Gallery: Tekken 6 – 3D Character Art

Namco Bandai sure knows how to perfectly monopolize my quality time, but I’m not complaining one bit. Going through these awesome character renders and screens for Tekken 6 is thrilling enough. Deciding HOW to present them is a bigger challenge, as there are so many characters and screenshots that one post would take up most of a page. Soooo, I’ll break these shots up into two posts. Character art first, screens second. Get ready for an image overload, folks: Continue reading

ZEN Studios Announces SFII Turbo Pinball Table Update

Well, it wasn’t actually the toughest puzzle to figure out, huh? Anyway, here’s a link to ZEN’s entry on the Official PlayStation Blog check it out.

Atlus Does a SMT: Persona Double Launch With A Twist…

Once again, Atlus is giving RPG fans the love with a super-cool premium item AND a nice way to kick off the launch of Sony’s upcoming PSP GO! handheld. The remake of the classic PSOne RPG, Shin Megami Tensei Persona will get a simultaneous release in UMD format on the PSP as well as a download version for the PSP GO! on September 22, 2009.

Atlus isn’t letting PSP GO! owners get the really cool stuff, however (although Persona IS a truly deep and mind-bending RPG any discerning genre fan should play). Gamers who pre-order the retail release of SMT:P through retailers such as Amazon or GameStop will get a nice bonus: a 2-disc soundtrack composed by Shoji Meguro. They’ll also get the cool Collector’s Edition box it all comes in, as Atlus doesn’t want gamers walking home holding those CD’s over your head if it happens to rain on launch day… Continue reading

Infinite Space Teaser Anime Clip 1

Sega’s upcoming Nintendo DS deep space Strategy/RPG Infinite Space won’t arrive until next year, but here’s a great anime teaser set in the game universe that does a splendid job at luring you into the game’s galactic setting while introducing some of the principal characters – enjoy!

Gallery: 101-in-1 Party Megamix (Updated!)

Atlus just really, really, really wants to take over your gaming life this year. Between the amazing amount of RPG goodness we’re seeing across multiple platforms (Shin Megami Tensei: Persona and Demon’s Souls ftw!), finding time to do normal stuff such as breathe, eat or take a bathroom break is becoming quite a challenge. For me, taking my DS and the ridiculously addictive 101-in-1 Explosive Megamix into the can has on occasion actually led a few folks here to think I pulled an Elvis. Hey, with my schedule, it’s where I get the most quality time with the handheld, so what can I say?

(Wait… that didn’t come out quite right. *Ahem*… moving on…) Continue reading

Gallery: Darkest of Days

It looks as if time traveling first-person shooters just may become the “new black” after all. With games such as Phantom EFX’s soon to be released Darkest of Days for the Xbox 360 and PC, we could finally see some great use of time travel as a viable FPS plot device. Developed by 8monkey Labs, this single player shooter has you playing a soldier named Alexander Morris who gets yanked away from Custer’s Last Stand by a “time agent” and sent on a sprawling time-travel adventure that involves some of the bloodiest battles throughout history. Morris’ goal is to stop a bunch of ne’er do wells from the future from rewriting history with a bit of extreme prejudice of his own while saving the lives of a few folks trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time. Continue reading

Gallery: Demon’s Souls

Hands-down, one of my favorite game developers ever is From Software. I’ve been a huge fan of their games for close to 15 years thanks to many unforgettable hours playing their King’s Field series. While the US only saw four of the seven total games released to date, the combination of Western RPG aesthetics, challenging gameplay and interestingly doomed characters (the series has a rather NPC high mortality rate) made for memorable times indeed.

Between the mighty Armored Core franchise, Chromehounds, the two stellar Xbox Otogi games and one-shot brilliance of Kuon, there’s a lot to love about From’s games. That love also extends to From oddities such as Evergrace/Forever Kingdom, The Adventures of Cookie and Cream, Lost Kingdoms, Enchanted Arms, coolimports such asSpriggan: Lunar Verse, Frame Gride and Metal Wolf Chaos. Not to mention the underrated Echo Night games, Eternal Ring, Shadow Tower and Shadow Tower Abyss (one of those great import-only titles that would have been an excellent addition to the US PlayStation 2 library). Of course, not every developer can have a perfect track record. Between you and me, well… we’ll kind of forget about a couple of those later Tenchu games. OK? Continue reading

Gallery: Scribblenauts Screens + Trailer

One of the games I’m REALLY psyched about this year is Warner Bros. Interactive’s Scribblenauts, the upcoming Nintendo DS game by the geniuses at 5TH Cell (Drawn to Life, Lock’s Quest) set to hit stores on September 16. In case you’ve not yet heard of it, this is absolutely one of the most crazily original games on any platform to date. Thanks to innovative gameplay that’s guaranteed to keep your brain and fingers on their toes as you input words which the game translates into usable on screen objects, I’m actually much more excited about my DS than I am my 360, PS3 and Wii combined. Continue reading

Review: Black Sigil: Blade Of The Exiled

Platform: Nintendo DS

Developer: Studio Archcraft

Publisher: Graffiti Entertainment

# of Players 1

Rating: E (Everyone)

Official Site

Score: B+

If you’re in the mood for some old-school console RPG goodness and have quite a lot of time on your hands, Graffiti Entertainment’s latest Nintendo DS game, Black Sigil: Blade Of The Exiled has your name written all over it. Montreal-based developer Studio Archcraft has cooked up a nicely done homage to the days of 16-bit JRPGs with a game that looks and plays like a Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis classic. Is this a good thing in this day and age of every game being judged “by today’s standards?” The clear answer depends on both your current gaming tastes and how open minded you are when it comes to the game’s idiosyncrasies. Continue reading

Hands-on: The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road

With tons of excellent RPGs on the Nintendo DS to choose from and more always on the way, it’s getting tough to keep track of them all without counting yourself into a coma. On the other hand, it takes something as innovative, lovely and just plain fun to play as Xseed’s upcoming The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road to snap someone like me out of that snoozy state and wish for a working time machine. While the game isn’t set to hit stores until the fall, I was fortunate enough to get some hands-on time with an English build at a recent Xseed Games press event here in NYC. Continue reading