Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World | International Trailer
Yet another Scott Pilgrim reference, funny how I got into this whole mess because of these visual promotions. I took to the books soon after, and were read upon after a mire few days had past from the first viewing for the first trailer.
I'm certainly looking forward to this, for the game references are just brilliant and the whole concept is hilarious, perhaps I should do that cosplay idea I had just now.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World Game Trailer (E3 2010)
After only a mire two months of constant Scott Pilgrim references, I seem to have found myself becoming increasingly obsessed with this franchise. The comics, the movie, and now the game based upon the comics to be released in conjunction with the motion picture of the same name. Have to say, I certainly never expected this to be the final product, shall never doubt Ubisoft again.
I really do love me some 2D side-scrolling brawling action, the added four player co op option has only but increased my stern interest in the game, and will no doubt involve late nights with a slice of pizza in one hand, and my trusted controller in the other, you had me at hello Mr Pilgrim!
Marvel vs Capcom 3 E3 2010 Full Length Trailer [HD]
An all inspiring trailer to compliment a game which has seen mass amount of gamers clawing (not literately) at the feet of the develops to make it happen after many years of absence, and who said the 'beat em up' genre was dead?, they should be ashamed of themselves! :D
Deadpool seems to have emerged has a personal favourite of mine. Voiced by the talented Nolan North, he's certainly the Dante of the Marvel universe, the ying to his yang, the peanut to his jelly, and so on and so forth..........
Friday, 23 April 2010
My Foreseen Future In Gaming 2010/2011
After getting caught up in the whole 'talking' escapade with regards to what games I appear to be somewhat interested in, I decided that it was to become a necessity to compile a list of games I can look forward to this year; and possibly next, seems it turned out to be a little bigger then expected. Any-who here is the list so far:-
Super Street Fighter IV
3D Dot Game Heroes
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Blur
Sin and Punishment 2
Metroid Other M
Starcraft II
Dead Rising 2
Batman: Arkham Asylum 2
Sonic the Hedgehog 4
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
The Last Guardian
NBA Jam
Thursday, 22 April 2010
Super Street Fighter IV : Characters Trailer
Perhaps now I can stop talking about Street Fighter, and actually mention other games after this post..........not a chance, but I shall attempt to comply. After months of awaiting the inevitable it's almost upon us, haven't been this excited since.......well last year, perhaps I should take up a new interest in games.
It's good to see the characters all given the opportunity to have their short stints in this trailer, the new concept art for them is (in my opinion) better than before, and the jovial music to cap it all off was just marvelous. The plan of action for me personally, is to improve upon my SFIV skills with Sagat, El Fuerte, Cammy and Sakura, and gain new one's with Dudley, Adon, Juri and Hakan.
I now must await the game that has plagued me all this time, and yet it's arrival is the only cure.......that was a dumb way of putting it I'm sorry.
Monday, 29 March 2010
Super Street Fighter 4 - Official New Ultra Combos [Complete] - PlayJamUK
It's the video i've been waiting for all this time, a complete look at all the new ultra's in SSFIV, now my existence can continue with a purpose, owning game of 2010 so far; quite the statement I know.
It could be said though that I am a little dissapointed with the fact a few of the characters now have ultra's that are pretty much identical; i.e Gouken and Sakura, but it's not as if you HAVE to use these all the time, it's great that you have a choice to differ between two sets for fights depending on which one you feel you can do the most damage with, or maybe just the one that looks cool.
My personal favourites would have to be El Fuerte's newest, Zangief's newest, Rufus newest, Dudley's first and Hakan's second, the latter for being just the funniest position you could ever find yourself in. In a way I can find myself becoming likened to Balrog's newest aswell, it might be three hits but my gawd you could feel that one all the way from Japan. I'm almost certain that for most players, they will see few of the newest ultra's to end up as a useless tool, rather to have the sequence be completed for them; going by Youtube comments, but I guess Capcom want to test even the most profient player into finding a use for it, so get use to it.
A thankyou is in order to PlayJamUK for making the video, and perhaps i'll freeze myself to skip the wait for the game.......what?, a month is quite a while in my book :/
Friday, 26 March 2010
Super Street Fighter IV : Dudley 'Opening'
So guessing from the trailer we have here the openings for each character shall begin with still framed artwork instead of crappy animation, yeah i'm all for that, sorta going back to the norm for fighting story arcs. It creates a more mellow beginning to the reasons for your characters participation, just hope the endings are in the same concept.
I chose Dudley's opening in particular to make this point because of the music if i'm to be honest, plus he's one of the more interesting newer characters to appear in the game, and their's nothing like trying to take your mind off your missing car then a fighting tournement, brilliant.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
NBA Jam 2010:- Trailer
Holy free holy this takes me back, the only basketball game I ever needed; or played for that matter at the time, is to make it's surprised return to the court, somebody pinch me.
The game I couldn't put down fifteen years ago comes back to haunt me, and thankfully seems to be it's old self under the skin even with the new face-lift. "He's on fire!", "boom shaka laka!", these words have echoed in my life certainly at strange moments, and so it begins again for a different reason, just hope people don't start thinking i'm crazy if I say it out loud in a public place. The whole arcade feel to this made it fun to play and no doubt made you look better at it then perhaps you really were, but where's the fun in that if it wasn't a possibility?. Looks like it's going to be a few late nights with the controller in one hand and a pizza in the other, now i've just got to work out where to put my beer.
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
SSF4:- Hakan Trailer
Wow......that was unexpected, all pre-conceptions of Hakan being a serious character have gone out the window, but yet, I am not dissapointed, far from it actually. I just so happen to be a Dan fan, and as strange and idiotic that sounds, comedy characters are are huge hit with me, so this seems like an early birthday present. Capcom, for your kind donation I would like to offer you a gold star.
When I first heard those words 'looks like it's time to oil up' I certainly didn't expect him to be THIS oiled, and using it to great comedic affect just makes the inevitable defeat of your serious Ken playing online opponent all the more humiliating. Man I want this game, comedy characters rule.
Friday, 5 March 2010
3D Dot Game Heroes:- Overworld Gameplay
It's funny to see some of the Youtube comments here from irate gamers as I type this, 'DA DA DA DA! You got the Master Sw...! Oops, wrong game *COUGH*THAT'S ROCK BOTTOM SONY*COUGH'. I'm sure the creators are well awhere about the games almost Zelda-like quality, but rather I feel it's a compliment to the great series. I'm sure that Miyamoto would of wanted his creations to be share throughout the world rather then selfishly kept them to himself, and that if their were ways to expand them in anyway then no doubt the man would be honoured to have played such a big part to many aspiring game developers.
I for one think that this is a great game that really takes me back, it's a welcome change to most of the rendered garbage you see today, it's fun, simple, and well............retro!
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Tatsunoko VS Capcom Ultimate All-Stars:- First Quick Thoughts
Is their another word for 'lovin it' that could be used to fill this entire web-space? Being such the sucker I appear to be for fighting games my whole life I couldn't very well pass this one by, especially as for the fact it may of not even come close to my end of the ocean highway. I eagerly awaited my copy from Amazon with great patience; I took a bite out of my ankle for nourishment, and wallah there it was, smothered in that lovely smashing cardboard packaging, brilliant.
Now from the trailers I had view upon it's arrival, I wasn't put off by the par graphics, it had been something I had expected due to it's 'Wii only' release tag so it came as no surprise to me. I tend not to worry about realism in games these days, I just want to be entertained and for them to contain replay value, thankfully this game does both. I've always taken a shine to Japanese cultural media, it seems to speak volumes and never loses it's appeal, I don't even seem to be bothered by my lack of 'Tatsunoko' knowledge, both manga and anime are unique styles which I have been a fan of for years.
All in all, my first experiences at the game were VERY good, I played it for three hours straight, and thanks to the 'three button' fight system, looking like a pro doesn't seem to be that far off for this old chap. The action was a slight welcomed change to my long hours on SFIV, and was easy to get in and kick some arse. Note to self:- more gaming hours needed for full enjoyment..
Friday, 26 February 2010
Street Fighter IV:- Goku vs Buu
Being a Dragonball Z fan such as myself, I couldn't help but laugh at this fantastic mod of Ryu and Rufus taking on the roles of Goku and Buu respectively, shows you the vast creativity us Street Fighter players possess eh, well..........most maybe? The volcano stage was the perfect setting, for if we take a look back at DBZ history the doomed planet of Namek held the final confrontation between Goku and Frieza, ok this might not be 100% accurate but it will do. Great stuff.
SSF4 New Trailer - Dudley, Makoto, Ibuki & The Rest
Well I wanted it, and I received it; much sooner than expected I might add. One thing that I can take away from this is the fact that I now fully understand the love behind Dudley people have, what a truly amazing character he is, so British. His ultra is reminiscent that of 'Punch-Out' was my first thought, and no doubt a faster and better combo specialist than his American rival Balrog also. The music is fantastic, a splendid score, for it brings his 'third strike' stage theme into the 21st century; my tastes aren't what they use to be so I could be wrong about that statement. Being as popular as he seems to be around these parts, no doubt I shall be coming across this guy many MANY times over the inter-web modes, he'll be the Ken of today; least he doesn't have a hadouken eh.
but it's certainly not as calming as her original obviously to which I preferred, and takes away her unique background a little, but it's in keeping with the feel that is evident with everyone else in SFIV.
Monday, 22 February 2010
3D Dot Game Heroes:- MCM Expo 2010
I had seen that this game was to appear at the MCM Expo over the weekend in Telford, I just had absolutely no idea what it was about until I got there. It would turn out to be a game that I was to become currently obsessed with, I only left the area where it was playable because of other goings on at the event, wished I could of continued longer. 3D Dot Game Heroes is a Zelda-like adventure where everything is made from blocks; and I mean everything, it was a rather crazy affair to say the least but I was transfixed for around ten minutes at the marvel of a 2.D game with retro-style music. The organizers of the display then made a large foam figure of the protagonist, if their was a way to take it home with me I would of, but I guess the memories of this faithful day will suffice enough and live on......in my memories.
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Super Street Fighter IV:- Ibuki, Makoto & Dudley Confirmed
Anyone following the pre-release Super Street Fighter 4 beat knew that Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike fan-favorites Ibuki, Makoto, and Dudley were the most likely to be included in the SSF4 roster, but now has been officially confirmed courtesy of the latest issue of Famitsu, the smile on my face right now could stretch from here to Timbuktu.
In the latest magazine scans, we see Makoto and Dudley in several smaller panels, while the sultry Ibuki gets the star treatment with larger shots. We can't read the pages but can at least observe one thing, these formerly 2D fighters are looking rather smashing. It brings IV's newest editions to the roster up to an impressive nine, with one last fighter said to be unveiled very soon to the SF universe. Dudley seems to be the most popular choice out of the newest revealed three, I'm sure it will become apparent as to why when the game is released at the end of April 2010; perhaps maybe us Brits are just too darn lovable. 'Let's fight, like gentlemen'
Street Fighter:- The Newgrounds Flash Collab
Before I came across this stroke of genius, I hadn't paid a visit to Newgrounds for over an earth year, and after exhausting both Facebook and Youtube, it was the only acceptable option for me to take; good thing I did.
The Street Fighter Flash Collab is a collection of animations created by some of the best flash animators on the web, and in keeping with the comedic parody, delivers unique takes of the Street Fighter franchise from their own personal perspectives. The collaborations in my opinion each compliment one another; as is seen by the opening sequence above, and I especially appreciated the way all were presented with the motivation intended for selection, a character select-styled screen was the perfect decision-making choice. All in all a fun collaboration of the Street Fighter universe; with animation created by Johnny Utah my personal favourite, check out what you may of been missing all this time.
Monday, 15 February 2010
Super Street Fighter IV:- Juri Animation Trailer
During the running of this trailer, I was lying upon my throne (bed) sipping away at my beverage with my eyes constantly asphyxiated on my laptop screen......still doing it now in fact. An amazing piece of work by Gonzo, and hopefully will prove to be a better deal then Capcom received from Studio 4CÂș; many fans took a dislike to the below-par drawing and animation sequences from the previous game. The film center's around S.I.N's latest weapon; and newest SF edition Juri, a young Korean fighter given the power to become superior in every sense by S.I.N owner Seth. Juri is the first fighter within the SF universe to use the martial art Taekwondo, and is proving that she is to be a popular choice come April for SF fans.
Interesting note that this movie will only be available to Xbox 360 persons, while PS3 owners get bundled with the games soundtrack. Won't bother me to be honest, just gimme gimme gimme.
Saturday, 13 February 2010
Great Game Bosses Vol: 2 – The Great Mighty Poo (Conkers Bad Fur Day)
What do you get if you cross a bad-mouthed squirrel and a pile of singing faeces?, a gaming moment that won't be soon forgotten of course. The cutesy platformer gone bad, Conkers Bad Fur Day was certainly not the game many had anticipated. With scenes inspired by Saving Private Ryan and The Matrix, it wasn't without it's stand-out moments, but there was to be one that gamers tend to remember above all others – The Great Mighty Poo.
Coming from the same cack-encrusted school of acting as Mr Hankey (South Park), the Mighty Poo was a living breathing pile of poo that lurked in a hollowed-out mountain of faeces. Poo had only his indigestible sweetcorn buddies to keep him company and, as you'd expect, he wasn't a happy bunny. Far from it, in fact: all this nasty piece of work wanted to do was be foul (smelling and acting) to any unsuspecting squirrels that happened upon him. Amusingly, the entire confrontation revolved around an operatic song sung by the scat-man himself, while Conker was urged to throw large amounts of toilet paper into the Poo's mouth that would ultimately lead to his demise. It seems like a pretty far-fetched concept, but one that had us laughing and singing along with The Great Mighty Poo - musical genius, a classic battle.
Sing With Poo
I am The Great Mighty Poo,
And I'm going to throw my **** at you,
A huge amount of **** comes from my chocolate starfish,
How about some **** you little ****?
Do you really think you'll survive in here?
You don't seem to know which creek you're in!
Sweetcorn is the only thing that makes it through my rear,
How d'you think I keep this lovely grin?
Now I'm really getting rather mad,
You're like a niggly, tickly, **** little tagnut
When I've knocked you out with all my blab,
I'm going to take your head and ram it up my butt!
Pre-owned Gaming:- SEGA Rally (Xbox 360)
Bit of nostalgia here for me, going back to the days where arcades in Britain meant something, and gamers were out spending their parents loose change for a quick gaming thrill, I certainly was no different. But now long since the days of crowded amusement arcades; our attentions are now turn to console, and those franchises that made a name for themselves have appeared over the years in many collective forms; but to see SEGA Rally on Xbox 360 took myself back to those golden days of yesteryear, and even though it had been released for a number of years, a £7.99 price tag was hard to resist.
My first thought was of hope the game would recapture that arcade experience, sadly it did not quite do it for me, but still great fun even if my taste for racers is as sour as a lemon tree. The game does indeed look pretty damn good, the cars are polished, the tracks are gorgeous, even the trails of mud which engulfs the tires and rear-end of the car has life like qualities, almost as if you could get dirty yourself from the mere sight of it without leaving the household. One thing that I did and continue to notice was the sheer difficulty I had of winning a race, the CPU is merciless with it's driving tactics, but rather than give up, I was determined not to be beaten and took to the race track once again, same result sadly mind you.
The handling of the vehicles are not half bad; mercilessly compared with other driving games I've experienced in the past, but it still wasn't enough to mask my below-par cornering skills, good thing damage isn't present here. Driving through natural obstacles such as mud and snow is such a joy, and seeing the stones from road surfaces propelled into your first-person perspective viewpoint is more rewarding than it sounds, your in the thick of it, your not far behind first place. With that mixture; and the usual road surfaces to contend with, it offers different variations and experiences from the races, good thing your co-driver is with you every step of the way guiding yourself round them then. It is a shame however that even though there is indeed more than one track for each scenario, the variety in this case is a little repetitive and unvaried, but a race is a race and there are rally cars to be unlocked, so we grin and bare it.
Speaking of which, their seems to be many different cars and challenges to unlock that need certain amount of points; these points come from your earlier tallies, so you may need to go back again and take on those pesky CPU's in familiar circumstances until the total is met by the games demands. It adds to the games length; their will be no hand-outs here just because you did your best, work hard and you will reap the rewards in no time.
A particular feature in any software that I personally look into is the soundtrack; and if I recall the theme from the arcade version, I was hooked permanently to the SEGA Rally machine in an instant; it isn't present here on home systems mind you, but I guess that's what makes arcades so unique. The music might be basic and certainly won't ever make an all time top ten, but it does it's job to get players pumped and heavily into the driving experience.
All in all I believe that SEGA did a good job in re-establishing the franchise into the current crop of gaming systems, though it certainly won't blow the human mind, and if I had to choose one element of the game that impressed me the most, it would have to be the tracks features, theirs nothing better than getting your car just that extra bit dirty for the sake of the means to stealing that first place from your closest rival in the final lap, certainly one of my best recent buys from the pre-owned section.
Great Game Bosses Vol: 1 – Bob The Fish (Earthworm Jim 2)
When the first game in the series had pitted our invertebrate hero against such unlikely felons as a bounty-hunting crow, a heap of rubbish and an evil cat named Evil, we weren't expecting anything close to sanity from the sequel. Suffice to say, Earthworm Jim 2 exceeded all our expectations, confronting the player with a boss battle so absolutely farcical that no arch-enemy has since come close.
One of the tougher bosses in the first game, Bob the Fish, returns at the end of the first level to continue his wave of finned tyranny, but this time around let's just say Bob isn't such a threat... Equipped with his trademark Power Suit, Jim negotiates the usual menagerie of beasties – as well as a horde of stair lift-bound old ladies and Bob's many guardians – to reach the end of the opening stage only to find his scaly foe lying in wait, literally a fish out of water, well almost. Protected by a mere glass sphere and several litres of water, the gilled villain doesn't stand a chance against our annelid hero. No fancy button combos or tricky patterns here – after the huge 'Fight!' prompt, Jim simply sidles up to the fish-bowl and plunges his hand into the liquid, snagging the wicked fish and swiftly swallows him whole. Simple? Yes. Anticlimactic? Perhaps. But in terms of surreal ingenuity, very little comes close to this mismatch of the century. Groovy.
Friday, 12 February 2010
The Retro Vault: Dragon's Lair
Had you been loitering around arcades back in 1983, you'd have seen an astonishing looking game called Dragon's Lair. Grabbing some change from the kiosk, you'd immediately rush over to the machine, shovel in all your cash and quickly realise why no one else was playing it... Dragon's Lair's incredibly cartoon-like visuals (created by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth) came with a very high price – gameplay. Due to the game using a laser disc instead of the more traditional PCB board, the actual gameplay was incredibly restrictive. Dragon's Lair consisted of a series of episodes, each of which involved you making a quick decision by pressing the joystick in one of four directions. Make the right choice and you'd watch hero Dirk successfully negotiate his way through a short cartoon; fail and you'd be privy to one of his many different animated death scenes. Sure, you may have been given a fair few lives with which to test out the trial and error gameplay, but after seeing Dirk crumble into a pile of bones for what seemed like the hundredth time, you soon realised that Dragon's Lair was fool's gold. Still, there were plenty of masochists out there who did enjoy it and, as a result, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp was released in 1991. Gameplay (if you could really call it that) had made no progress whatsoever and even a new version of the original game – that included several missing screens – entitled Dragon's Lair: Escape From Singe's Castle, did very little to hide the sheer hollowness you felt when playing this piece of gaming history. Mind you, I do applaud them for this undeniably technically important break-through for videogames, even though I still haven't finished it yet!
Top 3 Gaming Baddies Who Didn't Read The Rulebook
There is a predominate feature that can be linked to any forms of media; a climatic battle. It is what you'd expect from your heroes back-packing on long perilous journeys in order to bring stability back to the world, it's their calling, the very reason for their existence. But for every hero there is a villain, a worthy foe(s) which stands against everything they believe in, and wants nothing more then to see their demise, a test for everything learned by the hero on his/her long grueling adventure, and the opportunity to put it into practice, a system which video games know all too well. Find a weak spot and apply yourself three times, fire endless ammunition until dead, boss battles have always required a particular combination across stages that become more challenging as progression is made. But some folk are not taken in by simplicity like that, and I believe these three are just some of those, the bosses who have made a name for themselves with their own unique approach to the battlefield; and won't be drawn in by the idea of being defeated in the usual fashion.
Number 3: The Colossi – Shadow of the Colossus
Platform elements within virtual space usually takes place atop the ground in which you trend, but Team Ico took that aspect one step further, atop the giant bosses of the colossus. In order to take down the sixteen, you must guide Wander atop the beasts using your climbing ability, and reach the glowing symbols placed in strategic positions upon the creature, you would then proceed to drive your sword into the colossi leading to their death. As challenging as that sounds, the true difficulty comes from reaching these points in the first place; making your way from A to B while avoiding colossi attacks was a truly marvel concept, and one that has made Shadow of the Colossus a classic piece of gaming.
Number 2: Bowser – Super Mario 64
After capturing the princess once more and taking control of the castle, Bowser lay in wait for the wee mustachio to confront him once again, but little did we know that he was back, and to a much larger scale than previous. The only way he could be defeated now was to grab him by the tail; spin him round to build momentum, and with a cheeky 'so long' from Mario, throw him to the edge of the floating arena where bombs were conveniently placed. This sent the evil mastermind being blown back in from the resulting explosion; and facing him three times as the arena becomes increasingly difficult to cope with made this one of the toughest Bowser battles to date. A truly unusual but iconic confrontation.
Number 1: Psycho Mantis – Metal Gear Solid
He reads your memory card and tells you the games you’ve played, he demonstrates his telekinetic abilities by vibrating your controller randomly, he even blackens your television screen; all this before the battle had truly begun. Psycho Mantis played with your mind and he made sure you knew it, his ability to avoid your attacks made him a boss to be reckoned with; but unknown to him you had an ace up your sleeve that would thwart his cheating ways. Plugging your controller from one port to the other confused the mind-reader, and thus lead to his humiliating defeat as your mind was now unreadable, an innovation way ahead of it's time.