The battle between the used games market and game publishers heats up a few more degrees courtesy of Capcom.

In Resident Evil: The Mercenaries for 3DS, there will only be one save slot that–if I’m understanding the GameStooge article correctly–can’t be deleted or reset. This apparently means that if I bought the game new, unlocked everything and traded it in, whoever bought the game used would be stuck with my game save. They won’t be able to experience the game themselves. If RE: Mercenaries is anything like the Mercenaries mode from Resident Evil 5, a big chunk of the fun in that mode was unlocking additional characters, skins, and levels yourself. Capcom by pulling this stunt has effectively made the game less fun (in my opinion) if you buy it used.

Of course Capcom claims no nefarious intent with this save method. Capcom Community rep Shawn Baxter stated: “RE Mercs was treated like an arcade fighting game. You unlock characters, levels, etc and they just stay unlocked as they would in an arcade machine.” (See his entire statement on the GameStooge article).

I’m sorry, but I’m calling shenanigans on this. I never played a fighting game at the arcade where every character in the game wasn’t available. Unless I’m mistaken in the arcade version of Tekken 6, and the arcade version of Super Streetfighter 4 certain characters were on timed unlock, meaning that after a certain amount of time passed, a new character becomes available. Its mostly a means to keep folks hyped about a game; primarily the console release, since traditional arcades are all but dead here in the States.

I’ve always said–If companies want to slow down the used market, they should make better games, and offer better deals. Places like Kmart, Amazon, and Best Buy offer deals on some games that make it almost a waste to wait for a title to come out used. They don’t have to resort to removing the fun out of a game if you buy it used. If Capcom and other publishers keep this silliness up, they might find their games collecting dust on the shelves–new and used.

Nintendo’s press event was a very familiar one in the beginning. A lot of must have Nintendo franchises will be making appearances on Nintendo’s portable systems, and Wii. Most notably, Zelda’s 25 Anniversary is being celebrated with 4 Swords for DSi, Ocarina of Time 3D for 3DS, and Skyward Sword for Wii.

Also announced were symphonic concerts celebrating the music of Zelda, as well as 2 music cds. One will be of the music from the upcoming symphonic concert tour, and the other will be the soundtrack Ocarina of Time 3D offered free to those who register their copy of the game with Club Nintendo.

Mario Kart, Star Fox, a new Super Mario 3D, and a Pokemon Pokedex 3D update are coming to 3DS. Most interesting for me was to see Luigi’s Mansion make a return, and some impressive gameplay of Kid Ikarus Uprising.

Now, for the proverbial “elephant in the room.” Nintendo announces it’s new home console as Wii U, and only highlights….the controller?! I didn’t understand this part of the press conference at all. There is finally a Nintendo console with HD graphics to respond to the requests of the hardcore, and there are no specs discussed. Knowing that Wii U’s controller will interact with the Wii’s peripherals and Wiimote is fine and dandy, but I need information on the actual Wii U console. Is the native display 720p 1080i, or 1080p? What is the method of media? Is it DVD, BluRay, or some Nintendo proprietary format? Is there an internal hard drive, or will there be a need to use external SIM cards? What will the online infrastructure be like? Will there be friend codes? Hell, they don’t even show what the console looks like, but they highlight the fact that they put analog sticks, face buttons, and triggers on an iPad. All I know is, if I were Steve Jobs, I’m talking to my attorneys. I’m not understanding this move at all.

Perhaps the Wii U if further away from prime time than we all thought. Perhaps Nintendo is holding out for a proper unveiling at the Tokyo Game Show in August. All I know is, this has got to be the worst introduction of new console hardware at a high profile event like E3 I’ve ever seen. I’ll state it again–how can a company not discuss the specs of its new product; they didn’t even show it?

By the way, what happened to the Wii? Based on the way they treated it at the press conference, you’d think it was the PSP. Other than an announcement for Skyward Sword, the Wii wasn’t even mentioned.

I was really looking forward to Nintendo’s unveiling of its new console, but I came away from this press event more befuddled than anything else. I am interested to know more about Wii U, but they didn’t show me, or tell me nearly enough to get hyped about it. Hopefully more data will be forthcoming at E3, but this needed a lot more work. Nintendo faithful have familiar franchises to look forward to on 3DS, but as a whole, this was a poor press event.

Grade: F

Check out this site first before reading the rest of the paragraph, and no, it’s not a virus. Trust me…Click Here

If a gaming press release led you to a site like this, your first action would be to scan the computer for viruses.  Well, that’s what I was about to do, until blood started running down the screen. Okay, I was a little freaked out after realzing that this is a gaming site. Hats off to the Dementium II Development team, Renegade Kid and SouthPeak games, for definitely peaking my interest. Dementium II is a survival horror game for the DS. Yeah, that is correct. FOR THE DS. There aren’t many horror games on the DS. Check out the site for more details and screens about Dementium II. Take the questionnaire if you need to check in for Professional Care

The median age of a gamer is in his/her mid 30′s, and those statistics show that the average gamer grew up in the golden age of electronic entertainment, the 80′s. If the names like Galaga, Life Force, Dragon Warrior, and Bad Dudes causes a grin from ear to ear, then make sure and give Retro Game Challenge a try. Click on the jump for the full review!

Evil Game Master(Fanboy), Arino sends the heroine back to the past to play these Retro games. Most of the Retro Games are knock-off’s of their actual counterparts. Cosmic Zone, is actually Galaga. Arino has a set of 4 challenges for each game. Some of the are easy and are points oriented, while others require research. Don’t write the game off, because of research. Each game comes with a manual, and some of the challeges require a quick glance at the manual to learn certain tricks. This part of the game is done very well. Our heroine also has game magazines he can read for further knowledge, about the game loaded with tips and tricks. The magazines rekindle that old school EGM spark, and even feature some editors that you might recognize. After each of the four challenges are completed, a new game is opened.

Some might find the grind of the game annoying, but this is gaming  before achievements. Finding portals in Cosmic Zone, or trying to pass the 200,000 point barrier was the ultimate bragging right. Rally King is similar to RC Pro Am, while Phantasy Zone is similar to,( insert generic 80′s RPG here). This game sat around in the pile of shame for months, and now it had made a home in the DS. The game magazines are a great homage to the days when waiting for the mailman to bring a new EGM was norm, and the first section you looked at were the, Tips N’ tricks. RGC has a more to offer instead fancy graphics and short quest. It reminds us why we fell in love with games 25 years ago.

Pros: Great Spinoffs of 80′s era games, like: Galaga, RC Pro Am, Dragon Quest(Dragon Warrior). challenges are fun and not too hard. Hours and hours of retro gameplay. The games have a lot of content. the magazines are funny to read and provide with hints and cheats for the games.

Cons: The grind might prove to be to tedious for modern gamers. Graphics show their date. Some of the challenges  require a lot of replay.

Score: 9/10

Quick Notes:

Developer: indieszero
Publisher: Xseed Games
Platform: Nintendo DS
Release date: February 2009
Rating: Everyone

I am sure that most people have heard the story about the kid that got a PSP from Wal-Mart in Florida recently and found out that someone had left a Memory Stick full of porn in it. Well, here’s another blow (no pun intended) to the Wal-Mart electronics department. A mother bought a Nintendo DS for her son on his birthday, from Wal-Mart (coincidentally in Florida). When they got it home, the kid opened the box and it was full of rocks wrapped in a Chinese newspaper. Of course, the minimum wage sales associate at the Wal Mart did not want to help them at all, and suggested that they contact Nintendo directly. It would be bad enough if the story ended there, but it gets better. It turns out that this same box was returned to that Wal-Mart, and somehow ended up re-sealed and put back on the shelf. Now that is just rude. After this information was revealed (it wasn’t specified how this was found out), Wal-Mart changed their tune and gave the woman a full refund plus a $20 gift card. So it seems that when we buy anything electronic from a Wal-Mart in Florida, you are gambling. You could end up with a porn stash, or you could end up with nothing but a box of rocks. Caveat emptor my friend, caveat emptor.

For anyone who is salivating with anticipation, the new DSi is available for preorder at Amazon.com. The price for is $169.99 with free shipping. Personally, I like my kid’s DS Lite. It’s a fun little machine to use while taking the kids to the pool (if you know what I mean). I am not totally sold yet that all of the new features of this machine are worth the extra money, though it would be nice to snap a “mid-strain” shot to use as my Facebook profile pic. Link is for the Matte Black version only. The blue one is not showing on Amazon yet. Enjoy!

For the past five years, “Bob” has been developing “Bob’s Game”. Now that he’s done his ‘epic RPG’ he wants to get an SDK and He has been spending all of his time making this game and went to GDC a year ago to ask for an SDK. He then incorporated (Robert Pelloni LC) and filled out the correct paperwork.

Nintendo must have an unofficial policy to not deal with lunatics because so far they’ve ignored him. As a rational business man he then decided to do a lock-in. He locked himself into his offices (mother’s basement?) for 100 days all via webcam. Obviously this must end with Nintendo giving him an SDK?

Shockingly, it didn’t. It ended with Bob faking his own death and having the police run in. Or it ended with Bob faking his own death and faking police coming in.

Anyway, here’s to you Bob! Defining Crazy on the DS.

The multi-year drought is over for all you Tecmo Bowl Fans! ‘Tecmo Bowl : Kick Off!’ begins shipping today. It’s DS only and hopefully it’s fun. I’ll miss Ronnie Lott, Bo Jackson and Thurman Thomas though. EA should buy the franchise and start including it in their yearly Madden.

Oh Nintendo, how I love and hate you at the same time. Nintendo has figured out the main ingredient to appease hardcore RPG fans, Square Enix. Although there won’t be a HD version of Final Fantasy Appearing on a Nintendo System this generation, there will be classic Squaresoft games heading to the DS. Chrono Trigger, hailed as one of the best RPGs of its time, has a solid release date of November 28. Chrono Trigger released on the Super Nintendo in 1995, straying away from traditional turn-based RPG standards. Many of those innovations are seen today in current games. Also, the Final Fantasy remakes, epsisodes III and IV, are currently on the DS. The DS, being the pick-up and play system on the go, combined with the release of classic franchises, is very appealing to old school gamers. So many women play the DS, that men can convince their significant others to purchase a DS.

HARDCORE GAMERS!!…Nintendo hasn’t forgotten about you. They just forgot to mention the new projects they have been working on. Nintendo has a long history of being secretive. According to the media, Nintendo has always been clandestine about their projects. Including the dark ages known as the Gamecube. Listen to some of the older 1up podcasts when they discuss the hardship in obtaining any type of exclusive from Nintendo. Miyamoto discusses with IGN that the Zelda team have been working hard on a new Zelda game, and there is a separate DS team that is working on a new Zelda title. They have also confirmed a new Mario title in the works. No dates have been confirmed yet, but the 2008 holiday season is around the corner. Will Nintendo bet the bank on cutesy Kirby? Doubtful. Nintendo fans, be patient. Mario and Zelda haven’t let us down before. Both of them have princesses to save!

The NPD numbers are looking more like “business as usual” for yet another month. I don’t even think New Kids on the Block lasted on top this long. But, that’s a good thing. It’s interesting because the Wii isn’t the top seller this month. It is second place by over a 100,000 units to it’s little brother the DS. The DS has definitely picked up steam, since it has been deemed as the choice console for on-the-go people. I will crown Nintendo the victor only when my parents buy a Wii or DS product. Until then, the race is still on! Click here for the numbers, courtesy of 1up.

There definitely seems to be a rebirth in the Role-Playing genre. Xbox 360 has many upcoming RPG titles, and it has never been a RPG based console. The DS receives another remake of a classic Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy IV was just released for the Nintendo DS, now making the DS light the RPG console of choice. Already hosting a cast of classic RPG’s, FFIV is considered the beginning of teenage angst and melodrama in RPG’s. Story, being the main driving point in FFIV, captures the player unexpectedly. Cecil, a Dark Knight, begins the game on a quest for his power hungry king. He is also joined by Cain, a dragoon. Cecil and Caine’s story is a great one, and many other exciting characters join (and leave) the party. This is a must have for RPG lovers and DS owners. The graphics are completely revamped and have a nice coat of 3D paint applied to it. Famed composer, Nobuo Umaetsu reworks the classic music. Also the characters are based on the original artwork of Tetsuya Nomura. Square has also ported Final Fantasy III to DS which was never released into America. Time to start saving money for a DS.

So much for the rumor that GTA IV was going to hurt movie sales. It seems that the Iron Man movie has pulled in more than 100 million in ticket sales in the US in its first weekend alone. I must admit that our 16 dollars were part of that 100 mil and I loved the movie. The movie got over 200 million in sales worldwide. It came in second in opening weekend sales for non sequels beaten only by Spider Man which had 114 million in sales its first weekend. Iron Man is 10th on the all time opening weekend sales list. This all leads to my question, have any of you played the Iron Man game? If so I would like to know because I am tempted to pick it up. I know movie based games usually suck, but this one is getting average reviews. Some people say its good while other say it sucks so I want our listeners opinions. If everyone is still playing GTA IV I will understand but I was curious if anyone had picked this up yet.

*****Update*****.
Ok so the link I had up here earlier was not the one it was supposed to be. This is the correct link for where the info came from. I really don’t know where that other link came from. Sorry.

The more I read and watch about this game, the more I want it now. I have been on a big Star Wars kick recently and I am becoming enamored with all things Star Wars. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed hits store shelves on September 16th and will be available on PS3, Xbox 360 and the Wii. Some people I know who aren’t console gamers are thinking about buying the Wii for this game just because it will be the first time that you get to properly have a light saber duel. I am anxious to see how it turns out on the Wii. Check out the video of the game in action in the next section.

Apparently, Nintendo Power Magazine has let slip the release month for the US version of this game. They ran a ten page piece on it in their latest issue and didn’t mention anything about the date in the article. However, in another section of the magazine that shows release dates for upcoming games, they did put it in there with a July release window. Square Enix, the developer of the game, has yet to make an announcement on the release but after this I’m sure they will in no time. Story info came from DSfanboy.

For those of you out there who are Myst fans and also own a DS, this might be the game for you. The original Myst was one of the best selling adventure games on the PC. It may not be the most exciting game on the market, but for Myst fans it will be the game they love as it remains mostly unchanged from the original. One exception, however, is a new age called “The Rime Age.”