It may be spring outside, but looking at these Lost Planet 3 screens makes me feel as if I’ve got my face stuck in the freezer and there’s no ice cream left – just a mean-looking alien with glowy bits and very sharp claws an teeth staring back (eek). Veteran developer Spark Unlimited is doing its best work to date, using the Unreal engine and some great motion captured actors to create a solidly stylized vision of the cold, bleak ball of ice covered rock that is E.D.N. III.
Working class hero Jim Payton isn’t the usual lantern-jawed hero with a hefty arsenal, bulletproof shorts and an ego as big as the planet he’s on at all. He’s just a regular guy who’s trying hard to make a living in a frozen hellhole with Akrid and perhaps a few pesky space pirates ruing his workday. I’ve been hooked in since I played a demo last year and with the first two multiplayer modes finally being revealed last week, it looks as if all the pieces are falling into place for a sleeper hit that will hopefully catch the skeptics by surprise.
Capcom’s Lost Planet 3 hits PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on August 27, 2013. Poke around below the jump for some more nice screens and artwork.
Oh, and put a hat and gloves on, dears – it’s COLD out there in space…
And of course, that game just so happens to be Rising Star Games’ 
Did you know that Game Director Swery 65 is STILL celebrating the game’s release? I asked him about this after his sixth one and was told that he’s simply taking care of all his partying at one time because of the different release dates in a few territories. He said he plans to stop and rest for a bit once the North American version comes out, but I just realized he really doesn’t need to. Why? Well, dear reader… In Greenvale, the beer can’t get you drunk at all (it’s digitally created!), so you can drink as much as you want and never feel a thing. Of course, if you play around on the options screen, you can reverse that effect and pretty much pickle your liver in about three sips… but who the hell wants to do that? Enjoy responsibly, people!
Speaking or artsy things… even though the release date is less than a week away, did you know you can still 
Of course, if you’re a really highbrow kinda guy like Game Director Swery 65, you know all about art and appreciating it for what it is. Hey, you don’t get to smoke huge cigars and sip fine cognac because you happen to have them lying around in the house like a can of beans, y’know. Sit down with the man for a smoke and snifter and he’ll probably regale you with tales of the good olde days of making art and how he’s turned into one of the more recognizable names in his field in such a relatively brief time. That, or he’ll just ask if you’ve played his new game and what your favorite part was. I’d say you better have a darn good answer, as those big cigars and cognac aren’t cheap. I’m betting that’s a good 
One person who’s very probably having an ABSOLUTELY fine Monday is Game Director Swery 65. I’d bet he’s pretty much sitting around in a bar or coffee shop somewhere checking his email, having a(nother) tasty burger and beverage combo while updating his Facebook page with a quick post or Instagram photo (or both) and just hanging out enjoying himself while he waits patiently for the first reviews to roll in. I’d say he’s got nothing to fear in terms of too many gamers and editor-types NOT liking the game, as it’s already gone through that wringer once and is now seen as a genre classic by many who fell under its strange spell…
Watching and listening to series Producer Hideo Baba talk about his beloved Tales franchise will make anyone want to pick up a controller and play whatever lands on these shores. The latest in the long-running franchise (which started on the Super Famicom back in 1995), Tales of Xillia breaks new ground for the series by combining the distinctly different art styles of the series two key character designers (Kosuke Fujishima and Mutsumi Inomata), blending them flawlessly in a larger and prettier overall game. Toss in “Empress of Pop” Ayumi Hamasaki singing the theme sone, a refined battle system and the usual Tales quality bumped up to a nice PS3 shine and you get a game fans should be more than pleased to play…
Hmmm… I was wondering earlier today if Game Director Swery 65 actually drives a car in Japan or is he a public transportation sort of guy? Not that it matters, mind you – it’s just that the driving mechanics in the first version of the game were notoriously wonky to some critics and gamers. Granted, once you got used to them, they weren’t that bad. I actually kind of think this was part of the plan, as the game plays with its players on a few core levels from its visual style to smashing expectations of what a lead character in a game can be. York’s certainly a memorable main character loads of new players won’t soon forget. Of course, this just means more well-dressed cosplayers at the next big convention all York-ing it up and making Swery smile even more so than usual…
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 