Weekly News Roundup: 3 June 2012

I'm not going to have a long post this week.  E3 begins tomorrow and there will be plenty of stories to link and share then.  Microsoft kicks off the show with their press conference, and Sony's is in the evening.  The big one to watch will be Nintendo's Tuesday show because we'll get to see a lot more on the WiiU or whatever they decide to call it.  This week, I've got a bunch of trailers that leaked ahead of the show.  So, enjoy!

Weekly News Roundup: 27 May 2012

Happy Memorial Day weekend (to my American readers)!  The kickoff to Summer is here!  Lot's of court room drama this week, and loads of gaming news coming up with E3 in a week or so.  Things are going to get interesting!  With that, on with the news!

Weekly News Roundup: 20 May 2012

What a downer week this was!  Lots of losses posted, games cancelled, and 38 Studios going from "darling upstart studio" (for their work on Kingdoms of Amalur) to "state-owned debt house" after missing their first loan repayment.  I've been trying to work through Max Payne 3's brutally hard campaign, and that is another downer.  Max is such a broken man...

Ah well, with that, on with the news!

Weekly News Roundup: 13 May 2012

Happy Mother's Day (to those moms who read this)!  I know I missed last week, not really sure what happened there.  So, without further yammering, here's a few news stories of the last couple of weeks that caught my eye!

PixelJunk Sale

Those who know me personally (or are astute in reading this blog) know that I'm a mostly a PS3 gamer.  With that in mind, there is an awesome sale going on this week on the PSN:  PixelJunk titles are on sale.

The tower defense fun of PixelJunk Monsters

I don't just mean "a couple of bucks off" on sale.  You can get three titles for $2!  That's PixelJunk Eden, Racers 2nd Lap, and Monsters for $2.  A personal favorite of mine, PixelJunk Shooter, is also $1, while the sequel is $5 along with the offshoot (haha, puns) PixelJunk Sidescroller.  If you are a PS3 gamer, just go and spend a couple of bucks on these titles.  Most are phenomenal.  Even if you don't get into some (like Eden because it's different), you still have great titles!  Go!  Go now!

Weekly News Roundup: 29 April 2012

I know this is going up two days early, but I've got a mini-vacation this weekend to visit a friend recovering from cancer.  So, I'll post this up and be on my way out for a long weekend.

Review: Space Chem

Space Chem

PC (Steam)

Publisher: Zachtronics Industries

Developer: Zachtronics Industries

Release Date: 2 March 2011

Every now and then, an Indie title comes along that does nothing by the books and isn't afraid to be a niche title. Last year saw the release of a title like that: Space Chem. Games like this are so much more than the description as a “Casual, Indie” title with “Over fifty mind-bending puzzles” as Steam has it. Some folks would see the “Casual” bit and keep on walking. Or, they might be intrigued by it and think, “Yeah, I like Bejeweled!” Both options would be mistakes. This game is like nothing you've ever played. And it is strangely and awesomely addictive for it.

Making water: so simple

Weekly News Roundup: 22 April 2012

Another week down, another step closer to the title dump that is May.  We've got a lot coming in the next few weeks even after the sudden and troubling delay of Risen 2.  With that, on with the weekly news dump!

Review: Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3

PC, Xbox 360, PS3 (reviewed)

Publisher: EA

Developer: Bioware

Release Date: 6 March 2012

The end has come for my Commander Shepard. She has fought long and hard for both the Human Alliance and the galaxy at large to slow the assault of the Reapers. She has made friends, changed lives, and above all made choices that have all come their conclusions. All but one. And that choice stands before her, with all the glorious journey behind her only one thing remains. She does what she always has done, what is going to save the most lives at the cost she can justify. She makes her choice, and the tale of my Shepard comes to a close. And what a glorious journey it has been.

Shepard and Reapers reach their final battle

Dishonored Finally Unveiled

Arkane Studios has a game coming, and it looks to be a doozy.  This mix of Half-Life, Assassin's Creed, and Deus Ex looks sensational!  Dishonored is the story of man falsely accused of murdering his Empress.  Throughout the game, players will use their magic, cunning, and assassin skills to right the injustice done.  Players can use any combination of powers, skills, and the environment to get the job done.  Check out the first trailer below.  Granted, it is all CG and not gameplay, but you get the idea.

The debut trailer for Dishonored

Personally, I've been excited since Game Informer did a cover story on the game.  I love Steampunk, and the dystopian world smacks of Charles Dickens.  How can you go wrong with dystopian Steampunk?  (Let's just forget Damnation ever happened, shall we?)  Oh, and it has armored guards on stilts.  Stilts!  These guys are like primative AT-STs!

The guards are pretty terrifying in their walkers

No solid release date yet, though it is slated for a "2012" release.  Look for it on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

Review: Journey

Journey

PSN

Publisher: Sony Santa Monica
Developer: thatgamecompany

Release Date: 13 March 2012

What is there to say about Journey? Sometimes a game comes along that does more than just raise pulses. While plenty of games can excite and have players mainline adrenaline with bombastic set-pieces and summer movie production values, few games try for other feelings. Many games are all about the cinema experience and aping movies. Games exist that cover the science fiction genre, the pulp action genre, the noir genre. There are not any that aim to reproduce poetry or the Zen-like calm of mediation. Auteur gaming studio thatgamecompany has always broken away from convention. While they have only created three titles, each has brought the company closer to creating “art” than “games.” Journey, their third title, pushes buttons gamers may not realize that they have. Journey is something more than mere “game.”

Journey begins

Weekly News Roundup: 15 April 2012

Well, 100 years ago the Titanic sank.  It is also (technically) Tax Day!  This last week, I found these stories interesting.  Not much else to say!

Weekly News Roundup: 8 April 2012

Well, happy Easter (or Lich Jesus Day), everyone!  I hope the Spring is finding you well!  I've finished Mass Effect 3 and Journey, but those reviews are not coming forth as easily as I'd hoped.  I'll be posting those both in the coming week.  As for the rest, here's some fun/interesting/wubwub stuff for you to enjoy!

Weekly News Roundup: 1 April 2012

Happy Spring, everyone!  I just finished Mass Effect 3 in the wee hours, so that review will hopefully be up in a few days.  And today is the day that gaming news should come with a very large grain of salt.  I'll have some serious stories up, and then tomorrow I'll update the post with links to collections of the best (worst?) of the Gaming World's April Fools gags.  With that, here's a few stories that caught my (distracted) eye.

Weekly News Roundup: 25 March 2012

Another week gone, another news post is up!  There's some good news, some bad and lots of stuff on Mass Effect 3.  I don't spoil anything in the post, but the links in that story are SPOILERS so be forewarned!

Review: Hot Shots Golf - World Invitational

Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational

PS Vita

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Clap Hanz

Release Date: 14 February 2012

As as staple of Sony systems, the Hot Shots series has always been about accessibility. The entire series takes a casual approach to sports, and it makes for fun gaming. The golf series features courses that are just a bit fantastical, characters that are type-casts out of anime movies, and mechanics that everyone can easily pick up, but that take time to master. Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational offers that familiar and simplistic golf action on your Vita. Those that love the series know what they are in for, but folks on the outside may not “get it.”

The cartoony greens are calling again!

Review: Unit 13

Unit 13

PS Vita

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Zipper Interactive

Release Date: 6 March 2012

The Vita has two analog sticks. This fixes one of the major complaints about third-person shooters on the PSP: that the controls were wonky or ineffective. Despite the PSP's limitations, Zipper Interactive saw great success with their SOCOM series. Visions of a proper military shooter were realized with the announcement of Unit 13. Here was Zipper with the chance to show off how good a portable shooter could be. And they succeeded. Mostly.

Soldiers VS Terrorists

Review: Uncharted - Golden Abyss

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

PS Vita

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Sony Bend

Release Date: 14 February 2012

Daring adventurer and mystery solver Nathan Drake has been busy lately. His blockbuster adventure in November, Drake's Deception, was another successful entry in the franchise. To make sure that the PS Vita had a “core franchise” at launch, Naughty Dog handed their boy over to the folks at Sony Bend. It's always a gamble to have another studio take on a beloved franchise, but with Naughty Dog consulting, Golden Abyss has every chance to be a solid entry in the series. What we got was akin to Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

Adventurer Nathan Drake is back in Uncharted: Golden Abyss

News and Vacation!

Alright, it's that time of year!  The one time where I get to have a week and change off to enjoy time with my family.  I'm not going to be able to update until next week, so there won't be any posts this weekend or the following week.  However, I'm hoping to get enough quality Vita time to be able to review Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational, Unit 13 and get write-ups done for Syndicate and Binary Domain after I return.  Also, I have (and cannot enjoy yet) Mass Effect 3 to play for fun (and review later).  So, I'm hoping that two weeks of silence will be followed by an explosion of reviews (since I've been so bad at that lately).  Before signing off, here's a couple of stories that caught my eye!

Quantic Dream is at it Again

The folks behind Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain released another amazing tech-demo at San Francisco's Game Developers Conference.  They blew people away when they released "The Audition" which became the basis for Heavy Rain.  Now they are showing off "Kara" and I couldn't be more excited about what they might do with the engine.  This isn't a game in progress, mind you, it's just a demonstration of what they can do with their new graphics engine.  Quantic Dream has a history of amazing ideas and solid tech that falls short as a "game" but that's no reason to think this couldn't work!  We'll see what they are cooking up next, but "Kara" has me starry-eyed with the possibilities.  And if not Quantic Dream, maybe someone else will use the engine to make something incredible.  Check out Geoff Keighley's interview with David Cage at Game Trailers, too! (via Game Trailers)

This eventually evolved into Heavy Rain

This is the new short "Kara"

An Indie Title to Watch

Announced at GDC, a new Indie platformer by Compulsion has caught my eye.  The game is called Contrast, and it looks to be a little bit of Lost in Shadow (a Wii game) mixed with Vaudeville.  I love the idea of jumping between the "real world" and the shadows to progress.  It looks so cool!  1Up has a write up on the game here.  Check out this cool announcement trailer, too!  (via 1Up)

Man, does this look neat!

News Roundup: 4 March 2012

Big week ahead!  The long awaited ending to the Mass Effect trilogy drops tomorrow night (that's where I'll be!).  Besides that, I've still been under the Hot Shots spell.  Look for reviews of Hot Shots, WipEout 2048 and Uncharted: Golden Abyss at the end of the month.  With that, on with the news!

This Is Just Awesome!

I never got into Legos.  Not sure why, but they never struck me as "fun."  Now, BRIO trains, sure.  But never Legos.

This kid, however, damn.  He certainly got creative with his Legos!  Check out this awesome Super Mario Bros. 3 airship!

Holy crap!

The rest can be found here: http://vonbrunk.tumblr.com/post/17876499706/airship

Be sure to check it out!  (via Destructiod)

News Roundup: 26 February 2012

Man, I have been so busy this week!  After picking up Syndicate on Tuesday, the Vita dropped Wednesday.  I'm not ashamed to say that Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational has consumed far too many hours to be healthy.  With that, on with the news!

Impressions on the PS Vita

It's finally out!  The last (if you believe market analysts) of a dying breed: a dedicated gaming hand-held!  On 22 February, Sony released their super powerful PS Vita to the masses (in the West).  Coming in two flavors: Wi-Fi only and one that also sports 3G compatibility, the little powerhouse aims to give gamers console-style gaming on the go.  It's pricey, setting you back $300 for the 3G version, $250 for the other, but this beauty seems to be worth it thus far!

News Roundup: 19 February 2012

Another week done, another week closer to Syndicate.  This coming week is big (to me, at least) with the launch of the aforementioned Syndicate and the PS Vita.  I'm stoked to get my hands on the Vita and Uncharted: Golden Abyss.  Also, Alan Wake's American Nightmare comes out on XBLA for week two of their "House Party" promotion!  So, I'll be rather busy this week (yay!) with new releases.  On that, let's get to some things that me smile, laugh, frown or just plain struck my fancy!

Impressions on Binary Domain

The third-person action shooter market is pretty crowded these days.  There are plenty of options for those that want to play burly men who shoot things in the face and move between conveniently placed chest high walls.  When the folks at Sega announced that the mind behind the Yakuza series, Toshihiro Nagoshi, was making a third-person shooter, my reaction was along the lines of "...kay."  I love the Yakuza series, but another military shooter just wasn't something I cared about.  Binary Domain releases on 28 February, which was another reason to skip it.  It falls right between Syndicate and Mass Effect 3.  So, I skipped over reading more about the title and promptly forgot about it.

Killer robot, meet high-powered assault rifle

Impressions on Mass Effect 3

We are only 20 days away from the epic conclusion to EA and Bioware's space odyssey.  I couldn't be more excited to see how my Paragon female Commander Shepard unites the galaxy to stop the Reapers.  This entry promises to tie all the loose threads together and show players who have been dutifully transferring their saves between games how their decisions play out.  The demo for the single-player campaign released on Valentine's Day (on PSN, today for XBLA) takes the same road as the Mass Effect 2 demo: it shows the opening mission and a truncated mission a bit later in the story.  This game has me so excited!

Commander Shepard and crew mean business

Let's Have a Cat Fight!

Thanks to the success of Street Fighter IV, we've seen a resurrection in the fighting genre.  We've got some good looking downloadable fighters coming out this Spring/Summer.  And most of them star all female, all sexy casts.  First, we have the slick looking Skullgirls.  Smooth animation, lots of T&A and interesting characters are the main selling points for this game.  Now, out of the shadows, appears another all-female throw-down.  Here's a link to the press release for Girl Fight, which seems (as far as I can tell) to be a descriptive title.  Well, all right then.  I'm sure this is what the developers were thinking about when coming up with this idea.  (via Joystiq)

Skullgirls looks badass

A challenger appears?

News Roundup: 12 February 2012

Happy Valentine's Day week!  It's that time were there is copious amounts of red splashed everywhere and couples spending time together.  I'm of course talking about the release of Twisted Metal.  Otherwise, have a look at some interesting news stories from the week!

Review: Final Fantasy XIII-2

Final Fantasy XIII-2

PS3 (reviewed), Xbox 360

Publisher: Square Enix

Developer: Square Enix

Release Date: 31 January 2012

JRPGs have suffered this console generation. The heavy hitters in the genre have moved to hand-helds (like Dragon Quest IX) or were met with fan backlash and derision (like Final Fantasy XIII). The problems facing XIII-2 were daunting: the original was blasted for being too linear, not having shops, taking way to long to open up into the larger world, having a weak story/characters (I disagree on this point) and having a battle system that was innovative, but also frustrating. The producer of the game, Yoshinori Kitase, promised to rectify the issues fans raised about the first game and deliver a sequel that not only made apologies for the first game, but expanded and improved on the game. I was worried, but after playing through, I can safely say, “Apology accepted, Square Enix.”

Serah, Mog and Noel traipse through time

News Roundup: 5 February 2012

Oh boy, the end of the fiscal year.  The time when taxes, corporate earnings reports and lots of red ink are spilled out.  Today shows a few awesome stories, so sad ones and two gaming franchises predicting the Superbowl.  So let's get to it!

Review: AMY

Amy

PSN (reviewed), XBLA, PC

Publisher: Lexis Numerique

Developer: Vector Cell

Release Date: 17 January 2012 (11 January 2012 on XBLA)

The key to any good survival horror game is the terror and fear that they produce. Characters in situations that are far beyond their control and horrific monsters are the order of the day. But the truly special horror games don't put us in control of highly trained police officers, mercenaries or other folks that can handle this sort situation. No, the special ones put us in the shoes of average folks forced to do the extraordinary to survive. Silent Hill did this (more than a few times), Siren does this and so does Alan Wake. Amy tries, but is is encumbered with so many faults that it isn't worthy of being mentioned with the best of the best.

Stars Lana and Amy

Superbowl Prediction

It's that time of year again.  The time when the king (read: only) American Football game in town, Madden, simulates the Superbowl.  The game this year is a repeat of four years ago in many ways, including the final.  Madden NFL 12's prediction is that Eli Manning and the Giants upset Tom Brady and the Patriots 27 - 24 on a last second field goal.  Click here to see the story at Game Informer, complete with a recap video.  We'll see how accurate they are come Sunday.  They have been rather accurate thus far.  (via Game Informer)

Is Eli up to the challenge again?

News Roundup: 29 January 2012

Wooo!  Finally leaving the doldrums of the Holiday Rush!  Starting Tuesday, games actually come out again!  And with new games comes more news.  So, here are a few stories that caught my eye in the last week!

Impressions on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Coming out 7 February is the first title from 38 Studios: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.  This project has an all-star line-up behind it.  The story is penned by R. A. Salvatore, celebrated RPG visonary Ken Rolston is in charge of the project, toy-maker Todd McFarlane is in charge of the art and it's all backed by former Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling.  This project sees Forgotten Realms, The Elder Scrolls series and an impressive art styling coming together.  EA has put out a meaty demo that covers the first tutorial dungeon and then gives you 45 minutes (coversations/menus pause the timer) to run about and do whatever you choose.  Everyone can (and should) get an early look at this open-world, third-person action RPG.

Ken Rolston of Elder Scrolls fame

What I Liked


The game has a visual pop that is rather impressive.  The colors are vibrant, the architecture is impressive and the scale of everything is massive.  It reminds me of World of Warcraft in that it is slightly stylized and things are exaggerated.  The opening area is great because it isn't the dull browns of most games these days, but the lush greens of a forest.  Really, the world itself is massive and well thought out.  Even though I couldn't range too far from the opening town, there were plenty of places to explore and plenty of new things to see.

The game systems were well done, too.  The combat (which I'll get to separately) functioned well and was brisk.  Doing the usual sorts of RPG tasks all felt really solid.  While searching for ingredients, the harvestable plants offered a telling glow.  Picking locks is very similar to Fallout 3 and works very well.  Disarming traps in dungeons was quick and easy.  There is a satisfying ease to tasks in this game.  Not that they are done for you, but that nothing I came across was obtuse or needlessly difficult to do.

I loved that classes were fluid, too.  You put your points into archetypes that then open up specializations.  But, these aren't set in stone.  Using destiny cards, more options become available to you.  I loved this aspect because it means that in the long run, your character will play how you like them to.  It's always hard to pick a class at the beginning of a game and be locked into it.  I mean, sure, I normally play rogues, but what if I really love wielding Great Swords?  Kingdoms allows you to shift your class at will and lets you experience the game as you want.

Talking to folks brings up the great voice acting.  Most characters I ran into were fully voiced and nearly all of them were well done.  There were a couple of strange sounding accents, but that's to be expected.  A vast majority of the speaking characters sounded good.  Nearly everyone has a quest/job for you to do, too!

Combat skills are pretty useful

What I Was Mixed On


Picking up with my last point, though many folks had quests/jobs for me, they weren't very interesting.  In my 45 minutes, I picked up 8 or so quests, and many of those had multiple quests branch off from them.  An example: the head of the church sent me to find a wayward member of his order.  Finding that lad then saw me tagging along with the boy as he sought out an item to share with his friends.  That finally done, I could return to the order and report that I found the missing member.  OK, so that's not so bad.  But others saw me fetch flowers for a lady, who then gave me a dungeon to delve looking for other items, which saw me killing bandits to get what I needed.  I returned to the dungeon lady and got an item to return to town.  What got me was that every single quest was a fetch quest.  It was early in the game, but when %90 of the quests I was given involved "run here, collect that, return" I wasn't really excited.

Back to combat.  Now, I liked how snappy combat was.  I enjoyed how most battles played out quickly and with a minimum of fuss.  The different weapon types lead to different combat styles, too.  The dual-wielded knives meant that I zipped around the battlefield nimbly dodging and striking.  Magical staves saw me leaving powerful waves of destruction and shooting balls of fire into my charging foes.  The sword and shield were dull, but easy to understand.  Since you have a primary and secondary weapon, you can swap between the two mid-combo.  This meant I could launch enemies skyward with my sword and turn them into pin-cushions with my bow.  Or strike them with my knives before blowing them all backwards with a swing of a magical stave!  It's a shame that the combat became repetitive so fast.  It was a bit too button mashy for me after a while.  And the auto-targeting, while welcome, never seemed to be on the same page as me.  Yes, the big troll is the largest "threat," but the stupid archer right behind him interrupts my attacks, so let's get him first, shall we?  No?  Oh...

Oh, he looks friendly!

What I Didn't Like


The silent protagonist.  I'm done with this.  I know why companies chose to have your character silent.  I know that on projects like this, where the character creation is so massive that it would take more resources than necessary to voice all the heroes.  And I know it's stupid to be disappointed in this.  But, I am.  After Mass Effect, I really can't stand reading what I say and watching my stone-faced character just sit there.  It's something that I've found kind of pulls me out of games and makes me less invested.  It happened with Dragon Age: Origins and happened again with this demo.

Since this is a demo, I'll forgive a lot of glitches.  But, I should point out that 9 times out of 10, the water didn't load properly.  The meant large swaths of grey and screen tearing as I went by.  I'm sure things like that will be ironed out by launch (or shortly after), but it still was a bit jarring.  When the water did load, it was gorgeous!

To go with the water issue, I also had frame-rate issues.  Nothing making the game unplayable, but at times my frame-rate would drop sharply.  What was strange was that I could never pinpoint why.  It wasn't when loading is normally hidden (opening doors, crossing certain plateaus in the land), but seemed to be at random.  While not game-breaking, it certainly threw me off.

There is a lot of world to explore

To be completely honest, this game wasn't on my radar at all.  I had seen demonstrations of it, I had read previews and saw adverts for it.  But, nothing had grabbed me and shouted, "You want this game!  Go pre-order this game now!" After playing the demo, that hasn't changed too much.  I enjoyed my time with the demo.  I'm pleased that it was such a wide experience instead of the usual short demo.  I liked a lot of what I played.  The game is on my radar now, but nothing I played screamed "Day One purchase!"  That said, there is a lot to be excited about with this game.  Try the demo yourself and you may find that Skyrim has a challenger for your open-world RPG affections.

I Wanna Be the Very Best!

It's just Herman Cain singing the Pokemon theme song.  Yep.  Life is good.  (via Joystiq)

News Roundup: 22 January 2012

Ooof. Another Delay for Max Payne 3

This just keeps happening.  Poor Max.  And this delay, though only until May, tanked the earnings prospects for Take-Two for the fiscal year.  But, May has been kind to Take-Two and Rockstar.  May 2009 saw the release of Red Dead Redemption, and that title went on to sell very well.  Maybe the May Magic will strike for Max Payne 3. (via Game Informer)

Ummmm...think we missed that date by a lot

From Baseball Pitcher to Goblin Slayer

A little piece on Curt Shilling, former MLB pitcher and head of 38 Studios (his old number). Their new project, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, drops 7 February with a demo available now! (via CNN)

Kingdoms of Amalur looks to be an impressive debut for 38 Studios

A Great Interview with Ken Levine

Game Informer got to chat with Bioshock creator Ken Levine recently.  He opened up about his nostalgia for the late 1990s and what gamers can expect if they choose to play Bioshock Infinite on 1999 Mode.  Sounds promising!  (via Game Informer)

Bioshock Infinite launches later this year

Review: Saint's Row: The Third

Saint's Row: The Third

PS3 (reviewed), Xbox 360, PC

Publisher: THQ

Developer: Volition, INC

Release Date: 15 November 2011

Do you remember when Grand Theft Auto first went into the 3D space? The games were parodies of popular culture and famous mafia movies. The series got more crazy with Vice City and the send-up of the excesses of the 1980s. And finally, the over-the-top look at 'gangstas' in San Andres. The games were all about the crazy, sociopath main characters inciting violence across town in tanks and skydiving into gun fights. Then it got serious. Volition, INC, makers of the Saint's Row series, started off imitating, but then realized that one of the major draws to open-world crime games is the overblown action. This brings us to their crowning achievement: Saint's Row: The Third.

The Third Street Saints in all their glory

The Start of Spring Gaming

It's Tuesday, which means it's release day for games!  Since we are finally heading out of the post-Holiday doldrums, we should start seeing more and more titles coming out.  The next couple of weeks see some heavy hitters in Final Fantasy XIII-2, Neverdead and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.  But, this week is a tad quiet.

News Roundup: 15 January 2012

Man, I have been bad about doing a weekly recap of news.  This week is no exception, I'm afraid.  I'll get back on track though!  There's a big story brewing today, though, and it needs to be posted.

THQ Cancels 2014 Lineup
Word is coming out that THQ is struggling financially.  While looking for a buyer, rumors have been swirling that the slate of games in development for 2014 have all been axed.  These include Insane (the much hyped three game project from film maker Guillermo Del Torro), Crytec's Homefront 2 and Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium (an MMO).

According to Game Informer, THQ has denied similar rumors over the last few weeks, but the denials may be wearing thin.  Industry insiders point to mis-management at the top and backing expensive flops like the uDraw tablet.

[Update]: THQ says that this isn't true and that nothing has been cancelled.  Yay!

Hopefully THQ can either find a buyer and restart the projects or pull out of the tail-spin and restart them themselves.  (via Game Informer)

Impressions on Asura's Wrath

The demo for the upcoming Capcom "beat-'em-up" Asura's Wrath came out this week.  Developer CyberConnect2 is responsible for the Naruto games, and the anime pedigree shows strongly.  This game is nuts in the same way Dragon Ball Z is nuts.  Lots of growling to power up, lot's of flying energy and people getting punched really hard in the face.  After putting the demo through it's paces, I can say that this looks like a fun ride.

What I Liked

The Quick Time Events during the battles are well done.  There are a few of the "mash the set button furiously" that aren't fun, but the rest are pretty cool.  My personal favorite is using the Left and Right sticks to set Asura's feet and then open his arms wide in a classic "Come at me, bro" pose.

Yep, come at me, bro!

The visuals are awesome and well done.  There is a real "cartoon" vibe to everything and it fits so well.  I also loved the scale of things.  Whether it's a giant space-Buddha jabbing his finger across most of a continent to crush Asura, or being stabbed by a sword that pops out the other side of the planet, nothing in this game seems small.  There is something awesome about seeing the Earth from the moon, seeing the beauty of it all, and then being violently rammed from the moon into Earth on the tip of a sword.

To go along with that last point, I loved how everything is over-the-top insane.  The demo has you punch a fat guy the size of building into orbit, you punch the crap out of a gigantic space-Buddha and you fight on the moon against your mentor (I think, the story wasn't really the focus of the demo).  All of this is nuts, and it's only a glimpse of what's in store.  That makes me excited to see how out of control this game gets!

This space-Buddha is gonna get beat down.  Hard.

What I Was Mixed On

The fighting was so-so.  I loved the up-close-and-personal beatings.  The one-on-one fights where you must dodge and counter were well done.  It really felt like a solid beat-'em-up.  Where I struggled was with the ranged combat.  The targeting system cannot be inverted (so, I spent a good few minutes trying to adjust), which is a bummer.  The issues arose when you use the same stick to move about as you do select targets.  So, while dodging giant fireballs, you are trying to manipulate your reticle with the same stick.  This just felt needlessly awkward to me.

The amount of the QTEs got a tad overwhelming, too.  It's great to have them in games, and I love them most of the time.  But, since the entire game is based around them, that might wear thin after awhile of playing.  This is by no means a deal-breaker, but it is something to consider.  If you hate QTEs, stay away.

What I Didn't Like

Honestly, not much.  Some of the button-mashing QTEs seemed unforgiving (but I am not very good at those anyhow, so it probably was me).  And the targeting issue mentioned above was annoying.  Otherwise, consider me a convert.  I don't know if everything will hold up for an entire game, but what was there was so absurd and so much fun that I don't know if I'd care.  This is a classic case where the fun will probably outweigh the design flaws.  

Super awesome face-punching action!

My advice?  Get the demo and see if it floats your boat.  Fans of Bayonetta and Vanquish will certainly feel at home with this game.  Asura's Wrath is definitely one to watch for when it comes out 21 February in the US, and 24 February in Europe.

Silent Hill is Kindergarten Cop?!

According to these reference photos, sure.  I mean, why not?  I just have to wonder who had the time/inclination to actually look for these shots.  What possibly possessed them to say, "You know, that classic movie 'Kindergarten Cop' reminds of something....*GASP!* It reminds me Silent Hill!"  (via Destructoid)

Could this be the bathroom from Kindergarten Cop?!

Nifty PR Coming for New Tomb Raider

Game Informer is reporting that Crystal Dynamics is making real Tomb Raiders out of us.  The development house has started to work with Geocaching.com to promote the new Tomb Raider due out in Q3 this year.  Sounds pretty cool to me! (via Game Informer)

Interview with Casey Hudson of Bioware

Thanks to Phil Kollar over at Game Informer, we have this awesome interview with Casey Hudson, the lead for Mass Effect 3.  I cannot tell you how excited I am to play this game!  This is one game series that I own on both 360 and PS3.  As silly as that is, it's so that I have access to EVERY story option (since Mass Effect is a PC/360 only).  Look for ME3 to drop 6 March 2012! (via Game Informer)

Rush of Solid DLGs Coming Soon!

It's strange.  This time of year, I'm usually excited for all the big, retail, AAA titles that slipped past the Holiday Rush for one reason or another.  That's not the case this year.  Not at all.

The biggest game I'm waiting for this Spring is Mass Effect 3.  That's about it.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still excited about Syndicate, but I just don't think that it will be the AAA title realm.  So, until Q3 when the reboot of Tomb Raider is due, and, presumably, The Last Guardian I don't have much to get excited about on the retail front.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Demo Inbound

I'm looking forward to this demo.  Coming 10 January to US PS3 owners and 11 January to Xbox360 players, SquarEnix has announced a fully-playable demo.  The SquarEnix Blog had a small post about it here.

I was rather excited about this game.  The directors went to pains in multiple interviews to say that fan issues from FFXIII had been heard and everything was fixed.  There has been the addition of towns, shops, more side-quests and less linear-hallways to run down.  That sounds good.

Where, for me, it started to go south was when gameplay was really shown.  It looks to be a shorter game, with an emphasis on New Game + stuff.  While that may be fine, the core mechanic of capturing monsters caught me off guard.  I'm not sure if I want a Poke-Fantasy game, but that may surprise me.  The other downer has been the music.  Normally, I love the music in any Final Fantasy game, but some of these tracks...well....

The chocobo theme (a boss encounter)

At any rate, check out the trailer below.  I'm going to get the demo next week and see if this game floats my boat.

New Year, Old Game

Welcome to 2012!  We're only 3 years away from this!  And, strangely, one of the games I'm most excited about is a redesigned game from the 1990s.

Syndicate is a fast-paced, violent-as-hell remake of an old PC isometric strategy game.  I know some fans of the original are crying "FOUL!" because the game isn't at all the same, but it has the same name.  This, they argue, leads to confusion for both fans and new-comers.  Old fans will not enjoy the FPS action while those brought in may find the original Syndicate dull/boring/lame.

And to this I say, "So?"  I'm super excited about this game.  21 February cannot get here soon enough!  I'll be posting a few of the trailers over the next few weeks to keep the hype strong.  First off, enjoy the announcement trailer!