Aliens: Colonial Marines Tester Sheds Light on the Game’s Dark History

Hardly a week since its release the internet has been swept up by the behind-the-scenes controversy encircling Gearbox Software’s licensed abomination, Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Following the anonymous allegation that Gearbox outsourced the majority of the title to different studios, namely TimeGate Studios (Section 8, F.E.A.R. Files), a recently yanked Reddit AMA with a “confirmed” Sega employed tester has been brought to light.  Obviously breaking their non-disclosure agreement in two, user “soetester” not only says Colonial Marines was handed over to TimeGate early on, but also claims Gearbox was using Sega’s Aliens financing to secretly fund both Borderlands installments.

More shocking, soetester says the title didn’t degrade from the promising E3 2012 demo that sent fans’ hopes skyward.  In fact, the tester alleges Sega never got their hands on anything like that demo, that the gameplay shown wasn’t even running on Unreal 3 (like the final game), and lambasts the footage as “100% false advertising.”

While the AMA was removed — giving it an air of inadvertent legitimacy — you can still view a capture of the session here.  Below are some highlights:

• The game wasn’t released under the pretense it was anything more than awful.  By the time Gearbox turned its attention on it “the damage was done.”
• Sega only received it to test in the middle of last year.  Unwilling to delay it further (and lose more money), the game released as you see it today.
• soetester posits Sega may take legal action against Gearbox.
• The Wii U version may very well be “the worst” of them all.  Framerate issues, slow texture loading, and poorly conceived GamePad mini-games may keep the Wii U A:CM from seeing the light of day.
• Gearbox “did much more of the game than [TimeGate]” evidently.  soetester admits TimeGate’s contribution left the game in a horrid state, though.
• Cutscenes better explaining some of the game’s shittier plot choices were cut; interactive parts of the game including a proper, playable introduction to the marines and the Sephora were folded into cutscenes.
• In response to how much the tester enjoyed the game: “I hate it.”
  

In more hopeful news, the Sega tester also claims they’ve seen a build of Creative Assembly’s Alien game which is intended for next-gen hardware.  The tester says their game’s shaping up to be dark, atmospheric, and “slow paced (in a good way).”  I think after this disaster, the gaming public would openly embrace more horror and less horrible.

If you need another stern warning against Colonial Marines, check out my review.

The Dissolution of THQ: New Publishers Pick Up the Fallen Company’s Assets

The battle was hard fought and long drawn out, but the once mighty publishing house that was THQ has succumbed to bankruptcy.

Despite last ditch efforts to keep themselves above the red line — like putting Naughty Dog co-founder, Jason Rubin, at the head of the company (though, how far could you really go with a man that openly found Saints Row embarrassing?) — THQ folded, with an auction held yesterday for prospective buyers looking to grow their own catalogs by acquiring the former publisher’s assortment of development studios and IP’s.

Bear in mind that the dust has yet to have settled, so most of these acquisitions won’t receive the stamp of approval/blood-signature until the U.S. bankruptcy  court has a say…That being said, the following is a list of notable transactions that took place yesterday:

• Crytek now owns the Homefront brand.  Crytek UK (Timesplitters as Free Radical) has been working on Homefront 2, so it’s a convenient buy.
• Koch Media purchased Saints Row developer, Volition, Inc., as well as publishing rights to the Metro series.  You may be more familiar with Koch’s subsidiary and publisher, Deep Silver (Call of Juarez, Dead Island).  Deep Silver has been tasked with overseeing all development and publishing duties surrounding both franchises with impending news on the way.
• Sega has scored RTS experts, Relic Entertainment (Company of Heroes, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War), beating out ZeniMax (Bethesda’s parent) for the studio.  The recently announced Company of Heroes 2 is still on track for release.
• Take-Two — parent to Rockstar and 2K Games — bought up the unrevealed shooter tentatively dubbed Evolve, developed by Turtle Rock Studios (best known for their work on Counter-Strike and Left 4 Dead with Valve); Take-Two evidently outbid Turtle Rock for their own game.  In another big win, Take-Two negotiated outside of the auction for the WWE video game license, effectively ending THQ’s long established choke-hold on the property.
• Ubisoft is now set to publish Obsidian’s foul mouthed homage to the old school RPG, South Park: The Stick of Truth.  THQ Montreal was also bid on and bought; the studio’s staff will be dispersed among Ubisoft’s existing dev teams.

Among the assets not already sold off sits Vigil Games and their Darksiders property, just two games young into the franchise.  Apparently, both studio and game went without a single damn bid (yowtch).  Given Darksiders II considerable improvement over the original, and its positive critical reception, I don’t expect the Horsemen to stay homeless for long.

Also, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or drunken snapshots of hyper-extended middle fingers on Instagram, we’re becoming more and more aware that THQ has left a lot of unemployed people in its wake.  My heart goes out to those that have to put up with such shit luck of the draw — and thank you for all you’ve done for this industry.  I wish you the best, folks.

Project X Zone Heading West This Summer

Given its severely niche nature, I almost gave up hope on seeing this Namco/Capcom/Sega mashup grace Western shores.  But low and behold, Namco Bandai has announced it would be localizing the 3DS’ Project X Zone for release in the U.S. and European markets this very summer.

The spiritual successor to Namco X Capcom, a PS2 crossover oddity that remained only in Japan, Project X Zone (wherein the “X” means “Cross” somehow) carries on the tactical RPG gameplay and 2D sprite visuals found in that title, but adds a little dimension to the affair thanks to the 3DS’ functionality.  Combining over 200 characters from each publishers’ library of franchises (over 50 of which are playable), players will participate in teams of two paired heroes fighting freely on battle grids based on recognizable gaming locales.

Basically, you get into ludicrously awesome encounters like Space Channel 5’s Ulala cracking knuckle against Nemesis’ face.  If that isn’t worth wiping the dust off my 3DS, nothing in this world is.

Jet Set Radio Dated For September, PS Plus Members Get to Vandalize Early

Kudos to Sega for not only pooling together 100% of the original Jet Set’s soundtrack, but also offering the full game download for an agreeable $9.99 (800 points in 360 currency).  I’ve received a lot less than a top notch blast from the past for that price point and we won’t go into the crashing disappointments I’ve hunkered down with for way more than ten bucks.

You can expect this Dreamcast dinosaur to arrive on PSN Sept. 18th with XBLA and Steam receiving it the next day on the 19th.  But if you’re impatient — and I hope you are so that I don’t feel like I’m alone in the universe — and also happen to be a PlayStation Plus subscriber, you can treat yourself to Jet Set Radio as early as Sept. 11th.

PS Vita owners, unfortunately, will have to be a little more zen with the upsetting wait between now and the game’s availability for the handheld on October 16th.  Assuming that your ownership of a portable system means you’re outside and on the go, might I suggest taking up real life rollerbladed graffiti tagging?  It’s a valid, wheeled art form.  An art form technically considered vandalism and could get you into legal trouble, but on rollerblades, the amount of exercise your body’s getting will make up for all the, uh, rollerblading away from cops you’ll be doing…Okay, fine, wait for October.

Spotlight of the Day: Sean the Colonial Marine

This is Sean Maio and he’s what you’d might call a professional cosplayer.  Sean built his colonial marine garb from the ground up with exacting detail, going to excruciating lengths (and great personal finance) to replicate the parts and processes used by the crew behind 1986’s Aliens.  Gearbox, the minds crafting next year’s Aliens: Colonial Marines, were so impressed by Sean’s walking authenticity, they wanted him and his likeness in their game.  A “red shirt” marine, as Sean describes it, you’ll be able to either select him as a skin in online multiplayer or alternatively maul him as an enemy xenomorph.

He walked into Play N Trade (wherein which I reside), picked up a copy of Sega’s Aliens: Infestation, and asked if any of us had played it.  Unable to suppress my urge to geek the hell out on anything Aliens, I engaged, gabbed about the game’s Metroid-vania play-style (DS people, you should really pick this one up) and soon learned of his involvement with Gearbox’s title.

The way he tells it, Gearbox and Sega are going to untold lengths in order to bring you an extremely faithful adaptation of the Aliens universe, from the art style to sound design, it’s all ripped directly from the film.  Oh, and Alien diehards, expect some glee-inducing surprises the closer we get to the game’s February release.  Seriously, you’re gonna shit joy.

Thank you, Sean, for being supremely cool and geeking out with me.  Check out an interview he did at PAX where Sega had him showing off his custom made smartgun and where he talks up his cosplay group The Aliens Legacy.

Anarchy Reigns Cheapened By Delay?

It’s been a rocky road for Platinum Games’ strange online action-brawler.  The biggest impediment to Anarchy Reigns comes in the form of a financially struggling Sega whose shift towards singularly backing cash cows like Sonic has cast “second tier” projects in a state of turmoil.  For awhile there, it was touch and go in regards to Anarchy Reigns’ Western distribution — so much so to the point that Platinum was suggesting fans look into importing the already localized title.

But despite a completely finished international edition and despite the game’s July 5th release in Japan right around the corner, we won’t see a stateside release until sometime early next year.  There’s no apparent reason for this but that baffling decision has been outbaffled by the appearance of a $29.99 price tag for the game on several retailers’ websites (including the big one).

Sega hasn’t confirmed or shot down the price point, but if real, there could be a bunch of reasons for the tag slash.  Just the other week, Deep Silver announced they’d publish Dead Island’s sequel at a reduced cost because they figured games should be cheaper towards the end of a console cycle.  Or Sega could just be hedging their bets, knowing full well they have a cult title in their hands, and have placed a budgeted price point on it to draw attention.  The downside to that theory is Sega not having faith in Platinum’s product, but at that price, do you care what Sega thinks?