EDF 3 Portable Update: New Trailer, Plus You May Not Have To Import It At All…

Posted on July 12, 2012 by geelw

Nice. A little birdie told me recently that there’s an in-progress English script floating around for this upcoming Vita game, so I’m hoping this is not only true, but D3 gets on the ball in getting the word out ASAP as to when we can expect this instant classic. Here’s the import cover art, a new trailer to drool over plus links to the game’s Amazon Japan page and below, a few of D3’s official Japanese EDF 3 sites. Interestingly enough, the game will be available in Japan in two formats (like EDF 2 Portable on the PSP) a single game card or value-priced dual pack format that will allow gamers to share a copy with a fellow Vita owner. I doubt that double pack will be released stateside, but it WOULD be awesome if D3Publisher of America did us EDF fans a true favor and localized EDF 2 and made it available as a PSN download.

By the way, if you want more info on the game and don’t mind learning a bit of Japanese in the process (or using Microsoft’s bing translator), well, here you go, along with the official Japanese Facebook page (feel free to leave a comment if you visit to express your love for the series) and official D3Publisher Japan EDF portal web site. Anyway, color me thrilled (again)… 9/27/12 in Japan and hopefully not too much longer for the rest of the world…

Street Fighter X Tekken Vita Hands-On: Content With The Content

Posted on July 11, 2012 by geelw

If you’re a Vita owner (and one of those non-whiny Capcom fans who seem to be a dying breed on the internet, but actually exist in the real world) that’s been wondering whether or not you should buy Street Fighter X Tekken when it ships out this fall, I’ll say right now that it’s a no-brainer YES, particularly if you want to experience what’s looking like the smoothest cross-platform play to date. A recent hands-on test of the game at Capcom’s NYC press event put a grin on my face that was hard t remove thanks to some of the new playable characters, the interesting and fun touchscreen control options and yes, that lag-free gameplay against a PS3 opponent.

Continue reading →

Tomb Raider’s Final Days In Development: Lara’s Makeover Is Complete

Posted on July 10, 2012 by geelw

Here’s a brief look at Crystal Dynamics’ upcoming reboot, courtesy of game journalist Geoff Keighley’s Final Hours series of ‘making of’ documentaries. It’s a great piece for those of you curious about what goes into making a game and heck, anything that gets people not into the medium to see the magic happening is all right by me…

They’re Making A Deus Ex Movie? Shoot Me Now…

Posted on July 10, 2012 by geelw

Better yet, get Terry Crews (seen above, promoting Ubisoft’s upcoming Expendables 2 video game tie-in) to hit me in the face with a pie after busting through a wall in my house like Kool-Aid Man, but dressed as a bottle of Old Spice Body Wash or something. Ugh. I can tell that this is going to be a disaster, as what makes a Deus Ex game WORK isn’t the action and some big name actors strutting about pretending. For me, it’s all about the writing and choices available to the player over many hours of each game in the franchise, all of which will be condensed into two hours and probably nowhere near as good as any of the games. Meh, whatever – I hope Warren Spector gets a cut of the profits somewhere along the line. Only Hollywood can stop itself once it gets rolling on something like this, but like any video game movie, it’s not going to be pretty at all. I’ll go hide in a closet somewhere – wake me when the movie hits cable…

Er, wait…. they made an Expendables 2 video game? Holy crap, Ubisoft… maybe you should have showed THIS instead of Watch_Dogs (har har)…

Phantasy Star Online 2 Headed Westward (Hopefully, With Some Sort Of Offline Mode)

Posted on July 9, 2012 by geelw

As happy and grateful as I am that Sega is wisely getting PSO 2 to North America next year, it WOULD be really nice to have some sort of offline mode for those of us who don’t give a hoot about MMOs, live in areas with no or spotty broadband connections or hell, just like to play our games solo with no intrusive DRM and data mining going on behind the scenes. Of course, no one listens to an old coot like me anymore, so I guess I won’t offer any more suggestions about this sort of thing. THAT said, the Phantasy Star legacy demands that there be a game that’s playable for us lone wolf types. Hopefully, someone at Sega somewhere in the world has realized the same thing and does something to honor the series long history instead of just shoving yet another lovely-looking MMO out the door and hoping we all jump on board with nostalgic blinders on.

Of Orcs & Men Summer Trailer: Looking Great With Two Months To Go…

Posted on July 6, 2012 by geelw

Here’s the latest trailer for this intriguing Cyanide Studios/Spiders developed RPG coming in September for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 from Focus Home Interactive. It’s certainly got the looks of a sleeper hit and the nicely quirky twist of playing as an Orc/Elf team setting out against humans in a rich fantasy world setting is appealing. That means it’s all up to the gameplay, which I’m hoping is solidly action oriented and as bug-free as possible. Go pop over to the game’s official site to check out more gorgeous screens and art and keep this one on your radar, as it’s looking pretty good.

Marvel vs. Capcom Origins: Capcom Does A Bit Of Heavy Eyelash Batting At Its Fans…

Posted on July 5, 2012 by geelw

Oh, Capcom, you’re such a big tease, flashing those ankles like that from under that floor-length skirt and conveniently dropping linen hankies as you pass by under that new parasol. Of course, the mean boys down the block want the whole Can-Can thing, so I see they’re getting a bit frustrated. The internet is going nuts about this (and more nuts in some places than others, thanks to the usual gang of Capcom detractors that aren’t happy with ANYTHING the company does), but I see this upcoming release as a gateway to more returns of Capcom’s classic arcade battlers remixed for the modern era. Sure, who wouldn’t want a new Darkstalkers, X-Men: Children of the Atom, or Punisher game?

As for me, I’m happy as hell about Origins, but I’m hoping to finally see a fighting game that rolls along sometime in the next few years that features every single character from Capcom’s history pop up in as a playable character. That, or a crazy action/RPG hybrid that packs in as many of those favorites as possible. Eh, it’s a big dream, I know… but games like this make me think even bigger.

EDF 3 Portable Trailers: Start Bugging D3Publisher of America For A US Version, I Say…

Posted on July 5, 2012 by geelw

OK, not only is this port packing in much more content than the original Xbox 360 exclusive (including a four-player co-op mode), I just found out from watching video #2 below that Pale Wing is making a return (faint, thud!). For any longtime EDF fan who knows what I’m talking about, you’re also picking yourself up off the carpet, I’d bet. This changes up the gameplay considerably, as her jet pack and energy-based weapons add a completely different approach to some of the tougher levels in the game. That and EDF 3 (or EDF 2017, to 360 owners in the US) recycles parts of a few maps from EDF 2, meaning playing them again with Pale Wing will see some of those old strategies coming into play more effectively than with Storm 1. Lucky Vita owners in Japan will be seeing this sometime in September of this year. As for everyone else… that’s hard to say.

Now, I know D3Publisher of America is busy putting out a small line of licensed games based on popular kid shows (Ben 10, iCarly and Victorious), but I think they’d be making a huge mistake if they ignore this exclusive. Warts and all, they ought to embrace this intentionally campy and massively awesome run ‘n gun game to the fullest (the company started life in Japan as a publisher of a budget-themed games line), market the hell out of it though viral videos and a bunch of hands-on previews (my fingers are itching just typing that) and get it into stores sometime next year. This should give them time to get the word out that it’s coming and will be a Vita essential for the potential of at least 40 hours of bug-blasting action. Then again, I spend something like 150 playing EDF 2017, so I know I’ll get as much or more time out of a Vita version…

Assassin’s Creed III July 4th Trailer: A Bit of Flag-Waving From A Few Directions…

Posted on July 4, 2012 by geelw

How amusing that US ad agencies make stupid “patriotic” commercials with stuff like the founding fathers driving Detroit muscle cars into battle (Um…. oooookaaay?), while a non-US based company like Ubisoft does stirring stuff like this that manages to draw interest to both their product and a traditional American holiday in a more inspiring manner. Anyway, enjoy the rest of the holiday and please try not to blow anything off you’ll need for work (or play) later on.

Lost Planet 3 Hands-On: Spark Unlimited Gets Things Back To (Better) Basics

Posted on July 4, 2012 by geelw

Prequels are a risky undertaking for any developer, especially one that’s coming into a series that suffered from a bumpy second installment. While it looked absolutely incredible, Lost Planet 2 was a nightmare for solo players and even with up to four live players tackling the near completely plot-free campaign, the core gameplay had too many flaws to be fully enjoyable. Spark Unlimited (taking over from Capcom’s internal studio) has been working hard for the past 2 1/2 years on Lost Planet 3 and as a recent demo build proved, the developer is showing off their best, most polished work to date. While it’s usually impossible to gauge how the final retail code for any game will be based on a demo, after playing through it and watching others play, it’s clear that the team at Spark is cooking up a blend of excellently done cinematic storytelling and solid gameplay that so far, manages to be equal parts thrilling and extremely well paced.

Continue reading →