Between the massive roster, the all-new Studio Pierrot animation created for the game and the endless hours of fun that will have you and your Naruto-loving friends up (for endless hours, I say!) I think it’s about time to stock up on a few extra controllers. Just in case stuff happens. “WHAT stuff?” you ask? Well, you know… stuff. Now, you don’t HAVE to buy those extra gamepads because I said so, but don’t cell me up at 2AM when you bust your stick and want to borrow one of mine. Go poke around on Newegg.com or something, snap up a few inexpensive Nyko wired controllers and leave me alone, I’m trying to sleep. Good Night!
Was that TOO harsh? Oops, sorry (heh). Well, I was trying not to be TOO negative, but I was royally bugged by a few things in the game and TV show description. I’m just saying that this is a massive risk for Sony, SOE, Trion Worlds and the former Sci-Fi Channel (yes, I still refuse to use that illiterate new spelling they paid someone far too much to change a few years ago). Sure, the game looks great so far (and has a way to go before its complete), but what if the vastly hyped upcoming TV show is less Battlestar: Galactica and more Terranova? Oops. For a few potential players, that would doom the game, especially if they have memories of The Matrix Online or a few other MMO’s that promised the world but gave up the ghost somewhere along the line.
Hmmmm. While all that talk about indifference and snobbery amongst the hardcore crowd about supporting adventure games and indie games got a kick to the face thanks to crowdfunded Kickstarter projects such as Double Fine Adventure, Wasteland 2 and a few other excellent titles, it seems there’s some nose in the sky attitude from these supporters towards projects like this that deserve the same respect and attention. Hell, I wish I could give these guys what they need to complete their game and get it out to whomever wants to play it (which I’m sure would be a LOT more people if certain sites a great deal bigger than my lowly blog actually promoted the funding project). Clearly, this team has TALENT and is making a great game worth watching (and playing). But are they getting much love from the folks who SHOULD be waving the flag for games like this and sending money their way? Not enough, I say… (grrrr)… $6,000 to go. 11 days left.
Who knew one good cure for an aching back would be a bullet to the eyeball?
My poor old back was a bit out of whack after some lugging some heavy stuff to the airport shenanigans the previous morning, but after sitting down to a nice bit of the Xbox 360 version pf Rebellion’s superb Sniper Elite V2 last Thursday, I left the Edison Hotel with a spring in my step (but scanning high windows and rooftops for snipers). 505 Games is fortunate enough to be publishing Rebellion’s followup to their 2005 PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox sleeper (later ported to Wii in 2010) that’s still one of the most challenging and tightly focused war games ever put on a console. Sniper Elite V2 ups the ante with an even more phenomenal proprietary graphics engine, excellent sound design and gameplay that’s going to surprise a lot of people who’ve never experienced the original…
I really love the gameplay speed in the video above, but it looks like that as well as the the bloom lighting effect have been sped all the way up for testing purposes. Don’t freak out over this, I say (as hopefully these will be adjustable in the final game). Anyway, check out what’s new to the game: more building types! Better water effects! Pigs! Sheep! OK, maybe I’m getting a wee bit too excited about such “mundane” stuff, but hey – I like it when a plan comes together, and this project is showing off some fine work by a very dedicated bunch of folks. Check out the new screenshots HERE and give ’til it hurts (a little) HERE.
Ah, Sega, Sega, Sega… don’t make some cranky Dreamcast fans go nuts this weekend! Still, You KNOW they would have fallen harder and FAST if it were an “official” Shenmue III announcement. Er, then again, maybe that would have been a really terrible prank to yank. You guys and gals don’t want a horde of VERY pissed off torch-carrying gamers storming the Sega offices on a Sunday morning. They’d go and do it, too…
Looking super sharp and like a ton of fun in these videos, Namco Bandai’s not quite reboot but re-versioning of its classic arcade racing game should be in stores (and hopefully, in your hot little hands) as you read this. Will Bugbear’s expertise at racing games where stuff wrecks up quite well be accepted by the masses, or will even the awesome-looking City Editor fail to capture the attention of the jaded RR maniacs who ONLY want ONE type of game in their libraries? Suspense!
(But I’m guessing the former will win out amongst those with half a head full of common sense)…
Team Ninja set itself up with quite a paradox-shaped pickle when they set about designing Ninja Gaiden 3. The particular problem plaguing them? How to make a game for new casual players (and those who hated the supreme challenge of the older Ninja Gaiden games) and while pleasing the more hardcore fans of the franchise (some from the arcade and NES days) who wanted something brutally difficult that took a great deal of effort to master. Now, some of those more loyal hardcore Ryu Hayabusa fans would simply say “screw the noobs!” or something far less print-friendly. However, these days it’s getting much harder to sell some “core” games so far within a niche and make a decent profit. Yes, that’s pretty awful if you think about it, but broadening the base has worked well for certain other franchises and genres, right?
NISA is rolling out some really fun-looking RPGs of a few varieties in 2012 and 2013 (that I wish were allarriving on discs, but what can you do these days but hope?). The company announced three new titles for the PS3 and/or PSN that include:
Legasista (Summer 2012), which SOUNDS like a 70’s Legosploitation flick (har har), but is actually a lovely rogue-like tactical RPG coming from developer System Prism exclusively to the PS3 via PSN:
…which sounds like some import tuner muffler company sticker you’d see plastered on some goofy looking tricked out street whip (oh, I’m on a roll, aren’t I?), but it’s actually a very cool looking PS3 Strategy/RPG from Compile Heart (the folks behind the Hyperdimension Neptunia games) and GCREST.
And finally…
The Witch and the Hundred Knights, an Action/RPG set for a 2013 release on the PS3, has some lovely stylized visuals and while early, has “BUY ME” written all over those screenshots on the teaser site…
Add in a few more intriguing games such as Clan of Champions (Spring 2012), Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention for the PS Vita (Spring 2012), Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland (sooner than you think!) and a few other surprises and that’s actually even MORE of a galore! OK, my work here is done – now go pre-order something or get that wishlist updated already!
Just seeing those cars flipping around, blasting and otherwise demolishing each other is causing my poor back to seize up, Sony. No wait, that was all those koo-koo crazy rumors about the new console not doing certain things that will piss off anyone without a huge online data plan and a lot of throwaway cash to spend. Hmmm. One day that will all get sorted out (I hope), unitil then, folks – keep your fingers crossed that this digital deal we’re all being shoehorned into will be somewhat (hah!) “safe” as we throw all our (not so) private personal info into that BIG cloud-shaped blender and HOPE it’s OK…
Er, the game looks nice, by the way. Reminds me of Team 17’s Stunt GP, a dash of Twisted Metal and Argonaut’s Red Dog on the Dreamcast. Nice…
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 