A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to get some hands-on time with the PlayStation Vita at a Sony event in Toronto, but I’ve avoided the standard review/preview because I honestly don’t feel like I have anything noteworthy to contribute. I do, however, have a few thoughts about the Vita’s prospects and – to put it bluntly – I have my doubts about the handheld’s viability as a platform.
Jaime Woo is best known to Toronto gamers as one of the co-founders of Gamercamp, but he’s recently expanded his organizational portfolio with forallgamerssake, an art exhibit that seeks to explore the roles of gender and queerness in video games. We spoke with Jaime prior to the exhibit’s debut at the CSI Annex in Toronto, and what follows is a frequently hilarious and consistently uncompromising conversation about equality and representation in games, with detours for everything from Mass Effect 3 to condom warfare.
This past week the newest Gears of War 3 DLC, entitled Fenix Rising, became available for download on Xbox Live. The DLC features several new character skins, five new maps, and a new leveling system for those who just cannot get enough of Gears 3. For 800 Microsoft points Fenix Rising offers some decent content but not everyone will use all the features available for download.
Are 12 new characters, additional modes and updates enough to justify a $40 disc release 10 months after its predecessor? How will the changes to the previous characters affect the high-level tournament scene? And what the hell is a raccoon doing with a repeater cannon?
Toronto’s video game community will gather this weekend for Gamercamp LV 3, a mishmash of panel discussions, demos, game jams and social events that is growing almost as exponentially as the local community itself. As part of Gamercamp, The ‘Shelf has partnered with Toronto After Dark to present the "Full Motion Video" film program.
Few places in Toronto are as appropriate for an Assassin's Creed event as the Berkeley Church on Queen and Parliament. Originally built in 1871, it's a mix of the modern and the historical – a perfect fit for the time-jumping, history-shaping saga that continues this week with the release of Ubisoft's latest chapter in the series, Assassin's Creed: Revelations.
It has buttons, says Sony's PlayStation Move. You are the controller, says Microsoft's Kinect. Pfft... that's all child's play. Have you ever flown a plane using only your eyes?
In the last year of development for id's newest first-person shooter RAGE, you might be forgiven if you thought "MEGATEXTURES" was actually its title. Yet here we are, on the tail end of a promotional tour that made no bones about it: RAGE is the next DOOM. But has id evolved beyond its innovative roots to carve a niche for itself among a market bloated with shooters?
Friday Oct 28 – TO Jam Arcade Opening party, 7:00 pm-12:00 am Saturday Oct 29 – TO Jam Arcade, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Location OCAD University Great Hall, 100 McCaul Street – Free event The Toronto Independent Game Development Jam (TOJam) is a free, annual game-making event open to the public. For the last […]
Digifest is Toronto’s international festival celebrating innovation and digital creativity. From October 26-30, we will be bringing together some of the world’s best and brightest to showcase next generation digital art & design. Established and emerging designers, technologists and artists will come together during Digifest for presentations, incredible demos, interactive exhibitions and parties. Attendees will learn about the latest trends and experience innovations firsthand.
As part of Digifest 2011 Innovation Days, TIFF Nexus hosts the first in a series of conferences that bring film, gaming and new media professionals together at TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Forza Motorsport 4 is a racing game designed for those who love driving, tuning, and customizing cars. The amount of options for customizing not only one’s car but also one’s gaming experience might be daunting to some gamers, but Turn 10 and Microsoft Studios have turned Forza 4 into an incredibly accessible game for both the casual and hardcore markets. Additionally, the game’s robust online multiplayer suite makes Forza 4 an incredibly rich and fulfilling game. In short, Forza 4 will offer any gamer a great driving experience.
At the Forza Motorsport 4 launch event in Toronto we got a hands-on demo of the game. Forza Motorsport 4, from Turn 10 and Microsoft Studios, offers a myriad of new gameplay, customization, and community options that are sure to entice any racing fan. However, the event highlighted the variety of controllers a player can use to control the vehicles in the game. We had the chance to try out three of the game’s major controller options: Driving with Kinect, using Microsoft’s new Wireless Speed Wheel, and playing with the standard Xbox 360 controller.
Gears of War 3 from Epic Games and Microsoft Game Studios is one of the most definitive and comprehensive third-person shooters on the market. Gears 3 offers fans an action heavy conclusion to Delta Squad’s story, as well as an excellent selection of online game modes. The game provides the same solid gameplay and great visuals the series is known for, but even some Gears fans may find the game’s singleplayer campaign lacking in substance. On the other hand the game’s polished and varied versus and co-op game modes should convince many gamers to give Gears of War 3 a try.
At the recent Gears of War 3 press event in Toronto we had a chance to sit down with Jeff Rivait, Product Manager – Xbox Games and Accessories, and ask him a few questions about the development, gameplay, and features of Gears of War 3.
