Capcom Arcade Cabinet 1987 Trailer: Three of a Perfect Pair For Your PS3 or 360…

 

Sneaky, Capcom… so sneaky! Give away one game for FREE (the awesome side-scrolling action/platformer Black Tiger) to hook us in before making us pay up for the two others in this first trio of arcade classics. Well, five bucks for Avenger and 1943: Battle of Midway along with that freebie isn’t a bad deal at the end of the day considering it’s the first of a few cool oldies hitting PSN and XBLA this year. You can get in on your gratis Black Tiger plus set NOW on PSN for $4.99 and Xbox Live Arcade for 400 Microsoft Points, and get much more info on what else Capcom has up their sleeves in the future Bwith this super cool Arcade Cabinet collection HERE. Now, about getting these onto the Vita and Wii U… hopefully, that’s part of the plan at some point, as a little nostalgia is good for all gamers.

VGA 101: Evolution of PlayStation: Gaming (The Missing Link LIVES)…

 

Oops. I should have guessed Sony would be trumpeting its first party studios and their assorted innovations in the game space in this “final” nostalgia trip before the new era they’re about to step out and be a part of begins. So silly of me to NOT think they’d have nothing to say about THAT part of their history, given it’s so important). Still, it’s too bad some offbeat titles are missing that didn’t get the love and sales they needed at the time (Omega Boost, for one). And it’s also too bad we never got to see certain other expensive to produce titles localized for the US such as Kowloon’s Gate (an amazing 4-disc game that might have done really well thanks to it being so fresh and visually stunning for an early PSOne release), Panekit and many others…

Oh well… it looks like tomorrow we’ll be seeing the future on a few fronts and like many of you Sony fans (and yes, the haters peering over the fence, tomatoes at the ready) good, bad or otherwise, I can’t wait…

 

 

Update! Here’s the Japanese version (of course, it goes up after I’m offline. Ah well…)

BioShock Infinite “Lamb of Columbia” Trailer: That’s Certainly NOT Mint Jelly!

 

Customer: “See, I was right! Next time I’m sticking with the Cobb Salad!”

Waiter: Actually, I hear the game is going (or has gone) gold, which means no changing your order, sir.

Customer: (ah, the cranky waitstaff and the “no substitutions” rule!) “What? But I’m the customer and the customer is ALWAYS right! SO, get me that salad, make it a SMALL one… and a burger, really well done so it tastes like a hot shoe heel, and a Diet Kook!”

Waiter (rolls eyes and sighs, points at big red letters stating NO SUBSTITUTIONS on menu cover): This isn’t your local fast food place, sir… Chef Levine and his staff at Irrational Games have cooked up a dish they KNOW you’ll love and as everything on the menu is a Chef’s Choice, you’re getting what he gives you and it’s ALL good.

Customer: “Blaaaaaaah!, I’m not paying for something that’s not what I want!!!”

(and so forth and so on…kinda sorta based on a true incident I overheard a few years back)

Anyway, let those two have at it all day in your head if you wish. Me, I’m staring at that space in the library I’ve made for BioShock Infinite when it’s finally released on March 26, 2013.

Review: Urban Trial Freestyle (PS Vita)

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UTF_TallPlatform: PlayStation Vita (also on PS3) via PSN

Developer: Tate Interactive/Strangelands

Publisher: Tate Multimedia

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Price: $9.99 (Vita), $14.99 (PS3)

Official Site

Score: A-

 

While it could use a level editor, some Excitebike-style multiplayer and a few more rider types to choose from (where’s the cool biker chick?), everything else is near flawless in Tate Interactive’s superb stunt-based moto romp. If you’re a PS3 and/or Vita-only owner, Urban Trial Freestyle is going to be your go-to brag about how cool it all is game in the vein of Red Lynx’s mega-hits Trials HD and Trials Evolution games on the Xbox 360. Fantastic visuals, excellent physics and a ton of replay value are all packed into this download-only release that’s well worth the price (and will be an even better value as the dev team adds more content over time).

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Crysis 3 “Sharp Dressed Man” TV Spot: A Little Fun Before The Bodies Start Dropping…

 

Amusingly enough, I actually had to explain to a non-gaming friend that this wasn’t some sort of cheesy 90’s action flick/comedy game after he kept seeing this goofy ad over the past week or so. I didn’t catch it until about three or four days back and it made me laugh because of the choice of ZZ Top’s classic 80’s tune more than the silly macho posturing going on (I was expecting something more serious like Ubisoft’s Far Cry 3 TV ads), but it’s all in good fun. I got to play a bit of the PC version last week at EA’s spring press event and it’s absolutely gorgeous and definitely Crytek’s best work to date (at least as far as the visuals go). As for the rest of the game, I’ll need to play through it at some point and see what’s what. I liked the second one (and never played the original outside of a demo and about two hours of the final version), so I’m probably going to have fun with this sequel as well.

Hmmm… I wonder if the ad agency that cooked this up is going to hit up more of ZZ Top’s back catalog for the inevitable DLC? I can think of a few other tunes they did that might fit, but I don’t want Crytek to get the idea that they’re better comedians than they are a games developer…

New Japanese Dragon’s Crown Trailer Is Anything But Vanilla…

 

A ha ha. I’ll take “MORE puns you don’t get if you’re not a gamer” for a thousand, Alex. Anyway, Atlus has dropped this nice new slice of lovely 2D gaming bliss into the Japanese PS Vita web event and yes indeed, I want to see this get as much love as possible. George Kamitani and his talented team at Vanillaware are making sure the side-scrolling flame is kept alive and well, and thanks to the gorgeous art style and chaotic gameplay crafted for solo and multiplayer action, this one’s a guaranteed winner on both the PS3 and Vita. Release dates for North America are TBA, but I’m hoping we see this soon, as both systems need all the cool exclusives they can handle and then some.

Video Game Appreciation 101: Evolution of PlayStation: It’s Portable Time!

 

Hmmm. There’s a day to go before the big PlayStation event but we’re already out of systems to cover. I guess that tomorrow’s video will be all about the PlayStation Network or something I’m not thinking of right now because I’m full of coffee and need to pee, but I can’t do that just yet because I’m typing this while sitting in a Starbucks and I have a few too many windows open and need to save stuff (or finish typing like mad), close all those windows, pack up the PC and do a fast trot to the loo. OR… I could type the previous sentence and hope it transfers the sudden urge to pee to you folks reading this, thus lightening my bladder’s brain considerably. Hey, it’s working! OK, now that YOUR eyeballs are floating, hopefully you’re closer to a working toilet than I am. Hmmm, now that I don’t have to go, I just HAVE to go so I don’t get caught off guard on the walk back home.

Back in a bit…

 

Toy Fair 2013: Mimoco Revives Dead Presidents As USB Drives, Ben Franklin’s Ghost Pissed Off…

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GW_MIMOBOT AL_MIMOBOTI can hear the spinning coffin from here, as ol’ Ben is mighty upset. George Washington and Abe Lincoln get love from mimoco in these two cool limited edition MIMOBOT USB drives (available NOW), but he’s the main tech guy out of all the founding fathers what with his electrical kite flying hijinx, his sense of humor (Poor Richard’s Almanack!) and other er, “modern” things about the man. That and hey – he’s on the hundred dollar bill and look where the other two ended up on US currency. Obviously, Ben’s the MAN, so maybe you Fans of Franklin should bug mimoco to get with the program and get a BF drive on the site at some point. Still, I say pick either or both of these up just so they know you’re serious about waving the flag for Ben in the future.

Game of Thrones Season 3: Chaos Is Ready For Its Closeup…

 

Yeah, yeah… a bit late to posting this, but hey, I’m a busy one-man army here. Anyway, I’m tempted to go snap up the first two seasons on video, but HBO on Demand has been running them for a while, so I’ve more than gotten my fix of the series. I’ll probably wait until the entire run has ended and the inevitable box set drops to buy in, a I’m expecting a load of behind the scenes features we haven’t yet seen. Anyway, I’m not even going to speculate about what’s going to happen and who’s going to get it this season, as that sort of thinking always makes any show less enjoyable in my book. I like to just sit down, shut up and take it all in. No laptop, phone or other device going. Hell, I can’t see HOW people sit there in front of a TV and concentrate on any show while being “social” and yakking away on Facebook or Twitter or wherever while there’s more than enough onscreen to hold one’s attention…

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OK, Enough With The Harlem Shake, Already (Pretty Please)…

 

I’m SO glad I’m not eternally glued to YouTube (or wherever pit of people with too much time on their hands hang out) and I really don’t care where this latest “Hey, everybody lookit me make a fool of myself!” craze came from. Harlem Shake? I got a Harlem Shake right here for you… OK, call me cranky (and I’m pleased to meet you), but I actually used to LIVE in Harlem and the only folks I saw shakin’ were the crack addicts and winos when I was on the way to the subway and back from work every day. Yeah, I said it! And it’s actually true. Well, that was the 1990’s for ya, kids… the stories I could tell!  Get the heck off the table (you dancing fool) and into your jammies and I’ll put you to sleep with a short one…
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