GCM gets a new look for 2012

The GCM 10^th Anniversary makeover is semi-officially online.   NOTE: You may need to clear your cache or hit SHIFT-Reload to force new pages and art if you are getting odd results, especially when visiting older pages.  

TODAY is the official cutoff period for the old design, so all new content starting with our latest review for Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster will be in the new format.   If you visit older content it will still be in the pre-2012 format, but you can easily return by clicking anywhere in the top area.

ENJOY and your feedback is appreciated.

Star Wars: The Old Republic FIRST LOOK

Star Wars: The Old Republic FIRST LOOK

The press embargo has lifted and our resident Jedi, Mat Houghton is here to report on his time in the BETA. From the sound of it you had better get your pre-order finalized soon. Read his detailed report and find out why this could be the best MMO of 2012 and knock WoW from its throne…

NFS: The Run breaks down in OH

Since I’m not actually reviewing NFS: The Run I thought I would RANT about it since, what started off as this totally amazing game broke down alongside the road around mile marker 2429, somewhere between Toledo and Cleveland. Believe me – you’ll understand this reference when you get to it.

So basically you have to pass 3 cars, which can be a challenge all its own, but this time they have the mob chasing you in these black SUV’s that can apparently go 200mph and fire weapons that will destroy your car in less than 5 seconds of continued fire. Sometimes my Audi would burst into flames mere seconds after the start of the race. Naturally, I thought I would try to take them out, much like a COP TAKEDOWN, but when you do this your Battle Timer continues to tick away while you are treated to a slow-motion cutscene of the SUV crashing, and all your time to catch the next car ticks away. And sometimes the auto-pilot that drives your car during these cutaways would send me head-on into a truck or a bridge column.

So after 118 attempts I finally won this totally lame event – an event that lasted less than 9 minutes but ultimately took 248 minutes (4.13 hours). That includes the 30-45 seconds it takes to Restart each race after a crash. If I see one more mob SUV between now and NYC this game is officially dead to me.

I’m looking forward to reading how Travis, our racing expert who is doing the 360 review feels about the game and THIS level.

Gears of War 3 Soundtrack – Awesomeness for your Ears

Games are becoming more like movies every day with massive budgets that attract top Hollywood talent to do the voices and big-name composers to do the music. There is no title more anticipated this year than Gears of War 3, and Steve Jablonsky has done an amazing job creating the remarkable score for that game that frequently achieves epic levels of awesomeness, full of emotion and power that seldom, if ever. backs down.

The Gears of War 3 soundtrack features 31 tracks (75 mins) that kicks off with a track called “Restless” that pretty much informs you of where this is all going. It reminded me a lot of the fantastic sci-fi themes from the 80’s, but when “Gears Keep Turning”, the second track, started I was catapulted 20 years in time to something more futuristic, but no less epic; a unique blend of past Gears of War music infused with a bit of Deus Ex or TRON.

I have yet to play the game so I can’t confirm if the names of the tracks actually reference locations or levels within the game, but you can definitely tell which songs accompany the action and gameplay and which songs set the mood for the cutscenes.

The score is epically large with an underlying military theme that perfectly suits the Gears and their battle to save humanity. It cleverly blends themes from past games and enhances them with new ideas. Jablonsky makes some bold decisions with the pacing, as well as instrument choices, and especially the effective use of choral parts to enhance a particular moment.

Steve Jablonsky was the perfect choice to compose this movie-quality soundtrack. He skillfully creates a consistent theme between pasts works (that he, himself didn’t even compose), and his uncanny ability to tell a story through music are undeniable.

I look forward to playing the actual game and hearing how all this music slips into place within the grand scheme of things, and I will be sure to update this article when I do, but meanwhile, if you enjoy exciting, emotional, and often, quite epic music, then you’ll definitely want to pick up a copy of the Gears of War 3 soundtrack. It’s the most excitement you can have with Gears of War 3 without playing the game.

DotEmu and BulkyPix announce the release of Another World – 20th Anniversary on iOS

San Francisco, CA & Paris, France -Eric Chahi in partnership with developer DotEmu and publisher BulkyPix is proud to announce the immediate availability of the highly acclaimed classic adventure game, Another World – 20th Anniversary Edition, on iOS.

Experience again, or for the first time, the unique story of this immersive adventure

Released across more than a dozen platforms since its 1991 debut, Another World has attained cult status among critics and sophisticated gamers alike for its cinematic effects in the graphics, sound and cut scenes.

Another World chronicles the story of a young scientist hurtled through space and time by a nuclear experiment that goes wrong. You assume the role of Lester Knight Chaykin who has to dodge, outwit, and overcome the host of alien monsters and deadly earthquakes that plague the alien landscape he finds himself within. Only a perfect blend of logic and skill will get Lester past the deadly obstacles that lie in wait.

20th Anniversary Edition redesigned for iPhone & iPad

For its 20th Anniversary Edition, Another World has been redesigned to fit iOS gaming standards and young gamers’ expectations:
• Remastered graphic environment with both original and upgraded graphics which support the high definition iPad format as well as the iPhone 4′s Retina Display
• Switch between Original/HD graphics by using 2 fingers at any time
• 2 game controls, New intuitive touch controls or classic D-pad
• 3 difficulty modes, Normal (easier than the original game), Difficult (Equal to the original) and Hardcore (more difficult than the original)
• Sound and SFX fully recreated to make the most of the iOS audio capabilities
• Game Center support with 13 achievements to unlock
• Support in 5 languages (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish)

YouTube Trailer

Another World is available for both iPhone and iPad (Universal version) for $4,99 / 3,99€ / £2,99

Link to the App Store

I normally don’t post press releases in the GCM Blog, but his game was probably one of the most influential video games that I had the pleasure of playing in my vast gaming life and if you have an iOS device it should be your DUTY to play this game. It’s JUST THAT GOOD!

Still need NEW WRITERS

Have at least 3 writing positions open for PC, console, and mobile. Nintendo 3DS writer very much needed.

Also looking for a web-designer/programmer to help with our 10th anniversary site redesign in 2012.

Interested parties should contact me at hr@gamechronicles.com

Game Chronicles looking for volunteer programmer/designer

Game Chronicles is an independently owned and operated non-profit gaming website who has grown beyond our current web design at www.gamechronicles.com

We’re looking for a web-programmer; preferrably a student looking for experience and a nice line item on their resume (since we can’t afford to pay real money). Design experience would be ideal as we are looking for a complete site redesign, but we can work with code ninjas who just want to write the DB backend.

Interested parties should contact me at hr@gamechronicles.com

Read more: http://www.classifiedads.com/jobs-ad5245936.htm#ixzz1Us5mPspG

Best of E3 2011 Award Nominees

We decided that even if we didn’t get to go to E3 this year there wasn’t any reason we couldn’t pick our favorite games from the show. So while we wrap up the final staff voting here at GCM, here are our nominees for Best E3 Game in all the various categories. RESULTS COMING SOON!

– Best Action/Adventure Game
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
BioShock Infinite
Batman: Arkham City
Dead Island
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Hitman Absolution
Ninja Gaiden 3
Tomb Raider
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

– Best Shooter
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Battlefield 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Far Cry 3
Gears of War 3
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Halo Anniversary Edition
Metro: Last Light
Prey 2
RAGE
Starhawk

– Best Multiplayer
Battlefield 3
Call of Duty 3: Modern Warfare 3
Gears of War 3
HALO – Anniversary Edition
Starhawk
Uncharted 3

– Best Platformer
Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One
Rayman Origins
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

– Best Handheld
LittleBigPlanet
Mario Kart 3DS
ModNation Racers
Star Fox 64 3DS
Super Mario 3DS
Uncharted: Golden Abyss

– Best RPG
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Mass Effect 3
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Torchlight 2

– Best Fighting
Blazblue: Continuum Shift II (Vita)
Street Fighter X Tekken
Supremacy MMA
Super Smash Brothers (3DS, WiiU)

– Best Sports
FIFA 12
Madden NFL 12
NBA2K12
SSX
UFC Undisputed 3

– Best Music Game
Dance Central 2
Rocksmith
Sound Shapes

– Best Racing Game
Driver: San Francisco
Forza Motorsport 4
ModNation Racers (Vita)
Need For Speed: The Run

– Best New Hardware
Sony Vita
Nintendo Wii U

– Best Motion Game
Dance Central 2
Disneyland Kinect Adventures
GunSmith: Ghost Recon Future Soldier
Kinect Sports: Season 2
Kinect Star Wars

– Best Nintendo Game
Kid Icarus: Uprising 3DS
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Mario Kart 3DS
Star Fox 64 3DS
Super Mario 3DS

– Best 360 Game
Dance Central 2
Forza Motorsport 4
Gears of War 3
Kinect Sports: Season 2

– Best PS3 Game
Journey
Resistance 3
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Starhawk
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

– Game of Show
Batman: Arkham City
Battlefield 3
BioShock Infinite
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Gears of War 3
Mass Effect 3
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Just another E3 follow-up

As previously stated, GCM won’t be attending E3 this year. Sadly, the E3 officials only approved ONE staff member from our site to attend as PRESS then tried to extort us for $400 per ticket for the rest of our team to attend. I just wanted to formally apologize to the 128 (and still counting) companies who have requested interviews and appointments with us. There is no way I could have met with you all by myself.

But more importantly, I wanted to apologize to our readers who will be missing our Live Show Coverage, Daily Re-caps, and our Best of E3 Award winners. There are still fine alternatives for keeping up with the show such as G4 TV and live feeds on your game consoles. Game Chronicles will still be re-posting all incoming presses releases during the show as we receive them along with some reviews for hot new games releasing during the show like INFAMOUS 2.

Hopefully, E3 will stop trying to make a profit and allow our fine staff of writers to attend the show in 2012.

It’s OFFICIAL. GCM will NOT be attending E3 this year.

In a decision more ridiculous than moving the show to an aircraft hangar in Santa Monica, E3 is now imposing limits on the number of PRESS who can actually attend their supposed “press event”. This year they are only allowing ONE (1) person to go. I’m not exactly sure how they expect one person to cover this four day show, including the 40-60 appointments and 6-8 press briefings we normally cover each year, but that is the “new rule” and they are sticking to it – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Rather than provide some half-ass coverage to the biggest gaming event of the year, we choose to not attend at all. Our sincerest apologies go out to our 1.7 million monthly readers who look forward to our annual E3 coverage and our 100+ publishers and PR people who we had planned on meeting with at this year’s show. Sadly, we will also be unable to award our BEST OF E3 SHOW AWARDS – a tradition since 2002.

If you are as outraged by this development as we are I encourage you to write to media@e3expo.com and let yourselves be heard.