Saturday, February 28, 2009

COOP: GTAIV and Street Fighter IV

Project Lore! Episode 15.3: Ahn’Kahet

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Project Lore! Soloing: Achievementology, Part 8

Project Lore! Episode 15.2: Ahn’Kahet

World of Warcraft Ulduar Trailer

Gamespot AU has a Street Fighter Video Guide for You!

Street Fighter IV: Casual Friendly?

        First off, let me tell you a little about my experience with fighting games.  I played a lot of the arcade cabinets back in the day.  Except of course, Street Fighter.  I know it's kind of funny considering...  But I digress.  I was a big Tekken fan, Soul Edge, and yes I played EVERY SINGLE Mortal Kombat that came out.  I was even into the SNK Fighting titles; especially Samurai Showdown.

        I starting playing fighting games heavily again around the time the Dreamcast version of Soul Calibur came out.  That was probably the most I've ever gotten into a fighting game.  I played that game so often and so hard I actually wore out my Dreamcast controller buttons.  One actually popped out.  I loved that game.  No one could beat me.  All my friends thought I was some kind of savant or something.  But I had just practiced until, yes, the button of my controller popped out.

       Then I have to admit.  I stopped playing completely.  Except for Mortal Kombat a little, here and there.  But I came back to fighting games when Soul Calibur 2 came out.  Which I played to death.  I even got to the semi finals in a local tournament.  I also managed to play the arcade cabinet version at the time to much success as well.

     But since then, with the exception of Dead or Alive 4.  I've pretty much hung up my fighting game spurs.  So when I heard the RAVE reviews of Street Fighter IV and having just finished up a brief stint with Soul Calibur 4 to some mixed results.  I like it,  but not as much as VF5 don't get me started on that game.    So I decided to give it a shot.  I all ways hated the fact that Street Fighter required SO MANY buttons and the fact that the game was 2D.  The whole thing just seemed a little cheap.  But this game had everyone buzzing about a fighting game Renaissance and heck, who doesn't want to be part of that.   Besides, I figured I could finally learn the game.

     So a few days before the game came out I downloaded Street Fighter HD Remix.  Which I found difficult but not impossible.   I did beat the game with Blanka.  I also tried out Dhailism and a couple of others.  All using an Arcade Stick of course.  I've had one since the XBOX 360 came out, just about.

    The game was fun and relatively difficult for ANYONE to even try.  Many pros say that Street Fighter HD Remix is just about the same game as Street Fighter IV with the exception of the new features.  So this is VERY interesting in itself.

     There is more....  Street Fighter IV is the single most challenging fighting game I've ever played.  The amount of learning associated with the game is probably higher than anything I've played with the exception of games like Guilty Gear and other Japanese 2D Fighters.  The game teaches you through a Trial mode, that REQUIRES you to hit the enemy.  Which I thought was removed from Training modes in Virtua Fighter 4.  There isn't anything showing the move you entered into the screen except when you hit the RIGHT combo.  This can be a problem.  I just would have liked to see what I was doing wrong so I didn't keep doing it.  There is little to REALLY be learned here; except a few special moves.  The only benefit I found to the mode was the unlocks that it granted.  They are fun and silly.  Given this is an online fighter it's fun to see all the crazy titles and colors in the multiplayer.

      The game as a whole looks beautiful.  It has better graphics than I've seen in any fighting game.  But I would have to say that they needed to REALLY work on the quality of those anime prologues and endings.  Some were just terrible.  But there were one or two that were really great.  Like Akuma's and Rose's both were good.

      As SO many sources have all ready mentioned this game is DEFINITELY NOT for casual players.  In fact, there are lots of people who seem to be learning all of Ken's moves and think they are hot.  I'm sure they will have this idea beaten out of them   Most haven't fought, or at least not fought too many skilled players yet.  Ken's great but I've all ready beaten a few people with Blanka; myself.  Which on the whole just means that when the big stir over the game ends; so will their winning streaks.

       Virtua Fighter 5 and Street Fighter IV seem to have one really big thing in common.  You pick one or two characters and become incredibly good with them.  These are HARDCORE games.  They aren't like Dead Or Alive or Soul Calibur, where you learn a bunch of characters and at some point are able to hit Random and beat up the average person.  What makes this game so hard?  Linking combos, focus attacks, and ultras.  All pretty much require you to practice ALOT.  Now that isn't casual. 

        The quality of the game is certainly not in question here.  I'm sure there are probably boat loads of professional Street Fighter players who tested this game for Capcom and were SO THRILLED with the game when they first saw it.  And maybe even the folks who played Street Fighter all those years back and were good then; will maybe have enough muscle memory to be competitive once the initial group of causal players gets tired of the game and there are mostly only pros left.  There are certainly plenty of burgeoning competitors out there now.

         While Street Fighter IV is probably the greatest fighting game ever made next to Virtua Fighter 5; it is not for casual players.

 

    

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Wait a Minute! How much to learn Dual Speccing? (World of Warcraft)

   "Big additions/changes at a glimpse:

  • Dual Spec, allowing characters to have two talent specializations (along with a dedicated set of glyphs and key bindings). Learning how to dual spec will cost a one-time fee of 1000g.
  • Ulduar, a new 25/10 man raid instance, defining the new raid tier (with hopefully increased difficulty)
  • Lots of (mostly minor) class changes"Tachyon....

         I thought recently that I might have made a mistake in putting my World of Warcraft account on ice so I could work harder and more often; I guess I was right to do so.  The single biggest feature in the HISTORY of the MMORPG and they are asking people to come up with 1000 gold!  Why?  That is a ton of gold for anyone who isn't in Northrend and even people who are; it's not going to be a weekend of farming.  More like 2 or 3 weeks.  Why?  This should be like flipping a switch.  There should be NO LEARNING DUAL SPECCING, it should just be there.  Because dual speccing wont be free will it?  You are going to have to pay SOMETHING every time you do it, aren't you?

      While other MMORPGs are trying to decrease the amount of grinding necessary because it is really making people turn MMORPGs off.  World of Warcraft seems to be all for grinding,  In fact, between the new Arena Grind and the new gold for items and now features grind.  It appears there is going to be SO MUCH grinding that they could call the game World of Grindcraft.

      World of Warcraft still hasn't addressed the healer shortage not by making more classes able to heal but by making the healer a more fun class to play.  The most popular classes in Warhammer Online Age of Reckoning are the healers.  The Warrior Priest, the Disciple of Khaine, and the Shaman.  Why?  Not because people have prior knowledge that the healers are incredibly important but because they are classes that are fun to play.

     This will probably be the year of the MMORPG.  DC Universe Online is coming, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Online, the Agency, Champions Online, and finally even Star Trek Online might be a competitor.  Yes, World of Warcraft is the MMORPG chosen by the world.  But these premium MMORPGs tap consoles and go into territory yet uncharted by the current offerings of MMORPGs.  This is not even mentioning the burgeoning numbers of free to play MMORPGs.

     In the past, World of Warcraft has provided so many free updates and additions to their game that players happily paid their monthly fee.  But really, if I am going to pay with my TIME in an MMORPG then what have I really saved by not buying an expansion every year.

     What would I like to see World of Warcraft do in the coming year?  I would like to see Arena Gear attainable by running Battlegrounds and not doing Arenas.  I would like to see some buffs for Priests making them powerful.  I would like to see a new Demon for the Warlock.  I would like to see an end to the constant Paladin nerfing.  I would like to see some nerfs to Rogues and maybe an ability that grants them awesome DPS but also makes them visible.  I would like to see a nerf to Druids.  I would like to see an end to the nerfing of Hunters .  Rather an upping of the DPS on ALL OTHER CLASSES!  More talents for all Classes!  Some new battlegrounds to go along with the attainable gear.  Something that NO ONE has yet seen.  Everyone is tired of what is offered and this game has been around FAR TOO LONG not to have any more additions.

      I certainly understand that all of these things take time and they are still working on dual speccing and all the current class changes and glyph additions so; make dual speccing free to learn and 1 gold to change the spec on each permanently.   That isn't too much to ask, right?

Project Lore! Soloing: Achievementology, Part 7

Project Lore! Episode 15.1: Ahn’Kahet

Some Behind the Scenes Killzone 2!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Project Cerberus will we see you here in the US? Probably not!

NEW CO-OP: Flower and FEAR 2!

Street Fighter 4, You wanna Unlock some characters? Easy..... Come here kid....

 

        First, let me say that I've had STIV for about 6 hours and I all ready have Rose, Sakura, and Cammy using the method I am about to relate.

       The video shows how you can unlock characters using the Easiest difficulty and continuing to press the Heavy Kick button.  Well, it's not quite that easy since the patch hit.

        What you can do is VERY SIMILAR however....

       Now you are going to want to pick the characters that ACTUALLY unlock people to do this.  Don't just try it on anyone else, because it won't work.

     Viper, Ryu, Abel, and Chun-Li.  That's it.... No more.... The only other characters to unlock aside from the ones that unlock with these are Akuma and Gouken.

         OK, so just do your little high kick dance with these folks and you should be all right.  Until you reach Seth!

        He WILL NOT be beaten simply by moving forward and kicking.  In fact, most enemies REQUIRE you to move forward while kicking.  With Seth you are going to have to avoid his attacks and take the damage from his throws.  Once he lets you go kick him to death.  But you might fail, so decide how interested you are in doing this whole thing over and over.  It might take twice if your unlucky or if you miss a kick opportunity.

       This idea of taping down your auto fire key or some other non-sense just doesn't work.  Even on easiest these guys aren't THAT easy.  Your still going to have to avoid some attacks, because some guys like Guile might decide to spam you with missiles.  Then what?

      Finally, if your using an arcade stick you might want to use a controller instead for this.  As the buttons on the standard controller might be a hair more responsive and if your just spamming one button anyway why wear out your arcade stick.  You can easily map the heavy kick to a face button.  It's much easier than using your stick.  But hey, that might just be personal preference.

   Lastly, the only reason I'm giving folks the straight dope on this, is because Seth is REALLY cheap.  Even on easier levels, he ranks right up there with bosses like those in DOA 4 and MK.  There are points when you haven't even had a chance to move or attack and he's teleported on you and has done a throw all ready.  He spams teleports like they are regular moves.  I haven't faced him on any level above Easy but that was enough considering how easy EVERYONE else is in comparison.  So with this little trick you can at least benefit from all of the characters in the game without having to be descent with them.

    Enjoy...

Friday, February 20, 2009

Mass Effect 2 Teaser









Reviewing the Reviewers, Again!

Normally I try not to do this column too often considering I certainly understand the problems of deadlines, space limitations, and the ever popular crappy game that you just can't finish because it's so freaking broken!  But in this case I made an exception because this review is of the stellar Street Fighter IV and it seems that someone at Hardcore Gamer Magazine is nipping at the crazy juice.  When I read this in a meta-review break I was like WTF?

"If there’s one gripe I can find with this title—and believe me, it’s exactly one—it’s the issue of the game’s unlockable content. This is a fundamental problem not exclusive to this game, and it centers around the fact that the audience for Street Fighter is much older than it used to be. Sure, there are new gamers, young and old, being welcomed to the fold each and every day, but this game was meant to get back a lot of the older players that the genre had left behind.

As older players, our time is more limited than it used to be, so when you lock half of the game’s playable cast behind the Arcade mode, it tends to chafe. Furthermore, when you create a challenge mode that unlocks incentives which are average at best (icons, player titles, and the ever-riveting concept art!), you’re bordering on insulting. Namco, the notorious king of pointless unlock criteria, has gotten better by this by tying its current games’ mission modes to a bevy of visual character customization content, and making its characters brain-dead easy to unlock—many in a matter of seconds. Even Sega’s Virtua Fighter gets it right: all characters are unlocked at start, but with novel game modes that help you grow as a player and are unique and fun to boot. Compared to these companies’ efforts, Capcom looks to be behind the curve… though to be fair, they’re nowhere near approaching Nintendo’s Smash Brothers ludicrousness.

It’s true that sometimes players will find themselves between opponents, and there should be material on the disc that allows them to amuse themselves during that time. However, this is the wrong way to go about it. Don’t force us to play your game the way you want us to in order to get access to your content, and more to the point, don’t hide boring content behind hard challenge missions. Unlock your essential content from the get-go, and then build on that with creative modes and incentives. The locked character issue is mildly more problematic on the Xbox 360, which won’t let you get Achievements if you download a save file to quickly get the characters unlocked. Even so, I expect full-saves to crop up soon for both versions, and be thoroughly abused once they do. "Hardcore Gamer Magazine.

   Has Racewing (?), been playing fighting games for the past ten years?  This is pretty standard faire.  Other than the aforementioned awesome VF5.  EVERY OTHER SINGLE FIGHTING GAME has a similar setup.  When i saw the unlock list posted on various other websites like IGN, Giant Bomb, and Gamespot.  I pretty much just nodded and decided that I was going to have to at least TRY every character in the game to get the character I wanted, Akuma.  So what?  It adds longevity to the game.  I don't mind...  The alternative is NOT as he points out to have them all unlocked at the start but to have us pay for unlock keys like they are doing with the alternate costumes.  At least I doubt it will work any other way; considering the state of the industry right now.

    Not that this is my issue.  My issue is with a three paragraph rant and still give the game a 4.5/5 and then the reviewer disclaims the whole thing by saying that this is all he could complain about.  So instead of taking .5 points off for your nativity about how fighting games are setup.  Perhaps, he should have just sucked it up and given it a 5/5 like his "second opinion" reviewer did.  Oh, perhaps that's why they have a second reviewer so they both can have arbitrarily different scores.

   The explanation that this is supposed to appeal to older gamers is hysterical.  According to IGN it takes around 10 min a character to unlock them all.  So if you don't have an hour or so to unlock characters perhaps you don't have the time to play the game.

   As a reviewer it's our responsibility to give everything the proper weight and time in our reviews.  It's easy to harp on things you don't like but in an otherwise awesome game it's pretty irresponsible to let your own uninformed personal opinion to drive more than 25% of your review.

Project Lore! Episode 14.6: Azjol-Nerub

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

1UP's Gamenight gets LOST AND DAMNED!

Project Lore! Episode 14.5: Azjol-Nerub

Fear 2 Project Origin Review

    Fear seems like it has been around forever.  I still remember playing the first one.  I all ways felt that the mechanics of shooting in the game was one of the greatest achievements in the game rather than the weird little girl or the horror aspect.

   In this game, you play a different character Becket.  Who is thrown into the lead up and aftermath of the incident that happened in end of the last FEAR game.  The atmosphere of the game is hardcore horror.  But the problem comes when you are walking around with the most extreme firepower and Alma seems more interested in helping you than trying to kill her.

   The A.I. does an excellent job of getting to cover and in the later parts of the game they get rather aggressive but never to the point where things get completely out of hand.  The strange thing is I played most of the game as a straight shooter and didn't need to use the slo-mo too often.  In fact, only in one or two places near the end.  I was kind of surprised.  Usually FEAR games have the tendency to throw so many enemies at you at once that it makes it impossible to kill them all without slo-mo.  But in this game, the developers have given you so much ammo and such powerful weapons that even power suits can be destroyed.

    The game looks great.  It certainly looks better on the PC than it does on the XBOX 360 or PS3.  But you will probably need a pretty descent machine to play it on the PC to get those graphics.  So, the 360/PS3 version is probably the best bargain.  The sound in the game is first rate and some of the enemies have signature music or sounds that will help you track them if you have a descent surround sound system.    There was a nice variety in enemy types for most of the game and the action was pretty fast moving so you weren't as annoyed by killing the same three types of soldiers over and over again.  They did mix it up with some cool additions and even some fantastically rendered ghosts and those amazing assassin enemies make a return with some cool new animations and textures.

     The game has a descent variance in setting and even though there are far too many areas that seem to be the same layout as Office Building X.  Certainly the Hospital level needed to be shortened and I wouldn't have minded a little more of the subway, if it was interesting  The game does a good job of trying to fool the player into thinking this isn't the case.  I was only slightly put off when the two power suit sequences that you get to control the suits seemed virtually the same in lay out and even somewhat in staging.

    The ending of the game while pretty good is a little anti-climax and I felt that it could have been handled better.  I'm not exactly looking forward to FEAR 3, if it's just going to be a continuation.  The main selling point for FEAR 2 is the backstory that is told throughout the game.  It explains everything that happened before the first FEAR game and what happened to Alma to make her the way she is.

   The game does have multiplayer and there isn't anything wrong with it.  But it's just not interesting or different.  I enjoyed the little I played of it, but I would have liked to see something more substantial added.  It's certainly fast and furious but the lack of anything really different just makes it seem unnecessary to the package rather than a feature.

   My final verdict on FEAR 2 is that it's a good game in the same vein as games like Dead Space and Bioshock.  If the story had a little more at the end to give the player a little more fulfillment I would have certainly ranked it right up there with those games.  But as it stands, perhaps they should have dropped multiplayer and added another hour or two of story.  Don't think your going to read that in one of my reviews again, so enjoy it.  I give FEAR 2 a definite rent it and if you REALLY love FEAR buy it.  8.5/10...

 

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Blizzcon Announced, Tickets all ready looking to be sold out.(just kidding about the tickets)

    Hey all Blizzard has announced for August 21st and 22nd.  It's pretty clear that there will be some HUGE Starcraft 2 announcement and hopefully something on Diablo 3 and perhaps the unannounced MMORPG will finally be announced.  So we will have to wait until August for all our hopes and dreams to be fulfilled considering Blizzard won't be at E3.  But hey, at least we know it's coming.

G4's only REAL shows getting cuts!

   There really seems to be some kind of terrible irrationality going through the gaming press lately.  The closing of EGM, selling 1UP to UGO, and now this.  G4's, we are barely a television network,  has announced cuts to their ONLY TWO non-syndicated offerings Attack of the Show and X-Play.  Both shows have gone from 5 days a week to a paltry 3 days a week starting in March.

    I've never been much for Attack of the Show but in recent months X-Play has gotten 100% better.  But it seems that all this evolution has only made them even less interesting to the big wigs that run the network.  I guess the E network folks think that purely syndicated crap is easier to shove down people's throats than useful content.  So enjoy the hundreds of episodes of COPS, Ninja Warrior, Cheaters, and Old Reruns of Star Trek the Next Generation.  Or, just TIVO X-Play and watch NOTHING ELSE on G4 like I do.

   I won't bring up Techtv or the early days of G4 because obviously those days are SO LONG GONE that it's not even worth talking about.  I predict that the future of G4 will be that it will be a satellite network for the E, entertainment channel.  Maybe with reruns of their shows or just a continuous entertainment news show much like the TV Guide channel.

   Because even at 86.8 Billion dollars a year in video game industry revenue these silly games are just a fad, right?

Project Lore! Solong: Achievementology, Part 5

PS3 Blog hosts Street Fighter IV Launch Event

Symposium on Review Scores! Awesome!

 

       Was just reading through some stuff on Giant Bomb and noticed this AWESOME discussion about review scores on Shawn Elliot's blog.  This guy used to work for 1UP and has a way of making a point that I feel is pretty unique.  I will warn would be readers that this is a VERY text heavy post and if you are expecting video or pics you will be sorely disappointed but the content is first rate from some first rate journalists in the video game industry.

  Incidentally check out the new videos up on Giant Bomb.  Good stuff guys, good stuff.  Like this one that will make you laugh, really it will...

     Those guys had kind of a rocky start but I have to say that Giant Bomb is probably one of the best video game websites out there and is giving IGN and Gamespot a REALY run for their money.  Watch out corporate video game web sites.  Cause Giant Bomb has your number.

Snacks! Bad Co-Op

Project Lore! Episode 14.4: Azjol-Nerub

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Project Lore! Achievementology Part 3

I'm sorry, I JUST DON'T CARE!

 

    I've heard a lot lately about how this service is better than that one and stuff about Gamestop not carrying this game or that one because of it's relationship with online downloading services and even the explanation that these online services need to charge just as much as brick and mortar retailers because the brick and mortar retailers will get mad and stop carrying their products.

     But I have to say,"I'm sorry guys, I just DON'T CARE!"

   Perhaps it's my non-PC gaming lineage that all of this seems ridiculous to me or perhaps I'm just too old to think that any of this makes any sense.  People like what works and they don't care about what doesn't.

    Steam is one of the best online services of any kind that I have ever had the privilege to deal with.  All of my transactions have been easy and very simple to complete.  No crazy passwords or DRM problems.  Everything just works.  Steam also has a habit of having excellent discounts on software which is VERY unusual in the digital distribution marketplace  Now, they aren't perfect.  The fact that some games aren't ACTUALLY installed on your computer like they would be if you owned the product on a disk, sometimes causes issues with related software like map makers or modders.  I'm sure these details will be worked out in the future and most of the time it's the developer that won't change their software not Valve that won't make their service compatible with it.

      But this isn't a Steam evangelization post.  This is a I love digital distribution but if you don't follow Steam's example it WILL be the only service left and you will have only yourselves to blame post.  The fact that MANY services require more than one password, the cd key, and only allow you to install the program on one PC.  This type of thing really keeps people from "bothering" with digital distribution.

       Most people think rightly that if they are going to go through all that they might as well buy the box.  It IS the SAME PRICE after all.  In fact, some services even require you to pay some money for the privilege of downloading the game rather than buying it from the store and then they charge you tax on the item besides.  In one instance, I paid all most $10 more than the listed price due to all these charges.

       The other problem with this is that the company isn't expending the extra expenses for these games.  No printing costs for boxes, instructions, CD/DVD media, and no shipping costs.  So why aren't the games cheaper?

      First, it's because some people DO pay these higher prices and the companies figure if they can get away with it, so be it.  Second, it's because companies need to make nice with the brick and mortar retailers to keep their games on their shelves.

      I say to that, most brick and mortar retailers have shrunk their PC gaming areas to the point where it is laughable.  With the exception of Gamestop; which has it's own download service.  How much are these companies losing by keeping their games off these 10 foot sections of what is usually about a quarter of the size of the console gaming area.  Make your games cheaper on the digital download services and your sales will boom and let the brick and mortar retailers further flounder.  Not that these stores HAVE to eject their PC games if this happens.  Apparently this is just what they are threatening to do.

     Also, the top selling PC games in recent history have been games like World of Warcraft which mainly relay on a monthly fee and usually a core set of software that can be downloaded directly from the company, an online service, or a brick and mortar retailer.  This harmony seems to be what the industry is trying to go for with all it's products.  The problem with this is that most MMORPG players have no problem with the full price investment of the core software however they want to get it.  As it is a one time investment that will allow them to play for another fee for a long time. 

    Many people DO look for sales on these products but it isn't the same situation as the hardcore PC gamer who buys new graphics cards every year or all ways buys the hottest best rated software.  These folks tend to spend hundreds of dollars a year on software.  Where a MMORPG player will probably only buy a new expansion every few years and probably will only spend around $100 each non-expansion year.

     To close this out, I agree with all the people who say,

      "I wish they would all just consolidate under Steam."

  Because ONLY Steam is giving the customer what they want with very few problems and excuses.  I'm all for competition, I just want a quality service at a descent price.  Beyond that, I REALLY DON'T CARE!

 

Red Alert 3 Uprising GTTV Extended Cuts: Behind The Scenes HD

Warhammer Online Expansion Walkthrough Part 2

Gamtrailers gives you a Walkthrough of the Warhammer Online Call to Arms Expansion!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Friday, February 6, 2009

NYCC Prototype Walkthrough Part 2

NYCC Prototype Walkthrough Part 1

Halo Wars Demo! WOW!

            So if you haven't played the new Halo Wars demo, go over to Marketplace and get it!

          To say that this demo is incredible would be an understatement.  It has a Tutorial, Skirmish, and One Campaign area to play.  The graphics are incredible and the cinematics are top notch.

         Ensemble is definitely leaving the industry on a VERY HIGH note if this demo is any indication of what the game will be like.  The commitment to story in the game is really amazing.  Rarely have I seen such a dedication to moving a singular story forward in an RTS.

         The actual gameplay and structure seem to be a little simplistic at first but the goal of the game is more about killing the enemy than achieving an economic victory.  Also Ensemble seems to have, even the demo instigated some interesting tactics like taking cover.

        I'm currently playing C&C Red Alert 3 and this game is certainly much quicker and easier to control than even that game on the PC.  But I certainly think the complexity of the game has been given up.  But I'm sure there will be some immensely exciting things to come in the actual game that will make us all forget about the simplistic command structure and resource management.

      For people who aren't necessarily hardcore in their RTS this is definitely game for you.  Even if you ARE hardcore in your RTS if you like the Halo Universe, you will STILL like this game; and better yet you good probably jack up the difficulty all the way.

-Devilsalias

 

        

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Project Lore Horde Ragefire Chasm 1.4

Alternate Costumes and Championship mode hitting Street Fighter IV! Post Launch!

       Teamxbox is reporting"

Following our story of the first Street Fighter IV DLC yesterday, Capcom officially announced today the first expansion pack for the game. The Championship Mode expansion pack will add several unique and gameplay enriching options to Street Fighter IV’s already robust feature set free of charge post launch. Street Fighter IV’s Championship Mode Expansion Pack will include:

  • Replay Mode – Record, upload, and download top matches to share with the Street Fighter IV community. Players can analyze top tiered fighters matches, leave voter feedback for others, and share their own triumphant victories.
  • New Points System - Two new points systems to measure your skill (Championship and Tournament Points)
  • Enhanced Tournament Matching System - Skill level matching system offers improved tournament match making for beginners and mid-level players. Competitors earn Grade Points (GP) to earn entry into more advanced tournaments. "

    Well, now that's awesome!  All I want to know now is, when is it coming out? Post-Launch? Way to be vague Capcom....

-Devilsalias

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Taking Sides trailer!

Project Lore Horde Ragefire Chasm 1.3

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

We Have Come a long Way since VF5! (Street Fighter IV)

    1UP just reported on the pricing of the upcoming DLC for Street Fighter IV.  The alternate costumes cost 325 microsoft points for about 4 costumes each pack that are to be rolled out over a period of about a month.  There IS an all in pack coming out in April for 1000 microsoft points.

   Now, I would just like to say that I remember when we could buy item packs for our characters for Virtua Fighter 5 for only 80-100 points.  There items could be used on many different characters.  Not to say that was exactly a bargain either but if this pricing is correct it's kind of a mighty step forward towards what people were worried about with the whole "horse armor" debacle of a few years ago.

   The other thing that no one is saying but which is probably the case, is that these outfits are probably on the disk anyway and we are just buying the right to the keys that unlock them.  Which is also kind of sad.  I'm more than happy to pay for DLC but it really should be worthwhile not some cosmetic add on that is not worth much more than a few cents.  I would have gladly paid 100 MS points for these outfits but 325?  That's a little much!  But hey, this is the same service that people pay 80-125 points for those brady games video strategy guide rip-offs.  So I guess whatever sells...

-Devilsalias.

Project Lore Horde Ragefire Chasm 1.2

1UP Game Night with FEAR 2: I'm afraid all ready!

Street Fighter IV Video Review(Preview) Couresty of Gamespot!




All they need to add is a score.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Demigod Video: The Rook!



Destructiod brings us the pretty pictures once again! Thanks folks!

Project Lore Horde Ragefire Chasm 1.1

So They were upset over the Old Cover for X-Blade I can't imagine why?


Here are the original covers: (above)


Beautiful pic from Destructoid:(below)




Thanks Destructiod!

WTF! No Run and Gun Shooting in RE 5, says CAPCOM!

      OK folks, your not going to believe this one.  According Capcom's Community Blog,

"To correct this whoopsie: THE NEW CONTROL OPTIONS IN RESIDENT EVIL 5 DO NOT ALLOW YOU TO MOVE AND SHOOT SIMULTANEOUSLY."

       So wait.... Didn't Capcom JUST say that there WAS run and gun shooting in the latest Inside XBOX on XBOX LIVE?  Apparently that was wrong.  And the language of the post seems to indicate that this system is strange but they wanted it like this.  I often wonder about Japanese developers who do things like this.  I don't know if it's some kind of artsy rebellion against reality or what, but it didn't make sense with MGS's funky shooting that they got rid of in the latest version any more than it makes sense here.  It also looks horrible and unrealistic, which I guess is what Capcom is going for.

       So that's it folks, the whole thing has been solved.  But then there is another month until the game comes out, so maybe there will be more conflict over it yet.... But if this REALLY matters to you, perhaps you shouldn't buy the game until it comes out and everyone KNOWS FOR CERTAIN.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Resident Evil 5 to "supposedly" take HUGE Download!

     According to N4G, Resident Evil 5 has a HUGE install on the PS3.  Now, I'm sorry wasn't this the same thing they said about Devil May Cry 4 that turned out to be wrong.  Possibly it would be good to wait until the game ACTUALLY comes out before we start talking about install amounts.

Afro Samurai the Game Review. Makes you wish you were watching the movies!

I'm a BIG Afro Samurai fan! I loved the movies, I've read the manga, and now alas I've played the game. The look and feel of the game is spot on. Wonderful animations, incredible visuals, and some killer music when it isn't completely silent(which turns out to be too often).

But it's not the art design or the music that is the problem in Afro Samurai and even the combat in the game is top notch. The problem is one that seems like, with all these other things handled so beautifully a little insane. Level design....

What do I mean? Well, there are invisible walls. Lame platforming. And an endless stream of enemies that seem kind of on the superfluous side. In general, the bosses are well designed. I certainly enjoyed playing until the combination of unclear objectives and even worse the incredibly horrible platforming stopped me. This game had everything that I would show would be designers when learning how NOT to make a game. Like the fact that on one level it actually wraps around so that if you fall in the right place you are right back where you started again.

Every level was made longer by a combination of horrible platforming and too many enemies. Aside from bosses, there were only around 5 types of enemies in the whole game and everyone of them you see countless times. They aren't fun or interesting, in most cases they are just stupid.

It was as if two totally different developers worked on this game. One that designed the music, art, and combat and another that designed everything else. I would love to say that if your a big fan of Afro Samurai that you should at least rent this game. But given the horrible problems in the game, I can't even say that. Don't buy or rent Afro Samurai. Unless you have a lot of time on your hands and nothing to do, I would stay away from this game. But unless your stranded on a desert island or in prison I can't imagine you having that much time.

Update:

Sorry for this but a friend saw the review and decided that I wasn't clear enough about my feelings about this game. So here it is....

I loved the combat, graphics, and sound on this epically BROKEN GAME!

If you REALLY like frustration from around 8 years ago, buy the game!

If you have a life and other good games to play, DON'T!

Simple....

-Devilsalias