Tag Archives: interview

George W. Bush responds to Kanye West’s racist remark, Kanye brings it full circle

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Remember way back in 2004 when Kanye West said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” during a nationally televised Hurricane Katrina relief program?  Six years later the former president is ready to share his thoughts on matter.  In an interview with Matt Lauer promoting his book Decision Points, W. called the racist incident “was one of the most disgusting moments in my presidency.”  He went on, “He called me a racist.  And I didn’t appreciate it then.  I don’t appreciate it now.  It’s one thing to say, ‘I don’t appreciate the way he’s handled his business.’ It’s another thing to say, ‘This man’s a racist.’  I resent it, it’s not true.”

During the taped interviewed which airs November 8 on NBC, Lauer reads aloud from the upcoming book: ‘Five years later I can barely write those words without feeling disgust.  I faced a lot of criticism as president.  I didn’t like hearing people claim that I lied about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction or cut taxes to benefit the rich.  But the suggestion that I was racist because of the response to Katrina represented an all-time low.’  Bush goes on to say that at the time this was the worst moment in his presidency.  (Really now?)  Final choice quotes.  Lauer: “You’re not saying that the worst moment in your presidency was watching the misery in Louisiana.  You’re saying it was when someone insulted you because of that.”  Bush: “No, and I also make it clear that the misery in Louisiana affected me deeply as well.  There’s a lot of tough moments in the book.  And it was a disgusting moment, pure and simple.”

One day after these quotes leaked Kanye called up a Houston radio station to bring things full circle.  “I definitely can understand the way he feels, to be accused of being a racist in any way, because the same thing happened to me, where I got accused of being a racist,” Kanye said.  “For both situations, it was basically a lack of compassion that America felt in that situation.  With him, it was a lack of compassion of him not rushing, him not taking the time to rush down to New Orleans.  For me, it was a lack of compassion of cutting someone off in their moment.  But nonetheless, I think we’re all quick to pull a race card in America.  And now I’m more open, and the poetic justice that I feel, to have went through the same thing that he went [through] — and now I really more connect with him on just a humanitarian level.”

There’s the new Kanye for ya.  Having lived through the Taylor Swift incident has taught the rapper many lessons it looks like.  Hop after the break to hear the Ye’ audio clip in full.  I’m just glad this bizarre happenstance has finally been put to rest.  Everybody, move on!

Update (11/11): Kanye West appeared on the Today Show and spoke with Matt Lauer about the recent revival of his racist remarks against Bush.  Video after the break.

[Via EW, here & here] Continue reading George W. Bush responds to Kanye West’s racist remark, Kanye brings it full circle →

Kid Cudi acknowledges his dark past and promises a brighter future in Complex cover story

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In the October issue of Complex Magazine Kid Cudi opens up to his fans by journeying back to his not-so-distant dark past.  Beyond opening up about his heavy drug use, his night in jail, and the big reveal that he has a daughter, Cudder talks about his competition (or lack thereof), the meaning behind the tracks “REVOFEV”, “Wylin’ ‘Cause I’m Young”, “Erase Me”, and “Mr. Rager”, and the encompassing theme behind his upcoming second studio album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (11/9).

On why he opted to create another dark album, instead of making a fun collab: “When I started making records like “Erase Me.” I wanted this album to be fun, but the dark sh– was my life at that time. I was fighting not to write that sh–. It got frustrating writing a collab album—I just lost interest, and it became more of a task, rather than something I wanted to do. That’s not how it’s supposed to feel. The day it becomes work, you need to retire.”

On MOTM2: “I want my sh– to be like you’re reading a novel, not a Dr. Seuss book. I felt like the last album was too short. This one is a little bit longer, it’s 18 tracks and counting. It’s just ten times better on all levels. The story’s deeper, darker, with no holding back. It’s beautiful, man. It’s an emotional album.”

Head over to Complex to read the explicit three page interview.  Look in the gallery below for some stills from the photoshoot and after the break to find a behind-the-scenes video.

[Via DatNewCudi; Complex]

Continue reading Kid Cudi acknowledges his dark past and promises a brighter future in Complex cover story →

Visionaries J.J. Abrams & Joss Whedon spill their guts at Comic Con

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At this year’s Comic Con in San Diego, a panal called “Visionaires” brought my two favorite people together: J.J. Abrams (MI: III, Cloverfield, Star Trek, Lost, Fringe) & Joss Whedon (Serenity, Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse).  The panel, conducted by Entertainment Weekly’s Jeff Jenson, is literally packed with all sorts of intriguing information.  Jenson starts things off with the question, “When did you guys decide you wanted to be storytellers?”  Whedon and Abrams are also asked about their takes on comic books, 3D movies, the current and future states of television (including what it wants and supports, the waning of serialized story format), and the outlook for new media (shooting for the web, web content).  They also delve into their respective past and upcoming projects.  Whedon makes it official that he is directing Marvel’s The Avengers and briefly elaborates on the direction he plans to take the movie; he also talks about his now-on-hold horror flick Cabin in the Woods and what’s up with the impending Dr. Horrible sequel.  Abrams shares an anecdote surrounding his super-secret Super 8 movie (which is set to start production this September) and the collaboration with producer Steven Speilberg.  During the 3D movie discussion, Abrams confirmed that Super 8 will not be shot for 3D; he pans 3D and that it adds an unnecessary barrier between the viewer and film.  Although Joss is “totally into” watching 3D flicks, he hopes that his upcoming Cabin in the Woods doesn’t get the streoscopic treatment.  While going back and forth about the state of the serialized story format for TV, Abrams spilled that his upcoming NBC show Undercovers will be self-contained episodes (meaning you can miss a few episodes and still know what’s going on), but there will be an overall mythology to keep week-to-week viewers satisfied.  Speaking about mythology, Abrams also shares his thoughts on the final episode of Lost (spoiler: he loved it).  Whedon continues the conversation by bringing up the demise of FOX’s Dollhouse.  All in all, it’s a great watch and interesting look into two very successful film and TV artists that shouldn’t be missed.  Head over to EW to access the 5-part stream.  Or click here to watch an abridged interview.

Interview + hands-on: OnLive

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OnLive is a gaming on-demand cloud-based service that’s able to stream video game titles from massive servers around the U.S. straight into your home.  Man is that a packed sentence.  Let me break it down for you.  OnLive has three data centers in the country (east coast, central, and west coast) that house large servers; these servers act as hosts to a bunch of video games.  If you sign up for the OnLive service and become a member of the community, the servers will pump video game content from the data center nearest you to your Internet-enabled PC or Mac.  Again, it’s essentially gaming on-demand.  After installing a plugin in your browser, you can launch OnLive and gain access to a growing library of video game titles.  It’s that simple, really.

The OnLive interface is neat.  There’s a game marketplace that allows you to choose from a wide selection of games.  With a single click you can play a game; or you can find out more about the game before you dive in by watching game previews & trailers.  You can even watch other OnLive members play the selected game in real time.  The interface drags you into the action of other players, and this is a great way to get a glimpse of a game’s visuals and game style.  Besides strictly being there for on-demand gaming, the service hopes to form a community of gamers with features like profiles, friends lists, and brag clips (you can record gameplay and share these moments with other OnLive members).

What’s most exciting about the OnLive service is that it does away with the need for over-the-top and expensive hardware requirements for games.  Crysis, a game that is known to be hardware intensive, will play smoothly and look great playing off an old Macbook or PC laptop.  The secret formula is OnLive’s proprietary video compression chips that pump out the games from the servers over the Internet and to your computer.  As long as you have a 4-5 Mbps Internet connection you will have no problem playing what used to be hardware intensive games in HD (a 1.5 Mbps connection is recommended for SD quality).  I really want to hit this point home as well: Since this is gaming on-demand, the service brings together games from all major game consoles (Xbox, PlayStation, PC) and enables you to play them right on your PC or Mac.  No need for proprietary hardware and cables.  All you need is an Internet connection, a computer, and a keyboard and/or Xbox-type USB controller.

There’s gotta be some lag, you’re thinking to yourself.  I was skeptical at first, too.  But I gotta say, after playing Just Cause 2 off an old Macbook over the OnLive service, I did not notice the slightest bit of latency between my controller button-mashing and the on-screen action.  It truly felt as if I was playing the game locally off a computer or video games console.  And what’s fascinating is that Just Cause 2 was running off a server more than 500 miles away in Santa Clara!  Though there likely is some latency if you want to get all technical, I honestly did not pick up on it during my brief session of gameplay.  I was told that as long as you are within a 1000 mile radius of an OnLive data center you should not experience noticeable latency.

Now let’s talk pricing and availability.  OnLive is available to use today (in fact it was turned on a day after my interview took place).  You sign up for the service at their website.  The “OnLive Founding Members Program” is backed by AT&T and it offers the first year of use for free (!), followed by a $4.95/month fee for the second year.  There’s no contract requirement which means if there’s a month you don’t feel like using the service just don’t for it that month.  Right now it looks like the company is slowly opening the gates to the OnLive community; if you want to sign up to play you have to sit on a waiting list.  Bummer, I know, but the service is still in its infancy and I’m sure the company does not want to overload its servers this early in the game.

And what about software partners?  You will not be disappointed on this front.  Just announced was partnerships with Sega, Capcom, Konami, and Square Enix.  Popular publishers like EA, Ubisoft, THQ, Warner Bros. Interactive, and Disney Interactive are also bringing their titles to the service as well.  I’m told new publishers are jumping on the OnLive bandwagon all the time, and this is great news for gamers.

Beside the addition of developer support, OnLive will be adding their MicroConsole to the mix later this year.  Basically it’s a small (and I’m told inexpensive) piece of hardware that will allow members to play the streaming games on their HDTVs.  It will support up to four wireless controllers, multiple Bluetooth headsets, and it packs two USB ports for wired controllers and keyboards.

Is OnLive the future of gaming?  Though it’s too early to tell, you can definitely see the potential it brings to the table.  With OnLive there’s no need for high-end graphics cards and to run to a store to purchase a game disc.  No longer do you have to worry about upgrading hardware to play the latest and greatest games.  If you’ve got the proper Internet connection and live within range of a data center, you are golden.  I’ve experience it with my own two eyes and thumbs–the latency was non-existent on the show floor.  Though my skepticism has been lowered down a notch, I’m still going to wait for a final verdict after I give the service a try on my own computer at home.  Even if OnLive doesn’t catch on and become widely popular, replace game consoles and eliminate the graphics cards arms race, you can bet everyone from industry leaders to gamers will turn to this service as an example of how the next phase of video game distribution was imagined and first put into place.

Interview + hands-on: Tron: Evolution

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Game: Tron: Evolution

Developer: Propaganda Games

Release date: Holiday 2010

Tron is back, people.  Coming soon to a theatre and video game console near you are all new experiences from the famed Tron universe.  Tron: Evolution bridges the gap between the original Tron movie (1982) and the upcoming Tron: Legacy flick set to hit theatres later this year on December 17.  In the game you play as a system monitor who investigates “mysterious goings-on” that’s happening in the digital Tron universe.  The controls are best described by comparing them to Mirror’s Edge gameplay.  You are a parkour champion and you move through the levels by completing wall jumps, among other high-flying, fast and fluid techniques.  These are known as “mobility moves”.  In combination with “combat moves” you will successfully defeat incoming enemies and move on through the game.  Combat moves include typical melee fight style with punching and kicking, but you can also climb a wall and pounce your enemies from above.  You wield a disc that can be thrown at top speeds towards enemies to knock them out.  And if you have a few seconds to spare you can charge up your attacks and this results in a more powerful and effective combat move.  In the demo above you can see all the different types of combo moves you can perform (there’s disc-disc-melee, jump-jump-disc, disc-jump-melee, and so on).  Another neat gameplay features involves how you pick up health.  Through the various environments there are glowing white lines that run along the walls.  You can jump and vault along these lines to increase your health and energy meters.  This encourages you to use mobility moves and always be aware of your surroundings.

And this wouldn’t be a Tron game without the use of Light Cycles.  In the demo I hopped onto a Light Cycle and was being hunted down by enemies on their respective Cycles.  These Cycles beat out the ones played in the original Tron arcade game; thanks to a full physics model the vehicles don’t just turn at 90 degree angles.  Controls to accelerate and brake are simple.  You can also throw your discs to hit enemies off their rides as you speed past them.  This part of them demo was quite fun.  As you’re trying to escape from your enemies the world is falling apart and collapsing around you.  It’s you vs. the enemies vs. the environment.  The only fault I have with the Cycles is that they’re not fast enough.  If the devs bump up the speed this part of the game will be a whole lot more exhilarating.

A couple other odds and ends: Whatever you earn in the game can be used when you switch over to multiplayer, and vise-versa.  When I asked about PlayStation Move support I was told “there’s still some issues to be resolved in that department.”  We all know the movie will release in 3D, but what about that game?  The dev I spoke to said “it would be fantastic if we could get the game in 3D” and he seemed a whole more positive about 3D support than Move capability.  So we shall wait and see…

Overall Tron: Evolution is panning out to be one of the better game to movie to game adaptations I’ve seen in some time.  The visuals are slick, the gameplay is fluid, and story should excite Tron fans to no end.  Look for its release to coincide with the movie later this year.

Interview + hands-on: Epic Mickey

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Game: Epic Mickey

Developer: Junction Point Studios

Release date: Holiday 2010

A while back I reported on a new Wii title called Epic Mickey.  After playing the expansive demo at E3 I am so happy to report back that Epic Mickey is everything I hoped it would be.  In fact, it was my favorite game of the show!  The visuals, the controls, the characters, and the environments all blend together to make an exciting Disney experience with our good pal Mickey Mouse at the helm.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what type of game Epic Mickey really is.  It takes cues from platformers, role-playing games, and third-person shooters, even.  It meshes 2D and 3D gaming to produce stunning color and black/white visuals that stem from classic Disney history.  The first part of the demo took us to Wasteland, a place where old, washed up, and forgotten Disney characters hang out.  Characters like the pirates Smee from Peter Pan and Scurvy Pat are there to give you tasks to perform.  In a beautiful cut scene that features 2D paper animation, Smee is crying because all of the pirates are being turned into robot monsters.  It is up to Mickey to save the pirates from their demise.  At the Wasteland I was instructed by Tiki Sam (he looks sort of like Goofy) to find three masks that are hidden throughout the area.  There is a lot of trading and bartering that goes on between all these different characters; one decision leads to another and this all eventually lands Mickey in the appropriate situation to help stop the machine from destroying the pirates.  Your decisions to either help or ignore the characters around you will affect the outcome of the game.

The game is split into three different areas: quests, transitions, and actions.  Wasteland is a quest area; it’s a place where interact with other characters to complete certain tasks.  Transition areas take place in-between quest and action areas and they usually contain special items and collectibles that will help Mickey elsewhere in the game.  The transition area I jumped into was a movie reel and it transported me to a 2.5D sidescroller based on Mickey’s first appearance in 1928’s Steamboat Willy black-and-white cartoon.  There are about 40 of these sidescrolling adventures in the game; they are all based on classic Disney cartoons.  Playing through Steamboat Willy was a ton of fun.  I am really looking forward to discovering all the other transition areas in the game.  There’s nothing like classic Disney lore.

At the end of the Steamboat Willy level I jumped into another movie reel that brought me to a new area in the game called Skull Island.  This is an action area where Mickey will run into enemies to defeat and conquer and it’s the place where I’ll find a way to stop the machine from turning the pirates into robots.  My first mission is to find three anchors to save Smee’s ship from sinking into the ocean.  There’s no better time to talk about controls then right now.  In the game Mickey wields a magic paintbrush.  Paint is used to create objects in the environment.  If you stumble upon an area and you’re stuck, more than likely a spray of paint will reveal a bridge that connects the gap to crossover.  Paint thinner is used to destroy objects around you.  It can also be a helpful tool to find hidden objects that reside inside rocks or trees.  Throughout the game there are clues guised under dark silhouette shapes; if you keep your eyes open for these subtle hints you can use your brush to uncover what’s there.  When it comes to enemy interaction you have one of two options.  You can use paint thinner to erase them or paint to strategically turn them into friendlies who will fight for you.  Mickey can also collect objects called “sketches”.  In the demo I picked up a TV sketch; at one point during the Skull Island sequence the TV sketch was used to distract an enemy.  Mickey literally places a TV in front of an enemy and while he was distracted by a scene from the original Steamboat Willy cartoon I picked up a missing anchor piece.  Humorous, fun, and effective.

At its core, Epic Mickey is a true-to-form roleplaying game where your decisions will effect the way other in-game characters perceive you.  If you use paint thinner to erase elements from the environment around you more than you use paint to create, characters will take notice.  In this case, they will be less friendly and willing to help you solve missions.  In fact, a little green sprite named Terp follows you around and lets you know what type of “play style” you’re currently engaged in (too much thinner or paint or a mix of both).  And since your decisions alter the game, you can literally play through it numerous way and every time will play out differently.  With intuitive controls, an engaging story with fun and challenging missions, and spectacular visuals, expect Epic Mickey to take over your living room when it release this holiday season exclusivel for Wii.  The game truly is a sight to behold.  And and if you’re a fan of Walt Disney creations you will certainly not be disappointed.

Interview + hands-on: Super Scribblenauts

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Game: Super Scribblenauts

Developer: 5th Cell

Release date: October 2010

The concept of the original Scribblenauts that debuted at E3 2009 really blew my mind.  It was a game that allowed you to type whatever you wanted and poof! the object would appear on-screen ready to be interacted with.  Due to a number of control issues the game did not successfully execute where it should have.  Super Scribblenauts leaps ahead of its predecessor with improved controls, adjectives support, and better levels.  The most exciting controls update allows you to manipulate Maxwell’s position (including walking and jumping) on-screen with the D-pad and action buttons; you are no longer forced to use the stylus and touchscreen to make him move.  The addition of adjectives greatly increases the number of objects that can be spawned into the world.  In the first game you could easily produce a “pogo stick”.  In the sequel you now spawn an “angry armed metal pogo stick.”  (That’s right–you can assign more than one adjective to an object.)  As you can see in the demo above, the angry pogo stick will annoy and bump into you.  By adding a “protective metal box” to the environment, it will protect you from the pogo stick.  So in other words, objects can enhanced with artificial intelligence by adding an adjective before its name.  With the addition of thousands of adjectives, the game now supports over a whopping trillion different objects you can spawn.  The only restrictions you have in spawning an object are inappropriate words and the 100 character limit.

With over 120 new puzzle-oriented levels to play through, tighter controls, and the ability to make all kinds of objects with adjectives, Super Scribblenauts will likely fulfill that promise of bringing unique gameplay on a portable platform when it releases later this fall for Nintendo DS.

Interview + hands-on: Fable III

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Game: Fable III

Developer: Lionhead Studios

Release date: October 26, 2010

Familiar, yet different.  That’s the best way to describe the next game in the Fable series.  Fable III take place 50 years after the events in the previous game.  In the single player campaign you play as either the son or daughter of the Fable II hero.  Your brother is the King of Albion and he is an evil tyrant who supports slave labor and as a result the people of the land are oppressed.  As the game starts you are finally at the ripe age to do something about this; the throne must be reclaimed.  In order to do this you must become a rebel and gain followers to your cause to take down your evil brother.  Eventually at some point you will defeat your brother and become the next king (or queen) of Albion.  And in Fable RPG style, it is up to you to decide (by your actions) if you want to rule the land as a terrible dictator like your brother or change things for the better by acting benevolent and kind.

The demo I played had two parts.  In the first, I was plopped into a foreign land called Aurora where I was teamed with my mentor Walter Beck.  Your mission is to gain followers to the cause.  This demonstration showed off some combat moves; you can wield a sword, gun, or use some magic spells to fend off enemies.  Discovering and controlling spells is a lot easier this time around thanks to a “spell gauntlet” that gives magic a physical representation.  Other new features: your sword can be customized based on your decisions in the game and you can complete finishing moves to defeat enemies.

In the second part of the demo I was introduced to the new villager interaction experience.  Now you can walk up to villagers and interact with them by shaking their hand, grabbing their hand and take them for a run, and even farting in their faces!  Yeah, that’s a bit much but it’s quite humorous.

So, although the game looks and feels very much like the past Fable games, this one is definitely enhanced and differentiates itself thanks to a tighter story and refined gameplay.  For the first time in a Fable game, characters are now more emotionally connected to the player thanks to voice acting.  Also, the main menu has done away with the mess of the past and gives players a 3D portal to access various game options.  There to greet you is a butler named Jasper voiced by none-other-than John Cleese.  Co-op play is coming, too; the second player can also play as a hero and you have the option to marry each other, have children, share funds, and complete the game together.  Have you been yearning for a more robust version of Fable?  Well your wish will certainly be granted come October the 26th.

Interview + hands-on: The Fight: Lights Out (w/ PlayStation Move)

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Game: The Fight: Lights Out

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Release date: November 2010

Another PlayStation Move launch title is The Fight: Lights Out, or Wii Sports Boxing on steroids.  Using two Move controllers you are in control of a street fighter.  Though motions are not 1:1 (your on-screen character does not imitate every action you make), the game does a good job at picking up specific boxing moves like punches, uppercuts, and body and elbow shots.  The more fluid and deliberate you make your punches the better PS Eye transfers your motions on-screen.  By holding down the main Move button on the controller you can control the direction in which your character moves.  Predefined “dirty moves” can be called up by pressing the trigger button.  Check out that double-hammer fist special move!  The game is also physics-based; in the demo this means that you can use one Move controller to push your opponents arm out of the way to make room for a clean punch with the other controller.  If you defeat your opponent you get the opportunity to “finish him” with a special move.  In the demo I played this involved my character lightly tapping the opponent to make him fall over and pass out on the floor.  I’ve also heard that another finishing move will involve blowing your opponent over by physically blowing into the PS Eye’s built-in mic.  After the fight is over a results page lets you know how many calories you burned during the length of the fight.

Overall I really enjoyed playing The Fight.  When I first picked up the controllers I wanted to beat up my opponent to a bloody pulp with frantic punch gestures and flicks of the wrist.  Quickly I learned that fast movements resulted in poor feedback on the PS Eye’s end.  Once I settled in and started to strategically produce counter-punches the experience became a whole lot more realistic and fun.  I also like the black-and-white style with splashes of red when blood is drawn.  With the promise of a character customization studio, a single player campaign, an online multiplayer mode, and the ability to bet on games and use your winnings to purchase in-game items, The Fight is panning out to be a solid launch title for the Move.

Interview + hands-on: TV Superstars (w/ PlayStation Move)

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Game: TV Superstars

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Release date: November 2010

TV Superstars is a party game that places a customized avatar into a number of mini-games based on reality shows.  Before you jump into a game show, you are required to customize an avatar using the PS Eye.  You step up to the camera and take three pictures of yourself with neutral, smile, and angry faces.  After your face is placed on the head of the virtual avatar, you can play around with the size/shape of the head, hair color/style, and skin tone.  Then you are asked to record a personal message to go along with your avatar by speaking into the mic (which is built into the PS Eye).  Once your character is complete you can jump into one of three game shows, Let’s Get Physical, Frokstar, and Big Beat.  Due to time constraints I only played the first game.

Let’s Get Physical resembles a Japanese physical challenge show and places your avatar into the challenges.  In the “Wheel of Heroes” mini-game you hold the PS Move controller in one hand a shake it back and forth in a running motion to make the avatar run and jump over obstacles.  In “Airheads” you pull back the Move controller to spring yourself out of a slingshot and you have to position the controller to match the silhouette figure on screen.  If you match it up correctly your avatar will fly through the window and you’ll move on to more challenging orientations.

Though the customization aspect of this game is intriguing and quite comedic, the controls were a bit irritating.  In “Airheads” I had trouble matching the controller position to the silhouette figures.  I had to keep reminding myself that PS Move (in combination with the PS Eye) does not track your entire body like Microsoft’s Kinect.  The PS Eye camera only detects the glowing orb atop the Move controller.  So as hard as you try to position your body to match the silhouette configurations on screen you won’t get anywhere unless the Move controller is maneuvered the right way.  Simply put, this game would be a lot more fun if it was made for Kinect, not for PS3.

Interview + hands-on: SOCOM 4 (w/ PlayStation Move)

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Game: SOCOM 4

Publisher: Zipper Interactive

Release date: November 2010

The SOCOM franchise is one I hold very close to my heart.  After going through an obsessive phase with SOCOM II on PS2, I have been looking for that same fantastic experience to make its way to the PS3.  After getting some hands-on time with SOCOM 4 (which is developed by SOCOM II publisher Zipper Interactive), I am excited to share with you that this next iteration in the SOCOM franchise is going to be a winner.

With TV Superstars and The Fight: Lights Out Sony is branching out to the casual set of gamers who just want to grab their Move controllers and jump into a quick and easy to maneuver game.  SOCOM 4 exists to prove that even hardcore gamers can get in on the Move action without sacrificing traditional strategic gameplay that SOCOM is known for.  With the Move controller in one hand and the Navigation (sub) controller in the other, you control a character called Ops Com who leads a squad into a war-torn Southeast Asian environment.  Wait, this doesn’t sound like SOCOM, you’re thinking.  Well, it is!  In addition to a robust online multiplayer mode that supports up to 32 players, SOCOM 4 packs a true single player story-driven campaign that places you in command of a squad.  The demo dropped me into a battle with lots of gunfire.  With a tap on the D-pad I can rally the squad around me and direct them where to go.  Overall the Move controls add a level of precision that goes way beyond what the DualShock 2 controller allowed for in SOCOM II.  The subcontroller’s analog stick moves your character around, and the Move controller is used to line up the reticle, set up a shot, and take it.  Although SOCOM 4 will be playable with a standard DualShock 3 controller you’d be crazy not to want to at least try the Move controls.  It’s really not a gimmick in this game; after sitting down with it for a nice chunk of time I’m confident in saying that Move support is going to help SOCOM develop into a better and truly immersive game.  Calling in an airstrike has never been this much fun.

I’ve been talking so much about the single player and motion control goodness that I haven’t even touched upon the stunning graphics yet!  SOCOM 4 looks amazing.  The environments are highly detailed and quite destructible.  If you shoot at a car window glass will shatter into tiny pieces and the shards will gracefully fall to the ground.  All new intense single player; 32-player online gameplay we know and love; precise Move support; and gorgeous graphics–SOCOM 4 will become my next gaming obsession.

Note: Sorry about the degraded sound quality in the video above.  Our mic was having some trouble during this interview.