Tag Archives: 2012

Today’s “Humor” Video: Behind The Scenes With Snoop Dogg & TEKKEN Tag Tournament 2

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OK, I don’t want to get beat up or anything, but I did laugh myself off the couch when I heard, then saw ol’ Snoop was going to be part of Namco Bandai’s upcoming fighter. It turns out that we actually have a lot in common as old-school TEKKEN fans, so I can’t knock him at all for being in the position he is where a game company can come a-callin’ and he then responded in a few ways to help promote the final product. The good news is he’s not sitting back and resting on a pile of money and high-grade weed with yet another game credit under his belt. The man actually went and made a video to promote the game and as usual, like him or not, you’ll be seeing the world through smoke-colored glasses for about four minutes as you get your groove on. And of course, here’s a behind the scenes peek featuring among others, Mr. Dogg, fighting game master Justin Wong, and everyone’s favorite actual gamer gal/model, Adrienne Curry. That’s kind of an in-joke around here, as for some reason, a few folks using the internet still think she’s not a gamer based on her looks (which is kind of stupid, as how you look as ZERO to do with whether or not you’re a gamer!)…

TEKKEN Tag Tournament 2  will hit retail in North America on September 11, 2012, Japan – September 13 and Europe on September 14. Expect the internet to keel over a few times from all the online play taking place shortly thereafter.

 

Review: Brave The Video Game (NDS)

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Platform: Nintendo DS/DSi

Developer: Behaviour Interactive, Inc.

Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10+)

Official Site

Score: B- (75%)

While not perfect, with Brave: The Video Game for the Nintendo DS, Behaviour Interactive has managed to bring the familiar fun of plenty of great action platform games from the past. While the portable version is skewed a bit more to younger gamers than the console ones are (don’t let that E 10+ rating fool you), there’s a decent amount of fun to be had with all the sword swinging, bow shooting, platforming and super to mildly simple puzzle solving.  If you’re able to get over the otherwise fine PSOne-era visuals, occasional AI silliness and some jumping issues a better camera angle would have helped fix, you’ll find this to be a nice (albeit brief) diversion if you’ve got a few hours to kill.

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Review: Brave: The Video Game (PS3)

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Platform: PS3 (Also on Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii)

Developer: Behaviour Interactive, Inc.

Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios

# of Players: 1 – 2

ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 +)

Official Site

Score: B (80%)

A fast-paced hack & slash for the younger set with a nice arcade feel, Disney/Pixar’s Brave: The Video Game manages to overcome a few of the issues that plague most movie games that try too hard (or don’t try hard enough) to be fun to play. While not the longest kid-friendly (or preteen friendly, if you go by the E 10+ rating) licensed game out there, the simple pick up and play controls, optional two-player co-op mode, PlayStation Move mini-games and constant action keeps things from dragging after the initial tutorial stage. A few technical issues and a bit of repetition in some brief cut scenes mar the experience, but overall, this is one of those games that anyone can hop into and play and have a blast while doing so.

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Mimoco’s MIMOBOT Collection Expands: The Dark Knight Rises & Return of the Jedi USB Flash Drives

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You have to love Mimoco’s staying power, as despite the drop in memory prices over the years, the company is still going strong thanks to it’s fun line of 8GB to 64GB USB thumb drives that range from cool street art and anime flavors to their popular line of licensed DC Comics, Hello Kitty and yup, Star Wars-themed drives. Their latest collections are now ready for prime time and it’s a winner for fans of Episode Six and a certain Chris Nolan film that’s bound to blow the doors off the box office worldwide when it hits theaters later this month.

Of course, the company also has big plans to release a few VERY limited edition USB drives, so if you’re headed to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con or Star Wars Celebration VI, you’ll be able to get you hands on one of these awesome Biker Scout MIMOBOT drives (to the left, limited to 1000 units). For San Diego Comic-Con ONLY, there will be a mere 500 of these Bane USB drives (to the right, as if you needed to figure out who was who). Now, I;m not going to either event, but I’ll very most likely be headed to the next New York Comic-Con, whenever that is and of course, next year’s Toy Fair. Sooooo, Mimoco, what’s coming up for 2013, hmmmm? Inquiring minds want to know!

DmC Hands-On: Dropping The Second Shoe On The Skeptics

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I like to believe that I was one of a dedicated handful of people genuinely thrilled from the beginning that Ninja Theory was collaborating with Capcom on DmC, its upcoming Devil May Cry reboot/prequel. I like to believe this because while the internet was collapsing on itself like a dead star in its death throes after the initial announcement, I was waving the flag for people threatening all sorts of real life bad things on Capcom and Ninja Theory to shut it and wait for at least a demo to hit before running off at the mouth. I certainly didn’t mind the mug shot of the “emo” Dante or the screenshots and later game movies that showed things shaping up quite well, but still the skeptics railed on. As i didn’t go to E3 this year, as soon as I heard Capcom was dropping into NYC with four upcoming titles, you know I was there in a heartbeat…

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Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Wizard’s Edition Revealed

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As much as I’m not so crazy about pricey collector’s editions these days, this one’s actually a nice buy for the sole reason it’s got an ACTUAL 300-page hardbound book as part of the deal. Namco Bandai’s Club Namco online shop is the first to offer up this $99.99 pre-order, so definitely book it on over there if you want one, as I expect these to sell out FAST.  The other stuff in the package is pretty cool as well, but it’s absolutely awesome to see Namco Bandai doing a limited edition that has something players can actually use as they play the game that gives them a bit more of an attachment to the main character.

OK, it’s worth a hundred bucks, but it’s still not a PERFECT package for some people. If I had to complain about something, it would be the addition of DLC characters in a single player RPG (what if a gamer doesn’t have/want a PSN account or lives in an area where they can’t access broadband?) and the plain US package art which actually manages to make the import version’s lovely but dull cover look absolutely thrilling in comparison. Anyway, start saving up those pennies or if you have them saved, go grab yourself one of these sets ASAP.

New Total Recall Trailer: Arnold Who? Seriously, Is Hollywood Trying To Make Us Forget Him?

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For the three boobs out there who wanted to see that three-boobed lady of the evening in the new film: here you go. Actually, I like Colin Farrell’s reaction and the way the scene is played in the trailer, so hopefully it’ll be as brief in the final cut. The one thing I’m concerned about is I can pretty clearly see who the bad guys are in this remake because the trailer gives them away or hell, the casting is just too obvious. Then again, I’ll prepare to be surprised if I’m wrong. Maybe.

Hmmm… Let’s see now… Swarzenegger Negation Remake Project tally: Conan, Total Recall, (some would say) Predators. At this point, all we need are reboots of The Running Man, The Terminator and maybe one or two of his better action films. Commando and Raw Deal are high comedies with gunplay to me, it’s too early to remake True Lies (which is too much fun to remake anyway) and no, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Eraser or Collateral Damage reboots I’d not even want to see no matter who made them. Of course, I’m kidding (but then again, maybe Hollywood isn’t)…

Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two Hands-On: Twice As Fun (And Then Some)…

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As great fun as Disney Epic Mickey was on the Wii, the game did have a few issues. Granted, the innovative gameplay that allowed players to paint in or remove chunks of the game world meant the Wii was doing some spectacular calculations behind the scenes, but the game camera suffered in too many areas. That and the game could have used a bit more in the way of actual voices for its cast, especially as it captured a wide range of Disney history that demanded to be heard as well as seen. Yes, James Dooley’s fantastic score carried the aural experience to new heights, but something was still missing. For the sequel, I’m happy to report that not only are PS3 and Xbox 360 owners going to get in on the fun, those camera and sound problems are gone and Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two should be on your list of games to dive into when it hits retail in mid-November. I finally got to play the E3 demo of the PS3 version at a Disney event here in NYC and as good as the first game was on the Wii, the new camera system absolutely sings using the Move and /Navigation Controller setup.

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Zombeer? Really? OK, Zombies in Games Are Officially Played Out.

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Yeesh, now I’ve seen everything. Still, you KNEW this was coming, right? That said, The ride is officially shut for the winter, kids. Show’s over, monkey’s dead, and he ain’t gettin’ up anytime soon. Go on home, now… git!  Resident Evil kicked off the zombies thing in games for many and after over 15 years of assorted games featuring the undead in all sorts of genres from nearly every major and plenty of smaller publishers, here we are at Zombeer: Zombies & Beer. Which means (to me, at least) this is the end of the line for anything original and undead-related in gaming. Of course, I could be dead (or undead) wrong, but that title makes my stomach churn for some reason (and not in a good way). All I’m saying is this had better be the best horror comedy first person shooter ever made AND it better be a bit scary too. That awful pun-wreck of a title nearly made me want to poke my eye out with a cold spoon. Anyway, I have a the fingers on one hand crossed that this one doesn’t stink as much as the title and concept do. Eh, maybe I’m in a crappy mood today or something, as stuff like this usually makes me crack up…

When The Last CRT Display Goes, It’s The End of An Era…

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I hadn’t thought about this much as frankly speaking, I’ve actually not been paying too much attention to the classics I grew up with until recently. They can take care of themselves in terms of their familiar gameplay and assorted visual styles holding up, but things are certainly a lot more grim on the technical side. Nostalgia is indeed wonderful when it does what it does and makes you smile, but today’s gamers are getting the shorter end of the stick despite having better, faster (and yes, more expensive) ways to play games.

Sure, today’s fast-moving technology is great and all, but sometimes “vintage” is more acceptable for some things for a few very key reasons.  According to a press release I got from the fine folks at  Dream Arcades yesterday, the lack of new CRT’s is probably going to affect their bottom line at some point (and sooner that they’d like) and will probably signal the death of another central core of vintage gaming history…

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