Rockstar Games had a booth at last weekend’s New York Comic Con to showcase two of their upcoming releases, Max Payne 3 and the 10th anniversary release of Grand Theft Auto 3.

Grand Theft Auto 3 – Anniversary Edition

Today marks the ten year anniversary of the release of Grand Theft Auto 3. A game that not only completely changed that particular franchaise but set the template for dozen of other games to come. To celebrate Rockstar Games is preparing an anniversary addition of the game for release on a number of different mobile devices. I got a chance to get some hands on with the game on an iPad 2 last weekend at New York Comic Con.

First off the game is exactly as you remember it – in a good way.  The game is identical to to the original with some extra polish to clean it up a little.  I was immediately hit with all kinds of warm and fuzzy nostalgia as I grabbed my first baseball bat and began smacking the hell out of people. The game uses the same approach as a lot of iPhone/iPad games by using the left & right on screen sticks to move you and your camera around. If you’re familiar with this layout then moving around and driving will come pretty naturally. There are buttons on the right side of the screen to tap in order to get in a car, draw your weapon and jumping. The demo was still a work in progress as some functionality, like being able to view the full size map, was unavailable, but will be in the final version.

The game doesn’t have an official release date yet but is scheduled for to hit the street later this fall. Here’s a list of the currently supported devices:

Apple iOS Devices: iPad 2, iPhone 4S
Android Phones: Droid X2, HTC Evo 2, LG Optimus 2X, Motorola Atrix, Samsung Galaxy S2
Android Tablets: Acer Iconia, Asus Eee Pad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

There aren’t currently any plans yet to do similar releases for Vice City or San Andreas but I’ve got my fingers crossed.

Max Payne 3

I also got a chance to sit in on a walk through demo for the upcoming Max Payne 3. It’s been eight (?!) years since the release of Max Payne 2 and while a lot from the previous games are in tact, the game looks to have advanced nicely into the modern era. The game’s locales are split between New York and Brazil which gives two very distinct looks and identities while the character animations are fluid and look fantastic. Now like many games lately they’ve now included a cover mechanic. However, they have designed the game so that you aren’t relying on cover constantly but only use it when you need it, for example when reloading. Their design is to allow the player charge in with guns blazing rather than hiding behind a rock.

The original Max Payne was known for it’s bullet time mechanic and they’ve kept that for the third game. The bullet time has been refined to allow you to control the camera and watch where your shots are headed. One other element that I liked was the inclusion of destructible environments. There were some great instances in the demo of blowing things up and taking out all of the enemies in an area.

As a fan of the original games, I’m looking forward to the release of this third game and to see where the franchise is headed. The game does not have an official release date yet but is scheduled for early 2012.

Within minutes of landing at New York Comic Con, I got a chance to sit in on a panel showcasing the highly anticipated Batman: Arkham City. The panel consisted of game director Sefton Hill, audio director Nick Arundel, voice actor Kevin Conroy and Claudio Sanchez from Coheed and Cambria, who along with being a big fan of the franchise and a comic book writer, also contributed  to the game’s soundtrack.

When asked about working on a superhero game that had the challenge of overcoming the stereotype that superhero games suck, Sefton talked about wanting to create an authentic Batman game and how the team works in an isolated bubble for a two year period. The team consisted of approximately 100 people which is relatively small for a triple A title such as this. With the game’s focus being expanded from Arkham Asylum to the entire city, the game is 5 times the size of the previous game and is about 30 hours in length. The team was driven and challenged to devote the same level of care to the design of the game that was in Arkham Asylum while at the same time expanding it to encompass the entire city.

Paul Dini, who has worked on numerous DC comics and animated films, worked on the story for the game. Since Batman is the world greatest detective, the first thing to do is start with a mystery for him to solve. With that in place, they can then choose from the rich gallery of villains and work them into the story being careful that they serve a purpose and aren’t being added in for the sake of being added. One new addition to the game is a scanner which allows Batman to overhear chatter throughout the city. The challenge in adding this functionality was to help propel the story along naturally and give the player more insight.

Gameplay

It was then time to demo some live game play! I was pleasantly surprised to see that Gotham City was not dark and gloomy but instead full of vibrant color. The game looks absolutely gorgeous and has seen some improvement over Arkham Asylum. The animations and movement are more fluid and sophisticated whether in combat or when navigating through the city. The combat system is fairly similar to the last game but getting to your gadgets has been refined. The gadgets are laid out more as a rectangle and seem to be easier to navigate through rather than the previous circular menu. In order to get around the rooftops of the city you can use a combination of gliding and your grappling hook. One new gadget is a device that produces an magnetic field. In the game play demo, they showed a crane being magnetically manipulated to bash through a wall and create an opening.

Here’s a peek at some of that game play footage. Special Thanks to The Breaking Point Show for hooking us up. This was certainly one of the show’s hi-lights for me and I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on this game. Batman: Arkham City is available today for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with a Windows version to come on November 18.

Originally posted at TheTelevixen.com

To be completely honest, I’m not a fan of reality shows at all. In fact, if we’re going to be really honest, I can’t stand them. And while I’m in the sharing mood, I also know don’t know much about cars either beyond which side of the road to be on and where the gas and brake are. So I wasn’t sure what I would think of Top Gear, the US version of the acclaimed British series (which, oddly enough, falls under the category of things I know nothing about as well). Season 1 was released on DVD and Blu-Ray July 19th, and I had the chance to check it out.

The premise involves three hosts, professional driver Tanner Foust, actor Adam Ferrara (Rescue Me), and automotive analyst Rutledge Wood, discussing and reviewing cars. But, much more than that, it often sees the trio coming up with a lot of unique scenarios to test and challenge different cars as well as the people driving them. For example, seeing who can find the best car with a $1000 budget. Or racing a Dodge Viper through a track while being chased … by a military helicopter. Did I mention it has missiles? Or my personal favorite, finding the best pickup truck  for under $3000 and pushing its limits in the Alaskan wilderness.  There are also weekly celebrity guests, such as Buzz Aldrin and Dominic Monaghan, who each perform test runs in a Suzuki SS4 in the Big Star, Small Car segment and their mystery driver, the Stig, that also performs test runs on vehicles discussed throughout the show.

During the challenges, the cinematography is pretty amazing. The colors really pop and makes the cars look extremely sexy, even if it’s a 1984 Nissan. The show travels to a number of cool locations throughout the US, and the geography looks gorgeous everywhere they go. I wish I had seen this on Blu-ray because it looks fantastic on normal DVD. The sound production is also very well done and makes me wish I had a sound system that could take advantage of all of those rumbling engines.

The show’s hosts are quite good. The chemistry doesn’t always feel completely natural and is a bit forced at times, but there are times when they seem to be having a great deal of fun, and as the show goes on they seem to gel better as a team. In fact, their constant sparring at each other becomes fun to watch the further you get into the series. Seeing them all get drunk while doing a prohibition run – and discovering how flammable moonshine is at the same time – was pretty awesome.

The ten Season 1 episodes are spread over three DVDs. Episodes on the DVD menu are broken up and labeled by segment which allows you to easily see what is on an episode and jump to the section you want to see. There are also some additional special features. There are a handful of Webisodes, about 15 min in length total, that have a good mix of outtakes and on-set shenanigans. There are also about another 30 minutes of segments called Poolside Chats which has the hosts covering a number of random topics off the top of their heads.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Season 1 set. If you’d like to get your hands on your very own copy of the DVDs, check out their official site for details. I won’t be rethinking my stance on reality TV but I will be looking out for Season 2 of Top Gear. Speaking of which, Season 2 kicked off on July 24 on the History channel in the US and airs Sundays at 10pm. You can even catch full episodes on the History channel website – even in Canada!

Photos Courtesy of BBC

Check out Spartacus: Blood and Sand and all of your favorite Starz shows with qualifying Direct.tv Packages.

Released on DVD back in September, Spartacus: Blood and Sand Season 1 is a thirteen episode series on Starz. The series tells the story of a Thracian soldier (Andy Whitfield) who after defying his Roman commander is separated from his wife and forced to compete as a gladiator. Showing some promise in the games, he is purchased by Batiatus (John Hannah) who promises to reunite him with his wife while he competes as a gladiator. After rising through the ranks, the Thracian adopts the name of Spartacus and goes on to bring much prestige to the house of Batiatus.
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