White Knight Chronicles II Goes Gold, Gets Pre-Order Goodies

OK, I’m a few days late with this news (oops), but hey, that backlog pile was a pain to dig out from under. D3Publisher of America has sent WKC II off to the presses and has announced a cool-looking armor set will be made available as a pre-order bonus (via DLC, of course) through participating GameStop retail locations or through the GS website. Don’t ask me about what the armor does other than look nice and showy, but I’m gathering that once you hop online with it, you can expect a few compliments from live party members if they didn’t score the bonus gear. WKC II is set to land in stores on September 13, 2011 (and remember, you get the remastered version of the first game FREE on the disc!).

Renegade Ops Upgrades Trailer (Someone Get This On A Disc!)

Remember when games like this used to come out left and right back in the day on cartridges and later, CD’s? Sega and Avalanche Studios are going to drop a super-cool bomb of non-stop vehicle-based blasting on your heads this fall. I still think that all these publishers NEED to start compiling PSN and XBLA games onto discs and getting them into mass retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target and Best Buy, as there are plenty of sales to be made to those who don’t have online console accounts or still use dial-up connections. Remember publishers – those folks STILL have some disposable income and might want to spend a few bucks on some of your games. Shutting them out is always a bad idea. Why not buck the trend, shock the hell out of those annoying analysts and make a bunch of people happy in the process?

Gamescom 2011: Batman: Arkham City Mr. Freeze Trailer

 
Finally, some chilling (ha ha) gameplay footage from the upcoming game that washes the vestiges of that awful Batman & Robin movie from the last century out of my brain for good. Rocksteady is definitely on course to deliver an even better experience than the first game, that’s for sure. I’m glad that there’s a separation between this and Chris Nolan’s films simply because it’s great to see what a developer can do when NOT tied to following or trying to capture a movie experience properly in game form. That’s hit or miss, especially with games based on films based on comic books. Yes, I’ll run the previous gameplay trailers within the next few days (thanks for asking)…

Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Flipnote + How To Draw Link Videos

Between the cool 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword coming to the Wii soon, the live symphonic concert and a few other treats for fans new and old, Nintendo even has some nice and arty Zelda-themed surprises in these two videos. I like that green DSi XL in the How To Draw Link clip, but we’ll see if it’s actually released outside of Japan. Seeing that Link sketch reminded me that I have a long-unfinished pencil piece here that I need to finally get done one of these days…

Gamescom 2011: Ridge Racer Unbounded Gallery/Gameplay Footage (Bugbear Redeemed, Part Deux)

Bugbear's take on Namco's seminal racing series definitely has a Burnout thing going for it visually, but given that Criterion has changed their popular crash-fest into a top-down retro-looking family-friendly download only arcade affair (say that three times fast!) with Kinect support over XBLA (it's actually a lot of fun), it looks like gamers who want polygons pushed around into assorted scrap metal might be looking at a new contender for the crown. As a HUGE FlatOut fan, I like what I see quite a lot and can't wait to take this one for a spin. Screens below the jump.Read more »

Gamescom 2011: Sonic Generations Trailer – The Hedgehog Still Has It Going On…

It looks as if we’re getting yet another solid Sonic game zooming our way soon enough. This time, classic and current play get mashed up in a cool way, so everyone should be pretty pleased with the end result. Of course, I’m still waiting for those Panzer Dragoon Box and Shining Force III Complete remakes, a new Otogi game and a ton of other stuff Sega’s NOT working on, but I’ll take the good stuff they’re producing one game at a time starting with this one…

Trine 2: Atlus’ Download Only Blast Of Fresh Air From FrozenByte

FrozenByte’s absolutely beautiful physics-based action/adventure is one of those great games that keeps classic gameplay alive and well. While this one is all is set to hit PSN and Xbox Live soon, it WOULD be nicer to also see a disc release with the first game as well as Atlus’ other download-only hit, the offbeat brawler/shooter/action game, Zeno Clash. Not all core gamers have access to PSN or Xbox Live accounts, so making sure they have the same opportunities to play as many of the games everyone else does should be a priority for all publishers until we see as close to 100% of the user base with high speed connections as possible. More games for everyone at both retail and online means more money for game companies and developers, right?

Gamescom 2011: Resident Evil Revelations Trailers

Definitely looking like a step up from the last RE 3DS game, Revelations brings improved gameplay and a new storyline to the mix that focuses on events from the original classic rather than a rehashed game mode from another game. As you can see from the two gameplay trailers below the jump, RER has some of that classic feel fans crave, but the presentation is definitely a lot more impressive than it was back on the PlayStation. Here's hoping the overall experience is much better than expected and there's a better save system in play.Read more »

Gamescom 2011: Street Fighter X Tekken – A Winner Is Everbody!

Another one-two punch from Cologne = stop ducking, stick your chin out and get carried away by the blow. Capcom and Namco’s upcoming fighter is still bending fans’ brains around the concept of these classic 2D fighters finally meeting up and battling classic 3D ones. Of course they’ll pull it off remarkably well, as you can see in this pair of trailers. Street Fighter has been on a roll since SFIV revitalized the franchise and it looks like the new game will do the same for Tekken,a s Namco Bandai will be rolling out a few new games for different platforms featuring characters from its seminal fighting franchise.

Ken Levine On Bioshock Infinite & PS Vita

Super cool and informative video from the Playstation Blog that reveals Irrational has some major plans for Sony’s upcoming handheld. Right now, there’s not much to worry about in terms of Vita getting sunk by not having enough good games, that’s for sure. 2012 is certainly going to be a deciding year for “dedicated” handheld platforms. I think too much emphasis is being placed on pure casual experiences on devices over more well-rounded gaming experiences that might cost more, but deliver MORE for that money. Let’s hope that the core gamer base can prove me right while allowing Vita to also cater to those who want less “serious” games.