With all the spaceships zipping around, super-powered cast and intergalactic enemies invading earth, some fans are thinking this isn’t a “true” Saint’s Row game at all. Well, other than the open world mayhem and outrageous humor being intact and looking as crazy as ever. I think the game looks like more stupid fun (in a good way), but I’d love to see Volition branch out and do something really unique on the new generation hardware. At this rate, Saint’s Row V will end up being like a Mass Effect game with interplanetary gangs of aliens, eight times the F-bombs and a more free-form combat system full of too many assorted wrestling moves and finishers. I’m not sure I’d like to see that, but I guess that sort of depends on how well this game does and if the Volition has planned out that far ahead…
Tag Archives: In Development
Oh, You Kids! GTA V on the Xbox 360 Requires An Installation/Play Disc Swap. Oh, The Horror!
Yes, there’s another (not really) big-deal barn-burner on some internet boards about the Xbox 360 version of Rockstar’s upcoming guaranteed blockbuster Grand Theft Auto V coming on two discs (the PS3 version is on one Blu-Ray) and requiring a mandatory 8GB install (just like the PS3 version). Of course, anyone who’s played a retail PC game anytime in the past decade or so is used to games coming on multiple discs and yes, there have been a few Xbox 360 games this generation that had separate data install and play discs. So, I’m clearly not seeing the problem here about a ONE TIME disc change. Of course, if you got conned into buying that lower priced 360 with the measly 4GB HDD and you’ve not yet gotten around to buying an external drive yet, you may want to hop to that before the game ships out. Go on now, shoo!
Oh, by the way: don’t get mad at Sony for thinking ahead on the Blu-Ray thing at all. Blame Microsoft for diving into HD-DVD feet first and then ditching the format (even for games!) when it failed to catch on with anyone but early adopters and those who weren’t going to buy a PS3 or other new movie player because they had no intentions of re-purchasing chunks of their collections. Oh, by the way… that game in the photos that’s NOT looking like GTA V? That’s PHANTASM for the Japanese Sega Saturn. It’s a port of the 1995 Sierra On-Line PC game Phantasmagoria and as you can see,came on EIGHT discs (one more than the PC version). You can get it on gog.com (it’s on sale for half price for the next day or so!) if you’d like to try it out. It’s flawed, but well made and a bit creepy where it counts. Anyway,let me get my grumpy old ass back into the 21st century before my lumbago pills wear off…
Muramasa Rebirth: The Vita’s Big, Fat Bundle of Joy This Week…
Hey, it’s out already? Crap. I had NO idea! Oh well. Not like Aksys’ PR ever sends me any review codes anyway (*whine*). Actually, I don’t even mind supporting them and Vanillaware, as this game on the Wii was really fun and the Vita version has some cool exclusive features. OK, another one for the “to do” list. Gah, I really, REALLY need a time machine. Or a game-playing monkey with a much thicker wallet who can also build shelving in its spare time. Hey, I have to put all those games somewhere, right?
E3 2013: Castle of Illusion Trailer: From Genesis to a Remake Full of Revelations…
If you’re ancient enough to remember the Sega Genesis version of this classic Disney game, you’re probably pretty pleased to see it back and looking pretty amazing. In a way, it’s too bad this is going to be a digital download only release, as I could see this doing spectacular on a disc with a ton of bonus features, the original game and perhaps (as it’s a Disney property) Capcom’s upcoming DuckTales Remastered just to get people slipping in puddles of drool as they ran to their nearest game shop to pick up their copies. I know I’d run over a pack of old ladies with puppies if they were in my way. OK, I’d more likely leap over them or run around them than stomp on a few bunions. Those old ladies can be pretty spry and those swinging canes and yapping dogs kind of hurt when swung at one’s head a few too many times…
Review: Remember Me
Platform: Xbox 360/PC (also on PS3)
Developer: Dontnod Entertainment
Publisher: Capcom
# of Players: 1
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Score: B+ (85%)
A stylish and thrilling combination of cinematic elements and action featuring a memorable new character, Remember Me is a grand example of the “shut up and play it!” game. You can be on the sort of clueless “Well, my friend says he heard it’s not like so and so…” side of the fence, or you can step right up, slap your money down and enjoy a well made, always entertaining and somewhat innovative thriller that, while borrowing elements from a few sources, ends up feeling original and refreshing on a few fronts. This is a game that, if you’re in the mood for a good story (save for a slight stumble near the finale) delivers on that promise pretty well. While it may not seem sequel-friendly, the overall experience makes you want to see a second game that features a lot more of the richly detailed 2084 Neo-Paris developer Dontnod Entertainment has created.
E3 2013: Saint’s Row IV Trailer: Bigger Means More What The ****?! For Your Gaming Buck
THQ may have gone down in flames last year, but Deep Silver’s acquisition of Volition and their popular Saint’s Row franchise means fans of the increasingly outrageous series have a new game on the way this year that’s even more completely bonkers that the last installment. Don’t take this Hollywood-style trailer too seriously (well, it’s a bit hard to anyway, given the F-Bomb gets dropped twice in it and is seen once onscreen as a character’s nickname), as the open world gameplay, newly super-powered characters and sci-fi elements are only adding to the mayhem the franchise is known for. THAT said, I hope this adding of fantasy elements to the mix means that Volition will FI-NALLY try their hand at making another game in the Summoner series. The first was flawed but interesting and the second was better overall (and had a female lead and some intriguing party members and plot twists), so it would be cool to see something coming on a new console that takes elements from the previous titles and adds a new chapter to things. Hey, that’s what I’d be thinking of as a follow-up, but we’ll probably get a Saint’s Row V instead…
Late Night Game Week (Final Stage!): Wii, U Get 2 C That Jimmy Still Sux!
Ha ha. OK, I had to do that horrid spelling job in the header as a little in-joke even I don’t get and yep, it’s another pre-show title to save time because I just KNOW Jimmy’s going to lose it and fail at another game live on TV. Anyway, saving the Wii U for his final post=E3 Game Week show meant this was either going to be a blowout for Nintendo because more people stayed home to watch OR… a bust because they were all out clubbing or whatever the crazy kids do on a Friday night (har har). Anyway, the 20-Ryu Hadouken/cartridge blowing/toothbrush circle bits was dumb and funny (and all those “World Records” they set WILL be broken over the weekend, I bet). That multiple video games “record” bit was stupidly awesome, though. Jimmy “played” six games all at once for twenty seconds and looked as if he was trying to escape from robbing a vintage game shop and ran into an arcade only to be trapped on a Dance Dance Revolution Supernova machine. Or something like that – just watch the video:
See? Now go break THAT record, Mr. or Ms. Guinness…
Lost Planet 3 Multiplayer: One Way to Keep Cool This August…
And here you go – another piece of the Lost Planet 3 puzzle (multiplayer!) plus a peek at the Best Buy exclusive Assault Pack if you’re one of those folks that goes the pre-order route. The new experience based unlocking system has been done on other shooters, but I think it’ll be nice to see how those LP fans who aren’t wasting time whining about the developer and Capcom doing or not doing this or that without having laid a pinky on a controller take to the game when it launches. I think it will do fine among those who want to see it succeed and will play and enjoy it based on what it gets right as opposed to picking it apart because it’s not the same as the first two installments. Granted, those folks are the ones who still can’t seem to understand this is a p-r-e-q-u-e-l, but I guess they’ll also be the ones missing out on things in a few months…
Late Night Game Week (Day 4): Jimmy Answers the Call of Duty, Gets Ghosted…
I actually wrote the headline before Jimmy’s show kicked off (hey, planning in advance works when you know what’s coming, correct?), but in case you missed it, the proof is above (or will be once NBC gets its act together, grrrr!).
Anyway, the show was a bit more game-centric and snappier than last night’s thanks to Defiance’s Grant Bowler, Jimmy running viewer videos of themselves playing with their mothers (pretty damn funny) and Elijah Wood geeking out with Fallon over The Last of Us before talking briefly about the new season of Wilfred and the remake of Maniac and then some fake video games in a skit.
As for CoD:G, well, it looks great on the Xbox 360 (but I think that dog has a LEAN button… whaaaat?!), but the demo was too short and other than a nice scripted building tumbling down and the novelty of playing as Riley (the dog) for brief bits, it’s looking like a CoD game, which is great to bad depending on your bias in either direction. I only play for the campaign mode anyway, so I may look into this on the PS3 or PS4 in the future. And oh yeah, I was actually wrong up above! Jimmy didn’t suck so much at the game today. Well, other than barking at the screen at one point (OK, it made me chuckle a bit).
Well, tomorrow is Nintendo’s day on the show, although I noted in the teaser for the show, they had “Nintendo Wii” and not “Nintendo Wii U” as the system being demoed. Oops. Er, unless Nintendo has some surprises we didn’t see at E3 planned for tomorrow, that is…
Batman Arkham Origins TV Spot #1: Good (And Slightly Unbalanced) Guys Wear Black…
I’d say by now that the older 60’s era campy Batman is no longer the “ideal” version of the character (and hey, I’m old enough to have been around for that original series), so it’s good to see the darker Dark Knight get so fully embraced by the bulk of the fans out there. OK, mostly embraced, as I know there are some REALLY stubborn die-hards who refuse to submit to “gritty” being the new black for their favorite hero. Granted, there IS that exclusive Adam West skin for the PS3 version that’s going to be fun to dink around with (although, I’d also want DLC that adds a ton of those campy full screen sound effects for the combat and you KNOW you want those as well), but I’m going to stick to the cranky newer guy I’m more used to these days. Sometimes, nostalgia needs to have a seat in that comfy chair with its feet up and sleep for a bit in front of whatever old stuff it used to watch on TV…



