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…

 

Gallery: WRC 3 FIA World Rally (PS3/Vita)

Challenge9Finally headed to North America courtesy of Namco Bandai, Milestone’s rally racer looks to catapult itself (and its cars) onto retail shelves and as a PSN download this spring. As a big fan of the previous Evolution Studios-developed games in the series on the PS2, I’m interested in seeing how a new developer also known primarily for racing games handles this franchise. I’ve played a few of Milestone’s racers in the past, so I’m liking what I’m seeing here and in gameplay videos so far. Of course, I go into every game I play with no expectations of perfection (which makes for more accurate reviewing, folks), so I’ll be playing and judging based on whatever merits it has before I pounce on any major flaws (with constructive criticism, as always). As an actual release date has yet to be announced, my engine is idling until then, but once I hear of an update, you’ll be the first to know…

More screens below the jump.

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DESTINY: Bungie’s Big Ideas & Big World Need Big Gameplay To Get My Money…

So, the big, big not so secret big game revealed today at Bungie HQ is an all-new IP for Activision and a purported innovative open world sort of multiplayer FPS (don’t call it a MMO!) called Destiny with a heavy social tilt and a ton of intriguing elements that look and sound grand on paper and in print (and in video – see above)… but I’m not all in just yet. One MASSIVE problem I have with these press events where ideas and concepts and big talk about the future come up and cycle about the room is until there’s ACTUAL gameplay to be seen. Sure, I know Bungie can most likely deliver the goods their fan base expects and then some. However, I’ve never seen a game that delivered as much as promised after a huge press event such as this one.

That said, I’m more than happy to be proven wrong, but the game has lost my interest already thanks to the online only play and heavy cream emphasis on “social” play. Ugh. I don’t own an iPhone, my internet connection blows and I like my games story-driven and immersive outside of flashy visuals and cast of thousands scope. I’ll only cover this again after I get to PLAY it, as it’s a case of so much promise that might not deliver everything at the same time plus a bunch of other things that annoy me to no end. Hey, at least I’m a positive skeptic willing to change my mind after finally tasting what’s on the menu that’s been waved under my nose all day…

Video Game Appreciation 101: Evolution of PlayStation (US/Japanese): Where We Are Today (Until Wednesday, At Least)…

 

And so… here we are and you KNOW there’s going to be a fourth part to this series, right? It starts on Wednesday (Sshhh! Keep it a secret!), so hopefully Sony can do what they’ve done previously in getting those of us who like what they do (well, most of it) as thrilled as we were back in 1995. As always, we shall see…