TGS: How Dragon Ball Z for Kinect Misses the Point

The entire appeal of motion gaming is immersion -- ideally, Kinect would amplify player agency by more actively involving you in a given experience. Dance Central excels here, in particular. Using your body rather than thumb flicks and trigger pulls to control a character should make you feel as though you've become someone else.

The potential to empower players in Dragon Ball Z for Kinect is enormous, but actually playing it is a constant reminder of how much fun you should be having.

The first-person combat works like you'd expect: Punching the air fires projectiles or smacks your up-close enemy, crouching dodges incoming attacks and powers up your hero, and familiar poses unleash special attacks when you've filled your power meter. That's pretty much the extent of how Dragon Ball Z for Kinect functions, and that simplicity in itself would be a considerable issue, never mind that it doesn't work well.

Gestures are so similar, and player input is so frantic, that Kinect can't actually register the moves properly. I tried to boost my power, but it misread the crouched position as a dodge. In putting my fingers on my forehead to let loose Picollo's Beam Cannon, the game thought I was trying to punch. Arm movements are sensitive and the speed of the fight is chaotic, which is a disastrous recipe. I watched multiple players fail a fight because their Kamehamehas weren't getting picked up, or their dodges registered as power charging, before becoming a victim of the incompetence myself.

The other problem is that it's just not terribly entertaining to play. Your actions don't really interact with the world or characters, so you spend a lot of time watching. Did you punch the air fast enough to trigger the win or lose animation? Great job, take a break and watch Goku throw Vegeta through a mountain for the next 20 seconds. Repeat. What could possibly be interesting about this as someone putting their entire body into the equation?

It's difficult to get excited, or remain optimistic, about a game in such poor shape as Dragon Ball Z for Kinect. It's a conceptual misfire with the kind of poor execution that's become unfortunately commonplace in Kinect games. And if it's no fun to play in the first 10 minutes, why should you pay $60 to experience it for hours longer?

Use caution with this one.

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor for IGN's Xbox 360 team. He’s also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

FIFA 13 Skill Games Day 1: Passing

FIFA 13 has 24 Skill Games that should perfect your shooting, improve your passing, and make you an all-round better player. If they don't, you might just be beyond help.

They're divided into 8 categories, including shooting, dribbling, and free kicks. In each one you'll be able to earn a bronze, silver, and gold level by fulfilling different challenges.

This week we're going to show you all of them on IGN, starting with that absolute fundamental: passing. The 6 videos below teach you how to play a variety of balls, from tiki-taka passes designed to eviscerate defences to lofted Beckham-esque balls that fall from the heavens.

Ground Pass

In this first drill, you simply need to pass the ball to several targets dotted around the pitch. You'll learn how to vary the amount of pace put on the ball to reach your desired target.

Increase your accuracy by threading passes between narrow gates towards targets.

Same as the last drill, but this time pesky defenders are lurking to intercept your laser passes.

Lob Pass

It's time to get out the bins. Dozens of them, in fact. In this first drill, you'll learn how to vary the length of lofted passes. Get into a big or small bin to net some extra points.

There's more to passing than simply hitting it as hard as you can. This skill game teaches you how to 'drive' a lob pass into a target and how to spread play left and right onto the flanks.

And to claim gold, you must take on the Crossbar Challenge! See how many times you can hit the bar as the clocks ticks down. If you hit it, you'll move further out. Can you hit it from the halfway line? We did.

FIFA 13 is out on all major platforms on September 25 in the UK and September 28 in the US.

Daniel is IGN's UK Staff Writer. That's him in all the Skill Game videos above. Didn't he do well? Follow him on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

IPTL Amateur - Will Western Wolves ascend to greatness?

Western Wolves are a young team on the scene, but already were a part of a controversy as their first picked-up player, Spades, was involved in a maphacking scandal. Two well-known communities got their pitchforks ready, but after reviewing the footage even top NA professionals weren’t sure whether Spades was hacking or not.

Because of all the drama that arose around Spades he decided to quit Starcraft 2 in early June; 3 weeks later the new team has arrived. Currently Western Wolves are sponsoring five players: three Swedes, one Brit, and one Lithuanian. With this line-up it is obvious that the main focus of the team is Europe.

Two fairly unknown players on the team are Starnan, and Mini. The Swedish representatives had some good games in the past against people like ToD or Satinii during DreamHack events or in online cups, but other than that they are a mystery. During DH Summer they got to Ro64 and Ro32 respectively.

Fargo on the other hand is one of those gamers who have dozens of small wins in online cups and small offline tournaments, but nothing to be considered a new upcoming star on the pro scene; however, his strong performance online got him a few notable kills like Tefel, Adelscott, PoYo, and Origine. Now he’s waiting for his big chance in a larger offline event.

SortOf is one of the best on the team. The Swede took second place at WCS Sweden Nationals losing to ThorZain in the finals, but upsetting SaSe, NaNiwa, Bischu, and Cytoplasm on his road there. He participated in MLG, IEM, Assembly, and dominated big names like Haypro, Nerchio, Satiini, and more. This is the guy with full-package as a player, but needs a big win to make a break out to the scene.

Still, what surprises me the most about him is the consistency in winning online cups; mainly Playhem Daily, but you can see him tearing through the brackets of Go4SC and ZOTAC. If he’s going to keep up with practice he will take a big victory one day; maybe 2012 is going to be his year? You never know.

After winning WCS United Kingdom Finals, where he upset DeMusliM 2-1, qualifying for IPL Season 5, and his splendid performance during Dreamhack Open: Summer, where he played as a stand-in for JonnyREcco, it was just a matter of time until Ziktomini gets an offer he’ll be glad to accept. He made a huge splash in the UK scene this year, and is definitely hungering for more.

He is the one to lead Western Wolves to victory. Together with SortOf they are more than capable of taking down their opponents in IPTL Season 1, but are they ready for it? Most definitely!

Written by Albert Palka

Source : ign[dot]com

Play Guild Wars 2 Early, Get a Free Hat

ArenaNet has announced a limited edition hat for anyone who plays Guild Wars 2 early. From August 25th through September 12th, every player will receive a Celebration Hat, “a baseball cap with the iconic Guild Wars 2 dragon logo” that ArenaNet calls “a stylish addition to your town attire!”

The Celebration Hat will be available in the Black Lion Trading Company for zero gems. It can be found in the Style category by pressing O during the game and cannot be traded to other players. The Celebration Hat will be available to any character on your account.

Guild Wars 2 officially launches on August 28th but will be available starting tonight through ArenaNet’s headstart program, which allows anyone who pre-purchased and installed the game to play early. For more on the game’s skill combat, check out our interview with systems designer Jonathan Sharp.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

No Single-Player for Command & Conquer: Generals 2 at Release

Command & Conquer: Generals 2 will apparently launch without a single-player campaign, according to developer Bioware Victory.

In an interview with PC Gamer, the company's general manager John Van Caneghem explained that “co-operative and competitive” skirmishes would be the main focus of the title initially, with other modes being added later based on community feedback.

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We decided to choose Generals as the first set of games we build under the universe, but we’ll be expanding after that, like Tiberium and Red Alert as well as some others as well.

Speaking about the potential of a story campaign being one such mode, Van Caneghem said, "It is something we haven’t announced yet how we’re going to do it." He explained that one of the main benefits of the game being online was that it facilitated the easy testing of new play styles, claiming, "As a live service I think the exciting part is you can try things. You can see what the community wants, you can give it a shot, you can put it up for a weekend and see how it goes, develop towards what the fans like."

While he didn't comment on EA's decision to make the game free-to-play, he did reveal that Command & Conquer: Generals 2 will be the first in a new series of online C&C games that explore the series' history.

"We decided to choose Generals as the first set of games we build under the universe, but we’ll be expanding after that, like Tiberium and Red Alert as well as some others as well," he said. "Generals 2 was the first one, and it was one of the biggest sellers, as well as the fanbase has been asking for it for some time."

He rounded up the interview by explaining that Bioware Victory is keen for the upcoming RTS game to break onto the e-sports scene. To this end, alongside multiplayer deathmatch and co-operative modes, Van Caneghem claimed that, "We’re really going to run the gambit of what people enjoy in a multiplayer environment.

"I don’t think we’re making a list of the features yet, but I think you can basically make a list of the assumed ones that you’d need to be an e-sports game, and it’s definitely part of the plan," he added.

Command & Conquer: Generals 2 will release as a free-to-play title on PC sometime in 2013, but you can register your interest for the beta now.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant and once almost died trying to build a home-made Tesla Coil. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Play Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Multiplayer on July 31

A meaty Transformers: Fall of Cybertron demo arrives on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network on July 31, showcasing two single-player missions, competitive multiplayer, and the extensive character customization.

In the past, IGN has covered the impressive campaign and chaotic co-op. We even dug into the adversarial multiplayer, but we've only played with the Autobot/Decepticon cosmetic options lightly. Before you check out the demo for yourself, take a look at what your ideal Transformer -- Dinbobot, Insecticon, or otherwise -- could look like in our video below.

If you're not sick of retailer-specific swag yet, pre-ordering Fall of Cybertron at GameStop earns Power Up Rewards members early access to the demo on July 27th.

Those who aren't in the rewards program and want pre-pay bonuses can still score themselves the G1 Retro Pack. This add-on bundle includes extra cosmetic items for character customization, weapons inspired by the original animated series, and this pretty spectacular throwback skin for Optimus Prime:

Sorry, PC players -- there's no demo on the way for you just yet, but the full game releases alongside the console versions on August 21st.

When you've had a chance to check out the demo, be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below. Until then, let us know what you make of what's included.

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor for IGN's Xbox 360 team. He’s in love with that Optimus skin. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Runescape Reaches 200 MILLION Registered Users

Runescape has become the first game in history to have over 200 million registered player accounts. That's a LOT of accounts.

A counter has been running on the game's homepage which, when the milestone was reached earlier today, marked the start of 3 days of in-game celebrations.

Speaking about the feat, Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard commented, "When the game was first released, nobody could ever have expected it would reach such high levels of popularity largely by community word of mouth. It has been an incredible journey to get to where we are today, and by continuing our tradition of constantly innovating, evolving   and lovingly crafting RuneScape we are certain to continue to break records by creating an online adventure like no other."

Since its launch in 2001, the free-to-play MMO has enticed 200 million adventurers from more than 150 countries around the world. If RuneScape were a country it would be the 5th largest population in the world, and the game’s players have clocked up in excess of 443 billion minutes of game time so far.

To celebrate this undeniably impressive achievement, Jagex has created an infographic with some mental statistics that you can check out below.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant.  You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com