XCOM: Enemy Unknown Deep Dive #1 – The Best Stuff Always Comes From The Bottom…

Posted on March 7, 2012 by geelw

Firaxis and 2K Games present an excellent look at the upcoming reboot of the classic sci-fi turn-based squad strategy game. I’m a huge fan of the original (as well as Gerry Anderson’s UFO TV series, the source material for that original XCOM), so I’m liking what I see here quite a lot. Of course, I’m also really intrigued by the upcoming XCOM shooter just to see how it deals with the beginnings of the franchise when the UFO threat was somewhat smaller (but no less deadly to humanity). Now, if ONLY those rabid haters of all things FPS in their XCOM could just get a nice brain wipe so they’d at LEAST accept the other game for what it gets right, we’d all be happier campers (the “we” in this case being me, 2K and the dev team busting their asses on both projects). It’s all about respect, people…

UPDATE: Want More Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor Footage? Here You Go!

Posted on March 6, 2012 by geelw

It’s really late, I’m really wiped out and REALLY too tired to run as long a post as I’d like here, but here’s the latest video from Capcom and developer From Software’s upcoming Kinect exclusive that’s set to hit retail in June. All I’ll say before falling into bed is those of you out there who’ve been kicking the peripheral around (or just hate the 360 for some reason) will more likely than not be taking a begrudging glance at the console once this game ships out. Or even before as the gameplay previews drip out…

OK, off to bed for me – I’ll be back later today!

Making Halo 4: First Look Documentary: 343 Takes It To A New Beginning

Posted on March 6, 2012 by geelw

With the latest entry in Microsoft’s seminal console FPS franchise headed to the Xbox 360 later this year from a “new” dev team, it’s nice NOT to see so much secrecy now that things are well under way. Then again, it’s pretty obvious that 343 has a great deal to live up to and wants to show that they KNOW what they’re doing now that Bungie’s no longer at the helm. From what I can see, I’d say even the most diehard fan has nothing pressing to worry about, but that won’t convince the non-Halo fans or others who should know better. Me, I just want a longer yet supremely written and paced campaign so that running around shooting other live players in the requisite multiplayer modes isn’t the ONLY thing the game gets noticed for (*yawn*). Let’s hope we see MORE of these “making of” videos for the game as Halo 4 gets further along in development…

Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor Gets a Heavy Date (Finally)…

Posted on March 5, 2012 by geelw

That date would be a release date: June 19 in North America and June 22 across European territories. Rats. Now, I’ll just HAVE to buy a Kinect it seems. No more slacking off and hanging out at a friend’s place just because he’s not using his as much as I think he should. Oh well.. but I guess I’ll be a happier camper in the end. Nope, I’m not going near a dancing or exercise game (other than Double Fine Happy Action Theater, as you’ll find yourself dancing, exercising and playing in lava before you know what hit you), nor do I want to get all “pew-pew” with a shooter that works fine with a decent controller. I missed out on the original Steel Battalion thanks to the expense and not enough space here for that ridiculously awesome custom controller setup, but this time, it looks like Capcom will get me. Now, if they’d only sell enough copies of the new game to fund a proper HD remake of the original just so those who’ve missed it can see what was (and still is) a pretty unique game experience. That, folks, would be even more spectacular…

Jet Set Radio Trailer: What’s Old Is New(s) Again…

Posted on March 5, 2012 by geelw

Yeah, I missed running this short trailer update a few days back, but amusingly enough, a few weeks ago, I had the Dreamcast here plugged in and yup, got in some time with the original. Sega’s on the right track here, although in a perfect world, they’d just get a bunch of classic DC games out on a disc format so more people could play them. One game at a time may get the internet cheering (when it’s the RIGHT game), but I think the better thing to do would be to let more people see just what the Dreamcast era was all about with a bit of healthy budget-priced overkill….

Clan of Champions Isn’t What You Think It Is (And That’s Probably A Good Thing)…

Posted on March 5, 2012 by geelw

This spring, NISA will be publishing Acquire’s upcoming downloadable PS3, Xbox 360 and PC fantasy action game (for up to six players), Gladiator VS under a name that makes it sound exactly like either a RPG or a League of Legends pastiche. This of course, could work for or against the game as I can see JRPG fans wanting to snap it up automatically because of the Nippon Ichi connection and overly protective LoL fans thinking it’s a shoddy rip-off of some sort. Yours truly falls under the happy medium label, as I want to see the game succeed on its own merits and not just some accidental honors blessed upon the game by those who automatically support ANYTHING certain companies put out just to add another notch to their gaming belts. Of course, i don’t want it to fail miserably because it gets bad word of mouth from too many people who haven’t a clue (and nope, uninformed opinions based on NOT touching the game don’t count). In English: personally, I like what Acquire has done here (and with previous entries in the series) and want to see how it’s all turned out, no matter who publishes it and under what name.

Granted, if it were titled “Mr. Pablum’s Peanut Butter Palace” or something similarly silly, I’d wonder who the hell was thinking up these game names and how the hell I could get a piece of THAT particular pie. I can think up dopey names all day, so I should at least be able to collect a paycheck for that…

Dragon’s Dogma Class Skills Video Updates: Six More Short Strong Ones…

Posted on March 5, 2012 by geelw

And here you go: six additional super short to short videos of more skill usage from Capcom’s upcoming action/RPG. Just when you think you’ll be sticking with a melee or archer class, along comes some cool mage spells to cast and there goes your game plan straight out the window. As much fun as these are to watch, I’d actually prefer all these DD clips be combined into one longer video or ones longer than a few seconds each, but hey… it’s Capcom’s world and we’re just living in it. Or we all will be when the game hits retail in May…

Continue reading →

Starhawk “Build To Kill” Trailer: The Sky Is Falling!

Posted on March 3, 2012 by geelw

I’m always happy to see more Starhawk in action and hope the game does spectacularly well enough that we see more by LightBox Interactive that keeps the series going (and maybe even a Vita game at some point). Of course, I’ll be all about covering every bit of the single player campaign simply because heck, the team has worked on it for so long and I love to see games that don’t forget those of us who crave a bit of story more than merely hopping online and shooting up the competition. Conversely, the beta seems to be huge success with PS3 owners who want to do just that as well as those new to this style of RTS/shooter gameplay. Now, let’s hope anyone else who eventually picks up the game will get what’s here and be able to keep up with the blazing fast pace it offers when compared to other action/shooters.

The Ghoster, The Immortal & The Road Wolf Star In Ridge Racer Unbounded Update

Posted on March 3, 2012 by geelw

Hmmm. That trio of names above sound like a bunch of Mad Max drivers (they must be personal friends of The Toecutter and Humongous). OK, I’m guilty of missing posting this trailer from about two weeks ago, but that’s because I was buried in Toy Fair stuff, so there (nyah!). Anyway, Bugbear’s hard work is paying off in my book, as the game is looking better each time I see it. Sure, it may not be the most original arcade-style racer out there. But if the parts that work as well as they’re supposed to all click into place, Namco Bandai is going to have quite a sleeper here…

Mass Effect 3 Launch Trailer: Are You Throwing Money At Your Screen Yet?

Posted on March 3, 2012 by geelw

So, it’s come to this has it? Actually, it’s no big deal that we’re seeing launch trailers land online before a game ships, but of course, some out there are over-speculating (as usual) when they should just knock it off and get their grins on that BioWare and EA are getting the final part of Shepard’s story into their hands. Well, issues with DLC aside (for those who can’t access it more than the ones who CAN but still want to complain all day about the cost and availability schedule), I’d say the game is going to be huge (duh) and neither the developer nor publisher should let those pooh-pooh bears rain on their parade.