Archive for novembre, 2008
Sega Reveals Huge Genesis Compilation
Update: A list of features and titles so far revealed for SUGC can be found after the link, courtesy of Sega’s official site for the compilation.
Publisher Sega just announced a huge collection of classic Sega Genesis (aka Mega Drive) titles en route to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in a package dubbed Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection.
40 games from the venerable 16-bit system are planned for the collection, though Sega also promises a number of additional downloadable classics and games from the 8-bit Master System as bonus content.
No firm release date has yet been revealed for the $30 SUGC, though the official announcement claims the compilation “is slated to ship to retailers in North America in Spring of 2009.”
Sega has released a number of collections over the years — all of which were missing one or two key titles. I have my fingers crossed for the entire Phantasy Star series, so please Sega, don’t let me down yet again.
FEATURES:
• THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF CLASSIC SEGA TITLES. All the favorites are here including Sonic The Hedgehog, four titles from the Phantasy Star™ series, as well as three titles from the Streets of Rage™ series, to name a few.
• UNLOCKABLE CONTENT. Unlock arcade games and interviews with the original game developers as you earn Achievements on the Xbox 360® and Trophies on the PLAYSTATION®3.
• ALL TITLES UPGRADED TO HI-DEF. The classic 2D style never looked so good! Each of the titles has been converted to hi-def (720p) and will be a blast to play using the intuitive controls of the Xbox 360® and PLAYSTATION®3 systems.
• MASSIVE MULTIPLAYER OPTIONS. Play these classics together with a friend from the same console at home.
GAMES INCLUDE:
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
Alien Storm
Altered Beast
Beyond Oasis
Bonanza Bros.
Columns
Comix Zone
Decap Attack starring Chuck D. Head
Dr. Robotnik’s MBM
Dynamite Headdy
Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco II: The Tides of Time
E-SWAT
Fatal Labyrinth
Flicky
Gain Ground
Golden Axe I
Golden Axe II
Golden Axe III
Kid Chameleon
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Ristar
Shining in the Darkness
Shining Force
Shining Force 2
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic and Knuckles
Sonic Spinball
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage 2
Streets of Rage 3
Super Thunder Blade
Vectorman
Vectorman 2
*Unlockable games to be revealed soon!
Banjo Not So Great in Standard Def, Sucks For You People Stuck in 2002
There have been a lot of complaints lately about Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts and it’s unfriendliness towards standard definition television. Basically it seems that on an SDTV the games text, which the game has a lot of, is unreadable. Well those complaints were heard by Rare and answered too, Rare community manager George Kelion has issued the following response:
“Unfortunately, this is an issue that doesn’t look like it will get changed. I don’t want to bore you with the technical side of things (I really don’t understand it all myself), but the long and the short of it is that the text you see in the demo will be the same as that which you find in the retail version of the game,”
“I’m sorry that we weren’t able to address this issue as nothing would please us more than turning all your complaints into gleeful responses, but it’s simply something that’s too expensive in terms of time, resources and money to alter.
Sorry SDTV owners you are SOL. Not too sound like an elitist jerk, but I agree with Rare here, the game was designed to played on a High Definition Television. Why should they apologize for that? This is the HD generation and I don’t want whiny SD owners hindering game development. When PC games are released with higher specs then you have, do you complain about to message boards, or do you realize that maybe its time for a new computer? Well maybe it is time for you to start saving for a new TV, because HD makes a difference and from where I stand it’s better. Don’t go backwards, and if you are still using a SDTV, then don’t buy games designed for HDTV’s
Gears of War 2 Weapons Guide
Since we just got the game in, we thought we’d hook you guys up with some info about the weapons, both old and new, that appear in Gears of War 2. So here we go!
Lancer Assault Rifle
Assault rifle with a chainsaw bayonet. If you’ve played Gears before, you’ll recognize this as the meat and potatoes of your arsenal. It’s got a high rate of fire and medium range, and is good is most situations.
Hammerburst Assault Rifle
In the original Gears, the Hammerburst was a burst-fire variant of the Lancer, with longer range but no chainsaw. In Gears 2, the Hammerburst is a semi-automatic rifle which fires individual, long-range shots. Short of the sniper rifle, this is your best bet for ranged attacks.
Gnasher Shotgun
A close-range beast. You’ll probably want to keep one of these on you for most of the campaign, as it basically devastates if you’re right up next to your target. In Gears 1 multiplayer, the shotgun became the weapon of choice for skilled players, making almost all other weapons obsolete, so here’s hoping it’s been tweaked a bit to be a little less all-powerful.
Snub Pistol
The Gears start with this pistol. It’s a peashooter compared to the other pistols in the game, but it’s pretty accurate and has a high rate of fire. Usually just a last resort, though.
Gorgon Pistol
A new pistol in Gears of War 2 is the Gorgon. It fires in bursts, but has a pretty short range, making it a good option for charging opponents not much else.
Boltok Pistol
This slow-firing revolver has a lot of stopping power and good accuracy, capable of nailing headshots from decent range if you’re good. Just don’t miss. The rate of fire and long reload time make it tough to come back from.
Boomshield
Not really a weapon, per se. The boomshield allows you to wield your pistol in one hand and a giant shield in the other, absorbing damage and making you look awful scary. Switching weapons causes you to drop the shield, which is handy, as you can then prop yourself up against the shield as a sort of portable cover. Great for the turtling sort.
Scorcher Flamethrower
It’s not an action game without a flamethrower, and thankfully Gears of War 2 obliges. The flamethrower is basically a super weapon, on the level of the rocket launcher or sniper rifle, so your best bet is to stay far away from anyone carrying one. If you’re the one wielding it, once you get guys in the flame, keep it on until they hit the ground. Stop, drop and roll still applies, so don’t get careless.
Longshot Sniper Rifle
It’s got the longest range, the best accuracy and the best headshot damage of all the weapons in Gears of War 2, but its punishingly slow reload time makes the sniper rifle an option for experts alone. Once you get the skills down, though, find a place to camp and start racking up the kills.
Boomshot
The best overall super weapon, deadly in the hands of an expert as well as a rookie. The Boomshot is a grenade launcher, pure and simple. Land a shot close enough to your enemy and they go bye-bye. Ammo is pretty scarce, though, so make those shots count.
Torque Bow
Another weapon that really should only be used in the hands of an expert. The Torque Bow is basically a bow and arrow on crack. Pull back the string to increase the weapon’s range and tag your target with an exploding arrow. Seconds later, boom goes the dynamite. Like the sniper rifle, don’t miss. Each shot takes a few seconds to get off, and after your first misses you’ll probably be a pretty big target.
Hammer of Dawn
Another super weapon, the Hammer is the most visually impressive and devastating of the bunch. Call down a giant laser from the sky and direct it along the ground with your designator. Anyone that touches the laser is toast (literally), so this is perfect if the other side is bunched up together.
Troika Turret
A mounted turret that you’ll find scattered about certain maps. It spits out a crap load of munitions, but since you’re pretty much stationary while firing it (and making a hell of a lot of noise to boot) you probably won’t last very long by just staying there. Also the weapon is prone to overheating, so holding down the trigger is only going to end poorly.
Mulcher
Another new addition for Gears 2, the Mulcher is a minigun, pure and simple. Think of it as a mobile troika turret. You move pretty slowly while carrying it, and it takes a little while for the barrel to warm up and start spitting out hot metal death, but once it’s going, you’ll definitely do some damage.
Mortar
Tricky to use, devestating once mastered, especially with a well coordinated team. The Mortar can fire long range grenades that explode magnificantly. Firing it leaves you pretty open to attack, but if you’ve got a solid front line protecting you, you’ll have no problem laying down the suppressive fire they need to flank the other team. Kablooie!
Frag Grenade
Your basic grenade. You throw, it goes boom. You can now tag grenades to walls to create instant proximity mines so take care wandering into enemy territory.
Smoke Grenade
Acts just like the smoke grenade from Gears one (which was pretty much worthless in multiplayer), but this time around it unleashes a concussive blast (read: flash bang) when it goes off, giving you enough time to charge the enemy for some chainsaw action.
Ink Grenade
Poison gas in grenade form, the ink grenade can make an area no-go for a short period of time. This is great if you’re trying to protect a flag or capture point, as you can douse the area in gas to prevent the enemy from advancing. Just don’t get too close, as it’ll take you down too.
So there you have it. Guns aplenty. Hope that gets you in the mood for Gears of War 2, when it drops later this week.
Capcom posts Favorable Q2 results
It says so right at the top of the press release — “favorable.” But just how favorable were Capcom’s fiscal fortunes in its second quarter, ended September 30th? Well, provided you’re not horribly offended when the words-to-numbers ratio starts changing for the worse in this paragraph: compared to the same period last year, net sales went up by 0.4% to ¥31,236 million ($315 million); operating income increased to 3,357 million ($34 million, an increase of 9.8%); and net income increased by 16.8% to ¥1,873 million ($19 million).
Phew! You can blame some of that on “skyrocketing” sales of Monster Hunter Portable 2G (coming to the US soon as Monster Hunter Freedom Unite) and the rest on our inability to present financial information in a particularly interesting way. Oh well!
In tandem with its results, Capcom also announced the acquisition of Pachislo manufacturer Enterrise K.K. The new subsidiary will provide “unique technological expertise” and “lead to greater synergy,” which we’re told very often leads to greater money.
Guitar Hero World Tour Review
Let’s face it, you can’t compete against Rock Band with just guitars. You can decide to go your own route and own the Guitar-only rhythm game genre, but that seems like a formula to lose money and no one is in this business to do that. So Guitar Hero IV, aka Guitar Hero World Tour, had to come up with a band of its own. And the developers did it in spades rolling out a six-piece drum kit with two raised cymbals, a snare, and two toms, all of which are velocity-sensitive. Neversoft also made the guitar bigger, more realistic looking and added a fretless slider panel. And the innovation didn’t stop with the instruments; gameplay got a major overhaul too.
Do the masters-only massive setlist, new instruments and gameplay give Guitar Hero World Tour the competitive edge in the band music genre or is the game destined to spend its remaining days treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry?
Loved
The Difficulties All Go To Five: Perhaps sensing an expanding interest in an untapped market, this latest Guitar Hero includes a fifth difficulty level. But instead of using the extra level to make things harder, Neversoft used it to make things easier. If I had a child not already indoctrinated into the cult of band games, I’d be elated.
Quite Exciting, This Computer Magic: Playing Guitar Hero World Tour, I was blown away at times by the animation of character models in the game. From the on-stage moonwalk, to head-banging guitarists, this latest Guitar Hero really amped up the things their characters do during a set.
It’s Such An Interesting Concept: It’s easy, I bet, when riding the tidal wave of success and money generated by a popular gaming franchise to get stuck in a rut, to take the no-risk route of more music but same mechanics. I was happy to see that Neversoft avoided that this time around. Granted they did need to come up with two new instruments for their band game, but they did so with a sense of panache. The drums have cymbals which makes drumming a bit more fun, more immersive. The guitar is chunkier, has a new fret-free slider bar and the microphone, well the microphone is just a mic.
The Sustain, Listen To It: Along with tweaking the existing and new instruments, Neversoft seems to have put a lot of thought in how to pull more out of the game play mechanics as well. The new slider on the guitar, for instance, lets you slide your way through whole sections of songs. You can also use it to tap the neck to hit notes and deliver wah during sustain. Other changes include a bass note that is fret free and sections of vocals designed for talking to the audience mid-song.
We say, “Love your brother.” : Neversoft went well above and beyond in making sure that competitor Rock Band’s instruments work with their game. Not only can you use the microphone, guitar and drum, when you use the RB2 drums in Guitar Hero World Tour it actually changes the way you play. The game reduces the number of “lanes” on the musical highway from Guitar Hero’s five to Rock Band’s four. Pretty impressive and a great service to cross-title gamers.
Hated
I Don’t Hear Anything: You can have the best hardware design on the planet, but when your game ships with faulty controllers it just doesn’t matter. While I love the slider on my guitar, the yellow button doesn’t register at all. Others have reported having trouble with drums not registering hits. This isn’t unique to Guitar Hero World Tour, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying.
It’s Such a Fine Line Between Stupid, and Clever: One of the things I liked about Guitar Hero III was its story line told through animated cut-scenes. Sure it was incredibly light, but it still helped give the game a bit of character, showing it was something more than Karaoke 2.0. This time around the game still features a bit of the same animation storyline, but it’s really only delivered at the very beginning and the very end. The gap is so long I was confused about what I was seeing when the game’s career mode wrapped up.
I’ve Got a Small Bit of Bad News: Guitar Hero World Tour has some tremendous high notes during the career mode, from Jimi Hendrix stepping on stage to jam with you to facing off against Ted Nugent. But none of those high notes come at the end of the career mode. Instead you’re left with an odd mix of famous faces packed into a single band playing the sort of music they would NEVER play if they could ever be convinced to jam together. And the end credits’ song. Really?
Money Talks, and Bullshit Walks: Product placement in absurdly popular video games are quickly becoming an inevitability, so we’re all going to have to get used to it. But I don’t think they should be as noticeable as they were for me in Guitar Hero World Tour. Plugging for musical instruments and venues: Fine. Plugging for KFC and Coke: No Thanks.
Guitar Hero World Tour has made me a believer. I don’t think I could choose one distinct winner between Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour, mostly because they seem to be taking different routes to the same sort of excellence. But I love, for instance, how the drums feel on Guitar Hero World Tour. Drumming through long sections that require cymbals is just plain out fun. Some of the other changes feel a bit gimmicky, but overall it’s a very solid experience and one that certainly isn’t dwarfed by the competition.
In the long run this genre is anyone’s game. I’d like to think that the two could peacefully co-exist but the pain of not being able to play a particular musician based on which game you have is going to eventually become too painful to bear.
Guitar Hero: World Tour was developed by Neversoft for the Xbox 360 and PS3, published by Activision and released on Oct. 26 for Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. The Band Kit retails for $189.99 USD. Completed single-player tour using guitar, played many songs using bass, drums and microphone and tested coop offline and on.
Prinny Asks “Can I Really Be the Hero?” In English This February 2009
NIS America has confirmed today, officially, that the Prinny-starring PSP side-scroller known in Japan as Prinny: Ore ga Shujinko de Iinsuka? will be getting a North American release early next year. Sure, it was all over but for the press release weeks ago, with said press release for the Disgaea spin-off landing in our inbox earlier today.
Now known as Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?, expect to see it on or around Feb. 17, 2009 at a game retailer near you. The PlayStation Portable game will see you taking command of 1,000 Prinnies, stealing tanks, UFOs and penguin-butt slamming your foes. We’re excited! Are you?
In November CAPCOM Release For Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Fantastic News !!!
Capcom PR confirmed a November release date on Xbox Live and PSN, but they still haven’t confirmed the actual day or why they didn’t shorten the name of the damn thing. Maybe Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, or SSFIITHDR just begs for a t-shirt or some kind of rubber bracelet you can sell to tourists. Capcom released a few new screens as well showing E. Honda, M. Bison, Dhalism and Guile squaring off.
The game is a high def re-rendering of Street Fighter II Turbo with re-balanced characters (the full original roster is in included). But there are a few features I didn’t know about. I didn’t really expect in-game chat but, now that I think about it, an online fighting without built-in ability for Internet tough guys to speak their mind just wouldn’t make sense. There’s also a “virtual quarter” feature that will allow you push your way into online matches between two other players. Nothing says “fuck you” more than the click of quarter sliding between the glass and the game cabinet. Unless of course you actually were that dude that told people to eff off in arcades.