I’m renting Motorstorm 2 from gamefly. It’s got a screenshot feature, which I always appreciate in console games. The graphics can be a mixed bag, but the game has some beautiful moments. What’s really got me caught up with the game is how it reminds me of the old Rush series of racing games.

These games had a very fun gimmick — huge jumps and multiple paths. While Rush was based in cities and Motostrom has more natural environments, Motorstorm still embodies these two gameplay mechanics very well.

But Motorstorm also adds its own flare — not only are there multiple paths, but each different vehicle class has their own ideal paths. This all comes together to make a really engaging racing game.

I enjoyed Motorstorm 1 and Motorstorm 2 is an improvement in every way — you can’t go wrong with this very novel arcade racing game.
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Got some basic AI working for drone teamates. As of now, they’ll fetch balls and pass them to the player (if the player doesn’t already have a ball). If there’s no balls to fetch, they randomly wonder around. I think I’ll have fun fleshing out the AI — I was originally a bit apprehensive making AI for the first time, but it’s been pretty cool so far. Eventually they’ll be able to have a chance of catching/deflecting balls thrown at them, be able to throw balls at enemies, and ‘take a bullet’ for the captain (human player).

Tribes 2, as a single game, has probably influenced my game passion and game design philosophy the most. To this day, I still think that in some ways, Tribes 2 is the pinnacle of both the FPS genre and the large scale multiplayer games. This is one of my all time favorite videos of Tribes 2 gameplay — the first half is mostly showing off skillful shots while the second half is more cinematic. One can question their choice of music, but the gameplay clips are terrific.

I really dig the animation. I’m indifferent toward the music in the first half but overall I quite like the intro. It was originally shown on 1up’s second game night featuring Street Fighter IV.

UPDATE: HD version here — Intro & attract mode by DjMizuhara

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I came up with the concept and started work yesterday. The game has a temporary name (Project.D) for now. The gameplay is inspired by dodgeball, but I wouldn’t call this a dodgeball game. I’m planning on giving this game its own distinct gameplay.

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While this image only shows 2 players, I plan on having it be 3 vs 3. I want to support up to 6 human players, but AI will fill in the empty spots. I’m making this game using the Construct engine. I’m going to try and have a playable build by the end of February.

The new kid on the block media streaming software specifically developed for Playstation 3 is available, for free, on Windows, OSX, and Linux — it is aptly named PS3 Media Server. Not only is streaming compatible formats made easier and more streamlined, but the software excells at transcoding — matroska .mkv files are a breeze. The software also equips users with a plethora of nice options, including priority audio/subtitle choices — or if you just want something up and running without any effort, the default options should work just fine.

I was previously using TVersity to stream media, but I’ve made a full switch to PS3mediaserver. It is perfect for my needs and makes the PS3 the best media streaming device that isn’t a PC.

[Link]
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