E3 has come to kick Gearoid's butt!
While attending big
parties and playing competitor's new games has always been a great perk
of E3, it really does put a drain on you. Especially if you speak
Japanese and English like myself and Gearoid. I still remember my first
E3 over 5 years ago. We had announced Steel Battalions and I had to
demo it at our booth. That damn thing had over 60 buttons and it was
"strategically" placed right below our giant video wall and
ear-bleedingly-loud speaker system which meant I had to scream out the
instructions at each of the people that came to play the game. I really
could barely talk by the end of the whole thing. Of course we would
have a company breakfast at like 7AM on the first day (which was after
several press events, parties, and setting up the booth... so you are
already ruined!) and I would have to translate in front of the whole
company what the president had in store for us for the following year.
Trust me... it was rough.
Well, now things have changed. Gearoid
is hacking his way through E3 and being put through the paces. I hope
they don't break our poor Gearoid but heck, at least he has whiskey.
I'm sure he will go in a boy... and come out... a MAN!
So,
enough of my ranting. One thing I wanted to do is post a couple of
"Interesting things you probably didn't know about BCR" every week up
until launch. Some are minor, others interesting, and some are just
plain shockers. So here we go:
Interesting Things You Probably Didn't Know About BCR #1:
One
of the challenge rooms was so difficult that our hard-core gamers in
the Capcom Japan were UNABLE to clear it. They asked for Grin to make a
video of how to clear it so they could see. Every time I watch that
video it shocks me. This will NOT be something everyone can clear. This
will separate the men from the boys.
We'll have more of these little tidbits leading up to launch!
Ben
Comments
There are 53 comments on this post. Post a Comment
Every week?
So Ben, are we looking at say oh... 2 or 3 of these "Interesting Things" , or are we talking 4+? We NEED BC:R, I have a 3 other ppl DROOLING at the chance to do the multiplayer, and also I want to start looking for goodies for BC:3DAwesome!!
That challenge room may get me divorced!!So are we getting a release date?
C'mon Ben! It's E3! If there was ever a time for an announcement I'd say now would be as good as any. I'm a poor man! I need to know when to renew my Live subscription! By the way, I've been using the price of BCR as an angle to sway my friends into purchasing their own copies."Why the hell would you spend money on necessities like food when you can have Bionic Commando Rearmed for the low low price of $9.99! You'd be crazy NOT to buy it! Capcom's warehouses are overstocked with fantastic digital copies of BCR and they're practically giving them away to make room for Street Fighter 2 HD Remix! For $9.99 you get the classic single player, the fun challenge rooms, and the friendship ending multi-player! Get out of my house you cheating *fiddlesticks*! Bad credit? No credit? NO PROBLEM! Go to your local retailer and pay cash for a MS Points or PSN card! What's that? Digital products don't take up physical space and aren't stored in a warehouse? Don't be talking that strange magic computer speak with me you *fine gentlemen*! You better buy this *sandwich* or your a dead mother *fiddlesticks*! Buy Bionic Commando Rearmed or I'll make sure you never see your family again!"
See Ben? I'm practically selling this game for you! Hell, I should be getting a percentage of profits for this... Or at the very least a T-shirt.
There's still two more days of e3 (today and tomorrow) so let's wait and see...
--DanV
it was me...
lucas_rl@Now give me my t-shirt...
<_<
>_>
Wow busy time...
Hey Ben I saw your interview at GDC. Man you totally saved those interviewers (they were a little weak). Anywho Bionic Commando will be on the gamespot show at 6:00pm tonight.http://e3.gamespot.com/live.html?tag=topslot;title;1&om_act=convert&om_clk=topslot
You should be able to watch it there. Next Gen BC looks sweet. Even if Ben wont tell us what "Adrenalin Boost" is...
poor Gearoid
@ Gearoidgood luck man i got faith you will make it through E3. im sure you'll enter a man and come out a badass tentacle ridden cyborg shooting lightning and plasma.
@ Ben and Gear-oid
oh i was wondering if that when things settle down or get semi less hectic that would you too or anyone else by any chance plz write about ur perspective and experiences on E3? (kinda like Ben did with A day in the life of a capcom producer) I for one would enjoy reading about ur adventures.
I saw the Bionic Arm at the very end of E3 day 1 on G4...omg i hope thats at comic con... maybe its just me but i wanted him to clobber someone with it soooo bad...
"oh i see you have an arm there"
"yeah and now u can see it in UR FACE! WHAM!"
The Bionic Arm
Trust me guys, it will be at Comicon. Our presentation there will be the coolest! And if your lucky, I may even let you try it on! And yes, when you put it on you feel like the ultimate bad-arse!It's nice to have the names showing up again!
Ben
oh and plz tell me that you will NEVER release that video of how to beat that super hard challenge room. life needs mystery
Off to play NCAA Football 09 until then.
So sad...
Now I have no games to play!G4tv E3 Coverage
I saw the interview on the live (is it really?...I doubt its live) E3 coverage on G4tv. The Dark Void coverage was kickass and that looks to be a definate purchase. The bastards at G4 (gotta love em) kept saying that info on BC was coming up ....commerical...e3 coverage...bc info was coming up...more commericials..more e3 coverage... what seemed to be a time lapse leading to 2010.8.2 eventually came to a one minute spot with interview and gameplay scenes. The interview seemed to go sideways with the comment along the lines of what is the new gameply that will differentiate BC from other games... and although I was 6 jagerbombs deep into Tiger Woods w/ a buddy via xbox live, I recall that the response was lackluster and didn't give BC the suspenseful punch I was hoping for... let alone no mention of BC:Rearmed. Hopefully you guys secure some more time with the interviewers to shed some more light on BC and BC:R.Once again the time slotted for interview for Dark Void made it a must purchase, let's see some more info on BC/BC:R... please!
As for things you prolly didn't know...
Cool stuff... I accept your challenge... now send me a beta invite!Every WEEK until launch?
Jesus effing Christ, Ben... This game will never see the light of day I swear. I'll beat Duke Nukem Forever before I get my hands on BC:R...A sad, sad, day...
So I saw a Simon Viklund interview at E3
Lol, Mr. Viklund seemed pretty nervous during the interview I saw with him. Maybe he was being rushed or something I'm not 100% sure. Still I did see the Bionic Arm and that thing is bad-ass to teh max.Forgot to say this
Also if you are looking for a game to play until Rearmed comes out... I personally have been playing Bit-Blot's Aquaria which is a 2-D underwater game that is really fun.Also I just want to throw out there that I want another Breath of Fire ontop of Bionic Commando... So yell at whoever is in charge of that for me please Ben.
BC Demo
http://e3.g4tv.com/e32008/blog/post/687123/Bionic_Commando_Hands_On_Demo.htmlBring... it... on...
A nearly unbeatable challenge room? Oh yeah, totally going after that. Better have an achievement or some awesome bonus.Just saw the new trailer for Bionic Commando on the XBL Marketplace, and I must say, the retro "RAD" Spencer player model looks infinitely better than the new Nathan Spencer model. Just personal opinion mind you. I also like how the HUD seems subtle, and doesn't take too much away from the beautiful scenery. "Moar scenery, less hud, plz kthx." is what everyone says, but I think it's dead on the way it should be.
Seriously, can't wait to get off the hype train and play both of these titles.
danish headbutt
"Break our poor Gearoid", yeah right. He can just dish out a whiskey-fueled Glasgow kiss to anyone causing friction.Heh- you guys know how to throw down the gauntlet for us old-school BC fans. I'm with Ponza Report a few posts above- BRING IT ON!
Although, unlike Ponza Report, I don't particularly care if there's an achievement for it- the fact that I'll have finally beaten it after the month's worth of sleepless nights I estimate it'll take'll be achievement enough for me!
My name didn't appear on my comment?
My name didn't appear for that long ass comment about selling my friends on BCR? I spent almost half hour writing, rewriting, and proof reading that *shirt* for optimal comedy. I'm going to have to start signing my comments from now on. Anyways...Ben: I just read on 1up.com that Grin is working on a video game based on the movie: "Wanted." Didn't see the movie and I normally wouldn't care, but... Then I saw that the executive producer was none other than Pete Wanat. You know, the guy who turned the "Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay" from a third rate movie tie-in into one of the best shooters I have ever played on the Xbox. TimeSplitters 2 or Half-Life good.(Seriously, EVERYONE needs to check it out and give that game the chance it so rightfully deserves). Ben you gotta ask the guys at Grin what it's like to work with him!
Also... Finish BCR you dirty *close friend of the family* or I'll stab your *Jelly Donuts* with a soldering iron. And then I'll *Write very nice things about you on my myspace page. You are a wonderful person and you come from a fine family. Your parents must be very proud*.
-Fireaxe
Luckily..
I'm too broke to purchase BCR or renew my Xbox live membership at this moment in time. I think I would have gouged out my ocular members with a shovel if this game came out before my next gig/paycheck. I'm still working over a couple o' band mates of mine to do a cover of Power Plant. They're starting to warm up to the idea even though the stigma of video game dorkosity is very much on their minds. Trying to explain to a bunch of whiskey fueled-red meat eating-scary looking tatted up metal dudes that video games are "fiddlesticking" cool is like trying to explain quantum physics to a gerbil. I mean...come on man!! What is more f'n manly and testosterone filled than getting to play a big scary muscle bound dude with guns the size of your average sofa and "forking" up a bunch of even scarier dudes with even bigger guns and bionic "shoot" that can jack you up 10 ways from Sunday? Once again, rock on my bionic brethren!too broke for 9.99
damn bro, that's why you only weigh a buck thirty. Probably spend your paycheck on a pack of Marlboro reds, a cup of coffee and a chimichanga. The life of a musician ain't all lifestyles of the rich and famous, y'heard!It's becoming painful.
You've heard it before, and ignore it, like other's I've sold this game to alot of my friends and they to their friends etc. And then they ask 'when's the release?' .... uhh uhhh duh, don't know. Does that sound stupid? Yea it does. GIVE A RELEASE DATE, you already broke your 'late June early July', I've gotten tired of feeling stupid and stopped talking about the game and I'm feeling reeeeeally tired of searching for any information about release. Your pod casts are great, but it leaves a bitter taste when you have to overlook all the humor and tidbits to look for the 'magic date'.STOP THE SILENCE, all the excitement is going to turn into resentment. Vaporware is a dirty word you don't want associated with your title. You can let the press play all they want, they count for, what 0.0001% of gamers. I love the original and hate this torture.
I think we scared him...
It would seem the Team is now scared of the MOD that we are becoming! *Grabs pitchforks for every one* If they want us to be a crazy mod, then we will be! (Don't worrk, the bionic arms will replace the forks soon, RaD is working on them)But really, I think the wife(to be) is going to shoot me if I keep drooling over this, and then she will prolly come after every one else. So pelase, save a Nerd, Release BC:R!
Of course the BC developers aren't the first guys to run into this problem... ask the guys who made Castle Crashers about it. Or most other developers for XBLA.
Also, is one of Gearoid's many responsibilities updating the comic book? Cause I really missed having a new page yesterday. We wanna know what happens!
I think...
Dvincent has it right... some thing are out of your control. I can't give you a date because I don't have one... yet. But we will soon.small annoyances
ok first is it me or is capcom getting kinda shafted on the E3 coverage. RE5 seemed to be cut short in microsoft's press announcement. also i watched i 2-3 hours of G4 day 1 coverage for BC and when they did show it it was like oh look Simon and a big a** arm ok back to something else.Also does it bug anyone else when explaining this game to people and u hear this. "is there a gun on his bionic grappling arm" OMG i kinda wanna headbutt them. (and almost did but thats another story) that bugged the crap outta me on gamespot when asking Simon questions. it was a 2 part question the first part good the second part retarded. 1 Is the arm upgradeable? yeah thats cool u might think so its bionic. 2 can u put a gun on the arm...? ARE YOU SEAROUS?!? uhh how the FIDDLEFRICK would u aim and fire the gun in mid swing DOOFUS? he isn't Megaman. BLARG! (btw i was spamming gamespot with random questions to talk about how awesome Ben, Gear-oid, Simon, Grin, and Capcom are)
@ Ben/Gear-oid/Simon/Grin/Capcom
does it bother you when u get asked the same questions? and wat are some of the most annoying/stupid questions you have gotten about BC or BCr? (aside from the constant BCr release date) oh and can you point the finger or direction on who is holding up BCr? does the bionic brotherhood have to spam Sony/Microsoft to get their arse's in gear?
Why the MS keynote was cut short.
The original length of the keynote was 2.5 hours. Damn. They cut it down to a little over an hour and a half I think. So a lot of stuff had to be cut short.Release Date?
I see 1Up has the release date as 9/15/08. Can you confirm this Ben?@rapskallion
Trust me dude, I've known for 22 years that the rockstar life sometimes don't pay the rent. Luckily for me, I live in a city to way too many "forking" guitarists. Drummers are certainly more in demand. As far as the buck thirty comment; I actually gained about eight pounds since fourth of July. All that meat and booze stuck to me this time more than most. @ dvincent, I imagine Ben and the other Bionic CrUe really appreciate your sane and realistic comments regarding the launch process. I've said this before on another thread, but all the news of this game being released didn't have to happen. Ben and Capcom could have just said "fork those guys"! We'll just keep this whole thing under wraps until two weeks before it comes out and if they don't like it they shove it up their "Bass"! This my dear readers is not what the crew has done. They have been filling the fans in on the whole development process and staying in constant communication with us. I'm not nosing for points here but just pointing out what the "fork" is actually going on here. So, seriously dudes....pull your panties out of yer "bass" and go play frisbee in a park or something. Sheesh.....Rock on brothers!!!So i've been looking for RPG's for the PC
So ya I've been looking for classic style turn based, party based RPGs for the PC. Seriously THERE ISN'T ONE!!!! (If anyone says Fallout or FF7 I will kill you because those are like 15 years old) Still WTF is going on, I'm just trying to kill time until BC:R, and all I want is a Breath of Fire style RPG. SERIOUSLY WTF!!! I can't beleive this unbelievable BULL S&$#.First my favorite type of games (2-D platformer) dies and now my favorite type of RPG's too!!! I can't stand this anymore, this world just isn't worth living in.
Hyakitaki OVER AND OUT
@typhon
I'm in the software biz too, and unlike videogames, our software runs on mission critical applications (e.g., we are a supplier for a "perfect trade") and we just managed to ship our next major release in June. I guess it just gives me a little perspective on the situation. Trust me, nobody wants BC:R more than I. But frankly I've got a job, a girlfriend, and other stuff to worry about, so I've resigned myself to the fact that when it's released, it's released.There's games and movies that can pass the time in the interim. Batman comes out this week! FF4:DS on Tuesday! Tropic Thunder in August! Maybe even Strong Bad on WiiWare if they hold up their "July" release date. That's another hotly anticipated title that is in the same boat. Had a delay an everything.
so...yeah...
im quoting wat is posted at IGN"""July 16, 2008 - The long wait is almost over. A Microsoft representative confirmed to IGN today that Castle Crashers is coming out this summer. That means it will release prior to September 21, 2008. The same can be said of the other four games on the E3 show floor. Braid, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Galaga Legions, and Geometry Wars 2 will all be made available on the Xbox Live Arcade in the summer months."""
btw
the megaman 9 box art is Fiddlefrickin CLASSIC!@Captinsquash
Thank fiddlesticks they posted that. Although it's still quite a vague quote it should give you assurance that the game is very close to release. Man, you guys are like a mob with a bunch of pickforks trying to poke me!Which 9 boxart are you talking about? Add a link so I know what you are referring to.
Ben
Cool!
The MM 9 box art is awesome!Ben you should do the same with BC box art ;).
And living in Europe has made us jaded towards late releases. Its so common here :P. Ill be damned...something good actually came out of the constant waiting we sit through over here.
Mega Man 9 "Box Art"
Copy and paste the link to make it work:http://kalleboo.mirror.waffleimages.com/files/9d/9d407fd624cca8f8da7153c4031c482ed766e191.jpg
I guess it was on shirts around Capcom?
It's hilarious and awesome.
Year 200X
Hmm.. wonder what the European box art will look like... I hope Capcom gets BUN BUN to do the music and of course, a personal favorite, YUUKICHAN"S PAPA !!!Release date of Release date
Well Ben, you say you don't know the release date, which I find insane that Capcom would let such a big investment up in the air with no control, but you said you will find out what the release date is, "soon". Can you tell us the date your gonna find out about the release date so we know when to be looking out for it? I'm pretty sure you won't answer me, but maybe some other people in the community will see what I am asking and if enough people start asking this question then "hopefully" you will be nice enough to answer.LOL HEAD EXPLOSION FTL
You know the head scene is holding things up RoflMegaman Box art and Release date
@dvincent - Glad you liked it. Believe it or not that was my idea. I always loved how bad the box art from MM1 was that I recommended to the team to use it in some aspect. They designed a similar style and you have one of the best inside-jokes ever.@DarkJediNova - Actually it's a pretty common occurence with digital titles. Go check on the Castle Crashers blog and you will see their teams are bumping up against many of the same walls... and yes, their fans are equally frustrated. All I can say is that we are doing our best and one way or another you will know for sure whether we will hit our mark or not in about a week. Gimme 7 days please.
@Hyakitaki - You have no idea. If I had it to do all over again, I may reconsider even adding in that blasted scene (as much as I love it). It has practically exploded MY HEAD.
Ben
It's just soo...
Yeah. Ben, and the rest of the team, we know you guys are getting upset w/ this as well. I think we need the forums to help us have rhyme and reason to our rantings.@Ben: Hopefully you can keep tossing the pack of wolves a few things to chew on every few days. I know you don't wanna give up the farm just yet, but it seems like the more small things you share the happier we are few a while. Maybe you can get us a full set of enemy screen shots? Or MAYBE a nice close-up for RAD for BC:R?
Guess what Im getting at is that when we hear nothing, we start to wonder, but if you give us SOMETHING we can at least talk about it... kinda like fire works "Ooohhhhh, Ahhhhh" ya know?
@DarkJedi: Perhaps unlike traditional games, first parties have a lot more control over when games are released on the console digital distro side. One or two games a week can happen instead of the many we see in disc versions. If you have a delay, you lose your release slot that you may have secured, and it all goes to hell. This is at least in the case of XBLA, I'm not sure what Sony does with PSN. I find it funny that MS says "We're trying to improve the quality of games on XBLA" and they let crap like this week go out. Coffeetime Crosswords and Double-D Dodgeball are pretty terrible, and that's not really a slam against their developers, it's just that the first party has an iron grip around what they can and can't do. For example, if MS let people use a USB keyboard or the chatpad in Coffeetime Crosswords, the game would be entirely different and more fun to play. Inputting text with the joypad sucks. It also doesn't help that every developer is kept in the dark until their release slot is filled. "The black hole of cert" is something I'm quite familiar with, where games lay in limbo until a word comes down from on high. The process needs to be shaken up and the release windows need to be widened. A game or two every Wednesday is clearly not cutting it.
On a BC related note, I'm bummed that my buddies over at Ars Technica weren't happy with the swing mechanic; apparently whoever was with them wasn't communicating that it takes a bit of practice and they won't pick it up immediately.
http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/07/17/opinion-bionic-commando-and-the-learning-curve-debate
What, exactly, is wrong with a learning curve in games? This is exactly what Ben warned about; in a rushed scene like a press demo it's very hard to patiently try something like a whole new mechanic. We weren't all masters with the arm when we played the 2D version for the first time - why don't we afford that same patience to the new 3D one?
And yes, a learning curve is a really, really good thing. Im tired of all to easy games. I'm from the Amiga & NES era where games had one setting "extremely hard". When I heard from friends that Ninja Gaiden was so hard I went straight out to get it. I want games to punish me for not succeeding. Thats why I want BC3d to have a setting where you can adjust fall damage :P. But that probably wont happen :)
I also saw the arm. It was about I don't know... five to ten times more awesome then I thought it would be. Lastly people have been talking about this 3-D skin of BC:R Nathan and I have yet to see it. Link someone? or maybe in the next post on the site. That be nice.
I forgot...
Oh and the Megaman 9 box art is totally ugly and awesome.@dvincent
Dvincent,Yeah, I saw that coverage and was a bit disappointed but we knew we would lose some people along the way. You either give them total freedom (lower the auto-aim nonsense) and make the mechanic skill-based, or you make it a single button press quick movement feature that is accessible to everyone.
You can't usually have both. In my eyes, the original BC was not about going the easy route. Sure they could have added jump. Sure that would have been a game any one could have played since they were used to Super Mario.
But, the best games make you work for it. Not too hard, but just enough. I remember dying multiple times on the original BC before I "got it". But you better bet that once I did, I loved it. I realized all the cool things I could do. Even back then.
So yeah, we will lose some people. This is not Spiderman 2. But, if you work for it, I promise you will enjoy it. And when you own someone in multiplayer by swinging after then and zip-kicking them off a ledge... you will enjoy it even more.
You can't please 'em all.
Ben
Can't please them all
I'm sure that when they do the full review they'll have enough time to really sink into it. Ben and Frank are very even handed reviewers and I'm sure that, given time and some actual at-home play, they would come around on it.I am of course in total agreement about the skill required for the game. Metal Gear is kind of the same way - to get really good at the stealth based gameplay takes lots of practice and effort.
Coool
Cool idea with the interesting things of BC, i just wish we could get a release date.