This week is highlighted by a fighter, a downloadable platformer, and a shooter.
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | | •Soul Calibur IV | •Soul Calibur IV
•Spectral Force 3 | •King of Clubs
•MLB Power Pros 2008
•Summer Athletics | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | | ... | •Suzuki Superbikes | •MLB Power Pros 2008 |
 My pick this week is Soul Calibur IV for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. SCIV is the latest installment in Namco's popular fighting franchise, and features Star Wars characters, Yoda on the 360 and Darth Vader on the PS3. However, that may change since rumor has it that you will be able to purchase the character the other system has via downloadable content. The game is averaging 90% on GameRankings so far.
But my real pick of the week goes to the surreal PS3 downloadable platformer PixelJunk Eden. The demo came out last week, and I was completely blown away by what Dylan and the team at Q Games did with this one. I highly recommend picking it up if you're a PS3 owner looking for something relaxing but challenging...or if you're a Trophy Ho since Eden is the second game on the PS3 to support trophies. For you 360 owners, Geometry Wars 2 comes out this week as well. Geo Wars 2 is the sequel to the wildly successful Xbox Live Arcade original. New features include additional gameplay modes, and four player online co-op.
 There is this rather quirky Japanese developer that goes by the name, Skip, Ltd. Stateside, you might know them as the developer of the Chibi Robo series. If you follow the Japanese scene also, you may know a bit more about them. In fact, most of their games have been released only in Japan. It's a real damn shame. You know, they developed many of the Bit Generations Games. These small, quirky games are sort of like the Wii Sports and Wii Play for the Game Boy Advance, but cooler. Way cooler. Of course, such is to be expected from the former Square employees, people who may have worked on one of the Best Games Ever, Chrono Trigger.
So, Skip really hasn't seen many releases Stateside aside from Chibi Robo, and it's a shame, a real damn shame. We've not only missed out on the Bit Generations series, but also other interesting and quirky games like GiFTPiA, a GameCube Game where you as the main character have to earn back your honor. It's a real interesting, and unique, game. Sadly, it's Japan only, and that pains me.
Skip has a new project, and I imagine that if you follow the gaming blogs at all you probably know what it is. The title is called Captain Rainbow, and aside from looking like a homoerotic fantasy, it looks pretty damn amazing. You play as a super hero, Captain Rainbow, who does all types of heroics on an island filled with washed up Nintendo Characters. The concept is absolutely genius, and given the track record, I bet it doesn't come out here. Very, very sad.
Check out the videos, after the jump.
Continue reading Why does NOA do this to US?
 I remember a time and place when people who were asking for more storage space for the Wii were "geeks and otaku". I remember being very displeased by this statement of arrogance, and may have callled someone an ass. Whoops. Turns out that while in Europe people asking for more storage are "geeks and otaku," a different tune is being spun stateside.
Apparently, Reggie has a different story about the plight of the Wii Gamer, that, or he and Laurent are on totally different pages. See, Reggie says that while they have nothing to announce now, they are in fact working on a storage solution of some sort, and are aware of the situation. Huh. You don't say, Reggie? Furthermore, Reggie acknowledges that the problem extends far beyond "geeks and otaku":
From an Americas-centric perspective, here is the reality we see. We have a consumer base who loves virtual console. We have a userbase who really is enjoying WiiWare content. So for us really our challenge really is how do we satisfy all these consumers who are loving all of the product we make available on a download basis? As we continue to have things, as you point out, like ‘Mario Kart’ that has its own channel when you’re playing from an Internet perspective, we’re just making this challenge tougher and tougher. So in our view this is becoming much more of a mainstream problem, which is why we have a sense of urgency to solve it.
So, the storage problem is a problem? OH NOOOO! What are we going to do? Nothing has been announced, and there are games with DLC coming out soon. I need my Samba DLC! Please Reggie save us!
Seriously, though, this issue is sort of laughable. Let us actually use the SD cards we actually bought. Lots of storage there. Oh that's right, you're afraid of piracy, Nintendo. Perhaps you could code encryption? The truth is that holding out forever won't solve the problem, and the casual gamer isn't going to want to spend a crapload of money to fix the storage issue. So, for your sake, I hope you can find a marketable solution, and find it quick.
Nintendo: Wii Storage Limitations Becoming A ‘Mainstream Problem’ [MTV Multiplayer]
Ok, this week, there's damn near nothing coming out. That's the summer game drought in full effect.
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | | ... | ... | •Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
•Order Up
•SNK Arcade Classics V.1 | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | | ... | •Final Fantasy IV
•Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
•New International Track & Field | •Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor |
 The SNK compilation might be neat but it was on PS2/PSP not too long ago. That leaves Final Fantasy IV, and I don't like JRPGs...so, there's nothing coming out this week. Oh, Siren: Blood Curse comes out on PSN this week along with 1942: Joint Strike on XBLA and PSN! I'll probably get 1942 because it looks like an AWESOME update of the original classic.
Cammie Dunaway apparently is a scapegoat for Nintendo's press conference. I honestly wouldn't know, because I spent the last week in Destin, Florida, burning my skin on the beach while occasionally going into the seaweed infested ocean. Good times indeed. But! I did get to watch two of the three press conferences, and one of those conferences happened to be Nintendo. As someone who was looking to be wowed by Nintendo with announcements for the "core gamer", I was underwhelmed. Did you know Animal Crossing was for core gamers? Seriously? Ha. Might has well throw in the meh fest known as Wii Music in there as well. Why get Wii Music when you can get Guitar Hero World Tour?
Anyways, Nintendo's conference was underwhelming, and some of you apparently have been hateful towards Cammie Dunaway, saying that she is a fake. Well, to be honest, she did seem a bit fake at the conference. Fake smiles and actions, she did in fact seem staged, unlike "Kicking ass and taking names" Reggie Fils-Aime. So, some of you have been berating her, sort of like I just did, and she has some news for you.
Turns out, she's for real. At least, that's what she told Wired. She is apparently a generally nice person, with genuinely nice smiles. Do you believe that? After watching her presentation, I call bullshit, but she claims otherwise. Do you give her the benefit of the doubt?
Nintendo's Cammie Dunaway: I'm Not Faking It [Wired]
 Here's what Nintendo had to offer at E3:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0XR7LaJLLf8
Also, Animal Crossing, WiiSpeak, Wii MotionPlus, and GTA coming to DS.
I would have wrote a more in-depth article, but that video pretty much shows the entire conference and what happened.
As Reggie Fils-Aime stated on G4: "How could hardcore gamers feel left out? You got Animal Crossing and GTA coming!"
Now that the press conferences from the big three console makers have concluded, it's time to take a look back at what was discussed during the conferences. I will be giving you a brief summary of the events along with links to videos showing the events from the conference and other relevant information. First up: Microsoft.
If you would like to view the entire presentation, you may do so at G4's website or it should be on the Xbox Live Marketplace for download.
The presentation was hosted by Don Mattrick, Senior VP of Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. He starts off by warning us that the games being showed during this conference "are INTENSE games! Many are not for the faint of heart."
 A new trailer for Fallout 3 is played and Todd Howard, the game's director, then takes the stage to give us . What he showed looks astonishing and I highly recommend taking a look at the demo. I never really was interested in this game until seeing the demo and how it meshes a futuristic setting with a 1950's kind of vibe. Todd also announces that the Xbox 360 and Games For Windows will be receiving exclusive downloadable content for the game. He also appeared on G4 and gave them a 10 minute demonstration of the game.
Up next: the first demonstration of Resident Evil 5! The game is looking INCREDIBLE and looks like Gears of War crossed with Resident Evil. They also showcase the all-new online co-op mode and display how Chris and Sheva can work together to solve puzzles and destroy zombies. Resident Evil 5 will be released on Friday the 13th of March 2009 on both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Peter Molyneux shows us Fable 2 and informs us that the game is completed and will ship in October. The game looks pretty cool, and the online co-op mode is extremely innovative. Also: the game has belching!
And now the game everyone's been waiting to see more of, Gears of War 2! Cliff Blezenski shows some gameplay footage and a new trailer. I think it looks like Gears 1 but outside, however I'm biased. Chainsawing people is AWESOME!!! Voice acting sounds horribly generic, but that's to be expected. Guess I'm spoiled after Metal Gear Solid 4. Great looking flame effects. New multiplayer mode is announced: Horde. Up to 5 people take on wave after wave of Locust of increasing difficulty. Game comes out on November 7.
Cliff exits, Don comes back on stage and starts the businessy part of the show. He informs us that games are the biggest form of entertainment in the world and claims that the 360 will sell more consoles than PS3 this generation. We'll see about that.
Now the Xbox Live portion of the show. NBC and Universal Studios join the Xbox Live Video marketplace. MGM and Constantin Film join in Europe.
 This fall, the Xbox 360 interface you all know and love will be replaced with a newer, more minimalist design. I think it looks better than the old one, but my opinion would change if they plaster it with ads like they do the current one. Along with the new interface comes several new features. First of those new features is avatars, which is pretty much a ripoff of Nintendo's Mii feature. These avatars could possibly replace your GamerPic that you currently have (no information is known for sure), but these avatars will show up in games just like on the Wii. Second, the community channel will be changed from a list of your friends to showing their avatars. The new community channel will also allow you to create a party, which allows you to join up with your friends to chat, share photos, and play games. Third, there is a new channel of Live called Xbox Live Primetime that will allow you to play free game shows online with people.
After that, they showed us a glimpse of many new Xbox Live Arcade titles. Among the titles shown are Uno Rush, Geometry Wars 2, Galaga Legions (done by the team that did Pac-Man Championship Edition, and holy shit it looks INCREDIBLE!), Portal: Still Alive, and South Park.
Microsoft then showed off clips of a few community games before dropping a bombshell: they have formed an exclusive partnership with Netflix. Subscribers to Netflix will be able to watch all of Netflix instant queue library on their console. But it doesn't end there! Your Xbox Live party can all join together and watch the same movie. Incredible idea, and a fantastic partnership for them.
Next: trailers for Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise
A sequel to Scene It is unveiled.
 Now things get awkward with the showing of You're In The Movies, which is a party game compilation of minigames that all use the Xbox Live Vision Camera. Watch the video to see people acting like jackasses and for GIANT ENEMY LIZARDS!
Guitar Hero: World Tour gets an apathetic reaction from the crowd while announcing that Metallica's new album will be available as DLC in Guitar Hero 3 on the day the album comes out.
Next up: the long-rumored unveil of Lips, Microsoft's upcoming SingStar ripoff Karoke Revolution ripoff karoke game. Developed by iNiS (Gitaroo Man, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, Elite Beat Agents), Lips will allow you to sing along to not just the songs they gave you, but dance using the motion sensitive wireless microphone. The coolest part about this game is that you can actually use your own music from your iPod/Zune (lol). Some pop "star" I've never heard of named Duffy comes out on stage and starts singing. I promptly run for the mute button.
Rock Band totally blows Guitar Hero away with a tracklist over 100 songs, the ability to port all your old Rock Band 1 DLC, and for $5 you will be able to play most Rock Band 1 songs in Rock Band 2 without the need to swap discs! By the end of the year Rock Band 2 will have a library of OVER 500 SONGS! Guitar Hero is done for.
 Then comes Square-Enix with new trailers for Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean: The Last Hope, and The Last Remnant. First they talk about The Last Remnant and show a new trailer. The game is out this holiday season for 360 and sometime later for PC.
Don thanks us all for attending, but Yoichi Wada won't have any of that. He's got something to say! Lights go down, and the shot heard round the world is fired. Final Fantasy XIII is coming to Xbox 360.
That's it for Microsoft. Stay tuned for summaries of both Nintendo and Sony, coming soon.
 Probably the worst week in quite a while...unless you happen to like college football, then more power to you.
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | | •NCAA Football 2009 | •NCAA Football 2009
•Space Chimps | •NCAA Football 2009
•Rock Band Track Pack Vol. 1
•Space Chimps
•We Love Golf | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | •Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity
•NCAA Football 2009 | •Mister Slime
•Nancy Drew: Clue Bender Society
•Space Chimps | •NCAA Football 2009
•Rock Band Track Pack Vol. 1
•Spce Chimps |
Honestly, I don't care about any of the games this week. Rock Band track pack could be neat for all you owners of the gimped editions of the game and seems fairly priced. NCAA 09 is by far the biggest game of the week, but again, I don't care about sports. Soooo...stay tuned for exciting E3 news!
Good God, this development took a really, really long time to materialize. You know, Konami has been pretty active in the rhythm genre, and ruled Japan with its Bemani series. Dance Dance Revolution. Guitar Freaks. Drummania. Beatmania. Certainly, Bemani is popular in the Land of the Rising Sun, but stateside, only DDR really has taken off. Sure, there is in fact a stateside version of Beatmania, but it wouldn't say anything other than DDR has taken off here. Have you seen Drummania or Guitar Freaks in the states? Guitar Freaks may have seen a PS1 release, but I certainly have not it. It is almost as though Konami dropped the ball on that one.
Where Konami dropped the ball, Harmonix picked it and scored big time. Guitar Hero, Rock Band, they certainly have had their share of winners. See, Harmonix was, and still is, very successful in the rhythm business. Four or so years later, Konami has finally figured out that Harmonix's devices are a bit close to those of Guitar Freaks and Drummania. Hmm, you don't say? Great job noticing, Konami. You know, the likeness between the peripherals is uncanny. Why didn't Konami do this earlier? I guess they can get more damages now, if they win, and given how similar the peripherals are I certainly expect them to.
Konami Sues Harmonix Because Rock Band is Fun [Dtoid] [IMAGE]
 Bungie sure does have a fascination with the number "7". Their forum is named the "Seventh Column", and various exponents of 7 hold high, even religious significance in many of their games. Would it surprise you then that on this date last year, 07/07/07 would have some special meaning. Well, they held their first "Bungie Day", but also officially competed the #6 task in their 7-Step Plan for World Domination (stage bloody coup of new parent company). Yet, the world wouldn't know of this deed until October of 2007. Now having been enlightened by the knowledge of their independence, we can truly celebrate a future not bound exclusively to Microsoft and the billion dollar donut!
Are we, the fans, the only ones to cheer? Of course not! Bungie is returning the favor with a special download. A set of Bungie-styled Gamerpics and Theme will be available for download one day only. An extra bonus for Halo 3 players is the free map "Cold Storage", a remake of the classic "Chill Out" from the original Halo: Combat Evolved.
"Chill Out" plays more on the Forerunner theme, with a sprinkle of Flood contamination. Gameplay holds fairly true to the original with focus placed on controlling the sniper, rockets and invisibility power-up. Online matchmaking will also be updated to require the new maps for playlists currently requiring the Legendary Map Pack. Since the new map is free, this shouldn't be a problem. If that isn't enough incentive, the Legendary Map Pack is getting a new price of 600 MS points.
Video of the new map after the break...
Continue reading Happy Bungie Day!
Looks like 2K Games pulled a fast one on us this week!
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | •Beijing Olympics 2008
•Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution | •Beijing Olympics 2008
•Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
•Unreal Tournament 3 | •Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon
•Purr Pals (if you buy this, you are part of the problem, not the solution)
•Wonder World Amusement Park | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | | ... | •Carnival Games
•Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution | ... |
 Apparently Civ Rev is coming out this week instead of last week. Again, it's my pick of the week because the demo I played on the PS3 is pretty fun if you're a strategy game fan. The PC versions of the game are better, yes, but there's really nothing else like it on a console right now. Give it a shot by downloading the demo on your 360 or PS3 and see what you think.
Also of note this week, Unreal Tournament 3, the latest installment in Epic's long-running shooter franchise, hits the Xbox 360. The game came out about 7 or 8 months ago on the PS3 and PC...and didn't sell verry many copies on either system. Now Epic is going to try their luck on the Xbox 360 where it might do better since shooters sell very well on that system and they already have a huge fanbase from Gears of War. Hopefully it does well enough for Epic to consider supporting the game even more on the other platforms. Even though the 360 edition is lacking custom mod support and mouse/keyboard control, I highly recommend picking it up if you're looking for a fun, fast-paced, old-school shooter.
[img width=500 height=328]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/72032CTDS.jpg[/img]
Kotaku posted it as rumor, a juicy juicy rumor to come out of Jump Magazine. Now, a tipster sends in a link to the Game Countdown Page. Holy, holy shit. Did I mention Holy Shit? I know I am the Site Director, but damn, it's real. It's real. Pop the Champagne, we've been waiting for a trip back to the Chrono Trigger Universe for a while. Can you blame us? It's been a long time. and we've missed you, Chrono.
Countdown Site [Square Enix, thanks Kevin!]
Light week. Nothing very good at all really. One game might be pretty cool but that's about it really.
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | •Hail to the Chimp
•Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
•Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution | •Hail to the Chimp
•Gears of War Refresh
•Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
•Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution | •Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
•Purr Pals (if you buy this, you are part of the problem, not the solution) | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | | ... | •1 VS. 100
•AMF Bowling Pinbusters
•Ducati Moto
•Smart Kids Game Club
•Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 | •Guitar Hero: Aerosmith |
It's the 4th of July. Go buy some fireworks instead of games. But Civilization Revolution looks cool if you're into that kind of thing. Not sure if it is? Download the demo from the Playstation Store or Xbox Live. I did it, and I must say it was pretty nifty. Didn't get a chance to play much of it, but it I liked what I played. Oh and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith comes out this week for all two people that care. Enjoy your game with effing Aerosmith (uggghhh). For the rest of us, Rock Band 2 has been announced.
*Note: the views of Tony are those of himself and do not represent the views of anyone else. If you have a problem with it, please direct complaints to the OH NOOOO Otter.*
[img align=right width=250]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/repository/90401ohnootter2.jpg[/img]It seems as though some of you are pretty excited. Personally I am excited. It's certainly a throw back to retro roots, with graphics meant to imitate the original NES Mega Mans. In short, it's pretty damn cool, and hopefully the game play comes through. Time shall tell in that regard.
I imagine most of you expect Capcom to release this on all console digital distribution formats. Certainly, I sure did. You might notice that I said did. Yeah, about that... Kotaku and Ars both though have some troubling news. It appears that for you Sony and 360 Owners, Capcom currently does not desire your money, as it says that Mega Man 9 is only in development for WiiWare. Wow, that's a... shocker.
To mark this development, it's time to bring out the OH NOOOO! Otter. I imagine that lots of you really would like the opportunity to get this game, but have found their prospects of getting this retro odyssey somewhat... dashed. Perhaps Capcom has been misquoted, and meant to say it'll come out for other systems later. Perhaps they really meant what is being reported by folks like Luke Plunkett. You know, he writes for Kotaku, so he is part of that bunch of respectable game bloggers, so they wouldn't wrongly state something, would they? Well, regardless, the OH NOOOO! Otter feels your pain. Since I can't feel your pain because I own a Wii, at least the OH NOOOO! Otter can.
Mega Man 9: Wii Ware ONLY [Kotaku] [IMAGE]
You know, I thought the "Mega Man 9 will be done in 8-bit graphics" was an exaggeration. Something... lost in translation. Those things happen. That's why we say crazy Japanese translations like "SUPER HAPPY CRAZY FUN TIME". But you know, Mega Man 9. Wow, was it for real? Surely someone was jerking our chain, Capcom would never go back to revisit a class style of game, would they? Eh? EH?
WRONG! Turns out Mega Man 9 is very, very real. Complete with robot masters like Magma Man and my personal favorite, Concrete Man. More importantly, they weren't lying when they said it would be in 8-bit graphics. It really, really is. A part of me is saying WTF, while the other 4/5 says "Holy shit that's awesome!" Seriously, absolutely awesome, like "I AM BUYING THAT" awesome. Truly, Mega Man 9 has the potential to be quite the throw back to old school Mega Man. Here's to that. By the way, pictures can be seen at Kotaku
Old School Mega Man 9 Coming To WiiWare [Kotaku]
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