New York Comic Con 2013: All the news, from Nintendo to Ubisoft and more

Steven Ogg, the voice and motion capture actor for Grand Theft Auto 5’s Trevor, said during a panel at New York Comic Con this weekend that capturing the controversial torture scene was “just another day at the office.”

As reported by IGN, Ogg said that the scene was plagued with more technical difficulties than moral ones. During the scene, Trevor tortures a man who he has been accused of withholding information about an impending terrorist attack — however, both the player and Trevor know he is innocent. During the scene, which there is no option to skip, players are asked to pull the man’s teeth out and waterboard him.

Sega has been focusing on mobile publishing lately, and it’s not just because of the wider audience available on tablets and smartphones. The goal, Sega officials told Polygon at New York Comic Con, is to eventually deliver games that are connected across all platforms.

“We want to be where games are, basically. I think the powerful thing for mobile, for us as a company, is just the potential audience,” said Chris Olson, vice president of digital business at Sega, in an interview with Polygon yesterday. “It’s an opportunity to introduce new players to Sega games and Sega characters.”

The Pac-Man games have always been about chasing and eating — two things which are always exciting, according to lead developer Konito Komori.

Speaking with Polygon, Komori said that the franchise’s upcoming title Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, which launches on Oct. 29, remains faithful to the original chase-and-eat idea but had to be tweaked to appeal to a modern audience. But no matter what changes the series undergoes, it will always be about keeping mechanics simple — and it will never not be about chasing and eating.

I have to save this chocobo.

In this hands-on demo of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13, Dr. Gysahl — the leading chocobo expert — has sent me on a quest to find the Angel of Valhalla, an elusive white chocobo that legends say will lead me to one of the goddess Etro’s shrines. The shrine is allegedly a spring of Chaos, the dark smoke-like substance in which monsters lurk, the poisonous force that will bring about the end of the world. I — playing as Lightning, the goddess’ champion and the savior trying to save the world — have found this chocobo, but only after battling a dangerous creature called a Chocobo Eater to the death. The Eater has left the Angel’s pristine white feathers matted with blood, and he’s dying.

We played a couple of Injustice matches on PS Vita during New York Comic Con, and the action was just as smooth as you’d hope it would be in a fighting game. A developer from Armature Studio told Polygon that the studio’s goal was to deliver the same visual quality on PS Vita as in the console versions (screenshot above) — including a frame rate of 60 frames per second — and the company was able to make it happen.

The models for characters such as Batman, Bane, Flash and Zod looked fine but not great when seen up close in pre-match cutscenes. Yet once a match actually began, we didn’t see any noticeable visual flaws; even the effects-heavy special attacks were represented admirably on the handheld. The Armature developer explained that the team was able to remove minor elements from the console versions, like a barrel or two way in the background, for the PS Vita version because the screen is so much smaller and a player wouldn’t miss those small details.

WB Games Montreal is telling a different type of origin story for the Dark Knight. It’s not about Bruce Wayne turning into Batman; it’s about the less experienced Batman becoming the self-assured Batman we know from the two previous Arkham games. That older, wiser Batman, in addition to fighting criminals with world-class combat skills and high-tech gadgets, can actually match wits with the arch-villains he faces.

“Our story is one of personal growth. It’s one where the Batman at the start of our game is someone — he’s used to being the best,” said Eric Holmes, creative director at WB Games Montreal, in an interview with members of the media during New York Comic Con this weekend.

Baker’s list of required recitings included lines from previous Arkham games, The Return of the Joker and a monologue from Alan Moore’s Batman: The Killing Joke. The scene takes place as Commissioner Gordon is heading through the Tunnel of Love.

“It’s one of my favorite monologues,” Baker said. “To me, it’s one of the best cross-sections of who the Joker is.”

A Link Between Worlds’ main antagonist is an ashen-faced character named Yuga, whom Aonuma described through a translator as “suspicious.” According to Aonuma, Yuga’s interactions with Princess Zelda in Hyrule and with Princess Hilda in Lorule are what set the story of A Link Between Worlds in motion. The sorceress has been turning people into two-dimensional cave paintings, a state that Link uses to his advantage when he merges with walls and travels between Hyrule and Lorule.

Aonuma also presented a number of clips of gameplay and narrated over them, explaining elements like the new item rental system. Players will be able to upgrade weapons they own by collecting young creatures called Maiamai — once Link returns the babies to Mother Maiamai, she gives him the option to upgrade a weapon. In the video, Link’s upgraded bow could fire three arrows at once.

“Here, Garrett is very chatty,” said Daniel Windfeld Schmidt (above right), lead level designer on Thief, during the panel. “Me and Steve [Gallagher, the game’s narrative director], we’ll look at that later.”

Garrett’s comments often pointed out elements of the environment or provided information on level objectives, and the hints were strong enough that the player wouldn’t have had to figure out much on their own. Windfeld Schmidt clarified that the clip was taken from a demo of Thief that was intended for members of the media, which is why Garrett gave out so many hints in his narration.

NetherRealm Studios will release a free-to-play brawler, Batman: Arkham Origins for iOS and Android, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment announced today.

The mobile version of Arkham Origns will allow players to fight against Gotham’s most dangerous villains as Batman. Players will be able to unlock Batsuits and upgrade their character as they best opponents.

A demo for Lego Marvel Super Heroes is coming to PC, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live next week, Marvel officials announced during their New York Comic Con panel today.

The PC demo will be available on the Lego website. All three demos hit Oct. 15.

During the Grand Theft Auto 5 panel at New York Comic Con 2013, the voices behind GTA 5’s leading men answered a question on which video game character they wish they could have acted. Fonteno answered with CJ, though the actor added that he’s not terribly upset about it because of a project that he and Malay are currently working on.

When pressed further about that project, Fonteno “dodged the question and quickly changed the subject,” IGN reports.

Here’s the teaser trailer used to announce The Amazing Spider-Man 2 at the New York Comic Con today.

The game is set for a release before the movie of the same name hits theaters in May. It will be coming to PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Windows PC.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will bring role-playing elements to the series and tweak the way Spidey web-swings through the city, when it arrives next year for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Windows PC.

In development by Beenox, the sequel is set to be released by Activision shortly before The Amazing Spiderman 2 film’s May 2, 2014 release, said Marvel’s Chris Baker.

The table is themed around “a higher plane of occult forces in eternal conflict.” Along with Clea and his servant Wong, Doctor Strange must face off against his rival, sorcerer Baron Mordo. According to Zen Studios, voiceover lines and situations were adapted from comic books in the Doctor Strange series.

You can see the table in action in the video above. The table will be available to download on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, Steam, iOS, Android, Windows 8, Mac, Kindle Fire and the Nintendo Wii U eShop.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will launch in Spring 2014, Marvel officials announced during their New York Comic Con panel this morning.

Players will also spend some time as Peter Parker and not just his alter ego as he investigates villains within the city.

Facebook and iOS social game Marvel: Avengers Alliance is coming to Android on Nov. 21, Marvel officials announced today during their New York Comic Con panel.

The developer also walked the attendees through new content coming to the title, including new characters and gameplay addition.

Dark Horse’s upcoming take on The Witcher will explore the gaps in time found between the franchise’s novels.

Specifically, the five-issue run, which kicks off on March 19, will see Geralt hired to deal with an undead witch wife that has taken over the mansion in which she used to live.

Involving Eve Online players in the narrative process for the Eve comic books is a way for them to interpret the world of New Eden for themselves and experience it on a deeper level — in a way, they are creating a history book for Eve, creative director Torfi Frans Olafsson told Polygon.

Olafsson said developer CCP Games felt compelled to adapt these player stories, these facts, into semi-fiction for Eve: True Stories. It would provide more interesting, intimate content for consumers, allowing them to connect to the Eve universe in a new way.

While The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt continues development at CD Projekt Red, a second team has been methodically working on their next big game: Cyberpunk 2077.

“It is going really, really well and the team is growing and the development... well, I don’t want to brag or anything, but really the stuff they’ve come up with is mind-blowing,” said Rafal Jaki, business development manager at CD Projekt Red told Polygon at New York Comic Con.

On Friday, Eiji Aonuma was a man of the people.

Aonuma, the longtime producer of the Legend of Zelda franchise, was the host and star of Nintendo’s lone panel at New York Comic Con 2013. As he was introduced and came up to the dais, the packed room gave him a sustained ovation, and his talk itself was interrupted by applause almost as much as a State of the Union address.

When you think of Square Enix, the first thing that comes to mind likely isn’t action figures.

In 2005 Square Enix began building a mini-market within its empire of international video game offerings. The company’s line of merchandise for its own titles — especially the Play Arts figures modeled after popular game characters — inspired a handful of other companies to reach out for their own toy lines.

Mega Bloks’ take on Call of Duty is designed around the franchise, but not any particular game in the long-running series. That said, the sets will feature iconic characters, vehicles, locations, and, yes, zombies pulled from the game.

“It’s really about the Call of Duty Franchise and not specifically tying it to a game per say,” said Bisma Ansari, Mega Brands vice president of marketing. “The idea is that it is the biggest franchise in the world so we wanted to take the fan base of the franchise itself and convert what they love into toys.”

Hitbox Team launched the platformer on Windows PC in January 2012, and Capcom is bringing it to PlayStation Network, Xbox Games Store and PlayStation Vita in January 2014. The ports, which are being handled by Polish localization and port specialist QLOC, aren’t losing much in the transition, as we saw during a hands-on session on Xbox 360 at New York Comic Con today.

“There are actually some really hardcore guys that play on a keyboard” on the PC version, said Jimenez, since it has four exact directional inputs (the arrow keys). He also pointed out that many skilled Dustforce players on gamepads choose to play with a D-pad rather than an analog stick, since you can get eight precise directions that way.

“For a long time making video games meant big budget development,” says Frank Lantz, the Director of NYU Game Center.

High rent undercut the mainstream video game scene in New York in the 1980s and 90s. In its place, says Lantz, weirder, smaller communities — interested in stuff like web, mobile and downloadable games — took root.