That should make us Wii owners feel really bad. We are getting Call of Duty: World at War, but with a soulless developer attached!

Link

We've got a lot of ideas about where the franchise will go. But sometimes I feel a franchise loses something when it's shifted off to another shop. You get the primary studio that really understands about the franchise, and sometimes the other studio that takes it over can do well, but there's something lost in translation, like the game's soul has gone.

Cliff Bleszinski has no intention of farming out Gears of War. In an interview with Develop magazine at a recent press event, the designer spoke against the multi-developer approach to producing a series of games. 

"...sometimes I feel a franchise loses something when it’s shifted off to another shop. You get the primary studio that really understands about the franchise, and sometimes the other studio that takes it over can do well, but there’s something lost in translation, like the game’s soul has gone."

While I'll certainly agree that you run the risk of damaging your property by farming it out to other teams, there's an industry consideration at work here that I don't think can be ignored. I like to complain about the Madden approach of releasing a new game every year that's almost identical to the previous iteration, but that behavior is here to stay because people keep buying them and lots of money can be made from milking a popular franchise.

The approach of leapfrogging development cycles by using two seperate development houses could be helping to find a common ground between the consumer who desired quiality and the company that wants to cash in. It allows for satisfying the investor's bottom line as well as the designer's creative freedom by allowing a group to work a full two years on a title.

To use the Call of Duty example, Treyarch might make a sub-par game for the series in the interim period while Infinity Ward works on their next contribution. That's absolutely possible. On the other hand, if Infinity Ward were expected to pump out a game every year, there's a chance that all games in the series would quickly become derivative and mediocre.

Do you think that games like Call of Duty will suffer in the long-term from the design approach that Activision is taking, or will it help to ensure its longevity?

[Via CVG]

The Call of Dutydevelopment cycle, specifically when Activision handed the reins of the series to a separate developer to ensure the timely creation of Call of Duty 3, is soulless according to Gears of Warlead designer Cliff Bleszinski.

" Sometimes I feel a franchise loses something when it's shifted off to another shop," Bleszinski told Develop Magazine. " You get the primary studio that really understands about the franchise, and sometimes the other studio that takes it over can do well, but there's something lost in translation, like the game's soul has gone."

Though Bleszinski's comments are most readily applied to the history of Call of Duty, one wonders if he wasn't also subtly pointing toward the current Halodevelopment cycle wherein four separate development teams are creating four separate games within the single universe.

As Halois Gears'biggest competitor, I wouldn't be surprised if that was Bleszinski's true target here.

Image courtesy Activision

Call of Duty-style development is 'soulless' says Bleszinski[Develop]

I spoke with “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” project lead Haden Blackman late last week about the game’s newly-announced autumn downloadable content of new player characters and a bonus Jedi Temple level.

A few things came up that hadn’t made the press release that I believe are important for gamers to know, since they show how LucasArts is handling its DLC differently than many other publishers and developers:

The New Level Stands Alone: Players will access the new Jedi Temple level through the game’s main menu and will not be able to use the character they controlled in the campaign. To compensate, the developers are giving players a pool of Force points, so they can spec a new character just for the extra mission. (This is a different approach than the one taken by BioWare, which required players to proceed a couple of hours into “Mass Effect” before being able to visit the new planets introduced in that game’s “Bring Down the Sky” DLC pack.)

The Game’s New Level Is Actually New: As publishers and developers have embraced the idea of DLC, we’ve also seen them embrace the idea of faking DLC by locking content on the discs we buy and charging people to download a key to access that content. That approach merely creates the illusion that new content is being downloaded after a game’s release, when it’s really being unlocked on something that shipped weeks earlier. Thankfully, that’s not the case with the new “Star Wars” Jedi Temple level being offered to Xbox 360 and PS3 owners. Blackman told me: “We waited until we were in submission [to the console manufacturers] on the core product…then we had the conversation internally about whether it made sense to downloadable content.”

That means that not only is the Jedi Temple level not already on gamers’ discs, but that it was designed in mid-Summer with the benefit of knowledge gained by making the full “Force Unleashed” game. “As we went through the development process on ‘The Force Unleashed’ we learned a lot of things, as we do with all games,” Blackman said. And were able to apply those to the Jedi Temple [level].” He said the team is actually trying “new things” with the Jedi Temple level. “We knew the two or three we want to try with something like this.”

Despite what you’ve heard, you haven’t seen the level before. The Jedi Temple level is not featured in “The Force Unleashed” novel or comic book. It’s also not the same as the Jedi Temple level in the Krome-developed PS2, PSP and Wii versions. It was one of three locations considered for a DLC level. An idea that almost made the cut was the Coruscant Senate Chamber. Throwing all those chairs would have been fun, Blackman noted. He described the new level as “highly destructive, very iconic and fun to build.”

The New Characters Are Skins: The announced DLC of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker and other characters — as well as bonus Dark Apprentice costumes — are all going to be skins for the existing player-protagonist. So when you play as Luke, he’ll hold his lightsaber the way the Dark Apprentice does. He’ll animate like the Dark Apprentice.

No ‘Soul Calibur’ Reciprocity: The DLC characters will all be from “Star Wars” lore. None will be from “Soul Calibur,” even though the Dark Apprentice, Yoda and Darth Vader all showed up in “Soul Calibur IV” earlier this year. Blackman said that there are still more “Star Wars” DLC characters to be announced: “We held back some that hopefully people will be excited about.”

This Is But A Grand Experiment: I asked Blackman why LucasArts would greenlight a downloadable level, offering motivations as disparate as creative freedom to discouraging new owners of the game from trading it in. His response highlighted an altogether different motivation: ‘From a company standpoint we’re really interested in downloadable content. We want to find ways to make that work for us and build games around it… This is one of the biggest things we’ve ever done in terms of downloadable content. It’s a chance for us to experiment a little bit, to see what works and what doesn’t and to be able to apply those learnings to future games.

“It’s also a chance for the team to hone their skills and … allows us to start gathering metrics in the event that we do a sequel or want to do more levels. It gives us the ability to really figure out those metrics and say okay. It’s really hard to take the data from working on the initial product whenever you’re building a game with a lot of tech and building it from the ground up, because so much of it is evolving together. So much of it is iterative. And with this particular process, because we know the tech, because we know how to design one of these levels and what it really works, it’s much easier to get clear metrics. How much time does it take for an artist to light a level? How much does it take to build geometry for a level? It’s a really good information-gathering tool. And this, quite frankly, was also something the team wanted to do.”

Hmm. Anyone want them to use that knowledge for a DLC-based “Force Unleashed” episodic gaming series?

***

No price has been issued for the DLC for “The Force Unleashed.” The content is slated for release this fall. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

• Darth Vader, Yoda to appear in Soul Calibur 4

As his inclusion in the documentary would attest, Mr. Monkelban is almost a prototypical gamer, except for the fact that he was born with Cerebral Palsy, a condition that affects his "limbs and fine motor functions."

I live a rather blessed life, so in reading Mr. Monkelban's words -- his description of how he enjoys the same hobbies as you and I -- I realized that I had never thought of what that must be like.

I get the feeling many of you are in the same boat. It's simply too easy to take your comfortable life for granted. I'd like to ask each of you to read the guest editorial he wrote for us below.

I was born with Cerebral Palsy, a non-progressive condition that affects the part of the brain that handles the limbs and fine motor functions. I'm unable to talk or walk, which confines me to a wheelchair. I only have full use of my right arm, but I can play one-handed. Playing certain games one-handed can be challenging, and there are some games that I cannot play, but I'm always up for a good challenge. It's part of what makes me, or anyone else, a gamer.

I began to play video games at the age of 8, with Super Mario Brotherson the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), a game that I've yet to finish. Back then, it seemed endless (and apparently, to Nintendo, it is). I remember playing it for 4 hours each day for 2 weeks, hoping to beat it. Unfortunately, that never happened. Being young at the time, I simply put the game away for another title. I should probably go and pick it back up some day.

I've always received strange looks from my peers, but that has never stopped me from playing games. While the NES era was by far the most level era in terms of game-play, these recent generations have given me the most enjoyment and challenges. As the game-play evolved, so did the controllers. They went from just a directional pad with 2 buttons, to a d-pad with 8 buttons and 2 analog-sticks. Adapting my technique to each style of controller has been a unique challenge.

Sometimes, I'm still a little surprised that the fact of my being a one-handed, physically challenged gamer amazes people. When I go out, such as to an arcade, people look down on me. It's like me being in a wheelchair automatically makes me a bad gamer. But once they see what I can do, they're left in awe. In my mind, I've never been any different from other gamers. Being a physically challenged one, though, has forced me to acknowledge my limitations with games as far as genres go. I try to stay away from the ones that I can't play. But the genres I can play, I go full-throttle into.

Up until recently, I've played predominately roleplaying games, with some focus on fighters. However, with the inclusion of online multi-player and other networking features in games and consoles, I've been able to try different titles and genres (i.e. Devil May Cry 4, Grand Theft Auto 4, and Mass Effect).

One example of a genre I can't play is shooters. Mass Effectis in this genre, and I had trouble playing it, due to the controls being too complicated for one-handed gaming. When you need to hold the controller a certain way, it causes problems when needing to reach some buttons.

The inclusion of online multi-player in some games has been a huge help to me. Being confined to a wheelchair greatly hinders my ability to go out and hang out with my friends, but with online functionality becoming more prominent in games, I can meet and game with my friends (and sometimes even complete strangers) over the Internet. I know that online gaming isn't the same as gaming in the same room with my friends (due to the lag and/or delay), but just being able to interact with people on any level in a game is an amazing experience.

Deviating from my original topic for a moment, I want to point out that anything online for any challenged person is a great asset. In real life, when people look at me, they automatically think that I'm not on the same level as they are, and then treat me as if I came from a Special Education class.

However, online play is vastly different. Online I can communicate easily and no one is the wiser that I'm in a wheelchair. They don't have those preconceived first impressions that are so valuable in the world. Online I can truly communicate the way that I need to.

Lately, the one title that's gotten me the most number of strange looks from my peers is Ninja Gaiden 2. Since I started playing it, my fellow gamers have been saying things like I won't beat the game one-handed. But, here I am, in Chapter 6 and still going strong. Yes, the Ninja Gaidenfranchise is infamous for its unforgiving difficulty, but I like the challenge. Isn't liking a challenge a common characteristic in a "gamer?"

Another current challenge is entering the competitive gaming arena with Soul Calibur 4-- my first competitive title. I've played some of the previous games in the franchise, but it was always for recreation, whereas SC4is the first one that I wanted to get serious about. I know that I have a long way to go, but I think that it's something I could really excel at. I'm really interested in seeing just how far I can go.

Much like girl gamers before us, challenged gamers are becoming a larger part of the gaming community. So, if I can show others that just because we're "handicapped" doesn't mean that we're to be taken lightly, I'd feel satisfied. This is one reason why my motto on Xbox Live is "Seeing Is Believing". I may not be the best gamer in the world, but I'm certainly not the worst. Underestimate me, and it's very likely I'll kick your butt.

Image: TheTruthAbout.../Flickr

More screens here

The world of Bel Lenora is home to a people born with the innate ability to control magic, but long ago a man with no magic arrived and unleashed great death and destruction on the land. It has been 15 years since that man was banished by a great general, but a new man with no magic has appeared in Bel Lenora. Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled tells the story of Kairu, a brave young knight with a cursed soul, as he embarks on a twisting quest full of dark secrets and real-time battles. Players can choose from eight different characters as they form unique parties of three and head out on what publisher Graffiti Entertainment claims is 30-hour adventure full of plentiful side-quests. Along the way characters can master more than 100 magical skills, wield more than 100 different weapons, and protect themselves with more than 200 pieces of armor.

Features:

* Vivid environments create a realistic yet imaginative landscape
* 30+ hours of game play with tons of side-quests
* Dark secrets and powerful plot twists create an original and intriguing story line
* Strategically customize your 3 person party from up to 8 unique characters
* 100+ different physical and magical skills/combos
* 100+ different weapons

Soul Eater Medusa no Inbou = NDS, Japan

Thanks to Cadaver for the heads up!