Yes, I’m still chipping away at the reformatting project (old posts never die, they just glare at you intimidatingly until you get around to fixing them up), so I may not post as many updates as I’d like to. I did however, post two trailers for The Darkness 2 over on the other blog if you don’t mind a little ultra-violence with your cup of whatever. Back in a bit…
No, you’re not quite seeing double here (even though you are). It’s one video with commentary and one without (if you somehow haven’t managed to read the headers above the videos). Also, one of the Vita’s must-haves in my book just because I’m an old-school WipEout player from the original PlayStation days. I also had the PC version, but I found it tougher to control using a keyboard. Oh well. Anyway, what I love about the commentary from Game Director Graeme Ankers and Art Director Lee Carus is that it acknowledges those players who’ve been around since the first game while giving a bit of back-story to those coming into the game for the first time. WipEout 2048 zips onto the Playstation Vita on February 22, 2012.
Nintendo’s killer app (that would have made for a great launch title had the 3DS shipped in 2012) is finally soaring into retail in March, so here’s the latest peek at some gameplay. I still feel bad for Wii owners that they’re not getting this one, but it really would be nice to see the Wii U do something with the character now that he’s officially back on the gaming radar worldwide. Let’s hope we see more new games and not poor Pit relegated to another Smash Bros. sub-character no one under a certain age even knows about (like poor Ness from the Earthbound/Mother series)…
I’d have posted this news when it arrived yesterday, but I had a little incident that kept me away from posting for a bit. Thanks, Max. Look, I know you’re terribly excited about your new game, but please keep the house calls to a minimum. I can use less lumps upside the head, too. Ouch. Anyway, May 15, 2012 for North America and May 18, 2012 in Europe for PS3 and Xbox 360. PC gamers get theirs in North America on May 29, while Europe gets theirs on June 1. You can also (and wisely) pre-order the game from a few places online or off, if there’s a game shop near you. Rockstar as extended the time to pre-order the game until April 2, 2012, which means you should probably snag that Special Edition if you like what you see on the pre-order page, correct?
Hmmm… that US release IS a week after my birthday, so perhaps Max will be a tiny bit nicer and drop off a little gift as an apology of sorts. Of course, I could just wake up again with my other foot in the toilet and another lump on the head, so I won’t push my luck…
Yeah, yeah, I’ve not REALLY been ignoring this one at all (hey, I’m a huge grasshopper fan, so how could I?). I was just hoping we’d see a retail release for the Vita or some other handheld over yet another download only title that’s just going to be buried in a dashboard update down the road. And it’s a 360/XBLA exclusive for now, so there’s that. Disappointments aside, the game does look quite lovely and fun to play, so there’s that. More updates to come (but don’t expect the game to migrate to another platform unless it’s headed to PC at some point, as this is a Microsoft produced project).
Heh. I figured I’d forgotten something important in that Phantasy Star III article, but thanks to The Sega Dude, I’m saved from my mistake. Yes, Phantasy Star and Phantasy Star II were in fact remade for the Japanese PlayStation 2 as part of the Sega Ages 2500 collection. I’d been ignoring most of these, as I’d played some of the 2500 remakes (a few of which were bundled together and released in the US as Sega Classics Collection) and wasn’t too impressed with how many of the games were redone. Still, now I’ll have to track down those two Phantasy Star remakes at some point just to see how they turned out. Although from quickly scanning over a few articles over the past few minutes, losing the first-person view in PS1 for an overhead view is a kick to the shin for me (ouch!). But I never judge anything these days based on a first impression…
Babycastles is doing it AGAIN, bringing indie gaming to the masses in a unique public setting with food and drink – check the invite below for details:
I may be the only person NOT surprised at this news, but there you go. Capcom has dropped the big news, so RE fans still unwilling to grab a 3DS for the upcoming Resident Evil Revelations (which is looking really great, by the way – if you own a 3DS, the demo is out NOW!) can now prepare for the followup to Resident Evil 5 when it hits PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on November 20, 2012. The awesome 3+ minute trailer is posted over on my M-Rated game stuff blog, as I’m playing nice for the family audience out there (and it seems that no one has been able to program a simple age gate bloggers can use- what’s up with that?). Anyway, believe it or not, PRE-ORDERS are already being taken for the game over on the official Facebook page, so click on over to do the sign up and “Like” thing and check out the gory details for yourself…
Oh, by the way… 70,000 zombies? Yikes. The game better have some sort of kill counter, that’s for sure.
It took about 21 years, but I finally appreciate Phantasy Star III. Not that I was playing the game for that long, mind you. It just took me that long to see everything it has to offer and while it’s still flawed, I now have a bit more respect for the final product. Like a number of Sega Genesis owners back in 1991, I didn’t like the game all that much. The visuals were dull compared to the original and sequel, the story was a confusing mess from the start and unless you paid good money for the strategy guide, it was tough to know what to do in a few key moments. A mere two save slots didn’t help either in a game with four possible outcomes. In my case, my younger brother and I played through the game and only completed two of the four endings. We didn’t shell out for the guide book, but concentrated on power-leveling the party members until getting through dungeons was easy. I think all that grinding plus the game’s not so hot localization and depressingly bland color palette was what really killed PSIII for us, so back on the shelf it went for about a decade… Continue reading
It’s too damn bad that a game as great as Dear Esther is going to be limited to being a download-only game when it launches on February 14. This is exactly the sort of game project that needs as wide an exposure as possible so as many people can play it without any restrictions on how they can get it. I’m not at all for ANY sort of piracy, mind you – I’m talking about a disc version with the game plus some sort of in-depth feature on how this beautiful yet haunting mod remake was put together, perhaps with the original mod as a bonus. Oh well, Steam is huge and popular, and it costs too much to get packaged games into shops these days, so that’s that, I guess. Unless someone ponies up the bucks for a retail version perhaps distributed exclusively through a few online stores or something…
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