Zest Games

The End

11Mar07

This post is long overdue as I haven’t made a new post here for months, but Zest Games is officially closed. This site will be up for a while as an archive, at least until I migrate it all to a new site, but I won’t be updating it anymore. That doesn’t mean I’m done talking about games, not by a long shot. In fact, now that I’m a professional game developer (my official position is Research Assistant, but I’m really a game designer there), I’ve got even more to talk about than before. So I’ll be blogging about games on my main blog, hazylium. Hope you enjoy my upcoming posts there.

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First Bioshock video on IGN

21Sep06

Technorati Tags: Bioshock, video, IGN

IGN’s posted the very first video footage of Irrational’s upcoming FPS title Bioshock. The 15-minute preview is narrated by the game’s lead designer, Ken Levine, and showcases off some of the game’s cool gameplay features. If you’ve been following the previews, you won’t learn anything new- but it sure is cool to see the game (which is gorgeous- particularly the water effects) in motion. If you haven’t been following the game, this is the ideal introduction to what will undoubtedly be the best FPS(/RPG-hybrid) of 2007.

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Lessons from ‘Beyond Good & Evil’: How to craft an impressive opening sequence

15Sep06

Technorati Tags: Beyond Good & Evil, Michel Ancel, analysis

Beyond Good & Evil begins the way most modern videogames do: with a cutscene. In this case, it’s a news broadcast that introduces the game’s premise- the planet Hillys, which seems to consist of one island archipelago in the middle of a boundless ocean, is under attack by the Domz, mysterious and evil alien creatures. The black-clad Alpha Section leader- who just screams Evil Bad Guy Boss- makes the dubious claim that his army is doing their best to protect Hillys. Cut to a tranquil scene of our heroine Jade and a young anthropomorphic goat-child meditating at the edge of a cliff overlooking a picturesque sunset. It’s a gorgeous scene, set to nice soothing music.

Continue reading ‘Lessons from ‘Beyond Good & Evil’: How to craft an impressive opening sequence’

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Don’t Believe the Hype: a look at ‘Beyond Good & Evil’

23Aug06

Technorati Tags: Beyond Good & Evil, Michel Ancel, analysis

Beyond Good & Evil’s reputation precedes it. Released in 2003 to critical acclaim, the game- perhaps too quixotic for mainstream audiences- suffered weak sales but has since gained a cult following. The gaming press have called it one of the best overlooked games in recent years, and one of the greatest achievements in videogame storytelling ever. It’s even made its creator, Michel Ancel, somewhat of a luminary. None other than Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson approached him to make the videogame adaptation of his movie King Kong, based solely on Jackson’s positive impressions of Beyond Good & Evil (henceforth abbreviated to BG&E for brevity). Beyond all the hype (sorry I couldn’t help myself ), what’s BG&E actually like? Well, having recently completed the game in a 2-day marathon play session, I have to say it left me disappointed.

Continue reading ‘Don’t Believe the Hype: a look at ‘Beyond Good & Evil’’

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GDC Radio: Tim Schafer on ‘Adventures in Character Design’

29Jul06

Technorati Tags: Tim Schafer, character design, GDC, lecture

GDC Radio’s latest podcast is a recording of a lecture from the 2004 Game Developer’s Conference titled ‘Adventures in Character Design,’ where genius designer Tim Schafer (who made the classic LucasArts adventures Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango as well as my favourite game of 2005- Psychonauts!) talks about how to create memorable characters. Given that the man’s created some of the coolest characters in videogame history, he’s well-qualified to talk about the subject. True enough, he provides real insight and great advice in the course of the 1-hour long lecture.

Continue reading ‘GDC Radio: Tim Schafer on ‘Adventures in Character Design’’

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Sword of the Stars demo available now!

27Jul06

Technorati Tags: Kerberos, Sword of the Stars, demo

The demo for Kerberos Entertainment’s upcoming 4X space-strategy game is up on all major download sites. The installer file is a mere 227mb in size (hey that’s quite small for today’s games!)- I’d recommend getting it from either Filefront or 3D Gamers as they’re the most reliable download sites around in my experience. If you’re at all interested in epic empire-building strategy games with a healthy dose of ship combat, you really should check out this demo. The game could use a bit of polishing up, particularly in the user interface department, but overall it’s pretty cool. The 3D space map, in particular, is a very nice touch.

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Valve shows off their killer upcoming trio of titles- Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal

24Jul06

Technorati Tags: Valve, EA Summer Showcase, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, Portal, Narbacular Drop

Valve co-founder and managing director Gabe Newell made waves at EA’s recent Summer Showcase event when he showed off new trailers for Half-Life 2: Episode Two, a resurrected Team Fortress 2 and an intriguing new title called Portal. He also announced the games’ simultaneous release on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC platforms- apparently by the end of this year). While the latter announcement is no doubt a source of joy for console gamers who own a 360 or intend to buy a PS3 (especially since the original Half-Life 2 will also be ported to those consoles) the new trailers were by far the most exciting part of his announcement (and indeed the entire event). You can view all three at Steam now. Alternatively, you can stream them fromGameVideos.com or download high-res versions from Filefront.

Continue reading ‘Valve shows off their killer upcoming trio of titles- Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal’

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Football Manager 2005 player ‘overqualified’ to manage Middlesborough FC!

25Jun06

Technorati Tags: Football Manager 2005, games, football, humour, Middlesborough

This ballsy (and witty) gamer applied for the post of Manager of the Middlesborough Football Club, citing his skills at Football Manager 2005 (and real life experience managing an under-11’s football team). Here’s the kicker- he actually got a reply from the club chairman! And what a reply:

Many thanks for your recent application for the Managerial position at Middlesbrough Football Club.

You were of course the outstanding candidate but after careful consideration we decided against your appointment. Quite frankly we were of the opinion that your tenure with us would have been short-lived, as your undoubted talent would result in one of the big European Clubs seeking your services.

We consider it a sign of our progress that someone of your status could consider us.

How cool/uproariously-hilarious is that? Now who wants to bet that some other footie team (maybe a school team?) actually does ask for his services?

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Yakuza’s voice cast announced: SEGA finally get’s it right?

25Jun06

Technorati Tags: Yakuza, SEGA, voice cast, Shenmue

UPDATE: No, they didn’t. Way to waste some good voice talent, SEGA!

SEGA’s announced the voice cast for their upcoming Shenmue-esque action-RPG Yakuza (aka ‘Ryu Ga Gotoku’ in Japan)- they’ve got Michael Madsen, Eliza Dushku, Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor in Smallville) as the game’s hero and everybody’s favourite voice actor- ~~Luke Skywalker~~ Mark Hamill as one of the principal villains!

Hopefully, this game breaks the trend of often hilariously-bad English voiceover work in localized SEGA games, especially since Yakuza’s predecessor, Shenmue, was infamous in this regard (sailors, anyone?).

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Prey Demo Released!!!

24Jun06

Technorati Tags: Prey, demo

Downloading now!

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The End

First Bioshock video on IGN

Lessons from ‘Beyond Good & Evil’: How to craft an impressive opening sequence

Don’t Believe the Hype: a look at ‘Beyond Good & Evil’

GDC Radio: Tim Schafer on ‘Adventures in Character Design’

Sword of the Stars demo available now!

Valve shows off their killer upcoming trio of titles- Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal

Football Manager 2005 player ‘overqualified’ to manage Middlesborough FC!

Yakuza’s voice cast announced: SEGA finally get’s it right?

Prey Demo Released!!!

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