Pandemic Studios, begun in 1998 as an offshoot of Activision by Josh Resnick and Andrew Goldman to develop sequels to Dark Reign and Battlezone, has been shuttered by current owner EA. The studio will remain open until the launch of their upcoming title The Saboteur, and then will be disbanded, with key players being absorbed by EA LA.

Let’s be frank: “Key players” means a skeleton crew who can support The Saboteur after launch, and until the DLC and patches hit. Expect two, possibly three DLC packs for The Saboteur and probably two patches. If The Saboteur does well (read: it becomes EA’s Assassin’s Creed), there will be a sequel, and core Sab team members will work on it along with a new support staff from EALA. If The Saboteur does not do well, it will have been Pandemic’s eulogy piece.

As a site that has been intimately involved with Pandemic Studios, this hits home kind of hard today; and it makes us realize that it was the people we worked with, and not the company behind them, that really made Pandemic a great studio. Sitting in the queue of articles on the whiteboard here in the Icrontic offices is a draft entitled “Corporate Culture at Pandemic Studios”, a story that will now never get written. (more…)

This past Saturday, we got a chance to head to the Nintendo World Store in Manhattan and check out the premiere event for the New Super Mario Bros Wii.

The line was down the block, despite the drizzling rain. Eager fans, some in costume, anxiously awaited the opening of the doors to the store.

In addition to having enough copies of the game on hand, Nintendo pulled out all the stops to celebrate the iconic star Mario and his cohorts, as they embark upon their latest adventure. There was a Mario Museum filled with memorabilia going back to the early 1980s, a Mushroom Kingdom-themed DJ booth, a retro room with systems set up for guests to play old Mario adventures (including the original SMB trilogy on NES and Super Mario World on SNES), and a life-sized Warp Pipe to walk through. In addition to being among the first people to be able to buy the game itself, guests got a free t-shirt with their purchase. There was also a gameplay competition, with fans lined up to see who could get the highest score. (more…)

Yay! Cake!

Yay! We’re one!

Besides mashing our faces into cake and crying at all the attention, we want to do something special for all of our loyal readers and fans who have helped us get to this point.

The past year has been amazing for the “Orange” side of Icrontic. From our “Hello World” post to yesterday’s breaking news, we have come a long, long way. Those jerks over at Blue have lots of traffic and content to lord over us, but we came back swinging with a great staff of writers, well-crafted content, and continuously evolving relationships with game publishers. Our trip to E3 in June was a major milestone for us, and things have just been getting better and better. Here are some of the highlights from the past year.

Remember…?

• We LOVED Castle Crashers!
• The first of a long, awesome chain of CB’s New Releases came out.
• Brian started playing WoW.
• Bobby wrote his first gaming article, about decals.
• The famous Chopper Challenge comic.
• Our coverage of every TF2 Class Update in the last year.
• Cannonfodder’s first L4D guide—the Hunting Rifle.
• Speaking of which, Myrmidon’s first article with us—the Shotgun guide.
• The Resistance Journals from our then-secret look at The Saboteur.
• Our actual visit to Pandemic Studios to see The Saboteur.
• Our review of Valkyria Chronicles.
• Jackie’s quest to become a Frag Doll.
• Chris White’s first review—The Hunter.
• Kevin Farrell’s first review—Dwarf Fortress.
• Bobby and Brian go back to Pandemic for a roundtable with developers.
• Cliff incites the hordes with his L4D2-boycott crybaby call-out.
• Our interview with Valve’s Doug Lombardi.
• Our first hugely popular article, on the leaked Soldier update for TF2.
• Snark and Cliff blasting each other over the value of PC vs. Console.
• The whole Australia L4D2 kerfluffle led to a huge increase in our traffic.
• Nemikan’s first review, a roundup of three DotA clones.
• Lincoln’s Starcraft-on-Windows-7 guide blew up.
• Quady the Turnip made the Saxton Hale stamp.
• Sony PSP Go release day roundup.
• First on the web with a Shattered Horizon review!
• Steven Legg’s first review—Zombie Tycoon
• And just yesterday, our hilarious fanboy bait piece

Ahhh those were the days…

Well, enough nostalgia, now on to the good stuff.

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Image from Daniel Floyd's video

I’ve been following Daniel Floyd and his unique and thoughtful take on games and the gaming industry for a while now; his stylish, animated lectures have always been entertaining (or perhaps annoying to some).  In his most recent lecture he takes a strike at some very important issues and challenges we face with the controversial subjects games are so often criticized for.

Daniel highlights the game Six Days in Fallujah, which addresses the still-recent war in Iraq, and has subsequently come under a lot of fire—to the point that publisher Konami has dropped support for it.

In many other mediums—films, books, and art—serious portrayals of such deep and difficult topics such as war and history are often praised for their examination of the these events and issues. When a game is produced, however—even one with the support of soldiers that were actually there—media and society turns against it.

Certainly this is a weighty event to portray, and there is a level of immersion that isn’t possible in other mediums, but we shouldn’t be afraid to explore that as a game. We should be able to approach it with seriousness—as more then just entertainment.  More importantly, when game developers do explore mature topics, we need to be willing to stand up for our medium and defend the legitimacy of games like Six Days of Fallujah. (more…)

Recently developer Infinity Ward announced that the PC version of the newest Call of Duty installment would not support traditional dedicated servers–instead favoring its own custom backbone for internet matchmaking. In no time flat, nerd rage ensued in the form of an internet petition demanding that dedicated server support be added to the game. As of this writing nearly 178,000 have typed in their digital John Hancock in the hopes that Infinity Ward might abandon their custom solution in favor of the archaic dedicated servers we have come to know and love. It’s much harder to abuse a system when not in control, and it seems many server admins are lamenting this revelation.

Infinity Ward held the announcement until gold masters were being shipped to manufacturing, knowing that the PC audience would be resistant to change and that the only way to get this over with would be a good old fashioned force feeding. Matchmaking over an Infinity Ward-supplied backbone is coming, whether you like it or not.

With all due respect, may we suggest that perhaps all 178,000 of our nerd friends are raging about the wrong thing, though? (more…)

What are you swinging at my head?

Now that Valve has finally unleashed the Left 4 Dead 2 demo, the Icrontic Steam group has been descending upon it in droves. I had a chance to play a round with some of the {IC} crew: Winfrey, Cola, and Sir Candle.

One thing that hasn’t changed a bit from L4D1 is “playing lobby.” We played lobby for a few minutes but quickly got the game launched.

The initial weapon loadout is relatively similar to the first game: a variety of SMG or a shotgun. Then you look to the left, and you see a frying pan. That’s when you know this is a whole different animal.

The rhythm of combat is similar to the first: horde, lull, horde, lull, with random occasional individual zombies coming at you before you can get too relaxed.

As we moved through the campaign, we all commented at various points that the game is noticeably more difficult, more wide open, and gives you many more ways to deal with clusterfucks.

The {IC} crew I played with were asked to give me their impressions on the demo. Is Left 4 Dead 2 worth the price of a new game? Is it more than just an expansion pack? (more…)

The pixelsmiths from Germany known as Crytek are at it again. Known for their groundbreaking game engine CryENGINE 2 and its accompanying tropical FPS game Crysis, they have just released the third incarnation of their engine. Dubbed CryENGINE 3 (who would have guessed?), the release once again puts Crytek at the forefront of real-time interactive computer graphics technology by enabling the newest available technologies on the PC platform and expanding the engine to the PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms.

Delicious Screen Space Ambient Occlusion

Arguably, the biggest addition to CryENGINE 3 is support for the console platforms. With Crysis, PC gamers got cocky because they had the greatest looking game of all time, and consoles couldn’t even come close. Console gamers whined for a host of reasons to refute that fact. CryENGINE 3 will be Crytek’s first attempt to cross the aisle with a major engine. PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers will have remarkably comparable graphics in games developed on CryEngine 3. Even better, developers will have access to Crytek’s famous ‘what you see is what you play’ editing environment known as CryENGINE 3 Sandbox editor. Creating lush, photo-realistic worlds on the console has never been easier. (more…)

Pandemic’s The Saboteur is just around the corner, with a December 4 retail launch in Europe and December 9 launch in the US. As members of “the core”, we got our hands on some new exclusive gameplay videos for your perusal. Be sure to see our other The Saboteur content, including our analysis of how The Saboteur breaks new ground using technology as a storytelling device, the E3 roundtable we attended, our hands-on demo, and our original fictional Resistance journals, which were inspired by our early access to the alpha builds of the game. We’re big fans of what Pandemic is doing with Sean Devlin, and getting our hands on it was enough to convert us. This is gonna be a big game.

Enough with le mumbo jumbo. On with the explosions.
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Max Payne. The mere mention of the title commands the resurrection of gaming memories that some would place in the ranks of “industry’s finest”. Max Payne, originally released in 2001, redefined the third person action genre, and singlehandedly introduced slow-motion ‘Bullet Time’ as a game mechanic. The game told a visceral story about a man with nothing to lose on the cold dark streets of New York City. It was one of the first games to truly get a grasp on film noir styling and present its story in a very dark and gritty way. The game was a ballet of gunfire, a graceful look into a brutal world. So much about it was revolutionary; the bullet dynamics, the graphic novel storytelling, the ballsy story. Elements like these firmly solidified the Max Payne series in the bedrock of gaming history.

Originally developed by Remedy, Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne gathered critical acclaim. Max Payne 2, the series’ most recent release, came out six years ago. Remedy has been silent about when the planned trilogy would come to a conclusion, but as the studio continued to work on (and delay) its current project Alan Wake year after year, many began to wonder if we would see our dark noir hero return to our computer screens. Remedy ended up selling the rights to Rockstar Games, who announced that Max Payne 3 was in production back in March.

Very few details were released regarding Max Payne 3 outside of a couple of screenshots and an image showing an balding, grizzled old man with a beard and a thicker build with the logo below it. Max Payne was old, put on some weight, and looked like Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Stranger yet, he was no longer busting gang members in New York City, but rather he was running around the streets of São Paulo, Brazil. Payne fans were livid–this is not the Max Payne we knew! (more…)

Today marks the release of the Sony PSP Go, the smaller, UMD-less version of the classic PlayStation Portable. The controversial handheld is supposed to usher in the media-less era of handheld gaming, forgoing the expensive and inelegantly mechanical UMD drive and physical discs for the magic of digital content delivery.

While this is a good system for PC games, and even certain console titles, does it really make sense for handhelds? More specifically, does it make sense for a PSP?

The reviews are out, and it’s not looking good. It’s rare that we can report a device as being “universally panned”, but this one looks like it’s heading that way.

Engadget says, “The debut of the Go has been marred by some pretty downtrodden decisions on Sony’s part, most notably the $250 price tag, an utter lack of compatibility with any previous PSP accessories, and no UMD conversion program.”

ArsTechnica’s Ben Kuchera was brutally honest. He states, “The entire point of the PSP Go hinges on the wireless, digital aspect of the hardware, so why is that hardware so outdated? Why is downloading a game made to be as annoying as possible?” regarding a variety of issues with downloading games, including their awkward decision to stick with 802.11b wireless hardware (in a $250 device? really?). He goes on to say, “Ultimately, this is the rare case where an old product gives you more freedom, more features, and at a better price. Of course, an older PSP won’t have Bluetooth, and the screen won’t slide to hide the controls, but existing customers can cry themselves to sleep on piles of cheaper games if they become upset.” (more…)

With the horrible state of the economy today, people are endeavoring to save money in any way they can. In a clever move to take advantage of this, GamersGate, a site that offers video game purchases through digital downloads has started a new program by which both the site can get advertising, and customers can earn store credits.

The new service revolves around the use of a “GG Tag”, an affiliate link that can be placed on any site that uses HTML which leads to your profile on GamersGate. It shows what games you are playing, what games you have purchased, and so on. Then, if someone purchases a game while visiting the site through your GG Tag link, you get a percentage of credit back from it, which can be used for future game purchases on the site. (more…)

Dispenser-on-a-blimp

Either someone got their hands on some insider info, or this is an amazing fake reveal of  the first Engineer update.

Called “project 25″, or “The Mothership”, it’s basically a Dispenser taped to a blimp. While not releasing as much health and metal as a dispenser, it is mobile, and can be controlled by the Engie.

Be careful, though–if an enemy shoots it, it goes Kaboom.

They also show the community map CTF Mach 4.

At the bottom of the page is an allusion to day 2: Confidential.

The regular site at Teamfortress.com does not have the link to the Engineer update yet. As we get info, we’ll be sure to let you guys know.

Thanks to Shwaip for the find!

Update: Robin Walker emailed me to confirm that it is indeed fake. Of course, the “fake by sunwar” at the bottom cleanly answers that question as well.

The high-and-mighty Armchair Quarterbacks from the Steam forums are also having a field day, triumphantly declaring their superiority from their ivory towers and pointing out how obviously fake this is, and how I’m an idiot for posting/copypasting/being trolled.

The fake is so well done and so clever, that this is a newsworthy piece for several reasons, which I won’t bother to list. I will say this: One of my goals as Editor is to stimulate conversation, fun, and traffic. End of story? It worked.