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Xbox 360 '08 line-up impressions

Apologies for the delay in posting, but getting up to San Francisco, then back, then catching up on everything I missed isn't easy. I'm not really sure how journalists who spend so much time attending press events manage to get anything else done.

Anyway, as most of you probably know, Microsoft hosted the press in San Francisco to show off its Xbox 360 lineup for the rest of 2008. Of course, those who want the hottest release dates and screenshots probably found them somewhere else, but here's the things I found most interesting about the exclusive games I got to try:

-"Fable 2" is without a doubt the only game that had me really excited. I'm one of those people who considered the first "Fable" to be one of my most disappointing gaming experiences ever, so I'm skeptical. But Peter Molyneux is a very persuasive speaker and her certainly had me convinced that this game will actually achieve of what he said he wanted to do with the first one: create a world where decisions have long-ranging consequences on everything from the story to the character's look and abilities and relationships. All combined with an interface and controls that can reward hard-core players without alienating casuals.

Sure, we've heard it all before, but everything Mr. Molyneux showed certainly indicated that "Fable 2" can actually do it. I was particularly interested in his answer when somebody asked about the path of good/path of evil issue, which as we all know was binary to the point of absurdity in the first "Fable."In this one, he promises, he's not about being good or evil. It's about cruelty vs. kindness:

If you want to be a good guy, you'll have to sacrifice a lot... things like gold or experience. If you're evil, it's all about greed. It's not about killing people or making them suffer.

He gave an example: At one point, a shadow creature tells the player he has to either suffer himself or let a young girl suffer. In most games, like the old "Fable," of course you'd let yourself suffer. But in "Fable 2," if you take the punishment, you'll have scars that will make other people, including your girlfriend or wife, recoil in horror.

Of course, these things are easy to promise and it's all about execution. But Molyneux certainly had very specific ideas about how to implement his grandiose promises, which is a big and exciting step forward.

-"Gears of War 2" was... "Gears of War" with a few improvements. That's hardly a bad thing, since the first was such a solid action game. But I was literally left thinking about how the reticule is a little bigger and the enemies looked a little different, since the gameplay, visuals, interface, etc. were basically the same thing. CliffyB (who else?) promised co-op and multi-player would be bigger and better. But it's basically the same game. I'm sure it'll be fun, but as of yet it doesn't look like it's upping the ante the way, say, "Resistance 2" is.

CliffyB also promised the story will be more epic and more integral to the game this time. Hell, if I can even tell what the story is this time, I'll consider that a huge improvement.

Oh, and remember back in February when I reported that "Gears 2" would have chainsaw battles? Now it's confirmed as true.

-"Too Human" looked a lot like "Mass Effect," which to me is a huge turn-off, but it's probably not the kind of game you can figure out much about in 20 minutes of playing. I can say, however, that the lack of camera controls drove me insane right away. Though maybe it's something you can get used to.

-"Ninja Gaiden 2"? Ummm, I killed a lot of people, then I killed a lot more, then I got bored. I can't imagine doing that for 20 hours, but I'm probably just not the target audience. It looks gorgeous, though. And controls pretty smoothly.

"Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise" and "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts" are not games I feel like I actually understand how to play at all even after watching demos and sitting down to play them for about 20 minutes each.

Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction lives on in three new games

It's time to do a gross injustice to three upcoming games by summarizing them in a few sentences. But honestly, it's not that much of an injustice. I was really taken when recently attending previews of three upcoming videogames by just how similar they all are to a certain well regarded title from 2005...

-Prototype (Sierra/Radical, October): Remember "Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction?" This one comes from the same development studio, except instead of a lumbering behemoth who can destroy anything and anyone in his path, run up walls, jump onto helicopters and destroy them, and turn his environment into weapons, it stars a lithe guy with parkour skills and mutant powers who can destroy anything and anyone in his path, run up walls, jump onto helicopters and destroy them, and turn his environment into weapons.

-Iron Man (Sega/Secret Level, May): Remember "Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction?" "Iron Man" is just like that, except instead of running and jumping through environments as you wreak havoc and weaponize enemy vehicles, you fly and shoot rays while wreaking havoc and weaponizing enemy vehicles.

-The Incredible Hulk (Sega/Edge of Reality, June): Remember "Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction?" "The Incredible Hulk" is just like that game except... except... ummm.... well, he climbs up walls instead of running up them. That's a difference? Right?

This isn't necessarily a criticism. "Hulk: Ultimate Destruction" is a fantastic game -- one of my favorite action games ever, in fact. So I can hardly blame developers for drawing inspiration from it. And of course I don't mean to suggest that these games are total rip-offs. I'm sure they have plenty of original elements in them. But the similarities are striking, to say the least.

The Bourne Conspiracy: No Damon, all action

Still catching up on some previews in the past few weeks of upcoming games I've checked out... this time, it's Sierra's "The Bourne Conspiracy." (Which sounds exactly like the titles of all the books and movies, but is actually original.)

"Bourne" is the first (and definitely not the last) game that Sierra (a division of the soon-to-be-merged with Activision Vivendi) is making as part of an expensive, multi-year license with the Robert Ludlum estate that I first wrote about in Variety in summer of 2005.

The goal is, pretty explicitly, to make Ludlum for Vivendi what Tom Clancy is for Ubisoft -- though it'll be interesting to see whether Activision shares the same goal (more on that issue in a blog post tomorrow or Wednesday).

"Bourne" is, of course, best known to most audiences today for the movies, not the book, but Sierra's license is for the books. Developer High Moon Studios is heavily inspired by the movies and collaborating alot with the talent, though there are some key differences.

Most importantly, gamers will notice that Bourne is not modeled on Matt Damon. The team was considering making a deal with the star, but abandoned that after Damon said at the Cannes film festival last year that he was done with the character. Getting Damon committed to the game when he was no longer committed to the movies would obviously be awkward. (Although -- oops! -- Variety has since reported that Universal has "landed Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon for a fourth "Bourne" movie, even though the director and star seemed ready to wrap it up after three pics.")

But there's lots from the movies. Even though Damon's not involved, Franka Potente is playing her supporting role from "The Bourne Identity" as Marie, which actually strikes me as kind of awkward, but anyway. Film writer Tony Gilroy consulted on the story, which basically tracks "Bourne Identity," but makes all of Bourne's brief flashbacks in the movie fully playable levels, along with some new missions in his past that we haven't seen. Essentially, it's a lot of backstory as we learn more about how Jason Bourne got so f*cked up by the CIA.

The most important collaboration, however, might be with the movies' fight coordinator Jeff Imada, who spent "hundreds of hours" working with High Moon to motion capture all the different fight moves (dozens, if not hundreds) in the game, which are in the exact same style of the movie. Beyond giving Bourne his signature take-down moves using items in the environment, each of the bosses has his (or her?) own unique fighting style designed by Imada.

That's the most important thing because the game is pretty much non-stop action. It's all adrenaline, with basic third person action that we've seen before interspersed with takedowns, which you can pull up when you build up enough adrenaline (or whatever "Bourne's" name for the boost meter is; they all kind of blur together). Not only do they look really cool, but the camera moves in close, with camera angles that mimic the hand-held fast moving camera that director Paul Greengrass used in the second and third "Bourne" films.

All of the takedown moves I saw, which involved using walls, filing cabinets, pens and dry erase boards to take enemies down, along with Bourne's hands and feet, were really impressive. Will they be just as impressive after playing the game for a few hours? Will the shooting and driving -- which seemed fairly standard in the demo I saw -- stand out as much as the hand-to-hand action?And will the multi-player be able to take advantage of the game's signature moves, or in an effort to balance it out will it be a chaotic mess, a la "Stranglehold?"

Those are all the big questions I'm left with leading up to June, when "The Bourne Conspiracy" comes out.

(Oh, and a note to developers: If you want to flatter me during a game demo, tell me that I'm doing a better job than some enthusiast press (IGN, GameSpot, etc.) writers who were there earlier in the day. Sure, you may be transparently flattering me, but it totally worked during "The Bourne Conspiracy" demo, I can't lie.)

GDC: Lego Batman and Speed Racer

The slog through all the previews I did in and around GDC is almost over. Today, the two games that Warner Bros. Interactive showed off...

Lego Batman (Fall)

First things first: This game is a lot like "Lego Star Wars." And I mean a lot. Imagine "Lego Star Wars" with Batman characters and, well, that's exactly what this game looks like.

And the gameplay? It's mostly the same. Simple fighting. Build bridges, steps, tools, etc. out of Lego pieces lying around.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing, is it? "Lego Star Wars" was eminently fun and the whole point of "Lego Batman" is to bring that fun to the world of the caped crusader. So along with Batman and Robin (the only playable heroes I saw, though I'd bet we'll see Batgirl in the final version as well), we get the entire "rogues gallery" -- villains like Joker, Penguin, Scarecrow, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Killer Croc, etc. In a nice twist, and one that makes sense since there are so many cool villains in the Batman world than heroes, the entire game can be played through in either hero or villain mode, with concomitant heroic or dastardly goals.

There are also some tweaks to the action. The developer from Traveler's Tales (now owned by Warner Bros.) who as there noted that they put a lot of work into the hand-to-hand combat in "Lego Batman," since it's not all about light sabers and blasters as it was in "Lego Star Wars." In addition, Batman has a batarang that can be thrown at different targets in an arc, kind of like Link's boomerang in "Zelda."

The temp music was from the score written by Danny Elfman for the 1989 "Batman" movie. A Warner rep said they haven't decided yet if that will be the final music in the game. If it is, I can only hope it won't repeat so often because I got sick of it in about 20 minutes of playing.

Speed Racer (May)

Kotaku said the game looks a lot like "Wipeout," and it's hard to disagree. Though it also plays kind of like "Burnout," with slo-mo takeout moves, called "car fu," when you slam into an enemy from behind.

It's a pretty basic Wii and DS game that's being made fairly quickly to hit the film's release date (with a PS2 version coming with the DVD in the fall). But it has 15 different tracks (three tracks in five stadiums), each of which can be played three ways and 20 different "Speed Racer" characters. Leads Emile Hirsch, Christine Ricci and Matthew Fox provide their likeness and voice, though since there's not really a story, the v/o work seems limited to pretty standard taunts during the race.

It's the first third party game, and I believe the second game besides "Mario Kart," to use the Wii Wheel -- basically a round piece of plastic that turns the Wii-mote into a steering wheel.

One cool feature: The developers at Sidhe Interactive got the Wachowski Brother's f/x team to provide fully built out drawings of the tracks that we only see portions of in the movie for the game. Some of those had to be significantly scaled back to fit in the game so it didn't take 20 minutes to drive one lap, but it's still a really smart tie-in to the film world.

I also played a DS version, which allows up to 6 person multi-player (as opposed to two-person split screen in the Wii version) and, oddly, has even more tracks than are on the Wii. Though it would seem like you'd use the touch screen for "car fu" take downs, in the same way that you use the Wii Wheel, developers found that was really hard to make work in a simple way and stuck with a button-based mini-game instead.

Disney's "Ultimate Band"... everything you wanted to know

By now you've probably heard about Disney's new entry into the music/rhythm category, "Ultimate Band," which comes out in the fall. If not, check out my story from yesterday's Daily Variety.

You probably know the basics: It's a music game for Wii and DS that uses their motion sensing / touch screen to play the instruments, so it doesn't come with any extra peripherals. It's being developed by Disney Interactive's Fall Line Studio in Utah, which DIS established in 2006 to make Wii and DS games. Though the development house has contributed to some other projects, this is the first game that's being made entirely at Fall Line.

But I learned a lot more that I wasn't able to fit in the story. So here, direct from my interview with Senior Game Designer Derek Dutelly, are all the details on "Ultimate Band"

-The DS version will use the same technology as the "Hannah Montana" music game for Nintendo's handheld system that Disney Interactive put out last year. It's basically the same game with all new visuals. That means in addition to playing instruments by tapping them on screen, players can also create original compositions and share them with friends via the DS wireless connection. They can also play in a virtual band together via bluetooth.

-By using the Wii peripherals, Disney wants to make "Ultimate Band' much easier to pick-up-and-play than "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band." "We're 'Burnout' and they're 'Grand Turismo,'" Dutilly said to illustrate the difference.

-The drum-playing mechanic doesn't use any pointing. Instead, "Ultimate Band" utilizes the Wii-mote accelerometer to tell how and when players are tapping an invisible drum kit. How can you get more than two notes out of the Wii-mote and nunchuk? By swinging either controller to the side, instead of just up and down.

-For guitar, players strum by moving the Wii-mote up and down. Different notes are played with combinations of the "c" and "z" buttoms on the nunchuk, which players hold up like the neck of a guitar.

-"The bass is not just a dumbed down version of the guitar," Dutilly promises, taking on a common complaint about "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band." In addition to the basic notes and strumming from the guitar mechanic, bass players can move the nunchuk up and down to simulate sliding along the neck of the bass. That gives them a range of extra notes.

-There's no singer, because Disney didn't want to include (and charge for) a microphone with the game. Instead there's is what Disney calls the "front man." That's the person whose job it is to move around and get the crowd riled up. No, I'm not quite sure what that means either, but it sounds like it'll either be innovative and cool or the really lame position for the person who knows literally nothing about videogames.

-That concept of riling up the crowd is important throughout "Ultimate Band." Beyond the "front man," other  players have the ability to get  the crowd roaring. That's what the "a" button letting the guitarist "grandstand" in the above screenshot is, I assume. And the drummer has the ability to swing the sticks in his or her hands between notes to excite the audience (the audience is easily excitable, it seems).

-Songs already announced include "Steady as She Goes" by the Raconteurs, the Who's "My Generation" and "Fell in Love With a Girl" by the White Stripes. They're all covers, which Disney says is because the game is designed to not have any long stretches without one instrument playing (which can get annoying in "Rock Band"). I'm sure the lower cost of covers may have influenced a budget-conscious company like Disney a bit too.

-Visual design and song selection will all be pretty tame. Disney is targeting an E-10 + rating.

I didn't quite have the chutzpah to ask Dutilly what seemed like the most obvious question to me: Couldn't you guys have come up with a better name than "Ultimate Band?" Was "Super Rock Band" already taken by someone?

GDC: Getting my ass kicked at "Street Fighter IV"

Even back in the day when I haunted arcades, I wasn't much of a "Street Fighter" fan. I wasn't smart enough or coordinated enough to memorize and implement all the crazy combo's, which resulted in me getting my ass kicked repeatedly.

Visiting Capom's suite at GDC was a nice flashback to those days. Not only did I not really know what I was doing as I sat down to play "Street Fighter IV," but I was visiting the suite at the same time as some folks from Destructoid. Really nice guys but, as anyone who has visited the site knows, it's for hard core gamers. Which means it's by hard core gamers. Which means I got a nice flashback to the '80s as my ass was handed to me repeatedly, in the form of E. Honda or Guile falling on his ass.

(There's a photo on the left of two people playing against each other.)

I should have known I would be in trouble when I admitted to the guy sitting next to me I wasn't sure of all the controls (there were some on the machine, but they were in Japanese) and his response was "Guile controls the same." My seemingly logical response was "The same as what?" And the exasperated enthusiast game journalist replied "as in 'Street Fighter 2.'" As in "Duh." As in "How could anyone come to the Capcom booth and not remember how the controls worked in "Street Figher 2?!"

The game comes out this summer at arcades in Japan. It hasn't yet been announced on consoles but, you know... it'll probably hit 360 and PS3 by the holidays or sometime in 2009. Possibly in conjunction with the new "Street Fighter" movie.

So what was "Street Fighter IV" actually like? Pretty much the same as the "Street Fighter" I remember as a kid, except awesome hi-def graphics and more stuff going on in the background. To be honest, I'm probably not the best person to critique the game, as you may have picked up, so since I've picked on them a bit, I'll refer you to Destructoid for a more in-depth analysis.

Also on display was the new "Bionic Commando" game. Actually the two new "Bionic Commando" games -- the XBLA and PSN game "Bionic Commando Rearmed," which is essentially a tweaked version of the classic, and the new 3-D version for next-gen consoles.

I only got hands on "Rearmed," which certainly looks good and will be a fun throwback for those who loved the old version. I didn't get to play the 3-D game, but it looked in many ways like your standard abandoned city / jungle shooter. But with the big addition of an extendable bionic arm, of course. I was definitely impressed at how much work the developers put into making it work. There's a great mix of auto-aim, to make sure players don't miss the thing they're trying to latch onto, with manual adjustment to get an object right where you want it. Physics make objects, or the hero, move faster or slower based on the weight of the object he's holding onto. And there are some great fighting combos based on latching onto an enemy and pulling yourself towards him, or him towards you.

In other words, it's the standard game industry thing -- the same old shooter we're used to but with one big new feature. However, it looks like that feature might work extraordinarily well, which is certainly more than you can say for a lot of other action games.

(I should note that my "Bionic Commando" demo was, perhaps inevitably, repeatedly interrupted by screams and yells from the Destructoid guys' "SF IV" matches.)

GDC: Cartoon Network's Fusion Fall

Now that I finally have the EA-Take-Two drama behind me (for the moment) and have finished writing two feature stories for this weekend's weekly Variety (one about the "Lost" game and one about IAC's InstantAction -- I'll link to them and provide some more info as soon as the stories are posted), I can finally get back to GDC. No, there's no big news I missed, but lots of demos I checked out that I haven't yet shared.

First up: Cartoon Network's FusionFall. Like its competitors Disney and Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network is investing in Web gaming in a big way. It already has dozens of casual games on its website and is launching a social gaming service called MiniMatch.

But its biggest project is "FusionFall," a massively multi-player game that launches this summer and encompasses all of its kids (i.e. not Adult Swim) shows and characters. That includes current shows like "Ben 10" and "Foster's Home" along with classics like "Dexter's Laboratory" and (personal favorite) "The Powerpuff Girls."

Like everyone else getting into this crowded space, Cartoon Network is trying to carve out a niche that will help it stand out from everything from "World of Warcraft" to "ToonTown." Paul Condolora, the senior VP in charge of online, told me that while the network is committed to making at least parts of the game online, it's not yet sure if there will be a subscription element or if it will make money in other ways like advertising and micro-transactions. One promise though: They won't follow Disney's lead with "Pirates Online" and surround the game with banner ads for those who don't pay.

Integrating famous characters into MMO's has always been a challenge and the typical solution, used in "Pirates" and "The Matrix Online" and (I believe) "Star Wars Galaxies" is to have the Jack Sparrow's and Morpheus types show up only occasionally to hand out missions or rewards. But Cartoon Network is betting (correctly, I'd say) that kids want more opportunities to interact with their favorite characters, even if playing as them in an MMO context is unfortunately (after all you can't have three Dexter's run into each other in the woods). So while players have to create their own characters, they can collect miniature versions of 32 different network characters, all of whom give the players different abilities. In addition, players pick one of four characters -- Mojo JoJo, Ben 10, Dexter, or Eddy -- as their guide at the beginning of the game.

Though it will have classic questing modes, "FusionFall" also has something new in an MMO -- platforming. I'm not exactly sure how it will be integrated into the gameplay, but in my limited demo it  worked just as well as any other standard 3-d platformer. The appeal is obvious, since a simple platforming level is a lot more accessible and fun than a quest if you want to play for 20 minutes at a time. Game is being aimed at 8-14 year-olds, rather than really small kids, which will let the designers include a modicum of action and violence, at least.

Game has something of a Japanese anime look, which is the designers' compromise as they integrate dozens of different shows all with their own artistic style.

The most amusing part of the demo, however, may have been how enthusiastic and downright immature (I meant that in the best way possible) the designers were. "FusionFall's" executive producer  Chris Waldron told me they all like to play as Mojo Jojo (the monkey villain from "Powerpuff Girls," pictured right) as their guide because, let's face it, he's the coolest character Cartoon Network has going. And he compared the game's story, which brings all of the characters of the Cartoon Network universe together to stop a planet-wide threat, to DC's classic "Crisis on Infinite Earths."

Sure, spending millions of dollars on a downloadable MMO aimed at kids is a product of pure business analysis, which is why everyone's doing it. But comparing it to "Crisis" is the kind of geekiness I think any gamer can get behind.

GDC: THQ and Pixar, studio acquisition plans, and more from Disney Interactive

Yesterday afternoon I got a look at some upcoming releases from Disney Interactive Studios and also spoke to the division's head Graham Hopper about its growth strategy and challenges.

Graham was able to clear up a bit of confusion about what's going on with THQ and Disney/Pixar games. As I noted on Tuesday, it was a bit surprising that Disney Interactive got the rights to make a game based on 2010's "Toy Story 3," as THQ still has one more game after 2009's "Up" left in its contract with Pixar. Hopper confirmed that while his unit got the rights to make a "Tory Story 3" game, THQ still gets to make one more title based on a Pixar movie under its contract. We can assume that will probably be whatever Pixar makes in 2011.

Hopper wouldn't make a commitment one way or another as to whether Disney Interactive will take over the Pixar license after the THQ deal expires. It's widely expected in the industry that it will, for the simple reason that most Pixar games (with the notable exception of "Ratatouille") are big successes and with all the emphasis that Disney putting on games, why wouldn't it prefer to make them in-house?

"We're a growing organization and Disney already as a company produces more content than we can make into games," he noted. "We would only do [a Pixar deal] if we could really deliver. We will re-examine that in a few years."

Hopper also said that "Turok" is selling "better than we had anticipated," though it's hard to know what Disney anticipated since this game was its first stab at the M-rated market. But handheld games based on Disney Channel properties and "High School Musical" games on numerous consoles continue to be big sellers, giving DIS some financial stability as it attacks other genres. There's a third "HSM" game announced for this spring and Hopper confirmed that more will be coming soon (no surprise there).

Finally, look for Disney Interactive to be investing in or acquiring more development studios in the near future. Last year it acquired Warren Spector's Junction Point, joining other recent purchases like Propaganda Games, Black Rock, and Avalanche. "We've said we are spending $180 million to $200 million on development this year and then we're moving up to $350 million, so that money has to go somewhere,"  Hopper told me.

I also got a look at some of Disney's upcoming titles, which include a mix of its bread-and-butter and an new genre:

-"Pure" is the first game from Black Rock, the British racing game developer (formerly Climax Racing) that Disney acquired in 2006. "Pure" features four-wheel ATV's, seemingly an odd choice at first, since they aren't as cool-looking as cars, but they allow for some great high-speed aerial tricks, which is what the game's all about. It features an interesting and fairly intuitive system for gaining the power to do crazy stunts on the ATV while high in the air, which needs to be balanced with the need-for-speed to win the race. And it has 16 person multi-player, which is pretty intense. Also of note: Even though it doesn't seem to go naturally with Mickey Mouse, Hopper confirmed that "Pure" will be Disney-branded and not go out with the Touchstone label like "Turok" did. There's a fantastic screenshot from "Pure," which comes out in the Fall, at the top of this post. And if you want to see a trailer, we just posted one on the right in the "video game trailers" widget.

-"Prince Caspian" is, of course, an adaptation of the film based on the classic C.S. Lewis "Narnia" novel that comes out in May. Developed by Traveller's Tales, just like the "Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' game, it's another inoffensive hack-and-slash game, but with a slightly less linear approach. The first level is entirely new to the story. Designed to add some action early on, it bridges the gap between "Wardobe" and the new book/film. The rest of the game follows the plot of the film, and even directly uses some digital scenery from it. But it gives players the freedom to pick missions on each level in whatever order they choose and has a wide variety of playable characters, including minotaur, centaurs and giants, beyond the four protagonist siblings. I'm guessing most gamers will be happy to play as a mythical beast rather than a bunch of pre-pubescent kids.

-"D-Gamer" is a service Disney Interactive is developing that will essentially add kid-friendly social networking tools to Nintendo DS games. It starts with "Prince Caspian." Essentially, the game has an extra app that lets players create an avatar, collect items, and chat with friends. It's very similar to the community features on Disney.com and in fact uses the same technical infrastructure and lets kids communicate back-and-forth between the Web and DS. Creating a social network entirely for games from one publisher seems a bit risky, though if any brand has the consumer affinity to pull it off, it's Disney.

"Grand Theft Auto IV" preview

Last Friday, Rockstar Games was in L.A. giving journalists an in-depth peek at “Grand Theft Auto IV,” along with a look at the improvements in “Bully: Scholarship Edition,” the 360/Wii version of 2006’s awesome “GTA at prep school.”

Demo’s were done at the Chateau Marmont hotel (but of course… where else would Rockstar do demo’s but Chateau Marmont?). I can’t deny that I was a little distracted the whole time wondering how many times Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears ever collapsed (from exhaustion, of course) in the very room I was sitting in. But once I got past that, I was just as impressed as I hoped to be by “GTA IV.”

Rockstar’s VP of development Jeronimo Barrera (who led me through the demo) wasn’t shy about how much of an advance his team thinks the game is. “’Grand Theft Auto 3’ changed the industry tremendously, but in many ways this is a bigger leap,” he boasted. (Sure, it’s kind of a canned line. But he sure seemed to believe it.)

Let’s start with the way he’s not right: Fundamentally, “GTA IV” is the same game we’re used to – the basic structure created in 2001’s “GTA III.” It’s a third person action title about a newcomer to Liberty City who meets lots of people, goes on missions both to earn money and fulfill a personal goal, and is capable of wreaking total havoc along the way.

We’ve also got the series’ trademark character types, from thugs to funny small-time gangsters to a stoic lead. Protagonist Niko is an Eastern European immigrant who is aptly described by one guy he meets as “a badass mofo who ain’t afraid to take cats down.”

But how is Jeronimo right? Graphically, “GTA IV” is really a cut above. Not so much in the minutiae, but the depth. As we’ve come to expect from “GTA,” there are no loading times, but the number of people and vehicles, the variety of settings, and the believable actions of them all are tremendous. Seeing the
Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn (or Liberty city’s versions of them) is just plain awesome.

Ditto the dynamic character and vehicle actions. Shoot a guy in the knee and he hobbles. Blow out a car’s right wheel and it veers in that direction. Pull a gun on a civilian and she’ll beg for her life. Liberty City feels alive and responsive. Even though  it’s not as big in area as San Andreas, there’s more richness and depth along the way, which I consider a very welcome tradeoff.

Finally, “GTA IV” attempts to seriously integrate modern day technology in a realistic way. Niko has a cell phone that he can use for any number of purposes. We’re used to cell phones that occasionally ring with player instructions, as in “No More Heroes,” but Niko can place calls on his and get responses. In the example I saw, he called 9-1-1 so he could –- you guessed it -– jack a police car. I also saw Niko use the police car’s computer to look up a criminal’s address. And I’m told “GTA IV” features in-game Internet access as well. I didn’t get to poke and prod those applications, so I have no idea how deep they go, but the idea of a character who can proactively and dynamically use modern communication tools is a qualitative leap forward in gameplay if it works.

There are some other less impressive but still welcome advancements, like a weapons system that works perfectly well –- nothing amazing, but finally “GTA” is on par with other action games. In-game music looks like it’s going to once again be ultra-deep and will probably feature some new on-demand twists we haven’t seen before. Personally, though I was kind of enjoying the right-wing talk station. It just felt right on a respite in the car between shooting sh*t up.

Not as much to say about “Bully: Scholarship Edition.” If you never played the original “Bully,” I highly recommend it. On PS2 it was my second favorite game of 2006 (only behind “Okami") and really wowed me with its solid gameplay and satirical eye. “Scholarship Edition” amps up the graphics, adds a few amusing missions and classroom activities, and includes some offline multi-player mini-games. Perhaps enough to make those who missed out on “Bully” first time around to feel like they got something for the wait, but not exactly a tricked out "director's cut" for those who have played it before.

(For a full gallery of new "Grand Theft Auto IV" screenshots, click here.)

GameCock's "Hail to the Chimp" furries invade L.A.

When you see a bunch of adults dressed up in furry hippopotamus, woodchuck, and polar bear costumes, it probably means one thing: GameCock is in town.

The indie publisher came to L.A. on Super Tuesday to promote “Hail to the Chimp,” its political-themed animal party game that comes out this spring. I found their bus parked behind the LA County Museum of Art, where they were doing a few last demos before preparing to crash the John McCain party at Hollywood bar The Cat and the Fiddle.

GameCock CEO Mike Wilson – wearing the same “Ski Iraq” t-shirt I saw him in at last summer’s E3, but looking a lot less plastered – showed off the game with two folks from developer Wideload. The gameplay is pretty basic – beat down your opponents and collect “clams” to win votes – but it’s quite ambitious in terms of on- and offline four-person competitions, high-end graphics, and a huge amount of satirical wrap-around content from its faux-news network, GRR news, hosted by a Woodchuck. A commercial for Oprah as a killer whale named Orcrah was a favorite of mine. (GRR has an extensive Web presence already. I particularly recommend the history of the network.). I’ll also admit I was surprised to find out the game uses Unreal Engine, since I think I’ve yet to see an Unreal game that didn’t feature guys with biceps bigger than my head blowing away everything in sight.

GameCock has apparently taken its game character furries to a few states in conjunction with caucuses/primaries in Iowa, South Carolina and now California.It’s mostly for promotion, obviously, but they are also running a voter registration site called Cock the Vote and are planning to do some more work with Rock the Vote – which seems like a good way to earn back karma after ruining Ken Levine’s acceptance speech at the Spike Video Game Awards.