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First of all, don’t do it. I’m unsure of what it is you’re playing on doing, but seriously, don’t do it. Blizzard has sent out a little public notice to remind us all that cheating isn’t cool — especially when it comes to the high-stakes world of competitive StarCraft play.

“If a StarCraft II player is found to be cheating or using hacks or modifications in any form, then as outlined in our end user license agreement, that player can be permanently banned from the game. This means that the player will be permanently unable to log in to Battle.net to play StarCraft II with his or her account.”

We wouldn’t want that to happen, now would we? Blizzard continues: “We strongly recommend that you avoid using any hacks, cheats, or exploits. Suspensions and bans of players that have used or start using cheats and hacks will begin in the near future.” You’ve been warned.

Cory Barlog is officially one of my favorite videogame personalities. David Jaffe was already up there, along with Mark Rein, and a few others. To me, these people are known for their brutal honesty and undeniable personality. Working in this industry and meeting such people is the best part of it, even better than playing games a day earlier than everyone else.

Of course, I didn’t know that’s how I’d feel until after Barlog and Jaffe spent four and a half hours pointing out sexual references, and telling funny stories about their time developing the God of War games. But it wasn’t just these two — the whole of God of War game directors met, for an off-kilter round table discussion slated for your home theater this holiday season.

Hosted by G4s Allison Haislip, David Jaffe, Cory Barlog, Stig Asmussen, Ru Weerasuriya, and Dana Jan — the game directors of God of War, God of War 2, GoW3, GoW: Chains of Olympus, and the upcoming GoW: Ghost of Sparta, respectively — talked about everything from their inspiration to create their games to who would make the best Kratos in a supposed God of War movie. (They didn’t agree, but my vote goes to either Old Spice Mascot.)

Jaffe, known for his outspoken personality, unintentionally stole the show, but his comrades asked for it. For the first hour, every question posed by Haislip was met with a turn of the head and a quiet stare in Jaffe’s direction. It wasn’t until Jaffe got fed up with answering everything that the rest of the team, besides Barlog inputting every witty quip he could, really opened up.

Quite a bit about the God of War franchise came out that night. How Kratos was originally envisioned (Martin Riggs plus Russell Crowe); why his skin was so pale (the unfinished original artwork for Kratos, uncolored with nothing but primer, looked perfect according to Jaffe; what God of War was originally pitched as (Clash of the Titans directed by Ridley Scott); and why Kratos is so likable (”While destroying everything around him, [Kratos is] inadvertently better,” said Barlog. And he’s the ultimate badass)

But perhaps the most interesting bit, which so many people are curious about, is why every game had a different game director. Each had their reasons for stepping aside, but it also gave each new title a fresh start. As Asmussen pointed out, “the first time [directing] is the hungriest.” Both Jaffe and Barlog left to pursue personal ventures, while Weerakjniya gave up his directorial role to run the business side of Ready At Dawn Studios.

Barlog was an absolute treat. Some of his memorable comments include “I build a big level because I can build a big level! Aren’t I awesome?!” and “Athena: ‘I’m gonna take your visions away’, then later, ‘nobody can do that sucka!’” And when Jan was asked how he kept enemies fresh, he told a story of Jaffe’s Napkin O’ Monsters, a restaurant napkin with every character in the God of War series. According to Barlog, “Jaffe draws like a three year old.” Yes, that’s how the night progressed.

Also discussed was the ludicrousness of the series. “Death doesn’t really mean anything,” Jaffe pointed out, as everyone dies yet Kratos himself died twice and escaped Hades. One comical debate compared Kratos to Bruce Wayne. Both fight for revenge and vengance over the anguish of their lost families, but Jaffe couldn’t wrap his head around how Kratos remained so angry.

“Peter Parker lost uncle ben, and he’s still cheery,” Jaffe joked. “Get over it.”

On their inspirations, the entire team agreed when Jaffe said “go play games you haven’t heard of,” pointing games to Ico and Onimushu. “That’s the hallmark of God of War,” Barlog said jokingly. “We take unknown games and completely rip them off.”

Other unknown tidbits about the series?

• The main selling point was always the brutality and violence, because Jaffe knew it would sell.
• Jaffe’s vision of Kratos is as a man who puts work before everything else, and pays with his family for it.
• Most everything in the game, from the environments to characters, are highly romanticized and not historically accurate, because otherwise it would have looked like crap.
• The idea for huge environments and enemies was to evoke a sense of wonder (which clearly worked wonders).
• The supposed God of War movie has been in and out of production for years, and Daniel Craig turned down the role of Kratos a year ago. (Probably to keep his hair.) One unnamed actor did sign on, and all Jaffe would reveal is that he played in a recently released sequel (the third part of a trilogy) that flopped.

The directors left the audience with an important lesson to learn from Kratos.

“Take what you want, and damn the consequences,” Barlog said. “If you want it, take it. And if you love it, people will follow you.”

Totally new and totally metal is the new Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock character artwork and this nifty new trailer! Despite what some people say about the series, I think it looks interesting. Of course, I love heavy metal and think this sort of stuff is hilarious, but that’s just me. The art assets are all one shots containing before and after shots of the transformations focused on in the new game. Besides that, also contained were images of the loading screens featuring each characters metamorphasis.

The idea here has to do with the characters transforming into all new, more powerful versions of their looks from previous games. Each character is shown off with all their complexities readily visible. There was the punk rocker girl becomes all angelic with some gigantic boots. This other face painted guy turns into boar warrior with an axe guitar. I liked that. Guy with a mohawk flips into this green spiked monster, I found that particularly prickly design fascinating.

My favorite one is the hat guy with those glasses because he has that cool looking goatee. Goatee’s are the most menacing of all facial hair styles. He looks cool to me! I like that he has dreadlocks and is wearing a hat too, that looks pretty funny. Homeboy then for whatever reason became the headless horseman. He had green ectoplasm seeping out from his neck and this wonderful jack o’lantern guitar.

What do you guys think?

Recently Sega invited me over to its San Francisco offices to take a peek at the latest game in the Total War series: Shogun 2.

As a return to the original Total War game Shogun: Total War, Shogun 2 is the latest in the real time/turn-based fusion strategy game. Sega and developer The Creative Assembly were kind enough to show me the real time battle elements of the game, with the turn-based overworld stuff saved for something I have planned next week. Fans of the franchise will certainly want to pay attention.

You’ve seen the trailer, now follow the jump for my hands-off impressions.

Shogun 2: Total War (PC)
Developer: The Creative Assembly
Publisher: Sega
To be released: March 2011

Since this is a shogun game, taking place in 16th century Japan, the idea of Samurai is really important. Players will be asked to lead one of twelve fiefdoms in the quest for Japanese Samurai glory and control of the nation. Starting off in 1545 AD, players will be tasked to guide Japanese culture through wars, the influx of Western nations, Christianity, gunpowder, cultural strife, and more. All of these features, as well as the turn-based elements of the game, build around the core of the game: the real-time battles.

These battles are huge in scope and very tactical. Troops are organized by social and military types, and, interestingly, the enemy AI typically responds like traditional Japanese soldiers would. That is, they fight with a certain code of honor in which unit types fight like unit types, and there is no variation from that. Of course, you’re allowed to ignore those honor codes, which is always fun, screwing with different cultural norms. Controlling the units is as simple as clicking a group and dragging them to the selected spot. Since these units can only walk, run, or ride horses, they don’t move terribly fast, which creates a feeling of impending force. This a slow, powerful feeling RTS.

And boy, there are a lot of units. From noble samurai to lowly peasants, to archers and ninjas, there are over 30 different types of Japanese military units to use. These will change over time, as the change in culture and influx of Western influences will influence the state of the battlefield. There’s a lot to keep track of, and the way units are used and upgraded make a big impact on the field.

One of the biggest impacts is the morale of the units. As units charge across the field, they have a morale meter that indicates how they are feeling on the field. If they face a particularly powerful unit, and their morale may drop enough for them to run away in shame. There is actually a couple ways to win these real time matches, and one of them is to weaken enemy morale by out manning them, taking over their fortresses, or to defeat their general.

The generals play a big role in the battles, as a general-less army is severely weakened. When the general is around, he’ll often make a speech to his troops, and these can range from epic poetry to odd words about squirrels and the moon. Depending on what they say, the troops can respond differently, both good and bad. Either way, it’s good to have a general, as they have extra strength in the battle field, will often charge ahead, and can boost morale. However, is they die, troops morale will drop heavily, so it’s best to keep him around as long as possible.

Most of the matches are just battles on a battle field. However, other battles use the new naval battleships to blur the line between units. Shogun-era naval units were like giant floating fortresses, perfect for moving units along the shallow bays and rivers of Japan. Many of the battles will entail sending units from a ship to attack and overtake a Japanese fortress. These buildings have a staggered affect, in which units move from court yard to courtyard fighting. All of these elements will be in play for the epic battles.

The battles that I was shown featured some impressive bits of tech. Shogun 2 is capable of supporting around 56,000 troops on one screen. Up close, sure, they look a little jaggy, but considering each and every one of them are taking part in individualized fights, this is more than impressive. Considering Kendo martial artists did all the mocap for the game, coupled with artists and musicians who spent a year and a to get everything right for the game, there is a very high standard for accuracy here. The team at The Creative Assembly used primary and secondary sources as inspiration for all the elements of the game, as well as the assistance of Japanese and Western scholars to make to make this as accurate as possible. All the voice acting and terminology uses the proper romaji and Japanese language, and real steps have been made to making this the best representation of Shogun Japan as possible.

Over all, I’m pretty impressed with what The Creative Assembly has done. Even in pre-alpha, there are some pretty fantastic bits of tech here (hell, water runs off the roofs in a realistic manner during a rain storm, for example). Moving troops is a simple and thoughtful affair, and it looks like a very realistic take on ordering your troops about and lining them up. Coupled with the turn-based, Civilization-esque elements that I am not yet allowed to talk about, I think Shogun 2: Total War could very well be a major title for RTS PC gamers.

Nintendo of America went and tweeted last night that if you are a member of Best Buy’s Reward Zone Gamers Club (dang, that’s a mouthful) you can get some (three, actually) Metroid: Other M ring tones with your purchase of the game.

So how about it? Is it worth taking advantage of this AMAZING offer? Actually, it’s not too bad of an offer if you know what the entire package is. Joining the gamer’s club gets you $10 for every $150 you spend on games (plus gaming accessories), and bonus points to your Reward Zone (for games that qualify).

If you don’t really care about where you get games in general, I suppose this could be a sw33t deal (that I personally won’t be taking).

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RedLynx announced today their latest project, MotoHeroz for the Nintendo WiiWare service.

This downloadable racing game featuring three major gameplay options, a single player adventure, four-player local multiplayer, and the daily online competition. In the online mode a new tracks open daily to let you compete on leaderboards. It says that physics are a major factor in the gameplay too. Pretty much exactly what too expect from these guys.

MotoHeroz is slated to be finished around the end of this year or in early 2011. I’m sort of excited for this. Trials HD had some fantastic physics gameplay, and the leaderboard friends list competition could quickly get fairly fierce. I liked that, and am anxious to try out this game. How do the rest of you guys feel about MotoHeroz?

I get more than a little giddy every time I see the words “new action-RPG,” and the full reveal of Bastion from Supergiant Games is no different. Couple that with the promise of an unusually emotional experience and you just might hear me squeal a little. I know, how embarrassing.

In development for the PC and consoles (presumably for XBLA and PSN), Bastion is set in a dying world where the player’s actions change the narration in real time. What does that mean? No clue! But it certainly sounds impressive, and there’s no lack of ambition going into the premise. 

I’m already in love with the game’s art style and tone, and I’m hoping the gameplay will match up. If you’re anything like me, that’s always the part where you get burned. With any luck, this won’t be yet another action-RPG that just isn’t any fun to play.

If you’re PAXing it up this week, you’ll have an opportunity to check the game out, as it was selected as one of the “PAX 10,” a grouping of ten promising independent games. I know there’s a lot to see at PAX, but if I were you, I’d reserve a few minutes for this one.

As if people heading to PAX Prime didn’t have enough to be excited about, Sony and the crew at Sucker Punch have a little something for the crowds in attendance: a playable demo of inFAMOUS 2. Seven kiosks will be set-up at the inFAMOUS 2 booth, #122 on the show floor, with demos featuring Cole’s new weapon, the “Amp,” and a new power called Ionic Vortex. Plus, they’ll be giving out inFAMOUS 2 t-shirts to demo players until they run out. Sounds positively electric! (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) 

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough for you, there’s the inFAMOUS 2 panel featuring new gameplay footage showing off the new Kinetic Pulse power and Ravager enemy. The panel is on Friday night and, according to the PlayStation Blog post, starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Pegasus Theater inside the Sheraton Hotel across the street from the convention center. Are any of you guys amped up about getting to play inFAMOUS 2?

Play inFAMOUS 2 at PAX! [PlayStation Blog]

 Crackdown 2 may have proven rather divisive with the critics and gamers alike, but that hasn’t stopped Microsoft and Ruffian Games from releasing some new toys for those who enjoyed their second stint in Pacific City, in the form of the new “Toy Box” downloadable content.

The DLC comes in 2 flavours. There’s the free version which gives players access to the new vehicle tag game mode as well as 6 arenas to play it in. It also comes with a new thruster option for agents who reach level 6 on all their stats. The thrusters will allow you to launch your agent upwards to reach greater heights for whatever you fancy. To round things up, you are also given access to the Keys to the City cheat mode and the various editing options contained within, such as god mode, infinite ammo and the ability to spawn random objects where you wish.

For the premium version, players will get access to all the above and some additional content such as 2 new vehicles, new weapons, 10 new achievements and an additional 8 agent colours. The 2 vehicles are the squad chopper and the ATV assault vehicle, which I have dubbed the spider-buggy. New weapons include a gravity bender gun, bouncing grenades and portable launchpads.

Both versions of the DLC are available now and the premium version will set you back 560 MSP. User of the free DLC will also get access to the additional premium content if they play a multiplayer session with someone who has purchased the premium DLC. Check out the trailer for a better idea on what’s up on offer.

Anyone planning on returning to Pacific City with the new toys in tow?