I feel like I might not have gotten the proper experience out of my Alpha Protocol demonstration last week, since I didn’t employ any stealth or guile when gaining access to Sega’s E3 booth. There I was, coming in to see an espionage RPG, and I walked right in the front door with legitimate credentials. What a wasted opportunity to spark an international incident and get burned! I learned from the demo, however, that not every spy game is about lies, hiding in the shadows, and/or choking people. When you play Alpha Protocol, you too will have plenty of chances to choose between a safe, boring entry and a sneaky, underhanded one. Our preview has more details, after the jump. Continue Reading

Think of it. The brain of a dead man waiting to live again in a body I made with my own hands! Now I know what it feels like to be God! Okay, so, maybe Monster Lab isn’t quite so fraught with moral dilemmas as your standard mad science story. We can still have a good time without the innocent flower girl being mauled to death, can’t we? That’s the hope, anyway, as I learned from my demo of Monster Lab last week at Eidos’ E3 booth. I was able to witness what man hath wrought in the name of science, and I share my horrifying tale after the jump. Step into my parlor… Continue Reading

Among the many games available for play on the show floor at this year’s E3, there were a number of weird and wonderful titles. GameCyte had the chance to pick up and play one of the year’s stranger contenders, namely, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Born from the incredibly unlikely mix of a rich BioWare RPG, the speedy antics and oft-maligned cast of Sonic the Hedgehog, and the Nintendo DS, Sonic Chronicles has RPG fans and Sonic fans alike crossing their fingers. GameCyte was able to sample the exploration, combat, and even the character development of this game, and we share them after the jump. Continue Reading

Dana Hanna of Microsoft Game Studio gave a postmortem lecture at the ION Game Conference called “You Can’t Do That! Crossing Platforms and Genres with Shadowrun.” My opinion on Shadowrun is well-known by readers here, so it should come as no great shock that I’m intrigued by the argument Hanna made during the lecture.

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With the tremendous success of Kingdom Hearts having proved that you can toss iconic characters in a blender no matter how disparate their backgrounds, we’re actually surprised no one has thought of doing it on a smaller scale until now. Or perhaps we should say larger — a new RPG revealed in this week’s issue of Famitsu is a collaboration of five different companies: Atlus, Capcom, Gust, Idea Factory, Namco Bandai and Nippon Ichi. Continue Reading

After much trepidation, Tycho and Gabe’s new adventure title developed by Hothead Games, Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One has gone gold. Incidentally, I almost broke a finger while typing out that title. I’m surprised there weren’t any emdashes. The game is the first in a series and is part of the renaissance of episodic gaming that we’ve been experiencing lately. The hybrid RPG-adventure game will be coming out on Windows, Mac, Linux and will be made available on the new download service Greenhouse for $19.95. In addition, it will be available on Xbox Live Arcade for 1600 points, which I’m pretty sure is Gatesian for $20.

I’m actually really excited about this game. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are my favorite days of the week simply because of the new comics at Penny-Arcade. It’s going to be a thrill to see how that humor translates into a game.

Full press release after the break.

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Declarations of Independents focuses on the most independent of game developers: Small teams or individuals whose games have little or no marketing, advertising, or outreach, yet which have extremely loyal and dedicated followings. These games are the hidden treasures of the game industry, and it is our pleasure to bring you the thoughts and experiences of their creators on what it means to be an independent developer. Continue Reading

When news surfaced late Saturday afternoon that a YouTube user made a pair of iPod Touch units play Quake 3, many probably thought “Wow, that’s cool. Some YouTube user made a pair of iPod Touch units play Quake 3.”

Not GameCyte. Continue Reading