[THOUGHT] Did the Space Pirates Worship a False Idol?

The Space Pirates. Those ugly sons of bitches that are the only antagonist in the Metroid series. Their leader? Mother Brain, with Ridley and Kraid bringing up the second and third-in-command seats, respectively. But, and this is something that only came to me recently, did they worship Mother Brain as a false idol? Did Ridley believe that Mother Brain was giving him commands and was purely psychotic? Was he that convincing that he was able to get a following of the Space Pirates to believe a floating brain was giving them instructions? This is the topic of this entry in THOUGHT.

Mother Brain's role and physicalities are what gave her/him/it's name: it is the leader of the Space Pirates and looks like a giant brain. However, in Metroid Prime 3, a cross-section (a fancy way of saying '2D map') of a "future Aurora complex" is shown, which looks nearly identical to MB's hideout in Super Metroid. Here is a quote from Metroid Prime 3, as taken from Wikitroid:

"Twenty years ago (prior to the events of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption), a team of Federation scientists announced the birth of an organic super computer. Its name was Aurora. Since that historic date, thousands of Auroras have been built and installed. Originally designed for scientific purposes, the Auroras are now used in government, business, and military roles as well. They are given male, female, or gender-neutral personas, based on the needs and desires of the staff at the facility they are to serve in. A vast network links all existing Auroras, allowing them to access a tremendous database without peer."

Also:

"The Mother Brain was built by the Chozo, though the manga indicates that the Federation had some part in this as well, as she was built to link the Federation and Chozo information databases, similar to the function of the Auroras."

Left 4 Dead's New DLC: The Sacrifice

You didn't think I'd go on hiatus and not talk about the Left 4 Dead DLC that I've been clamoring about for ever, right?

Valve announced "The Sacrifice," which is the prequel to "The Passing," explaining how Zoey & Co. got down to Bon Temps New Orleans, Louisiana, is set to be released sometime in October. The bad thing about this is that the story canon in The Sacrifice does not follow The Passing's outcome; you choose who dies in the new DLC.

There is good news to be had with this announcement. The Sacrifice will work for both L4D and L4D2, so even if you don't have numero uno (and seriously, why not?), you can still experience what had happened.

Finally, Valve will be releasing, alongside The Sacrifice, a L4D2-compatible version of No Mercy, L4D's first chapter campaign (and easily the better of the bunch).

It seems that the entire story may not be fully revealed in The Sacrifice, as plans for a digital comic to be distributed next month is set to get players up to speed on the story of the new DLC.

If you have your zombie-shooter on a computer-type device, then you get The Sacrifice for free. If you have the 360, expect to pony up for it (no price was announced, but I'm expecting it to be $7 like it has always been).

[Via Kotaku]

Going on a Hiatus

It's been over a week since I've done anything here, and there's for good reason: I've finally gotten a job after three months of searching, so I'm dedicating as much time as I can to said job.

I have some editorials I've been working on throughout the past several months, adding a paragraph here and there, and I hope to finish them up. I do have a fairly sweet treat in store for those who frequent the site, and I'm just hoping that I can pull it off.

In the meantime, your RSS inbox will seem a bit paltry, your noggin may seem flaccid on news, and your frothing for gaming news should be fulfilled by other sites who are actually at Gamescon, but I'll be back. When...well, I'm not sure. Maybe sooner than later.

Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia HD Trilogies Planned? [UPDATED]

[UPDATE] Amazon France has removed the Splinter Cell Trilogy page (the original trilogy's page for Windows exists, but not the PS3 page). The Prince of Persia page is still active.

[UPDATE 2] And just like that, the Prince of Persia page has disappeared. Gamescon is just around the corner, folks...

Yes, you are thinking correctly. There is evidence towards and HD compilation of the last-gen entries in Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia. This is two off my wanted list.

Entries on Amazon's French page point towards "Splinter Cell Trilogy" and "Prince of Persia Trilogy", both for 40 Euros (about $53 USD), both on November 2, and, the most surprising detail, both exclusive to the PS3.

That's not a typo, both are listed only for the PS3. Splinter Cell has been a multiplatform series up until Conviction, and Prince of Persia has never held any system preference prior. It, honestly, doesn't make sense to release a Splinter Cell HD Trilogy for the PS3 when the PS3 doesn't even have the newest entry (or, this could foreshadow a Conviction PS3 release). Unless Sony paid Ubisoft off, then there really is no need to limit these upconversions to one platform. Then again, each game would probably need it's own disc on the 360, increasing the cost of the game to Ubisoft, which defends the reasoning behind the PS3-exclusivity.

Bringing said entries to a system like the PS3 begins rumors of online multiplayer, but if the God of War and Sly Cooper Collections are anything to compare to, you're just looking at getting pretty graphics and a slew of Trophies. I do love me some Trophies.

I'm not complaining, I have a PS3, and I will buy these, whenever they come out for whichever system I damn well so choose. What I do see is that Sony could be banking on God of War Collection's success and the incredible interest in these HD ports of last-gen's biggest games and create their own line of said HD ports; a sub-brand of the PS3, if you will. By snagging exclusive rights to these collections would definitely secure Sony's interest in creating such a brand.

[Via TheSixthAxis]
[Splinter Cell Trilogy at Amazon.fr, via Google Translate]
[Prince of Persia Trilogy at Amazon.fr, via Google Translate]

Visit Arkham City in Fall of 2011

What is Arkham City, you ask? It's none other than a peaceful getaway the biggest shit-storm to come to Gotham.

Arkham City is the subtitle for Batman: Arkham Asylum's sequel, and the supposed "City" is Gotham transformed into a super prison, run by none other than Joker and Harley Quinn.

Not much is known yet, as the only reason we know about is that Game Informer unveiled next month's issue's cover, and it features - depending on which one you get - a bloodied Batman with Catwoman playing upside-down S&M, or Batman and Catwoman back-to-back, but Bats has some restraints on her.

Not so sure about you, but it seems like Catwoman will play a pretty integral role in the story. Sure, she's one of the more popular villains in the Batman universe - Halle Berry would have you believe otherwise - but a prominent feature on the cover?

Check past the break for the GI covers.

Halo 2 Lives on in Halo Reach

Thank you, Baby Jesus, for Ivory Tower is back!

Not so happy about Midship...

Anyways, Bungie put out an update to let gamers know about 3 maps that will be available in Halo Reach. Ivory Tower is exactly as you remember it - exactly - and is now to be known as Reflection, whereas Midship (shudder) is now known as Zealot.

Reflection is a 100% accurate recreation of Ivory Tower, and looks beautiful. Zealot is a 3-tiered map, with the bottom 2 an accurate immitation of Midship, however, the third floor is now outside in outer space, where gravity is reduced severely, and with added jetpacks, you have some "crazy space combat". There is shielding between the second and third floor, similar to a Bubble Shield; the action that happens on the third floor doesn't effect, nor is effected by, the action from the lower two levels. Effectively, you are in your own little world out there.

Finally, the third one is brand new, called Spire. Just as Forge World's map is the largest horizontally, Spire looks to be the largest vertically. It's made for 4v4 game variants, specifically Invasion. Remember Boneyard from the beta, where the Spartans were defending their own spots? Well, Spire is the Covenant version, where phase 3 has all the Elites at the top of the Spire, defending attacks from helicopters and Homo Sapiens Propulsifier Man-Cannon.

It all seems good, but just more Halo 2 map remakes makes me just want them to take them all - including DLC - and release it as a huge map pack, ala the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack.

The Future of Multiplayer Gaming: 3D [UPDATED]

Don't scoff, don't sigh, don't even blink at me the wrong way. By the time you finish reading this, you'll believe me.

3D technology is being lauded at as useless, quality-draining "luxury" that film makers are being forced to film their movies in by the big studios (the reason why Sam Raimi stepped away from Spider-Man 4 and led to the reboot), and that Sony is, somehow, so far up it's ass, we've got a handful of 3D games coming our way: Killzone 3, Sly Cooper Collection, WipEout HD (already here, actually), and many others. Hell, even TV networks are broadcasting in 3D, when the adoption rate is probably lower than what it would take to make this entry viable, and that makes absolutely no goddamned sense.

With online multiplayer gaming soaring over the past 7 years - mostly thanks to Xbox Live and Halo 2 - the sanctity of the previous form of popular multiplayer, split screen, has died out pretty damned quick. Hell, GoldenEye was the forefather of split screen, then Halo: CE took the world by storm, offering up system-link (or LAN) to get 16 people together. Ever hear of a frat broskie willingly take part in a LAN-party that didn't involve torturing the souls of those in said party before Halo? I didn't think so.

I like split-screen multiplayer. During Halo 2's reign, me and two of my friends would gather 'round close to 8 or 9 o'clock, play until midnight, cruise down to Taco Hell Bell, suffer from the inevitable indigestion that is shitty Mexican food, and finish the night off with Super Troopers (hence my uncontrollable urge to quote the movie from "You boys like Mexeeco?" to "I love acid!!!" and everything inbetween). We'd team up on Xbox Live, me and one friend got as high as level 13, whereas the other one had something like 28: he was good, and it was the first game he kicked my ass in, and consistently does. 3 of us on one TV, playing the world. I would use my friends screens as a secondary, or even tertiary, screen to help keep an eye on the entire battlefield.

Square Enix's Yearly Gift Now Arriving

I got this pretty lame, dull envelope in the mail today, and the sender was Square Enix. In the recipient field, it addresses itself to me, Mr. Square Enix Member, Bronze Level.

Square Enix's version of Club Nintendo, MEMBER, has started to ship out the rewards, and, being a MEMBER solely because I registered Final Fantasy XIII, I was entered into the Bronze category, and I got a paltry set of post-cards.

Yea. Post cards.

However, they're adorned with artwork from 3 different games: Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days and Star Ocean: The Last Hope. None of them seem to be screaming anything back at me, but the art is pretty decent.

I'm sure there's a fanboy somewhere who'd love to have these. Perhaps they're lurking on eBay, right now...

Check out more shots after the break.

Ken Levine's Next Game Unveiled Next Week

Don't know who Ken Levine is? Then stop reading and walk away.

For those who care, Ken Levine is the mind behind Thief, System Shock and more recently, BioShock. His studio, Irrational Games, unveiled on their latest podcast that they will be unveiling their long-in-secrecy game, which has been known to exist since 2007 when BioShock first hit the streets.

Now, his new game - which he hasn't made any inclination if it's a sequel or a brand new IP - will be unveiled at a press conference in New York in the form of a live demo, with a CG trailer on August 12 (next Thursday).

Translation?

"You're invited to: Irrational Game's "Look With Your Eyes, Not Your Hands" Party"

Hey guys, Ken Levine here! Come to NY, sit around and watch us play a demo of our new game - no touching! - and froth with the longing of want and the taste of desire in your mouth. Then we'll give you a CG trailer soon after!"

I'm expecting a "nana-nana booboo" chant during the event.

Damn you, Levine!

LEVIIIIIIINE!!

/colbert

[Via Kotaku]

God of War: Ghost of Sparta Release Date, Box Art, and Pre-order Goodies Announced [UPDATED]

I have just learned that this post is my 250th blog post, which comes 9 months after my 100th blog post. Coincidentally, that post was about BioShock 2's Special Edition announcement. Go figure, right?

UPDATE: Sony has recently revealed the new boxart for Ghost of Sparta on their blog. Why, I don't know. The white background, tied with his white, ash-stained body helps with the name of the game. Does the artwork fail as bad as Heavy Rain did? No. But it's still pretty fucking stupid. I've kept the original (left) up to compare to the new one (right).

Hot. Damn. Sony just unveiled the ultimate trifecta of gaming goodness: a release date, official boxart and pre-order incentives.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta is setting to release on November 2, and there are actually multiple ways of getting your second God of War interquel fix.

First up, pre-order the game from either Amazon, Best Buy or GameStop and receive an exclusive DLC pack...for free! When's the last time you got free DLC for any game that wasn't on Steam?

• Ghost of Sparta Original Soundtrack
• PSP Theme
• PS3 Dynamic Theme
• Exclusive PlayStation Network Kratos Avatar
• Legionnaire Kratos Skin
• EXCLUSIVE Game Directors Documentary – A full length featured video roundtable with all of the past and present Game Directors for the God of War franchise in front of a live studio audience, including: David Jaffe, Cory Barlog, Stig Asmussen, Ru Weerasuiya and Dana Jan.

A round table with David Jaffe? I'd love to see how that goes down...

Next, there is the God of War-themed PSP, which is a black and red two-toned PSP-3000 (or the PSP brite). Sony doesn't have a shot of the PSP in question, but I'm expecting something incredibly similar to the last GoW-themed PSP we got.

• Black and Red Two-Toned PSP-3000
• God of War: Ghost of Sparta UMD Game
• God of War: Chains of Olympus PlayStation Network Downloadable Game Voucher
• Kick Ass – UMD Movie
• 2 GB Memory Stick Pro Duo

Both God of War PSP games in the system bundle with a movie that doesn't suck? I think Sony is actually starting to get the hang of this whole "game/system bundle" business.

[Via PlayStation.blog]