Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 14, 2011 in Videogames
So, Skyrim hit stores last week and I’ve been glued to it ever since. So far, I’m about twelve hours in and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of the game in terms of content. There’s just so much to do; so much to explore. I haven’t really seen enough of the world to know if it’s as repetitive and drab as any of Bethesda’s other titles in recent years, though from what I’ve seen so far, I don’t expect it to be. Almost every experience I’ve had, from fighting Dragons, to exploring different types of ruins, has been a relatively fresh experience. That said, it hasn’t been without its fair share of glitches.
I have to hand it to Atlus. Just when you think they’re ready to move on, they find a way to surprise us. After they announced the Persona 4 anime, and fighting game, I seriously thought that would be the last we saw of the series. It wasn’t long before they announced a port of the original for Sony’s Playstation Vita, which will launch stateside next year. Now, they’re even discussing plans for a stage adaptation of the game to debut next March. The show’s being produced by Marvelous AQL, who some of you might recognize from games like Harvest Moon, and Rune Factory. They also happen to be involved in musical theater, television series, and other forms of media, so they’ve had experience with this sort of thing in the past. In fact, they recently produced a popular musical based on the anime Prince of Tennis.
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 13, 2011 in Videogames
The Elder Scrolls series is pretty much the embodiment of the western RPG, so it’s no surprise that the latest entry in the series, Skyrim, has been one of the most anticipated games in recent memory for genre fans worldwide. What’s slightly more surprising is the fact that it’s overwhelmingly the most popular game on Steam two days after its launch. Why is that such a surprise? Well, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but there’s this other game that came out recently called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and it had the biggest launch of any video game, ever. But no, Skyrim is thoroughly trouncing it, with roughly five times the number of concurrent players as MW3. Steam gamers: people of taste. Read more…
Not to long ago, From Software announced they were developing a PS3 game based on the latest entry in the Mobile Suit Gundam saga, Gundam Unicorn. Seeing as the series of OVAs are still in production, the game will only cover the first three episodes to date, and should include most, if not all, of the mobile suits depicted in them. According to a recent issues of Famitsu, developers have been working to increase the speed of the gameplay while trying to take into account the heavy feeling associated with piloting a mobile suit. I’m not really sure how the two will mesh, so I hope they can find some middle ground. They also mentioned that Sunrise — the studio responsible for the anime, seemed rather impressed with the level of detail they’ve captured with the in-game models. Read more…
I’ve noticed that many sites seem to be posting a short thirty second trailer for Takeshi Miike’s live-action adaptation of Phoenix Wright, so here’s the latest full length trailer. As far as I’m concerned, they’ve really hit the nail on the head. Everything seems so spot on, from the overly dramatic acting to the gaudy costumes. It seems as though Miike decided to stick as close to the source material as possible, and I’m sure everyone who plans on watching it will be extremely grateful as a result. As some of you may recall, this isn’t his first attempt at adapting a game to film. Back in 2007, he directed Ryu ga Gotoku Gekijōban, a live-action take on Sega’s Yakuza franchise. The film won’t be released until February, s0 don’t expect to see it fan-subbed anytime soon. With any luck, someone might decide to license it for domestic distribution sometime next year.
If you haven’t heard by now, Cryptic’s Star Trek Online will be making its transition from a traditional subscription-based format to a Free-to-Play platform by the end f the year. The massive multiplayer title launched in February of last year to less-than-favorable reviews. Tragically, everyone found the space combat to be fresh and entertaining, but were quick to dismiss every other aspect of the game. I can’t really blame, though. Away team missions often featured randomly generated worlds that just seemed dull to begin with. Many of the alien species barely resembled their television counterparts, and the scripted encounters seemed hastily written, and poorly executed. Despite its flaws, the game seems to have persevered. Since its launch, Star Trek Online has grown considerably, kept alive through a series of free updates that serve as episodic expansions. While this has managed to keep fans happy so far, the upcoming transition might have a few of you concerned. So, what changes should you expect?
In what I imagine was an effort to cut down on piracy, Sony recently announced plans to limit access of downloaded titles. Previously, users were allowed to activate their accounts on up to five consoles, allowing them to download their purchases to each. Starting November 18th, Playstation Network users will be limited to playing their purchased content on two PS3, and PSP consoles. Unfortunately, that means users who own more than the specified limit or who share their purchases with friends may find themselves making some tough decisions, however the change in policy shouldn’t effect any purchases made before the 18th.
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 5, 2011 in Videogames
Man, this kind of thing could only happen nowadays, in the era of always-on broadband internet and complex gaming infrastructure. Somehow, an internal beta client for BioWare’s much-anticipated console RPG/shooter Mass Effect 3 was accidentally released to the public on Xbox Live. And it’s not just the multiplayer, which was slated to have a public beta in January — it’s the singleplayer campaign too. BioWare appears to have taken down the download page from XBL, but there are already videos of the highly-unfinished singleplayer campaign and its companion multiplayer mode as well. In the videos, you can see options for a few different singleplayer modes, such as “Action Mode,” “RPG Mode,” and “Story Mode,” which BioWare says are some sort of variable difficulty level to make sure everyone gets the play experience that suits them best. Hey, I’m trying to avoid spoilers for the game, so congratulations to those who got the chance to download the beta before it disappeared. Enjoy it in my stead. Read more…
If you’re like me, and I imagine many of you are, you’ve loaded your smartphone with games. It’s a bit ironic, really. We spend hundreds of dollars on dedicated gaming handhelds and for whatever reason, some of us find our phones more appealing. There was a time when I might have scoffed at the notion that my phone would replace my DSi or PSP, but that’s simply no longer the case. While I can still count on a deep, involved, experience with one of those $30 to $40 titles, more often than not, I’ll pick up my phone for a quick game of whatever cheap thrill the app store has to offer. With hundreds of apps available for almost too reasonable price, determining which system gets my attention for the evening can be an easy decision. So, why not try to improve that experience? That’s where the iControlpad comes in.
Here’s some of the coolest wedding invitations I’ve ever seen. Artist and graphic designer Larry Quach recently crafted these one-of-a-kind invitations for his friend’s wedding. Seeing as the entire wedding was Super Mario Brothers-themed, he went out of his way to include everything from the actual invitations to the party favors and even threw together a custom seating chart for the occasion. I’m incredibly impressed with the amount of work that must have went into it, but Larry did a bang up job, and it really shows.
Somehow, I’m not surprised. The other day, I made reference to Uwe Boll and his knack for ruining films while discussing George Lucas’ recent Star Wars edits. In all fairness, Lucas really shouldn’t be compared to Boll, a one-time recipient of the Razzies’ “Worst Career Achievement” award. As much as I take issue with Lucas, I don’t believe anyone has ever started a serious petition to have to him retire. In this amazing clip, we hear from Guinevere Turner, the writer who had the unfortunate experience of having worked with Boll on the first live-action adaptation of Majesco’s BloodRyane franchise. According to Turner, the film went into production with a first draft, of which only twenty percent ended up on screen. Not surprising considering the film, with an estimated budget of twenty-five million, only managed a meager three and a half million at the box office.
I honestly haven’t had many reasons to pick up my 3DS in recent months. It’s not that it’s a terrible platform by any means, but Nintendo’s 3D handheld is currently suffering a bit of a dry spill. There isn’t much in the way of software, and while they’ve shown us plenty of exciting titles at recent trade shows, almost all of them have yet to be released. There have been a few good offerings so far, but most of those are just updates of classics like Star Fox 64 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time — experiences we’ve already had. So what do we have in the meantime? So far, its been Netflix and a handful of virtual console/DSi ware releases. Fortunately, you’ll finally have another reason to pick it up, and some of you can even dust off your Wii while you’re at it. Hulu Plus will be headed to both platforms by the end of the year, allowing you to stream hours of anime, television, and film such as Persona 4: The Animation and the critically acclaimed Criterion Collection for only $7.99 a month.
I love crossover art, especially when it combines two things I love, such as Doctor Who and video games — and in this case, Valve’s Portal 2. The piece was designed by an Australian outlet known as Lost Hero Creative. While the reference is pretty straight forward, the T.A.R.D.I.S. being a device capable of traveling through time via portals, the image actually reminds me of that recent two part special, Time, in which the blue box decided to materialize within itself. If you feel like sporting it, TeeFury has the design available for the next 24 hours. As usual, the shirt should only cost you $10 + shipping.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Oct 18, 2011 in Videogames
For those of you who’re still upset at Nintendo’s decision not to publish Xenoblade domestically, but happen to also own a PS3, here’s some welcome news. Namco Bandai has announced plans to publish the upcoming PS3 release of Level-5 ‘s Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch in both North America and Europe next year. As you can probably guess just by looking at it, the game is a collaboration between Level-5 and much-renown Studio Ghibli, responsible for such films as Kiki’s Delivery Service, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and more. While the project never included any contributions by director Hayao Miyazaki, the art itself is very reminiscent of the style found through-out the various films Ghibi has worked on, his included. That said, it’s quite striking visually and I’m sure Ghibli’s involvement will help bolster sales.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Oct 12, 2011 in Videogames
According to CVG, the upcoming Xbox 360 dashboard update is due to hit consoles on November 25th — a date which just happens to coincide with the busiest day in North American retail, Black Friday. The update, originally announced at E3 earlier this year, will incorporate a modified version of Microsoft’s flash-alternative, Silverlight as the new back-end for their Xbox apps. The update also introduces partner services like YouTube, Bing — shocker, there — Lovefilm and more. I’m excited to see what else the update has in store for us and, while I’m not too keen on Silverlight — I’d take Adobe Flash over it any day of the week — I’m sure Microsoft wouldn’t have decided on using it if they weren’t satisfied with the results. With all the new video and television content they have planned for us in coming months, we have a lot to look forward to. Now, if only they’d partner with BBC here in America — they’re doing it over in England, so why not?
Persona 4 was practically an anime to begin with, just like all Persona games before it, but if you’re anything like my JRPG-playing friends, you probably want to watch the new Persona 4 anime anyway. The bad news? It just premiered in Japan. The good news? You can watch it subtitled right now. The Anime Network offers you a heaping helping of streaming Persona animation almost unreasonably soon after it airs in Japan, so get on it! You don’t even need to go to A/V club or flirt with that mousy girl to make it happen. Read more…
This week, Sony launched a line of PlayStation 2 titles to be distributed digitally via the PlayStation store. Under normal circumstances, this would be welcome news. However a few gamers are more than a little ticked. Some of you may recall the console having launched with backwards compatibility, allowing PS2 owners the option to carry their libraries over to the new platform. Current models no longer support hardware emulation and, until now, have lacked the means to play PS2 software. Sony finally seems to have perfected their software emulation, but won’t be giving it to us for free. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised, after all where’s the profit in giving us backwards compatibility when Sony could simply charge us twice for the games we already own. At least early adopters can still brag — that is, assuming their consoles haven’t died yet.
Director Kevin Tancharoen put the internet into an uproar when he released a proof-of-concept trailer for a rebooted, more “realistic” Mortal Kombat film he called Mortal Kombat Rebirth. Attention from the trailer got him a gig directing a new web series, Mortal Kombat Legacy, using the actors and themes from the trailer, and fans seemed to dig it. Now, with the success of the web series, Warner Bros. has officially signed off on a new Mortal Kombat movie with Tancharoen as director. None of the actors from the web series, like Michael Jai White and Jeri Ryan, are signed on yet, but given that the project was only just announced, we can probably wait a while before worrying about casting. I’m not big into Mortal Kombat at all, but Tancharoen’s bootstraps approach to getting to work on a property he loved is pretty impressive and I hope he continues to do well for himself. Read more…
A few days ago, Gameforge uploaded the trailer for their upcoming browser-based Star Trek title, Star Trek: Infinite Space. Set during the third season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the game lets you take control of either Federation of Klingon forces during the brief conflict that followed the dissolution of the Khitomer Accords. From the looks of it, it’ll be primarily a starship combat simulator. Those of you who were turned off by Star Trek Online‘s subscription-based platform might be interested to know that Infinite Space will be free-to-play and should feature multiplayer co-op. In addition, the game’s scenarios have been scripted by series writer Lee Sheldon, and both Denise and Michael Okuda will be serving as consultants on the project. The game is set for release later this year, so keep checking the official site for more information.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Sep 20, 2011 in Videogames
Yesterday, we reported that Square Enix had planned on releasing both Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger via PlayStation Network this week. I was kind of excited about the news, but seeing as I own several copies of each game, I probably wouldn’t have been purchasing another. As it turns out, it won’t matter just yet. In a tweet earlier today, Sony apologized for misleading everyone as neither game will be released this week. Of course, Sony didn’t exactly deny that the games could still be on their way, so there’s a chance we could be seeing them posted in the future — possibly sooner, rather than later. It’s a shame really, as I’m sure there are some of you who could probably use another copy to play on the go. On the bright side, many of the Square Enix PSP titles featured on PlayStation Network, such as Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions and The Third Birthday, have received significant price cuts in the last few months.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Sep 19, 2011 in Videogames
It’s going to be an exciting week for RPG fanatics, as Square Enix will be releasing both Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger via PlayStation Network. I imagine both titles will be the PSOne ports, so you can expect some annoying load times. At least they’ll have some of those fancy CG cut-scenes. On top of that, they’ll be a great for anyone who plans on purchasing a PSVita next year. Speaking of which, if any of you are curious, the Vita will be region free, so importing one early might be an option. My only hang up there is that you won’t be able to get a 3G model unless you wait since I don’t think AT&T will set up their Vita service by the time the handheld hits the Japanese market. Still, since the handheld will rely heavily on digital distribution, purchasing some games ahead of time might be worthwhile. Both titles should be available this Tuesday, their price is still TBD.
Earlier today, Wizards of the Coast launched the first official expansion for Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012. The expansion adds three new planeswalkers to choose from, including the much anticipated return of Liliana Vess and her “Grave Whispers” deck. Others include Ajani Goldmine’s “Auramancer” deck, and Ral Zarek’s “Cloudburst” deck, neither of which I’m familiar with. Still, I can’t wait to see what surprises they have in store for us. In addition to the new decks, the expansion will add four additional cards to the existing decks, additional challenges and campaign levels, the ability to play as the archenemy in the 3 vs 1 battles, and six preview cards from the upcoming Innistrad expansion. Quite a deal, don’t you think? The expansion retails for ~$5 on both the PS3 and Xbox 360, but PC users can get a %40-50 discount if they purchase the expansion or game via Steam right now.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Sep 13, 2011 in Videogames
As I’m writing this, Nintendo is currently holding their 3DS Pre-TGS press conference to discuss some of their upcoming titles for their handheld platform. While everything is looking very impressive, its a shame that some of these amazing titles may never be localized. I fully expect to see games like Monster Hunter 4, or Super Mario 3D Land, make their way stateside, but the chances of the next Culdcept titlemaking its way overseas remain slim to none. I won’t give up hope, though and it’s nice to know that the console has a future, especially after the sub-par launch it experienced earlier this year. Aside from Monster Hunter, some of the more impressive looking titles included Mario Kart 7, Fire Emblem and the latest Hatsune Miku game, Project Mirai. I bet Danny Choo can’t wait to run a cross-promotion with that one.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 12, 2011 in Videogames
We have an exclusive! The fans who put together the first known Angry Birds Motion Comic have followed up with a second video in the series: Read more…
