General gaming |
- Pokemon Head Discusses the Pains of 3DS Development
- Japanese Developers, Gamers Sound Off On PS Vita
- Suda51 Talks Up Lollipop Chainsaw
- Final Fantasy Type-0 Coming to Japan in October
- Hulk Hogan and a Porn Star Lend Their Voices to Saints Row: The Third
- Captain America: Super Soldier Review
- Batman: Arkham City Collector's Edition Includes a Statue, But No Game Case
- Catherine Review
- Rumored GoldenEye 360/PS3 Port Screenshots Leaked
- The Darkness II Won't be Quad-Wielding Until 2012
| Pokemon Head Discusses the Pains of 3DS Development Posted: 20 Jul 2011 07:05 AM PDT "The core idea with the Pokédex is to get people to play Pokémon Black/White on the 3DS," he told Famitsu magazine this week. "Figuring out how to encourage that and how to use the 3DS feature set was what led to the Pokédex. There are still a lot of gamers we'd like to get playing Pokémon Black/White, and there are new methods of play that we wanted to introduce to people already playing the game. When the 3DS concept started going around, the first idea that came up was to create what was essentially the ultimate Pokédex. If we were going to go through with it, we definitely didn't want to put in a halfhearted effort." For a free product, Pokédex 3D is indeed pretty extensive, although Ishihara admitted that it hasn't been downloaded quiet as much as his company had hoped quite yet. "People that have played it are giving us high marks for it," he said, "but to be honest, I think we're still just getting started in terms of distribution. I get the impression that a lot of 3DS users have yet to update their system software [the newest update was released early June] -- something that I hope more people get active on, because then they'll be able to use the Pokédex. A lot of gamers want us to cover the entire Pokédex for every region of Pokémon, too, and with what we've learned through using SpotPass, I'd definitely like to expand the Pokédex going into the future." |
| Japanese Developers, Gamers Sound Off On PS Vita Posted: 20 Jul 2011 06:32 AM PDT According to the survey, over 87 percent of Japanese gamers have an interest in purchasing a Vita, with 44.8 percent saying they intend to buy it on the day of release. 54.9 percent thought the system was "inexpensive" at its price point of 24,980 yen ($249) for the Wi-Fi model, and 58 percent said they'd opt for the Wi-Fi version over the 3G one Those are pretty remarkable figures, but the Japanese developers Famitsu talked to seem even more excited about the Vita than gamers. "I got to touch the actual system for the first time at E3, but it's really amazing," commented Tomonobu Itagaki, the former Tecmo/Team Ninja director who now works for Valhalla Games. "I think the fact they're releasing a system that comes so close to the PlayStation 3's specs when the PS3 is still a primary platform in the marketplace is especially worth noting. I've worked on a portable game only once in my career, but I think I'm going to need to change my stance toward portables, and I think the game business will need to join me on that. Either way, I need to hit the state-of-the-art with a high-end project -- if it winds up that portables are as powerful as consoles, then where does that leave consoles?" |
| Suda51 Talks Up Lollipop Chainsaw Posted: 20 Jul 2011 06:03 AM PDT Lollipop Chainsaw, an Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 title first announced in this week's issue of Famitsu magazine in Japan, stars a girl named Juliet Starling who, on the occasion of her 18th birthday, is on her way to San Romero High School to meet up with her boyfriend. Instead, she finds the place infested with zombie-fied versions of her classmates. It should be obvious by the game's title what comes next. "Actually I've wanted to do a crazy horror-action game like this set in a school for a while now," Suda commented. "Something where the classrooms, corridors, gymnasium and so on are suddenly transformed into something completely different. I was also working on a game concept centered around using a chainsaw as a weapon, and once the idea for the Juliet character began to form, it was just a perfect fit." |
| Final Fantasy Type-0 Coming to Japan in October Posted: 19 Jul 2011 09:59 PM PDT As it's a particularly large game for PSP, it'll require two UMDs. That's not the only detail that makes it different than most PSP games -- it'll cost more, too. Whereas the average PSP game goes for 5,040 yen (just under $64 USD) in Japan, Type-0 will cost 7,700 yen (more than $97), according to Andriasang. As you'd expect, there was no sign of a United States release date. Tetsuya Nomura indicated earlier this month that an overseas release was possible, but no decisions on the subject have been made. More than likely, given the state of the PSP in the U.S. (not to mention JRPGs), the game won't be seen here until it hits the PSP Remaster line on PlayStation 3. |
| Hulk Hogan and a Porn Star Lend Their Voices to Saints Row: The Third Posted: 19 Jul 2011 05:36 PM PDT THQ's announcement on the first wave of celebrity voice actors for The Third includes Sasha Grey, a former porn star who has since begun dabbling in acting and modeling. She'll play the role of Viola DeWynter. Angel De LaMuerte, a "legendary professional wrestler," will be played by Hulk Hogan, the former WWF/WWE wrestler who now, even at the age of 57, has the occasional wrestling match in TNA Wrestling, a WWE competitor. Rounding out the cast is Daniel Dae Kim, who will again assume the role of Johnny Gat, one of the leaders of the Third Street Saints. More celebrity voice actors are to come, according to THQ -- this is only the first bunch. There's plenty of time for more reveals to come, as The Third won't be out until November 15. |
| Captain America: Super Soldier Review Posted: 19 Jul 2011 05:15 PM PDT Superhero games should make you feel what it's like to step into the shoes of someone special. They should let you experience what it's like to wear the cape, strap on the belt, and feel power flowing through your veins. In short, the best superhero games make us feel extraordinary. Captain America: Super Soldier is anything but. |
| Batman: Arkham City Collector's Edition Includes a Statue, But No Game Case Posted: 19 Jul 2011 04:23 PM PDT The big highlight of this particular CE is a custom Batman statue made by Kotobukiya, which has produced Star Wars and Dead or Alive statues, among other things, in the past. It also packs in a collectible art book, digital album, copy of animated movie Batman: Gotham Knight, and early access to both the Iceberg Lounge Challenge mode map and a Dark Knight Returns skin. The game disc, as seen in the image above, is located in the front flap of the art book. It's a questionable place to put it, as many people would prefer either the same box that buyers of the standard edition will get or an exclusive, CE-only box -- not a sleeve in the front of the art book. |
| Posted: 19 Jul 2011 03:57 PM PDT If you had to put a name on it, I suppose you'd call Catherine a puzzle game. After all, a sizable portion of the game -- well more than half of it -- is spent pushing and pulling boxes in a series of challenges that can trace their ancestry straight back to Sokoban. A paternity test would probably show traces of Crazy Climber, Mr. Driller, and Intelligent Qube DNA in there, too, but ultimately this is a straight-up box-pushing game gussied up with stylish graphics and nightmarish hazards: Spike traps, slippery ice panels, explosives, terrified sheep, giant babies, vengeful zombie fiancées -- you know, the usual. As puzzle games go, Catherine is really good. The challenges in the main game aren't completely limited to a single solution; there's room for plenty of improvisation and lateral thinking. The important thing is to reach the top of each stage before the bottom falls out beneath you, which is a lot harder than it sounds. Catherine is infamously difficult, and Atlus even toned down the U.S. release to make it feel less punishing. Nevertheless, even the easy difficulty setting becomes hair-pullingly difficult about mid-way through. As for hard mode, it starts out merciless and will quickly fill your mind with thoughts of murder -- of murdering yourself, perhaps, or possibly the cruel developers. Yet even at its most vicious, the game is addictive, and it's fairly generous about handing out retry opportunities. From start to finish, it has that great "one more try" feel to it. |
| Rumored GoldenEye 360/PS3 Port Screenshots Leaked Posted: 19 Jul 2011 02:55 PM PDT Screenshots of what is allegedly an HD remake of GoldenEye 007 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 appear to have been leaked. Activision is set to announce a new James Bond game this week at Comic-Con. It's rumored to be something called GoldenEye Reloaded -- domain names for various versions of that name (with and without the added "007") were registered last month, sparking speculation of an HD remake of last year's Wii game, which itself is a remake of the classic N64 shooter. |
| The Darkness II Won't be Quad-Wielding Until 2012 Posted: 19 Jul 2011 01:40 PM PDT The Darkness II, a sequel to the 2007 FPS The Darkness, is, like its predecessor, based on the comic book series of the same name. The comic series got its start in 1996; for its 15-year anniversary, this week's San Diego Comic-Con will be home to a special panel on the series that will feature the upcoming videogame. The panel is to take place on July 21 from 12pm to 1pm Pacific in Room 9 of the convention center. The game will be playable at the event, allowing attendees to check out the new "Quad-Wielding" system. As if dual wielding a pair of guns wasn't enough, The Darkness II lets you do that in addition to using a pair of Demon Arms to slash, grab, and throw things around. Thus, quad wielding. |
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