I live out in the western part of San Francisco, and some mornings we get a lot of fog. "A lot" of fog to a San Franciscan is more fog than most people would even know what to do with.

In the summer, there's often a sort of "burn-off" in the morning hours, when the sun starts frying its way through the morning fog. The results can be… eerie, to say the least.

I took this picture out my window this morning, and more than one person remarked as to how much it looks like Limbo. Believe it or not, it's a color photo. And there are kind of a lot of spiders in my apartment…

Here's hoping I don't lose my sister out in that fog.

Transformers is not just about giant robots shooting other giant robots. It's about giant robots shooting other giant robots with character. During a presentation of Transformers: Fall of Cybertron last week, High Moon Studios showed me a fast-paced action game filled with rich characters that never came across as robotic.

I mean, who cares if the planet of pocket calculators with guns is falling apart? The draw of the Transformers, whether the viewer realizes it or not, is the exploration of human behavior through these shining robotic puppets. It's one of the reasons fans of the original series don't always take kindly to the more alien interpretation of the Autobots and Decepticons in the films. The reason those movies have so many human actors is so we'll have someone to relate to; in the original cartoons we just related to the robots.

So a successful Transformers game has to capture that same spirit. High Moon Studios did a fair job of this in War for Cybertron, sprinkling the action with entertaining dialog between friends and enemies alike. With its recently-announced top notch voice talent and a stronger sense of urgency, Fall of Cybertron is shaping up to deliver a deeper, more personal story about giant robots shooting other giant robots than ever before.

It certainly helps that the original voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen, is reprising his role once more in this game. Beast Wars' Gary Chalk (Optimus Primal) might have had more range, but nothing resonates with Transformers fans quite like Cullen's John Wayne-tinged tones. He is Optimus Prime.

And for fans, Grimlock will always be Mr. Gregg Berger. Gregg has been voicing cartoons for ages, and his video game voice repertoire spans everything from Halo to Final Fantasy, but for countless robotic dinosaur aficionados he will also be the man that said "Me, Grimlock" several hundred thousand times.

These two legends lend credibility to a cast made up of mostly big name fill-ins for beloved favorites. Nolan North, the man I believe is contractually obligated to be in every video game developed, lends his pipes to Bruticus, Cliffjumper (he's perfect) and Brawl. Fred Tatasciore, my favorite Hulk, is on Megatron duty, while also voicing Ratchet and the massive Metroplex. Steve Blum handles Shockwave, Swindle and Sharpshot, while Isaac Singleton goes monotone for Soundwave.

My favorite performance, however, came from the amazing Troy Baker. After watching the Autobot Jazz bantering with his partner in anti-crime, Cliffjumper, I had to check with the High Moon rep to make sure the original Jazz, Scatman Crothers, hadn't be magically resurrected. Baker is amazing, and I'm sure his stint as Jetfire and the Insecticon Kickback are just as good.

So character is not a problem for Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. Now all we need to do is convince Hasbro to give Bumblebee back his damn voice and we'll be ready to roll out this fall.

Over the past few weeks, the funny folks over at Dorkly have been running a great web series called Best Friends! Videogame Club. I won't waste your time with an in-depth description: all you need to know is that there are a bunch of best friends and they like to play video games together.

Here's a round-up of all five episodes released so far (episode 1 is embedded above):

Intervention

In which Marina gets a little bit too intense about her video game habits and almost ruins game night.

SplitScreen

The gang discovers that gaming from home is a terrible idea.

Dn'D

Dungeons & Dragons can get a little intense.

The Party

When Caldwell accidentally throws a cool party, things escalate really quickly.

The latest game from one of the architects of the first-person-shooter genre probably isn't what you expect. There are no BFGs, no demons and no space marines. There is conflict of a furry nature, though.

John Romero's Loot Drop studio—founded along with fellow designer and academic Brenda Brathwaite—has partnered with Zynga to release Pettington Park on Google Plus. It's a game where players choose to side with cats or dogs and build parks that will compete against the opposing species. You'll start off by adding buildings and attractions but the real draw will be the arcade-style mini-games that you can add to your virtual property. The species side who can attract the most visitors wins the weekly competition, where players on a team contribute to an aggregate score.

So there's no ultra-violence of any sort and no egregious tooth-and-claw cat/dog battles either. Still, it should be interesting to see what two highly respected game creators come up with moving their design ideas into the social space. You can check out the beta for Pettington Park here.

No joke: Pettington Park is Loot Drop and Zynga's Google+ project

[Games.com]

Your lackluster performance at E3 2012 is completely forgotten, Nintendo, for you have brought the glory of Mad Dog McCree upon the 3DS, given Wii owners Mega Man X2 , and given portable players an early taste of The Amazing Spider-Man.

Yes, I realize Nintendo has nothing to do with the creation or development of those three titles, but they appear on Nintendo systems, and that's good enough for the purposes of this article, which probably doesn't accurately portray my feelings about the company at this very moment anyway.

Note that Nintendo did create Donkey Kong Jr., also available today in the 3DS eShop, so perhaps they are indeed trying to seduce me. Oh Nintendo, you know it's too late for seduction.

Games

Mad Dog McCree
Platform: 3DS
Price: $7.99

Only one gunslinger can stop a Mad Dog gone wild... and that's you, partner. When the ruthless outlaw Mad Dog McCree goes on a rampage with a nasty pack of wanted fugitives, they leave death in their wake. Mad Dog McCree and his band of cutthroats have ridden into town, kidnapped the Mayor and his daughter, and taken them to his hideout. These hombres are mean and vicious. What this town needs is a gunslinger to spray a little lead in harm's way. Relive the gunpowder glory of the Wild West with American Laser Games Arcade Classic Mad Dog McCree!

Donkey Kong Jr.
Platform: 3DS
Price: $4.99

Based on the popular arcade game, Donkey Kong Jr. is the sequel to the immensely successful Donkey Kong. Play as Donkey Kong's son and rescue your dad, who has been kidnapped and imprisoned in a cage by Mario. Use your jumping and climbing abilities to clamber up vines and chains, gather vital fruit and keys and open the cage to free your father. Make sure you avoid the pesky birds, nasty electric sparks, and creepy chompers. Four different worlds filled with numerous climbing and jumping puzzles await you in this timeless classic.

Mega Man X2
Platform: WiiWare
Price: 800 Points

Fresh from defeating Sigma and his Mavericks, Mega Man X tracks down the remaining rogue Reploids to an abandoned factory where they are continuing their rebellion. While Mega Man X is kept busy by eight new Mavericks, a new threat plots to resurrect a secret weapon that is all too familiar. Guide Mega Man X through eight stages in his search to destroy the remaining Mavericks, gain their powers and uncover the secret entity guiding them all. Also, pilot powerful new vehicles like the mobile attack cycle. With help from the good Dr. Light, discover incredible new abilities hidden in capsules buried throughout the world. Only then will X will be ready to face his destiny as a Maverick Hunter.

Devil Band - Rock the Underworld
Platform: 3DS / DSi
Price: $1.99 / 200 Points

The Apocalypse has come… Millions of demons and monsters emerge from the earth, destroying everything on their wake. Xavier, the most popular (and most evil) Death Metal rock band around the world, might be the only hope for the mankind… Or the only nightmare for the devils! As the most evil existence in the universe, You must find your way to enter hell, defeat the evil's minions, prove you are the true lord of all evil! You have to defeat waves of monsters in each stage. They are getting stronger, but you can collect fanatic energy to summon or enhance your fans, or buy powerful music equipments for the band. Build your own dark army and destroy them all!

7 Wonders II
Platform: 3DS / DSi
Price: $7.99 / 800 Points

7 Wonders II transports you to far away lands to complete an unbelievable mission: Build the 7 Wonders of the World! Match three to help your workers build the unbelievable sights from Stonehenge to the Taj Mahal. Incredible new power-ups and bonuses help you piece together the hidden map and uncover the secret route leading to the most wondrous sight.

Demos

The Amazing Spider-Man
Platform: 3DS

Your Power. Your Choices. Your Playground.
• Spidey is back with the return of wall crawling, web-slinging action!
• Perform acrobatic attacks and stealth maneuvers with the brand new web rush combat system.
• Uncover the rest of Peter Parker's untold story in the original epilogue to the film.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is a true gaming classic, held up by many as not just the best game in the Metal Gear series, but one of the best games ever made, period.

In just the past six months, I've had several different opportunities to finally play the game. There was the PS3 version, and then there was the Nintendo 3DS version. And yet for a number of reasons, I never really got into either one. Now, the game has come to the PlayStation Vita, and I've found the best way to play it.

Not just on the Vita, but on the Vita and the PS3. The era of 'Transfarring' has finally arrived.

For starters, because it bears mention: The Vita version of the Metal Gear HD Collection is terrific. It includes both Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, as well as the extras that were included with both games.

Both games look smashing on the Vita's OLED screen; MGS3 in particular looks even sharper than it does on the PS3, though the framerate isn't quite as smooth. The touch-screen is used mainly to flip through the left and right inventory screens, which is a surprisingly welcome addition.

But the feature that I find myself most surprised to be enjoying is the ability to transfer my saved games between my Vita and my PS3. This way, I can play through a bit of the game on the go, come home, and boot the game up on the big screen to play some more. Once I finish, I can re-sync the saves, and my Vita version will be able to pick up where I left off.

It's a feature that Sony has been touting for some time now; in fact, the concept of taking your PS3 games on go with you was central to the first big Vita ad campaign. But I never really "got it" until I did it. This is actually really cool!

When it comes down to it, I'm not going to be able to invest the amount of couch-time that a classic game like Metal Gear 3 requires. I do all of my retro gaming on handhelds—my 3DS and Vita have both become vessels for lengthy classic JRPGs that I'd never play on my TV.

But with that said, Metal Gear 3 really does benefit from a big screen—Hideo Kojima's intense and often beautiful cinematic cutscenes look fantastic on my television, and despite the Vita's great controls, it feels even better to play the game with the traditional PS3 controller.

The ability to transfer between console and Vita is much more welcome than I would have expected. Of course, there are a number of flaws inherent to the system. For example:

• In order to take advantage of this, you have to own both the PS3 and the Vita—as far as I know, it doesn't work with the 360 version.
• In order to take advantage of this, you need to own both the PS3 and the Vita versions of the game.
• This will only work with games that can run in their unadulterated form on Vita, which might limit it to vintage games and HD re-releases. Huge games like, say, Dark Souls wouldn't be able to do something similar, because they won't run on the Vita.
• The syncing process is tied to Konami's Transfarring setup, which can be a bit of a pain, even using the "cloud sync" option. You'll have to sync the Vita while you're connected to the internet, which unless you have a 3G Vita and a plan, isn't as easy as it could be. The whole process is nowhere near as slick as, say, Apple's cloud-syncs.

• So, this whole thing is more of a proof-of-concept than a practice that's workable for your average consumer. But all the same, with Metal Gear HD Collection on the Vita, I finally understand what Sony is going for with this whole "console gaming on the go" thing. We're still at an uncomfortable place in terms of hardware and software compatibility, and the audience of people who own a PS3, a Vita, and both copies of a game is small.

  
  

  But as companies figure this stuff out, the appeal of taking mobile games on the go with me, making progress, then syncing my saves to the version on my TV is much more appealing in practice than it was in theory.

  
  

  And really, the best news of all is that it like I'm finally going to finish Metal Gear Solid 3. Now I'll finally see this "The End" character everyone's always talking about.

  
  

The best-looking Kinect game at this year's E3 wasn't at Microsoft's massive booth. Instead you had to go to the IndieCade area to see the kaleidoscopically beautiful Songlines. It's a game based on the Australian indigenous myth of the dreamtime and lets you create unique colorful landscapes. In a year when Microsoft didn't emphasize its Kinect peripheral, it's impressive to see that indie developers want to craft inviting experiences using the motion-sensing camera. You can learn a bit more about Songlines here.

Aw, man. This is rough.

Diablo III's hardcore mode is not for the weak-willed or the unfocused. It's not for the casual or the stoned. It's a winner-take-all, loser-take-it-on-the-chin setup where a single death kills your character forever, no matter how far you'd made it in the game.

And so it's all the more heartbreaking to watch this guy lose his level 60 (level SIXTY) character to the second act boss in hardcore mode.

See the shocked silence; imagine the slowly growing emptiness that has surely infiltrated this man's heart. Hear his friend's nervous words… trying to make him feel better, unable to come to terms with the loss that has just occurred.

Dozens of hours of hard work, snuffed out in an instant.

"It's all good," his friend says, hollowly.

The ensuing silence communicates the truth of the matter: It is not, in fact, all good.

(Via Gameranx)

There was something magical about Nintendo's earliest Mario and Zelda games. Something simple. Something pure. Something Nintendo has gotten away from.

Shigeru Miyamoto, the man who led the creation of those first games and is still the chief game design force at Nintendo knows this.

He's noticed that Nintendo's big games have been slow-starters, that it takes ages now for a good Zelda game to become really fun. He knows Nintendo's games are now often gummed up with tutorials. He's not exactly down on Nintendo's games, but if you thought he hadn't noticed what longtime Nintendo fans have noticed, you're wrong.

Miyamoto and I discussed some of this last week in Los Angeles at E3 after I told him that I didn't care much for the little bit I've played of New Super Mario Bros. U, one of the launch window games for this fall's Wii U and a thoroughly traditional Mario side-scroller. I told him that the game felt "unusually safe and conservative for you guys."

I asked Miyamoto if he noticed that Nintendo's franchise games feel formulaic and how his teams are dealing with the problem of being too formulaic with their longest-running series.

"This is a hard question," he said. "Specifically with regards to the New Super Mario games, Takashi Tezuka is the producer on both of the new Mario games, and is working on the Mario series and New Super Mario series for quite a while now, and he is the main developer on those games and is in fact the one you would want to ask specifically about that."

Fair enough. I was unable to interview Tezuka, who has been helping lead the creation of Marios since he worked with Miyamoto on Super Mario Bros.

But on the formulaic problem thing, I was talking to the right man.

"With something like Zelda," Miyamoto said, "we're in the process of now of discussing what is the right form for the next Zelda game. What should that be?

"One thing I should point out is that the New Super Mario Bros. series in particular exists as a way for the traditional Super Mario Bros. game style to remain in a relatively traditional state. And that's done specifically because there are certain players for whom that style of games is really what's best suited for them. So that sort of series is designed to retain those traits and retain that safeness that you described.

"But, at the same time, we're continuing to look at different ideas and different ways we can bring Mario to new experiences, for example, with something like Super Mario 3D Land we'll continue to look at new ideas and maybe as a new experiment or idea comes up maybe we'll find that Mario is the right character to pair with that."

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011)

Earlier this year, the website Gamasutra published a fascinating comparison between old Zelda games and new ones. I told Miyamoto about it, though I mis-remembered its exact contents. The actual article compared the amount of time it took to reach and complete the first dungeon in the old Zelda games to the new ones (2 minutes, 20 minutes for the first one on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System; 70 minutes, 100 minutes for the most recent one, Skyward Sword). I mistakenly described it to Miyamoto as a comparison of how long it takes to get your sword in these games, but the point still stood. And he got it.

Basically, I asked him… well I'll just quote my own question: "The theory that began to be developed in this particular article was that these games can become a lot of fun—I finished Skyward Sword and thought it was fantastic—but there might be an issue there that a lot of video games from Nintendo and others take much longer to be fun and to get into than a lot of others. And then I think about Angry Birds. That's fun within seconds. Have you noticed that is at all an issue? Is that something you've noticed that some games take a long time to become fun? Is that a problem with modern games?"

Super Mario Galaxy (2007)

"This is actually a topic that has been a big discussion internally for us lately," he said. "I think there a couple of things going on. One is that, often times we're creating games where you're doing a lot of different actions. Zelda is an example of one of those. And, particularly with these types of games, you have to first learn the action and then you have to master the action and then you have to have more actions added in and master those. Then, when you have a lot of actions you can do all at once is when the game really becomes fun. And with a game like Zelda, on top of that, you have the story elements that also take additional time to tell.

"So one of the things we're talking about internally is how can we get people to that point of fun more quickly, and 'How do we balance the need to teach them how to do something with the need for them to be able to master it and feel they can do it well?'—and also tell the story—and 'What is that overall balance and how we approach it?' That's one of the key things we're talking about with Zelda right now."

This made sense to me, but there was just one problem. The first Super Mario Bros. and the first Zelda had no tutorial text. Their fun started right away. "Is it something that was more natural back then that you guys got away from?" I asked. "Is that what you're saying that you want to go back to that?"

"That's the exact topic that we're discussing," Miyamoto said. "It used to be that actions [in older games] were very simple and you could do them very quickly and easily. Now we're making games that have so many more actions that you have to learn how to do them.

Super Mario World (1990)

"I think back and actually was discussing Super Mario World with Tezuka-san and how that was a game where, for the first time, you would run along and hit blocks and these text messages would pop up and they would have a little bit of tutorial information in them. That worked very well for that game and we thought that was a great idea, and then, gradually, that type of tutorial sort of became rather commonplace and now we're starting to have these games where it is taking longer and longer to sort of get to that core fun. So that's precisely what we've been having discussions about."

One more thing, he added, playfully: "Even Angry Birds has quite a bit of messaging" in it. They do tutorials, too.

But forget Angry Birds. The good news here is that Nintendo hasn't forgotten its first games. And maybe, just maybe, they've recognized that they've gone down a path too far. Their games used to show; now their games often tell. Their games used to leave you more free to discover and learn on your own. Their games are now full of helping hands and friendly lectures.

Their oldest games were magical and phenomenal (and also some of the best-selling things they ever created). It seems that they are discussing that. I look forward to playing the results.

"Indie Game: The Movie" has finally been released into the wild. The much anticipated documentary centers on the creation of Super Meat Boy and Fez, along with the men responsible; Edmund McMillen, Tommy Refenes, and Phil Fish. It also seeks to enlighten the general audience on the magical work of independent games as a whole. Or one might assume.

People who will see this movie can be separated into two basic camps: those well-versed with the subject matter, and those who know nothing about indie games (or perhaps video games as whole).

Reaction among those who have seen it already, and who represent the first camp, has been mixed. Some are elated that there finally exists a cinematic documentation of something they hold so dearly. Others have taken issue with how it is presented, and in particular, the men who have been chosen to represent the indie game movement.

I've also spoken with those who fall into the second camp, who simply enjoy a good documentary, since it gives them a chance to learn something totally foreign. And their reaction? Sadly, a mix of quiet confusion and boredom. But the thing is, you don't have to be in the second camp to feel that way either.

First and foremost, the movie preaches to the choir. Quite passionately and at serious length. There is little doubt that directors James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot have strong feelings towards their chosen subject matter and the utmost respect for the stars of their story. Yet this causes several serious issues throughout.

The movie is a lengthy hour and 40 minutes. So when one considers how much time has been allotted, and the very title of the movie (again, "Indie Game: The Movie"), one might expect to learn a lot about the subject matter, right?

Things kick off with a succinct rundown of the modern indie game movement. Immediately, anyone who knows a thing or two, especially about the indie scene, will be perturbed by lack of any substantial mention of anything prior to 2008. Whereas those who know nothing about games will be blissfully ignorant about the missing past, yet another point of contention.

Very early on, one of "Indie Game: The Movie"'s driving forces (Refenes) says that he would never work for a major studio, like EA or Epic, because that sounds like "hell" to him. Fair enough, but why? Such a bold statement is not once elaborated upon. Mainstream games are addressed, but only slightly. And that makes absolutely zero sense, given that it would be the perfect chance to offer a contrast, as to why indie games are so awesome.

After the brief rundown, we get the chance to become more intimately acquainted with our principles; who they are, and why they make games. We're also introduced to Jonathan Blow, presented as the indie game guy who has officially made it. He's where the three subjects want to be at. The focus is squarely on McMillen, Refenes, and Fish's struggles, with the success that Blow has managed to achieve, along with the wisdom drawn from it, acting as commentary for the film's narrative.

The best part of "Indie Game: The Movie" is easily its first 40 or so minutes. From hearing McMillen recount his tumultuous childhood, which was tapped into as a source of inspiration later on in life, to watching Fish demonstrate the games he made with his father; this is by far the most enjoyable, fascinating, and most importantly, accessible part of the entire documentary.

Too bad this doesn't last forever. Eventually, the film sheds its somewhat lighthearted tone and becomes rather grim, by detailing the not so pleasant realities of an independent game maker. No one has it the least bit easy, which is vividly illustrated. That's absolutely necessary to convey, given how it's the truth. Yet…

It's simply too much. The lack of levity around the mid-point is fairly uncomfortable. That's not to say that humor should have been arbitrarily infused into the proceedings, far from it. But given the ultra slow pace in which everything unfolds, it's not such a shock how some in the audience might "turn" on the subjects, as sad it is to say. This is also when it starts to feels as if the directors are too in love with the subject matter, and it's unfortunate that their reverence for their stars backfires in such a fashion.

Some who consider themselves knowledgeable about video games may feel that the drama presented in the latter half is trivial. Such as when both McMillen and Refenes freak out over Super Meat Boy not showing up in the Xbox Live Marketplace on the morning that it should. Or Fish having an anxiety attack that his former partner has yet to sign the appropriate paperwork that would allow him to legally show Fez at PAX East. I disagree with those assessments, yet they're hardly surprising. Everything is presented in such super-dramatic fashion that it is indeed off-putting and lends towards cynicism. The ultra-stylish presentation of the proceedings also doesn't help in this instance, either. It also feels as if the directors were looking to artificially add excitement to their narrative. Keeping things nice and lean would have solves this problem, plus many others, and resulted in a far stronger movie as a whole.

Near the end of the film, there are some truly powerful moments. Watching Fish dealing with his much-anticipated game constantly crashing on day one of the PAX East show is compelling and heart-breaking. The validation that McMillen and Refenes receive when they break day one-sales records is a definite, well deserved, feel-good moment.

Yet when things are needlessly dragged out for dramatic effect, or the obvious is overstated, it's frustrating and tiresome. Worst is how there are several moments in which avenues could have been explored, but were not: like Blow explaining how he's frustrated by critics liking his games, but not for the reasons that he feels they should. It's such a fascinating concept that is not followed up, and it's not like time was an issue.

That's another thing: given the message how indie gaming is in some ways superior to the mainstream gaming, it's somewhat contradictory to constantly refer to the standards that the other side uses to determine a title's validity, such as sales figures and review scores. One would have wagered that such trappings are not necessary in an alternative environment. The basis of such success, even if established by the status quo, helps to provide a sense of context to these indie achievements. Too bad none of this is sufficiently explained to outsiders. Granted, big dollar signs are easily understood by all, but not everyone walking down the street knows what a Metacritic score is.

"Indie Game: The Movie" had the real potential to introduce the subject matter to an audience that might otherwise not be exposed to it. Yet it's hardly accessible nor even all that informative. And that last part, mostly due to the film's lack of focus and constant need to put its subjects on a pedestal, is sure to irk those who are less interested in validation and more hungry for insight.

"Indie Game: The Movie" is available for purchases from either the films's website, Steam, or iTunes. That last avenue also offers the chance to rent the film. One last thing worth mentioning: one of the few unabashed positives, is the fantastic soundtrack by Jim Guthrie, best know for Sword & Sworcery. His music for the movie can be purchased via his homepage as well.