Closer to Home

Homefront releases in stores today, and the ambitious FPS has received much attention for its scenario, which details what would have happened if Korea were never divided during WW2, and went on to become a superpower so dominant that it would eventually invade the US. Considering the state of the world (and Korea) at present, it’s a very interesting premise and question, one developer Kaos studios saw fit to answer with this ambitious release. But how possible is this alternate reality? THQ and Kaos have gone on record, citing exhaustive research, historical advisors, and even enslited the writer of Apocalypse Now to speak volumes of its plausibility. But could it really happen, given the right conditions?

Here, we have two arguments on the matter. Colin Moriarty of IGN believes it’s more plausible than one would think, suspending his disbelief and making a point that Homefront’s situation is very likely, given the unpredictability of history and the notion that with the proper timing, it isn’t that much of a stretch...

While on the other end:

Destructoid’s Brad Rice has a different stance. Having checked the game’s “timeline” of events, he cites various facts about the economical and military strength of the US, its allies, as well as Korea to make his point, declaring it outright impossible.

It’s two interesting, opposing views on a concept that is in fact, most debatable. While the notion that the US could be compromised the way the game suggests is arguably sound, the reality of what makes the country a superpower seriously makes one question if such a breach can even be attempted. Especially considering all the hands currently being held by the US in its partners and the strength of its military, among other issues.

Reviews of Homefront have been mixed thus far, but regardless of the game’s quality, its nice to see that with each passing day, we continue to provoke thought and debate in ways we wouldn’t have imagined since our little bleeps and bloops began.

Sources:

IGN - ”Is Homefront Possible?”

Destructoid - ”In Which I Break Down Why Homefront’s Plot is Impossible”


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Dance Zero.

Go Kotick!

After the success of games like Just Dance, which placed dancing back on the map after years of DDR struggling to maintain relevance, and Dance Central, which took it to another technical level, it's no surprise that in their wake, a slew of other dancing titles have been released, trying to get a piece of the new best thing. Interchangeable, and of questionable quality, they're all out to get our dollars now via the medium of booty shaking.



Know what that means? Of course you do!

Rumor has it, Activision is working on their own competitor in the dancing space, predictably titled Dance Hero. Now before anyone gets inflamed with rage, know that shortly after purchasing the Guitar Hero brand, Activision went patent crazy, trademarking every possible permutation of Hero they could think of, running amok with expected Guitar, Drum, Rock titles affixed to the brand for prospective games , to more ridiculous sounding ones like Guitar Villain.Dance Hero was among the crazier of those patents, and three years ago, it sounded a lot more ridiculous than it does now.

...Yeah. Don't compete too hard with the crickets.

My question is: Didn't they learn from the last time they tried to go up against an innovator with their ingenuous, exploitative ways? I can't see this going anywhere good. Dance games in general are a questionable medium, so concerned with accessibility that none actually gauge performance accurately aside from Dance Central. Even monolith vet DDR doesn't capture the actual act of dancing in the way DC does. So WHAT exactly is Activision going to bring to the table aside from something blatantly bandwagon riding and devoid of effort like Michael Jackson: The Experience?



The more information I recieve for a rumor, the more I flinch, but apparently these are the songs allegedly in the works so far:

"2012" by Jay Sean (feat Nicki Minaj)
"Out Of Space" by The Prodigy.
"The Way I Are" by Timbaland (feat Keri Hilson and D.O.E.)
"Take Over Control" by Afrojack (feat Evan Simon)

Kotaku, you'd better be lying to me. I can't see any good coming of this.

Source: Kotaku
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Oh?!

So I'm piecing my way through the Green Day: Rock Band demo released today, and it was fun, to say the least, I mean, after the attention to detail and care lavished over The Beatles: Rock Band, there was no doubt in my mind that Harmonix could do one of the bands who revived punk justice.

But this isn't about them. Or the demo. I'm sure you notice the picture.

It raises a few thoughts. Guitar, drums, bass, vocal...harmonies? Okay. It was in B:RB, I can let that slide. Saw that coming.

There's also a keyboard there. More thoughts. How is this going to work? What is the note chart going to look like? On Expert? Does this mean we now have a max number of SEVEN band members at once, and a minimum of 5 as a full band?

Will we finally get a most triumphant version of Bohemian Rhapsody to play at parties? Piano Man? Love Train? Party Hard?

Can I really fit 7 people in my house? Should the police be called in advance?

The mind boggles.

Because really, It's one thing to say, "Yeah, it's coming out", and another to come to the table with actual material.

I think Rock Band 3 finally has an announcement it deserves.

Thanks to JoeCamNet's Dtoid Blog for the picture, your camera was muuuuch kinder to the image than mine.

(This article's also on CLgamer.com!)

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Ashes to Ashes..

That is a female COG soldier. End statement.

Sera looks to be in complete ruin. Ashes cover the city, the remaining few silhouettes of it's populace match the surroundings. Dom has a beard. Their suits seem to have undergone a bit of a redesign, apparently everyone's as confident as Cole now.

Or they can't afford to be bulky anymore, what with new gorgon-esque Locust running around.

They're all fighting together. Marcus, Cole, Baird, Dom, and this new mystery woman. Glad to see everyone's around. Brothers to the end. Heh..

Wait, you're still reading this? C'mon. This is Gears of War 3 we're talking about here. Premiere trailer's after the jump, baby. Woo!

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Innovative black sheep..of COURSE it'll continue!

Despite the naysayers (but really, wasn't it a bit much calling it out that early on it's October sales numbers when it was out for THREE days of the entire month?) and even somewhat underwhelming sales numbers, DJ Hero is apparently the highest grossing new IP of 2009, according to a press release from Activision themselves.

While the announcement in itself is a bit skewed given the right perspective (it's the highest grossing, not selling, and the entry fee for the game stands at $120), I for one think it's great that the game is getting the respect I feel it deserves instead of being written off as another soulless Activision-styled regurgitation of the music genre. The game rightfully earned a few 'Best of' awards last year despite its weak sales numbers, and this announcement among others just ensures that a bigger, better sequel is pretty much a given.

This is great news in my book, not just for the franchise, but in general. The IP not making any money should've been a death knell for the series, innovation be damned. Personally, I found it more entertaining than another game you might've heard of that released from Activision these past holidays, what was it...Modern Warfare 2?

Forget the profits, (even though they'll be MUCH more important this time around) here's hoping Freestyle Games can strike gold once again and come up with something even better this year that doesn't feel like a completely phoned-in, soulless add-on to what has been a fresh new start for the genre.

Yeah. I went there.

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