Data East Arcade Classics Coming To Wii In 2010

Ah, memories… Remember the good old days of arcade games such as BurgerTime, Heavy Barrel, Caveman Ninja and other Data East quarter munchers? well, thanks to Majesco, G-Mode and developer G1M2, if you’ve got twenty clams burning a hole in your Side Pocket come early 2010, you’re in for a treat.

Anyway, read up below, then start saving up those quarters, folks – this press release has your name written all over it. Screens underneath all the wordy stuff so you can reminisce about all that time you spent snagging those 1-UPs and trying to beat those Hi-Scores when you should have been hitting the books…

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Gallery: Dawn of Heroes


I thought this one sounded familiar… Montreal-based developer Wicked Studios’ DS exclusive Tactical RPG was initially announced for a June 2009 release, so I thought I missed out on it entirely. However, It turns out Majesco is actually publishing it on December 1, 2009, so here you go: the first game trailer and a nice batch of screenshots – enjoy!

I’m really liking the character customization aspects as well as the nice character art, which looks a little inspired a bit by the great Susumu Matsushita’s work. Hmmm… I feel another developer interview coming on. It looks as if I’m off to bug some PR folks…

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Magnacarta 2 Goes Gold for Xbox 360


Ah, it’s the ol’ “Cross platform hijinx that makes some console owners want to rip their hair out, but it’s all good in the end” department: Magnacarta 2 has gone gold for the Xbox 360 (and for now, ONLY the Xbox 360). The RPG series which got its start as a PC game in Korea followed up by a PlayStation 2 sequel (and a 2006 PSP port of the 2nd game which was never releases stateside) now gets its next installment as an Xbox 360 exclusive. Well, the 360 can use another decent JRPG, so I’m all aboard the MC2 train…

Press release below – images to come this weekend when I have more free time to post ’em. Yup, I can’t wait to play this one, as well…

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Left 4 Dead Crash Course DLC Now Available (And Of Course, Valve Is Giving You Something A Little Extry)…

Let’s say you don’t already own a copy of L4D for the PC but you want to buy it NOW. Well then, pardner, boogie on over to Steam, sign up today and you can get L4D for 50% off of the retail price. You’ll be wiping out hordes of zombies within minutes and “Cha-ching!”, you just saved some money in the process! Of course, this is a LIMITED time deal, hoss – it expires October 1, 2009. SO get cookin’, chief.

As to that new DLC mentioned in the header – read on for details (links below as well):

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Today: Live Dead Space Extraction Demo/Dev Commentary/Q & A!


How’s this for fan service? Just in time for today’s launch of the Wii-exclusive Dead Space Extraction, Visceral Games is hosting an hour-long live webcast featuring gameplay demos of the cinematic sci-fi horror/action hybrid along with a Q & A session with members of the game’s development team that you (yes, you) can be a part of. The fun begins at 12 noon, PST (that’s 3pm Eastern Time if you’re in New York), so click away on that link above and enjoy the show.

We’ll have a full review of Dead Space Extraction after our review copy arrives.

Review: Bleach: The 3rd Phantom

Platform: Nintendo DS/DSi

Developer: Tom Create


Publisher: SEGA


# of Players: 1 (Wi-Fi: 1-2)


Rating: T (Teen)


Official Site


Score: B

I may not know much about the Bleach anime, but I have enjoyed the different US localized games from Sega I’ve played over the last few years. Being a huge Strategy/RPG fan, I was surprised to find that the series has ventured into that well-traveled territory with a fun to play, albeit pretty basic turn-based game experience. Bleach: The 3rd Phantom mysteriously showed up via Fed Ex with another bunch of games, so out went Dirt 2 and in went this new game for a good chunk of review time. While what’s here won’t topple the giants of the genre, there’s more than enough solid hours of gameplay, over 50 potential party members and even a bit of Wi-Fi action if you’ve a friend who happens to have a DS and a copy of the game.

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Now Shipping: Twice the Horror (or Obscure, Meet Dead Space)…

Two horror-themed titles have shipped for next week’s big release hoedown doozy of a game avalanche. There are also a ton of cool games in other different genres coming as well next Tuesday (and onward), so here’s a quick heads-up for you on some of what I’m looking forward to:

Dead Space Extraction (Wii) and Obscure: the Aftermath (PSP)are headed to retail on September 29th (as are Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga (Wii) and a bunch of other stuff I’ll post once I find time to compile the listing). Anyway, here’s a bit more on both titles (and a nice trailer for the Obscure sequel)…

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Half-Minute Hero Demo #2 Arrives On PSN


Xseed Games loves you, y’know – they just released the second of two demos for their upcoming PSP exclusive, Half-Minute Hero through the PlayStation Network Store and it’s a doooooozy. Fun and ridiculously funny, but it’s short and really cool to the point that you’ll break a nail or something after playing it so much. Xseed is of course, hugely unapologetic about your busted fingernail and has released the following statement:

We are excited to release the second of two downloadable demos for our upcoming hi-speed RPG, Half-Minute Hero. This demo will feature Evil Lord Mode, a real-time strategy game where players will take control of the powerful, and obnoxiously gorgeous, Evil Lord.

In this mode players must summon monsters to fight enemies.

 

Summon monsters are divided into three types: Brutes, Nimbles and Shooters. Enemies are also divided up into the same categories. Each type of monster or enemy has advantages/disadvantages towards another type of monster or enemy. Figuring out the best strategy to use against each type is the tricky part. When the time limit reaches zero, the reign of evil is over.

See? Totally unapologetic! Anyway, go download the demo and try the game out – keep the Band-Aids handy just in case your nails are weak (more calcium and natural gelatin in your diet helps, as well). Half-Minute Hero will be released in October 2009 at retailers across North America.

Natsume’s Animal Kingdom: Wildlife Expedition Now In Stores


Natsume really wants to grab your photo safari gaming dollar, that’s for sure. First, Afrika gets announced as gold status for the PS3 and now, Wii owners get their own exclusive snapshot adventure with Animal Kingdom: Wildlife Expedition, which should be in stores as you’re reading this. This is a pretty smart move by the publisher, as this type of niche game seems to find wider appeal among all types of gamers and by having two similar but different games on two different (and not necessarily competing) platforms, gamers with either console will have their simulated safari without having to fork out cash for a new system.

Of course, folks like me with every console will have to end up buying BOTH games, but hey, it’s good news for Natsume, right? A little press release action and screenshots are below the jump.

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Preview: Dead Space Extraction – Bringing Cinematic Sci-Fi/Horror to the Wii

Visceral Games in on a two-part mission with its upcoming Dead Space Extraction and it’s an important one. The first part is done: they’ve gone and created a great-looking, dynamically frightening console game designed to scare you right under the couch (while also laying the groundwork for future Dead Space titles). The second part is a bit tricky, meaning it’s all up to YOU to assist by buying the game and experiencing all that hard work put into the project for yourself.

I had the great opportunity to sit in on a live (and informative) Q & A session with a few members of the dev team, who all spoke passionately about the game while dropping a few interesting facts about developing it as a Wii exclusive.

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