China’s Cutest Comic Book Artist [PSP]

Xià Dá is a 28 year-old Chinese manhua (comic book) artist. Japan has just fallen in love with her. More

The Stalling Of An Anti-Bush Video Game [David Jaffe]

Evocative and provocative, a game born of the anxiety about George W. Bush’s polices abroad would have included a Chinese invasion of the U.S. and the emotional journey of a soldier struggling over whether to flee military service. But the game was killed, not by politics but the popularity of the other game that developer David Jaffe was working on. During our weekly Kotaku Talk Radio podcast , special guest Jaffe spoke at length about his canceled PSP game, Heartland. Read about how the game came to life, how it died, and the game developer that rose from its ashes. Following the release of God of War for the PlayStation 2, David Jaffe was eager to create another story-based game. It was this desire that gave birth to Heartland, a first-person shooter for the PlayStation Portable that he hoped would make players weep openly. “Heartland was a very liberal response to the Bush administration and the Iraq War. What I really wanted to do was to create a first-person shooter on the PSP that really tried to evoke emotions beyond the traditional emotions you get in a first-person shooter – you know, adrenalin and competition. I wanted to also evoke fear and sadness. “It was basically an invasion of the United States by a greater military power and you basically played a reserve guy who was trying to get back to his family. It was really sort of my attempt at speaking through video games about George Bush the second and the war and all that stuff. That’s what Heartland was.” Jaffe spoke of the game in relatively simple terms, but his vision for the title was much more powerful. In a lengthy article about the title posted at The Escapist in 2008 , David spoke at length about the game’s Chinese invasion of the states, which would explore the brutal reaction American’s would have to an invasion by foreign powers. In one planned scene, the player would be ordered to set fire to a Chinese American family, herded into their home and doused with gasoline. It would’ve been an extremely provocative title. Unfortunately, that’s exactly the sort of game Jaffe’s development team wasn’t used to working on. “Scott Campbell and I – my business partner and co-designer with Eat Sleep Play – are very similar in some areas. We like acrade-y stuff, we like action stuff, we like pick up and play stuff. I tend to also like the more arty-farty, storytelling, you know, really trying to push the medium in that direction. I think it was just a bad marriage when it came to that particular design. “I think they felt, ‘This isn’t the kind of game we like to make.’ If you look at some of the great games they made on their own – Downhill Domination, War of the Monsters – those are games that really speak to the kind of company we are now and the kind of games that they’ve made.” It wasn’t simply developmental differences that caused the downfall of Heartland. The team had gone as far as creating the basis for an engine for the PSP first-person shooter, before Sony started stealing team members to work on a “more important” project. “What happened was Scott would always call and say, you know we probably started with a team of about 20, and every couple of days he’s like ‘You know this guy got Warhawked. This guy got Warhawked.’ Basically Warhawk was in production at the studio at same time, and it obviously was a much bigger game from a standpoint of Sony’s agenda and lineup. It was a much more important title, because it was originally meant to be a launch title for the PS3, so we would keep losing members of our team to go over to help finish up Warhawk.” Stranded in Santa Monica with a dwindling team with no passion for a portable story-based first-person shooter filled with controversial themes, Jaffe and company found inspiration in the Xbox Live Arcade. “By the end we were down to a skeleton crew of about six guys, and we were just like ‘You know what? This is stupid. What are we doing?’ That’s when we started looking at XBLA and saying ‘Hey, there’s this thing called Geometry Wars. There’s this option out there to start doing games like that.’ And that kinda gave rise to how we started Eat Sleep Play. “So it all kind of led to where we are now, and that’s what happened to Heartland.” So that’s the beginning of Eat Sleep Play, the studio that’s produced Calling All Cars for the PlayStation Network and is rumored to be working on the next Twisted Metal, but is that the end of Heartland? Could it see the light of day once more, perhaps, as Crecente suggested during the podcast, as an episodic title? Perhaps, but not at Eat Sleep Play. “To go in and try to say to Scott, ‘Hey man, we gotta make this kind of game’ is kinda like somebody coming to me and saying, ‘Jaffe, we need to do this football arcade game.’ I mean, arcade games I do, but football simulation, I’m like ‘Dude, it’s just not my thing.’ “So maybe one day, but I certainly don’t think it’s going to happen with Eat Sleep Play.” It’s depressing to me that Heartland didn’t get made. The title had so much potential, exploring themes that many Americans either can’t or won’t ponder. If we were invaded, would we react any differently than the citizens and soldiers of Iraq? It’s a question we’ll hopefully never find the answer to, but exploring it hypothetically could lead to a better understanding of ourselves. It’s a pity Sony felt the story-free, online multiplayer shooter Warhawk was more important. Listen to the full story in Wednesday’s episode of Kotaku Talk Radio . [ Pic ]

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The Stalling Of An Anti-Bush Video Game [David Jaffe]

Kotaku Off-Topic: Rebel Commander [How Is This News?]

For the first time, I took my taxes to a paid preparer. First thing tomorrow morning I meet with them to approve the documents. The anxiety I feel is absolutely the same as my parents getting my report card. Ordinarily I do my own taxes but because I’m filing in three different states for 2009, and two of them aren’t real clear about how I apportion personal business income (and f—- if California thinks it’s getting more than its cut of what I earned in January and February, which was peanuts), I figured I’d let a pro handle it. So far I’ve spent – I think – $300 to save $500, so I’m ahead. But then, I haven’t seen my final state tax bill yet. Anyway, it’s one for you, nineteen for me in Kotaku Off-Topic. Feel free to rant about the Taxman, the following subjects, or any other that come to mind. Ole Miss is holding a binding student committee vote to replace their Confederate colonel mascot. The leading candidate is said to be another rebel commander: Admiral Ackbar. Ding dong, the Hummer’s gone. A deal to sell off the mega-SUV brand to the Chinese fell apart and now it will be shut down altogether – a fate as ignominious as Oldsmobile’s. Good riddance. Conan O’Brien joins Twitter. It’s a verified account, ladies and gentlemen, and in two hours it more than doubled the followers for Jay Leno’s feed. Unless a lawyer’s reviewing each Tweet, I predict a messy head-on smackup involving impulsive instapublishing and nondisparagement severance clause. Some guy gets a tattoo of Ashton Kutcher’s face on his arm. Nuff said.

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Kotaku Off-Topic: Rebel Commander [How Is This News?]

Plants Vs. Zombies iPhone Micro-Review: Touch The Dead [Review]

PopCap Games’ unlikely match up between the walking dead and the powerful flora that keeps your brains and well-kept lawn intact is more than just an attention-grabbing title. Plants Vs. Zombies is simply an excellent “tower defense” game. And now it’s on the iPhone. Trading towers and cannons for stalks and stems, Plants Vs. Zombies gives the player a substantial arsenal of deadly plants, funghi, seeds and roots to sow upon their yards, protecting the inhabitants of a residential home from a similarly wide variety of shuffling, brains hungry zombies. It does so with familiar tower defense mechanics and barely-there resource management; and it does it with highly polished charm. Despite one major shortcoming, Plants Vs. Zombies transition to the iPhone is simply outstanding. Loved The Best Porch Defense $2.99 Can Buy: Plants Vs. Zombies offers an incredible amount of value for its price, with an extended Adventure mode, quick play and a selection of challenging Achievements that will make some levels worth revisiting. PvZ packs in an incredible number of units on both sides of the undead-vegetation war, layering that with gorgeous animation, catchy tunes and a damn fine sense of humor. If you’re going to buy one tower defense genre game for your iPhone or iPod Touch, zombies included or not, this is the biggest bang for your buck. Tutorials Disguised As Mini-games: When many of the game’s levels throw a new zombie type (there are 26 total), a new plant type (49 of ‘em) or some a new twist on the playfield (some levels occur at night, some feature a backyard pool, some are drenched in fog), the game’s infrequent mini-game modes that shun resource management and feed randomized plants help players experiment with new units, new gameplay tactics and they help switch up the action. There are still a handful of units I felt reliant upon, like the sun-emitting Sunflowers and floating Lily Pads for pool levels, but it was during these mini-games that I understood the value of the defensive Tall-nuts and scorching Jalapenos. Hated Too Many Peas For 3G: The iPhone port of Plants Vs. Zombies features some horrendous slowdown, at least on the 3G model iPhone that I played it on. That’s particularly troublesome when you unlock the triple shot Peashooter plant (aka the Threepeater) and the zombie hordes start to get thick. On my iPhone 3G, the game reaches near unplayable status, although the touchscreen controls perform admirably under pressure. I can’t speak to its performance on a later model iPhone or iPod Touch, but the game becomes an ugly slideshow near the end of many rounds. The initial load time also kind of sucks, largely because I want to play Plants Vs. Zombies now . Despite it’s technical issues, purely framerate related, as the game is easy to control and registers touchscreen taps perfectly, Plants Vs. Zombies should really be installed on every iPhone and iPod Touch. The game’s style of tower defense, which may appear to be simple at first but shows its complexity soon enough, is highly addictive. Just like the original, which we also loved , the iPhone port of Plants Vs. Zombies features glorious tower defense gameplay with some of PopCap’s most enjoyable presentation to date. Plants Vs. Zombies was developed and published by PopCap Games for the iPhone on February 15. Retails for $2.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played through adventure mode, found some Chinese zombies. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ .

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Plants Vs. Zombies iPhone Micro-Review: Touch The Dead [Review]

China Approves Warcraft’s Burning Crusade []

The Burning Crusade, the World of Warcraft expansion pack, has been cleared for launch by Chinese censors, a positive step in an oft-troubled relationship between the MMO and a country where four million people play it. NetEase, the company that operates the MMO within China, had planned to block all new registrations while it applied for the license to operate The Burning Crusade, a delay expected to last a week beginning Monday. It wasn’t clear if the Burning Crusade’s approval means NetEase can launch that game immediately or if there will still be some delay. But it’s still good news for a game whose number of players – about 11.5 million – remained essentially unchanged from a year ago . Perhaps with this hurdle cleared Warcraft will see improvements in its Chinese installation base. China Grants Permission for Launch of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade [VentureBeat]

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China Approves Warcraft’s Burning Crusade []

Strange Things Are Afoot At Red Five Studios [Rumor]

While a Red 5 Studios press release claims the studio is only restructuring, sources close to the studio paint a much bleaker picture, complete with forced and voluntary resignations, strange declarations, and a new majority shareholder in China’s The9. Yesterday we posted a rumor regarding layoffs at Red 5 Studios, the company founded by former Blizzard employees keen on creating their own MMO. Today Red 5 issued a statement regarding the layoffs, calling them part of a “new direction” the company is taking. It’s a very reserved statement, with elements that don’t quite jibe with what we’ve heard from sources close to the company. First, Red 5’s statement: “Red 5 Studios, Inc. is currently working on an unannounced massively multiplayer online game. Recently, the team formed around a new direction and took on additional investment from a strategic partner in the online games industry. “Red 5 remains committed to releasing a AAA quality, online title targeted for a worldwide release. The company has restructured the team in order to accomplish this goal. As part of the restructuring, some team members chose to part ways while others were let go. Red 5 has great respect for these departing team members and the contributions they have made.” It all sounds so tame, especially when compared to an account of events leading up to the “restructuring,” sent to us from a reliable source close to the development studio. According to our source, trouble began late last year, when CEO Michael Weingarter was forced to resign by the company’s board of directors. The source also says that art director William Petras, a founding member of the company, resigned last Tuesday. Then things get a little strange. Our source tells us that former CEO Mark Kern called a meeting last Thursday afternoon, during which he explained that Chinese online gaming operator The9 were now majority shareholders in the company, declaring the “old” Red 5 dead. This was the “new” Red 5, and he was the “new” Mark Kern. Then the “new” Mark Kern informed employees that they had until 11AM the next day to let him know if they wanted to stay with the company, offering no guarantees that positive replies equated to continued employment. So “the new” Mark Kern is now CEO of Red 5, which is essentially under control of The9. This revelation could explain the change to a game “aimed at the Chinese market.” So the MMO project lives on, albeit in a form we may never see in North America, and the company is in the loving hands of a man who allegedly refers to himself in the third person. As for the layoffs and resignations, our source had something to say about those as well. “On Friday, the team had to wait until after 5pm to find out their fate. It was delivered via email.” Our source told us that half of the 28 people left the company voluntarily, while the other half were just plain laid off. Fully half of the 28 who were let go left voluntarily. Prime cuts included the chief financial officer, human resources, and the IT department, along with 80% of the art staff. The CFO, HR and IT were all cut, as well as 80% of the art staff. The company that made such a big deal about being founded by members of Blizzard’s World of Warcraft team now contains only one ex-Blizzard staffer – CEO Mark Kern. We’ve contacted Red 5 Studios regarding the information we’ve uncovered, and received the following statement: “We can only confirm Mark’s continued employment and that he is CEO. We’ll release statements in the future regarding any additional investments.” So who knows what the future will bring? We’re relatively sure, but for now this post will carry the rumor tag, such is its burden.

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Strange Things Are Afoot At Red Five Studios [Rumor]

Kotaku Off-Topic: Funny Money [How Is This News?]

This is my first crack at Kotaku Off-Topic, and I’m not really sure how to begin it. Non sequiturs, by definition, don’t have a segué or a lead-in. But here goes anyway. Later today I am driving down to California to see some old friends and visit (on Tuesday) 2K Marin to rap about MLB 2K10. But I suppose that would be on-topic, and this is off-topic, and therefore I’m off-topic in the off-topic thread, and so I’ve screwed up my first offering. Whatever. Empty your minds here, with the following four headlines as fodder for your free-range discussion: Here’s a Tip – When counterfeiting currency, try to use denominations actually in circulation. A Lebanese man left a $500 bill as a tip in Kuala Lumpur, leading authorities to a cache of fake bills in bundles of $1 million, $100,000 and $500 denominations. I want to know which presidents he put on the bills. Science Foul – In San Diego, a kid’s science project – a homemade motion detector made from an empty Gatorade bottle “with some wires and other electrical components attached” – freaks out the school principal. The school is cleared and a bomb squad is called. Naturally, the child is recommended for counseling. I’m glad we’re not letting the terrorists win or anything. U R Not Mr Gay – Cops in China shut down the first ever “Mr. Gay China” pageant, saying organizers “did not do things according to procedures.” That implies there is a state procedure for a pageant of gay Chinese men. In Sports: Colorado School of Mines loses 77-40 to Fort Lewis. Emily Dalton has nine points and four rebounds for the Orediggers.

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Kotaku Off-Topic: Funny Money [How Is This News?]

Kotaku Off-Topic: Funny Money [How Is This News?]

This is my first crack at Kotaku Off-Topic, and I’m not really sure how to begin it. Non sequiturs, by definition, don’t have a segué or a lead-in. But here goes anyway. Later today I am driving down to California to see some old friends and visit (on Tuesday) 2K Marin to rap about MLB 2K10. But I suppose that would be on-topic, and this is off-topic, and therefore I’m off-topic in the off-topic thread, and so I’ve screwed up my first offering. Whatever. Empty your minds here, with the following four headlines as fodder for your free-range discussion: Here’s a Tip – When counterfeiting currency, try to use denominations actually in circulation. A Lebanese man left a $500 bill as a tip in Kuala Lumpur, leading authorities to a cache of fake bills in bundles of $1 million, $100,000 and $500 denominations. I want to know which presidents he put on the bills. Science Foul – In San Diego, a kid’s science project – a homemade motion detector made from an empty Gatorade bottle “with some wires and other electrical components attached” – freaks out the school principal. The school is cleared and a bomb squad is called. Naturally, the child is recommended for counseling. I’m glad we’re not letting the terrorists win or anything. U R Not Mr Gay – Cops in China shut down the first ever “Mr. Gay China” pageant, saying organizers “did not do things according to procedures.” That implies there is a state procedure for a pageant of gay Chinese men. In Sports: Colorado School of Mines loses 77-40 to Fort Lewis. Emily Dalton has nine points and four rebounds for the Orediggers.

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Kotaku Off-Topic: Funny Money [How Is This News?]

WoW’s Chinese Future Still Up In The Air [WoW]

Having been suspended from operating in the country since November , it appears that World of Warcraft’s future in China has been decided, and will be announced sometime this month. That’s according to Chinese media giants Sohu, who say that the two government agencies engaged in a territorial dispute over the title – the General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) and the Ministry of Culture (MoC) – have settled their differences and come to a decision on whether current operators of the game, Netease, have been breaking regulations in running the title in China. Kind of feels like the Ents arguing over hobbits being orcs… Source: GAPP, MoC Prep NetEase Sanctions for WoW Ops [Pacific Epoch]

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WoW’s Chinese Future Still Up In The Air [WoW]

Chinese TV Goes All Fox News Over Online PC Games [PC]

China Central Television last week broadcast a show called “Confession of a Murderer: Focus on Pornography and Violence in Online Games”. You know where this is going. CCTV is China’s state news channel, and the program (the second part in a series), which visited a juvenile prison to speak with those apparently influenced by the titles in question, blames online video games for contributing to everything from teen pregnancy to drug addiction to murder. The timing of the program is no coincidence, as Chinese bodies have spent much of 2009 cracking down on online games, banning some titles while suspending others. Even the mighty World of Warcraft has been in the government’s sights, shutting down for 3 months earlier in the year and more recently being the subject of a to-and-fro between two competing government agencies. China Blames Online Games for Drugs, Murder, Teen Pregnancy [Yahoo]

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Chinese TV Goes All Fox News Over Online PC Games [PC]

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