Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor Gets a Heavy Date (Finally)…

Posted on March 5, 2012 by geelw

That date would be a release date: June 19 in North America and June 22 across European territories. Rats. Now, I’ll just HAVE to buy a Kinect it seems. No more slacking off and hanging out at a friend’s place just because he’s not using his as much as I think he should. Oh well.. but I guess I’ll be a happier camper in the end. Nope, I’m not going near a dancing or exercise game (other than Double Fine Happy Action Theater, as you’ll find yourself dancing, exercising and playing in lava before you know what hit you), nor do I want to get all “pew-pew” with a shooter that works fine with a decent controller. I missed out on the original Steel Battalion thanks to the expense and not enough space here for that ridiculously awesome custom controller setup, but this time, it looks like Capcom will get me. Now, if they’d only sell enough copies of the new game to fund a proper HD remake of the original just so those who’ve missed it can see what was (and still is) a pretty unique game experience. That, folks, would be even more spectacular…

Jet Set Radio Trailer: What’s Old Is New(s) Again…

Posted on March 5, 2012 by geelw

Yeah, I missed running this short trailer update a few days back, but amusingly enough, a few weeks ago, I had the Dreamcast here plugged in and yup, got in some time with the original. Sega’s on the right track here, although in a perfect world, they’d just get a bunch of classic DC games out on a disc format so more people could play them. One game at a time may get the internet cheering (when it’s the RIGHT game), but I think the better thing to do would be to let more people see just what the Dreamcast era was all about with a bit of healthy budget-priced overkill….

PANEKIT Update: A Buck? Sure, Why Not?

Posted on March 5, 2012 by geelw

Of course, I wasn’t actively looking for one, but you know how this one goes. Just by chance, I found a copy of this gem on eBay last week with a dollar starting bid from a seller in Japan. Given that it’s gone for a lot more previously but demand seems to have leveled off, I figured I’d take a chance while hoping not to get sniped on the last minute (like I did with the last copy I bid on last year).

Long story short: the auction ended where it started, so I scored the game for a dollar (plus eight more for airmail shipping). Another update to come (and maybe a photo or two) once it arrives and I play around with it a bit…

Clan of Champions Isn’t What You Think It Is (And That’s Probably A Good Thing)…

Posted on March 5, 2012 by geelw

This spring, NISA will be publishing Acquire’s upcoming downloadable PS3, Xbox 360 and PC fantasy action game (for up to six players), Gladiator VS under a name that makes it sound exactly like either a RPG or a League of Legends pastiche. This of course, could work for or against the game as I can see JRPG fans wanting to snap it up automatically because of the Nippon Ichi connection and overly protective LoL fans thinking it’s a shoddy rip-off of some sort. Yours truly falls under the happy medium label, as I want to see the game succeed on its own merits and not just some accidental honors blessed upon the game by those who automatically support ANYTHING certain companies put out just to add another notch to their gaming belts. Of course, i don’t want it to fail miserably because it gets bad word of mouth from too many people who haven’t a clue (and nope, uninformed opinions based on NOT touching the game don’t count). In English: personally, I like what Acquire has done here (and with previous entries in the series) and want to see how it’s all turned out, no matter who publishes it and under what name.

Granted, if it were titled “Mr. Pablum’s Peanut Butter Palace” or something similarly silly, I’d wonder who the hell was thinking up these game names and how the hell I could get a piece of THAT particular pie. I can think up dopey names all day, so I should at least be able to collect a paycheck for that…

Assassin’s Creed III Cover Makes Some See Red(coats)…

Posted on March 5, 2012 by geelw

As for me, after the last couple of installments doing their best to milk things dry, I like the new location the series is headed to. The choice of a Revolutionary War setting shows that Ubisoft is interested in taking the series in a different direction that just may shake up the gameplay in a few core areas. I always get a chuckle out of poking around message boards and seeing the bile flow from the folks that don’t get the fact that the AC series isn’t “their” game. Like it or not, at the end of the day, Ubisoft dictates what goes on in the series and as long as the games continue to sell, you can expect them to keep being made. As for those who were expecting the series to stay overseas as far as settings go… lighten up, already. Sure, it may seem jarring to have things leap from the vast and lovely architecturally dense cities to pre-1800 America and its fight for independence, but let’s just see where this one goes as more info (and some ACTUAL gameplay) are released, hmmmm?

Hell, I’ll only complain if I see the exact same game mechanics and animations (and maybe some Dodge cars being driven during a big battle sequence like in that stupidly overblown commercial from last year)…

Dragon’s Dogma Class Skills Video Updates: Six More Short Strong Ones…

Posted on March 5, 2012 by geelw

And here you go: six additional super short to short videos of more skill usage from Capcom’s upcoming action/RPG. Just when you think you’ll be sticking with a melee or archer class, along comes some cool mage spells to cast and there goes your game plan straight out the window. As much fun as these are to watch, I’d actually prefer all these DD clips be combined into one longer video or ones longer than a few seconds each, but hey… it’s Capcom’s world and we’re just living in it. Or we all will be when the game hits retail in May…