sequel

The first L.A. Noire took five years to come out. This one shouldn't take as long.

Nothing really said as to how the sequel will improve on the first one or really any details on it yet. They just said that all of the ground work has been laid and the technology is more readily available to work with in the sequel. 

Not really much else to say about this. Hit the link for the full article. 

http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/12522/team-bondi-la-noire-2-wont-take-5-years-to-make

A brand new editorial from yours truly: should we be tired of sequels?

I have a confession to make, if you don't mind: I'm tired of sequels.  I've played a handful of them from this generation; even when the overall quality of the game is shining (Uncharted 2, for instance), I hate the sense of deja vu that I experience.  And it doesn't help that it seems like half the games that come out anymore end with a number.

I mentioned Uncharted 2, so let's start there.  Is it an improvement over the original?  Most certainly; I think that's a fair assessment.  And while I did notice those improvements when I was playing, it hardly seemed to matter much in the end.  By the end of the first one, I was pretty tired of Nathan "Cocksucking" Drake's adventures (yes, I hate Nathan Drake as a character!).  I wasn't very far into Uncharted 2 before I could barely take it anymore.  If I hadn't spent $40 on the game and felt obligated to continue, I would have quit then and there.

Now let's look at Mass Effect 2.  Again, there were great improvements made over the first Mass Effect - although admittedly, the first Mass Effect was much superior to the first Uncharted.  The problem was that I felt like I could have popped in the first Mass Effect and gotten such a similar experience that it was hardly exciting.  In fact, at one point I did start playing the first one, and I barely skipped a beat.  And for the record, Shepherd wasn't much more interesting than Nathan Drake, so as far as I'm concerned they can both go take a flying leap together.

I think I'm starting to see the problem here: video game characters aren't typically interesting enough to span out multiple stories and remain interesting.  Maybe that's why I beat Fable 2 with a smile and groaned my way through Uncharted 2, even though Fable 2 was a vastly inferior game.

And what about the gameplay?  Do the gameplay "evolutions" amount to all that much?  Did Bioware's changes make Mass Effect 2 feel like much more than the first one?  I didn't think so.  Mass Effect 1 was fresh; Mass Effect 2 was polished but basically more of the same.  I don't know about anyone else, but I'm a bit concerned that we're willing to wait two years and pay full price again for refinements that really should have been there in the first place.  Oh yeah, and you're also getting a sloppy-seconds story too.  I guess there's that much.

So what would I have you do?  Would I have you give the industry the finger until they decide to stop rehashing?  No, not at all.  What I would like is for gamers to demand higher-quality the first time around; I would like the gaming community to care about quality instead of what the hype machine is putting out.

Maybe if we do that, crappy refinement sequels will be weeded out, and we can be left with the sequels that really matter - and all that extra downtime would let developers give us new experiences.  Talk about your win-win.

According to a job listing on the Electronic Arts site, Dead Space 2 seems to be in pre-production.

Every once in a great while, digging around the internet brings up something which isn't necessarily well-known information.  In this case, a job listing on the Electronic Arts site confirms the development of a follow up to last year's hit, Dead Space.  The job listing - which is a job listing for a Lead Combat Designer - says in no unconditional terms that Dead Space 2 is coming.

(Quote taken directly from the job listing on the Electronic Arts site)

"About this Project
This M-rated action/shooter sequel will set new standards for an action-packed story-driven console experience. Our team values are as follows: Gameplay comes first, controller feel is everything, culture of creativity, be highly iterative, playtest early and often, learn from failure, work fast and smart, and surround ourselves with the best talent in the world.
The previous installment in the Dead Space franchise received numerous awards for gameplay, visuals, and sound design, and the same core team is in place to create an even better follow up.
The game is in the later stages of pre-production, ready for production in the next few months, with many of the navigational and combat mechanics in place. We have complete autonomy and creative control over our own decisions. The Games Label at EA is 100% committed to this IP, and has already worked on IP extensions such as comic, animated features, and action figures. We’re looking for a few more talented individuals to join, and take the game to new heights."

I think that's all the confirmation we need that a follow-up is brewing.  Unfortunately the job listing doesn't have a date attached to it, so I have no way of verifying when this job listing was posted.  In any case, if Electronic Arts is looking for someone to work on a sequel to Dead Space, then it's a sure-fire bet that we'll eventually get our grubby little hands on it.

In the meantime, we have Dead Space: Extraction to be excited about.