The screenshots are undeniably professional. Whether fake or not, they were made by graphic artists. If they are real they would have to be artwork because of the smooth edges, the character poses and unusual camera angles.
There is also a Revolution logo on a banner on the bridge in the second pic. It shows a half-circle with lines crossing through it. Here´s an enlargement of the logo.
The Retro Studio logo is shown in both pictures, which would suggest that Xenias (or X3N145, as it is spelt here) could be a new IP Retro is developing for the Revolution.
Lots of questions remain unanswered: Where did these pics really originate from? What is Nintendo´s and Retro´s official response to them? Where did the rumour about a game called Xenias originate from? Have Retro or Nintendo confirmed that Retro is working on a new intellectual property, alongside Metroid Prime 3?
Unfortunately, I don´t have the time to research this right now and answer some of these questions. But I will do so in the next few days. In the meantime, share your thoughts on them. Perhaps the alleged logo can guide us in determining whether X3N145 could be a reality.
14 comments:
I can tell you that the name "Xenias" originated in a fake interview with Reggie and George Harrison on an online game site (Dutch or German, I think.) It was later confirmed that the site did have an interview with Reggie, but not with Harrison. I belive the site posted something admitting that the interview was fake and was put up by accident. It was a little bit after the Zoonami "Guts n' Glory" rumors stoped circulating. I know all the links to the site were provided in various posts on the Nintendo forums, so you could check there first.
I also belive that Retro or Nintendo hinted at them doing something new, but I can't give you a source or even an idea of where to look. With all the rumors, maybe I'm just getting confused.
These are definatly the most convincing screens/artwork from the game I've seen yet. There was some pretty nice looking boxart some time ago, but the creator came out and said it was fake.
Anyway, I'l see if I can find the links and save you some time.
Update 1:
Searching the Nintendo forums, I found transriptions of the interview (no link yet). The interview seems to have come from a magazine/website by the name of "Games Master." A quick Google search shows that this is, in one form, a UK magazine/former TV show. I don't belive this is the same "Games Master" as the one that had the interview. I'm still looking for links on the Nintnedo forums, but the search function is down at the moment.
Update 2:
www.n-magazine.de.hm
That is the original site. It has articles about how the interview was fake and how it got posted. They have a copy of the interview and then a statement addmitting it was fake. It's all a little confusing.
On a visual level I think the screenshot with the ship/buildings on it looks top notch. I think a studio with a high calibar art team such as Retro could produce something that would look like that. However, the other screen with the characters looks not as convincing as the other one. There is simply too much going on, no sense of flow to the peice and overall just looks too busy/messy. The sense of depth I don't think is quite nailed as well as the other peice either. If Retro went out of their way to snag a screenshot and put their logo on it and include the title of the game I sincerely doubt they would have chosen that one. The plane one, maybe, the character one, no. Compared to the games we've seen come from them before I think they would have been more likely to choose something that would actually get us to say "ohhhhh". But this doesn't do that. Theres too much going on, it looked like someone got really excited and just started throwing a bunch of 3D models anywhere that had room for them. The plane one isn't presented this way. I think it was done by a talented fake, they did the plane screen very well (not as cluttered, plus its easier when you're not working with characters, the depth perception and composition are way better). The other one I don't think a team like Retro would release something like that, it's too claustrophobic. Thats my two cents at least.
Sorry for the repeated posts. I enlarged the Revolution logo on the bridge. You can see it clearer than in the original enlargement.
Revolution Logo
It's all too obvious that X3N145, and the retro and revolution logos have been photoshopped in... man when will these guys quit cranking out the fakes!!!?????
Hi everyone.
@Takeshi_Kovacs: Yup, I read about that dealer fair. I have contacted Nintendo Germany to confirm or deny this event is actually taking place. I will know by Friday, I guess.
@robotplague: Yeah, you are so right about that screenshot. That one IS a bit iffy. I didn´t like the red crosses on the uniforms. They look very amateurish. Also, the texture on the leg things they are wearing looks a bit cheap to me. My girlfriend (the 3D artist) also pointed out that light and shadow vary greatly from foreground to background levels. That huge ship in the back is too light to fit the rather dark bridge. Overall, it´s still a professional look. But some details just look out of place and it may even be a number of individual pieces assembled together.
@googleplexer: Wow, thanks man! That was good research there. I do think that Xenias was mentioned somewhere before the fake Reggie interview cropped up. If I remember correctly, the fake box art (on an SD card shaped background) was older than that interview. So I am still confused exactly where the name originated first.
@fihu: Also, thanks! But again, I do think that Xenias was mentioned somewhere before the Reggie interview. That´s why I don´t think these guys admitting to faking the interview necessarily casts doubts on the screenshots.
Overall, though, I must say after reading your posts, I am more sceptical now. I guess it was just wishful thinking on my part ;)
If I can, I´ll try and contact Retro tomorrow and post what they said. I´ll do it more for a laugh, though. I don´t think they´ll say anything about that.
@Falafelkid
Forget about Xenias the Xenias box-art was made two weeks after the fake interview. The guys over at n-magazine had a chat in wich they invented the name xenias and then they made the fake interview and see it worked it´s like with the ON video...people seem to belive everything.
Just saw on the Gamespot forums that these pictures were found on Deviant Art. Too bad.
Didn't Aries talk about that game first ?
He said : "As I said earlier, Retro is working on a Halo killer. This game is going to be one of the best games at E3. In my opinion, StarCraft was the best RTS ever. This game is going to use some similar ideas. In most FPS, you play as a hero trying to save the day. In Retro’s game, they allow you to choose which storyline you want to play, just like StarCraft allows you to play as Terran, Zerg, etc. Biological weapons will play a major part in the game. Imagine fighting in a chemical plant, where toxics are stored everywhere. By shooting them, you emit the toxic. If you get hit by this stuff, many different things may happen. For instance, you may lose sight on the screen, your controls might be inverted or slowed down, etc. Or, if your character gets the fever, the controller might get hot. Very hot. The alien races are very interesting also. You will be able to switch to 3rd person in order to move faster (similar to running in Odd World: Stranger’s Wrath). You will be able to “impregnate” human players by grabbing on to them for a certain amount of time. This will implant a NPC in them, which will burst out at your command, instantly killing the human player. You will then be able to use voice control to command the NPC."
Falafelkid, do you have an opinion about this guy ?
Hi Kraid. Thanks for your comments. Good question about Aries. I have read all of his posts back then, but I must admit I never really sat down to count his predictions that came true and those that didn´t. From what I overheard and sort of remember myself he did predict the downloadable back catalogue, though. Now, that would make him sort of insider, for sure. Noone would have been able to guess that, as it is a first in videogame history. The announcement certainly struck me as a surprise.
About the screens coming from Deviant Art: I couldn´t find them there yet. Still looking... Do you have a link, please?
@ Falafelkid : yes, no problem ;
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/7902774/
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/13789813/
fake, fake, and fake.
Thanks for the links, Kraid. That renders the images fake. Interesting sidenote: that revolution banner is in the original... Ah, well. One of those things, I guess.
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