General gaming

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• TGS: Why Project Draco Doesn't Support the Default 360 Controller
• TGS: How Food Gives Life to Namco's Game Music
• Weekend Deals: Portal for Free, Deus Ex, and Move
• World of Warcraft Official Magazine Shuts Down
• Import Away: PlayStation Vita is Region Free
• TGS: Ni No Kuni Confirmed for North American Release
• More of the Weird World of Etsy Gaming
• TGS: Team Ninja's Hayashi Shows 8-Bit Ninja Gaiden Fan Bling
• TGS: Vita Getting an External Battery, Providing a Solution for its Short Battery Life
• TGS: Don't Let That Resident Evil 6 Trailer Get You Excited

TGS: Why Project Draco Doesn't Support the Default 360 Controller Posted: 16 Sep 2011 10:22 PM PDT One of the most exciting games at this year's Tokyo Game Show has been Project Draco, an on-rails Kinect shooter that looks a lot like Panzer Dragoon, but with more colorful visuals and light RPG/dragon breeding aspects. That's no coincidence, since director Yukio Futatsugi (pictured, above left) and many of the other members of the development team Grounding Inc. used to work on the Panzer Dragoon series. But I started to get a bit concerned when I heard the game would only work via Kinect controls, and not offer support for a regular 360 control pad. Another recent on-rails shooter, Child of Eden, managed to do both, so I figured I'd get Futatsugi's take. I mentioned to him that it didn't seem like there were things in the game that couldn't be done with a controller, to which he replied:

TGS: How Food Gives Life to Namco's Game Music Posted: 16 Sep 2011 05:38 PM PDT He might not look it at a glance, but Namco Sound Team member Go Shiina -- best known for his work on Mr. Driller, Tales of Legendia, and Ace Combat -- is obsessed with food. A slim man whose Cloud Strife-like mop of bleached hair adds several inches to his lanky height, Shiina says he looks to food to inspire his compositions. As an example, he told me about his approach to writing the music for Gods Eater's snow temple areas. For those dungeons, he spent time "researching" Taiwanese shaved ice desserts.

Weekend Deals: Portal for Free, Deus Ex, and Move Posted: 16 Sep 2011 05:31 PM PDT Steam has a huge number of games on sale right now, including some Star Wars titles (as does Direct2Drive). A lot of the Steam deals are from Paradox; Magicka for $4.99 is just one example, but the complete Paradox bundle -- normally priced at an insane $767.63 is just $99.99. Even with all of its contents on sale, you'd still be paying almost $400 for them individually. If you're looking for something that won't cost you a penny, Portal can be downloaded free of charge right now. It's not the longest game in the world, but it is first-rate. Amazon continues to make waves with its move in the PC download space. It has set up a page -- located here -- where you can find fairly new PC game downloads for 20% off. Right now those titles include Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dead Island, Tropico 4, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. (If you're looking for Deus Ex on consoles, the 360 version is only $34.99, while the PS3 version is $44.95.) There's also a Deal of the Week page for downloadable titles which updates every Monday at midnight. The first deal was actually tailored to what was requested by Cheap Ass Gamer community members, which is pretty neat. GameStop's ongoing PlayStation Move sale that I wrote about earlier this week is still in effect. You can pick up some extra Move controllers at 50% off or check out the SharpShooter (which I admit I really want) for a more reasonable price than usual.

World of Warcraft Official Magazine Shuts Down Posted: 16 Sep 2011 04:36 PM PDT Many magazines aren't able to make it in this day and age of print, and the latest in a long line to close down is World of Warcraft Official Magazine. After only five issues, the first of which came out early last year, the Future U.S. publication is shutting down for good. "This has been a difficult decision to come to," reads an e-mail sent out to subscribers. "Although both Blizzard Entertainment and Future US are very proud of the magazines that we have created together, we have each decided to focus our efforts on other areas." Current subscribers can visit the official website to request a refund. An FAQ on the site also provides a mailing address for requesting how.

Import Away: PlayStation Vita is Region Free Posted: 16 Sep 2011 03:39 PM PDT Importing games from other countries won't be an issue with PlayStation Vita as the system is region free. During E3, Sony executive Michael Denny indicated that was the case with Vita, though he qualified it by noting this was the case as far as he knew. A more concrete answer was provided today by Sony Computer Entertainment's president of Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida. In response to a question sent to him on Twitter about Vita being region free, he stated, "Yes, it is."

TGS: Ni No Kuni Confirmed for North American Release Posted: 16 Sep 2011 02:13 PM PDT How quickly things change. Not long after Jeremy was able to get some hands-on time with Level-5's new PlayStation 3 RPG -- which was still unconfirmed for a release outside of Japan at the time -- the company has since confirmed it is bringing the game over to North America. The news was revealed by Level-5 president Akihiro Hino, who spoke during a Sony Computer Entertainment Asia press conference at the Tokyo Game Show, according to GameSpot. The game is scheduled for release on November 17 in Japan; in North America, it'll be out sometime in early 2012. Ni No Kuni was originally released on DS in Japan last year. It received a 38/40 score from Famitsu at the time, and while the PS3 game isn't an especially deep RPG, it does introduce new content, alter the story, and look much, much prettier than the DS game.

More of the Weird World of Etsy Gaming Posted: 16 Sep 2011 01:40 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet More of the Weird World of Etsy Gaming Join us as we once again experience the agony and the Etsy of weird homemade videogame crafts. By: Matt Clark and Brian Kent September 16, 2011 A month ago, Brian Kent and Matt Clark ventured into the handmade world of crafty site Etsy.com in search of the finest in video game folk art. They failed. Miserably. Well, they've gone back into the wild and returned with -- well, they've returned with a whole heaping load of weird crap that's at least marginally related to videogames. There's a Final Fantasy bear, a Pokémon bra -- you know, just normal crafts. Creative endeavors such as these are the cornerstone of the American dream, and will haunt your nightmares. Nintendo Desk Organizer

TGS: Team Ninja's Hayashi Shows 8-Bit Ninja Gaiden Fan Bling Posted: 16 Sep 2011 12:42 PM PDT Just after stepping off stage from one of Koei Tecmo's many public presentations at this year's Tokyo Game Show, Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi stopped by to talk for a quick interview. Over the course of the chat, we talked about things like the Team Ninja/Tekken Project rivalry, and his team's use of hit effects in the debut Dead or Alive 5 footage despite Itagaki mocking Tekken for using those in the old days, but I'm going to assume you don't want to hear any of that and would rather just check out the above photo. (Or, we'll have the rest of the chat in another feature hitting the site soon.) Hayashi says the neckwear was a gift from a fan, and he wore it at the show today to reference the return of NES Ninja Gaiden writer Masato Kato to the franchise, since Kato is back working on Ninja Gaiden 3. Kato is perhaps best known for writing SNES classic Chrono Trigger, and he's not the only NES throwback in NG3, since the new game also brings back movements like wall climbing from the old days.

TGS: Vita Getting an External Battery, Providing a Solution for its Short Battery Life Posted: 16 Sep 2011 12:15 PM PDT We had heard that the Vita's battery life wouldn't go beyond what was offered with the original PlayStation Portable way back in January. That was reiterated this week when Sony proclaimed the system offers about 3-5 hours of battery life when playing a game without Wi-Fi, 3G, or Bluetooth. For some, that's simply not long enough. Luckily, there is a solution, albeit one that will cost you some money. Among the peripherals Sony plans to sell separate from the system -- like a charging station, cases, a screen protector, and so on -- is an external battery, SCEA boss Shuhei Yoshida told IGN. "If you have not noticed we just announced the peripherals for PS Vita, as well, and one of the peripherals is the external batteries," he said, pointing out that this will allow you to extend the amount of time the system can be used without charging it. "So if you're flying from New York to San Francisco, or vice versa, you have no concerns if you have an additional external battery."

TGS: Don't Let That Resident Evil 6 Trailer Get You Excited Posted: 16 Sep 2011 11:07 AM PDT By now you may have seen the supposed teaser trailer above for Resident Evil 6. (The series is known as Biohazard in Japan.) Despite what's been said about its authenticity, it isn't real. The footage supposedly came from a behind-closed-doors showing that Capcom held at the Tokyo Game Show. Kotaku was initially told by a Capcom Japan source that it was real. However, IGN editor Rich George has been told by multiple contacts within Capcom it isn't the real deal, and Eurogamer indicates the video was never shown during Capcom's event. The trailer is fairly short and features some spooky (and good, in my opinion) music that seemed to suggest the series might be going back to its more horror-based roots. No gameplay is shown; a Biohazard 15-year anniversary logo is quickly flashed, followed by a Capcom logo and then several lines of text: "The world has seen all kinds of horror...," "Bio-organic weapons have taken over," and "And one place has the key to stop it all."

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