Tales of Graces f Launch Trailer: Namco Bandai’s Got Quite A Story To Tell, That’s For Sure…

I’ve been playing this on and off for the past few days (my review copy arrived last week) and it’s quite spectacular in an old-school meets modern JRPG way. Sure, it’s packed to the gills with familiar thematic elements (an enigmatic amnesiac, two brothers separated by differing opinions and life choices, the formerly sick girl now a powerful party member, et cetera), but the fast-paced battles, tons of titles to earn for each character and the usual Tales features keep the hours peeling away. If you’re a PS3 owner and JRPG fan looking for the next big game to dive into, this one’s for you. Oh yeah, the game also lets you play with up to four friends through much of the adventure (but expect them to be spectators for a bit in some areas where the party is thinned out for plot purposes).

My full review will go up later this week (probably Friday at this point)…

Journey Launch Trailer: An Instant Classic Not To Be Missed (The Game, Not The Trailer, Silly)…

It’s officially out on the 13th through PSN and yes, I’m urging you to give it a shot even if you’re automatically conditioned against indie games, downloadable games or quirky stuff you think you wouldn’t like based on some bias blocking your thought process and sense of wonder. Trust me when i say you’ll be awed and thrilled once you see what thatgamecompany has crafted. Journey is a game that feels ‘handmade” with its gorgously stylized visuals, simple, compelling gameplay and innovative online mode that actually makes it the safest online game to date (which should be good news to those with kids in the house who are wary about letting them play any online games). Anyway, tgc and Sony need to get this on out on the Vita and on a Blu-Ray so more PS3 owners can play it, but again, that’s all up to them. Personally, I’d spend the time and money on production of a retail version, get the word out on how great it is and see what happens..

Max Payne 3 Cover Art Update: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow…

Here’s the official cover image, courtesy Rockstar Games. Considering that variants of this art have already been out there for a while, it hasn’t changed too drastically… at least in terms of the color palette. Well, Max having hair in that pose is new, probably to make sure the diehards hating on the bald Max image are happier campers. You all DO know he still shaves it off in the game, right? Anyway, it’s a still really cool image. Yeah, yeah, I’m a few days late in posting this, but hey, my spam filter was hungry and I just got around to fishing out stuff that it gulped down. This was the most important thing, so it wasn’t too bad this time…

I’m also obligated to cut and paste the game summary below the jump, just to keep things even more old school. Click away, dear reader, click away!

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Mass Effect 3: “The War Begins” Trailer: Er, You Mean With Folks Who Hated The Ending, Right?

Yeesh. I haven’t even played the game yet and already I’m hearing and reading bitching about the ending to the game. I guess all those who wanted a happy (or sad) Hollywood ending were shocked to see a door left swinging or whatever, but man, I wish they’d shut up about it and maybe think about great books and films that ended in a similar fashion. Let us adults who don’t mind ambiguity or hell, even an ending that’s bleak and one-way ticket-y as can be play a game like this and get in our knowing nods and perhaps chat up those of you that didn’t get what just happened or something. Eh, what can you do? Everyone wants to make their opinions mean something these days and the internet is “perfect” for just that one thing… argh.

Journey “Reaching The Summit” Developer Diary: thatgamecompany At Its Pinnacle

If Journey isn’t nominated and doesn’t win a few awards from respectable peers (and not sites that automatically fall over themselves to give the big shooters and AAA releases you’d expect to win even more praise, there’s just NO justice in this world. OK, that’s a bit overly serious, but once you see the game in motion (or even better, PLAY IT), you’ll want to run out to any shop that sells any kind of trophy, buy them out and get them all engraved with the names of everyone who works at tgc, the folks who deliver the mail and even the janitor if they have one. I still want a Vita version or even better, a Blu-Ray with ALL of tgc’s games on it plus some music, art and “making of” documentaries for good measure. Who’s with me on this?

At First, BioShock Infinite’s “Motorized Patriot” Was A Bit TOO Timely For My Tastes…

When I first heard the name “Motorized Patriot” last night before seeing the video, I laughed for a good two minutes or so. Thankfully, the actual enemy from BioShock Infinite isn’t amusing at all and packs quite a wallop with that “pepper mill” machine gun. Why was I cracking up, do you ask?  Well, I instantly thought of footage from a few Tea Party events that had some cranky old people riding Rascal scooters or in wheelchairs protesting hard and getting it all WRONG about wanting the government here to get its paws off their Medicare benefits. They’d been so brainwashed and willing to believe anything bad about the current president that they thought (and still think) the Medicare and SSI payments they get each month are doled out by someone else (I have no idea who, by the way).

Of course, if you ask these folks who think the government is wasting too much money if they’d love to give that monthly check back to partially pay off the debt, they’d want to roll over your feet a few times. In a motorized patriot sort of way (ouch)…

Armored Core V Gameplay: Steel Yourselves For Some Heavy Metal Hits…

Courtesy of the PlayStation Blog, here’s a look at some more ACV gameplay. This one looks like it’ll be fun for those who love a ton of pre-battle preparations and tweaking (par for the course in the Armored Core franchise). It’ll be interesting to see how well this stacks up against the other titles in the long AC history, but I have the feeling that From Software will be pleased with the response from fans old and new once the game ships out on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

It’s Intenational Women’s Day? FemShep To The Rescue!

Ha! I was wondering just what to do with this FemShep trailer from Mass Effect 3, but thankfully, an email about IWD being today gives me the perfect chance to show BioWare’s on the case when it comes to bringing equality to the forefront. Amusingly enough, I’ve not yet played as a female Shepard in any ME game, but that’s because I haven’t gotten around to it just yet. I have done a complete play through of Dragon Age: Origins using a female character, so I’m at least partially practicing what I’m preaching…

OK, that’s my good deed of the day and much better than running around the UN trying to pass out flowers and candy to random women. That’s only good for a few slaps to the head and a trip to the closest jail cell. Er, that’s what I’ve heard. Not speaking from any experience, mind you…

Dead or Alive 5 GDC 2012 Trailer: So, Crossovers Are The Next Big Thing (Again)? Bring It.

While Capcom has perfected the art of the crossover franchise fighting game, as you can see here, Team Ninja (with a little help from Sega) also wants in on the spectacular fan service with their own key franchise. I’m psyched for this one because the VF series has always been a more technically demanding game than DoA (as some of those crazy Japanese gameplay videos have proved that for a while). While this doesn’t seem to be a FULL crossover game in terms of the total number of VF characters, I’m hoping we see one at some point. In terms of 3D fighters, both VF and DoA do things that Capcom’s awesome arcade hits haven’t on the 2D plane. I guess we’ll see what sort of craziness is going on in future videos, right?

(Thanks to XboxViewTV for the video!)

Papo & Yo Update: Another Unconventional Sleeper On the PS3 That’s A Must-Buy…

Minority Media Inc. is a new developer to watch closely and in my opinion, Papo & Yo is shaping up to be one of the best hidden gems of the year. This PS3 exclusive PSN download combines fantasy, puzzle-solving and non-violent action platforming elements with colorful, favela inspired environments and a great main character to play as. You can practically feel your sense of wonder activate and buzz around the room as this latest trailer shows off improvements from last year’s demo version. I’d absolutely love to see this game on the Vita as well as bundled with other PSH hits on a disc, as it’s something that’s too well-made and heartfelt to be limited to a mere digital download. No release date has been set for this one other than sometime this year, but I’ll be keeping an eyeball peeled and letting you guys know what’s what. For now, just watch that trailer and let your mind drift into the game world. That’s an order, by the way…