colour). zone. The studio is currently working game like this. If you ever make something of your own, however, on Fortnite, a horde defence game that The Minecraft-inspired gameplay will understand that there will always be a pruning process. draws inspiration from Team Fortress 2 come in the form of free-form building, There are too many games in existence today. If people and, oddly enough, Minecraft. but won’t be quite as limitless as aren’t hooked in the fi rst fi ve minutes, they’re not going Epic has been tight-lipped about Mojang’s title. Perry described Fortnite’s to keep playing. And any bloat after that is just cheeky the confirmed details, but what we building system as “not scripted or and disrespectful. It may sound tempting to try make can gather so far is that it will be just boarding up existing structures,” something that people will play forever, but try starting a team-oriented game with a day/ and it will focus specifically on building with just ten minutes. Less really is more, especially if night cycle in which players break structures. you’re an indie developer cast afl oat in a sea of other down city structures, gather building Fortnite is currently in development aspiring hopefuls. If you’re struggling to get anywhere materials and build up their defences and no platforms or release window with your passion, drop the MMO in progress and make during the day, and defend themselves have been pinpointed just yet. The something slimmer and fi tter. against waves of enemies in the night. company is still searching for a publisher Short-term passion is, after all, superior to long-term According to lead designer Lee Perry, but we can’t imagine that Microsoft isn’t tedium. there’s a good chance that the game at least a little bit interested, given the Rodain Joubert will include “weapon crafting/traps, two companies’ history together.

16 / www.nag.co.za Star Wars: Kid doesn’t say a word. The Old Just stands there in Republic breaks a quiet appreciation Guinness World Record

// EA and BioWare’s newest money printer, Star Wars: The Old Republic, has claimed a Guinness World Record. The MMORPG officially holds the record for “Largest Entertainment Voice Over Project” ever eautifully affecting (and affectingly beautiful) produced. This is action-RPG Bastion was easily one of last year’s thanks to the game’s Bbest games. We may not have reviewed it, but more than 200,000 we’ll just tell you right here: you should own it, because lines of recorded it’s fantastic. Greg Kasavin of developer Supergiant dialogue. Games had many excited words to say to Eurogamer One of the regarding the studio’s future, as well as letting us all oft-repeated bullet know that their excellent debut title has now sold more points for the MMO’s than half a million copies. features prior “Our stance around what we want to do in the to its December future hasn't changed in light of Bastion's success,” 2011 launch was said Kasavin. “Thankfully Bastion has performed well how every line of enough to give us the resources to create another dialogue would be game on our own terms, meaning we can self-fund voiced – a first for the project and take the time we need to get it right.” an online game. This Apparently for this new game, the “core team” will was made possible remain the same. thanks to several “We always intended for Bastion to be a standalone hundred voice game though we did aim to create a rich world for it actors performing that could potentially support other stories.” the 200,000 lines. “I don't know if we'll ever go back to the world of BioWare’s decision that game, though if we do it will be at a time when the to make true on team wants to do that more than anything else. It can't this feature has just be a financially motivated decision because that's paid off in the form not how Bastion was created in the first place.” of shiny Guinness World Record certificates, which were presented to BioWare co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Steam sales increase Dr. Greg Zeschuk at the game’s official 100% for seventh midnight launch party in New York. To put this into year in a row perspective, there isn’t a feature o PC gaming is “very obviously dead” – don’t length movie on the ever forget that. The fact that for seven years planet that features Snow, Valve’s digital shopfront has doubled its this many lines of sales revenue indicates that the platform where dialogue. gaming started is going nowhere. A few weeks ago, during those obscenely attractive Christmas specials Steam was running, there were more than 5 million users online at once, which set a new record for the digital sales platform. In total there are more than 40 million registered users making use of Steam, which kind of explains why the platform had to transmit more than 780 petabytes (a petabyte is 1,000 terabytes) of data during 2011. Valve bossman Gabe Newell has further plans for Steam, which include getting the platform into your lounge area (which it is partially already thanks to Steamworks on the PlayStation 3). The company is currently looking forward to “the launch of Big Picture UI mode, which will allow gamers to experience Steam on large displays and in more rooms of the house.” How long do you think it’ll be before Sony ships their TVs with Steam software built in already?

www.nag.co.za / 17 / bytes / / Miktar’s Meanderings / Discourse: Welcome back, general lag switches

o I found out about the lag switch. Once you know about lag switches you think everyone is using one. S Simply put, a lag switch is a little device you buy or build. You attach it to your network between your PC/360 and your router/modem. When you activate the Lag Switch it cuts off your upstream for a short while based on a timer. Modern lag switches even come with a ring you can wear on your fi nger to trigger the lag. When used during an online multiplayer game the lag switch is used to cheat. The person using it appears frozen to opponents when in fact they’re still playing locally. When the timer ends the cheater’s local data resynchronizes uring last year’s Video Game physics-driven encounters and massive with the online server in a burst. So from their point Awards, EA finally put an end to the battlefields (heh). The presence of three of view they were able to run around the corner and Drumours of Command & Conquer: factions has been confirmed (we’re fairly shoot you easily. From your point of view they instantly Generals 2 by confirming its existence certain that the GLA and US are in, and teleported to right in front of you and shot you. with a teaser trailer. While the game China is likely to return), with no word on Most of the time this method of cheating is has long been expected, few could have subdivisions among them, but EA claims undetectable. From the point of view of the server, the guessed the rest of the details. that a long line of DLC will be released The project will be developed by after the game’s launch that will include BioWare, but before you get too excited, new factions, maps and campaigns. Pay “It makes me miss the LAN bear in mind that this company is one of only for those generals that you want to the largest in EA’s stables, and actually play? Sounds like a fair deal, as long as Party culture. At a LAN it is consists of six different studios. Among they’re balanced. much easier to figure out if those studios is BioWare Victory (which in Other than those drops of information, itself is split over three locations: Austin, little else is solid than a release year – someone is cheating. ” Los Angeles and Shanghai), formally 2013. According to Victory’s MD, John known as Victory Games, which will be Van Caneghem (formally of Trion Worlds), the team responsible for the game’s the game will see “a return to the roots cheater just had a little bit of lag. From a programming development. The studio was formed in of C&C gameplay,” complete with all the perspective, there is little one can do about it. Games 2010 and has been working on Generals 2 good stuff – “bases, resources and giant could tighten the tolerances on lag detection and kick since then, as far as we can tell. armies” – that made the series what it those that lag too often. But the tighter that gets the The game will use EA’s Frostbite 2 was until C&C4 popped in and sort-of more false positives you’ll have. Legitimate players with engine, so expect a lot of destruction, turned everything on its head. random lag spikes would fi nd themselves disconnected from the server. Servers could be programmed to look at a player’s lagspike history to detect cheaters, but I’ve yet to see a single online game implement such a system. At the rate things are going, it may not be long before we LEGO Batman 2 wants see a developer try such a method. According to Google, before 2008 there were no searches for “lag switch”. Since then, searches for the your attention, please term have increased steadily. Clearly a lot of people either want to know what they are or how to build one. short while ago it was leaked Most searches for “lag switch” come from the United that LEGO Batman 2 is a thing Kingdom, with the United States second. There are Athat might eventually exist, hundreds of videos on YouTube showing how to make a but not much else was revealed at lag switch. There are hundreds of companies online that the time. We’ve now got a few more sell lag switches. things to tell you about the upcoming And there’s the psychosomatic element that emerges title, which has now been officially once you know about lag switches. Someone teleporting announced as a thing that will all over the place in Modern Warfare 3 and killing you as a definitely eventually exist. result. You totally want to believe that bastard is cheating. The full name of it is LEGO Batman Thanks to lag switches, it’s diffi cult to presume someone 2: DC Super Heroes and, as that innocent by default. oddly grand title implies, will feature It makes me miss the LAN party culture. At a LAN it is more DC superheroes than just the much easier to fi gure out if someone is cheating. And to titular hero. In addition to Batchap then exact revenge by throwing their computer out of and sidekick Robin, you’ll bash bricks the room. with such characters as Superman, Cheating has always been a problem in online gaming. Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Hacks that let people see through walls, always know the obligatory bunch of Justice League your location, give them god mode, etc. The lag switch is types, as well as the expected list of just one of many technologies that cheaters can use. DC super villains like Lex Luthor and As to why people cheat, that’s a college-level thesis the Joker. Other stuff to get excited all its own. Some people think winning is just that about involves Batman’s Power Suit, important. Such people are, of course, broken and pity- Robin’s Hazard Cannon, the Batwing able automatons. Some people considering cheating and the Batmobile. It’s coming to PC, part of the game itself. They think you’re the inferior 360, PS3, Wii, 3DS, DS and PS Vita and player if you’re not using all the tools available and will be available later this year. Oh, deserve to lose. Such people are, of course, just self- and if you’re wondering what it is that righteous assholes. made this sequel possible: 11 million Is the cheater a part of life, a natural symptom of any copies of the original LEGO Batman: complex enough system? The Video Game sold. That’s how. Miktar Dracon

18 / www.nag.co.za The 3DS: it’s in the clear

pparently Nintendo’s 3DS (and, by extension – somehow – Nintendo themselves) isn’t about Ato crash and burn in a glorious blaze, as so many naysayers would have you believe. A bunch of industry analysts, including Michael Pachter and Jesse Divnich, believe that the 3DS’ rough patch is over, and that its bumpy beginnings will soon give way to money and rainbows. “It's very successful, but ran into a headwind given its relatively high price – which I incorrectly thought was the right price – and lack of third party software support,” said Captain Pachter. “Now that we are seeing more first-party titles at a lower price point, sales have increased. It's definitely turned the corner. I was surprised that it sold so few at the $249 price point, and its sales to date are exactly what I originally forecast at that price.” Mr Divnich then added to Pachter’s words, saying this: “With the strong rebound in 3DS sales, I think Nintendo is clear of the woods for now. Going forward, however, we will closely be paying attention to software attach rates. Selling hardware is great, but it is only the first step. The health of any hardware is directly correlated to the amount of software consumers buy.” Piers Harding-Rolls of Screen Digest said that in 2012, Nintendo needs to make serious competitive moves and must not grow too complacent if they want to remain in such a strong position.

Expect Guild Wars 2 will details on Crystal mesmerise you Dynamics’ new IP this year

// Exciting news everyone! Crystal Dynamics revealed a while ago that they’re planning to unleash an all-new IP on the world once they’re done with the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot – uild Wars 2 should be released, er... sometime but we now have this year, we hope, but to keep you busy until confirmation that Gsuch a time, ArenaNet have confirmed the final we’ll learn more character class in the game – the Mesmer. about it this year. Much like the Mesmer from Guild Wars, this is an What, you want advanced spellcaster that prefers to rely on guile proof? Here’s a and sneaky tricks to defeat their enemies. While we collection of words don’t have the details on all the Mesmer’s abilities, spouted forth we know that they will make heavy use of Illusions from Crystal’s – physical representations of the caster that can community and deal damage, harass enemies and draw fire away communications from the group. These Illusions can be “Shattered” manager Meagan by the Mesmer to dispel them and apply a secondary Marie: “Not only effect to enemies. These secondary effects include will our team be Mind Wrack (damage-dealing), Cry of Frustration eating, sleeping, (confusion), Diversion (stun), and Reflection (protects and breathing the caster against enemy projectiles). Tomb Raider, but Mesmers can also cast Mantras, which are we’ll also be hard sequential spells that come in two parts. The first at work preparing part requires a long casting time (about three to reveal exciting seconds), but the second part can be cast instantly, new intellectual even while channelling other spells. property to the These spellcasters will wear light armour and world.” And there can wield a one-handed sword, sceptres, pistols, a you have it. staff, and even a two-handed greatsword which will apparently allow for ranged attacks, although we’re not sure how that will play out.

www.nag.co.za / 19 / bytes /

King of Distributors Nintendoland steps down Apex Interactive [011] 796-5040 Now you’re just // Shigeru Miyamoto, ASUS SA [011] 783-5450 the grandfather of BT Games 0861 4 GAMES Japanese gaming making up words and creator of Mario, Comstar [011] 314-5812 Donkey Kong and Core Gaming [087] 940-3000 The Legend of Zelda, is starting to get on Corex [011] 655-8800 a bit and recently announced his EA South Africa [011] 516-8300 plans to scale down Evetech Solutions [012] 326-6547 his involvement at Nintendo. Of course, ESET 0860 313 872 when an icon like Frontosa [011] 466-0038 Miyamoto tells people he wants to scale Incredible Connection 0860 011 700 down, shareholders Intel Corporation [011] 806-4530 and about half of the Internet read it as “I’m Look & Listen [011] 467-3717 retiring,” which isn’t the case. Nintendo’s Megarom [011] 361-4800 already struggling Microsoft 0860 225 567 share prices dropped 2% overnight and Musica 0860 687 422 the company’s PR Nu Metro Interactive (011) 340 9300 ninjas were forced to deploy press releases Phoenix Software [011] 803-5437 that quickly refuted the rumours and Prima Interactive [011] 799-7800 misunderstanding. Rectron [011] 203-1000 What Miyamoto is actually doing is Samsung 0860 726 7864 stepping down as Sonic Informed [011] 314-5800 project lead for any of Nintendo’s big Ster Kinekor Entertainment [011] 445-7700 name games in the future and moving TVR [011] 807-1390 to run smaller teams If your company isn’t listed here, phone within the company. For Mario/DK/Zelda NAG on [011] 704-2679. fans, that might put a damper on your favourite titles, but the idea of a great mind like Miyamoto’s given greater freedom to experiment (and fail – an important concept in creative freedom) on smaller ans of the Metal Gear Solid project and decided to sit down titles has us eager to series should have followed with Platinum lead Shinji Mikami see what turns up in Fthe news of the upcoming to set up the guidelines for a new the coming years. MGS title starring Raiden – the take on the idea. sword-wielding adopted son of The result is Metal Gear Rising: Support Lines Solidus Snake – but in a surprise Revengeance, which, aside from twist, franchise creator and lead being one of the silliest named Got a legal boxed game and need designer Hideo Kojima canned games we can think of, ditches some technical help? Before you call the game his studio was working the notion of stealth entirely // Capcom’s please do the following. Update your on and handed over development in favour of the all-out action success on Xbox system software, drivers and have to an outsider – Platinum Games. that Platinum Games is famed LIVE Arcade will a look online for a game patch. Just Two big shocks there, so let’s for delivering. With Bayonetta, soon see the retail these simple tasks eliminate 93% of all take this one at a time. First, the Vanquish and MadWorld behind release of eight of problems – it’s a made up statistic but cancellation of the game originally them, the studio decided to the publisher’s top probably close enough. titled Metal Gear Solid: Rising came concentrate on what they know arcade games. This from Kojima after he took a good best and got to work on a game pack will include Publishers: Activision / Blizzard 2K look at the game’s progress and within the Metal Gear world that 1942: Joint Strike, Games / Rockstar / Ubisoft wasn’t happy with what he saw. doesn’t follow the series’ stealth- Bionic Commando Codemasters / NC-Soft / Namco- Apparently left to their own devices action roots. The game also Rearmed 2, Final Bandai while Kojima lead the development does away with Rising’s previous Fight Double Impact, E-mail: [email protected] of Peace Walker, the team within “interquel” setting between the Super Street Fighter Number: 0861 987 363 Kojima Productions was deemed events of MGS 2 and 4, and will II Turbo HD Remix too young and inexperienced to take place entirely on its own and others. The pack Publishers: Microsoft Xbox properly blend action and stealth storyline after the events of Guns will be available Number: 0800 991 550 sequences to the degree that of the Patriots. towards the middle Kojima had hoped they could. Revengeance is set for a TBA of 2012 and will sell Publisher: Electronic Arts Eventually, he terminated the 2012 release for 360, PS3 and PC. for an estimated e-mail: [email protected] local retail price of Telephone: 0860 EAHELP/324357 R400.

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Feed your The Cube World is addiction yours (well, Mojang’s)

Pre-orders / www.lookandlisten.co.za

PC /////////////////////////////////// The Darkness II February 10th Syndicate February 25th Diablo III March

ere’s a curious bit of information for that brain of yours to digest. Rock, Paper, Shotgun recently Xbox 360 ////////////////////////////// Hbrought word of a new cuboid game with obvious Minecraft inspirations, innocently dubbed Cube World. It’s Street Fighter X Tekken March 1st all voxels and cubes and a world that’s yours to explore. So far, so Minecraft. Where it differs from that indie Ridge Racer Unbounded March 2nd megahit is in its primary focus, which is less on crafting Mass Effect 3 March 9th and mining, and more on the RPG aspect of things. As such, there are swords and shields and axes and quests and experience points and other such stuff. Not only that, but the game is impressively pretty, with strange, but attractive enemy design and a world so colourful and cute PS3 /////////////////////////////////// that it’d melt the heart of even the coldest cynic. // Do you love Then, in what is either a stunning display of coincidence FIFA Street TBA gaming? Do you or a reactionary move by Minecraft developer Mojang, Max Payne 3 March love cooking? Do the one-man development team behind Cube World was you stare hungrily snatched up by Markus “Notch” Persson and his team of Silent Hill: Downpour March 1st at in-game food, Minecraftians. The news came swiftly and unexpectedly, wishing that you with Notch writing this: “Our current plan is to plug his could feed your brain directly to a keyboard and sell whatever comes out.” face with every The developer behind Cube World (a person who nourishing pixel? goes by the handle of “Wollay”) simply states that he 3DS /////////////////////////////////// Well now you can, is “so excited!” and Notch has assured everyone that sort of! Gourmet Resident Evil: Revelations February 1st development on Cube World will continue and it will Gaming (www. remain an independent game. Still, Wollay will now also be Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D February 1st gourmetgaming. co.uk) is a working on something new at Mojang. “I’m used to work Rayman Origins March 16th on multiple projects so I don't think it will impact Cube relatively new World development,” he says. blog-style site that includes recipes for many in-game Not to worry people: food items so that you can make Beefcake: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is still happening them on your very own! Some Super of the recipes are Bastion’s Leechade, Diablo’s Meat health potion, Skyrim’s Black- Boy’s Briar Mead, grilled leaks and Elsweyr fondue, Costume sales soar Quest’s pizza sundae and even f there’s one thing Super Meat Boy does a Minecraft cake! astonishingly well, it’s making people want to n December, GSC Game World (developers of the And here’s another Imurder themselves out of sheer frustration. Sure, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series of creepy first-person semi-RPGs) exclamation mark there’s a ton of glorious reward to be had at the end Ihad supposedly been shut down, leaving development because this of each tough-as-nails level – but up until that point, of previously announced S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 hanging in limbo. excites us! The you’ll want to kill yourself. Multiple times. Following this sudden, unexpected news was a torrent of site is updated Despite that, it seems this excellent little misinformation, with seemingly nobody outside of GSC having every Wednesday platformer has received all the love it so justly any clue as to what was really going on. and includes a deserves, as has been proven by a tweet from two- It all came to a head when 1C Ukraine’s Sergey Galenkin difficulty rating man developer Team Meat. The game has surpassed blogged about the studio’s closure, stating “GSC is closed, a for each recipe as 1.1 million sales at the time of writing this, which is fact confirmed by all. The team is almost completely dissolved, well as a delicious a truly phenomenal achievement for a game made the state has only a few people.” He blamed the cost of looking photo by a core team of just two people. One half of this developing a PC-only shooter for the European market, as well of the finished team, Edmund McMillen, has revealed that around as a failed console publishing deal, for the closure of GSC. product and an 20% of those sales figures was made up by the XBLA Then, as the new year dawned, GSC updated their image of the in- version, with the rest of the sales coming from the Facebook page, saying that “the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. team is game item, and PC version. Apparently people can’t get enough extremely happy! Why? Because we are continuing work on every meal on of watching that unfortunate little cube of meat S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 after the holidays.” Gourmet Gaming repeatedly fling himself into angry buzz saws. We’re not sure what’s happening with GSC, but we’re glad is designed to be that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is still on its way. entirely edible.

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Japanese What’s that Caption of the Month game market saw overall Every month we’ll choose a screenshot from decline in 2011 noise?! a random game and write a bad caption for it. Thanks to the Clue: It’s in Your job is to come up with a better one. The redesign we were NAG magazine winner will get a copy of UFC Undisputed 3 rushed for time somewhere. to come up with a Send your for PS3 from Ster-Kinekor Entertainment. new story for the sighting to ed@ Send your captions to [email protected] badger. So, instead, nag.co.za with with the subject line ‘February Caption’. we’ll just tell you the subject line the truth. We’re ‘February Scarlett’ sick of him; we and don’t get it stole him from a wrong or deleted it // As reported by stupid flash video will be. Japanese gaming like years ago and mag Famitsu, kept modifying Japan’s gaming him with more and market saw quite a more ridiculous substantial decline ideas and stories. in 2011. While We’ve effectively the year brought washed away a 2.4-percent everything that increase in was good and hardware sales (up wholesome with to ¥179,740 million, our plagiarised or $2.3 billion) garbage and now thanks to the 3DS it’s time to move and the Japanese launch of the on. Whoa! That NAG’S LAME ATTEMPT AT HUMOUR / “Stop being a pansy, it’s time... for your manicure!” felt good. Instead PlayStation Vita, we’re going to software sales whore out a dipped by 14% (a marketing concept total of ¥274,640 and make you million, or $3.5 find Scarlett from billion). This means rAge. See if you that, on the whole, can find her hiding the Japanese in the magazine… game market saw a decline of eight percent. There is a January Winner silver lining for Nintendo’s 3DS / bytes / though, which was Japan’s best- End of days for Evolution Studios? selling console in otorStorm Apocalypse “I was worried it might be the end was good fun, people of Evolution,” he added. “Racing has Mplayed and enjoyed it, but had a very tough time, even without commercially, the game is cited as a extraordinary circumstances like the failure. At least, that’s according to ones we went through.” developer Evolution Studio’s group He’s not wrong, two racing-focused game director Matt Southern, who’s studios, Black Rock and Bizarre concerned that the game’s poor Creations were closed in 2011 due to 2011, with more market performance and the current poor market performance. low level of interest for the game It looks as though the company has could mean the imminent death of one last shot to keep themselves alive: the studio. MotorStorm RC for both PS Vita and “It’s been quite a tough year for us, PS3, which was recently confirmed especially early on in the year,” said by Sony. The studio will dedicate a Southern. “We made a game we’re portion of its staff to the project, really proud of and for some really with one other portion working on heartbreaking reasons things didn’t continued support for Apocalypse and than four million go so well. In perspective we’ve got DLC, and the remaining employees nothing to complain about. developing new ideas. LAST MONTHS WINNER / That epic moment when you realize that you and your friends Blast from the past hand and leg movement are in sync when walking - Rowan Miller units sold. The PS veryone knows that grid-based will require some tactical thinking, first-person dungeon crawling and players will be able to kit out Egames are awesome, but if you a party of four adventurers who were to ask us why exactly, we’d have will presumably follow the warrior/ no real answer for you. In a seemingly rogue/mage/cleric archetypes that bold move, then, indie developer we all know and love. Everything Almost Human Inc. Is preparing to else from this humble era of gaming release Legend of Grimrock, a grid- will be present including paper doll Vita, meanwhile, based, first-person tactical dungeon equipment screens, interactive crawling RPG with all the bells and environments and plenty of whistles of a modern title. challenging looking puzzles. From the gameplay trailer currently If you’re a fan of classic games like available, we can see the classic Lands of Lore, Ultima Underworld or movement system and mouse-driven Eye of the Beholder (which you should interface combined with modern-day be), then keep an eye on Steam’s visuals that works very well. Combat upcoming release list around March. which went on sale Jandre, We may experience some slight in Japan mid- www.nag.co.za / 23 Page 23 December, moved turbulence and then... explode over 400,000 units before the ans of Firefly, Buffy the The death of these two titles has end of the year: a Win! Vampire Slayer and pretty now been officially confirmed, as a relatively paltry An iWorld – Digital Fmuch everything Joss Whedon post made on Multiverse’s website number which FM transmitter for should probably read this here bit in early December revealed that immediately Ipod/Iphone/Mp3 of news. It’s been expected for the company had to shut its doors instigated much valued at R249.99. ages that the pair of MMOs based due to lack of funding, after failing debate as to Sponsored by on those two franchises (if you can to achieve profitability with its whether or not Bowline and iworld. even count Firefly as a franchise, Multiverse platform (which was used Sony’s powerful given its short-lived status) would as a proof of concept for Facebook new handheld is never see the light of day after games Battle, Team Battle and already treading being announced years ago and Battle: Realms at War, in addition to water. then fading into obscurity at the being used in web games made for hands of developer Multiverse. McDonald’s and Coca-Cola).

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Yu Suzuki wants his Shenmue back Release List Dates subject to change without notice

February: Week 1 //////////////////////////

Petz Fantasy 3D 3DS Monster 4X4 3DS 3DS Puzzler Crosswords 3DS Final Fantasy XIII-2 360 / PS3 e’d not be surprised if you’ve obtain the license from SEGA.” It Magic: The Gathering: Dark Ascension Trading Card Game never before heard of the seems that Suzuki knows exactly WShenmue series, but there what he’d want out of the third title Soul Calibur V 360 / PS3 are many out there who would happily in the series too, having gone into sell their own families into slavery just surprising detail regarding future to see the series brought back from story plans, character details and limbo. Yu Suzuki, the original creator more. Basically, he knows exactly February: Week 2 of Shenmue, believes that his studio what he wants to do – but he needs Inversion PC / 360 / PS3 might be able to get the rights to the that pesky license before he can series back from original publisher actually do it. Best of luck to him, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning PC / 360 / PS3 SEGA, and he could finally get on with because if we shut our eyes and listen The Darkness II PC / 360 / PS3 making Shenmue III. closely, we think we can actually “Shenmue's license is an IP that hear the drool from the mouths of a belongs to SEGA,” said Suzuki in a thousand die-hard Shenmue fanboys lengthy interview with Shenmue slowly dribbling to the ground at the fansite Shenmue Master. “We can mere mention of this. February: Week 3 //////////////////////////

Grand Slam Tennis 2 360 / PS3 SSX 360 / PS3 Gotham City Impostors moves to February February: Week 4 ////////////////////////// Asura's Wrath 360 / PS3 NeverDead 360 / PS3 Resident Evil: Revelations 3DS Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen PS Vita Syndicate PC / 360 / PS3 Touch My Katamari PS Vita Twisted Metal PS3 UFC Undisputed 3 360 / PS3 Uncharted: Golden Abyss PS Vita Dragon's Dogma 360 / PS3 New Little King's Story PS Vita Little Deviants PS Vita here’s a good chance you know this already, because a) you live in the future (!), and b) if you’re genuinely excited about Dungeon Hunter: Alliance PS Vita downloadable Batman-‘em-up Gotham City Impostors and T Everybody's Golf PS Vita plan to play it on launch day, then you likely have some form of Internet connection and will already have discovered the news Rayman Origins PS Vita that the game was going to miss its January 11th release date. ModNation Racers PS Vita Still, we feel it’s our duty to inform all those of you who might not know (because you’re being held against your will/are currently Ridge Racer PS Vita on Dagobah visiting your good pal Yoda/have horrible parents Slient Hill: Book of Memories PS Vita who won’t splurge on decent Internet) that the game will instead release sometime this month (February) on XBLA, PSN and PC. The Unit 13 PS Vita reasons for the delay are unknown. Wipeout 2048 PS Vita

www.nag.co.za / 23 9 Bastion

mooth voice-over narration, rich gameplay, and beautiful artwork combine to make Bastion one Sof the most lauded games of this generation. It’s a genuine serene yarn spun from the hard work of its developers and their keen understanding of what Top 11 makes an action-adventure game great. – Miktar list of ‘Just a list’

his is more of a disclaimer than an introduction really. We were originally going to call this ‘The Top 8 Xbox LIVE Arcade games of T all time’. But then someone said “just make it the top 8 from 2011 because ‘of all time’ is too definitive; people will complain and fight and argue.” Others said “but what about PlayStation and PC, we can’t leave them out or [see above].” Then we decided to just make it a list of games 8 Trials HD without the numbers, because if you put things in a list with numbers next to them and the word ‘top’ appears on the same page it’s automatically ’m not that into motorbikes, as a growing teen I assumed that whatever is at number 1 is the best. But then we were had a clear grasp on momentum and soft tissue worried SAVAGE would have a poop because doing the ‘Top 8’ and breaking Idamage and the fact that my brain was important from the template is like committing design apocalypse or something. After to me and needed protection – so the idea of doing all this backwards and forwards it was decided that this paragraph would an activity that required a helmet by law was explain it all away and people will just have to understand. So here goes: terrifying. Motocross was even less appealing largely This is a list of highly recommended XBLA games that you should try in no due to all the dust. So imagine my surprise at how particular order because it means nothing. It’s also more than 8 because much I loved Trials HD. It’s the perfect balance of LOL. luck, physics and skill meeting challenging tracks and some of the most amazing challenges ever. Add this to seeing how much better you can do against your 11 Limbo friends online and you have a winner. – Michael

his title sat with me for months after I finished playing it. With minimalism pervading every corner of this game, I felt the need to fill in the narrative Tgaps and by doing so became infinitely more bound to the events on screen. I loved the near perfect mix of platform, puzzles and exploration, and would be thrilled if I could force everyone on the planet to play this game just once. I consider it a title that can quite easily be used to justify games as art. – Miklós

7 Puzzle Quest 2

he first Puzzle Quest was great, but I found Puzzle Quest 2 to be far more refined. The Tfact that they removed the massive overworld map from the first game and zoomed in for a more character-focused experience is a plus as well. Basically the fluff between the puzzle battles was improved ten-fold. – Miklós 10 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

ith its bold combination of action, platforming and role-playing, Symphony of the Night on XBLA is the definitive version of the Sega Saturn cult hit. WEvery enemy is a challenge to be conquered, every new area an exciting space to explore. This game defined its genre, and still does. – Miktar

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6 Braid 3 Peggle

n the surface, Braid is a simple platform romp opCap really know how to put a game together. Bright cheery graphics with a complex mechanic: time. Each level and simple addictive play hooks are what they’re best at. Peggle’s simple Oimplements a time-bending conceit that Ppremise of ‘shoot a ball at pins to make them all disappear’ is easy to turns the genre on its head, while the subtle yet play but hard to master. There are different characters that each feature intellectually stimulating narrative tells a story rarely special powers you unlock when hitting special pins. It’s all really about getting seen in games. – Miktar ridiculously high scores and riding the rainbow of love. Compelling and fun with plenty extra content. – Michael

5 Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved

his is a frantic shooter with no equal. It starts off slow and easy to get you going with the 2 Plants vs. Zombies Tpace picking up after each cleared wave. Before you know what’s happening there are thousands of rior to the Angry Birds phenomenon, this is the game that satiated the things on the screen and you’re on a lucky roll only needs of the casual gaming masses. For me it’s the tower defence genre at to die because, let’s face it, you’re just a slow stupid Pits finest: simplified, addictive and humorous. Plants Vs. Zombies managed human. Amazing game types round off this stellar to weasel its way into the hearts of core and casual gamers, and is probably experience. – Michael responsible for turning developer PopCap Games into a household name. – Miklós

4 ilomilo 1 Worms 2: Armageddon

his game won me over with charm alone. If you orms has been around for a very long time (since 1995 actually) but don’t smile and go all mushy inside while playing amazingly not everyone knows just how much fun it can be. There are a Tilomilo then it’s likely you’ve lost some basic Wfew versions of Worms on the Xbox but Armageddon is by far the best. humanity. Beneath its adorable façade lies a bitch- There are enough game modes, voices and tombstones to keep most people happy hard puzzle game. While the premise seems simple and it offers some of the most intense multiplayer battling of all time. If you like the (reunite ilo and milo who begin each level on opposite idea of taking a concrete donkey to the face then this is the game for you. – Michael ends of the stage) the persistent trickle of new puzzle elements eventually combine into a hulking mass of brain-pulverising trickery. This one turned my thinky bits to jelly as it progressed. – Miklós

www.nag.co.za / 25 26 / 26 www.nag.co.za DUDE, WHERE’S MY HALF-LIFE 2: Half-Life was released in 1998. Six years later it got a sequel. Two years after that, the fi rst EPISODE THREE? of three planned ‘Episodes’ that continue the story started in Half-Life 2 was released. It was a year between Episode One and the release of Episode Two. It has now been almost fi ve years since the release of Episode Two, almost as much time as it took for Half-Life to get a sequel. Where the hell is Episode Three ?

123 SO WHAT DO WE KNOW? JUNE 2006 1 In an interview with Eurogamer [www. boasted that they had a really exclusive piece what was up, but since the cop was a Half- eurogamer.net/articles/i_valve_060606] of Episode Three concept art, showing a Life fan too and waiting for Episode Three , after the release of Episode One, Gabe Newell group of Advisors fl oating near what is clearly he didn’t ask the protesters to leave. Newell confi rmed that there were indeed three an icebound Borealis. came out and told the two guys that he’s got Episodes planned: “There are three that are in nothing to tell them, and then sent down this arc. There are three that are worked out, AUGUST 2009 some soda and pizza. and those are the ones that we've been talking During an interview with Geoff Keighley on about so far.” Game Trailers TV [www.gametrailers.com/ SEPTEMBER 2011 With perhaps a lot of irony in hindsight, he video/episode-220-gt-tv/53915] Gabe Newell Intrepid geeks started dissecting the raw also made a comment about Episode One’s was asked if Valve was still doing Episode Three . code for the DOTA 2 beta, and found among delay, its release having been almost a year later “Yes, of course we’re doing Episode Three ,” said other random fi les, a folder named “EP3” than originally planned, saying “...sure beats the exec in response. Keighley pushed a little that contained alleged references to Episode waiting six years.” and asked if it’s still being worked on right now, Three weapon types, like “Ice Gun” and “Flame Why did Valve adopt the episodic model? and got “Oh, absolutely” as an answer. Thrower”, but also some “weaponizers” for Newell explained: “The original Half-Life took concrete, liquid and metal. us two years to develop. With a considerably MARCH 2010 Around the same time, a fan emailed Newell larger team Half-Life 2 took us six years to In an interview with MTV Geek [multiplayerblog. with a haiku, and got a cryptic haiku response. develop, so we thought if we were going to mtv.com/2010/03/26/valve-wants-their- continue our trend with Half-Life 3 we would next-half-life-to-scare-you/] Newell spoke of DECEMBER 2011 basically ship after we had all retired.” “broadening the emotional palette” of the series, During a game developer event, a and how they want the next Half-Life game to marketing representative for Uber NOVEMBER 2007 “genuinely scare the player”. Entertainment snapped a photo of a Valve PC Gamer ran what they claimed was the employee wearing a Half-Life 3 shirt fi rst ever piece of Episode Three concept art, MAY 2011 and tweeted it [twitter.com/#!/Ekanaut/ showing a group of Combine Advisors fl oating Newell spoke with Develop Online [ www. status/142476850931834880]. Most likely the about. They speculated that based on the develop-online.net/features/1184/The-Valve- Valve employee was trying to be funny. ending of Episode Two, that Episode Three manifesto ] and talked about what makes “will most likely take place aboard the Borealis, Valve diff erent. He also mentioned that their DECEMBER 2011 where you’ll be sent to retrieve the tech before games “will no longer be cut into slices” and will Even though Portal 2’s Wheatley didn’t win / Feature: the Combine get to it”. instead “become their own platforms that Valve “Best Character”, Valve still made an acceptance SPOILER: At the end of Episode Two, can continually evolve and updated through speech. Fans dissected the speech and found Gordon and Alyx watch a video recorded by Dr. Steam”. Did that spell the end for an Episode what they believed to be hidden Half-Life Judith Mossman (who worked with Eli Vance Three? He went on to say “We went through 3 hints in the video. We covered it on NAG Three? Episode 2: Half-Life my where’s Dude, and the resistance). Mossman reports of the the episodes phase, and now we’re going Online, which you can read here: www.nag. discovery of a lost cargo ship, the Borealis, towards shorter and even shorter cycles.” co.za/2011/12/13/half-life-3-hints-hidden-in- RELEASE TIMELINE 1998: Half-Life which supposedly carries a dangerous new wheatley-vga-video/ 1999: Half-Life: Opposing Force technology developed by Black Mesa rivals JULY 2011 But, co-writer for Portal 2 and the 2001: Half-Life: Blue Shift, Half- Aperture Science. IGN ran a speculative piece on Episode Three last two Half-Life games Chet Faliszek, Life: Decay [ps3.ign.com/articles/118/1182276p1.html]. went on the Steam Forums [forums. 2004: Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: JULY 2008 Right in the middle of the piece, with no steampowered.com/forums/showpost. Deathmatch 2 The Into The Pixel winner, an art exhibit sources cited, with no reason for saying so, IGN php?p=27654778&postcount=30] to state 2005: Half-Life 2: Lost Coast dedicated to showcasing videogame art, proudly proclaimed that “Episode Three is no explicitly that all the speculation was false, 2006: Half-Life 2: Episode One, was a piece of concept art from Valve artists longer the project name. Now it's Half-Life 3.” and that “this is the community trolling the Half-Life 2: Survivor for Episode Three titled “Advisor”. No other This got picked up by the blogs and the copy- community nothing more”. 2007: Half-Life 2: Episode Two, information was presented in concert with the paste news sites, spreading like wildfi re for a Portal piece. short while before people remembered that 2012 2011: Portal 2 IGN loves to make stuff up. Will Valve unveil a surprise Half-Life 3 at this JULY 2008 year’s E3? Will the next Half-Life be a micro- 3 Soon after the Into The Pixel piece, Games AUGUST 2011 transaction platform, like Team Fortress 2 , so we Radar ran a story [ www.gamesradar.com/ Two brave fans set up a “protest” on the lawn can buy Gordon a variety of new glasses? Will / the-fi rst-concept-art-from-half-life-2- outside Valve’s Vancouver offi ce. A police the world end this year? Stay tuned... episode-three/ ] in which they proudly offi cer on a Segway came over and asked Miktar / preview /

SANZARU GAMES? Thieves in Time is being developed by Sanzaru Games, and not series originators Sucker Punch Productions. California-based Sanzaru was responsible for 2010’s high-definition collection of the original PS2 trilogy, the PS2 port of Secret Agent Clank from the PSP, and their first game in 2008 called Ninja Reflex, an oddball multi-platform party game ninja-festival.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time Time-travel without the 28:06:42:12...

[ details ] t seems 2012 may become known in gaming for the return Release Date: of long-lost franchises. It’s been 2012 I nearly six years since Sly 3: Honor Platforms: Among Thieves. Retaining the series’ PS3 trademark cartoon style and stealthy Genre: platform gameplay, Thieves in Time is Stealth y Platformer Developer: sneaking into some interesting new Sanzaru Games territory: time-travel. Website: At the end of Sly 3, things seemed N/A pretty much wrapped up. The hero got Publisher: the girl, the turtle built a time machine Sony Computer and the hippo became a professional Entertainment race car driver. New series developer Sanzaru Games couldn’t resist that innocuous time-machine reference and decided to run with it. Thanks to [ trivia ] use of the time machine, the Thievius Raccoonus (a book that chronicles // Rioichi Cooper is the history and techniques of the voiced by famed voice Cooper family) has been lost in time, “And so, like it or not, Sly has to reform the actor Steven Blum. with pages disappearing right before Bentley’s eyes before the book itself team and hop through time to recover it, // Ego-centric war vanished. And so, like it or not, Sly has general tiger El Jefe is to reform the team and hop through voiced by more famed meeting some of his ancestors along the way.” time to recover it, meeting some of his voice actor Nolan North. ancestors along the way. Players will be able to play as various Cooper members throughout time, though only one descendant has been shown during demonstrations, While little is known about the been revealed so far: Rioichi Cooper. while concept art hints at Ancient plot, it’s been confirmed that the hub Fans of the series will recognize the Egypt and the Wild West. areas much larger than anything the name as the ancient Japanese master Staying true to the series, the series has ever seen; a compass had thief who invented the Ninja Spire return of Clue Bottles and Coins have to be added, guiding you to your next Jump, which lets Sly perch atop pointy been confirmed. There are Costumes, objective. The cel-shaded visuals bits. Each ancestor has their own inspired by the Disguises introduced in look crisp, the animations fluid and move-set, such as Rioichi’s impressive Sly 2, but with more gameplay-altering detailed (Sly has a tiny reflexive cat- Leaping Dragon technique for clearing properties. Costumes will change like tail-twitch right before he steals long distances. Sanzaru is being how Sly reacts to attacks, such as an something off a guard). The series secretive about which ancestors and over-sized set of armour negating the seems in good hands. eras Sly will visit. Feudal Japan has effects of fire and incoming projectiles. Miktar

28 / www.nag.co.za

/ preview /

SOUNDTRACK Unofficial series theme “It’s Tricky” by Run DMC is back, along with the new Pretty Lights remix which you can listen to on YouTube: http://youtu.be/ mGEJMmzKviY The game uses a new remixing technology called “Harmony” that lets players use custom soundtracks, without losing the turntable-scratching and flange effects the game applies during grinds or huge jumps. Other confirmed tracks include "Hot Like Dimes" by Las Ketchup, "Lifeline" by Bob Bradley ft. Nick McEnnally and "Into the Clouds" (Fear of Tigers Remix).

SSX Hello beautiful, long time no see...

[ details ] ritically acclaimed, SSX 3 was released in 2003 and is estimated Release Date: to have sold over five million Q1 2012 C copies. That’s as much as Gears of War Platforms: 3, Grand Theft Auto IV and Battlefield 360 / PS3 3. Genre: Yet somehow, it has taken EA this Sports Developer: long to bother making a proper sequel. EA Canada Using data from NASA, EA Canada Website: built exaggerated versions of iconic www.ea.com/ssx mountains like the Alps, Himalayas and Publisher: the Rockies. You’ll be able to race against EA Sports the ghost replays of friends, shared via the Autolog-inspired RiderNet. There’s a full suite of online multiplayer tools, like community-driven Global Events for up [ trivia ] to 100,000 players. SSX veterans like Elise Riggs, Griff // The last game in the Simmons, Moby Jones and Eddie series, Wii-only SSX Wachowski make a return alongside Blur, sold less than some new characters and X-Games 320,000 copies. winner Travis Rice. “You’ll be able to race against the ghost // You can watch the Elise reveal “motion MOUNTAIN MAN replays of friends, shared via the Autolog- comic” online: http:// This new SSX reboot began with a youtu.be/SU2O- proprietary program called “Mountain inspired RiderNet.” VMuSSg Man” that let EA Canada quickly build levels based off NASA geotagging data of actual mountains. Earlier games in the series had walls and fences to prevent inspired. That “Deadly Descents” vision system which determines which players from straying off the built path, of the series was totally scrapped. tier of gear you can access. Gear will but because the new SSX has open “SSX has never been that way in have stats that influence your play terrain you’re allowed to go anywhere via any way, shape, or form in the past.” style and perks called “boosts” that chopper drop and trick off any reasonable says Todd Batty. And so the game give bonuses to things like speed debris or bump, reminiscent of Amped 3. was returned to its more over-the- or spin. Certain areas will require top bright-and-colourful roots. The specific gear, like high-altitude runs GRITTY 2010 negative fan-reaction to the trailer will need you to equip an oxygen ANNOUNCEMENT TRAILER? probably had nothing to do with it. tank, while big-jump tracks will You might recall the 2010 announcement necessitate using the game’s new trailer, where everything was all gritty RPG-LITE wingsuit. and “realistic” and totally Call of Duty There will be a simple levelling-up Miktar

30 / www.nag.co.za

Release Date: 2012 Platforms: 360 / PS3 Genre: Action Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture Website: www.lollipopchainsaw.com Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Oh lolli, lolli, lolli lollipop! Song stuck in your head?

oichi Suda (or Suda 51 as some might 51 to introduce a new oddball hero, only this time it’s a know him) has a knack for making weird heroine. Enter Lollipop Chainsaw, the next action brawler videogames. If you’ve played through No from the Grasshopper Manufacture stable. The game More Heroes or the more recent Shadows stars eighteen-year-old Juliet Starling, a student from of the Damned you’ll know exactly what San Romero High School who also happens to come Gwe’re talking about. His penchant for giving convention from a long line of professional zombie slayers. To her the fi nger has earned him cult developer status. When peers in school, Juliet is the popular girl and the idolised it comes to injecting disproportionate amounts of cheerleader; none of them know about her secret skills in insanity and balls-out absurdity, Suda 51 and the crew at zombie slaying. When a massive zombie outbreak turns Grasshopper Manufacture know how to get the job done. the majority of San Romero’s pupils and staff into the But so what? Loads of other development studios have undead, it’s up to Juliet to fi nd the source of the epidemic. created bizarre titles that turn heads, so what separates It’s not long before she realises that the zombie hordes Grasshopper from the rest? How about their uncanny are merely a precursor to a relentless zombie rock lord ability to hit home with some pretty edgy content while attack against Juliet herself. So with half of her school managing not to take themselves seriously? This they mates becoming brain-craving monsters, and a legion pull off eff ortlessly and the results are often games of rock ‘n’ roll zombie lords out to expunge her from with a bizarre mix of sexual innuendos, genuine witty existence, it would seem Juliet has a pretty lofty task laid humour, unremitting gore and shock-tactic violence. out before her. Fortunately this lollipop obsessed, hyper Take last year’s Shadows of the Damned as an example: girly-girl knows her way around an undead slaughter fest. the one moment you’re laughing at dick-jokes while Juliet’s mentor is a crass, Mr. Miyagi rip-off known head-shotting giant demons as they lumber down the as Morikawa. Prone to dropping four letter words and streets of an underworld red light district, and the next fi xating on his young female protégée, Morikawa has you’re watching the protagonist’s girlfriend getting trained Juliet in his own martial art style; when he’s not dismembered again and again. Intersperse this with busy being a sushi chef that is. Thanks to Morikawa endless references to cult movies like Army of Darkness providing training, Juliet has been able to develop her and The Evil Dead and you get a game that’s been made own blend of martial art and cheerleading dance moves by a team that just “gets” their target audience. The fact with which to decimate the undead. The fact that she that they’re unapologetically focused on the twenty- carts around a hot pink chainsaw complete with heart something-and-up male demographic, coupled with cut-outs and a built-in boombox also helps – after all, a their tenacious pandering to nearly every guilty pleasure girl’s got to maintain her image, even if it regularly gets that demographic adores, means that they’ve netted splattered with bits of rotting fl esh. themselves a sizable, devoted fan base. Juliet has four basic moves at her disposal. Her light With games starring protagonists like otaku rookie attacks are Cheer Moves that make use of her pompoms assassins and take-no-crap Hispanic demon hunters and gymnastic abilities. By hitting enemies with Cheer behind him, it seems like as good a time as any for Suda Moves, Juliet will be able to herd zombies together into

32 / www.nag.co.za LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW

> Juliet will have a selection of special moves to unlock, like the “Lollipop Split”. This fi nishing move sees Juliet perform the splits in front of her target before casually chainsawing the poor dope in half… from the groin upwards.

www.nag.co.za / 33 > There’s quite a team of contributors working on Lollipop Chainsaw. The music is being handled by Akira Yamaoka (of Silent Hill fame) and Juliet’s voice is being done by Tara Strong, who recently voiced Harley Quinn in Batman: Arkham City.

34 / www.nag.co.za LOLLIPOP CHAINSAWSAW

larger groups before dispatching them with a chainsaw that are jettisoned from hacked up zombie corpses. heavy attack. Juliet’s Chainsaw Moves are her primary Despite Grasshopper Manufacture being fi rmly means of dealing damage to enemies, which will result in rooted in Japan, their games have become steadily severed limbs, disembowelments and geysers of blood. In westernised; a result of what many are claiming is a order to avoid more powerful attacks and larger groups of shift in targeted audiences by Japanese developers. zombies, Juliet will be able to perform a High Dodge. This This desire for western appeal has been growing move sees her leapfrogging her attackers before landing with subsequent Grasshopper titles: while No More safely out of the way – the caveat is that this cancels any Heroes was still entrenched in Japanese culture and combos you might have started. Finally, with limbs being anime references, Shadows of the Damned was so far severed left, right and centre, odds are that Juliet will removed from traditional Japanese zeitgeist you had have to dispatch some crawling zombies during a fi ght. to look quite hard to spot the eastern infl uences. This Low attacks will see to any fl oor-bound stragglers, but shift continues with Lollipop Chainsaw, so much so in this particular move can also be worked into combos to fact that the story has been developed by American unleash powerful, spinning low attacks in the middle of script writer James Gunn. Add to that the Grindhouse an encounter. fi lm overtones and the all-American girl we get with Throughout combat, killing enemies adds Star Power Juliet Starling, and you’ve got a Japanese brawler to a meter; once full you can activate Star Mode to saturated by western infl uences. This might end up power-up Juliet’s attacks. This temporary, currency making a lot of local gamers happy; when it comes to dependent power-up mechanic is nothing new to action action brawlers nobody nails the gameplay quite like games, but the visual results in Lollipop Chainsaw are the Japanese, but they’re often chockfull of culture defi nitely unique. If you manage to kill three zombies specifi c nuances that turn off many non-Japanese in one move, you’ll activate a special mode that’s been gamers. It looks like Grasshopper Manufacture is dubbed “Sparkle Hunting”. With Sparkle Hunting active hoping to present you with the best of both worlds you’ll net yourself a bonus score as well as buckets of with Lollipop Chainsaw. on-screen sparkles, neon pink hearts and rainbows, We could have a lot to look forward in Lollipop Chainsaw which is kind of what we imagine it’d look like if you took as it’s shaping up to be a heady mix of zombie violence, a meat cleaver to a My Little Pony. sex, pop art, punk rock, B horror infl uences and rainbow No Suda 51 game would be complete without some sparkle glitter fountains. The sexploitation might raise a seriously twisted boss battles, and while Lollipop Chainsaw few eyebrows, but this is no Onechanbara – Bikini Zombie defi nitely skimps on protagonist outfi ts, it certainly doesn’t Slayer. While Tamsoft’s Wii title also fused sexploitation on grungy boss encounters. With a plethora of zombie with zombie gore, it did so while trying to maintain an air of rock and roll lords bearing down on Juliet, the stage is legitimacy. While you could argue that Lollipop Chainsaw’s set for some unique boss fi ghts. So far only one has been appeal hinges on identical setups and psychology, you revealed: a fi ght on a concert stage against a punk rock cannot say that it takes itself seriously. Suda 51 and zombie called Zed. While Zed makes liberal use of his Grasshopper Manufacture are all too aware that what they microphone stand to attack Juliet, he’s also able to hurl have with Juliet and her ridiculous entourage of supporting verbal abuse at our lithe heroine – the words literally characters is something that cannot ever hope to be taken forming in front of him before rushing towards Juliet like a at anything more than face value. So why not at least give it projectile attack. As for the insults themselves, well, they’re a pretty face and have fun with it instead? even more colourful than the glitzy rainbows and sparkles Mikit0707

www.nag.co.za / 35 > Goichi Suda’s nickname, Suda 51, derives from the Japanese words for “fi ve” and “one” which are “go” and “ichi” respectively. In Japan it’s customary to refer to a person by their surname fi rst, hence “Suda 51”.

INTERVIEW Suda 51 lead designer Grasshopper Manufacture

36 / www.nag.co.za LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW

NAG: Could you give us some background Suda 51: First, she takes on enemies with her The Japanese version is the same as his re-write on the project? How long has Grasshopper pompoms and fi nishes them with her chainsaw; of course, but we also converted his unique Manufacture been working on Lollipop this is her main fl ow. Sometimes she also sense of humour into our own language. Chainsaw? performs fl ips and jumps to add some dynamics The completion of this was a bit later than we to her actions. She is a zombie hunter and is planned, but the result was more than enough Suda 51: It was when President Yasuda had just recognized by a divine existence. Her chainsaw to make up for it. established Kadokawa Games [back in 2009]. I is her special weapon that can only be used by visited him to congratulate him and show him her and she does not feel that much weight NAG: What were some of the infl uences when some pitches, and the discussion regarding when she lifts it. She is also a trained martial artist developing the game? The trailer that came Lollipop Chainsaw kicked off . It’s been about thanks to her sushi chef mentor, Morikawa. With out for Lollipop Chainsaw during October three years since the time the idea for this game her abilities as a cheerleader, she has created her 2011 was just like a grindhouse movie trailer. was born, from the pitch to the development. own danceable martial art with a unique rhythm. Lollipop Chainsaw was conceived as a Her fi ghting uses all of that with the destructive Suda 51: True, it’s kind of like a preview for a videogame interpretation of a B horror series. cutting power of her chainsaw. grindhouse movie, like Machete, yes? This game is infl uenced by American culture as well as their NAG: When Lollipop Chainsaw was NAG: Can you tell us more about Juliet’s pop music. announced in Famitsu, it was met with really power-up metre that was shown at Gamescom The mixture of splatter and pop art style is positive initial reactions all over the world. 2011? Does it have a name yet? the biggest attraction of Lollipop Chainsaw. By Were you surprised by this response, especially the way, the fi rst thing we purchased for our from western countries that immediately Suda 51: We have a Star Mode. You can collect reference was the replica chainsaw model from started hoping for a western release? power by beating enemies and when it reaches one of our favourite zombie movies. its maximum your attack power becomes so Suda 51: I was very happy. Zombie games have strong that one hit can fi nish the zombie. Also, NAG: Tell us about the art style. The pink been made many times and this game has a when you kill three zombies at the same time, a sparkles, rainbows and splashes of colour pop art style and comedy so I was worried a bit, special event called Sparkle Hunting starts and amidst the usual gore found in a zombie but people’s reactions abroad were more than you’ll receive a bonus score. outbreak; what was the decision behind this? what I hoped for. Was it just to stand out amongst the crowds? NAG: Will Juliet get access to further weapons? NAG: Tell us about Juliet. She’s quite a Is there an upgrade system like in previous Suda 51: We have not seen a light and fun zombie departure from previous Grasshopper heroes Grasshopper Manufacture titles? game. Lollipop Chainsaw is the only zombie like Travis Touchdown and Garcia Hotspur. game that off ers hearts and rainbows! Relax and Suda 51: I can’t give out too much detail, but enjoy it while you have some popcorn. Suda 51: I felt that a new heroine was needed in we’re planning for some upgrade elements. the video game world. Yes, I wanted to create a NAG: Can you tell us about Nick, the head of character that superseded the typical persona NAG: The zombie outbreak starts in Juliet’s Juliet’s boyfriend that’s attached to her skirt? of a videogame heroine. Juliet is an active girl, high school, San Romero High. Will the game Does he double as a weapon, like Johnson and is very popular in school. She’s enjoying her feature further settings or is the narrative from Shadows of the Damned? high school life as cheerleader at San Romero bound to the high school? High. And she has the heritage of a zombie- Suda 51: I guess I have characters without hunter. She’s gone through strict training from Suda 51: San Romero High is not just a series a body in my games often... it is really a when she was little to become an expert at of classrooms. In the game, there are some coincidence. However, Nick’s role is still a zombie killing. other places you can go along with a shop secret. for customization. Please stay tuned for more NAG: Juliet’s cheerleading background updates on locations! NAG: One of the funniest aspects of Shadows obviously allows her to be very agile in of the Damned was the banter between Garcia combat. She’s been seen using her cheerleader NAG: Speaking of narrative, you’ve and Johnson. Will Juliet and Nick share the pompoms against enemies as well. What are collaborated with James Gunn on the script same kind of relationship? some of her other combat abilities? for the western release. How much of an infl uence has he had on the Japanese version Suda 51: Of course. At the same time, it’s a bit Suda 51: You can see her do a bit of of the game, if any? What made you approach diff erent from the relationship you see with movements from lucha libre, such as James Gunn? His involvement in the Dawn of Garcia and Johnson, so please check it out. grappling and throwing, but her unique style the Dead fi lm? is seen in her acrobatic movement. She's light NAG: At this stage, is development still on and can move quickly, creating an enjoyable Suda 51: It was an idea from Warner Bros. track for a 2012 release on Xbox 360 and battle for players. Interactive Entertainment. Based on the scenario PlayStation 3? written by Grasshopper staff members, James NAG: It’s been mentioned that Juliet’s re-wrote and re-directed them, providing us Suda 51: Yes, it will be released in 2012 for pompoms are mapped to light attacks, while with precise feedback based on his method of Xbox 360 and PS3 as planned. Please look her chainsaw is for heavy attacks. Could you creating drama, and with his famed writing style forward to it! elaborate on the game’s combat system? the story has become very fun and attractive. Mikit0707

www.nag.co.za / 37 / reviews intro /

The reviewers Anatomy of a review Question: Now that we’re really into 2012, here’s the predictable ‘what game are you A quick guide to the NAG reviews section looking forward to and why in 2012?’ Go! The editor guesses the average score… /1/ Totally interesting /2/ Obligatory words /3/ Screenshots: These /4/ Captions: Funny. stuff: Developer, (i.e. a review): This is the are the pretty pictures Informative. Touching. RedTide publisher, platform, stuff you probably won’t you’ll probably stare The captions are usually BioShock Infinite… Elizabeth, I random junk and more. read before ogling the at before peeking at none of these things. think I love you. Not forgetting the The number of players shiny pictures, glancing the score, ignoring the Except maybe touching, amazing setting, floating things, listed under multiplayer at the score and then wonderful review and when we put some rollercoaster transport, cool toys is the maximum number flipping the page. We then flipping the page. innuendo in there. and heaps of intrigue. you can have in a game don’t blame you – word- You should probably ask www.metacritic.com guess: 92 at one time. Local means reading is hard. your mom to make your “couch”, not LAN. sandwiches too. Just to be on the safe side. You Miktar might cut yourself. The only game I’m really looking forward to is Guild Wars 2, because I / / / Marvel vs. Capcom 3: need a good MMO in my life. review Fate of Two Worlds /

Somebody this big and mean should not be www.metacritic.com guess: 86 1 wearing pink and a helmet that looks likea trophy. Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds 5 4 An amazing dog saves the universe. Woof.

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From ridiculous Developer: www.metacritic.com guess: 92 move sets, power ups and combos Capcom (Killer-Instinct had nothing on what you Website: could pull off even in these games), to the marvelvscapcom3. most interesting teams you can think com/us/ of to put together. The series offered a Publisher: 2 3 pleasant departure from the traditional Capcom one on one well-paced combat game of Distributor: the time. Not only were these games Nu Metro Interactive (despite their perceived difficulty) actually The uniqueness of this game is in just easier to get into, but button bashing got how simple it can be to play, in particular you somewhere at least against equally if you select “simple mode” for combat. inexperienced players or against the AI. One thing is certain though and that is More than 14 years later we have what2 combos and in particular the air types are can be considered the biggest departure paramount to any victory. Single hits are from these traditional game mechanics not devastating in anyway and because yet. You’re still faced with defeating a of this lack of damage one must learn team of several heroes where there are how to master basic juggling moves. Mikit0707 no rounds (a time limit is still present Unlike the latest iteration of Tekken though). However, how these heroes for example, getting out of costly juggling interact has been re-tuned and in some offenses is relatively easy provided BioShock Infinite! So I can rescue a ways made more relevant in this game you are watching keenly for the breaks than in Capcom’s previous efforts. between chained multi-hit moves. For instance, picking the right type of There’s a vast amount of depth in this pretty lady and kill crazy people using support, depending on your team could game and despite “simple mode” being 7 roundhouse to his head does. Still, don’t you’ll become rather proficient provided mean the difference between easily quick and easy to jump right into, the true /1/ Galactus much like previous bosses is not only initmidating but expect to fight an opponent that will test you’re dedicated and patient with the defeating difficult heroes and struggling beauty is in the “normal” mode. mostly annoying all the skill you’re needed to get that far, game. While the moves are simpler to pull endlessly. This does add some complexity What has always been annoying no you’ll instead be tested on just how off and chain together than before, they a Murder of Crows! \:D/. to the game but utilising your squad with the series and fully present here /2/ Two of the most memorable VS series characters make a showing in quickly you can put together a series of are by no means easy. Given just how mates during battle can be as simple as again in the most spectacularly irritating MvC3 in the form of DLC. offensive moves before you are flicked much faster this game is split second randomly calling whoever is available to way is the boss battle with Galactus. away with his index finger or other such timing is vital. /3/ If you’re on the recieving end of this combo chances are you’ve www.metacritic.com guess: 92 use at the time to start a combo all the In typical ‘vs.’ series fashion, his body is humiliating moves. If you’ve fought Visually it’s as expected – the best in already lost that player. way through chaining together advanced only visible from the torso upwards and Apocalypse, Thanos or any of the boss the series. Indeed it’s based on the same combos that can deliver more than 100 being larger than the planet its amazing characters in the previous games you’ll engine as Street Fighter IV, but has been hits on a single or multiple opponents. just how much damage a well delivered know exactly what I’m on about. adapted and fits perfectly, lending itself In terms of character selection, many to more artistic representations of the are missing from the previous game, heroes and the lively game world which but it does make for a tighter and more they occupy. There are heavy comic book diverse selection of players. Still, we influences and it all blends perfectly to would have thought characters like M. create one of the most visually enticing Bision would have made a showing as fighters ever produced. Even when the the most recognisable antagonist in screen is flashing in dazzling pallets the Capcom universe. This also goes for courtesy of impossible combos it never Cyclops and Sabretooth, amongst others. fails to impress. Overall, this is the most Still there’s more than enough diversity unique game in the series, but by far the to find the characters that fit your playing best one. This is a must have for any true style perfectly and with enough practice fan of fighting games. GeometriX in both free training and mission modes ShockG

Diablo III (please), BioShock Infinite, / PLUS / Loads of fun / massive replay value / looks fantastic / MINUS / Juggernaut / M. Bison and others missing / Can be very difficult Heart of the Swarm (PLEASE), and oddly UNLIKE ANY OTHER VS GAME IN THE SERIES, BUT DEFINITELY THE BEST ONE. 90 enough, the new Syndicate, just to see 2 / www.nag.co.za www.nag.co.za / 3 how much it’s not like the original. www.metacritic.com guess: /5/ Game name: The /6/ Award: Comes /7/ Those things with 88 / 92 / 82 / 78 most reading you’ll do in three delicious extra info: These things will likely happen in this flavours. See below for have extra info. bit right here. maximum info. Barkskin Dishonored. Because I refuse to believe that it could be anything less than a combination of Deus Ex’s / THE AWARDS Arx Fatalis’ depth, Dark Messiah’s melee combat and Thief’s evergreen Editor’s Choice: Must Play: It Pony: You know intelligence. Also, rats. If a game gets means exactly how everyone THE www.metacritic.com guess: 62 this award, you what it says: wants a pony? know it’s more you must play Yeah, that’s SCORE BOX Ramjet than just good. It this game. Beg not the case Diablo III, just like everyone else. means it pulled your parents for here and we’re /1/ Plus: These are the great Because it’s Diablo III. There’s no way the editor away cash, dole out not just being things that make us happy. it won’t be awesome. from Call of Duty sexual favours, mean. We’re www.metacritic.com guess: 88 for long enough etc. – fight past trying to protect /2/ Minus: These are the rubbish to actually play the pain and you from the things that make us sad. another game do whatever it horror of being – and we can’t takes to get your punched in the /3/ Bottom line: The waffle stops here. Hundreds of words distilled SAVAGE think of anything sweaty paws on nether regions more remarkable it. You’ll thank us by thoroughly into a tiny bit of text that can The Dark Knight Rises and The either damn a game to the depths Hobbit movies – don’t judge me. than that. for it later. rubbish games. or shower it with praise. [Sigh, Ed] ’s cho st play ny award or ic mu / o / it e m p p d / u / y / o /4/ The Score: e s n It’s a number e la t d r y / d p p a i a out of 100. It lets you make an t l

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38 / www.nag.co.za QUICK HITS WEB SCORES

How do we measure up? We scour the Net to find out what the rest of the world thinks.

LEGO Harry Potter: NAG / Metacritic average / Game Rankings average Years 5-7 The Lord of the Rings: Traveller’s Tales have found a winning War in the North formula with their LEGO series of games, dating back to the 2005’s LEGO Star Wars. Thanks to their universal accessibility, light-hearted humour and a generous serving of “cuteness”, the games have found adoration with players of all ages. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 tells the tale of the final three 65 books of the Harry Potter series and it 62 does so with the same finesse that made 67 its predecessor so successful. The story is told across six levels, with Hogwarts Academy serving as their connecting Saints Row: The Third hub. As with all the LEGO games that preceded it, Years 5-7 offers a myriad of collectables, and each level has its share of hidden areas that only become accessible with repeated playthroughs. For perfectionists, there are 200 gold bricks, 20 unlockable cheats and a multitude of playable characters that can 78 be unlocked. Of course, many characters 82 and locations will be familiar to those 84 that played Years 1-4, but a handful of new spells and a new “duelling” system The Legend of Zelda: which sees characters facing off in 1-on- Skyward Sword 1 magical combat keeps the game feeling fresh. Just as charming and quirkily humorous as we’ve come to expect from the series, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 is a satisfying and fitting send-off for the boy wizard, and one that won’t disappoint fans of the much loved LEGO videogame franchise. 79 94 93 93

Mario Kart 7

91 84 85 Anno 2070

86 84 85 Need for Speed: The Run

// Accessible but engaging, and every 58 bit as charming as its predecessors. 67 69

www.nag.co.za / 39 / review /

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Flies the franchise higher than it has ever flown before...

ch he Wii Problem: In an alternate r’s oic ito e reality, Skyward Sword would d / e e / d represent merely the latest in a long i e t

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to ignore how Batman: Arkham City’s e camera can fart out and get stuck in a corner. Sadly, we do not live in that world, so Nintendo’s reinvention of Zelda stands [ details ] judged in a harsher light than may be fair. Platforms: This may surprise some people, Wii but Skyward Sword is a real game. It Genre: represents Nintendo bringing their own Action-adventure conventions into the 21st century their Age restriction: way: for all its progressive ideas, the 12+ game never deludes itself about the fact DRM: that it’s a videogame. Mr. “ShortPants” None Link brazenly adopts his classic “ITEM Multiplayer: GET” pose as a new trophy spins Local: None Online: None overhead, only now it’s used for comedy; Developer: interrupting moments otherwise Nintendo EAD / dramatic or romantic. Monolith Soft Website: SKILLS BEFORE KILLS www.nintendo.co.uk Where the typical triple-A blockbuster Publisher: games struggle to devise ever-more Nintendo impressive scripted sequences that are Distributor: triggered by pressing “A”, Skyward Sword Core Gaming incorporates many of their ideas while

remaining a real game. Every jump, climb, PRETTY PRINCESS swing, twist, and turn is earned by skill, in Calling Skyward Sword an “SD” game a game that will only get better as time does an injustice to the sheer effort goes by and is replayed again and again. applied to its world construction, You’ll never see a speed run in Uncharted animation, and subtle detail. Truthfully, that amounts to much, but you will in were the game rendered at a native Skyward Sword. 720p, there would be no complaints It’s the best 3D Zelda, finally stepping about its visuals. A cunning paint-daub out from under the shadow of Ocarina effect provides a depth of field where of Time and boldly creating a brand new the game world fades into brush stroke progression structure for the series. impressionism in the distance, negating With such a wealth of new ideas, it’s not any sensation of a sparse environment always pitch perfect; the sky overworld due to lack of hardware power. Proof that is actually too focused on existing purely design trumps all, it’s a gorgeous game as a hub for the complex, dungeon-like and taken as a whole, the single best underworld below and feels empty looking thing Wii has ever hosted. outside of its central city. Fi, your pseudo- It’s tough, especially if you’re slow Cortana helper, is too eager to jump out to learn a new control paradigm. Some and explain even the most trivial thing, enemies you can kill with an easy flick Nintendo being afraid that players will feel of the Wiimote. Hitting pesky bats into lost and confused by all this newness. She next week is fun. Some enemies will needs an off switch. Even so, the amount watch where you’re holding your sword, of shake-up the classic dungeon-item predicting your strike and blocking it. To formula has been given is astounding. get in past their guard, you have to learn There is almost zero downtime, flying not to telegraph your intent. The combat sections (which represent very little of the system shines in Skyward Sword, a total game-time) aside. The addition of testament to good design and fresh a simple stamina bar that dictates how ideas. Unfortunately, hating motion long Link can run, or hold on, has huge controls has at this point for many gameplay implications. people attached itself into the module in

40 / www.nag.co.za / The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword /

/1/ Boss fights, like this giant scorpion, are less about doing damage and more about figuring out exactly which bit you’re supposed to damage and how. Angle of attack, timing of strike and pattern recognition are all key.

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the brain that governs religious beliefs. HYRULE HISTORIA Timeline A: Link fails to defeat Ganon in They see motion controls as nothing but Only available in Japan, the recently- Ocarina of Time (having vanished in the a failure, and it’s a cornerstone certainty released Hyrule Historia is a huge Temple of Time) that doesn’t have to share a connection in-depth bible of the series. It shows (for to objectivity. Pity, because the combat the first time) an official timeline for the 5A. A Link to the Past in Skyward Sword is every bit as special series even more convoluted than we 6A. Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons and skill-based as when Skate first could have guessed. 7A. Link’s Awakening hit the scene with its Flick-It controls. While the story now officially starts 8A. The Legend of Zelda It’s not easy. Learning how to use the in Skyward Sword and continues into 9A. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link various weapons and tools – even rolling Minish Cap, thanks to Ocarina of Time’s bombs with skill – has a learning curve. time-travel shenanigans three divergent Timeline B: Link defeats Ganon in Ocarina Skyward Sword carries an odd burden. timelines are created. Yes, Link is Marty of Time, lives out his life from boyhood. It’s what everyone asked for, but now McFly. The various Zelda games slot into don’t want: a hardcore, professional one of these three, based on how they 5B. Majora’s Mask action game built around the Wii describe events from their history. All 6B. Twilight Princess interface, and a Zelda game that breaks three timelines do happen, depending on 7B. Four Swords Adventures the series mould. which one you choose to follow. Think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure book. Timeline C: Link defeats Ganon in Ocarina WARNING: SONG OF THE [Now I get it, Ed] of Time, lives out his life from adulthood. HERO GLITCH Late in the game, you must collect three 1. Skyward Sword 5C. The Wind Waker parts of the “Song of the Hero”. Don’t go to 2. The Minish Cap 6C. Phantom Hourglass the Lanayru Desert first: it causes a game- 3. Four Swords 7C. Spirit Tracks breaking glitch that makes it impossible to 4. Ocarina of Time Miktar get the other two parts of the song. There is a “Skyward Sword Save Data Update Channel” you can download from the Wii / PLUS / The best end-game dungeon of any Zelda / Hero Mode provides a fresh second-quest Shop Channel for free that will patch the / MINUS / The flying parts feel overly empty / Some side-quests feel unresolved even when completed. game and fix your save if it happened to AN AMAZING GAME; A GREAT STARTING POINT FOR NEWCOMERS; A STRONG ADDITION you, and prevent it from happening. TO THE FRANCHISE; A FRESH START. 94

www.nag.co.za / 41 / review /

Saints Row: The Third What just happened?

hen the Third Street Saints [ details ] rose to the top of their game (robbery, murder, mayhem, Platforms: W 360 / PC / PS3 etc.), they relished in their success. Their rampant gangsterism was Genre: supplemented with advertising Action deals, clothing lines and product Age restriction: 18+ endorsements. Held-up bank tellers DRM: asked for an autograph before handing Internet connection over bags of cash. Life was good for the required [Steam] Saints, but while they messed about Multiplayer: with public relations and penthouse Local: None suite parties, a criminal organisation Online: 2 players known as The Syndicate subversively Developer: muscled its way into the city of Volition Inc. Stilwater. When the Saints attempted Website: to rob what was unknowingly a www.saintsrow.com Syndicate bank, they brought down Publisher: a world of hurt and soon after find THQ themselves forced to rebuild their Distributor: empire in the nearby city of Steelport. Ster Kinekor For a game as outrageous as Saints Entertainment Row: The Third, story and character development form a surprisingly large part of the package, although for a while you won’t even have time to stop and try to figure out what’s going on. This game is crazy from the beginning. I’d like to say “beginning to end” but unfortunately Saints Row suffers from a massive

flat spot in the middle that begins at coinciding moments of one no longer being amused by giant floppy dildo bats (ask your mom), and story missions that feel as lifeless as a blow-up doll (ask your dad). As much as Saints Row: The Third tries to entertain you – to remind you that there are practically no consequences for your actions and that the city of Steelport is there to be played in like a jungle gym with eighteen- wheelers instead of monkey bars – it also has a nasty habit of throwing that freewill in your face for a good portion of the game. Soon enough, driving through the all-too-similar city streets to get to a mission start point feels repetitive; modifying a city dumpster truck and testing how many street poles you can drive through loses its appeal after the first time; the activities run out of charm when you realise that you actually have to complete some of them. However, when you manage to scramble over that hurdle (if you do buy this game, it deserves the chance to impress you, so push through), you’ll realise that this is a title that has more depth to it than first meets the eye, and suddenly everything becomes more enjoyable. To help you stay entertained between the core story missions,

42 / www.nag.co.za / Saints Row: The Third /

/1/ The game looks great on console but will delight PC owners who like to pamper their desktop. DirectX 11 features light up the city of Steelport, and the built-in video recording mode should see you gain much fame and fortune on the Internet.

/2/ The driving controls feel horrid at first but after a few hours in the 1 game you should have them down. Just remember: braking is for chumps, handbraking is for champs.

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there is a large variety of optional represents. If you want to gallivant simply driving to or between mission activities that will help the Saints to along the highway while blasting Ride objectives, but there are a number of gain control over territories within of the Valkyries because it makes you activities that make better use of your Steelport to increase your regular drive better (an established scientific legendary power-sliding abilities. The income and slowly gain control over the fact), then go for it. While you’re at it, majority of the story missions involve entire city. Money means everything leave the classic radio station playing moving about on foot and generally in Saints Row and can be used to buy because every song in there is one that shooting people in the head (or crotch, new income-generating properties, you’ll recognise. If you’d rather spend which works too) until there are no more upgrade your vehicles and weapons, your time listening to RnB classics, you people in your way or you’ve reached and customise your appearance. The too are catered for, and should pump the next checkpoint. The formula is character customisation options are up Return of the Mack whenever it occasionally mixed up, but for the most vast, and while it’s great to have the comes on so your angry neighbours part, it’s pretty repetitive. Not that option to play as a male or female / understanding parents / worried that’s bad; the funny thing is that you character (both with three fully-voiced significant other can’t hear that you won’t even have a chance to predict options, or a zombie speech pack that, only know the words to the chorus. that the next thing you’ll do will be just bizarrely, is also fully-voiced), it’s even Despite being what many would call like the last 17 things you did because better to have the option to make that a competitor to the Grand Theft Auto you’ll be too busy having a great time character metallic lime green, obese, series, Saints Row does quite a few while doing it. Between the wonderfully and dressed as a super hero. That’s things differently. For one, the role of voiced characters and the downright what Saints Row offers you: the choice driving is diminished mainly due to the wacky settings for the story missions to play the game as seriously or jovially relatively small world size. There are from about two-thirds of the way in, as you’d like, but you’re never rewarded no windy country roads, truck stops or you’ll have plenty of chuckles, chortles, or punished for playing one way or the hilltop mansions: the game’s entirety is genuine LOLs and generally, a blast other. You can even completely re- packed into Steelport. For the most part, often literally. customise your character at any point you’ll spend your time behind the wheel GeometriX in the game. Saints Row: The Third’s soundtrack deserves a special mention, not just because it’s a great collection of / PLUS / Filled with silly fun / Caters to all sorts / Great characters / Fantastic audio classics, genre anthems and modern / MINUS / Repetitive / Mid-game is weak tunes, but because it does a stellar job of echoing everything that the game CATERS TO THE BUS LANES ON THE HIGHWAY OF LIFE… 78

www.nag.co.za / 43 / review /

Mario Kart 7 If it isn’t broken...

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game for the system, evergreen in sales, m the life of the kart party, serving up a with a universal appeal that gives it a nearly unrestricted 8-player multiplayer wider audience than what most first- [ details ] game to all (download players are person shooters can hope for. Platforms: restricted to selecting Shy Guy as their Only Nintendo enjoys a specific 3DS character). Online, the benefit of universal unique position among software Genre: friends registration on 3DS is severely publishers: the ability to create a single Racing augmented by a wholly new community game that lasts an entire generation. Age restriction: system which lets you create a persistent This is the strength of tailoring a game 3+ community that up to 100,000 players to hardware of one’s own creation: DRM: can join and be matched up within, Mario Kart is a series where one game None replete with its own leaderboard. If you per platform is enough; designed not as Multiplayer: see a friend playing MK7 online, you can disposable entertainment, but as a gift Local: 8 players join them straight from your 3DS friends that keeps on giving and becomes iconic, Online: 8 players list with a single button press. even defining, of the Nintendo hardware Developer: Past all this, MK7 brings innovation that hosts it. Nintendo EAD / in track design. Multi-section point- Retro Studio to-point racing appears for the first ONLINE MATTERS Website: time, and some tracks are broken up mariokart7. Mario Kart 7’s true focus is not, as one nintendo.com/ by vertical or underwater sections that might think, on the 3D effect of the Publisher: show off the new ability for a cart to 3DS screen. That part is excellent, the Nintendo sprout gliding wings or a propeller tail. gamegame runningru at a rock solid 60 frames Distributor: Cute enough segments at first, one per seconsecondd eevenven in 3D mode. But Core Gaming eventually discovers subtleties that MK7MK7’s real focus is oonn pputtingutting console give a competitive edge to mastering

44 / www.nag.co.za / Mario Kart 7 /

/1/ TThehe new Lucky 7 power-up in action, spinning several items around you likeike a rouletteroulette wheel, every choice sure to make someone hate you.

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them. The underwater sections seem catapult you to the front of the race, and you are through tighter sections of the simple, but hide a lot of amazing tide- online play can be spotty if your network track. There is no “winning” combination turning manoeuvres one can make. The setup is behind too restrictive a router. of parts; how you set up your kart is returning 16 classic tracks have been For all the additions, removals and highly dependent on your racing style. overhauled slightly, while the 16 all-new changes, Mario Kart 7 is a conservative If you prefer to be a juggernaut, slow to tracks fit in thematically just fine. affair. It tries to not fix what isn’t broken, start but fastest on track when going, while also giving players more agency there is the hard choice between longer GAMEPLAY MATTERS in the chaos that is a full-bore 8-player drifts or being able to cut across off-road Competitive is a word MK7 enjoys, power-up-laden race. terrain without losing speed. If you as the “snaking” that spoiled the last prefer to be nimble, quick to accelerate portable entry has been nerfed and CUSTOMISATION MATTERS but slower top speed, your weight and even the infamous blue shell has had As you collect coins scattered around wheels are going to have to suit your its behaviour modified – the further each of the tracks, you unlock new particular cornering and battle style. back in the pack one is when launching customization parts for your kart. These it, the less likely it is to reach first place are split into three categories: body, STREET & SPOT before going off. The entire item roster wheels, glider. The body is the main bulk PASS MATTER has been shaken up and rebalanced, a of your stats, impacting your speed, Time Trial records and ghost data is few new ones mixing things up while acceleration, handling and more. Wheels shared silently via Street Pass locally, others have been cut. While the changes act as a major modifier to your handling while Spot Pass keeps you filled up on to the items and their balance won’t and off-road capability, while the glider ghosts to race against. You can choose please everyone, they do represent a part impacts your weight and speed. to fill a track with seven random ghosts solid attempt at fixing some of the more Customisation plays a huge part (some faster than you, some slower), gregarious failings of Mario Kart Wii. in MK7. In Time Trials it can mean the or just pick one you want to try to beat. Mario Kart 7 doesn’t have as many difference between first and last place, Both systems work well, acting as characters as Mario Kart Wii (16 plus in regular Versus it impacts how well constant content generators. your Mii) or as many racers on the track you recover from setbacks or how agile Miktar (8 instead of 12), but even so it remains the definitive portable experience and will likely stay the top-selling racing franchise for the foreseeable future. / PLUS / Solid driving model / New additions keep things fresh / Fun to play There are issues: the two Wuhu Island / MINUS / Exploitable track glitches / AI drivers may cheat at higher difficulty tracks have known exploits in which falling off the track at specific points will YOU’RE NOT A MAN UNTIL YOU’VE WON YOUR FIRST MULTIPLAYER MARIO KART RACE. 91

www.nag.co.za / 45 / review /

Anno 2070 Where’s Kevin Costner when you need him?

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stronger than ever. Anno 1404 showed m unlock new technologies and ultimately us that this series still has plenty of military units. Anno isn’t a war game – it life left in it with a spectacular visual [ details ] focuses on the fine balance of dozens overhaul, and now 2070 continues Platforms: of industries, the goods they provide where it left off, and takes a leap into the PC and the requirements to keep them future while it’s at it. Genre: going – but there are enough military As the name implies, Anno 2070 takes Management units (mostly ships, as well as the new place in the year 2070. Wars have come strategy air and submarine units) that operate and gone; global warming has caused Age restriction: in a relatively simple rock-paper- the polar ice caps to melt and submerge 7+ scissors system to add another layer a great number of coastal settlements DRM: of complexity to the game. The combat and islands. Two main factions exist in Internet connection isn’t as deep as what you’d find in a the world; both are playable: the Ecos, required [Uplay] dedicated real-time strategy game, from the environmentally-friendly Multiplayer: but has just enough tactical variety Eden Initiative, and the Tycoons, from Local: None to make it not entirely about using the industrial company Global Trust. If Online: 5 players overwhelming forces to win each battle. Developer: you trust the back of the box, that’s all Mercifully, 2070 also does away with Blue Byte / Related you’ll get to play, but for some unknown Designs that silly system of land-based military reason the developers decided to hide Website: operations from 1404. the fact that there’s a third faction, the www.anno.ubi.com During the main campaign, players Techs, who have their own buildings, Publisher: will get a chance to control all three industries and units. The Techs are a Ubisoft factions (sometimes at once – a difficult neutral faction, and both the Ecos and Distributor: but highly rewarding balancing act), the Tycoons have access to them in the Megarom and even though you ultimately have

to choose an allegiance to either Eden Initiative or Global Trust, the presence of the Techs means you never really feel restricted by your choice, although the Techs’ way of going about their business does favour harmony with the Ecos a bit more so than the Tycoons. Each faction has its share of challenges to overcome. The Ecos’ buildings tend to require more space (their farms in particular) to operate effectively, and their need to achieve a positive or at least neutral “eco-balance” – a new resource that can harm the output of farms and affect your citizens’ mood – will have you scrambling to put up counter-measures // Those who chose to play the game using Ubisoft’s Uplay service (the only way to play multiplayer) will have access to a number like weather control stations where-ever of social networking tools that have gameplay implications, even single-player missions. Uplay might irritate some people with possible. The Tycoons aren’t too bothered its “always on” requirement, but it’s really starting to show its usefulness and we can’t wait to see where the publisher takes it by eco-balance, but do like their stuff, in the future. and as a result you’ll be forced to provide a steady supply of goods (more so than /1/ Each faction starts with an Ark – an artificial floating island that can be used to deliver emergency supplies to your islands the Ecos) to your citizens to avoid any and store high-level upgrades that provide passive benefits. frowning faces and lost tax revenue. The Tycoons’ industrial buildings are generally

46 / www.nag.co.za / Anno 2070 /

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more effective, and they rely on the basic systems work well and don’t your industry chains requires a lot of consumption of non-renewable natural necessarily need to be changed just manual hunting for and clicking on the resources to provide power and build for the sake of change, but once you right buildings, and on a crowded island almost everything. The Techs tend to use encounter the Techs, the underwater it can become difficult to differentiate a combination of renewable and non- construction, the revamped combat, and many buildings. And, if one were to be renewable resources, and will almost all the small features in between, you’ll even fussier, it wouldn’t be unfair to say always be able to balance out an overly realise that there is enough that’s new that the concept of eco-balance is over- destructive Tycoon or struggling Eco and interesting to allow 2070 to stand simplified. We can understand the desire player. They’re also the only faction that on its own. Unfortunately, an issue to slowly introduce these mechanics to can build underwater. From a gameplay that occurred in 1404 is still a problem: players who might not fully appreciate point of view, underwater operations managing large economies becomes them, but in that regard we’d love a aren’t all that different from regular tedious when you need to make any “hardcore” mode to really ramp up the island settlements, but the presence of adjustments to production. The game complexity and reward players who a whole faction dedicated to it, as well is missing those very useful charts and are willing to put in the effort. Perhaps as the beautiful underwater visuals, overlays that help management game the inevitable expansion will grow that makes them a welcome addition to the veterans squeeze out every drop of aspect of the game. island-hopping formula. productivity, and making changes to GeometriX There has certainly been plenty that’s been added to Anno 1404’s gameplay, but it does sometimes feel like 2070 is simply a re-skinned version of its / PLUS / Great visuals / Complex industrial chains / New features are well implemented predecessor. At least, it feels that way in / MINUS / Combat still too simple/ Late-game becomes difficult to manage the beginning missions of the campaign, ANNO 2070 DESERVES YOUR ATTENTION IF YOU ENJOY ANY SORT and perhaps that’s for the best as the OF MANAGEMENT GAME. 70

www.nag.co.za / 47 / review /

Need for Speed: The Run Well “The Drive”, really

he more Need for Speed changes, [ details ] the more I wish it’d just stay the same. It seems that every new Platforms: T 3DS / 360 / PC game in the series has to have its “something special”, and the result PS3 / Wii is a series that, aside from the Shift Genre: spinoff, has been getting increasingly Arcade racing worse as the years go on. And now Age restriction: 16+ we have The Run, which tries to do its DRM: own special thing by shoving together None a weak story, inconsistent physics, Multiplayer: heavily scripted sequences and very Local: None little that is recognisable as “distinctly Online: 8 players Need for Speed”. Developer: As a concept, The Run is quite exciting: EA Black Box / a lawless race across the US – west Firebrand Games coast to east; 3,000 miles and only (Wii/3DS) one winner who walks away with a Website: ridiculous sum of cash. You play as www.needforspeed. street racer Jack Rourke who’s in The com/therun Run because he wants to pay off his Publisher: mob debts, and his totally plutonic lady- Electronic Arts friend Sam offers to get him in. There Distributor: are other characters among the 200+ EA South Africa roster with which the game will attempt to familiarise you during loading screens and a few cinematics, and there’s even an opponent that you’re supposed to believe is Jack’s arch nemesis. None of the characterisation is terribly believable. On top of all of that, the racing isn’t

/1/ If you wreck your car or go too far off the track, you’ll have to reset, but resets, or “Rewinds” are a limited commodity in The Run. Most races allow you to Rewind at most five times on normal difficulty, which can be frustrating if you’re struggling to nail a particular scripted event.

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up to the standards (however high or getting through each scripted event is low you perceive them to be) of the the most important part of each race. Need for Speed franchise. Depending on Here’s a quick list of things how much you love or hate circuit races, that have benefited previous NFS here’s some good or bad news: there titles but aren’t in The Run: vehicle are none in The Run. As a straight race, upgrades; vehicle customisation every event is a variant of the sprint, (above a few colour selections and and while the few modes available offer at most three full body kits per barely sufficient value, one can’t help but vehicle); police tactics like spike strips, feel that there should be more. All too PIT manoeuvres and helicopters; often you’ll be faced with a long highway slow-motion Speed Breaker controls; and eight positions that need to be Pursuit Breakers; manageable police gained by the end of that leg. There’s heat levels; the need to change vehicles also absolutely no leeway: you have based on event type (they tell you to win every single race, which is quite otherwise, but it’s a lie); AI that can tie its doable because of the game’s reliance own shoe laces without reading a how- on the many scripted events (police to guide; meaningful experience level barricades, tumbling debris, intersecting unlocks. There are more, but in place civilian vehicles, etc.); you need only get of those here’s the best thing about through them and the AI opponents will The Run: it does look rather fantastic. slow down to let you pass. Obviously Frostbite 2 is very comfortable with a higher difficulty levels improve the AI racing title. (or give them unfair advantages), but GeometriX

/ PLUS / Good concept / Looks fantastic / Multiplayer offers decent replayability / No circuits races! / MINUS / Too few race modes / Missing a lot of Need for Speed “stuff” / Relies too heavily on scripted events

A SAD ADDITION TO THE SERIES. 58

48 / www.nag.co.za

/ review /

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Substitute snore/bore/sore/hoar as necessary

hile Frodo and his gang of [ details ] merry fellows took the arduous journey to Mount Doom to cast Platforms: W 360 / PC / PS3 The One Ring into the fires that forged it and thus stop the evil plans of the Genre: dark lord Sauron (whoops, spoiler alert), Action role-playing who do you think was on the other side game of Middle-Earth, battling monsters Age restriction: 18+ and keeping the rest of Sauron’s army DRM: of Uruk-hai, goblins, trolls, giants and None other nasties at bay? These guys: Farin Multiplayer: the dwarf Champion, Eradan the human Local: 2 players ranger, and Andriel the elf mage. Online: 3 players Farin, Eradan and Andriel will travel Developer: to familiar and not-so-familiar locations Snowblind Studios in the north of Middle-Earth (North- Website: Earth, surely?) to put a stop to Agandaûr, www.warinthenorth. Sauron’s right-hand man thing and the com rest of his army. They’ll do this together, Publisher: like a little fellowship of their own, and Warner Bros. thus cooperative play is the name of the Interactive game here. It’s highly recommended Entertainment that those without online functionality Distributor: (or human friends with which to use said Nu Metro Interactive

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functionality) get both quick to avoid the can only do between certain chapter painful experience of teaming up with parts or before starting a game), the the AI partners who will make it their now AI-controlled character will revert goal in life to get in your way, cast spells to a predefined (and often technically according to rigid scripting (nothing impossible) character build. Whether resembling strategic thinking), and do this is from lazy programming or less damage than a blunt cheese grater. a desire to create more definition This is a role-playing game, but only in the characters, we’ll leave up to by definition. It has everything that your speculation, but the end result you’d expect from such: experience makes War in the North feel like it levels and skills trees, branching so desperately wants to be a simple dialogue, collectable loot, set items, action game but the developers didn’t item durability, a few side quests; but know how to break away from their every single RPG function feels lifeless RPG history. and poorly hashed together. Even If it wasn’t for the genuinely satisfying functions like crafting are so limiting (although painfully repetitive) combat and to the player that it’s not really worth deep lore the game manages to muster, the bother (and you can only gather there wouldn’t be much reason to play ingredients when playing as Andriel; for War in the North, even if you have a couple some reason she’s unwilling to harvest of friends to share the journey. Its RPG on her own). The RPG elements come elements are too simplified for hardcore together with the weak AI to even fans but at the same time too invasive further cheapen the illusion of a deep for those who want an action experience, and complex game because, no matter which results in a muddled and wishy- // Towns offer a slight break from the linear adventuring, and allow you to how you’ve assigned skill and stat washy, but not entirely unpleasant, visit shops to buy and sell randomly generated items with too few special points during level-up, when you switch experience from beginning to end. abilities, chat to NPCs and even pick up a few uninspired and easy side back to another character (which you GeometriX quests.

/1/ Most combat instances revolve around arena-style combat where you must defeat X number of enemies before you can progress. As boring as it becomes, you’ll never be without a challenge, and the combat evolves into / PLUS / Plenty of lore / Combat is gritty and intense something with a decent level of complexity as you unlock new skills. / MINUS / Terrible AI / Shallow and poorly-implemented RPG elements / Extremely repetitive SUITABLE FOR DESPERATE FANS OR PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER BEFORE PLAYED AN ACTION RPG. 65

50 / www.nag.co.za / review / Feature: Name goes here

Trine 2 Three’s company

ust play m / m here are very few games that I’d readily call / u y s la t “beautiful”, and even fewer still that I’d nominate as p p t l a the most beautiful game of its time. Actually, there’s

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m to the platforms that you bounce along to the backgrounds that you’ll only notice if you take the time to do so. [ details ] With those killer looks, you might expect that Trine 2 Platforms: doesn’t have much upstairs, but you’d be wrong. As a 360 / PC / PS3 puzzle platformer, Trine 2 ticks all the boxes, and, while Genre: it never feels innovative, it has solid elements of both Puzzle platformer platforming and puzzle-solving. It’s not an incredibly Age restriction: difficult game if you just want to complete it, but those 12+ who want to go for achievements or simply can’t bring DRM: themselves to move on until they’ve found every secret in Internet connection a level will find this to be a challenging game, sometimes to required [Steam] the point of frustration. Multiplayer: While the gameplay elements haven’t progressed Local: 3 players massively from the first Trine, the biggest change is Online: 3 players the addition of co-op. Simply put, it changes the game Developer: dynamics completely. With three characters on-screen at Frozenbyte the same time, puzzles can be solved entirely differently Website: than the single-player experience. Sometimes the puzzles www.trine2.com are easier (and a little bit cheatable), but the task of getting Publisher: Atlus all three players to the next area can be quite challenging. Distributor: Add to that the complexity of dealing with three genius- Apex Interactive level puzzle-solvers and you have a team dynamic that sometimes has room for heroes, but other times requires teamwork and careful timing. GeometriX

/ PLUS / Visually stunning / Co-op is a hoot / Solid platforming / MINUS / Lacks gameplay innovations / Combat is a bit weak A SHORT AND SWEET PLATFOMER THAT’S PACKED WITH CHARM. 88

www.nag.co.za / 51 / review /

Cities XL 2012 If you build it, they will come

t’s been a while since we saw a new [ details ] Sim City game. Oh, there’s been Sim City Societies, which we (the royal Platforms: I PC “we”) don’t consider to be hardcore enough, but between 2003 and 2009 Genre: there wasn’t much that appealed to Management the city building simulation crowd. Then simulation Cities XL came along and, while it hardly Age restriction: 3+ tore up the charts upon release, filled DRM: a gap in that very small market. Two Online activation years later and we have Cities XL 2012 Multiplayer: – a continuation of the original game, Local: None sans multiplayer, that you can buy as a Online: None standalone title or expansion to Cities Developer: XL 2011. Focus Home This is a pure sandbox title: there Interactive are no scenarios or campaigns to play Website: through. There is a tutorial, however, but www.citiesxl.com it’s so badly implemented that you’re Publisher: better off flipping through the manual Focus Home for a few minutes during installation Interactive and then jumping straight into one Distributor: of the game’s 62 maps – organised Apex Interactive according to difficulty and the availability of natural resources. When you first start up a game, you’ll be shocked by the interface. The icons are tiny and difficult to differentiate; other parts are huge and cumbersome; some buildings are organised into seemingly random categories; and text fails to align properly

// Cities XL 2012 is buggy, which we assume is a result of simply adding more stuff onto an already inefficient engine without making sure that everything works first. Among many other problems, terrible slow-downs and low frames-per-second will plague even the beefiest of PCs thanks to a memory leak issue and the ridiculous fact that the game only uses a single CPU core.

on most occasions. It’s a mess, but by the Along the way, however, they forgot to time you’ve inevitably run your first city pay attention to the things that make into the ground, you’ll have the hang of it. games fun: challenge and reward. Aside Much like the Sim City series, Cities from your own meta-gaming, there is XL has you lay down zones for various very little to do in Cities XL 2012 than residential, commercial and industrial build a city. Thankfully, the sandbox properties. These zones are populated gameplay on offer is fine, but some as the need arises (and it’s your job good old “gaming stuff” would be more to ensure that it does), but you can than welcome here. And, despite the also place specific structures like civil challenges offered by the variety of services, utilities and, very importantly, map types, it’s not actually that difficult roads. Transportation will be a continual to build a sustainably profitable city of obstacle for you to overcome. As cities acceptable size. It only really becomes become denser, so will the number of tricky when you, as the player, decide to vehicles on the roads, so you’ll have to do something silly like lay a 20-stop add new roads, replace existing ones or underground rail system, only to find assign one-way passes. And the road that its maintenance costs more than tool, bless its heart for trying so hard and double your current net profit. Despite building some really nice suburbs when the potential pitfalls of running a it feels like it, is a pain to use and prone large city, your citizens only become to breaking intersections and leaving more demanding as the population certain buildings disconnected from the rises, which unlocks access to new road network. buildings. The result of this is cities It’s clear that the developers set that are only as manageable as you out to build a deep and complex game, want them to be. and they’ve achieved that admirably. GeometriX

/ PLUS / Serious management simulation tools and options / Looks good at times / MINUS / Sandbox play lacks purpose / Shoddy interface / Buggy / Becomes too easy CITIES XL 2012 GETS A LOT RIGHT, BUT LACKS REFINEMENT. 70

52 / www.nag.co.za / review / / Feature: Name goes here /

Dawn of Fantasy In this day and age?

[ details ] awn of Fantasy is not the biggest name out there, not when it comes to strategy Platforms: gaming. The game is based on a great PC D concept, with humans, elves and orcs duking Genre: Strategy it out for dominance of a fantasy empire, but Age restriction: developers Reverie World Studios managed to 16+ lose the plot somewhere along the line. DRM: The action is siege-based, working on the Internet connection more-or-less accurate principle that controlling a required stronghold will enable a player to control a given Multiplayer: area. Fair enough. But the game gets too complex Local: None for its own good at times and, with no real tutorial Online: MMORTS to speak of, it leaves the player scrabbling. Developer: That’s when the player isn’t screaming at the Reverie World title for being buggy, or restarting their computer Studios after one of the game’s far too frequent crashes. Website: Add to this lacklustre presentation, including dof.reverieworld. dated graphics, and you have a title that is more com frustrating than fun. Publisher: The strategy side of the game can be pretty 505 Games cool, when you get to grips with the overall Distributor: Apex Interactive concepts of the game. That is its only saving grace, that despite all its problems it can still deliver an engaging experience. But the player will need the patience of Job to draw enjoyment from this title. At very best, it will become a cult classic… but we doubt if it will get even there. Ramjet

/ PLUS / Can be engaging / Nice idea / MINUS / Huge bugs / Lots of crashes THIS IS A CASE WHERE AN EXERCISE IN STRATEGY BECOMES AN EXERCISE IN FRUSTRATION. 50

www.nag.co.za / 53 / review /

WWE ‘12 Billed as being bigger, badder and better- but is it?

he tag-team of THQ and Yuke’s [ details ] has been releasing wrestling games under the WWE brand for Platforms: T 360 / PS3 / Wii well over a decade now (of course, it was still known as the WWF when they Genre: started) and their annual Smackdown! Sports vs. RAW instalments have had an Age restriction: 16+ unbreakable chokehold on the genre. DRM: That’s not to suggest that the games None themselves have been flawless; on the Multiplayer: contrary, each successive entry has Local: 4 players had its fair share of problems, but a Online: 12 players lack of competition in the genre has left Developer: the developers comfortably resting on YUKE’S their laurels. Dropping the Smackdown! Website: vs. RAW branding, WWE ’12 has been wwe.thq.com touted by its makers as a total retooling Publisher: of the ageing franchise but despite its THQ innovations, it still falls disappointingly Distributor: short in several key areas. Ster Kinekor The biggest change is a reworked Entertainment control scheme. The ambitiously dubbed “Predator Technology” now makes use of the face buttons rather than the analogue sticks to initiate attacks, which gradually increase in power as your opponent’s energy is worn down. The system also aims to make submission holds and pin attempts more realistic, as well as streamlining the reversal

// The moves in no particular order: The man- toss, the raging bull, the boot kiss, the ‘is that a banana in your tights’, the reverse love handle and the feel my groin with your elbow.

system. The simplified controls make of WWE story arcs, but the mode feels the game more approachable, as lacking, not just because of its reduced players no longer need to memorise scope, but also because many match multiple different combinations to pull sequences end with scripted cut-scenes off successful attacks. Unfortunately, over which the player has no control. the overhauled reversal system is It’s a disjointed and restrictive affair more frustrating than it is rewarding that isn’t as rewarding as it could be. – although reversals are now mapped Fortunately, the WWE Universe mode to only a single button, the window of makes a welcome return, offering as opportunity to successfully perform engaging and immersive an experience one is mercilessly brief. Although many as it did in last year’s release. of the animations are smoother this All told, WWE ’12 is less of a reboot time around, the game is still prone to than it is a sequel. An updated roster collision-detection inconsistencies, and and improved visuals are welcome these become especially apparent in improvements, as is the simplified matches involving weapons. play dynamic, but the game is plagued The Road to Wrestlemania mode has by an underwhelming story mode, also been overhauled, and now features inconsistent controls and repetitive a single storyline divided into three commentary. It’s the best in its genre chapters, each of which revolves around at the moment, but it’s far from perfect a particular character (namely Sheamus, – let’s hope that the developers cover Triple H, and a created character). The some of that ground before the next plot is sufficiently melodramatic and inevitable release. convoluted to stand amongst the best Madman

/ PLUS / Simplified mechanics / Expansive roster / MINUS / Disjointed story mode / Unforgiving reversal system / Inconsistent AI DESPITE ITS INNOVATIONS, WWE ’12 STILL FEELS FLAWED – IT’S A CASE OF TWO STEPS FORWARD AND ONE STEP BACK. 65

54 / www.nag.co.za

/ review /

Go Vacation Time off

e’re not sure if it has to do with [ details ] attention spans or whatever, but there seem to be more Platforms: W Wii mini-game collections on the Wii than any other console. And, sad to say, the Genre: vast majority of them are rubbish. With Party game few notable exceptions, they feel like Age restriction: PG rushed-out cash-ins on the popularity of DRM: the Nintendo console. None Go Vacation is one of those notable Multiplayer: exceptions. While it does feel like a Local: 4 players clone of things we have seen before, Online: None the game takes an interesting approach Developer: to the whole affair. Rather than just Namco Bandai allowing the player to jump to unlocked Website: mini-games via a menu system (which www.nintendo.co.za it does allow, mind you) the player Publisher: has the option to travel to the various Nintendo locations where the fifty activities on Distributor: offer are hosted. Core Gaming With numerous ways to travel the

island, ranging from roller skates game collections are, and you’re going to water bikes, the travelling itself to have a better time with it if there becomes a game, although don’t are others playing as well. Strangely, expect to scatter holiday makers though, the developers decided to keep Carmageddon style as you zoom from the multiplayer gaming local. There are place to place. They are immune to no online options for this title, which is vehicular damage. probably better considering how much Or you can just resort to the menu online support Nintendo gives the South system to get your mini-game fixes. African market. There are a wide variety of games, Go Vacation is just about as much fun ranging from things like skydiving as you’re going to have with a mini- through to table hockey. For the most game collection on the Wii. It doesn’t do part, they are lots of fun and fairly easy a better job than the various games with to learn. Some, though, are poor, like “Wii” in their title (like Wii Sports Resort) the beach volleyball, and others are and it often feels like a clone, but it’s a just plain boring, like the skydiving. Still, good clone none-the-less. with so many to choose from, there With so many rushed–out Wii games are bound to be more than a few that out there, it’s good to see that some everyone will enjoy. developers take at least a modicum of And, as you might have guessed, the pride in their work. Go Vacation is great game lends itself more to a multiplayer fun for the whole family, because of its experience than a single player one. It is simplicity and variety. a party game, as so many of these mini- Ramjet

/ PLUS / Lots of variety / Almost a sandbox / MINUS / Some of the games are poor / No online options

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A NEW WII MINI-GAME COLLECTION, THIS IS A GOOD OPTION. 75

56 / www.nag.co.za

/ reviews /

Blackwater Please, no…

y awar he idea of an FPS using Kinect on d / p p controls has some solid appeal to / o d n r y it. The idea could result in a truly a a

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than Blackwater. w Blackwater bounces the player between four characters who work [ details ] for the real-world Blackwater PMC. As Platforms: such, the player moves through this on 360 rails shooter from area to area. When Genre: they get there, they have to shoot all First-person shooter the bad guys. And then they move on. Age restriction: The implementation of the Kinect 16+ control scheme in this game is almost Just in case you cannot live with the DRM: as bad as the thoroughly broken AI. game’s truly terrible Kinect controls, None The player will battle with the controls, there is a controller option. It is Multiplayer: and will suffer numerous cheap deaths even worse, with poorly thought out Local: 2 players as the game flings them into stupid controls hampered by bad design. Online: 8 players situations that no real soldier would Blackwater feels old and broken, like Developer: Zombie Studios enter. And if you die, it’s back to the a racehorse five years past retirement. Website: start of the level with you. Check points It might have been good on paper, but www.505games. would not have cured this game’s ills, that’s as far as it goes. co.uk but they would have helped a bit. Ramjet Publisher: 505 Games Distributor: Apex Interactive / PLUS / Umm… / Nice shiny disc / Makes your Xbox collection look bigger / MINUS / Broken, broken, and broken. THIS GAME IS THE CLOSEST THE KINECT WILL PROBABLY EVER GET TO SADOMASOCHISM… 20

Michael Phelps: Push the Limit Not so Wet

ummer is a time for outdoor living, [ details ] and here in South Africa swimming Platforms: Smakes up a large portion of that 360 idea. Pools are common in cities like Jozi. Genre: But not everyone has access to a pool… Sports Not that Michael Phelps: Push the Age restriction: Limit is going to cool you down on a 3+ muggy day… unless you flood your DRM: living room, in which case your Kinect None will probably go on the fritz. Rather, Multiplayer: this game looks at the fitness aspect Local: 8 players of swimming, and can provide the Online: None user with a great upper body workout. Developer: But it doesn’t feel like a fitness game, Blitz Games either… rather, it seems a bit more Website: www.505games. like a rhythm game, set to the tune of co.uk lots of splashing. Playing the game is Publisher: all about stroke rhythm, pretty much. 505 Games Most gamers should be good at stroke Distributor: rhythm… [Thanks for sharing, Ed] Apex Interactive It’s a fair amount of fun, though, and the great water effects make it worth trying, at least. It offers a fairly long career mode, with numerous swimming strokes on offer. But it’s doubtful whether you’re going to be putting masses of time into this title. It’s not particularly tiring, but it can get old fairly fast. Shorter gaming sessions will make / PLUS / Great water effects / Works well it more bearable. And it works really well / MINUS / Can get a little tiresome with the Kinect, which is a bonus. Ramjet IT’S A SWIMMING SIMULATOR. NO, SERIOUSLY. 70

58 / www.nag.co.za

/ reviews /

Men of War: Vietnam War. What is it good for?

en of War ditches its usual [ details ] World War II setting in favour of something a little more jungle-y Platforms: M PC and helicopter-filled in Men of War: Vietnam. If you’ve never heard of the Genre: series, it’s quite popular among armchair Real-time tactics commanders who like their tactical Age restriction: 16+ action to show no remorse and offer a DRM: constantly satisfying challenge. Internet connection It’s split into two single-player required [one-time campaigns (one for the US forces, online activation] the other for the North Vietnamese Multiplayer: Army), and sees you taking control Local: None of everything from four-man assault Online: 8 players squads to small armies (depending Developer: on the mission), and it’s up to you to tactical, and incredibly daunting given Best Way control every single aspect of the tiny the initially dizzying array of options and Website: military folk under your command. You its real-time, perpetually intense nature. www. tell them what weapons to use. You tell You’re constantly working to outsmart menofwargame. them when to crouch or go prone. You the enemy without getting your men com/games/ tell them where they should be facing. shot in the face because of a stupid vietnam You decide when they throw grenades, decision. It’s immensely rewarding at the Publisher: when they should switch weapons, how best of times, particularly in multiplayer, 1C Company fast they should move and whether or but it’s definitely the type of game not Distributor: not it’s a good idea for them to hitch a everyone will fall in love with. Apex Interactive ride in an abandoned vehicle. It’s deeply Barkskin

/ PLUS / Satisfyingly tactical / Loads of depth / MINUS / Tough as nails and totally obtuse, with no tutorial IT’S OBVIOUS THAT THIS ISN’T FOR EVERYONE, BUT IT’S A GOOD, CHALLENGING REAL- TIME TACTICS TITLE. 75

Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call What the dickens

he word “charming” tends to [ details ] get thrown around to describe Platforms: Tgames with well-presented, DS simple visuals and a fun premise, but Genre: never before has it been this fitting. Puzzle adventure Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call Age restriction: might be for the aging DS (and we look 7+ forward to the first 3DS release soon), DRM: but it comes from a line of games that None pride themselves in delivering great Multiplayer: puzzles over technical wizardry, so we’ll Local: None forgive its overstayed presence on the Online: None outdated device. Developer: You’ll take on the roles of Professor Level-5 Layton – renowned archaeologist, Website: professorlayton. gentleman and lover of puzzles – as professional puzzle-making institute touch-only interface isn’t really designed nintendo.com well as his assistant Emmy and young has got their hands on this game, so for quick play. The game is also a bit Publisher: friend Luke as they attempt to unravel Nintendo expect a challenge. stingy with the adventure elements for the mystery of a giant spectre that’s Distributor: For those who aren’t too keen to a “puzzle adventure game” – there’s no taken up residence in the foggy town Core Gaming have their minds turned to mush dialogue selection, very little branching of Misthallery. As you journey through within minutes, there’s a hints system or non-linear progression and an the game, you’ll encounter over 170 that gives you gradually more specific inventory system that is only barely puzzles that span the full range from hints as you spend coins found used. At least it shares the hand-drawn simple logic puzzles to those that hidden throughout the game world. art and animations of its adventure require out-of-the-box thinking, to Unfortunately, moving around that cousins (twice removed). those confounded sliding tile things. game world is a bit of a chore, as the GeometriX The puzzles have been designed, or at least supervised, by members of the Tago-Akira Research Institute, which / PLUS / Lots of puzzles / Good range of difficulty / Plenty of bonus content doesn’t mean much to us but we’re sure / MINUS / Missing some adventure game elements / Navigation is a bit of a pain someone out there will be impressed. At the very least, you know that a GO ON, GIVE YOUR BRAIN SOMETHING TO DO. 80

60 / www.nag.co.za

/ hardware // tech news / Know your technology

/ IVY BRIDGE / INTEL’s 22nm die-shrink of the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture, which features a new tri-gate transistor technology that allows power consumption up to 50% less than traditional high-k nodes, and allows for 37% faster switching speed and many other enhancements. Ivy Bridge will support PCI Express 3.0, DDR memory speeds up to 2,800 MHz and Intel HD4000 graphics.

/ PILEDRIVER / AMD’s enhanced Bulldozer core which is due for release after Q3 2012. It’s based on the 32nm SOI (Silicon on Insulator) process and will be built at Global Foundries like all other CPUs from AMD. This new revision will feature Radeon 7000 graphics and a Logic3 Starter Pack for DDR3 IMC officially supporting 2,133 MHZ memory frequencies. IPC improvements Nintendo 3DS are said to be in the region of 10% over the current Bulldozer cores. A perfect accessory kit to go with your 3DS. Contents include a carry case, wrist strap, USB charging cable, earphones, screen protector / DDR4 / set, two metal styluses and three game cases. DDR4 is the successor to the common DDR3 memory standard in use today. DDR4 R220 | www.logic3.com has a wider range of clock frequencies from 2,133 MHz to 4,266 MHz, and has a significantly lower operating voltage between 1.05 and 1.2V. One of the key changes in the specification is that it discards multi-channel memory approaches, and instead features point to point connections with the memory controller in the CPU.

/ PCI EXPRESS 3.0 / The 3.0 specification of PCIe increases bandwidth in each direction to 8GT/s (1GB/s) and is available on Intel CPUs starting from the Sandy Bridge-E onwards. The 3.-0 spec has optimizations for enhanced signalling, better data integrity, PLL improvements and clock data rate recovery. All of which are not present in the previous iterations. The PCIe 3.0 specification also features a better scrambled encoding scheme which allows it to be more efficient than the 2.0 spec even at the same transfer rate. New graphics cards from both AMD and NVIDIA in 2012 will be PCIe 3.0 compliant.

By the Numb3rs

# 1.2 billion Choiix Power Fort 5600mAh The number of app downloads on iOS and Android devices Rechargeable Battery Pack tracked between 25-31 December 2011. A record-breaking Compatible with Smartphones and Tablet PCs this universal USB charger is the perfect 6.8 million iOS and Android devices were activated on compact charging solution. Christmas Day. R499 | www.sonicinformed.co.za Source: Flurry

Quote ////////////////////////////// “3DMark for Windows 8 will be our most wide-reaching 3DMark ever, able to accurately measure and compare gaming performance across all devices and graphical feature sets available with Windows 8.” Jukka Mäkinen, CEO of Futuremark

Futuremark recently announced development of a new version of 3DMark, the company’s flagship benchmark for gamers. 3DMark for Windows 8 (working title) is designed for gaming performance measurement and comparison across all Windows 8 devices from tablets and notebooks to high-end desktop gaming systems.

62 / www.nag.co.za / tech news / Mosh Pit

Genius DVR-GPS300 A GPS recording device that can be used on bicycles and vehicles. It can record latitude and longitude coordinates, directions, and driving speed. R1,110 | www.geniusnet.com

Energizer XP18000 Power Pack The Energizer Energi To Go power pack external battery is great if you’re travelling. It can deliver up to six hours of power to a Hed Kandi _Discotheque laptop and can also be also be used to charge Glam up your tech lifestyle with these stylish netbooks, portable DVD players, digital music headphones. The ear cups are soft cameras, smartphones and more. making the headphones super comfy to wear. R1,759 | www.portablepower.co.za R199 | www.musica.co.za

Splashdata, the makers of a password management app, sifted through millions of passwords that were dumped online during 2011 and came up with a list of the 25 DID YOU passwords used most often by hacking victims. It’s interesting how none of them contain upper case letters:

password; 123456; 12345678; qwerty; abc123; monkey; 1234567; letmein; trustno1; dragon; baseball; 111111; iloveyou; master; sunshine; KNOW ashley; bailey; passw0rd; shadow; 123123; ? 654321; superman; qazwsx; michael; football. www.nag.co.za / 63 / hardware // dream machine /

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changed much if at all on the current and more, including some of the best r e e d

/ machines, but if you’re still interested design queues ever seen on a case. /

PSU Graphics OS drive ANTEC HCP 1200 MSI GTX 580 Lightning Kingston 240GB HyperX SSD R2,399 / www.evetech.co.za R5,499 / www.covex.co.za R5,699 / www.kingston.com

Storage drive Chassis Display Seagate Barracuda 3TB Coolermaster HAF-X 942 ASUS VG278 3D Monitor R1,999 / www.seagate.com R1,799 / www.sonicinformed.co.za R8,999 / za.asus.com

Keyboard Mouse Mouse mat Logitech G19 Roccat Kone [+] Roccat Alumic R1,899 / www.logitech.com R899/ www.sonicinformed.com R319 / www.roccat.org

Sound Speakers Headphones Asus Xonar Essence STX Logitech Z-5500 Digital CMStorm SIRUS R1,399 / za.asus.com R3,699 / www.logitech.com R1,199/ www.sonicinformed.com

64 / www.nag.co.za / column / / hardwired /

Glad that’s over with!

ow that 2011 is over, one can refl ect upon it in earnest and say without a doubt, it was one of the worst Intel Nyears for entertainment as a whole, especially on the technological front. I generally dislike lists but this has to be Intel Core i7 3960X broken down as a random list of annoying things about 2011. R11,999 / www.intel.com ASUS Rampage IV Extreme 1. Stereoscopic movies and consoles with 3D support: This is at the top of the list not because it deserves to be R4,999 / za.asus.com but because the last horrible movie experience I had was 16GB Quad Channel DDR3 2400 MHz memory with a 3D movie, Immortals. This has nothing to do with the R3,999 / www.gskill.com movie but the fact that the 3D only served to make sure the experience was dark, slightly out of focus, strained my eyes and overall made the entire watch tiring, underwhelming and expensive. It added nothing to the movie but risked ruining what was otherwise an okay two hours or so. Movie studios and their inability to comprehend that movies converted to 3D are hurting rather than helping their business is baffl ing.

“How do you misplace 800 million transistors? They may be tiny, but that’s embarrassing.” Intel Dream Machine price: Even worse is that, with every fantastically bad 3D conversion, the more convinced the general public is that everything 3D R58,805 is terrible including the current gen consoles which have had 3D support added via fi rmware updates. I mean what could be more fun than an otherwise enjoyable game suddenly rendering at a dim 24FPS? 3D FTW!

2. The absence of original IP in entertainment: Is it me or have Hollywood and game studios (not counting indies which have been doing very well) run out of original material and hit rock bottom in 2011? Why would a remake of a tragically average ‘80s movie fare any better today than it did then? Why is it we are still watching remake after remake in mortifying 3D and worst of all paying a premium for it? There wasn’t a single memorable movie in 2011 and you know it was a bad year if one of the highlights was Transformers 3. As for games, more sequels; some being patches that retail for full price (F1 2011 for example). MW3 may have sold more copies than there are people on earth and it’s possible that AMD I’m in the 0.005% of people who actually buy a game hoping for a compelling single player campaign, but it was a story AMD Phenom II X6 1100T / AMD FX 8150 even more improbable than the one in MW2, which was in R2,699 / www.amd.com turn… enough said. For the record, the Monopoly biopic is GIGABYTE 990FXA-UD7 not a great idea actually, how is this not obvious to everyone? R3,499 / www.gigabyte.com 3. AMD FX: Yes this CPU was going to get it as well. AMD’s Corsair Dominator GT DDR3 APUs are fantastic, the new HD7000 series pure genius, but 2000 MHz 8GB Dual Channel their FX CPUs are inexplicable to say the least. AMD had told R1,999 / www.corsair.com all journalists and everyone that their CPU housed around 2BN gates, only to turn around and apologize for that weeks later stating that it’s closer to 1.2 billion gates. How do you misplace 800 million transistors? They may be tiny, but that’s embarrassing. Even more so is the reduction in performance from the previous generation. If it’s lost to you how silly this entire thing was, it’s tantamount to Nintendo releasing the N64 as the Wii HD and hoping we don’t notice.

4. Games that still need DVDs to run: In 2011, we had games (Games For Windows LIVE titles mainly) that required the original disc to be in the drive, even though you must validate and register this copy online to play it. This double AMD Dream Machine price: DRM is doubly annoying to say the least because I thought we were passed the days of using disc based DRM which has proved itself numerous times to be useless at best and downright aggravating every other time. R44,305 Neo Sibeko

www.nag.co.za / 65 / hardware // review /

Dell XPS L702X

Supplier: Dell / Website: www.dell.com / RRP: R19,999

ell’s XPS series has always and 3D disabled produced an average pleasure, so if that’s all you want to do, given rise to slick, powerful frame rate of 41.3. It’s not the best [ specs ] go for it. multimedia notebooks. Their result, but it’s definitely playable with It comes packing a range of Dell- D CPU: L702X continues this tradition, offering all settings maxed out. Unigine Heaven, Intel Core i7-2720QM exclusive software as well, some of up a notebook that you’ll know, just with no AA and 4X AF at native res in (2.2 GHz) which is pretty useful (like the Dell by glancing in its general direction, is DirectX 10 mode chugged along and GPU: Audio hub, which lets you control something impressive. It’s a chunky gave a final score of 491. With DirectX NVIDIA GeForce GT various sound and microphone-related beast, heavy and sturdily built, packed 11 enabled, that score dropped to 319. 555M (3GB GDDR3) doohickies). The Blu-ray player is much with hardware that ranges from decent 3DMark Vantage with the performance RAM: appreciated (and pretty much expected to praiseworthy. profile selected awarded the L702X 6193 8GB DDR3 these days) and you’ll find all the usual Aesthetically, it’s an elegant machine. 3DMarks. We expected a higher score Display: features like a webcam and various The Chiclet-style keyboard is a pleasure here, because the CPU is quite beefy 17.3” 3D LCD connectivity options (including USB 3.0). to use, although the layout of some of – but it seems the NVIDIA GeForce GT (1920x1080) All in all, Dell’s XPS L702X is a good the keys does take some getting used 555M serves to bottleneck the whole HDD: all-round notebook with a range of to. Special mention has to be made system. Still, you’ll be able to play most 1.2TB 5400RPM multimedia features. The only thing of the 3D-capable display, because games today at low or medium settings OS: you’ll have to consider is whether it’s excellent – vibrant, colourful and without much difficulty. Windows 7 Home you’re willing to hand over such a huge bright. It exudes quality, which is mighty Unfortunately, the rig’s 3D gaming Premium 64-bit wad of cash for a 3D notebook that important if you plan to shell out the performance is a bit disappointing, as is can’t really handle 3D gaming. If you R19,999 it costs to get your hands on to be expected when taking the above don’t actually care about gaming in 3D it. The audio is also incredibly potent, numbers into account. At the same and you’ve got the cash, then you’ll be and will make for a satisfyingly good settings as above, the Resident Evil 5 happy with it. experience (with a surprising amount of benchmark achieved an average FPS Dane Remendes volume as well) whether you’re gaming, of just 13.8. Playing in 3D at such a low watching movies or listening to music. frame rate is likely to make your eyes Now, let’s get down to the sort of bleed, so if you’re looking for a notebook performance you can expect on the that you plan to game in 3D with, this / PLUS / Sturdy, attractive design / Packed with features gaming side of things. The Resident Evil might not be your best option. With / MINUS / Poor 3D gaming performance 5 DirectX 10 benchmark at the native that gorgeous display though, viewing DELL’S XPS L702X IS A WELL- 8 resolution of 1920x1080 with 4X AA 3D photos and watching 3D movies is a DESIGNED MULTIMEDIA NOTEBOOK. OUT OF 10

66 / www.nag.co.za

/ hardware // review /

ASUS VG278H

Supplier: ASUS / Website: za.asus.com / RRP: R8,999

“Not only is the picture sharper and more vibrant, the display supports more display options, or rather it has more relevant connectivity options like HDMI 1.4a support.”

ithout question, 3D is probably and, while it’s more than capable of problem of the heavily reduced lighting mac am hin one of the most loathed holding its own with newer displays, re e levels of active shutter glass systems d /

technologies amongst compared to this new model, it’s truly d as employed in the first generation of / r W e e

enthusiasts, and with good reason. a generation behind. a products. How this technology works is

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monitors made sure that the technology between this and the earlier model d necessary (between screen draws), was regarded mostly as a gimmick at is the sheer brightness and colour allowing it to output much brighter best, and every other time just another richness of the display. The white [ specs ] or more intense light levels. It’s more annoying marketing ploy. LED backlit display really makes for a complicated than we have made it out to While we’ve been fans of 3D Vision very comfortable viewing experience, Size: be but what is important to note is that for a while, we must admit that there is which goes a long way into making 3D 27” it means the rendered image in 3D mode some merit to these claims, and end- displays much more appealing than Native resolution: is perceptually twice as bright as it was 1920x1080 users are right to feel that they’ve been before. As a result of several advances in first generation displays. Gaming on Refresh rate: short changed by the entire 3D hype. made in display technology in the last 120Hz (2ms) the monitor is nothing but blissful and In the gaming context the limitations couple of years, the VG278H is not only Inputs: the strain on the eyes is significantly of HDMI 1.4a displays ensures that thinner than the original model but it’s dual Link DVI, HDMI reduced and, if anything, it compels frame rates are capped at 24 FPS which surprisingly light as well. (1.4a), D-Sub one to play every supported game in is hardly playable. This isn’t much of Not only is the picture sharper and Backlight technology: stereoscopic mode. an issue for movies, but for games it’s more vibrant, the display supports more White LED There’s a lot more one could say about hardly appropriate or useable, as it takes display options, or rather it has more this display, but overall it’s definitely the away more than it adds to the entire relevant connectivity options like HDMI best screen we’ve tested here, not only gaming experience. 1.4a support. This means that it can in regular 2D mode, but it’s light years With so-called gaming notebooks, support the frame packing mode used ahead in stereoscopic mode as well. If 3D is further given a bad name because by Blu-ray players and the Sony PS3, you’re fortunate enough to see a demo active 3D solutions require significantly which is fantastic news for those who of this screen in action, you’d do yourself more graphics processing power to use a single display between multiple a great injustice by not indulging generate essentially double the frame devices. Sadly however, the component yourself in its incredible visuals. rate. Obviously this is a lot to ask from input has been removed, but this Neo Sibeko parts that are inherently underpowered, shouldn’t be much of an issue because so anybody who’s used a 3D gaming whatever you can do with a component notebook will attest to just how tragic connection you can do now via HDMI. the entire experience is. Above all however, this display is / PLUS / Lightweight / Lightboost technology / HDMI 1.4a support As impressive as the original the first commercially available display / MINUS / Pricey VG236H was, it can still be considered that supports NVIDIA’s Lightboost THE BEST 3D VISION SUPPORTING DISPLAY TO DATE AND ARGUABLY 9 amongst the first generation screens technology, which aims to solve the AMONGST THE BEST GAMING LCDS IN 2D MODE AS WELL. OUT OF 10

68 / www.nag.co.za NGL 2012 LEAGUE OF LEGENDS ONLINE LEAGUE 2012

Platform: PC online Game mode: Summoners Rift Players: 5 vs. 5 [+3 subs allowed per clan] Registrations: 1 January – 27 January Seeding Tournament: 3 February – 24 February Online League: 9 March – 31 May [Leg 1] // 15 June – 31 August [Leg 2]

To register go to www.nagleague.co.za / hardware // review /

CM Storm Trooper

Supplier: Sonic Informed / Website: www.cmstorm.com / RRP: R1,899

oolermaster has a with minimal fuss thanks to the reputation for building high tool-less brackets that do also [ specs ] Cquality computer cases, support 2.5” drives (although that Gross weight: peripherals and cooling devices, will require a screwdriver). 13.7kg and while their signature level Perhaps the strangest feature Dimensions: of quality is certainly present of the Trooper is the concealed 240 x 605.6 x 578.5 mm here, there are a couple of design tool box at the bottom of the Included fans: decisions that come off as a little HDD bay cage. While you need 2x side/front 120mm, odd, although not altogether bad. a screwdriver to get to it, once 1x rear 140mm, 1x top As expected, the build quality you’re in, it’s a handy place to 200mm of the Trooper is right up there store your valuables during a Additional fan with the best of them. The matte LAN or just keep any important mountings: 2x side 120mm, 2x black colour scheme is echoed tools and software. Another bottom 120mm, 2x top throughout the interior, right odd but welcome feature is the 120mm down to the screws on the fans, ability to turn the HDD cage Supported and every surface inside has 90 degrees, to allow the dual motherboards type: been well smoothed over and 120mm intake fans to pull air Micro-ATX, ATX, XL-ATX powder-coated to ensure no into the rest of your case, across Front panel: rough edges can be found. The your drives. Depending on 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, oddities begin inside the case, your cooling solution (water or e-SATA, audio where you’ll notice a 2.5” HDD/ otherwise), it’s nice to have the SSD bay that sits quite out of option. Top off all of the irregular place at the bottom of the case. features with a rubberised To correctly install a drive into handle that’s only going to be this bay, the entire unit has to balanced if your case is packed be removed, which requires full of drives, and you have a accessing the bottom of the case range of great features, a few and removing the dust filter. It strange but interesting ones, seems unnecessary to create and just a slight hiccup to put / PLUS / Great build quality / Customisable interior / Built-in fan controller / XL-ATX support that much legwork for a simple a damper on this otherwise / MINUS / SSD drive bay placement / Handle placement drive installation. Thankfully, the fantastic case. A HIGH-QUALITY OFFERING FROM COOLER 9 rest of the drives can be installed Geoff Burrows MASTER THAT ONLY JUST MISSES THE MARK. OUT OF 10

WD TV Live Streaming Media Player

Supplier: Western Digital / Website: www.westerndigital.com /A RRP: TB

ost current-day TVs the Internet streaming is a bit and projectors are of a mixed bag as it relies on Mreleased with built-in applications (which we assume [ specs ] networking and USB support, are built by a variety of in-house Supported video but for those of you who sit with and third-party developers) to get formats: something a little older, there’s the job done. While apps like the AVI (Xvid, AVC, a simple way to get streaming video streaming service Flingo MPEG1/2/4), MPG/ media in your living room. Media and the podcast / Internet radio MPEG, VOB, MKV players come in all sorts of service Deezer work flawlessly (h.264, x.264, AVC, specifications, but this WD model (even allowing for background MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), TS/ follows the basic idea: no built-in streaming of audio while you flip TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, storage (admittedly odd, for a through your photos), the YouTube AVC, VC-1), MP4/MOV Western Digital device), but with app is the worst we’ve ever (MPEG4, h.264), M2TS, connectivity options to allow for encountered. It’s so bare-bones WMV9, FLV (h.264) a range of media to be streamed that it’s not even worth your Supported image across the Internet or your local time. The AccuWeather app also formats: network to the device and played disappoints, but only because it JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, on your TV. doesn’t seem to feature any local BMP, PNG This is a full HD capable device cities – particularly strange given Supported audio but oddly doesn’t include any that the AccuWeather service formats: MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, HD cables in the box – HDMI or itself does indeed support them. WMA, AAC, FLAC, MKA, component. Setting up the WD TV Aside from the lacklustre AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Live is a simple matter of plugging YouTube support, the software on Digital, DTS it in, turning it on and either this device is excellent. As is the Inputs: connecting an Ethernet cable or case with 90% of media players, 2x USB 2.0, Ethernet, configuring a Wi-Fi connection. The browsing through the interface is Wi-Fi latter is a welcome feature. The a somewhat sluggish experience Outputs: rest of the settings are defined as (although not terrible), but that HDMI, composite A/V, you go along, such as your region comes down to keeping the optical audio choice and media server selection. hardware costs as low as possible, All of the device’s core functions and the balance struck is fine, so / PLUS / Wi-Fi support / Wide range of supported file types / Impressive apps – streaming video, music and we can’t criticise it too much in / MINUS / Somewhat sluggish interface / Terrible YouTube app / No bundled HD cable images from a network location that regard. 8 – work perfectly. Unfortunately, Geoff Burrows ALMOST EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN A MEDIA PLAYER. OUT OF 10

70 / www.nag.co.za

/ hardware // review /

GIGABYTE X79-UD3 CineBench 11.5 Benchmarks 3DMark / 46,892 / Vantage CPU / 9.34 / Supplier: Rectron / Website: www.gigabyte.com / RRP: R3,499 / 13.63 / AIDA64 copy / 33,737 /

/ 20073MB/s / 3DMark03 / 0 /

/ 154,327 / / 0 /

Baseline: ASUS RAMPAGE III GENE

he X79 platform has arrived and for should be more than enough for now and and as it is, the X79-UD3 has just the most part, it’s underwhelming. the foreseeable lifetime of this platform. [ specs ] about every X79 platform overclocking Despite that it powers the best More importantly, for the first time ever, world record, making the UD3 amongst T Chipset: motherboard the world has ever seen, a UD3 product receives 4-way SLI and Intel X79 the most impressive boards on the by and large – the limited overclocking Crossfire support. That’s right: you can Memory: market. It’s still not perfect, because headroom and availability of the use four graphics cards in tandem at 8X 4x240-Pin DDR3 while you can save BIOS profiles, you desirable CPUs in 2011 made sure that speed each for gaming bliss. CPU support: still can’t label them and you have the 1155 platform was still the most If you’re venturing into 4-way extreme Intel Core i7 SB-E to remember the settings applied to desired. Indeed we have seen some new overclocking this board won’t provide (LGA2011) each or alternatively check the applied records from X79 motherboards but enough power and most likely won’t Slots: settings before saving. A small issue, but for the most part these are showcases suffice, but the demographic for that 4x PCI Express 3.0 a feature we had come to expect from more than they are a reflection of what functionality is very small even in the 16x, 1x PCI, 2x PCI every GIGABYTE motherboard for the the platform is truly capable of. extreme overclocking circles. So what Express 1x last three to four years. Add to that the Having said that, GIGABYTE for you end up with is a board that ticks all fact that this isn’t an easy motherboard the first time with X79 has moved the right boxes and in essence makes to overclock, and some time will have to to a digital VRM design, an American the X79 platform accessible to more be taken to get it to the ideal settings Megatrends BIOS and, more importantly, people without sacrificing to the more as well. has shown their 3D BIOS which is what expensive motherboards. Overall this is a fairly competent most people will notice. Just to make it We tested this board with the latest board; it’s been improving with every clear, other than a graphical interface F8d BIOS at the time and it must be BIOS release and chances are by the and somewhat larger BIOS sizes, there’s said that GIGABYTE have made some time these boards hit retail, they will nothing at present that UEFI offers to massive strides in their development, be even better. Right now we’d not the end user that can’t be achieved with turning what was essentially a hesitate to recommend this board to a traditional BIOS. However, because of disappointing product into a respectable anyone wanting to dabble in the X79 some changes in the industry there’s but one that delivers solid performance and platform but doesn’t want to commit a single supplier of UEFI BIOS chips and stability. When we received this board too much to it before Ivy Bridge shows everyone has to get on board. with the F2 firmware, it was clear that up in a couple of months. As is tradition for GIGABYTE, the GIGABYTE had not mastered the UEFI Neo Sibeko X79-UD3 is their entry level board of BIOS at all; it was slow, buggy and many the series, so you’ll not get many of the features just didn’t work as described, if features found on the UD5 and their G1 at all. Then, as a result of some settings gaming line. It may only have four DIMM that were unchecked in some of the / PLUS / 4-way SLI support / Good performance / Great price for X79 slots but that means it can support a earlier BIOSs, a few users had failures / MINUS / Can be tricky to overclock maximum of 32GB of DDR3 memory with this board. However, after the WELL FEATURED ENTRY-LEVEL X79 MOTHERBOARD THAT 7 (provided you use 8GB DIMMS) which F7 BIOS, things improved significantly PERFORMS WELL AND FEATURES 4-WAY SLI SUPPORT. OUT OF 10

72 / www.nag.co.za

/ hardware // review /

Samsung Series 7 Gamer 700G7A

Supplier: Samsung / Website: www.samsung.com / RRP: R19,875

“It’s not until you power it on, watch as the backlit keyboard and stylised touch-sensitive area above it light up all pseudo- futuristically that you realise Samsung means business. ”

’d never even laid hands on a however, is excellent, providing gave the machine a final score of 1,070 are aw Samsung notebook before this satisfying keystrokes and modifiable dw a in DirectX 10 mode. Switching to DX11 ar rd h /

one. So it was pretty surprising to backlighting. There’s a small dial at / h dropped that to 603. There’s no doubt

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/ h general-use notebook either. Instead, modes. Switch to gaming mode and minimal graphics options tweaking if it’s part of Samsung’s new line of the laptop lights up spectacularly, you plan to play the more demanding gaming-oriented notebooks. And it went altering the keyboard backlighting [ specs ] ones (especially in 3D). It seems beyond surprising when I discovered and stylishly switching to an opting for the Radeon HD 6970M that this is the most powerful gaming alternately themed Windows desktop, CPU: paid off, because it significantly Intel Core i7-2670QM notebook we’ve ever tested. I mean, as well as disabling the Windows key outperforms the more popular GTX (2.2GHz) these guys also craft washing machines and highlighting the WASD keys. It’s a GPU: 560M even though the two are at a and fridges. What the hell are they nice touch, one that shows Samsung AMD Radeon HD similar price point. doing creating such awesome desktop is eager to make you feel special 6970M (2GB GDDR5) Couple this with its wonderfully vivid replacements as well? about owning this extravagant piece RAM: and colourful display, and gaming on The 700G7A is a bulky beast, with of tech. 8GB DDR3 the 700G7A is a real treat. It’s packed a bit of an odd design. Angular and In terms of performance, there’s Display: with all the usual features you expect blocky, it doesn’t look particularly no better desktop replacement that’s 17.3” Full HD to see, including a Blu-ray drive. The menacing. If anything, it looks passed through our office before. It SuperBright Plus audio is also quite good, but not the strangely retro. It’s not until you powered its way through the Resident (1920x1080) 120 Hz best we’ve experienced. It doesn’t power it on, watch as the backlit Evil 5 benchmark. At native res 3D display boast the same high level of build keyboard and stylised touch- (1920x1080) with 4X AA in DirectX 10 Storage: quality and stylish design that some of sensitive area above it light up all mode, it achieved an average frame 1TB (2 x 500GB) HDD its competitors boast either, but bear in pseudo-futuristically that you realise rate of 90.9. Activate 3D using the same / 8GB SSD mind that this is Samsung’s first foray Samsung means business. First settings, and the notebook manages Audio: into gaming notebooks. And what an off, I must say that I don’t really an average of 49.2 – which means that Dolby Home incredible entry it is. enjoy the touchpad. It’s smoothly most games can happily be played in Theatre v4 Dane Remendes OS: finished rather than boasting a slight 3D without any hiccups here. 3DMark Windows 7 Home grainy texture like most notebook Vantage with the performance profile Premium 64-bit touchpads do. It takes some getting selected awarded the 700G7A with used to, but since most gamers won’t 12,486 3DMarks – a truly impressive / PLUS / Incredible gaming performance / Excellent display / Feature rich be using the touchpad anyway in score for a desktop replacement / MINUS / Iffy touchpad favour of a dedicated gaming mouse, notebook. Unigine Heaven, running THIS IS THE BEST GAMING NOTEBOOK WE’VE EVER TESTED IN 10 it’s not a real issue. The keyboard, with no AA and 4X AF at native res TERMS OF PURE PERFORMANCE. OUT OF 10

74 / www.nag.co.za

/ hardware // review /

Patriot Pyro SE 240GB SSD

Supplier: Patriot / Website: www.patriotmemory.com / RRP: R4,999

Average read Benchmarks

/ 378.7 / Average write / 471.4 /

/ 378.7 / IO Meter IOPS / 234.7 /

/ 18325.66 / 4K read (QD32) / 17166.33 /

/ 22.45 / 4K write / 183.1/

PC Mark / 131.5 / Vantage HDD / 238.4 /

/ 61,900 / / 51,291 /

Baseline: OCZ Vertex 3 240GB

atriot isn’t new to the SSD better than the WildFire, delivering a 25nm 16GB NAND chips paired with the market. They’ve produced blistering score of 61,900, which makes [ specs ] typical SF-2281-VB1 SDC controller and Psome notable drives in the it the 2nd fastest drive to date in this Controller: no cache as per usual for SF powered past, mainly the Torqx series in the particular test behind the Kingston SF2281 drives. So the performance difference early SSD days and more recently, the HyperX SSD. NAND type: between this drive and others of a similar WildFire drives which offer phenomenal Further analysis in the less MLC configuration is purely down to the performance. So expectations were marketable numbers shows that the Form factor: firmware tweaking on the part of Patriot. high when we initially received the Pyro newer driver is much slower in 4K reads 2.5” While we were testing the drive, we drive. Unfortunately Patriot stopped and writes, delivering about 20% of the Interface: heard that the pricing would get adjusted manufacturing the original series performance of the original drive at SATA 6Gbps to better reflect its target market where shortly after release and replaced it a queue-depth of 32. We’re not sure price/performance is concerned, so even with what we have now, the Pyro SE. why this is, but it’s likely related to the though we have the original price from The reasons behind this are beyond change in the NAND memory used and late 2011, the drive should be cheaper by the scope of this review, but suffice to some other firmware optimizations the time you read this. say that there are some compromises which prioritize sequential data access Overall, the Pyro SE is a capable drive. made with the new drive, but together above anything else. It’s not going to win any records and with that we have some improvements. This is further illustrated in the we are still very partial to the Patriot So what we end up with is a drive IOMETER results. The SE drive is WildFire and Kingston HyperX drives that performs significantly worse in much slower than the original drive in because they retail for similar prices at some areas, but offers much better every discipline. However given that present to the Pyro SE drive but provide performance in areas that are more IOMETER numbers are not marketable better performance. This puts this drive likely to make themselves obvious in it’s not surprising that the numbers in a relatively difficult place. However day to day use. are much lower. However, if you own if you’re not moved by either of those The sequential read and write speeds the original Pyro, it would be hard for drives, the Pyro SE just may be the drive in particular have improved drastically. us to recommend you change to the you’re looking for. From the initial 218 MB/s read and new drive, because you’ll essentially be Neo Sibeko 243 MB/s write speeds on the original upgrading only for sequential operations drive, the SE drive delivers 378 MB/s but will take a knock in performance in and 302 MB/s respectively. That makes almost every other discipline, so some the Pyro SE the 3rd fastest drive we’ve careful consideration must be made / PLUS / Great sequential write speeds ever reviewed where write speeds are if you were thinking of changing to / MINUS / Slightly cheaper than the Kingston HyperX SSD, yet slower concerned. In the PCMark Vantage the new drive. AN IMPROVEMENT ON THE ORIGINAL PYRO DRIVE MAKING IT A 7 benchmark, the drive actually performs The Pyro SE makes use of Micron LITTLE MORE ATTRACTIVE. OUT OF 10

76 / www.nag.co.za

/ hardware // review /

G.Skill RipjawS Z F3 2400MHz Quad Channel RAM

Supplier: G.Skill / Website: www.gskill.com / RRP: R3,999

f it wasn’t obvious to you before, Despite this misfortune, ICs that Sandy Bridge, so you will be able to run it will be now in 2012. Intel defines are capable of 2,400 MHz are likely mac 2,400 MHz on the LGA1155 platform, am hin re e what memory the industry uses going to be good for tighter timings d / and as such a kit like this can be seen

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Intel released a platform, the memory that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything d sticks installed, 8GB at 2,400 MHz vendors would almost exclusively make to be gained from memory tuning. was a breeze when using the FX CPU. memory for said platform and AMD Given that the highest frequency our [ specs ] This unfortunately though, will not be support was secondary. CPU could handle was 2,300 MHz possible with the Phenom II as it has a With the X79 chipset, it seems the we were able to tighten the timings Density: vastly inferior IMC. new standard for high performance to 9-11-8-24, which is impressive 16GB (4GBx4) To sweeten the deal G.Skill includes memory kits is 16GB. Significantly given that the reference timings are Voltage: two fan cooling modules which will guide more memory than many gamers and 11-11-11-31. Comparing with other 1.65V air over the RAM. This doesn’t really help enthusiasts need, but at the current systems at the reference settings and Timings: the RAM directly but it does move air DRAM prices and manufacturing frequency we found that our settings 11-11-11-30 over the PWM area on X79 boards which processes, there’s no incentive to go were an exact match in performance XMP: is vital if you’re running the system Yes 1.2 with 8GB kits. It’s worth keeping in mind and superior in SuperPi. So even if overclocked. as well that, G.Skill has 32 and 64GB you have a CPU that isn’t capable Overall this is a great set and you’ll kits for the X79 platform. The prices of these RAM speeds, not all is lost be hard pressed to find memory of this are nothing short of eye watering but and this set is still worth buying if density and performance at this price. for those who want to build serious only because you can use them on 16GB may be excessive for some, but workhorse machines with multiple the LGA1155 platform as well. When given that Ivy Bridge, Ivy Bridge-E and users there’s no question about it, you’ll we tested on the ASUS MAXIMUS IV Haswell in future will likely be DDR3, want to go X79 with one of these kits. Extreme we were able to reach over this RAM will last you well into 2014, As for the RipjawS Z 2,400 MHz set, 2,220 MHz at 8-10-8-24 settings with and looking at it like that, it’s a good well you’d be surprised but it’s not all 16GB installed. investment for now and the future. G.Skill’s fastest; they have, in fact a The memory bandwidth was equally 2,500 MHz quad channel kit you can impressive and actually better than on Neo Sibeko buy as well. However, if there’s one the X79 platform; the reason for this pitfall to such kits, it’s that not every is lost to us currently but it just may X79 CPU can support 2,400 MHz. The be that the benchmarks do not have CPU we tested with, for example, didn’t optimized reading patterns that take / PLUS / Cooling fans / 2,400 MHz have an IMC that could reach 2,400 advantage of the dual IMCs in the CPU. / MINUS / Can be hard to come by MHz and as such the biggest selling Having said that, Ivy Bridge will support 9 point of this kit is not useful to us. even higher memory frequencies than THE FASTEST 16GB DDR3 SET WE’VE EVER TESTED. OUT OF 10

78 / www.nag.co.za / hardware // review /

Evetech i7-3930K- based Gaming PC

Supplier: Evetech / Website: www.evetech.co.za / RRP: R23,599

his is quite an interesting build from the chaps at Evetech. It’s billed as a high-end machine, and it [ specs ] certainly is, but instead of opting for the powerhouse T CPU: that is the GTX 590, it’s fitted with two GTX 560 Golden Samples in SLI. In terms of cost, that’s a saving of almost Intel Core i7-3930K R3,000, but in terms of power, this machine obviously Overclocked to 4.6GHz doesn’t deliver the frame rates you’d expect from one Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth LGA fitted with a GTX 590. Here’s the treat, though: the 2011 Intel X79 inclusion of an Intel Core i7-3930K. That’s a six-core, Video cards: 12-thread monster second only to Intel’s range-topping 2 x NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti (and wallet-crushing) Extreme Edition of this CPU. The Overclocked Edition result of this combination of components is a high- (2 x 1GB) (2x256bit) performing system that manages to keep the cost at a DDR5 reasonable level. RAM: Above the great performance, the biggest thing with this Corsair Vengeance prebuilt rig is the BitFenix Colossus case. New to our local 16GB Quad Channel market, BitFenix is a Taiwan-based chassis manufacturer (4x4GB) DDR3 that aims to bring cost efficiency and performance as close 1600MHz together as possible. It certainly has all the components Storage: you’d expect to find: dual USB 3.0 ports that use on the on- Corsair Force GT board headers; seven HDD drive bays (with 2.5” mountings) 120GB SSD, 1TB cooled by a mammoth 230mm front intake fan; plenty Seagate Barracuda of cable management routes (that the techs at Evetech Cooling: have done a fabulous job of using) – both inside and out; Corsair Hydro Series H100 and a neat although somewhat unorthodox lockable compartment that houses all the front ports and power/ reset buttons, for added security. [ Benchmarks ] There’s no doubt that this heavy machine is a beast in Unigine Heaven terms of both performance and looks, but it does have extreme: one small issue that comes down to personal preference: 2,055 I would have preferred to see a single GTX 580 in place 3D Mark 11 extreme: of the dual 560s, as one could more easily upgrade the 3,208 graphics performance by adding a second 580 at a later PC Mark 7: stage. However, the immediate advantage in this case 6,095 is better performance than a single 580, so you can’t go AVP: terribly wrong either way. 105 FPS Geoff Burrows

/ PLUS / Great performance / Uses new i7 CPU / Chassis features / MINUS / Dual GTX 560s / No Blu-ray drive 9 HIGH-END PERFORMANCE BUILT ON THE LATEST PLATFORM. OUT OF 10

www.nag.co.za / 79 Subscribe to NAG and get a free Limited Edition Zipper NAG Lanyard.

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/ game over / / GG / ( • )Title*( • )

xcuse me a moment, I just have to put on my serious hat quickly. In case you’re wondering, it’s a sort of black “Scientists in lab coats call this Evelvety cowly thingy, elegantly trimmed with crow feathers and dessicated wasp carcasses and some talon- shaped twigs stained a bloody red with clotted tomato sauce, “objectifi cation”. Feminist scientists and it looks way more intimidating than it sounds, okay. So anyway, did you see the pre-launch promo ad for Soul in lab coats would add that it’s an Calibur V? If you didn’t, hint, hint, this is a game rated T (for “Teen”) by the ESRB, which perhaps does seem ironically appropriate but I’ll get back to that, for its “large amounts of example of appealing to something jiggling cleavage” and the option during character creation to “augment fi ghters’ breast sizes and manipulate the camera to zoom in on their bodies.” called the “male gaze”, which is Basically, it’s a page prominently featuring Ivy’s implausibly proportioned feminine assets, swelling – no, wait – tumefying a phenomenon associated with around the text “Go big or go home”. No, you don’t even see her face, because whatever big boobs. It’s about as classy as you’d imagine, or in other words, it’s not. the assumption that heterosexual Scientists in lab coats call this “objectifi cation”. Feminist scientists in lab coats would add that it’s an example of appealing to something called the “male gaze”, which men are always the primary target is a phenomenon associated with the assumption that heterosexual men are always the primary target audience audience of any media, whether or of any media, whether or not that’s even true. Simply, it’s men as watchers and women as the watched, and you can test this for yourself by looking at any advert featuring a not that’s even true.” woman, and seeing how it sells either the woman, or the idea that all women should be more like the woman in the ad. See it now? Exactly. That’s also why there wasn’t a corresponding ad featuring an extreme close-up of Voldo’s thong. the implication that this is a game marketed exclusively for Sex sells, I get it. But maybe it’s because advertisers have hormonal adolescent boys and their penises, when, you become too lazy, complacent, and stupid to come up with know, gamers average out at around 30 or so, and women anything more sophisticated than OH, WOULD YOU LOOK playing games is actually a real thing that happens. Just when AT THESE FINE GLANDULAR SEXUAL CHARACTERISTICS we all thought we’d fi nally managed to rid ourselves of the IRRELEVANTLY JUXTAPOSED WITH THIS PRODUCT TO stereotype, Namco Bandai decided to bring it back. GIVE THE IMPRESSION THAT IT MAKES YOU A MORE Tarryn van der Byl SUITABLE CANDIDATE FOR UPCOMING REPRODUCTIVE OPPORTUNITIES. What’s perhaps most off ensive about the ad, though, is * I said “tit”, lol.

Extra Life By Scott Johnson - ©2011 All rights Reserved - Myextralife.com

82 / www.nag.co.za