Lost Planet 3 Multiplayer Modes Revealed (Well, Two of Them)

Posted on April 25, 2013 by geelw

Those smart gamers who haven’t been incessantly whining about Lost Planet 3 for its working-class lead character, intentionally unexciting cover art and American developer (for no legitimate reason other than they like to whine about a game they’ve yet to play) HAVE been wondering what’s up with the silence so far on the game’s online multiplayer modes. Well, Capcom is here to clear the air with a peek at two of them, so here comes half an answer if you’re one of those folks. Me, I’m all about the single player campaign in my games, but given that action-based games such as this seem to require ways to interact with other players by running around and shooting them in the face, here you go. Well, at least the two revealed modes sound fun if you like that sort of thing (to the press release, Robin!):

Scenario Mode sets each team a series of either offensive or defensive challenges and mixes them up with the extreme and unpredictable conditions of E.D.N. III. Players can compete in both third person on-foot action and in first person combat using the futuristic Vital Suits, making this a dynamic gameplay experience.

Akrid Survival sees two teams of three players compete independently of each other in a series of encounters against waves of hostile Akrid before the teams go head to head in a final PvP elimination round.

As the game’s now got an August 27, 2013 release date, that gives Capcom time to show off the other two MP modes and perhaps also show the really cranky skeptics out there that Spark Unlimited has done a solid job with this prequel. I still think the title is what’s confusing many more than the game proper, as I keep seeing bile-spewing posts all around where the authors believe this game takes place AFTER the events of Lost Planet 2 and not many years before. OK, Capcom – the ball is in your court again – I say get a YouTube video out with an explanation of where this game falls into place along with a nice long video of some live gameplay so people can shut the hell up and actually put more money into your pockets because they like what they see and understand it more fully. Me, I’m not in need of any further convincing because my hands-on time helped me see this one’s going to be quite good…

Lost Planet 3 Pre-Order Bonuses: Triple Threat, But You Can Only Choose ONE…

Posted on April 9, 2013 by geelw

I’m not a fan at all of this pesky practice of slicing pre-order bonuses up to different goodies unless the content advertised shows up at some point for EVERY player who has ANY copy of the game in question and wants those goodies unlocked through playing normally. This isn’t Capcom’s “fault” entirely, as the big three shops here all want YOUR pre-order, so how better to do so than to tempt you into a three-way that’s impossible (hey, just like real life!). Ugh.

Well, hopefully Lost Planet 3 will sell well enough to warrant a Game of the Year edition so everyone who wants this DLC can get it. Of course, you can definitely complete the game without ANY of this content – it’s just a pain to see two versions (or three if you don’t use Steam, PSN or Xbox Live) of bonus gear that’s inaccessible unless one has a decent connection and the proper accounts set up.

And by the way, the game’s release date has dipped into August, as I just noticed way at the bottom of the press release Capcom sent along (eek). According to that last line, Lost Planet 3 arrives on August 27 in North America and August 30 in Europe for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. That’s actually a good thing on this end, as it will give me more time to complete a few epics I’m playing or haven’t fired up just yet…

WIkipad Hands-On: Handheld Revelation, Hardcore Price Point

Posted on September 26, 2012 by geelw

I’ll admit that when I first heard about the Wikipad earlier this year I didn’t like the name much until I realized that it has nothing to do with the popular online encyclopedia and everything to do with where the word actually comes from . It’s a good thing I’ve been to Hawaii (although that was quite some time ago). OK, I was also a bit skeptical about yet another tablet hitting the market even though this one had a unique twin analog controller attachment that turned it into a more dedicated gaming device. After spending time yesterday with the upcoming tablet and company CEO James Bower, I’d say that a handful of people not liking the name is the just about only thing he should be worried about. Wikipad is real, it runs like a dream and once you try it for yourself, there’s no way you can’t be impressed about the product. What we have here, folks is a winning combination of a powerful smartly designed tablet built from the ground up to be as good as it gets and an innovative controller attachment that opens up the tablet market to those “core” gamers who’ve been wary of anything with touch controls.

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Tanks A Lot, Capcom! Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor Pre-Order Campaign Rolls Out

Posted on April 23, 2012 by geelw

No, you’re still not getting a big honkin’ 40+ button controller, so quit griping. Of course, getting ALL three bonuses in one shot is a no-go unless you want three copies of the game or have your fingers crossed that they get released as free or paid DLC at some point, so three’s always that to complain about if you’re so inclined. Hey, it’s not ALL Capcom’s fault, kids – that’s just the way thing go in this day and age of every retailer wanting exclusive content and your gaming dollar.

That said, I keep wondering how much longer the industry can keep this up, given the backlash against other things that are a lot less annoying to those of us who want games to ship with as much content as possible, Granted, if you ask around, you’ll hear most people IN the industry saying “this is how it is” or something like that. However, it’s looking as if this enforced means of content division can backfire if enough gamers put their foot down and start screaming as loudly as possible. As for me, I’ll be playing the game with no bonuses because I think it’ll be fine without them.

“GameStop New”… You’re Still At it, Huh?

Posted on April 20, 2012 by geelw

Yeah, yeah, if I don’t like it, I don’t have to shop there. On the other hand, ignoring a problem (no matter how “trivial”) never makes it disappear. That and hell, sometimes it’s hard to pass up a great deal like this. Still, NEW to me when it comes to a product like a game, movie, lip balm or candy bar means SEALED. The location I got this at had something like four or five copies of Metroid: Other M mixed in with the used games, all opened but listed as NEW. And this wasn’t the only “new” title that was opened up and stuck in the stacks. Again, if I’m giving a gift to someone, I’ll have to make sure I get it from someplace that doesn’t have this rather stupid policy. If you have mockup cases for upcoming games taking up space on the racks, you can so the same for older games like this, sell them still sealed and not need to deal with any complaints from me or anyone else who hates this opened as new scheme.

Oh, and it’s not as if there wasn’t any space in the shop behind the counter either. The location, which has previously been a pretty messy place to pop into, has cleaned things up tremendously since I last shopped there. While I understand the practice is supposed to discourage theft or whatever, it’s pretty annoying to have to accept something that would be unacceptable in certain other retail situations. And hey! The game isn’t that bad as far as I’ve played. Sure, Samus is a bit whiny, but hell, who has the EXACT same personality their entire life? OK, Romney springs to mid straight off the bat… but he’s a Weyland-Yutani creation, I just know it…

Up For Air: A Xenoblade Chronicles Progress Report…

Posted on April 11, 2012 by geelw

Well, so far, Xenoblade is… pretty good. Like any game this big, careful poking around reveals it’s flawed, but quite impressive nonetheless. Of course, I’ve played far too many RPGs from all over the world (and too many JRPGs) since the late 80’s to throw down any absolutes about how it stacks up against my favorites, but it’s quite well done. I do have a few issues with some things I’ll go over in more detail in my review, but it’s nothing too dramatic.

OK, stop turning blue in the face – I’ll spill a few gripes here. Stuff like not being able to enter too many buildings, the hard to find quest givers that you need to get items back to, a tiny bit of unsympathetic writing after a major incident and a few other quibbles that won’t really affect my overall score. That said, if you’re a Wii owner and/or a JRPG fan looking for a fine game to eat away the hours as it pulls you into its story, you can’t go wrong with Monolith’s best game to date. A proper review is incoming, most likely this weekend…

Drakensang: Complete Saga In Stores Now (Well, GameStop Stores, That Is)…

Posted on September 21, 2011 by geelw

Yeah, yeah, Gears of War 3 is out and fantastic all that, but I’m actually a tad more excited about (The Dark Eye) Drakensang: Complete Saga arriving this week as part of THQ’s ValuSoft games lineup (albeit as a GameStop exclusive). “What’s a Drakensang?” you ask? Why, a pretty cool third-person PC fantasy role playing game that’s got a nicely loyal fan-base, solid visuals, fun classes to choose from and a great, challenging combat system among other things. I’m absolutely recommending this collection to fans of open-world fantasy games, deep RPG experiences and anyone who likes games with at least a hundred hours of gameplay. Even better… it’s on a retail DISC, not a download, so even if you have a crappy Internet connection, you can STILL buy and play a quality RPG while getting a great deal in the process.

Press release & screens below the jump Continue reading →

GameStop’s HaloFest Gets Underway

Posted on August 25, 2010 by geelw

Want a chance to get together with other Halo: Reach fans, enter a contest or two and WIN some cool Halo related swag? Well, read on, MacDuff!

Adventures to Go Gone Gold… As A GameStop Exclusive!

Posted on October 7, 2009 by geelw

Well, that’s interesting… Adventures to Go is now a GameStop exclusive. While this is certainly a great development that should help the game do quite well at retail, depending on where you live, you may want to scope out your local GS, ask a few questions and definitely pre-order it if you want a sealed copy…

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Gallery: Adventures to Go

Posted on September 21, 2009 by geelw

OK, I’ll admit it: Natsume’s upcoming Adventures to Go really intrigues me (and a bunch of other folks out there). Sure, random dungeon generators are nothing new to an “old” guy like me. Hell, I remember playing games such as Dungeon Hack on the PC, A D & D Slayer on the 3DO and Dungeon Creator on the import PlayStation ’til the cows came home. Then… there’s that brutal Nethack intervention I went through some years back, but we won’t discuss that in public (“the horror… the horror…”)…

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