A Psychotic Little Christmas - Alec's Seasonal Shopping Guide - #12: L.A. Noire

HOLY CRAP IT’S CHRISTMASTIME. YESSSSSSSSSS Christmas is your friendly neighborhood news reporter’s favorite holiday. There’s just so much joy and love in the air and it’s wonderful. How could this wonderful festivity get any better? Seriously, there’s just so much fun here I can’t imagine anymore fun. Free food, free shelter, free visits with the family...wait, no one likes visiting their families. What am I talking about? Oh yeah, free visits with the family whom bring PRESENTS for you. Yes, how did I forget about how awesome presents are? What’s that? It’s December 12th and you still need ideas for Christmas? WELL YOU’VE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE. For the next 12 days (YES, 12!) I’m going to be doing a series I’m going to be calling...GAMES ALEC WANTS YOU TO GET FOR CHRISTMAS OR SOMETHING. Wait, what? Why not. no not really. I'm not that dumb.

 

So what are we going to start with today? Well, up in #12 place we have L.A. Noire! This 1940s detective game follows Detective Phelps, who starts out as a simple police officer and slowly works his way up to a 5-Star Ace Detective. This crime game is notable for the first ever use of MotionScan technology, to accurately capture a person’s facial expressions. This technology uses 32 different cameras to capture all angles of the person’s face and it is then converted into footage that can be used for the game. And it looks amazing. It’s so amazing in fact, it took up so much space, they needed to make it on three discs for the Xbox 360 version. Now that’s a LOT of storage. Of course, the PC and PS3 versions didn’t have this problem because PC doesn’t use discs and PS3 runs Blu-ray, but oh well, what can you do.

 

The MotionScan technology in action.

So why should you get this game for Christmas? Because this game is fun. Like seriously. A ton of fun. It brings the open world of Grand Theft Auto to a detective story, where instead of being the guy killing everybody, you’re literally playing the opposite man who arrests the man doing the bad deeds. But that’s not the end of it. After the arrest, you get an interrogation sequence, where the MotionScan really starts having a role. Basically you just ask a question, and based on their facial expression and voice fluctuations you try to tell if he’s lying or telling the truth. I was never good at this part, I usually got all the questions wrong. But it’s still fun listening to convict swear his head off at you.

So in conclusion, this game is awesome. It stands out mostly for it’s amazing MotionScan, giving lifelike facial expressions. Of course the story is great too, trying to stop serial killers from killing. There are a whole bunch of side missions to go on, and it’s a real fun time. Pick this game up, because it’s amazing!

Well that’s all for today. Tomorrow we have a real joke of a game. Stay tuned. Your friendly neighborhood news reporter - out.

Psychotic Informer - 8/23/11

 

 1. You know what’s always fun? Official modular game controllers. It’s amazing to have full customizable control over your controller for maximum comfort to get that edge that you can’t get with just a regular controller. And today, a new Xbox 360 customizable controller has been announced by Mad Catz. It gives you amazing customizability as well as weight control. Called the MLG Pro-Circuit Controller, it will be usable on the 360 as well as the PS3, but it mostly resembles an Xbox controller so let’s just call it that for the sake of writing. The controller comes with four joysticks, two PS3 and two 360 in case for some reason you like both on the same controller, and two d-pads, a PS3 and a 360. There’s also a weight pack in the center where you can add up to 70 grams of weight if you’re into that kind of thing. What do you think? Would you buy this Mad Catz controller? (For more information, read the full article) 

 

2. Stop for a moment. Think with me. Could you imagine...a 3DS without the 3D? Yes, a console called the S. No, not really, but it sounds like something Nintendo would do. I’ll get back to that in a second. Usually around this time Nintendo has their annual press conference in Tokyo before their big release season, and this year is no different. But this year, according to various sources, it’s just going to be a 3DS conference. People are speculating that they’ll be announcing a bunch of new games and a new 3DS model. The ‘new model’ is rumored to take out the emphasis on the 3D, or even take the 3D completely out of the system. It would also have a 2nd analog pad. If this is true, I will rage so freakin’ hard. If it’s true then basically Nintendo is screwing early adopters of the 3DS so hard with a new model. But this is just my opinion. What do you think? (For more information, read the full article)

Psychotic Informer - 7/12/11

 

1.  What do you think of when you hear about the game Saint’s Row? Do you think of a game like Grand Theft Auto, gangs and guns? What about autotune? Or psychotic cats? Well, in the Platinum Bundle for pre-ordering “Saints Row: The Third” you will receive a free autotune headset! Sadly, the headset only works with the included soundtrack that also comes in the Platinum bundle. But I’m sure we’ll figure out how to hack it eventually. In the ordinary pre-order package you get a new skin for your character called Professor Genki along with a new car themed after Professor Genki. I think these pre-order bonuses are pretty weird. What do you think? (For more information, read the full article)

2. Ever think the human race could be more lazy? Well, it’s finally happened! That’s right, a man named Ben Heck has made a prototype for an Xbox 360 disc changer. It will change games for you and you won’t even have to leave your couch! The downside is that this is extremely complicated to do and it is not recommended at all unless you are a professional with Xbox 360 hardware. (For more information, read the full article)

3. A new countdown clock on Namco Bandai Games’ website has appeared! We speculate that this will be an new game, but not much is known yet. There’s still about a week left on the clock, so I wonder what will come out of it. To see the countdown clock, click here.