Incidentally few hours after I've posted my Godfather 2 review, I've stumbled upon the first Mafia 2 gameplay video. Actually it's an interview with Denby Grace, game's publisher from 2K Games that appeared on Gamespot.com, but was deleted later and replaced by preview article. Even though it contains some cinematics we've already seen in the previous teasers, it also has lots of real gameplay. Like if I wasn't feeling on edge enough, they have to come with those damned videos to make waiting for Mafia 2 release even more agonizing...
One quick look at Electronic Arts financial stats is enough to reveal it is having some hard times. As far as I can remember, the main source of income for EA has always been it's long-running series like NHL or Need for Speed. During the recent years however, the new additions to the well established franchise managed to repel a huge number of their buyers. Need for Speed: Undercover wasn't even good enough for a bad joke. The NHL series - do they still continue releasing it every year? I mean I have no idea, I got so bothered with it that I no longer care. With formerly strong brands of it's own failing to appeal even the most hard-core fans, EA pulled another franchise of it's sleeves, once again trying to attract customers to a license for the legendary Godfather.
All right, now I've had just enough of that damned habit. Can anyone give me just one single reason why Electronic Arts have to make their logo in the intro movie impossible to skip? Like if it wasn't enough that most of the games EA has got their dirty hands on throughout recent years was a piece of stupid boring crap. They also have to make me watch their fancy logo over and over again. Ever heard of the Escape key dear EA? In games published by other companies, you can use it to skip the intro ads after you've gone through it for the first time. Learn from them you idiots!
Few days ago at the GDC '09 the Crytek guys came with a trailer showing the console version of CryEngine 3. They did some fine coding and optimizing in the past year, that's for sure, because with a little bit of imagination the console version of CryEngine 3 looks almost as good as CryEngine 2 on PC. The funny point is: Still every single developer in every damned interview from the GDC I saw uses the term next-gen when talking about XBox360 and PS3. What a bunch of witty guys those developers are. If you send them to Autosalon in Geneva to propagate a wagon pulled by yokes of oxen, they will call it a next-generation environmentaly friendly MPV.
By they way do you know what the letters PS3 also mean except for being an abbreviation for PlayStation 3? That in texture fill rate and shading performance, the device is roughly an equivalent of one guy Painting and 3 guys Sketching.
The Need for Speed series seemed like some kind of psychological experiment lately. Playing Undercover for few hours I was really starting to believe that Electronic Arts is only testing what level of stupidity can they reach with the series until people stop buying it. I'm sure I wasn't alone who was thinking that Need for Speed is definitely beyond recovery, but EA is asking for one last chance. Frankly the recently released trailer for the upcoming Need for Speed: Shift makes the plea almost impossible to bounce.
The trailer looks fantastic, but I realize how distantly it can portrait the real game. EA already promised some major changes in the series before it came with Undercover and we all know it wasn't quiet true. If something was changed, then only to the worse. This time though they finally waved goodbye to EA Black Box which was responsible for the last failure and contracted Slightly Mad studios. And the best about it? Project is lead by Patric Soderlund, who happens to be a professional racer for more then five years. Finally someone who may not think that the ability to perform J-turn with a single key-stroke is the most important aspect of a racing game.
Need for Speed: Shift is set for release on September 17, 2009 in Europe and September 22, 2009 in North America. I hope that EA will stand to it's promise and once again come with a game that is arcade, but still at least looks like it's about driving cars.
My Opera
