Tag Archives: This is Vegas

Viva la France!

Oh yeah.  I would like to personally thank the entire country of France for the greatest cover ever for a game I’ve worked on. Irreverent doesn’t begin to describe it… If you dare, click for a disturbingly oversized version.
Joypad: France

Play La Marseillaise!

Credit where credit’s due…  I really have to appreciate the fantastic coverage that This is Vegas has gotten from the press in Europe. While I’m really happy with how the U.S. press has responded to the game, it’s still funny to watch how Americans in general spend so much time pondering how much the game is like GTA.  In my completely broad-but-insulting generalization, people on this side of the world just seem to want to know who it is they get to shoot, while Europeans more easily “get it” and embrace the completely over-the-top nature of this game.

PSW: UKWhat is the deal with that? For everyone who complains about how games too frequently fall back on the old stereotypes of violence and thuggery, American gamers are still likely to complain when it isn’t present. People seem to think it’s just the result of high-level censorship…  e.g. in Europe sex = okay, in America violence = okay, but these attitudes aren’t just made-up.  The expectations of the audience certainly shapes the taboos in those respective countries.

Play3: GermanyTo either side here are a couple more recent appearances from the other side of the world… Here are a couple of covers from the UK and Germany, using imagery created by our awesome Art Director Wayne Laybourn. With the help of a great team including our design guru David Heutmaker, he has completely nailed the feel of our game… The colors, the motion graphics, even created a home for some of our more “game-y” elements… We’re not trying to create a gritty portrayal of the city of Las Vegas, folks, and anyone who compares it pixel-for-pixel with the real city is completely missing the point.  The style is like nothing I’ve never seen in any game before it.

Incredible stuff… Cheers, mate!

Rival Blog alert!

Don Hertzfeldt - HatMy first Blog on This is Vegas is now running at IGN, check it out here.  The IGN series won’t just be a soapbox for me, I just kicked it off…  We’ll be working to get as many different Surreal folk represented as possible there, more in the spirit of the sadly departed SurrealGameDesign (of course it will center mostly much around TIV, but I hope our minds can wander a bit).  This particular article covers some of the vision-oriented stuff on Vegas, and hopefully kicks off the TIV coverage with something at least mildly interesting.

We’re going to Vegas next week to show off the game (as well as check out other Midway titles), so you should see some good coverage very soon.  We don’t want to reveal too much too soon, but I am confident that the upcoming showing should answer many questions for people who don’t know what our game is about.

Short update today, sorry I’ve been slammed.  Meanwhile, enjoy some Don Hertzfeldt.

More This is Vegas coverage

This is Spegas!Over the past few weeks there have been a bunch of great references to This is Vegas.  Forgive me while I plug them for a minute. 🙂

Links

Video

One last edit:

My list of coverage can’t even approach this person’s…  Read the very first This Is Vegas blog.

This is Vegas!

So over the past two and a half years, we’ve been laboring at Surreal over a game that is really a different sort of game than those I’ve worked on in the past.  The cool thing is that we’ve been able to apply all our knowledge from a multitude of past action games into a completely new experience.  Overall it’s been an enriching experience, making me think of new ways to tackle old problems, as well as come up with solutions to entirely new challenges.  If anything it’s a fantastic breather from “shooter of the month”.

But I can’t say that the silence has been easy to endure.  “So Pat, what’re you’re working on?” my industry friends would casually ask as we munched awesome, giant slices of pizza…  The answer used to be so easy…  “Military shooter” or “Star Wars game!”  Those chats were easy, and would elicit a knowing nod…  Little else needed to be discussed.  Maybe talk about a new weapon or multiplayer mode, or gripe about problems with the technology, but not much else.  Lately it’s been a struggle:  “Well, it’s an open-world action game, but it’s got this sort of lifestyle component…” They’d stop, and give me a puzzled stare.  “I can’t really say anything else, but it’s pretty different.  It’ll be announced soon I think.”.  As they turned back to their slice, they mumbled: “Uh, sure, sounds cool.  Can’t wait.”

Well, after an eternity, it’s finally announced.  It’s called This is Vegas.

There’s only a thimble-full of information, so until more gameplay is revealed publicly I’ll have to continue to wave my hands at our monthly pizza ritual, but at least I can point you in the direction of some of the early coverage:

On IGN:

  • Announcement, including our teaser trailer.
  • Full Preview, this is one of the better overviews
  • Entertainment, featuring a tourist map written by the ever-awesome Jay Pinkerton.
  • Gigs, touching on a number of the side missions you’ll undertake throughout Vegas.
  • Suits, providing an overview on the factions and communities that you’ll get to know.

The Teaser Trailer: