Capcom’s Captivate 2011 kicked off in Miami today, and while all of information hasn’t come out as of this article’s writing, what has been revealed is extremely enticing. Capcom seems to be sticking to their strengths–namely fighting (the genre they pioneered as far as I’m concerned) and action games–specifically, brawlers. Yess!!! Click the jump to check out the luscious hype.
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Its been about 11 years since since Marvel vs Capcom 2 first debuted on Sega’s Dreamcast. Now, Capcom has dropped the next game in the Vs series of fighters. Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds attempts to take what worked in MvC 2, tweak the combat system, and wrap it up in a modified Street Fighter IV graphics engine. Did it work? Will it attract new gamers to the franchise? Will you be doomed to endure Storm, Cable, and Sentinel matches online? Hit the jump to find out.
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Today, at a press event in Tokyo, Sony announced its next portable device–and guess what? It ain’t no phone.
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Mankind has devastated itself in a nuclear holocaust. The large cities, and rural communities that once dotted the globe have been reduced to burnt husk ruins. Seas have evaporated, and cruel desert climates now cover most of the earth.
Though pushed to edge of self extinction, mankind has begun to reclaim the earth; struggling to find sources of food and water, and re-establish civilization. Out of the chaos, masters of secret and incredibly powerful martial arts –unknown to society before the war– have come to the forefront in this post-apocalyptic world. Some oppress the weak and force their demented will on others; while other masters use their power to help and defend their fellow human beings. This is the world Kenshiro – sole heir and master of the power martial art Hokuto Shinken finds himself; as he struggles against impossible odds to defend the oppressed, and those he loves in Koei’s brawler Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage.
In general, I’m not typically a fan of Koei’s versions of the brawler genre–which, in the light of the global appeal of the Dynasty Warriors series–has become a sub genre in its own right. I wasn’t expecting too much when I bought the game, but I love the Fist of the North Star license (anime and manga) and decided to take a chance. In short, I was–surprised with the title. To find out if its worth your time and money, click the jump.
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The sequel as a concept is a genius creation of the free market system. The formula is simple: Capitalize on the success of an original IP by basically re-boxing, re-marketing, and regurgitating what brought the success in the first place–with a few additions to keep fans happy. Then, kick back and watch the coffers grow with additional sales. This recipe has worked for every popular media known to man–and is especially utilized in videogames.
Its understandable–give people more of what they liked the first time around, update the engine with some graphical polishes, add a new gameplay mechanic or two, then heat and serve. We all go back to those familiar watering holes when the sequel springs refill. But, are we as gamers getting short changed with our sequels? I say yes, but for different reasons…
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There is evil afoot. The sound of the werewolves is even more chilling than the cold rain. You stand firm. Your steely resolve is only matched by your skills with with the Combat Cross. As the creatures of the night begin to attack on you, and the handful of brave villagers who dare to make a stand, you are warmed by your thirst for revenge. That, and the hope of reuniting with your murdered love, Marie.
This is Caltlevania: Lords of Shadow, Konami’s 3rd person 3D reboot to their much beloved traditionally 2D action series. So, is it worthy of wearing the Castlevania name? Click the jump to find out.
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So, I’m listening to some songs in my library, and I pick through Prince’s Graffiti Bridge album. One of the songs is, titled, “Joy in Repetition.” While listening, it hit me: I’ve been hearing and reading variations of that statement A LOT from professional game reviewers, and even a few community podcasts–except, its used as a critiquing anchor for pointing out weaknesses in a video game. That is, unless you’ve been listening to a lot of the professional game reviewers in their written works or podcasts. The trend seems to be that when a reviewer doesn’t like the genre of game they are reviewing, but for whatever reason choose not to state that, pro reviewers toss out a lot of statements like, “…its a good game, but it is so repetitive.” Well, in my unimportant opinion, its a cop-out to giving a game a mediocre or poor review, simply because the reviewer isn’t a fan of the genre of game being reviewed, and probably shouldn’t be reviewing that game in the first place.
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Yet more gaming goodness from the KMartgamer. Here’s whats on tap for the end of October:
From now through Saturday, October 30th, the following games will be discounted to $39.99:
Castlevania: LoS
Medal of Honor
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Beginning October 31st and running through November 6th, Vanquish can be had for $34.99
Some S-Rank titles for not a whole lot of cash. Sounds like a good idea to me. By the way, if you haven’t played Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and you at least have some interest in the brawler genre, buy this game. It’s almost as good as God of War3 overall.
Its been rumored for a while (almost as long as the PSP 2, from what I understand), but Endgadget has shots of what they’re saying is Sony’s Playstation Phone prototype. Here’s the specs:
Android 3.0 OS
Touch screen
512 Megs of RAM, 1GB ROM
Screen to be 3.7 to 4.1 inches
Games accessed through digital download via a Sony Marketplace specifically for the phone
Micro SD card support
I have some questions, though. Instead of releasing that overpriced marketing disaster known as the PSP Go, why not wait ’till this was ready? Especially when the PSP-3000 was to continue in production. I mean–its obvious this is a PSP Go with phone functions; did Sony think they had to do a marketing proof of concept with the PSP Go? Why waste the money? I’m a Sony fanboy to the core, but I don’t understand their business decisions a lot of the time.
I’ll pass on this one. I switched to iMac for my computer needs earlier this year, so I’ve got an iPhone4 in my future. ‘Droid fans might want to look into this when more info is available.
Image from Endgadget.com
Its better late than never. Next week, On October 19th, Playstation3 owners will be able to access their NetFlix instant watch queues sans disc. GameStooge.com had the video demo of the upcoming app posted on Playstationblog.com.
The app is pretty slick in appearance. You can make adjustments to your queue through the app, and according to narrator, the app is based on PS3 code, so you can use the app with your DualShock. For those like me who use the PS3 as the primary media source, its good to see.
Image from geeksugar.com
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