Ah, yeah. More news that sets my old school 2D fighting heart a flutter. This news is kinda old, and I’m probably the only person in this community who cares about this game–let alone heard of the series of games. But, ‘yall know me. If it’s 2D, fighting, or a combination of the two, I’ve gotta mention it here.

Arcana Heart 3 is coming to Playstation3 and Xbox360 sometime this winter, and none other than Arc System Works is at the helm for coding duties for this project. Who is Arc System Works you might be asking? They are the creators of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger/Continuum Shift. If you haven’t played either of these games, you should. Not only is BlazBlue one of the best fighting games out there, it is one of the most gorgeous games around–period.

For those who don’t know, Arcana Heart is a series of AQ Interactive 2D arcade fighting games from Japan, that depict girls ranging from little kids, to college co-eds who beat the crap out of each other with super powered martial arts. Combat is fairly simple, but quite deep when you really start digging into it. I have the first two games released on Playstation 2 (in Japan) and they are a quirky blast to play (Arcana Heart 2 was a poor port of the arcade, and had a lot of gameplay issues–but it was still cool).

Now, Arc System Works is going to add their own special brand of digital magic to this series, and from the screens, its going to be awesome. Siliconera.com has some of the gameplay images, as well as art showcasing 3 of the new console only characters. Gameplay modes include 6 player vs online play, score attack, and arcade/story mode. The game is scheduled to be released in Japan sometime this winter, and there was no mention of a US release. Here’s hoping Arc System Works brings this game to the States. I have full confidence that the talented team at that company will take both graphics and gameplay of this series to new heights.

Read Siliconera’s write up and screen shots here.

Scott’s favorite corporate spokesperson showcased via video the upcoming “transforming” Xbox360 controller. Basically, the digital pad can be twisted from “disc” formation to a “cross” formation–that is much more in line of what the DualShock 3′s digital pad is. There are a few other ergonomic enhancements made to the triggers, and the ABXY buttons are in shades of gray as well. So, what does this mean for those who shell out the $64.99 to get this controller (it only comes bundled with the Charge and Play Kit) when it launches November 9th? Well–if nothing else you’ll be able to control your character in Metal Slug XX a little better. Hopefully better control in 2D games will result from this change.

Actually, modders have been doing the same thing to the Xbox360 controller for some time now–albeit a little less sophisticated. Hopefully 2D control will improve (which is the main reason I buy my 2D games on PS3 whenever possible). Now all they need to do is put the Decepticon logo in place of the guide button.

Gamestooge.com has the link to Major’s video blog.

I’m not complaining. This is like DLC before the game comes out and it is absolutely great. Dead Rising is one of the really bright shining gems of the Xbox lineup. It had its quirks but it was amazing and helped start the deluge of zombie games we’ve seen since.

I’ve looked forward to Dead Rising 2 since I finished the first one, now we’re here 4 years later and it’s close. Once I heard Case Zero was up I had to get it and now I’m even more pumped for the finished game.

In Dead Rising 2 you play as motorcross superstar Chuck Greene. Your daughter has been infected and you need to do anything possible to keep her supplied with Zombrex which holds off the infection for 12 hours.

The feel of the game is very similar to Dead Rising. You walk around in an unending swarm of slow moving zombies. There are numerous psychopaths out there causing extra trouble for you. You need to save the innocents, collect money and kill zombies. All of those are pretty fun. Downside? Frank West, photo journalist (He’s covered wars you know!) is gone. Chuck Greene is cool but I loved Frank. Upside? Chuck doesn’t take photos, he combines items. Nails + Bat = Bat with nails in it. Bucket + Drills = Drill Bucket, throw that on a zombie’s head and watch the fun.

At the end of this, you get to carry your money, clothes and upto 5 levels into the main game.

Final word : Great game. It’s only $5 and gives you a real taste for what we’re going to be getting soon. If you enjoyed the first game or are curious about the second, this is a must have. More games should put out prequel demos. The only time I remember this happening before was in Fable 2 where you could play their pub games and it was horrible. Props to Capcom for figuring a way to make this work!

We go 3D in this episode of GamerHusbands Radio, as we cover some of the hottest titles being release, a little LoveSack, and some 3D news. That’s right, Toshiba has announced that they plan on releasing a series of 3D-HD TV’s that will be fully functional without wearing any glasses. So how will the next generation of consoles use this new technology? All this and so much more in this episode of GHR!

“The Man” sticks it to us again with no Vaseline. GameStooge.com has a good editorial on how THQ doesn’t take too kindly to us gamers buying their games on the rebound. They’re pulling a page from EA’s playbook beginning with SmackDown vs Raw 2011. Every new copy of the game will include a single use code that will unlock “key elements” of the game such as online play.

This is my spin on the subject. I have the solution to developers like THQ, EA and others who say the used game market is pulling food from the mouths of their corporate shareholders. MAKE BETTER GAMES. When I open the cabinet where my games are stored, I see titles in my library that will NEVER be traded in. The God of War series, Ninja Gaiden, Heavenly Sword, GTA: San Andreas, and a few others are titles that I will continue to play repeatedly because they are so good. I purchased these games on day one because they hit so many of the high points that are on my genres of choice checklist.

I think just about every gamer out there has a game or games in their library that they’d almost rather loose a finger than put it on the GameStop trading block. If publishers want to put a dent in the used games market, make games that we wouldn’t want to part with. I don’t need every game to re-invent the wheel. I just want the genres that I love to evolve those elements that draw me to those types of games in the first place.

Developers like THQ need to step their game up, (pun intended) and stop blaming the gaming public because we aren’t willing to pay new car prices for last year’s models.

Gamerhusbands is a blog. As you may know, blogs print money. We frequently break our hundreds up into 20′s and fill our palaces with them so we can swim like Scrooge McDuck. The sarcasm is getting a little thick and in case you are a Philadelphia politician getting ready for a Gamerhusband windfall, let me stress that GHR is not based in Philadelphia and it doesn’t make money. In general, an enormous majority of blogs don’t make money. Blogs cost money. There are server fees, libsyn fees, software costs and other assorted costs. Blogs and podcasts are labors of love. In the case of Gamerhusbands and sites like us, we’re a creative outlet for individuals that didn’t exist before the advent of the internet and mp3 players.

Other sites out there are political. They’re individual forms of free speech which allow people to post news that otherwise wouldn’t get out. Twitter was essential in getting stories from the Iran elections to the rest of the world. In the last few US elections, sites like Factcheck.org are excellent sources for news and truth. These are voices that have arisen from these new mediums and they need to be nurtured.

Philadelphia has chosen to add a $300 Business Privilege Tax for blogs in the city limits. It doesn’t matter if your blog doesn’t make money, it’s now going to cost you another $300. If you’ve done the right thing and reported the $11 you made last year, Philly wants $300 from you. Thank you Philadelphia for remaining backwards. Thank you for remaining behind the times and letting bureaucracy overshadow sanity. Suggestion to you Philadelphia : There are many more Facebook and Twitter users in Philadelphia than bloggers. That’s a whole new market for your corruption. Thanks to the Philadelphia City Paper for writing an excellent article on this.

The FPS genre is going to be pretty crowded for the fore-seeable future. One game shooter fans may want to keep an eye on in the midst of your Halos, KillZones, and Call of Duties might by Crutek’s Crysis 2. <a href+"The FPS genre is going to be pretty crowded for the fore-seeable future. One game shooter fans may want to keep an eye on in the midst of your Halos, KillZones, and Call of Duties might by Crytek's Crysis 2. GameStooge has footage posted from Crytek’s multiplayer demonstration from Gamescon.

Based on the button prompts that pop up on the screen, this is the Xbox 360 version. It is graphically impressive–not quite Killzone 3 impressive, but very, very sharp none the less.

There will be multiple modes, and what I would guess as a perks like system associated with the Tek-suits in the game. It looks like FPS fans will want to keep an eye on this one.

GameStooge has some very exciting footage of Capcom’s Marvel vs Capcom 3 that was shown at Gamescom. This time, its Viewtiful Joe taking center stage with the beat-down; he’s a returning character from Tatsunoku vs Capcom.

I really enjoyed all of Capcom’s Vs series of games–even though I was never really good at them. The more I see of MvsC3, the more my hype meter goes up. This game just may have my #1 spot for games of 2011.

GameTrailers has a gameplay preview up of WB Interactive Entertainment’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold for Wii. The game seems to look and play like one of my favorite games for SNES–Konami’s The Adventures of Batman & Robin.

Graphics looked like they’ve been ripped from the cartoon itself. Whether you’re playing co-op or single player, there will always be two players on screen battling the villains. Only Batman and Robin were shown as playable characters, but you have the option to call on a number of supporting cast characters from the B:BaB TV show for screen clearing attacks.

This could be one to look out for–since Arkam City is still a ways away.

We have a great time as we bring you the 133rd episode of GamerHusbands Radio. We go over the latest news in the gaming world, as well as Allen’s quest to get his fix for a great RPG. So sit back and enjoy this episode of GHR!

Sucker Punch showcased some of Cole’s new powers and gameplay elements to IGN today at Gamescom.

In IGN’s write up, they mention a new power called Kinetic Pulse, which is basically the electrical version of StarKiller’s Force Grab/Push powers. Also, a new gameplay element was revealed–environmental destruction. It seems Cole’s powers will have a greater effect on the environment than the previous game. Towers, columns, and possibly other structures will fall when you let loose with Cole’s powers.

This sounds great. Sucker Punch could really make some serious strides in the “moral choice” side of the game. I can imagine story and side missions where–regardless of the good or bad decision you make, reckless use of your powers could cause the opposite intent of your actions. For example: You take on a mission to protect a housing structure from attack, but you inadvertently damage the building, or hurt inhabitants you were trying to protect by not using your powers effectively. There are some very cool aspects of the “moral choice” gameplay element that could be really pushed if Sucker Punch pursues it like I hope they do. This is a D1C for me regardless, but I’m hoping Sucker Punch takes it that much further.

NamcoBandai released some additional screenshots of Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 at the Gamescom convention in Cologne, Germany. GameSpot has several of the images up on their site, with links to gameplay videos.

Graphically, it looks slightly better than the previous outing–which isn’t surprising. My concern is the gameplay. Hopefully, they pull a few pages from the Tenkaichi Dragon Ball series of games. While I found the combat a little more complex than it needed to be, it was spot on. I found the first Raging Blast seriously lacking in comparison through oversimplification, that drained most of the fun from the game.

Hopefully NamcoBandai will find the gameplay sweet spot that made Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm so much fun. This series deserves it.

The last couple of months have been pretty busy. I’ve moved, and have been given new responsibilities at my job. To top that off, my wife was recently injured in an accident. Needless to say, finding time to play games have been difficult, if not outright impossible. When I did get some time to play recently, I played some downloadable titles that are modern reminders of why I love this hobby.
Thank goodness for PSN and LIVEArcade games. They really are perfect for getting in those short spurts for getting your gaming fix. Lately, my go-to game has been Joe Danger, and now Scott Pilgrim vs The World. What should be short spurts of gaming fun (due to my time constraints of late) often turn into full on gaming sessions. That’s when it hit me. Games like Joe Danger, and SP v World capture the essence of what drew me into gaming in the first place–simple, uncluttered, no excuses fun.

Joe Danger reminded me of the fun times I had with my dad playing Excitebike, and it even rang my nostalgia funny bone for games like Stunt Cycle on the Atari 2600. Scott Pilgrim has so many old school homages its insane–even down to the old school 8-bit glitches that make the background look pixelated, and can make quick work of otherwise ridiculously difficult bosses. With a “Super Deformed-ish” graphic style, and RPG elements of the 8-bit River City Ransom, and gameplay mechanics that took me back to arcade classics Vigilante, and Renegade, I’m in retro paradise. It is games like these and so many others that I cut my gamer’s teeth on, and made life long real world friends around.

I’ve been in kind of a gaming funk since E3. As an old school gamer, I’m watching in horror as the hobby I love is being flooded with casual games, whiz-bang motion controls, and cookie cutter first person military shooters. For now they are co-existing, but as production costs continue to sky-rocket, and developers continue to be understandably enticed by the gigantic Casual/Halo/Modern Warfare money pie, I fear that the genres that I enjoy may be on borrowed time in the retail space. So, I’m saying thank you to developers of games like Scott Pilgrim and Joe Danger for all old school cats like me who couldn’t memorize a multi-player map and a perks list if his life depended on it–for being true to the game. Simple, uncluttered, no excuses fun. I”m not hating, I’m just glad that there is still room for me in the game space…At least for now.

We are all back as we team up to bring you another great episode of GamerHusbands Radio. With yet another slow week, we go over a little gaming news, but mostly we respond to your Hate mail and LoveSack emails. So sit back, relax and enjoy yet another episode of GHR!

Alfred takes a week of as the Three Amigos (GHRSuperman, Bumblb19, and TeeTocks) bring you a great episode of GamerHusbands Radio. We go over a lot of Love Sack we received, GHR Superman talks about some games that he’s been paying that may just surprise Alfred as to what he thinks about them. And of couse we have the 3 on 4. Don’t miss this uncut and fun packed episode of GHR!

With the fast approaching release of Halo Reach, we ask ourselves ‘is the price of the ticket really worth the ride on the hype train?’ We also talk about the newly released Madden 11 demo, and we compare it to NCAA 11. Which do you think is better? Email us at Contact@gamerhusbands.com. And don’t miss a single minute of this episode of GHR!

As gamers we’re used to vaporware. Duke Nuke ‘Em Forever has been coming out forever. The Phantom was a vaporware console that never saw the light of day. Now we have an improbable story that has turned into a real console.

A few years ago a handful of people on the GP32X.com Forums got together and decided to work on creating an open source handheld gaming system. They then realized that this endeavor would cost more money than they could afford so they sold pre-orders for these units. If I had heard of this back then, alarms would have rung loud about this being a scam. Fortunately I didn’t because these guys did it!

After several years they have created a handheld device that is a mixture of a PC and a console. It has a completely open source operating system. It’s a perfect emulator for old Atari, Commodore 64, old PC games, old arcade games, Nintendo and Playstation games. Most emulators will work on this device. It can be used to surf the web and even do some word processing.

They’ve sold out of their initial pre-order run and are taking orders for the next batch. It’s amazing to see a project like this make it all the way to production. Congratulations to the Open Pandora crew.

In this episode of GamerHusbands Radio we talk a lot about… well not a lot, but we do have a great time as we go over some of the lastest games that we have played, and a few emails that we received. And Teetocks ask a great question, “Does NCAA 2011 have all the ads that EA is know for? You’re sure to enjoy this episode GHR!

So the poll for the RDR Posse contest mentioned ages ago is finally up in the forums: Vote here

Choose wisely, you get one vote and it’s final. Voting ends July 28th and winner will receive a MW2 PS3 Controller. How does MW2 relate to RDR, um…don’t ask…it’s free stuff yo. So get voting and sorry for the loooooooooooong delay.

Also, HUGE thanks to JDsBlackbox for the donation of this prize.

In this episode of GamerHusbands Radio, we talk about the new Xbox ‘Slim’ briefly, Alfred talks about Final Fantasy XIII again, and we talk about the possibility of a future with only one gaming console. So make sure you listen to every minute of this episode. This is GHR!

Post courtesy of www.everydaygamers.com

Listen in as Eric Bouchard, Jordan de Boer and special guest Scott (TeeTocks from GamerHusbands Radio) discuss their impressions of the game Alan Wake.

EDG Podcast Special: Alan Wake

Music: Poets of the Fall – War…Old Gods of Asgard (Poets of the Fall) – Poet and the Muse

WARNING: This podcast contains spoilers. If you have not beaten the game, you may not want to listen.

Kmart is going after your wallet the best way possible……by having great deals. Some of these are too good to pass up. The current pricing model, that all games should be $60, seems to be outdated, I will gladly take a backseat and tout some great deals of new games, which furthers my point about that pricing model. New games at lower prices = sales. It’s just simple economics son….simple economics
Source: Joystiq

• Alan Wake (Xbox 360) — $34.99
• Singularity (Xbox 360, PS3) — $34.99
• Call of Duty: War Collection (Xbox 360) — $34.99
• Metal Gear Solid:Peace WalkerPSP) — $19.99
• PSP 3000 — $149.99
• Dragon Quest IX:Sentinels of the Starry Skies($10 Gift Card with purhchase)

Used Deals of the week(all 3 are $9.99/EACH)

This is another great episode of GamerHusbands Radio, as we go over the latest NPD numbers and what they might indicate, Alfred goes over some more on Final Fantasy XIII, and Scott gives us another great 4 on 4. All this and so much more, on this episode of GHR!

Summertime is in full effect, and this is the best time to attack that pile of shame. New games are right around the corner, so we are playing catch-up. Have you been waiting for us to give a final opinion of Final Fantasy XIII? Alfred goes against the grain and explains why game reviewers missed the true jewel that FFXIII is.  He also talks about a Friday Night fantasy with Scott…Oh, it’s not what you think. It involves video games. Is PlayStation Plus really worth the $$$money$$$? I think you will be surprised by our answers. Is the summertime harmful to Podcasts and Gaming Communities, because our focus shifts to other things. We get honest on this one. We throw in some of our current Netflix favorites, and our summer activities. This is definitely not one to miss. Let us know what you think. Check out the forums to leave comments pertaining to this show. Enjoy!

We would love to have your opinion on this show! GHR Show Topic

Siliconera did a hands-on with Konami’s Hard Corps: Uprising, a DLC game coming to PSN and Xbox LIVE. Contra faithful may recall Contra: Hard Corps on the Sega Genesis, from which this game gets it’s name.

Like the original, you will have multiple characters to choose from. In Siliconera’s write up, only two characters were available, but according to other sources I found on the game, rumor is that there will be at least 3 DLC characters. New to the series are two new gameplay features: You get a health bar for your character. This time around, it takes 3 hits to put your character down for the count. Secondly, you have the ability to reflect shots back at enemies using a rechargeable skill.

Probably most importantly, Konami hired Arc Systems Works (the company responsible for the 2-D heaven known as BlazBlue) to code the game. That means hand drawn HD anime style brilliant graphics and colors, with a frame rate that will be second to none. I’m loving these few but quality throwbacks to old school gameplay. Konami will definately be getting my money on day one.

Sanctuary 4 Gamers has started a Site vs. Site Tournament. GamerHusbands signed up so if you’re interested in competing in the remainder of the match-ups respond back in the comments section.

Round 1 of the tournament is Modern Warfare 2. 6 on 6, best of 3 games. GHR’s first matchup was against The Gamers Garage. Team GHR consisted of Teetocks, Full Tilt 101, Dragon59, DrunkCase and Deadbeats. The Gamers Garage was headed by Crash.

GHR chose High Rise as the Round 1 arena. It was a close matchup until the very end when we pulled away and took it 7500 – 6500. It was much closer than it sounds and I was sweating the whole time. I would like to take full credit for dragging the team down. I am the anchor that almost sinks the GHR MW2 Team. DrunkCase lead GHR in this round with a great kill / death ratio.

Gamers Garage chose Sub Base as the Round 2 arena. GHR took a demanding lead and ended up winning this round handily. Final score was 7500 – 4500. Dragon59 had an amazing game and lead for most of it.

As we closed out the match, one of the Gamers Garage players was a douche complaining about our newb ways. Dual Shot-guns + Noob Tubes (I take full credit for being that Newb). But after she bounced from the room, the rest of the crew apologized for her douchiness and were very cool.

Thanks to team GHR for a great outing. Had a lot of fun and appreciate the effort and time everyone put in. Apologies to Adirrrtypoostick who was scheduled to be on the team. Unfortunately, Gamers Garage only had 5 and Poo was the last one to party up. If there’s future rounds he will definitely be involved.

Thanks to the Gamers Garage crew for a fun night. I checked out their podcast and enjoyed it. Give it a listen if you’re looking for something new.

Round 2 is scheduled to be Forza 3. If you’re part of the GHR community, are good at Forza and ready to represent GHR…use the comments section!

We tap one of our favorite Podcasts for some in depth Knowledge of E3. Actually, Phoenix is just one the most critical people to plug up the mic. Who won amongst the big 3. Scott picks his winner, and it might suprise you. Of course this wouldn’t be a episode of Gamerhusbands without the laughs, and we got you covered. So, sit back, relax, and listen to the smooth overtones of GHR. Friday Confirmed!

Playstation Plus–the premium edition of PSN briefly talked on during Sony’s press conference–will supposedly be coming online with firmware update 3.40. According to an exerpt from a Sony press release posted on VG247.com, the download will be available on June 29. Those interested in Playstation Plus can only purchase it through the Playstation 3 at this point. No additional info was given beyond what was discussed at Sony’s presser with regard to Plus’ feature set. We can only speculate whether the long rumored cross-game chat will be offered.

With this announcement, I’m a little concerned. If Plus’ official launch is at the end of this month, it should have commanded a lot more time during Sony’s presser than just the vague descriptions and prices offered toward the end of the event. Hopefully we’re not looking at a Home launch situation, and PS Plus will be ready for prime time when it’s launched. It would be nice if Plus could be a viable alternative to Xbox LIVE–especially for those whose only system (or primary system) is the Playstation 3.

In light of all the big budget games hogging all the publicity at E3, I thought it might be interesting to put a spotlight (albeit a small one) on games that look top tier, but may not be on your radar. One of these titles is Vanquish–published by Sega and created by Platinum Games.

If the name Platinum Games sounds familiar, its because they produced one of the best action games in a long time, Bayonetta. They seem to be putting what they learned from that project into this one. This time instead of angels, your fighting Russian built mechs. Release window for this awesome title is October 2010.

E3 demo video provided by GameTrailers.com
Blog photo from 1Up.com