Underpants! Lizardman! Star Wars stuff! Soul Caliber 4!

Right off the bat, Soul Caliber 4 is awesome. Really it is. Namco knows how to make a fighting game.

Game play is what you would expect, it is a 3D fighter so there is no need to be concerned with memorizing a large complex move lists like in Street Fighter. Button mashing can have devastating results on the computer opponent. The single player has normal and hard modes.

Namco is taking a page from the Dead or Alive series, giant bouncing boobs, and the ability to get most characters into their underpants. I tried to get Yoda into his underpants, you can't get Yoda into his Yoda underpants.

Yes Yoda is in this game, and like the Soul Calibers' before this, there are cameo guest fighters in the series. Apparently Darth Vader wants some sort of power that can only be achieved by going through some dimensional rift. He sends his apprentice who happens to be the main guy in the new Star Wars unleashed game to fight for him in the name of the Sith. Yoda on queue finds this troubling and needs to investigate this "disturbance in the Force." The stories might be paper thin, but the game play is solid as hell.

I got my ass handed to me in online play, maybe I was just having an off night. The single player unlockables with the character customization, really come into play with the online content. Create your own fighter, and bring him to the table. If you know me, I need nothing more than Lizardman

Virtual Fighter 5 sucked, a lot.
Dead or Alive 4 was great.
Soul Caliber 4 owns all, purchase at any price.

Batman Brave and the Bold cartoon announced at Comic Con!

Coming March 2009 on Cartoon Network!

God of War 3, a.k.a the reason to buy PS3

Here it is, the first trailer. Start saving your pennies!

Mike Patton talks about video games!

Much like my love for Sega, I also have a man crush on Mike Patton. Here Mike talks to AV club about Bionic Commando, The Darkness, his work on Portal and Left 4 Dead.

He also talks about music.

Click here for the interview!

This is why Alan Moore hates you!

Hey the Watchmen movie is coming out! I am excited, despite the venom people have for Zack Snyder with his long music montages and brown colour palate. I am still excited! Really I am!

However. Episodic content downloadable Watchmen video games as prequels to the movie? This sounds not only hack but probably awful. Rorschach and Nite Owl in what are more than likely to be a glorified brawler game.

Nothing is special anymore. The Watchmen were on the cover of Entertainment Weekly last week, that is the opposite of what the Watchmen stand for. More people have only heard the name The Watchmen than have actually read the book.

My point is rather than cash in and make a "tie in movie video game prequel" why not just make a good game. Why does it all have to a part of the plan? The big picture? Why can't it just stand on its own. Why choose the easy way out? If the game announced was Rorschach point and click type detective mystery adventure, I would very excited, but it is not. There is something to be said about not writing down to your audience and hacky beat 'em ups are the most common denominator.

Fuck Art! Let's Make Money!

Mega capitalist John Riccitiello, who kind of resembles Mikhail Baryshnikov, recently told Venture Beat that this is the "best line up" in EA history and EA is coming out a lot of games he "wants to buy."

In the same interview he also had this to say about the financial investors of this video game company.

"I don’t think the investors give a shit about our quality. They care about our earnings per share. They wait for it to happen. We had three years where we didn’t make our expectations. If I were an investor, I would wait and see. That’s fine with me."

Alright!

Judging from some more recent news it seems like EA is getting closer to the path of a AOL/Time Warner/EA.

According to a report on gameindusty.biz, Patrick O'Brien of EA Entertainment had this to say about a partnership between EA and United Talent Agency.

"UTA is an ideal partner for us to bring the richness and story telling nuance of our popular games into other forms of media that give consumers more ways to experience these creative concepts," commented Patrick O'Brien, VP of EA Entertainment.

You know, if I have forgotten EA is supposed to make video games, hopefully the best ones they can. Remember how much you didn't care when EA and the NFL signed an exclusive deal. There is no turning back now. Video game properties are an idea and a name, they are not as much fun anymore.

Remember when Sonic was a game of running?

I am a Segavore. I like the Sega machines and the Sega style. I chuckle a little on the inside when Nintendo releases Sega titles, however sometimes, I cry a little too.

Coming soon to the Wii is Sonic and the Black Knight, where Sonic will have a sword and the Wiimote will be the vessel in which its damage is carried out. Call me crazy but why not make a game with these mechanics using another character, or perhaps a new character, one that is not an anamorph, or at least an animorph that used to be known for running and collecting rings.

I am not against change, I am against this horse corpse that is starting to smell like rot. The beginning of the end I suppose was a few years ago when Sega came out with Shadow the Hedgehog, a gun toting, more Hot Topic hedgehog.

All would be forgiven if Sega were releasing these games on there own system. Far be it for me to say what you do inside the your own home. But when you start to push this crap on the neighbors and expect me to care, please only ring my door bell when we have a little bit more of the running and jumping.

Dead Rising for the Wii!

The canrnoslaughter of Dead Rising is coming to the Wii. Dead Rising: Zombie Sacrfice.

If you played the first game it was awesomely flawed. Those flaws according to sources have been taken out.

New Controls! No Photos! Otis not calling you every few minutes! New weapons!

All in all, good times to be had at an undisclosed date.

Is this Dr Manhattan?

From the upcoming Watchmen movie. It has signature Zack Snyder browns in it.

Nothing quite like a good adaptation!

Who remembers the original Ghostbusters game? Enter your name as Owen and you could get a boatload of money.

Here is the new Ghostbusters game. The trailer at least and what looks like the few seconds of video surrounding the already released screen shots, oh and a lot of movie footage.

I don't think as many people have seen Ghostbusters as one might think. As much as I might think that everything related to 80's pop culture is known by the average bear, it certianly hasn't happened. I know a girl that has a geek blog that had never seen the Flash Gordon movie until recently, the one with the Queen soundtrack! So it is possible that there is a percentage of America has not seen Ghostbusters. It is possible I tell you. The movie came out in 1984, and well that is a long time ago. I hope there is still an audience for this movie. Don't embarrass me game developers, you made a Scarface game, and a Godfather game. In the grand scheme of things those games are a footnote. It's one thing to make games on current franchises, it's almost shameful to go back an tarnish a good name.

Running Heroin with the DS!

Curl up on your couch and sip some egg nog as you crack skulls of the yakuza in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars; coming this winter, announced yesterday at E3. This was probably Nintendos' biggest win of E3.

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 - Rockstar Games is proud to announce Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS™. "This is a game that will deliver a rich, fast-paced and intense 'Grand Theft Auto' experience that will be truly unique to Nintendo's handheld platform," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "Rockstar Leeds, along with the team at Rockstar North, has built upon a decade of progressive design on Grand Theft Auto, and has created something fundamentally fresh and immersive."

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players will navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise.

Developed by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with series creators Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be available on the Nintendo DS™ in North America and Europe this winter.

www.rockstargames.com/chinatownwars

Explode Like A Blood Sausage! New Fallout 3 Trailer and Gameplay!

Looking forward to this post apocalyptic adventure. Hopefully the black and dry humor will be enact, seems to be so far.

Game play footage and a new trailer!

If this is anything like Oblivion, get your divorce papers ready.

New Xbox Experience! New Dashboard! Xbox is Stealing Thoughts and Ideas!

Well honestly it's about time Microsoft got back into the idea stealing game, I mean look at MS-DOS, and Windows. This new dashboard shows me a bit of technological competition and general faith in the video game industry again. Some say competition breeds contempt I say it breeds excellence.

With an obvious nod to the Wii avatar Mii, the Xbox 360 will also have a cute version of yourself. I like cute things. There will also be a party mode feature that will allow one person to setup a chat room and the ability to speak to a group of friends. Apparently this feature will also work in the sharing of pictures and video to other people.

In a move that will really make the Xbox 360 the home multimedia computer of the ages is the addition of Netflix rental service to your Xbox account. The same way you were able to rent a movie from Netflix and have it stream to your computer, you will now be able to do that through your Xbox 360.

Wow! That is pretty rad. I might have to re-up my Netflix account.

A stylized dude movie! Guns, and girls.

Hell Ride, written and directed by Larry Bishop, son of Rat Packer Joey Bishop.

Guns,and girls. Trailer has some boobies in it, so NSFW.

The Spirit! It's all stylized!

Hopefully this trend will stop soon. I like style as much as the next guy. I know, "thats how Frank Miller draws, I'm a fan."

Shut your pie hole, you know this shit can get trite as quickly as watching the same porn twice.

I'm not into elves, and bare feet!

The real sort of it is, apparently there is to be an Elfquest movie . As stated above, I'm not really into elves or fantasy in general, however sometimes I get surprised.

The writer and director of the movie Dodgeball, will probably not surprise me.

Rawson Marshall Thurber looks like he takes himself very seriously. He's part of the Writers Guild of America, and would to make sure you know this by looking at the picture of himself holding a sign, on the front page of his website.

Anyway, elves.

Max Payne trailer!

It's out.



Yes, that is Ludacris.

Lots of babies crying.

Mirrors Edge! The Running Woman!

Swedish game developer, DICE, is making what looks like will be a first person runner. No this is not the long awaited sequel to 3D Battles of World Runner, it is a game called Mirrors Edge, and it looks really neat.

Having already had a slew of successful FPS military shooters, and making what could be the COD4 killer, Battlefield: Bad Company; now they are going out to make a game about big brother, big business, big problems. Ironically DICE is now owned out right by EA, and some say that EA is the devil. They are the ones that were the start of in-game advertising, and securing the rights to the NFL to be only used in Madden games.

From the Dice website:

"In a city where information is heavily monitored, agile couriers called runners carry sensitive information on foot via the rooftops and skyways. Usually the police leave them alone - they have bigger fish to fry - but now something has changed...

Play as Faith, the best and most agile of all runners, in an adrenaline-fueled race to save her sister’s life as she unveils a bigger plot involving the whole city and the runners. Mirror’s Edge is an action-adventure game that revolutionizes the genre by introducing a full body experience with dynamic 1st person movement and combat, in an immersive modern-day universe and with a socially charged storyline."

New back story trailer.



Original trailer



Dice Official Site

Great Game Makers in History! Eric Chahi!

In 1991, Eric Chahi, created one of the most impressive games ever made, this game was called Another World. Another World had a different title in the United States, it was called Out Of This World, it was released on several platforms including PC, Mac and Amiga. What some might call a puzzle platformer, the game play was simple, yet challenging. The story was told only through the actions on the screen, there was no reading and this was a time before voice acting.

The intro sets up the game completley, you are a scientist, something happens and you disappear to this other place. A classic idea, and a truly classic game. It can be downloaded for 8.99 dollars from the developer himself.




In what looks like it could be an early grind core band album cover was the cover to 1987's Profanation. This is an earlier game by Eric Chahi. The game play screen shots are not as awesome as this picture, but this picture is awesome. Like porn movie covers; the girls on the covers never look as the video on the inside. Needless to say this is an intense picture.

Another World official site translated into five languages!

Nikola Tesla! Structure Complete!

The magic of the internet learned me, that today is Nikola Teslas' birthday. Like many of you my first introduction to the word Tesla comes from, Command & Conquer: Red Alert, or a cheesy rock band. Assuming you know the game, rather than the band, best defensive weapon was easily the Soviet Tesla Coil. It would rain down gobs of electricity with beautiful chaos and finesse.



Here is someone that wanted to make his own Tesla coil in his back yard and reenact a scene from Command & Conquer.

So lets celebrate Niokla Telsa with this 9 minute interesting video.

Saboteur! France is awesome!

Pandemic studios will releasing a sexy game, full of sexiness, and noir. Saboteur looks damn cool. The site has nothing to offer than girls giggling, some French music, the sound of cobblestone streets, with a heady smell of wine passing through the streetlights.

Right so it has atmosphere, Nazis and girls in their underpants. A stealth game, where the stylized look is a game play tool; areas that are in Nazi control have limited color or are generally black and white, and resistance controlled sections are colorized. Coming out some time after Mercenaries 2 I'm sure.

Official site

1942 is coming! Bionic who?

Six or seven months ago Capcom showed us footage, of fun looking game play in a redux version of Bionic Commando called, Bionic Commando: Rearmed. Terrific, awesome, great. They even gave us a date for the release, sometime at the end of May.

Just a few months before Bionic Commando: Rearmed was to be released, Capcom announced that it was making another reskinned game, a new version of 1942. Alright! Our special weapon is flipping in the air! High-fives!

So now we have 1942: Joint Strike. The airplane flipping game. Which looks really cool and will be released in the near future. By announcing, 1942: Joint Strike, Capcom is able to give the consumer the impression that it is going create a line of reskinned games. "You gave me a release date for Bionic Commando: Reamed, you even are going to release a soundtrack.I love this stylized look you have for Bionic Commando! It's so cool! TF2 is an awesome game! How could I possibly not trust you? Are you ever going to make up for the mistake of Dead Rising?"

Bionic Commando is not coming out on time, and for all the hype the game had, you can barely find more than, "it will be out when it is ready, and let us never speak of this again." They already released the soundtrack to the game, back in May, when the game was supposed to come out.

So in a few weeks what will we get? We will get the airplane flipping game of 1942: Joint Strike. It is being hyped like it is a gift from God himself. We don't get more chocolate, we get less chocolate. Let's just compare the past versions of 1942 and Bionic Commando. Bionic Commando is cooler, you have a robot arm, and that is better than your B button letting you flip in the circle.

I'm not saying that this isn't how they might have intended it all along, get us hooked on an idea, take it away and give us the dumber down version of the idea first, like you were going to do anyway. We don't get more chocolate, we get less.

Games on your phone are still lame!

This summers more than likely biggest movie, The Dark Knight, has its own awesome phone game, if you like that sort of thing. Using only your thumb, you will guide the Batman through this 2D action packed adventure.




Official site

Sex! Nazi! Europe!

Max Mosley, who is someone more important than I am, and not even from this country is trying to stop the beacon of journalistic integrity The News of the World from running an article on his awesome escapades with Nazi hookers. Well he lost and they are running the story.

Here's the full story

Something that Apple/Mac will never have.

A long time ago when only certain people were considered artists , writers and musicians, a time before the the internet, digital photography, digital music, and spell and grammar check. This time was a time of modems and track ball, and competition between companies. This was a time of Amiga.

Coming from the person that seems to have developed internet culture with the, "fame for 15 minutes," statement, Andy Warhol was one of the first electronic multi-media artists. July 23rd 1985 at the Lincoln Center in New York, Andy Warhol took to the stage using an early Amiga paint program to make a portrait of Debbie Harry. A computer for technologists and well as artists.

WGA awards PSP game with first time ever Video Game Writing award.

I have never heard of this game, Dead Head Fred, by Vicious Cycle Software. I just asked my roommate if he knows anything about the game, "picked it up with my hand, but then put it down again," he said. I don't think this game was on most peoples watch lists.

Video games getting awards for writing, which is great. Not all programmers are writers and certainly no writer is a programmer. The one thing I wish is a game I played won an award, or one that I had some knowledge of.

There are some serious games that came out in the last year with some incredible stories. I am going to have to add Dead Head Fred to that list of games I need to check out. So if you have a PSP dust it off and see if you can find this used.



More information here.

Everyones favorite arrogant European on MSG4.

"This game a suck. I think that Hideo whats his name, lost his mind. The game is ridiculous, I do not like." So says Spaniard and Metal Gear Solid expert, Jose Santos.

Movie about a robot, or thinnly veiled attempt to unmine society as we know it?

Wall-E was great fun. I knew I was going to like this movie from the moment I saw the first teaser. I like robots, I like science fiction, I like spaceships. Check, check, check.

However not everyone feels this way.

I can't figure out which I dislike more, overly conservative thinking that makes Wall-E out to be“leftist propaganda about the evils of mankind,” or smarmy liberals getting all, "Good luck with the war, the crumbling economy, and getting those pasties on strippers." I get it, you don't agree, that's fine.

I saw this movie as a nice movie and probably the best rated G movie ever made. I thought of it as a return to quality family movies that we haven't had recently. Are we going to make another Shrek movie, with fading pop culture references, or or some other talking animorph with an all star cast of, gimme a fuckin break?.

In my own opinion this movie had a bit of a nod to Robert Heilein's, Orphans in the Sky. A long time crew of a floating biosphere with a forgotten mission. That just might be my ego talking, showing that I have read a book that is old and from the golden age of science fiction paperbacks.

I suggest we all sit back and relax, watch the movie for what it is. Besides E.T. was the first movie to have me distrust the government.

American McGees' Grimm

Coming in 24 episodic games starting this summer is American McGee's Grimm. First to be released on Gametap and then hopefully to Xbox Live. It has a solid look and judging by his previous work American McGee's Alice, he certainly knows how to pull off the Fractured Fairy Tales mentality. This game will be rated M, and if Edward Gorey came out with a game, it would be too.



Official Site

What ever happened to that Alice movie?