In a stunning, yes STUNNING, admission today Ubisoft has added to the list of games that the Kinect would not be very good for.  Amongst shooters, racing sims, RPG’s, anything that requires more than two people, and anything that may have you lying down, you may now add Air Combat games to the list.

Narrative director for Ubisoft’s H.A.W.X 2, Edward Douglas, told CVG that losing button control in the genre risked its ‘authenticity’.

“My personal thought is that buttons are needed to control an Airplane,” he said.

He added: “Why would you go so far away from that kind of authenticity?”

In the words of Captain Renault from Casablanca: “I am shocked! SHOCKED!”

I for one was looking forward to running around my apartment with my arms outstretched making  ”BZZZZZZZ”-ing sounds with my mouth.  Now I need new plans for my Saturday nights.

Kinect no good for air combat games – Ubisoft (Computers and Video Games)

The game known to many as “The One”. The game which countless  fanboys would die for, whilst countless anti-fanboys would die trying to destroy. Today, faithful readers, we trek on a land remembered and cherished for thirteen years. The game which defined the RPG genre, if not the PS1 era. We shall poke the soft underbelly of Red XIII in order to see if Final Fantasy VII is truly the great game so many of us remember today.

Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
Developer: Square
Publisher: Sony
Released: September 3, 1997

When starting this game up for the first time, assuming you have bastardized the previous 13 years of your existence, there is the slightest feeling of a job well done. As if, upon pushing the New Game button, you have fulfilled the dying wish of your dad…or something.

Ok, let’s start over.

When starting this game up for the first time, Final Fantasy VII does a great job in making one not only interested in the immediate surroundings and the characters involved, but also in giving off a sense of familiarity. The presentation of this game, at both the time of release and now, still has that feeling of awe. Maybe it’s from hearing people boast about their triumphs in the game for thirteen years, or maybe it’s because you know that you are about to begin an epic adventure which will completely rock your world.

Whatever that feeling may be, upon starting this game up you are in for a treat. While graphics are definitely sub-par compared to today (And yes, I’m including the CGI cut scenes) I have trouble seeing any sufficient lack of gameplay, art direction, music, story, or things to do.  Compared to some games, the dialogue IS lacking and the fighting MIGHT get a little repetitive. But frankly, those are the only two complaints anyone should have unless they are a graphics whore. Dialogue is occasionally a little too silly, or just plain awkward, giving off a feeling of pushed translations or the inability to efficiently portray character feelings through text.

If this game had voice acting, people would have probably hailed Final Fantasy X’s voice acting as the coming of Christ.

So these are the only problems that I found apparent during my play through. Let’s get on with the good stuff!

First of all, for those who will think I might be some sort of biased fanboy, fear not! This was my first time playing through Final Fantasy VII past Midgar.  Also, this was the first Final Fantasy I have ever beaten.  Yes, I know.  I am amazing.

Final Fantasy VII is a fairly simple game that is able to trick you into thinking it’s pretty complex. While many people today complain about how the most recent Final Fantasy’s are too straight forward, especially with XIII’s fairly linear paths and leveling system, what most fail to realize is that VII is just as straight forward. The mission layout in VII is always set up to lead you to another city, town or dungeon. The writers of the game were able to disguise this linearity by giving the world map to the player. This world map is not useful at all until the weapons show up, or you receive a gold Chocobo. But surprisingly enough, those who complain that XIII is too linear are in love with the “open world” of VII.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love linear RPG’s and wish there were more of them. While open ended RPG’s are a great way to convey a character, setting, or story, linear ones are normally able to tell a better crafted, more thought out story usually involving better developed characters and setting.  For example, when playing VII you are able to know, in depth, the histories of Cloud and your fellow teammates. In Oblivion, there is absolutely no back story to your character, and no real intent behind his actions. While VII can create more realistic dialogue between characters, Oblivion is stuck with one sided conversations. Make sense?

For those that bitch about how linear XIII is, go back and play VII and tell me you really had the opportunity to explore before you had a gold Chocobo.

Final Fantasy is able to do something many games are not able to do. It is that rare title which invokes anger, happiness, excitement, jealousy and puberty in the player. When people play this game, they are proud to say whether or not they beat Ruby, if they were able to get Omnislash in the Battle Arena, or if they even knew about the W-item trick. While Final Fantasy VII is definitely a linear game, it offers this rare feature which enables the player to make slightly game changing choices which others might not have done. Whether someone knows about the Knights of the Round summon, for instance, can completely change the outcome of a players game. In this sense the ability for minor items or skills, to completely change someones play through, is pretty impressive. While the story never changes no matter how many times you play it, and the characters always repeat the same lines, these little elements/materia/chocobos/limits, are able to arouse only the most sacred of body parts.

While we can all debate whether or not the story is all that good, whether the fighting is well thought out (which I know now it is after realizing all the combinations I can put my materia in), or if the main character is a bitch or not, what we can’t debate is that constant little pull that has left us wanting for 13 years. This little tug at your pant leg, which reminds you every time you turn on a console that Final Fantasy VII is still waiting to wet your whistle. This game, which offers no variation in gameplay or story, is still able to pull people in for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours just to get a Desert Rose which is not useful at all since you probably already have a Gold Chocobo at this point but you just wanted to tell your friends that you beat Ruby and became a man. Whether or not that was a run on sentence is not my problem, the problem lays in those anti-fanboys who are unable to grasp the simple, yet complex , idea of Final Fantasy VII.  A game which not only offers a challenging, and engaging, play through, but a social status as well.

And for the record, I did beat Ruby and Emerald. I killed Sephiroth in basically two hits as well.

On to scoring…

For the lack of well written dialogue, mostly, throughout the game, there will be some points taken away. Although I mentioned how repetitive the fighting gets, I will refrain from retracting points for that since this is an RPG game and that’s basically how it goes.

Score: 93 out of  100

While we all know and love Portal, much fewer probably know the game’s origin. In short, Valve saw this game Narbacular Drop made by a team of students from DigiPen and hired them immediately. This team and Valve then refined and polished this idea and turned it into the amazing game that is Portal.

Now there is Portal 2, and Valve has done something very similar again. At PAX last year I saw a really cool looking game called Tag: The Power of Paint. In short, Valve hired this entire team, and the gameplay created in Tag game is not a major gameplay addition to Portal 2. Valve has an amazing ability for seeing potential in great ideas, and an even better ability at turning these caterpillars into butterflies. That, and it’s easier to buy a team than get away with stealing their game. Regardless, this got me thinking.

After watching this new gameplay footage (below) of Hydrophobia, I was both impressed and disappointed. There are some really cool ideas that use really innovative and interesting tech. The only problem is the game looks unpolished and low budget — which is fair considering this is a download title. But why does it have to be!? Does no one else in this industry see the awesome potential in fucking with water physics?

Valve could be this company! Super awesome water tech and physics in Half Life 3? Who needs a gravity gun when you have a water manipulator gun? The company is called Dark Energy Digital/Blade Interactive and the tech is the HydroEngine. Hire them! Do it Valve. Do it. Do it. Do it.

WAAAAATTTTTTEEEEERRRRRR!!!!

Now, a picture of the world’s most amazing woman:

Captain Planet and Gaia understand the power of water Valve — you should too.

As Nick Henderson would say, “Holy Balls!”  I’ve never been a huge fighting game person over the years, but fighting games which have been released lately really get my gears in a groove (recently BlazBlue has been eating up a fair amount of credits at my local arcade).  Street Fighter X Tekken, announced today at the San Diego Comic-Con, could be continuing that tradition in a very good way.

Check out the trailer below.

Long ago we recorded (or maybe just wrote) about our Top 5 Sequel Revivals where we talked about potentially dead franchises we desperately want sequels to. Well, Marvel vs Capcom 3 was pretty high on my list. Even then, I dreamed of what it would be like to be Dante in a fighting game. After playing with him at E3, I can safely say, it was as badass as I was expecting. There was only one problem, I needed to decide on his two partners, and the Hulk wasn’t quite doing it for me. I wanted more of my “dream characters” in the game. While most of my dream choices are most likely not going to be in the game, two of them have been confirmed. And both also come from the brilliant mind of Hideki Kamiya!

First off, Viewtiful Joe is returning from Tatsunoko vs Capcom. This was a character I also dreamed of playing in Marvel vs Capcom 3 long before it or even Tatsunoko was announced. From Kamiya’s amazing 2d comic book come to life, Viewitful Joe is a perfect fit with his insane powers and stylish moves.

I fairly recently posted an article berating Capcom for choosing some uninspired character for MvC3 (based on first trailer). I went on to offer some new dream choices I would like to see in the game. And while Lady (Devil May Cry 3) and Gene (Godhand) may have to wait till a sequel, my other choice is in! Behold, Amaterasu from Okami!

Her basic combos seems to consist of all her different weapon types from Okami, while her specials are based on her various brush techniques. I’m not sure what is going on with her supers, but they look cheap as hell.

My only concern now is that my team consists of two really short characters. Hopefully I won’t get bitched at too much by picking Joe and Ammy.

Do you like a series but know it could be better? While you enjoy it, is there a series that is giving you sequel after sequel of the same crap? Do you know of a series that has a lot more potential, but the developer is holding it back? Do you wish your favorite developer was making the next big innovative thing when instead they are bringing back Donkey Kong Country? Well tonight we will share with everyone our Top 5 Franchises We Wish Were More Ambitious.

Tune in tonight at 11:30pm Central time for the Top 5 Podcast.

We will be reading your choices for this week’s Top 5, so be sure to share them in the “Top 5 Franchises We Wish Were More Ambitious” forum thread.

Thanks.

Do you like Final Fantasy, but hate the effeminate boys and giant chickens? Well Tactics Ogre is like Final Fantasy Tactics without the chocobos. Because in the world of Tactics Ogre, chocobos are raped then eaten alive as their farms burn down around them. Not much whimsy around these parts. Well, except a slutty witch.

In case you haven’t heard, the band is getting back together to remake Tactics Ogre for the PSP. The original game, for those who have never played it, is not to be confused with the Ogre Battle series. While both spawned from the brilliant Queen obsessed mind of Yasumi Matsuno (also the creator of Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, and Final Fantasy 12), Tactics Ogre is a grid based Strategy RPG and spiritual precursor to Final Fantasy Tactics. Ogre Battle is that hard-to-describe-but-amazing-RTS-auto-battle-RPG thing.

Even though it shares the name of the Super Famicom original, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is not a port. This game is a remake, but not in the traditional sense. Most remakes seem to make a graphical update the priority. And while the graphics will definitely be improved in this game, the team plans to preserve the 16 bit look of the sprites. Tactics Ogre on PSP is considered a remake because of the core changes that are being made by the original creator himself. Matsuno and his team are rebuilding the game from the ground up, as his goal is to present this classic in a form that can be appreciated by a modern standards.

There are some major game design changes being made in this game. This version won’t just have new job classes, but the skill system for existing classes is being reworked. One of the big reasons I prefer FFT to Tactics Ogre is the variety and customization in the former’s job class system. Well, it looks like Tactics Ogre will finally be getting some of that depth. Fighter classes will now have the option to equip newly created “battle skills” much like the magic classes were able to equip spells in the original game. Also, job classes are no longer restricted based on gender, meaning your favorite female crush can finally become a Priest or a Lich! Players are allowed to bring 12 units into battle this time around, while also facing much larger armies of up 18 enemies. These changes will vastly alter the way the game was played before, and in an interview, Matsuno claimed “your old strategies simply won’t work anymore.”

Other improvements include a sped up interface and battle system, a bar that shows the unit action order, a fully adjustable battle camera (finally!), and a mid battle save feature. These updates will make playing the game a lot more accessible for a modern audience. I swear to you, the sluggish battle speed is what kept me from finishing Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis on the GBA. Thank you for hearing my pain!

Most importantly, Tactics Ogre on PSP is getting a story overhaul. Matsuno is not only rewriting the script, but he is adding a ton of new story content as well. New playable characters with new stories, additional side stories for the older characters, and much more in-battle text between characters are some of the changes he plans to make towards his greater goal. Matsuno wants to make a deeper, more emotional story. You may have heard me mention it in the past, but I’ve always felt that the one thing Tactics Ogre did better than Final Fantasy Tactics was story. I’m glad to see it being updated so a new audience can experience possibly Matsuno’s greatest tale. You think making choices in Bioware games has lasting narrative impact on your experience? Haha, just wait till you play Tactics Ogre. When I first played the original I actually debated on burning down a village just to become one of the most powerful classes in the game.

It might also be worthy of note that Matsuno is not the director of this remake. He is lead game designer and writer. Something tells me his past relations with Square Enix and his current status as a free lance developer are the reasons he is not “in charge” of the project. Honestly though, I could care less. I know this is his game, and I never thought he’d ever get the chance to work with Squaresoft IP ever again. This means the potential for Matsuno to do a real sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, or Ogre Battle still exists.

I pray Kajiya Productions is in charge of the localization. They were responsible for the amazing Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions re-translation, and Joseph Reeder’s take on Matsuno’s script in that game would be a perfect fit for the Ogre universe. Alexander O. Smith would be great too as his work on Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy 12 are some of the best localizations ever.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTT!!!

I can’t believe this is happening. My favorite game developer has returned!

Enjoying Demon’s Souls?  Maybe haven’t played enough of it yet?  Well you might think about moving the game up from the bottom of the list because the North American servers may only be guaranteed to exist till March 2011.  Atlus released a statement today which some fear could put a short lifespan on on the online mode for one of the best RPG’s released last year.

From Computer and Entertainment.com:

Atlus has today confirmed that it will keep the North American servers for the game running “through at least” March 2011. “At least” means the servers won’t go down BEFORE March next year, but it certainly serves as a startling gauge on just how short the lifespan on the game’s online modes is like (sic) to be.

Now before people get all crazy about this, the online EULA of the game does state that the servers are guaranteed for one year after game release.  This may not be Atlus so much as saying they will cut off the servers in March of next year, as they are saying that they do not have the option to till that time.  And, honestly, its extremely likely that server support will continue after that time period.

The news, however, put a bit of a shiver in my bones and my copy of Demon’s Souls may get more playtime in the next few weeks because of it.  And it also goes to show just how vulnerable our online console experiences really are.

-Joseph-

I really am getting sick of posting about Bond…. really.  It makes me look like crazy obsessed fan boy but it seems that someone out there (i’m looking at you Yamaha Casey…)  is bent on ensuring that I do get hyped about the upcoming original bond game, Blood Stone,  from Activision/Bizarre Creations.  With that said, I present to you, the first taste of this fully original Bond Game, starring Daniel Craig.

Everything required to make an entertaining Bond experience seems to be present and polished to a level that I have not really seen from a Bond game before. Take-downs look brutal, satisfying, and easy to execute and the driving sequences appear to be a great blend of adrenaline pumping action and cinematic presentation. My only concern going forward is whether or not Bizarre Creations will restrain themselves and spread the pacing a bit. If the action isn’t broken up by exploration, stealth, or even something as wild as an on-foot chase sequence, then the game might seem way too hokey and over-the-top.

I am officially excited for this game but now I have an urge to go back and play one of the 3 original bond titles on the PS2. This is the question I pose to the community: Which original Bond game (Agent Under Fire, Nightfire, or Everything or Nothing) was best and for what reasons?

**Thanks to Yamaha Casey for emailing me this video

By now, I’m sure many of you have had an opportunity to check out Christopher Nolan’s latest theatrical masterpiece, Inception.  If you have not, I urge you to get up off of your ass and get to the theater.  Before I delve into the true purpose of this post, I would like to make my opinions on the film known since I feel it will serve as a suiting transition.

• Inception is an example of a film that I feel only comes around once every decade or so.  It is not for everybody.  Like the original Matrix before it, it is a film that will trigger the imagination and inspire introspective in those who desire to go deeper than what they see on the screen.  It is complex and elaborate and will demand that it’s audience pay close attention in order to truly understand what it is trying to accomplish.  Of course, there are many who will shrug this movie off as convoluted and pretentious and in all honesty, they are right.  With that said, for those who seek more than mindless action and predictable plots, this film delivers in ways you might not even expect.  Having just seen Inception myself, I can now say that Christopher Nolan is one of the most gifted writers/film makers in the business which brings me to a particularly thought that crossed my mind just moments ago.

I was thinking about Christopher Nolan’s brilliant filmography which includes films like The Prestige, Memento and the obvious Batman Reboots and I immediately thought about  screenwriters and how they often crossover into the video game industry.  With Nolan’s writing chops obviously proven, I think it would be amazing to see what he could do if he were to pen the script for a completely original story for a game.  This is obviously just a result of me fantasizing about things that will probably never come to fruition but I couldn’t get the thought out of my head.  I picture Nolan penning a script for a science fiction IP in which he would take a major role in the project, possibly with a major development studio.

I was intrigued by this thought which really got me thinking about which studio I think would be a great fit for a partnership with Nolan.  I thought a lot about Nolan’s style in regards to his cinematography and storytelling and decided that it would have to be a team with a knack for slick presentation and polish but is also known for innovation in regards to gameplay mechanics.  My mind immediately jumped to some of the more prominent FPS developers like Infinity Ward and Bungie.  For a second, I even strongly considered the newly formed Respawn studios, given their position in the industry, their reputation, and their desire to innovate.  Ultimately though, I picked a studio with a real gift for presentation both cinematically with cutscenes and in-game scripted events, as well as a strong talent for game design in general and a devotion to nursing a project to finality.   I picked a studio who I feel demonstrates ambition and dedication.  What studio did I choose?

Alan, Wake Up…

Thanks for humoring the feeble fantasies of a man who was simply inspired by the magic of cinema.  Contrary to popular belief, that magic still exists.

In an unexpected turn of events, Bizarre Creations finally revealed their new Bond game entitled Blood Stone today. The reason I say unexpected is that the game really looks like a traditional bond game, with high octane driving sequences and third person ass kicking included. Speculation had been running rampant that the new Bond game would be almost exclusively a driving based game full of the adrenaline pumping chase sequences that the series is known for. What we get instead is a third person action game starring Daniel Craig and Judi Dench.

I am currently adding the finishing touches to an article describing my feelings about games changing developers and the reasons why I am not opposed to it (in most cases). Well what interesting timing because the bond series has been changing developers with almost every iteration since Goldeneye. Among the developers to give their take on Bond are Eurocom, EA Redwood Shores (Visceral Games), and Treyarch (among others). In what seems like an endless attempt to achieve the success of Goldeneye, almost no team has found the right formula to make Bond relevant again. While Nightfire and Everything or Nothing were both decent attempts, no set formula has stuck. So the question remains, should we be optimistic about Blood Stone or shrug it off?

With the fate of the film series in limbo, I am happy to see Activision shopping the IP around for new studios, I am not so sure Bizarre Creations would have been my first choice. While they have created some fantastic and memorable titles like Geometry Wars, Project Gotham Racing, and Blur, this would be one of their first forays into the world of action titles with the exception of “Fur Fighters” for the Dreamcast and the more recent “The Club”, neither of which received must critical acclaim. One thing is for sure, come December, gamers will have more Bond than they can handle with the highly anticipated “remake” of Goldeneye set to hit stores around the same time.

While I am certain to play Blood Stone when it hits this fall, I will be placing this game on my back burner, hoping to be pleasantly surprised when it launches. Any thoughts? Did I mention Joss Stone (See what they did their) will be providing the music and lubricant?

Article Written by Faux
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I would like to preface this article with my personal definition of how I will be using the term culture.

Culture: Anything that directly or indirectly influences a persons behavior toward someone or something.

Here are just some statistics that show how popular gaming has become:

• Roughly a whopping seventy percent of people between the ages of eight to eighteen own some sort of video game platform.
• Seventy-two percent: the number of people age six to forty-four in the U.S. who played video games in the year 2007.
• 70.93 Million: the number of Wiis that have been sold worldwide.

As video games are popularizing exponentially as a widely accepted form of media, I find myself being able to bring up video games as a more casual conversation piece to break the ice; it’s nice to not be ridiculed when I mention my love for them. Although recently when I try to bring them up all people want to talk about are the Wii and the next big shooter game. I have always veered off of the path of shooter games but when an acquaintance of mine praises a game so highly I would be crazy to not at least give it a try. Well upon placing the disk in the drive and trying out multiplayer I was greeted by unruly language, people telling me I should kill myself for being French, and telling me I suck, but has this just become a standard?

Instead let me use a better comparison between two “Hardcore” gamers. As of late I have tried to recommend the game Dragon Age: Origins to a friend of mine who is rather fond of Mass Effect, he asked me to give him a plot synopsis; I go into great detail about the lore and how the blight is similar to an apocalyptic setting. Shortly after I had got done explaining he retorts with “I’m not that nerdy.” Maybe he was kidding maybe he wasn’t.

Would you like a third; nearly any time someone mentions World of Warcraft there are a select few people who shutter and say “Get a life stupid nerd.” (Granted I have never played WoW but why reprimand someone who does?)

With more and more people getting into games it’s undeniable just how popular they have become, but with popularity comes issues. The gamers of the new generation have over looked the unwritten rules of courtesy towards one another. I have a few interpretations on why gamers today lack that friendly mentality:

• One; the recent ability to play with people around the globe provides fodder to cyber-bully someone whom you will never see again.
• Two; the unbelievable spike in competitive shooter games- Shooter games seem to be the main focus of this console generation and I think it is the driving factor of why people are buying more games, and also why people are more inconsiderate. Games that pin someone against another is just begging to spawn flame-wars, and I’m sill having a hard time wrapping my mind around why arguing with someone across the globe creates endorphins that people crave.

I will use the following as an example as to prove that shooters are dominating the market:
After speaking to a few members of the community the subject of Clover/Platinum games has come up, with them recently developing a game entitled Vanquish I have been pondering the past releases of these studios: Okami, Viewtiful Joe, God Hand, Madworld, Infinite Space, and Bayonetta. If you ask me this is a flawless list, but these games have done poorly sales wise, did you know Bayonetta was outsold by “Mario & Sonic at the Winter Games” I kid you not. God Hand: infamously given an extremely low score of three by IGN; was the heart and soul of Shinji Mikami’s creative genius, and never once appeared on the top sales list. Madworld: the sales were portrayed as abysmal selling a mere 66,000 copies in the U.S. by the time the NPD’s came out.

So why will Vanquish double or even triple the sales of some of these games; because it’s sole purpose is to keep Platinum functioning unlike Clover. Mikami has to make an embellished version of a third person shooter to provide the sales that Platinum needs to thrive as a creative developer. I am nearly positive that Mikami is aware of how the industry is responding to shooter games.

Why is it that as of late gamers can’t be bonded by the one thing we all share a love for, why must we bicker over which game is better, or who has less of a life? Granted there have always been console wars since the beginning of time, be it between Nintendo and Sega or Microsoft and Sony, but we were always united on the social hierarchy as gamers. Currently online gaming has an extremely negative connotation when you mention it, I would like that to soon change.

To close this article I would like to note that I DO NOT hate shooters nor the people who play them, this is merely my outlook on how a vast majority of the gaming community has been behaving recently.

I thank you for your time.

When Square Enix first announced the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy 13 “series”, the news was met with many rolling eyes. It felt as if they were trying to force an entire universe on us before we ever had the chance to decide if it was something we wanted. This was probably due to the popularity and success of Final Fantasy 7 and its spin-offs. But there was one major difference — we already loved Final Fantasy 7 before they started expanding on that universe. Final Fantasy 13? Not so much.

In March of 2010, over 1.3 million copies of Final Fantasy 13 were sold in North America, with over 800,000 of these units being the Playstation 3 version of the game. In April of 2010, an estimated 50,000 copies of the PS3 version Final Fantasy 13 were sold in North America. I’ve been ritualistically following the NPDs for years, and I have never seen a drop-off that vast.

Why was the drop-off so large? Well, it could be that the audience for JRPGs may have tapered off due to the lackluster presence of the genre this console generation. Or it could be that Final Fantasy 13 is possible the lowest reviewed entry in the main series since the NES era. The game also had a pretty terrible word-of-mouth.

So then there is this other game. It has an amazingly restrained art style, a real-time action battle system, and an open explorable world map with cities, towns, and the like. An actual RPG, if you will. Watch this extended trailer if you haven’t yet.

Your eyes do not deceive you, that is a real car (sans rockets, wings, feathers, or zippers). This game looks nothing like Final Fantasy 13, or any Final Fantasy game for that matter. Versus 13 looks new and fresh, and it could very well get people into the genre who have been wary of the Final Fantasy name. That is, of course, if the name was different.

So why is Square Enix throwing away the potential to start are new major brand for themselves and the genre. Back on the SNES and Playstation, Squaresoft did something truly bold, they actually used different names for games that were… you know… different. And while not every series became as popular as popular as Final Fantasy, the genre thrived because of the variety. And then came Kingdom Hearts. A fresh new action RPG series that has since become just a popular as Final Fantasy. Would it have been as successful if the game was called Final Fantasy 10: Mickey Mouse Edition? Well maybe; but then again, the Final Fantasy name was a lot more respected back then.

And that’s my point. Coming off such a huge disappointment with Final Fantasy 13, this is the perfect opportunity for Square Enix to finally start something new. And while the game is certainly new, the name isn’t. It will carry with it negative connotations that it doesn’t deserve, and it might even affect sales.

So what does should Square Enix do now? Well, it may already be too late. They could relaunch the brand at Tokyo Game Show this year. Or they could just change the name for Western audience. Final Fantasy doesn’t carry the same weight it used to here(especially not Final Fantasy 13), and if they were so concerned about sales in Japan, they would have called it Dragon Quest Versus 9. It’s just as random of a name really. My vote is to just call it Versus. Short, to the point, and it would share its name with a badass movie.

Thoughts?

Do you ever get the feeling that the main protagonist of your video game is not the most interesting character in that universe? Are you ever intrigued by a minor character in a story and wish you could learn more about him, her, or it? Do you have a favorite character who is still shrouded in mystery? Did your favorite character meet an untimely demise before you really got to know him or her? Well on tonight’s show we will be sharing our Top 5 ‘Characters We Want to Learn More About’, or as I like to call it, the Top 5 ‘Shepherd Books’.

The Top 5 choice was inspired by Zekana’s viewer question from the podcast earlier in the week. We want to hear your opinions on the subject so please post them here in the Top 5 Thread. We will be reading off the best entries on the show.

The podcast will be recording around 7 or 8pm Central time.

Woah Ubisoft! Slow down there big fella’!

Today Ubisoft is announcing a huge sales increase thanks to popular titles like Splinter Cell: Conviction (1.9 million units sold) and previous games like Assassins Creed II and Just Dance still pulling in the cold hard cash.

“Our sales performance this quarter reflects the success of several titles and attests to the quality of our game catalog. It’s proof of Ubisoft’s ability to make its mark in an ever demanding video games sector, “ said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. “This year’s E3 further confirmed the potential for our end-of-year line-up, demonstrating how varied and distinct our offering is.”

“Proven franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Driver and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon will offer unique experiences for seasoned gamers. In particular, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood should allow us to reaffirm our position as one of the industry’s best multiplayer developers. The preorders are the strongest ever seen, already 20 percent above those from the same period last year, even before the awards were announced following E3.”

Honestly I’m not so sure that Driver is going too have the legs that Ubisoft is hoping it will.  Sure its going to have immediate sale power through name recognition but we’re going to have to see if the game can actually live up to the name.  People have been unimpressed with the latest iterations of the series, and that might lead some to take a “wait and see” approach to the title.  It was announced just recently that the title has been pushed back to 2011 so hopefully this will give them time to flush our ideas and, perhaps, make the vehicle switching system make a little more sense.

No word yet on how Battle Tag will effect future sales numbers.

-Joseph-

(Hot Tip: Industry Gamers)

I haven’t done a great job of keeping up with my laundry list for the first half of the year. The purpose is to keep you updated on the games I’m playing, the games I beat, and everything else about the games I have sitting around. Anyway, here is my list for the first half of the year. Please let me know if you see anything missing from the list — especially older games I may have played a substantial amount of.

Working On:
Red Dead Redemption – 60%
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker – 5%
Crackdown 2 – 300ish orbs
Joe Danger – 30%?
Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening – 50%
Puzzle Quest 2 – Level 20
Picross 3D – 50%
Twisted Metal: Head On – 50%

Put Down Temporarily:
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 – 70%?
Super Mario Galaxy 2 – 10%?
God of War III - 20 %
Final Fantasy XIII – 50%
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom – 90%
Bit Trip Runner - 30%
Zeno Clash – 80%
Infinite Space – 20%
Deadly Premonition – 30%
Cave Story – 90%
VVVVVV – 30%

Starting Soon:
Sin and Punishment: Star Successor – 0%
Secret!
Secret!!!
Seeeeeecreeet!!!!

Put Down for Good?
Monster Hunter Tri – meh%
Darksiders – 85%
White Knight Chronicles – 20%?
Red Steel 2 – meh%
Dark Void – 50%

Working On Older Games:
Okami – 10%
Vagrant Story – 30%

Completed in 2010:
Mass Effect 2
Bayonetta
Heavy Rain
BioShock 2
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction
Just Cause 2
Death Smiles
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Alan Wake
Metro 2033
Yakuza 3
3D Dot Game Heroes
Singularity
Nier
Alpha Protocol
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess

Old Games Completed in 2010:
Twisted Metal Black

Top 5 To Be Completed by the end of 2010:
Castlevania 4 – 20%
Baldur’s Gate – 10%
Secret of Mana – 0%
Starfox 64 – 0%
Panzer Dragoon Saga – 0%

No joke.

Pre-Orders start on the 15th along with the shop. Expect a 2 week delivery rate for shirts to be made and shipped.

Yah, it’s about time.

Let’s do it.

-Travis

Update: Rin Aiello is the artist for our T-Shirt. She is a pretty amazing artist and you should check our her other drawings. Go to HERE!

Back in the 80s, a struggling Japanese company called Square made one last effort to become a successful video game developer. Presumed to be the last project they would ever work on, the game was called Final Fantasy. And the director was Hironobu Sakaguchi. Over 20 years later Sakaguchi’s current studio, Mistwalker, is most likely in a similar situation, and The Last Story seems to be their last chance, much like Final Fantasy. But will this game do for Mistwalker, what Final Fantasy did for Square? Probably not — but here is gameplay footage anyway!

A cover-based Japanese action-RPG? Sneaking up and getting the jump on enemies? Well this certainly looks pretty refreshing. I was worried this game was going to be a much more traditional RPG like Sakaguchi’s previous games, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. But I get vibes of Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy 12, and Demon’s Souls. Consider me officially stoked.

Also, is this supposed to be an online co-op RPG? I only see the player controlling one party member, yet there are quite a few character life bars on the screen. Are these being controlled by other players? I wouldn’t be surprised given the popularity of Monster Hunter in Japan, but a prominent online component would be a first for a very story driven game. I will assume The Last Story is in fact heavy on story. I mean, it is in the title.

My only concern (outside of the haircuts), is that Mistwalker’s potential “Last” game is on the Wii. While the Wii is certainly successful at selling certain first-party software titles, has there ever been an RPG on the system that has even sold remotely well? Well, there is a first time for everything I suppose.

505 Games have announced today that they’re collaborating with Russian developer Biart Studios to bring us Deep Black, a third-person shooter that takes place underwater. Deep Black promises players “action packed battles and an immersive story line of complex science-fiction mystery, espionage and bio-terror.”

Players have access to a number of gadgets that make underwater combat and traversal easier. Such as the propulsion pack attached to the player’s diving suit and harpoon weapons. Expect Deep Black on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in early 2011.

With the sales pitch out of the way I can tell you that this looks like an interesting concept. But with only two screenshots and a tiny dollop of information to go on there’s very little else I can say about the title. Your thoughts?

I didn’t care about Halo: Reach before…

But shit just got serious.

Blood Gulch for the win.

Make sure you either watch till the end, or skip to it. Prepare to poop a little.

-Travis

Since I own way more DSi Ware games than anyone probably should, and because they get almost zero coverage around the net, I figure I should start a new feature. I will discuss my recent DSiWare purchases in an effort to show everyone that it isn’t just a dumping ground for shovelware. And while this week’s game came out Monday, I’ll be sure to go back and talk about the DSiware games I’ve purchased in the past.

Oh, and don’t adjust your PC monitors, this is not a Castlevania game. Soul of Darkess on DSiware is actually a port of a mobile phone game developed a few years ago by Gameloft. Yeah, I know — sounds fucking terrible. But guess what? They picked a damn good series to rip off, because this game is pretty damn fun.

While Gameloft might not have been talented enough to pull off a Metroid style world structure (this game is level based), everything else about Soul of Darkness is pretty faithful to a Igarashi developed handheld Castlevania game. The combat, character progression, visuals, and music, are all very similar.

Dante’s Inferno : God of War :: Soul of Darkness : Castlevania if you will.

The game isn’t very difficult due to the very forgiving checkpoints. Instead of restarting the level if you die, you simply continue at beginning of the last screen you entered. The game also doesn’t feel as tight or responsive as a good Igavania. But what is cool about the game is the heavy emphasis on using magic spells and monster forms for platforming and puzzle solving. It’s nothing too mind bending, but there are some clever moments.

One other cool feature uses the DSi’s unique functionality. There are tents scattered throughout the levels, and when you enter one, the game prompts you to take a picture. The predominant color in the picture will determine which color of orbs you will get to restore health, magic, etc.

Overall, this is a surprisingly fun Castlevania clone and it’s only 500 points! That’s 5 dollars people. The game probably only takes about 5-6 hours to get all the way through, but it has already been well worth the purchase for me. Here is a trailer:

The reveal of the Infamous 2 trailer at E3 was incredibly underwhelming for me. The Game Informer article that revealed the first concrete details also left me a bit worried about the direction that the series was headed in. The hero, Cole, had been redesigned, the setting didn’t impress me the way I expected it too, and the way it was described, it didn’t seem to point at any major improvements over the original. Today, I eat my words. This first gameplay trailer is not only impressive, it is downright sexy. Check it out:

Rather than recycle the basic combat mechanic in the original which involved shooting electric projectiles from your fingertips “sith-style”, Cole has gained a new electrical staff that can be used to create combos and take out enemies in style. Whether this weapon will serve as his main method of attack is unclear but it does open the door for possibilities in regards to weapons and combat styles.

Environmental traversal was an important aspect of Infamous and this gameplay demonstration illustrates how it has been improved and incorporated into missions in a more satisfying and cinematic way for the sequel. The movements, especially those involving the wire grinding, seem to carry more weight and momentum than the first. Cole is now able to grind side-to-side along horizontal wires and even use vertical conduits to quickly move between the ground and the rooftops. I can imagine that this would make from some very intense and fun chase and platforming sequences.

While I was originally unhappy with the setting of Infamous 2, the cinematic flair and the “Louisiana-esque” aesthetic give it a unique personality that I think will really help separate this game from it’s predecessor. When coupled with the destructible environments (i’m not sure how much of this world is destructible but that was amazing), this could really prove to be an amazing world to bring to it’s knees.

While i’m not sure how far into the game this video was taken from, it is clear that Cole has really come a long way with his abilities since the events of the first Infamous. The powers he uses seem amplified and Sucker Punch did a good job of making him seem like a more confident, focused hero simply through his movement animations. Some of his more basic abilities in the original game such as his glide and push abilities seem way more useful and powerful, making him seem like a force to be reckoned with. It goes without saying that his final attack on the helicopter was just about the coolest demonstration of power I have seen in a game. If that attack is really as immense and intimidating as it seemed in that trailer, I can’t wait to see what else Cole might have up his sleeve.

While there are still a lot of questions to be answered in regards to Cole’s new ice abilities, the handling of choice, and the story, I think Sucker Punch is on track for another hit. It seems like that have taken pages from Naughty Dog’s playbook in regards to presentation and combined that with some excellent design choices to make this sequel really stand out. Only time will tell but for now, I will eat my words and say that my excitement for this title is now through the roof.

Welcome to the Queen of the World. A city sized ship designed to deal with over population by providing housing for the excess populace. You take control of Kate Wilson, an engineer aboard the ship. When answering a routine maintenance call Kate is forced into a fight for survival as terrorists attack the vessel. These terrorists call themselves the Malthusians and they believe the solution to over population is to kill as many people as possible, starting with those aboard the Queen of the World. However the terrorists are the least of Kate’s worries. The attacks have created deadly hazards aboard the ship. It’s now your job to navigate her through flooded decks, electrical fires, and terrorist gunfire in an effort to put a stop to the Malthusians mass murder.

This is Hydrophobia, a survival-adventure game developed by Dark Energy Digital. Hydrophobia features a water physics engine that far surpasses any water engine I’ve seen to date. Water advances and recedes, evening out or sloshing around. Waves form in the wake of explosions and objects are pushed and pulled as the current changes. It’s even more amazing when all of this occurs in real-time. Be it when you’re traversing the ships many corridors or engaging in a heated firefight, water constantly changes around you.

In Hydrophobia water does more than look pretty. It has an active role in a number of gameplay elements. While I was navigating the ship there was a constant sense of urgency as each room I entered could flood at any moment. In one such instance I was walking through a narrow corridor when all of a sudden the doors along the walls burst open and water started pouring into the room. As the water quickly rose an emergency door at the end of the hall slowly closed. I had to react quickly. I made a mad dash for the door, quickly rolling under it as it shut behind me. This wasn’t a QTE event. I had full control of Kate and I was told that if I didn’t make it to the door I would have been trapped in the flooded corridor. The added variable of water effectively changes the tedium I usually expect from exploration. It forced me to adapt and react quickly to an unstable environment.

Water does more than change exploration. In combat it can be a deciding factor. In another corridor I was facing off against a small group of terrorists. They were dug in pretty deep at the end of the hall and their automatic weapons far surpassed my dinky pistol. To turn this situation to my favor I decided to add water to the equation. I shot out a window and water quickly filled the corridor, stopping at about waist height. Explosive barrels began to float towards enemy cover, granting me a few explosive kills. But it doesn’t end there. Flaming oil thrown from the barrels floated on the surface of the water. Some of it floated behind enemy cover, effectively driving them out of their hidey-holes and into my bullets.

Diving underwater also allows you to move from cover to cover without the fear of being shot en route. Surprisingly the enemies will use this tactic against you as well. I watched as one of them dove below the water in an attempt to position himself behind me. When this happened I became aware of the double edged sword that water was in combat. Though it offers you many benefits this doesn’t mean those benefits are exclusive to you. The enemies will also take advantage of water in their efforts to kill you.

While I was impressed by the possible implications of water in combat and exploration I was left with one concern. As you should have probably noticed I mention “corridors” quite often. That’s because corridors is what most of the floor demo consisted of. I know the argument can be made that maintenance corridors in a ship are bound to look the same. Still I’m hoping they take advantage of the city sized ship by expanding outside of its inner corridors and perhaps taking some of the action out on the deck.

When I finally stepped away from the booth I had to remind myself that what I had just played was a downloadable title. It baffled me. First I couldn’t believe they managed to cram this graphically impressive game into a download. Second I couldn’t believe they didn’t think of making a full fledged disc game. With that extra room I can only imagine how much better the game could have looked. Disc or not I’m sure Dark Energy Digital could really change the way we look at water physics with Hydrophobia.

For those who are new to the site, or have forgotten, a Laundry List is a written reminder to the writer as to what games he is playing and how far along he is into these games. For the readers, it is us allowing you to take a look into our gaming lives off of the JTV screen. We do play games off of the air, and on many occasions too. While the community has plenty of opportunities to see what the broadcaster is playing, only through the podcast and laundry lists will they know about what else we are playing. So let’s get started.

Playing Through:

• Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions (PS1) (48%)
• Final Fantasy VII (75%)
• Red Dead Redemption (70%)
• Toy Story 3 (13%)
• WarioLand: Shake It (20%)
• 3D Dot Game Heroes (10%)
• Legend of Zelda I (NES)(60%)
• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (for the second time in a month)(30%)
• Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (40%?)

Will Play Soon:

• Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
• Starcraft II
• Odin Sphere
• Tekken 6
• Disciples III
• X3: Terran Conflict (Brad you should check this out)
• Sins of a Solar Empire
• Final Fantasy XIV (COME ON BETA)

Game of Choice (from above picture)

For a quick tid-bit of information about Metal Gear Solid: VR missions, this game was released a couple of months after the actual MGS title and is focused entirely on 300 different VR missions. There are over 300 missions, all varying in design, difficulty, and style of play. For example, after playing through a certain amount of the game Mystery mode is unlocked. Mystery mode, in VR missions, are 5 separate Clue like missions requiring the player to point out the killer in a scenario. Other mission types are available such as Ninja, Vr, Puzzle, or Stealth mode. While I wouldn’t recommend playing this game over the original MGS, if you have gone through all the Metal Gear Solids and need to whet your willy a little, find this game on Amazon and give it a go. You will be happy you did.

With Love,

Travis.

The Brad Awards are sacred. So sacred that they can’t be awarded until two weeks after Brad has played the game. I’ve been busy folks, and I’m sure everyone has been waiting my righteous assessment of E3. I saw and played so many great games this year, and here are the ones that stood out.

Game of the Show (playable) – Vanquish

I was somewhat frustrated when I first heard that Shinji Mikami’s new game was going to be a third person shooter. Japanese developers have always lagged behind when it comes making quality shooters that are successful in the West. It’s not so much the cultural differences (we love murder!!), but really that Japanese shooters never feel right. Their games seem to lack whatever black magic Bungie conjured up back in 2001 with Halo. Time and time again we’ve seen Japanese development fall flat on its face when making these shooters to appeal to “us” instead of making the games they want to make or are good at making. And to hear Mikami himself say this was the goal with Vanquish — I was expecting a disappointment.

Well I was being stupid, because the demo was fantastic. While the shooting could have used more aim assist, the ability to slow down time during acrobatic maneuvers made up for this shortcoming. In fact, because aiming well was directly tied to flashy moves (boosting, vaulting, rolling, jumping-off-dudes-faces), I killed in style not because I was trying to obtain a high score, but because I needed to in order to survive. This flip in game philosophy is core to what makes Vanquish so fun to play. Imagine Wet, if Wet wasn’t awful. Now add in amazing visuals and animations, rad enemy and boss designs, crazy set-piece moments, and all those flourishes that certain games seem to lack; and you start to understand why Vanquish is my Game of the Show.

Honorable Mention: Twisted Metal, Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light, Ghost Trick, Death Spank

Game of the Show (non-playable) – Metal Gear Rising

With few notable exceptions, ever since the release of God of War, the character action genre has been flooded with uninspired clones. The problem is that God of War has always favored presentation and spectacle over combat depth (Mortal Kombat over Street Fighter if you will). And while God of War certainly succeeds at what it wants to be, the clones it inspires don’t often have the budget or team size to pull off the same level of AAA polish. So what we usually get are mediocre mash-fests.

But when I saw the trailer for Metal Gear Rising, I saw something I haven’t seen in the genre in a really long time — something original. And as much as I love Bayonetta, even that game is simply a refinement (or perfection) of the Devil May Cry formula. The MG:R trailer was short, but it had a lasting impact. Sword-destructible environments and people? Precision cutting? I got the same goosebumps I got when I saw Red Faction for the first time. I just can’t stop thinking about how this new tech could change everything for the genre. Who needs a “combo” when you have a sword that does what its supposed to do? Be sure to check out my full impressions and watch the trailer here.

Honorable Mention: Portal 2, Red Faction: Armageddon

Biggest Surprise – Lord of the Rings: War in the North

While I was excited to see how War in the North was shaping up, I was expecting a smaller game that would appeal to a niche audience that loves loot and Lord of the Rings. The surprise was just how much of of a AAA Western RPG the game has already become. The demonstration of the game felt like Mass Effect meets Dragon Age, but with online co-op. I don’t care if you don’t like Lord of the Rings or even RPGs; if you enjoy playing games with your friends, put this on your radar now. Also, check out my more in-depth impressions of War in the North.

Honorable Mention: Red Faction: Armageddon, Hydrophobia

Biggest Disappointment - Wasted Talent

Where do I start? Michel Ancel and his team working on a downloadable Rayman title instead of Beyond Good and Evil 2. Koji Iagrashi and his team working on a downloadable Castlevania with a budget so small they couldn’t even afford new graphics. Retro Studios working on a seemingly uninspired remake of a “decent” series when they are known for one of the most ambitious and successful remakes of one of the industries’ greatest franchises. Rare being tied up in Kinect bullshit when they are responsible for some of the most original and creative games this generation. Bungie coming close to completely reviving a dead genre on consoles and deciding to make it a single level distraction instead of a revolution. I’m sad, and will stop now.

Honorable Mention: Zelda: Skyward Sword, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Brad

This is just a quick post to say thanks to EVERYONE who sent me a birthday email and left a comment on the site!  Hell, thanks for everyone who posted on my facebook wall too!  It was amazing.  I also want to take this opportunity to share a photo of my birthday cake which I think everyone will agree… is pretty awesome.

Special thanks to:

Information has been released, and it is good.

Oh so very good.

September 30, 2010 is when Final Fantasy XIV hits the shelves, and hopefully Digital Distribution, for the PC alone. The PS3 version should be arriving sometime in March for 2011.

While the beta should start letting opt-ins play in early July, if you Preorder the 79.99 Collectors editions you are guaranteed a beta opt-in eight days prior to release along with various items associated with the game.

The specs have also been released, and they are surprisingly low… at least for my ASUS.

So get out and preorder in the name of Eorzea, I think my pants are dripping with excitement!

Get ready to play!

-Travis.

To update: The discussion in the comments turned out wonderfully, I posted some responses there. You should join in too if you haven’t.

Loved is a short platformer by Alexander Ocias, who describes the game as “a short story in the form of a flash platformer.” The platforming is fairly basic and a little hard to get use to due to the odd air control but I grew accustom to it. The typical platforming tasks are there, running and jumping over obstacles, but it has an interesting twist. You are given choices or, in some cases, orders to do things and what you pick or what you do is reflected in both the level and in the way the game responds to you. It can be very hostile at times or even very complimentary, easier or harder, objects in the world will change shape or change color, all depending on what you do. You can play it on Kongregate or on his website. What the game means is left open to interpretation and I will love you if you put your thoughts on what it means in the comments. I’ll be sure to chime in with mine as well.

I don’t want to come off as ungrateful or jaded but unfortunately E3 2010 was a bit underwhelming when compared to E3 2009.  When I returned home from E3 last year, I could not contain my excitement for gaming.  Last year, we were treated to some truly unbelievable announcements and game-play debuts.  We saw the first demonstration of Alan Wake, Splinter Cell Conviction, and Uncharted 2 and we were all blown away when games like Left 4 Dead 2, Crackdown 2, Halo Reach, and Last Guardian were announced for the first time.  This year, I can count the number of new game announcements on two hands and the ones that were actually impressive on one.  E3 2010 was a gathering of games that we already knew about or seen footage of, being demoed for the first time.  While there is nothing wrong with that sort of thing, I certainly enjoy being one of the first people in the world to play these games, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that some of the magic was missing from the show.  For this list, I have chosen to omit one of the more obvious disappointments, the focus on motion controls and casual titles, for the sake of focusing on what Kevin Butler proclaimed as the “important thing”: The games.  Here are my top 5 games that had an underwhelming appearance or were missing entirely from the show.

5- Zelda: Skyward Sword Announcement- Don’t misunderstand me, I will be excited to play a new Zelda game for the Wii but something about this announcement left me incredibly disappointed.  It is not necessarily the upbeat tone of the new Zelda (I realize a lot of people expected a darker, more mature Zelda game) but the trailer that was chosen to reveal the game was garbage.  It accomplished nothing except reveal the title of the game.  There were no details regarding the story or mechanics.  When coupled with the underwhelming on-stage demonstration and the “tech-demo like” level that shown, I wouldn’t even say this game has been revealed yet.  Sorry Nintendo, but you dropped the ball on this one.

4- Final Fantasy Versus XIII- I am still struggling to get through Final Fantasy XIII and while I think that the game is certainly a game worth some merit, it is one of the biggest disappointments for me in recent years.  I was praying that Sony would finally reveal Versus XIII to the world at their press conference and give me some hope for the future of the series but unfortunately, the game was no where to be found.  Since I don’t think this game will see the light of day until it has been revealed at an E3 or major convention (TGS maybe), I doubt we will see this game stateside until late next year or later.

3- Mirror’s Edge 2- This was a long shot.  It was the game I wanted to be revealed more than anything at EA’s conference.  When they took the stage and said that they had 10 games to show, I was praying that Mirror’s Edge 2 would be one of those games.  Despite the poor sales numbers, I was hoping that EA would recognize the potential for such an ambitious and unique premise like Mirror’s Edge and green light a sequel.  So far, EA has only briefly mentioned a sequel being developed by a small team but an official announcement was never made.  EA’s conference would have been a great time to make this announcement.  Hell, a teaser trailer would have been enough.  Given its absence, I am worried that this game will never see the light of day and the original Mirror’s Edge will stand a lone as a “failed attempt” at a new IP.

2- Beyond Good & Evil 2- This was just cruel.  Given Ubisoft’s downright ridiculous handling of this game’s “existence”, I was almost sure that they would take this opportunity to ease the minds of their fans and discuss the elephant in the room.  At one point during the show, Brad and I were reading the teleprompter and we were almost sure that this announcement would be the finale of their conference.  What did we get instead?  BEAT IT.  I don’t like to take the offensive against game companies, especially ones that I respect, but FUCK YOU UBISOFT.  You may be happy denying the existence of this game’s development for another year but I can assure you, we aren’t.

1- The Last Guardian- There isn’t much to be said about this one.  I’m sure most people reading this right now already know what i’m talking about.  Fumito Ueda’s next masterpiece, “The Last Guardian” was revealed last year at E3 and it was easily the most exciting bit of news to leave that convention.  So what the hell is up with Sony not even mentioning the game this year?  Without a live demonstration of the game-play footage, I think it is safe to say that we won’t be seeing this game this year. WTF.

These are just five of my disappointments but there are several others that I didn’t even mention.  Games like Deus Ex had a slightly underwhelming demonstration and announcements like Devil May Cry 5 and Pikmin 3 were never made.  All in all, I hope that this doesn’t happen again next year. There better be more game announcements, more surprises, and less Kinect next year!

What were some of the biggest disappointments for you all?

I would rank the original Okami as one of the best titles in the PS2 library. It ranks up high with games like Shadow of the Colossus and Ico because it beautifully melded a unique and beautiful art style with gripping game play mechanics. When you consider that it was also a long game with loads of content and fun characters, it is easy to see why any gamer would appreciate it. Unfortunately, the IP’s future was brought into question when the development studio, Clover, was closed. Now, several years later, Capcom has decided to keep the series alive by bringing us Okamiden, a direct sequel that will surely split the audience in two. Why? Because Okamiden now shares the fate of other great titles like Valkyria Chronicles whose sequels ended up on hand held gaming devices rather than current gen consoles. After playing the game on the show floor at E3 2010, I can honestly say that I can see myself playing this game and enjoying it but the hole in my heart won’t be filled until the game returns to form on current gen hardware.

While the potential of a game like Okami is undeniable, it simply doesn’t appeal to gamers on a widespread level. Considering the poor sales number of the original, I find it impossible to believe that this DS iteration will ever sell enough to rejuvenate interest in a full blown sequel especially since the brilliant mechanics from the original don’t seem to have transferred too smoothly to the DS. In a very odd choice on the part of the developers, the game runs on the top screen while menus and such can be interacted with on the bottom screen. In a game like Okami, where the main mechanic involves painting on the screen to bring color to the world or eliminate obstacles in your path, the player is forced to constantly tap the shoulder buttons to switch the screens for these sequences. Not only that, but I had to keep constantly unsheathing my stylus and then switching back to D-Pad control when I was done. It was dumb and I can see it becoming very annoying as the game goes on. I think a much better fit would have been to control the entire game like Zelda DS with the stylus and use the shoulder buttons to switch the paper like normal. If this had been the case, I think the moment-to-moment gameplay would be a lot more bearable and even accessible to newcomers.

I don’t mean to be overly critical of this game because I am honestly happy to be getting a sequel at all. My problems with the game are not game breaking and while some of the design choices may be somewhat odd, the rest of the game transferred rather well. I was impressed by how well the art style fit with the power of the DS. The game is beautiful and there is always a lot on screen to look at. The stylus makes a few extra mechanics possible as well which should some add depth to the puzzles and combat sequences. For example, Nushi, son of Susano from the original, accompanies Chibiterasu; with a simple button press, Nushi dismounts and can be lead along a path with the stylus to access new areas or collect hidden treasures. It seems that enough has been added to keep the game feeling fresh and the mechanics that were added are a good fit for the platform.

I had an opportunity to talk to one of the developers during my play through and there is one thing that I think is worth noting. One thing that shocked me about the original was its length. The game clocked in at 40 hours for me and when asked about the length of this new game, he told me that the game would clock in around half the time of the original so somewhere around 18-20 hours. That is a lot of content for a handheld adventure game and with the time and effort being put into maintaining the feel of the original, I think Okamiden could possibly prove to be just as engrossing as it’s big brother counterpart.

Unfortunately, I have a tendency to not finish hand-held games and I’m afraid that this will once again fall to the wayside. I don’t feel that the game will reach it’s full potential because the possibility of a console sequel will always be dangling in front of my eyes. It is always exciting to watch a hand-held title make the transition to a console but to watch a console game, especially a game as beautiful and grand as Okami, take a step backward is discouraging and a bit disappointing. All I can say is that fans should be happy and supportive of the game if they ever hope to see Okami return to their home consoles.