NAMCO BANDAI Games Reveals New Advanced Gameplay Tactics and Assets for Ace Combat® 6: Fires of Liberation™
NAMCO BANDAI Games today released new details and assets on advanced gameplay tactics from Ace Combat® 6: Fires of Liberation™, its upcoming flight action game for the Xbox 360™. While providing an accessible and intuitive play experience for gamers of all skill levels, Ace Combat 6 introduces several new advanced techniques that are sure to take series veterans to new heights of aerial domination.
Ace Combat 6 debuts the following advanced maneuvers:
Read-Ahead Fire: Normal missile fire is done by locking on to nearby enemies and launching missiles that pursue their target. While this approach of air-to-air combat is suitable for eliminating most enemies, it requires the player to spend valuable time getting closer to their opponents. Advanced players can utilize “Read-Ahead Fire” to predict the path of their enemy and fire missiles from long-distances without needing a lock-on. This tactic requires precise flying and strong knowledge of enemy flight patterns, but can quickly devastate an opposing fleet if properly executed.
Close-In Explosion: While “Read-Ahead Fire” provides a very precise way of dispatching aerial enemies, sometimes opponents are too fast and elusive for this tactic. If players are having a hard time hitting their enemies, they can utilize the “Close-In Explosion” feature to fire from a less than optimal position and still have their missiles damage the enemy plane. This tactic does not inflict as much damage as a direct hit, but mitigates the risk of missing due to quick turns by the enemy or a weak lock-on.
High-G Turn: Modern combat planes are stabilized via computer control, delivering a smooth and safe flight for the pilot, but limiting the overall maneuverability of the plane in emergency situations. By temporarily overriding their flight computer (holding the left and right trigger on the Xbox 360 controller), players can execute a “High-G Turn” and make extremely tight cornering maneuvers, but risk stalling their plane if they hold this extreme flight pattern for too long.
Mid-Flight Landing & Midair Refueling: Introducing massive battle areas with multiple combat fronts, Ace Combat 6 forces pilots to strategically manage their arsenal and the condition of their plane. Some missions will feature more enemies than players can destroy in a single load of missiles, in which case they can either take on the remaining foes with machine guns alone or attempt a challenging mid-flight landing on an aircraft carrier or occupied airfield. One mission will require the player to execute a mid-air refueling. By carefully docking with a refueling plane, players will be able to continue their mission without risking their safety by landing and taking off in the middle of a battlezone.
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation for the Xbox 360 will ship to retail stores nationwide on October 23 for a suggested retail price of $59.99. A limited edition version of the game, which includes a custom Xbox 360 faceplate and original ACE-EDGE flight stick will launch on the same day for a suggested retail price of $149.99. For more information on the game, please visit http://www.acecombatsix.com
News just in is that Microsoft and Atari are going to be releasing a whole host of classic Atari games for Xbox Live Arcade.
Starting January 2007 you can expect to see such classics as these:
Centipede®/Millipede®: defend your village against an onslaught of centipedes, spiders, army ants and more. In addition to the classic mode, the evolution mode offers high definition graphics and special effects like motion blur, trails and particle-based explosions to make the experience as enjoyable today as it was decades ago.
Battlezone®: the original tank vs. tank action classic has received an Xbox Live overhaul, adding in exciting new multiplayer modes including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. This updated version is truly a must-have for any fan of the original, which is also included. Additionally, players can use the Xbox Live Vision camera to watch live video of their opponents. Combine these features with new special effects for weapon firing, impacts and explosions and you have one killer classic as you’ve never experienced it before.
Asteroids®/Asteroids Deluxe™: rotate, thrust, flip, fire and jump to hyperspace as you blast oncoming asteroids to smithereens just like in the 1979 original, but in updated, beautifully rendered, high definition graphics that complement the classic original.
Missile Command™: protecting your city from alien missile attacks has never looked better now that this classic has been overhauled with updated graphics and 3D rendered vistas. Choose from the evolved mode or the timeless original gameplay.
Tempest™: clear a web of enemies before time runs out and advance to the next stage, using an arsenal of weapons at your disposal. This evolved version features a graphics overhaul while maintaining the same addictive gameplay of the original.
Warlords®: a multiplayer classic that resurrects the competitive spirit of arcade games from years gone by. Knock out the other kings in their castles while keeping yourself protected at the same time. Up to four players can join the action with the game taking control of any vacant castles allowing for a variety of single- or multiplayer experiences. Gamers can also import their own pictures to their castles for an extra personalization.
Not only will you get the classic versions of these games but you will also get the Evolved versions too. So hopefully good value for money.
Also on the way are this holiday season are several independent game releases as follows:
There's been a lot of interest in the PS3 due to its stated 1080p output for both games and movies (via Blu-ray). What's interesting is that a lot of folks don't realize how meaningless 1080p actually is in this generation.
Let's take games first. The PS3 has roughly the same pixel-pushing capabilities as the Xbox 360. Don't need to take my word for it, it'll be obvious soon enough over the next year. Even if this wasn't the case, consider we now live in a multi-platform development world, and that the current sweet spot developers are targeting is 720p due to the extremely similar system specifications. Simply put, a developer who is planning to release their game for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 will aim for a common attainable ground. In fact, I'll stick my neck out and predict that that you won't see any 1080"x" games for the PS3 this year.
Let's move on to HD movies. Home Theater Magazine (recommended!) has a sister website, and I wanted to point you to a great blog post by Geoffrey Morrison discussing the topic. To quote:
"Movies and almost all TV shows are shot at 24 frames-per-second (either on film or on 24fps HD cameras). All TVs have a refresh rate of 60Hz. What this means is that the screen refreshes 60 times a second. In order to display something that is 24fps on something that is essentially 60fps, you need to make up, or create new frames. This is done using a method called 3:2 pulldown (or more accurately 2:3 pulldown). The first frame of film is doubled, the second frame of film is tripled, the third frame of film is doubled and so on, creating a 2,3,2,3,2,3,2 sequence. It basically looks like this: 1a,1b,2a,2b,2c,3a,3b,4a… Each number is the original film frame. This lovely piece of math allows the 24fps film to be converted to be displayed on 60Hz products (nearly every TV in the US, ever).
This can be done in a number of places. With DVDs, it was all done in the player. With HD DVD, it is done in the player to output 1080i. With Blu-ray, there are a few options. The first player, the Samsung, added the 3:2 to the signal, interlaced it, and then output that (1080i) or de-interlaced the same signal and output that (1080p). In this case, the only difference between 1080i and 1080p is where the de-interlacing is done. If you send 1080i, the TV de-interlaces it to 1080p. If you send your TV the 1080p signal, the player is de-interlacing the signal. As long as your TV is de-interlacing the 1080i correctly, then there is no difference. Check out this article for more info on that."
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