Short and sweet, this new Valhalla Knights 3 trailer shows off a bit of story introduction that should keep fans (and Vita owners looking for a fun action/RPG) hopping with anticipation for the game’s October release. Not so short (but a necessary read) are the character class descriptions for this one. I still need to pick up VK: Battle Stance on the PSP at some point, but I happen to like this quirky series as it’s gone through a few hoops and changes since the first installment. Anyway, head on below the jump for more info of all those playable races and carve out some free time this October…
OK, I know, I know… “eww!” and TMI, am I right? Anyway, I was supposed to pop in to a big TV/Entertainment conference this morning, but something I ate last night put me out of commission for the better part of today. Lots of water and rest later after Mr. Toad’s Wilder ride (yes, my toilet has a new pet name), I’m up and much better, but as usual, a bit behind in my work. Oh well, but these new Orc Attack: Flatulent Rebellion trailers made my day go, er… smoother by giving me some laugh power (which is ALWAYS great for any sort of pain). So, now you know… and knowing is half the battle! The other half is too yucky to talk about, but use your imagination.
Anyway, now that you’re all turning green, I guess I can inform you that Orc Attack is launching this fall on XBLA, PSN, and PC. More to come on this “hack ‘n gas” game soon…
NICE and thank you, SCEJ! Since that PS Vita tv announcement in Japan is quite the big deal. Wayforward Technologies has decided to add the game to its list of things to do. Excellent and yes indeed, the more, the merrier. 3DS owners, sorry, but you’re getting a completely separate new game to play, as your system isn’t powerful enough to handle what’s coming (just a fact!). Still, this means Vita-only fans aren’t left out of the Shantae loop this time, so Huzzah and all that.
Weird, wild stuff going on overseas, as Sony is surprisingly bringing out a redesigned, less expensive Vita in different colors with 1GB of on board memory, an even more inexpensive Vita TV device that will let users play Vita and other PlayStation titles, watch movies and more plus a whole load of so far Japanese-only info including the release date of the PlayStation 4 in the territory. The big surprise on that end is the PS4 is shipping out AFTER the North American and European launch, which is something of a first for a Sony gaming console if I’m not mistaken.
Back to the Vita for a second – Sony has also announced a new 64MB Memory Card as well as price drops on its other proprietary memory cards for the handheld. The 64GB card will retail in Japan for 9,980 yen (about $100) and the new pricing on the currently available cards is as follows: the 4GB card drops to to 1,480 yen (about $15), the 8GB card to 1,980 yen (about $20), the 16GB card to 3,780 yen (about $38) and the 32GB model to 6,480 yen (about $65). Meanwhile, as noted above, North American and European gamers will get their PlayStation 4’s a few months earlier than Japan, as a February 2014 launch window was revealed. According to a few news sites, the reason seems to be Sony having issues meeting high demand for the console worldwide and probably targeting more units for the US and Europe first thanks to greater demand in those countries.
Finally, the launch title lineup for Japan was revealed as well, but we’ll take a peek at some of those titles in another post shortly. My fingers are of course, crossed that these price drops and new products pop up here in the US, but as always… we shall see…
I finally got around to playing this excellent Vita sequel to a Nintendo DS and 3DS game (999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors) and I had to chuckle a bit because there are two ways to describe the game and as I’m busy with a ton of stuff, I’ll take the shorter route and potentially tick off some people who think this game is the greatest thing since sliced cheese bread. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it a lot, being a cranky old fan of point and click adventure games and all. But as I was finishing it up, I just so happened to be in the library last week and overhear two kids talking about the game and one of them offered up an unintentional ten word review that made me almost burst out laughing because Yahtzee with his awesome Zero Punctuation videos is supposed to be KING of the ten-word review. This kid nailed the game without even realizing he was doing a Yahtzee impression.
His take (and mine, if you have a short attention span and just want to know what the game is about or similar to) when his friend asked him about the game:
“It’s like SAW… but with anime characters and better writing.”
Yeah, that’s about right. Damn kids… I should have hired him on the spot, but I don’t think he was old enough. OK, so the game IS a bit more complex and cerebral than a SAW flick, but there are a few more than amusing parallels that if you describe the plots of the game and one of the movies, someone who knows one and not the other might get a little confused.
One of the coolest bits of news that popped up from PAX Prime this year was the announcement of Sony’s new Third Party Production team which will be dedicated to bringing more titles from third party publishers to Sony’s current and future platforms. According to a post on the PlayStation Blog, gamers can expect new IP, ports and localized games, which opens up a ton of options given Sony’s strategy to make as many upcoming titles compatible on the PS4 and Vita. The team is currently working with Iron Galaxy Studios on the eagerly awaited Vita version of Borderlands 2 and OSny fans have been bombarding them with requests (many of them impossible or improbable thanks to the posters not quite grasping how this studio will function).
Anyway, I’ll be keeping an eyeball peeled for more news, as I more or less know what they can and can’t do and want to see them succeed with whatever they’re tackling. Yep, it’s a dull post… unless you’re a Vita owner or soon to be PS4 owner wanting to see more games popping up more often.
In other words, the inmates have taken over the asylum and yes, Bats needs to do some darknight detecting and with due diligence at that or he’s not getting out in one piece. This 3DS/2DS and Vita game (set to launch with the console and PC versions on October 25, 2013) brings things down to size in “2.5D” form, but manages to look pretty cool and should feel like a classic side-scroller with a nice Arkham twist. Sure, you can get cranky and say the Vita game should be closer to the PS3 version, but here’s a case where I’ll defer to the dev team over at Armature because they’ve done a really good job with the visuals on both handhelds.
This former big deal Wii U exclusive getting delayed from launch window status to September 3 just so it could be ported to other platforms as an equally big deal release (and all launched simultaneously) seems to be well worth the wait, although it also seems that Nintendo’s console is the best way to play this one based on what I’ve heard from a few folks. Nevertheless, the combination of outstanding visuals, breakneck pacing and an amazingly wacky and varied soundtrack make this one a must buy for anyone into “old school” gaming bliss. I hear the game is also pretty challenging if you have terrible reflexes, but that’s par for the course with games such as this. Well, that’s another one for the library once I get around to getting it. That Wii U library is slowly getting better, folks…
Buried under all that PS4 news yesterday was the really nice “surprise” that there’s a portable version of one of the best games of 2012 in development and set for a 2014 release. This is a great thing for anyone who has yet to play Borderlands 2 as well as an even better thing for those who loved (and still love) the game for all its crazy fun and loot drops galore. 2K Games has only sent out this teaser image (boo!), but we’ll definitely be keeping a collective eyeball peeled for more on this one.
Actually, it’s a good thing it’s coming out next year, as my calendar of games to play is quite full (and then some!)…
I’ve been saying this for a few years, but here we go again: E3 has lost pretty much any relevance it’s had because Gamescom and later, TGS always have more exciting news stories and even better game reveals. Sony, coming off a pretty successful year for revealing new products (in its game division, at least) has dropped info on the worldwide launch dates for its eagerly anticipated PlayStation 4 console. North American consumers get their on November 15 and European consumers can plan on a November 29 launch. Sony also revealed that at least one million PS4 pre-orders have been taken, which means that’s a lot of folks who will be taking sudden early Thanksgiving vacations here in the US so they can snap up their systems and camp out at home with one of the many launch titles…