Today’s “Humor” Video: Behind The Scenes With Snoop Dogg & TEKKEN Tag Tournament 2

 

OK, I don’t want to get beat up or anything, but I did laugh myself off the couch when I heard, then saw ol’ Snoop was going to be part of Namco Bandai’s upcoming fighter. It turns out that we actually have a lot in common as old-school TEKKEN fans, so I can’t knock him at all for being in the position he is where a game company can come a-callin’ and he then responded in a few ways to help promote the final product. The good news is he’s not sitting back and resting on a pile of money and high-grade weed with yet another game credit under his belt. The man actually went and made a video to promote the game and as usual, like him or not, you’ll be seeing the world through smoke-colored glasses for about four minutes as you get your groove on. And of course, here’s a behind the scenes peek featuring among others, Mr. Dogg, fighting game master Justin Wong, and everyone’s favorite actual gamer gal/model, Adrienne Curry. That’s kind of an in-joke around here, as for some reason, a few folks using the internet still think she’s not a gamer based on her looks (which is kind of stupid, as how you look as ZERO to do with whether or not you’re a gamer!)…

TEKKEN Tag Tournament 2  will hit retail in North America on September 11, 2012, Japan – September 13 and Europe on September 14. Expect the internet to keel over a few times from all the online play taking place shortly thereafter.

 

Review: Brave: The Video Game (PS3)

Platform: PS3 (Also on Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii)

Developer: Behaviour Interactive, Inc.

Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios

# of Players: 1 – 2

ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 +)

Official Site

Score: B (80%)

A fast-paced hack & slash for the younger set with a nice arcade feel, Disney/Pixar’s Brave: The Video Game manages to overcome a few of the issues that plague most movie games that try too hard (or don’t try hard enough) to be fun to play. While not the longest kid-friendly (or preteen friendly, if you go by the E 10+ rating) licensed game out there, the simple pick up and play controls, optional two-player co-op mode, PlayStation Move mini-games and constant action keeps things from dragging after the initial tutorial stage. A few technical issues and a bit of repetition in some brief cut scenes mar the experience, but overall, this is one of those games that anyone can hop into and play and have a blast while doing so.

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DmC Hands-On: Dropping The Second Shoe On The Skeptics

I like to believe that I was one of a dedicated handful of people genuinely thrilled from the beginning that Ninja Theory was collaborating with Capcom on DmC, its upcoming Devil May Cry reboot/prequel. I like to believe this because while the internet was collapsing on itself like a dead star in its death throes after the initial announcement, I was waving the flag for people threatening all sorts of real life bad things on Capcom and Ninja Theory to shut it and wait for at least a demo to hit before running off at the mouth. I certainly didn’t mind the mug shot of the “emo” Dante or the screenshots and later game movies that showed things shaping up quite well, but still the skeptics railed on. As i didn’t go to E3 this year, as soon as I heard Capcom was dropping into NYC with four upcoming titles, you know I was there in a heartbeat…

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Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two Hands-On: Twice As Fun (And Then Some)…

As great fun as Disney Epic Mickey was on the Wii, the game did have a few issues. Granted, the innovative gameplay that allowed players to paint in or remove chunks of the game world meant the Wii was doing some spectacular calculations behind the scenes, but the game camera suffered in too many areas. That and the game could have used a bit more in the way of actual voices for its cast, especially as it captured a wide range of Disney history that demanded to be heard as well as seen. Yes, James Dooley’s fantastic score carried the aural experience to new heights, but something was still missing. For the sequel, I’m happy to report that not only are PS3 and Xbox 360 owners going to get in on the fun, those camera and sound problems are gone and Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two should be on your list of games to dive into when it hits retail in mid-November. I finally got to play the E3 demo of the PS3 version at a Disney event here in NYC and as good as the first game was on the Wii, the new camera system absolutely sings using the Move and /Navigation Controller setup.

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Zombeer? Really? OK, Zombies in Games Are Officially Played Out.

Yeesh, now I’ve seen everything. Still, you KNEW this was coming, right? That said, The ride is officially shut for the winter, kids. Show’s over, monkey’s dead, and he ain’t gettin’ up anytime soon. Go on home, now… git!  Resident Evil kicked off the zombies thing in games for many and after over 15 years of assorted games featuring the undead in all sorts of genres from nearly every major and plenty of smaller publishers, here we are at Zombeer: Zombies & Beer. Which means (to me, at least) this is the end of the line for anything original and undead-related in gaming. Of course, I could be dead (or undead) wrong, but that title makes my stomach churn for some reason (and not in a good way). All I’m saying is this had better be the best horror comedy first person shooter ever made AND it better be a bit scary too. That awful pun-wreck of a title nearly made me want to poke my eye out with a cold spoon. Anyway, I have a the fingers on one hand crossed that this one doesn’t stink as much as the title and concept do. Eh, maybe I’m in a crappy mood today or something, as stuff like this usually makes me crack up…

Xseed Games Has Been Busy, As You Can See Here…

In case you’ve missed them, here are some rather nice trailers for four new or incoming titles from the publisher. First up is Mistwalker’s epic JRPG, The Last Story, which is looking to be one of the last, great Wii RPGs (and another good reason to own the console). Given that it’s a summer release, it looks as if I won’t be getting much son when it drops into stores.

Next up is FuRyu’s Unchained Blades, another PSN download for the PSP that JRPG fans should be thrilled about. Featuring character art from a wide range of top Japanese illustrators such as Pako (Shining Force), Toshiyuki Kubooka (Lunar), Shinichiro Otsuka (Summon Night), Kazushi Hagiwara (Bastard!!) and more. I’m thrilled about this one because it’s an old-school dungeon crawler in the Wizardry vein, which usually means plenty of great fun and challenge. There’s a 3DS version coming as well, but I’m not sure if it’s a retail package or download-only title like the PSP game.

 

Finally, two games from Nihon Falcom’s long-running Y’s series: Ys: Oath in Felghana and Ys Origin, both coming to Valve’s Steam download service with some great visual updates and running at a lovely 60 frames per second. Buy them, I say. Still, I also have to ask if Xseed can make these available as direct downloads or set them up as DRM-free on gog.com or some other site. While I do have a Steam account, I can’t use it on my terminally slow connection at all because of the update process that slows everything to a crawl. My gog.com account, on the other hand, is pretty smooth going and I haven’t had any major issues with it. of course, I’d prefer these on a UMD or even better, a Vita card as part of an Ys Collection with an art book that happens to fit inside a Vita case and perhaps a soundtrack and wallpaper on that game card, but that’s just my wishful thinking that SOME publisher would maximize that over-sized case Vita games come in.

 

OK, enough reading – go play (or pre-order) some games!

Journey: Collector’s Edition Trailer: My Psychic Powers At Work…

 

As I predicted, here’s what’s coming in the retail version of Journey: Collector’s Edition, coming soon to the PS3. The only things missing are more PSN demos, but Sony is offering up a PlayStation Plus subscription for those of you who want to check out the service and see what’s what. Granted, this means not a thing to games without the means to go online at all, but hey, I guess SCEA will figure that out at some point. Still, this is a must purchase collection and heck, will make a great gift for any gamer out there who hasn’t tried these gems yet.

Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut Trailer: Finally Finshing The Fight (And The Fight With Some Fans As Well)…

Boom. BioWare gets right to it, and of course, some folks STILL aren’t happy about this soon to be released DLC. Oh well. My only suggestion is for any and EVERY publisher out there to let a game this huge get more time to cook so it’s DONE and done right when it ships. Sure, even if the game had shipped with more closure, there would have been fans unhappy that everything they wanted to see wasn’t there. That said, I didn’t mind the ending so much as the oddball deal with the Normandy being in a weird place at a certain point. But all fiction needs its shortcutting, as does actual history in every retelling, it seems. Anyway, will this content show up on a disc at some point so folks who don’t have an Origin account or don’t care about online play actually be able to finish the story THEY started? That’s the more important question for me…

Go Buy This: Tomba! Hits PSN (Thank You, Monkey Paw Games!)

I sold off my mint Tomba! and Tomba 2: The Evil Swine Return sometime last year for a nice chunk of change (I was surprised at how much they went for), but of course, I miss them terribly now, as they both were fun to play and pretty hilarious to boot. Anyway, thanks to the fine folks over at Monkey Paw Games, I can at least play the first game again, as it’s gotten a PSOne Classics reissue. Yeah, yeah, I’d prefer it on a disc with a bunch of other PSOne games, but that’s not going to happen, so this is the next best thing. Like Klonoa and before it, Pandemonium!, Tomba uses a “2.5D” perspective that combines traditional side-scrolling gameplay with occasional plane shifts into different parts of the 3D environment. It’s also got some light RPG elements (but isn’t a RPG a tall) and is one of those games that will keep a smile on your face from the moment you fire it up. I’d actually LOVE to see Monkey Paw get more PSOne games out (including a ton of the imports I have here), but I guess I should go bug them about it on their site, right?

The Amazing Spider-Man Game Update: A Little Bruce Campbell Action For You…

OK, I may not want to swing around a virtual NYC as Stan ‘The Man” Lee in The Amazing Spider-Man game, but I can’t say anything negative about Bruce Campbell getting into the game, voicing “The Extreme Reporter” (which is an oddball name for a character, but oh well). Now, would I want to swing around in the game as Bruce in the guise of Ash, Brisco County Jr., Elvis from Bubba-Ho-Tep or any other characters he’s played? Nope. I just appreciate the man’s talent and humor along with his large body of work. That and hell, some “bonuses” aren’t all that special if they make no sense, kids…